928 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



tree at Mitcham, which was 6 feet 8 inches in girth, and had a spread of 60 feet ; 

 and a tree at Kew, 40 feet in height, which no longer exists, there not being at 

 present a single specimen there of this species. It appears to be very rare in 

 cultivation at the present time, the only trees which we have seen being one 

 at Liphook, and another at Hursley Park. The latter is a small unhealthy-looking 

 tree about 20 feet high, though of considerable age. There is also a small tree at 

 Tortworth. 



According to Bureau, 1 this species supports at Paris the severest winters without 

 injury ; but according to Parde, 2 it bears with difficulty severe frosts in the north 

 of France. The seedlings which Elwes raised at Colesborne were killed by 20 of 

 frost, and though the tree may succeed in the warmest and driest parts of the 

 south-east of England, it seems hardly worth planting elsewhere. (A. H.) 



CELTIS CAUCASICA 



Celtis caucasica, Willdenow, Sp. PI. iv. 994 (1805); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iii. 1415 (1838); 



Boissier, Flora Orientalis, iv. 1156 (1879). 

 Celtis australis, Brandis, Forest Flora of N.W. India, 428 (1874), and Indian Trees, 595 (1906) (not 



Linnaeus); Hooker, Flora Brit. India, v. 482 (1888); Gamble, Indian Timbers, 629 (1902). 



A tree of moderate size, very similar to C. australis, of which it is possibly only 

 a geographical form. It differs in the following characters : Leaves ovate-lanceolate, 

 broader in proportion to their length, and more rhomboidal, with a shorter and non- 

 caudate acuminate apex ; upper surface glabrescent, scarcely scabrous ; lower surface 

 with slight pubescence, confined to the nerves and midrib. Drupes yellow. 3 



This species, which is connected with the European species by var. cuspidata, 1 ' 

 with long - acuminate leaves, is widely spread through the Caucasus, Persia, 

 Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and northern India. In the Caucasus, it is associated 

 with C. australis ; but farther east the latter species is scarcely met with. In 

 Afghanistan, according to Aitchison, 5 it is usually a planted tree near shrines 

 and in graveyards ; but it is quite wild along the Darban and Shendtoi rivers ; 

 and in Baluchistan, its leaves, according to Lace, 6 are often used, as they are in 

 India, for feeding sheep and goats, the trees being pollarded for this purpose. It 

 occurs in India in the north-west Himalaya, as far east as Nepaul ascending to 

 8000 feet, where it is a common tree, wild in the forests, and around villages. 

 According to Webber, 7 in Gorakhpur, it reverses the season of casting its leaves, 

 which wither and fall off in the hot weather, and it flowers in the early months of the 

 cold season. The wood is tough and strong, and is used for oars, tool-handles, 

 sticks, and other purposes requiring toughness and elasticity. 



This species, though mentioned by Loudon, was not in cultivation in England 

 in his day ; and Schneider 8 doubts if it has yet been introduced on the Continent. 



1 Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. vi. 1S1 (1 894). 



3 Brandis mentions a variety with purplish-black fruit. 



6 Journ. Linn. Soc. (Bot.) xviii. 93 (1880). 



1 Forests of Upper India, 232 (1902). 



1 Arb. Nat. Des Barres, 242 (1906). 



4 Planchon, in DC. Prod, xvii., 170 (1873). 



Ibid, xxviii. 305 (1 89 1). 



8 Laubhohkunde, 231 (1904). 





