LXI. 



NY'ss.4. 



693 



ORDER LXI. SANTALACE^E. 



ORD. CHAR. Perianth superior, 4 5-cleft, coloured inside; aestivation 

 valvate. Stamens 4 5, opposite the segments of the perianth, and inserted 

 in their bases. Ovarium inferior, 1-celled, 2 4-seeded. Style 1. Stigma 

 generally lobed. Fruit 1-seeded, nucumentaceous or drupaceous. Albumen 

 fleshy. Flowers polygamous. (G. Don.) 



Leaves simple, alternate, exstipulate, deciduous ; entire. Flowers in co- 

 rymbs, pedunculate. Trees or shrubs, deciduous ; natives of North America 

 and the South of Europe ; propagated by seeds. The hardy species are 

 two, which are thus contradistinguished : 



NY'SS^ L. Flowers polygamous. Stamens 5. 

 OSY RIS L. Flowers dioecious. Stamens 3. 



GENUS L 



NY'SS.4 L. THE NYSSA, or TUPELO TREE. Lin. Syst. Polygamia Dice'cia; 

 or, according to Smith in Rees's Cyclopaedia, Decandria Monogynia. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., 551. ; Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 1112. 



Derivation. From Nyssa, a water nymph so called ; a name given to this plant by Linnaeus, 

 because " it grows in the waters." (Hart. Cliff.) Tupelo appears to be an aboriginal name. 



Gen. Char. Flowers oisexual and male, upon distinct plants, and apetalous. 



Bisexual flower of the calyx connate. Stamens 5. Ovary ovate. Styles 



simple. Stigma acute. Fruit a roundish drupe. Male jlower with the 



calyx 5-parted. Stamens 5 12. (G.Don.) 



Leaves simple, alternate, exstipulate, deciduous; oblong or lanceolate, 



entire. Flowers axillary, peduncled, greenish white. Fruit red, or blackish 



purple. Trees, deciduous ; natives of North America ; requiring moist 



soil. 



Several sorts have been described by botanists, probably all referable to 

 two, or at most three, species, viz. N. biflora, N. candicans, and N. tomen- 

 tosa, the last two being very nearly allied. The trees which have flowered in 

 England have, as far as we are aware, only produced male blossoms ; but, to 

 compensate for the want of fruit, the foliage of all the species of the genus 

 dies off of an intensely deep scarlet. The different sorts are almost always 

 raised from American seeds. 



* 1. N. BIFLO'RA Michx. The twin-flowered Nyssa, or Tupelo Tree. 



Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 259. ; Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. Ilia 



Synonymes. N. aquatica Lin. Sp. PI. 151 h ; N. caroliniana L. ; N. integrifblia Ait. Hort. Kew. 3, 



p. 446. ; N. pedunculis uniflbris Gron. F-g. 121.; Mountain Tupelo Mart. Mill.; Gum Tree, 



Sour Gum Tree, Peperidge, Amer. 

 Engravings. Catesb. Car., 1. 1. 41. ; Mich. Arb., t. 22. ; and our^gs. 1354. and 1355. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves ovate-oblong, entire, acute at both ends, glabrous. 

 Female flowers two upon a pe- 

 duncle. Drupe short, obovate; 

 nut striated. (Michx.) A decidu- 

 ous tree. Virginia and Carolina, 

 in watery places. Height 40 ft. to 

 45 ft. Introduced in 1739. Flow- 

 ers greenish ; April and May. 

 Fruit black, about the size of a 

 pea, never seen in England. 



In British gardens it does not 

 appear that much pains have ever 

 been taken to encourage the growth 13S6 . N . biffin* 



Y Y 3 



