5 IS CELTIS OCCIDENTALS. 



cherry. When ripe, it is rather fleshy, very sweet, and, like that of the Celtis 

 anstralis, of Europe, becomes shrivelled, and of a brownish or blackish cast. 



Varieties. The trees belonging to the genus celtis, like those of pyrus, fraxinus, 

 ulmus, and others, from the similarity of their habits, and their apparent apti- 

 tude to sport by the influences of soil, climate, &c., it seems to us, are subject to 

 similar variations, and consequently should be reduced in the number of theii 

 species. We have accordingly, for the sake of brevity, and the convenience of 

 classification, brought all the North American kinds, including those usually 

 regarded as species by botanists, under one head, and have considered them only 

 as varieties of the Celtis occidentalis. Those, however, who differ from us, in 

 opinion, will find no difficulty in recognizing among our synonymes, the names, 

 as given by Michaux. Nuttall, Loudon, and others, whereby they will be enabled 

 to know under what head they are described in the works of these authors. 



1. C. o. longifolia. Loner-leaved American Nettle-tree; Celtis longifolia, of 

 Nuttall ; Micocoidier a longues feuilles, of the French ; Langbldttriger Zurgel, 

 of the Germans ; a fine shady tree, sometimes attaining the height of sixty or 

 seventy feet, native of Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. The branches, 

 when young, are tomentose, but become dotted and smooth with age. The 

 leaves are broadly ovate-lanceolate, entire, gradually acute, oblique and une- 

 qual at the base, from two inches to three inches and a half in length, and 

 from one inch to an inch and a half wide, and smooth on both surfaces. The 

 flowers, which come out in March or April, with the unfolding of the leaves, are 

 small, of a greenish colour, and are succeeded by small brownish-yellow berries 



2. C. o. tenuifolia, Lamarck. Thin-leaved American Nettle-tree ; Celtis tenui- 

 folia, of Nuttall; Micocoidier a feuilles deliecs, of the French; Diinnbliittrigei 

 Ziirgel, of the Germans; a small shrub, with erect divaricate branches, growing 

 to a height of from two to five feet, a native of Maryland and Virginia; flower- 

 ing in May, and bearing small, solitary berries, which are glaucous and brown. 

 The branchlets are angular and smooth. The leaves, which are from one to 

 two inches long, in the adult state, are cordate-ovate, slightly acuminated, serru- 

 late in the middle, but occasionally without teeth, smooth, and rather thin. 



3. C. o. maritima. Seaside-inhabiting American Nettle-tree ; Celtis maritima, 

 of Rafinesque ; a small crooked shrub, three or four feet in height, growing on 

 the sea-shore from Long Island, in New York, to Chesapeake Bay. Its branches 

 are cinerous, and slightly dotted ; the leaves small, ovate-acuminate, with large 

 serratures, rough on both sides, with the petioles and nerves pubescent ; and 

 flowers in May. 



4. C. o. cordata, Loudon. Heart-leaved America?i Nettle-tree; a tree with 

 reddish branchlets, attaining a height of twenty to forty feet, and native of Ken- 

 tucky, Illinois, &c., where it is sometimes called hack-berry, which more pro- 

 perly belongs to the Celtis o. crassifolia. The leaves, which are from three to 

 five inches in length, and from an inch to two inches wide, are ovate-oblong, or 

 acuminate, sub-cordate, or truncate, and slightly oblique at the base, rough 

 above, and smooth beneath, with regular reticulate nerves. 



5. C. o. reticulata. Reticulate-nerved-leaved American Nettle-tree; Celtis 

 reticulata, of Torrey and Nuttall ; Micocoidier a feuilles reticidees, of the French ; 

 Netzblattriger Zurgel, of the Germans; a tall shrub, with numerous smooth, 

 slender branches, discovered by Dr. E. P. James, near the base of the Rocky 

 Mountains, in 1S19. It has since been met with by Thomas Nuttall, in the 

 same mountain range, along the borders of the Oregon, towards the Blue Moun- 

 tains, particularly on the banks of the Brulee, a small stream falling into that 

 river. The leaves, according to Mr. Nuttall, become thick and rigid, and are 

 about an inch and a half long, by less than an inch wide, acute, but scarcely 

 acuminate, with a few irregular serratures toward the point, though a number 



