Symplocos. STYRACACE^E. 59 



A tree 10 to 20 or, exceptionally, 30 to 35 metres in height, with a 

 trunk sometimes 0.60 metre in diameter ; very common and often entirely 

 occupying abandoned fields in the middle and lower regions of the south- 

 ern Atlantic and Gulf States, reaching its greatest development on the 

 rich bottom-lands of the lower Ohio basin. 



Wood heavy, hard, strong, very close-grained, compact, susceptible of 

 a high polish, containing few scattered open ducts ; layers of annual 

 growth marked by one or more rows of similar ducts ; medullary rays 

 numerous, conspicuous ; color dark brown or often nearly black, the thick 

 sap-wood light brown, often containing numerous darker spots ; used in 

 turnery for shoe-lasts, plane-stocks, etc., and preferred for shuttles ; the 

 dark heart-wood only developed in very old specimens and rarely seen. 



The yellow edible fruit is exceedingly austere until after frost, then 

 becoming sweet and luscious, or in the Gulf States ripening in August 

 without austerity. 



A decoction of the bitter and astringent unripe fruit and inner bark is 

 occasionally used in the treatment of diarrhoea, sore throat, hemorrhage, etc. 



185. Diospyros Texana, Scheele. 



Black Persimmon. Mexican Persimmon. Chapote. 



Western Texas, — Matagorda Bay to the valley of the Concho River ; 

 in northern Mexico. 



A small tree, 4 to 10 metres in height, with a trunk sometimes 0.30 

 metre in diameter, or more often a low shrub ; not rare, and reaching its 

 greatest development, in Texas, on the bottom-lands of the Guadalupe 

 River ; borders of prairies, in rich soil ; in Mexico more common and of 

 larger size. 



Wood heavy, hard, very close-grained, compact, satiny, taking a beau- 

 tiful polish, containing few minute scattered open ducts ; medullary rays 

 numerous, thin ; color nearly black, often streaked with yellow, the thick 

 sap-wood clear bright yellow ; used in turnery for the handles of tools, 

 etc., suitable for wood-engraving, and probably the best substitute among 

 American woods for boxwood. 



The small, black fruit sweet and insipid. 



STYRACACE^E. 



186. Symplocos tinctoria, LTIer. 

 Horse Sugar. Sweet-leaf. 



Southern Delaware, south to middle Florida, and west through the 

 Gulf States to western Louisiana and southern Arkansas. 



A small tree, G to 10 metres in height, with a trunk 0.20 to 0.25 metre 

 in diameter, or often a low shrub ; borders of cypress swamps or in deep, 

 damp, shaded woods. 



