Ptelea trifoliata, 
THE THREE-LEAFLETED-LEAVED PTELEA. 
Synonymes. 
Ptelea trifoliata, 
Orme de Samarie a trois feuilles, 
Dreyblattrige Lederblume, 
Shrubby Trefoil, Tree Trefoil, 
' Linn-eus, Species Plantarum. 
De Candolle, Prodromus. 
Don, Miller's Dictionary. 
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 
Torre y and Gray, Flora of North America. 
France. 
Germany. 
Italy. 
Britain and Anglo-America. 
Engravings. Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, v., pi. 59 ; and the figures below. 
Specific Characters. Leaf of three leaflets that are ovate acute, the middle one much tapered towards the 
base. Flowers in corymbs, usually tetrandrous. De Candolle, Prodromus. 
Description. 
HE Ptelea trifoliata, in its 
natural habitat, usually 
grows to a height of six or 
eight feet; but, when cul- 
tivated under favourable circumstances, it some- 
times attains an elevation of forty feet and 
upwards. When the plant is pruned up with 
a single stem, it forms a handsome low tree, 
with a hemispherical head ; but it is more fre- 
quently cultivated as a large shrub, with nume- 
rous stems proceeding from the same basal point. 
The leaflets are sessile, ovate, mostly acumi- 
nate, obscurely crenulate, the terminal one cune- 
iform, and attenuate at the base. The flowers, 
which appear in June and July, are of a green- 
ish-white, grow in corymbose clusters, and have a disagreeable odour. They 
are succeeded by flattened winged capsules, somewhat resembling those of the 
elm ; whence the French name orme. 
Varieties. The varieties which have come under the notice of botanists are 
as follows : 
1. P. t. pentaphylla, Munch. Five-leaflet-leaved Shrubby Trefoil. This vari- 
ety can generally be distinguished in having five leaflets. 
2. P. t. pubescens, Pursh. Pubescent-leajlet-leaved Shrubby Trefoil. This 
variety is described as having its branchlets, petioles, and lower surface of its 
leaves clothed with a soft tomentose pubescence, even when old. 
Geography, History, fyc. This species is found in moist, shady hedges, and 
on the bordersof woods among rocks, from Lake Ontario to Florida, and as far 
west as Kentucky and Texas. It was originally sent to England by Banister, 
and plants of it were raised by Bishop Compton, at Fulham ; but they were lost, 
and the species was re-introduced from Carolina by Catesby, in 1724. Being 
hardy, and of easy culture, in any ordinary soil, this tree is not uncommon in 
the collections of Europe, and it well deserves a place there, as well as in those 
of the United States, both on account of the beauty of its leaves and fruit, and 
its general appearance. 
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