WHITISH-LEAVED NYWiA. 
427 
con- 
in the adjoining figure When the leaves unfold in spring, they are downy but 
as they expand, they become smooth on both sides. The flowers, winch appear 
in April or May, are numerous, though single, and are succeeded by fruit of 
siderable size, and of a deep-blue colour, of 
which the stone is depressed, and very distinctly 
striated. The wood is extremely white and 
soft, when unseasoned, but light and hard 
when dry; and, as in the arrangement of its 
fibres, it resembles the other trees of the same 
genus, it is employed for making bowls and 
trays. The roots are also tender and light, and 
are used by fishermen to buoy up their nets, 
instead of cork. This variety is described in 
Miller's "Dictionary," as the Virginian water 
tupelo-tree, rising, with a strong, upright trunk, 
to a height of eighty or one hundred feet, and 
dividing into many branches towards the top. 
The drupes are represented as being nearly the 
size and shape of small olives, and, like that 
fruit, is preserved by the French inhabitants of 
the Mississippi, where this tree greatly abounds, 
and is there called the "Olive-tree." It grows 
chiefly in the southern parts of the United States; and Michaux observes that it 
is always found in company with the long-leaved pine, (Pinus palustris,) and 
the cypress (Taxodium distichum.) In South Carolina and Georgia, it is con- 
stantly found growing with the over-cup oak, (Quercus lyrata,) the water locust, 
(Gleditschia monosperma,) the cotton- woods, (Populus canadensis,) the Carolinian 
poplar, (Populus angulata,) and the water bitter-nut hickory (Carya aquatica) ; 
intermixed with which it composes the dark impenetrable forests that cover the 
miry swamps on the borders of the rivers, to the distance of one or two hundred 
miles from the ocean. The presence of these trees is considered as an infallible 
proof of the depth and fertility of the soil, and, consequently, of its fitness for the 
culture of the vine.* 
Geography, $*c. The Nyssa candicans makes its first appearance, according 
to Michaux, on the river Ogechee, near the road from Savannah to Sudbury, and, 
in proceeding southward, it is seen in every favourable situation. This appears 
to be the species which is said to be described by Marshall, from Bartram's cata- 
logue, " as a tree of great singularity and beauty, rising to the height of thirty feet : 
the fruit of which is of a deep scarlet colour, and of the size of a Damascene plum. 
It has an agreeable acid taste, whence it is called the lime-tree." Bartram calls 
it Nyssa coccinea, and says that there is no tree which exhibits a more desirable 
appearance than this, in autumn, when the fruit is ripe, and the tree is partly 
divested of its leaves; for then, "the remainder looks as red as scarlet, and the 
fruit is of that colour also." "The most northern habitation of this tree yet 
known," he adds, "is on the Great Ogechee, where it is called the Ogechee lime, 
from its acid fruit being about the size of limes, and being sometimes used in 
their stead." 
Uses, fyc. The wood of this tree is soft, and unfit for any particular use m 
the arts. Its fruit is sold in the Savannah market, under the name of " ( >gechee 
Limes," for the purpose of preserving in sugar, which, when properly prepared, 
is said to possess a most delicate and delicious flavour. 
* Michaux, North American Sylva. 
