THE WITCH HAZEL, SORREL TREE, ETC. 60 



outline resembles that of a peach tree. Its white 

 flowers appear in June or July ; they are small, urn- 

 shaped,* and are borne in loose, long, one-sided clus- 

 ters. The leaves (five to seven inches long) are finely 

 toothed, shining, smooth, and have very slender stems ; 

 they turn to a variety of brilliant reds in the fall. The 

 sorrel tree is not a very distant relative of the kalmia 

 and rhododendron ; they all belong to the Heath family. 

 Slippery, or Red Elm. The leaf of the slippery elm is 

 uimusfuiva, about as coarse and rough as it 

 could possibly be. This character does not show 

 itself as distinctly in my drawing as I could wish, 

 but the roughness is felt rather than seen ; indeed, 

 I think I could identify a branch of the tree quite 

 easily with my eyes shut. Even the branchlets 

 are rough, and in spring the soft and downy buds 

 under a magnifying glass appear covered with in- 

 numerable rust-colored hairs. The upper side of the 

 leaf under the glass also appears hairy, and the under 

 side is a mass of soft down ; the teeth are very coarse, 

 and double, and the ribs beneath are prominent, stiff, 

 and hairy at the angles. The leaf is much larger 

 than that of the common elm ; it measures from five 

 to seven inches in length. 



is attributed to an Oneida Indian. Vide Shrubs of Northeastern 

 America, Charles S. Newhall. 



* They somewhat resemble the wintergreen blossom. 



