97 

 HACKBERRY. 



This is the American name for the fruit of a hardy deciduous tree 

 belonging to the order Urticaceae, known as Celtis occidentals, which 

 attains a height of from seventy to eighty feet, and is indigenous to the 

 eastern portions of North America. The fruit is also known as the 

 Sugar Berry. The fruit is a small drupe, which has a sweet pleasant 

 flavour. It is a handsome tree, and may be planted to advantage in 

 shrubberies and parks, but it is only suitable for the cooler regions of 

 Australasia. Another species, Celtis austral is, is the Lotus tree of 

 Southern Europe, North America, and Asia, whose small sweet fruit is 

 largely used. It attains a height of forty or fifty feet, makes a slow 

 growth, but lives to a great age, and in Europe there are trees supposed 

 to be fully a thousand years old. Though called Lotus, this tree must 

 not, however, be confounded with another which passes under the same 

 name (Ziyyphus Lotus), which is a species of Jujube. Neither must it 

 be confounded with the sacred Lotus of the ancient Egyptians, which is 

 supposed to be the fruit of an aquatic plant (Nelumbium speciosum). 

 Celtis orien talis, a small evergreen tree from India, yields a small black 

 fruit that has a sweet pleasant flavour. Trees of this species also exude, 

 in large quantities, an edible gum somewhat similar to that obtained 

 from the Cherry and Plum. This species requires warmer regions than 

 either the Hackberry or Lotus. Other useful species are Celtis Sellowiana 

 from Argentina, which grows to the height of about forty feet, and Celtis 

 sinensis (Celtis Japonica), a hardy, deciduous, robust tree, known in 

 Japan as the " Henoki." The fruit of both species is pleasant, but 

 rather small. All the large species yield useful hard-grained wood, 

 which is used to some extent b} turners, cabinet makers, and for musical 

 instruments. Propagation in the case of all the species is readily effected 

 by seeds, which should be planted an inch and a-half deep, or layers put 

 down early in the spring. 



HANCORNIA. 



This is a small evergreen tree belonging to the order Apocynaceae, or 

 Dogbane family, indigenous to Brazil and other warm regions in South 

 America. Botanically it is known as Hancornia speciosa. The fruit is 

 as large as medium-sized Plums, and has a very pleasant flavour. It is 

 vernacularly known as " Mangaihas," and greatly appreciated in its native 

 regions. The tree is also valuable commercially for its " Caoutchouc," or 

 " Rubber " which it yields in large quantity, and of excellent quality. 

 The Hancornia can only be grown successfully in the warmer parts of 

 Australia, where there is no trouble from frosts. It is suitable for many 

 parts of Queensland, the northern coast river districts of New South 

 Wales, ond similar regions. In congenial localities it is worthy of 

 attention, both as a fruit and " rubber " yielding tree, and also as an 

 ornamental plant. Propagation is effected by seeds, which should be 



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