CHAP. C'l. 



r/'uvns. 1373 



several in India. Some of them grow in moist soil. Most of them are trees 

 with spreading heads and .slender branchlets. In some, the bark of the 

 brunrhlets and branches has white oblong spots scattered here and there. 

 Leaves alternate, in 2 ranks, ovate and pointed, unequal at the base, serrate; 

 rough on the upper surface, apparently from the callous bases and remains 

 of bristles ; annual in the kinds hardy in Britain, and these have the primary 

 veins forming but a small angle with the midrib, and extending through a 

 considerable portion of the length of the disk of the leaf. Stipules lanceolate, 

 soon falling off. Leaves in the bud not folded, but plaited, with scales present 

 between leaf and leaf. Fleshy part of the fruit eatable, but small in quantity. 

 (T.Nces ab Escnbeck, Gen. PI. Fl. Germ.; Spreng. Syst. ; Wats. Dend. 

 Brit.; Smith in Rees'sCycl.; Duby et Dec. Bot. Gallic.; and observations.) 



GENUS I. 



t7'LMUS L. THE ELM. Lin. Sysl. Pentandria Digynia. 



Identification Lin. Gen.,l'3. ; Lain. 111., t. 185. ; T. Nees ab Esenbeck Gen. PI. Fl. Germ., fasc. 3 

 t. 3. ; Sm. Engl. FL, 2. p. 1, 2. and 19. ; Lindl. Nat. Syst. of Bot., p. 179. 



Synonymes. Orme, Fr. ; Ulm, or Raster, Ger. ; Olmo, Ital. 



Derivation. L v lmus is supposed to be derived from the Saxon word elm, or ulm; a name winch i 

 applied, with very slight alterations, to this tree, in all the dialects of the Celtic tongue. Ulm is 

 still one of the German names for the elm ; and the city of Ulm is said to derive its name from 

 the great number of elm trees that are growing near it. There are above forty places in England, 

 mentioned in the Doomsday-Bonk, which take their names from that of the elm ; such as Barn 

 Elms, Nine El-.ns, &C. 



Description, $c. The elms are long-lived trees, with hard wood ; rugged, and 

 sometimes corky, bark; and zigzag, somewhat slender, branches. The leaves 

 are alternate, stalked, deciduous, in general serrated and harsh ; unequal at the 

 base, and bearing tufts of hairs at the axils of the primary veins. The flowers 

 are earlier than the leaves, tufted, copious, and dark red ; the capsules are pale, 

 chaffy, and light, serving as a wing to the seed, which is often imperfect. (See 

 Smith's Engl. Flora, ii. p. 19.) The roots of young plants, in some of the 

 species, are of leathery toughness, very strong, of considerable length and 

 suppleness. The commoner, and perhaps all, the kinds increase rapidly in 

 the number and the size of their roots and branches. U. campestris emits 

 suckers from the older roots, which are extended under the surface of the 

 soil; but this is not the case with U. montana. All have strong upright- 

 growing trunks ; but these vary, in the several kinds, in their diameters and 

 length. The disposition of the branches relatively to the trunk, and to the 

 head which they constitute, also varies exceedingly ; and considerable dif- 

 ference of character prevails in the spray. For example, the tufted twigs 

 of U. campestris bear very little resemblance to the prominent wand-like 

 shoots which stand out thinly over the surface of the heads of young 

 trees of U. montana, and all its varieties, or allied species; though in old 

 trees the branches spread horizontally, and become drooping at their extre- 

 mities. The tufted shoots of U. campestris assume occasionally the character 

 of knots of entangled cord; and those tufts are called witch knots in some 

 places. The character of the foliage is nearly the same in all the kinds of 

 elm. That of U. campestris is very striking, from the smallness of the leaves, 

 their number, the depth of their green, and their somewhat rounded figure : 

 they remain on, also, till very late in the year. In U. montana, U. m. glabra, 

 U. americana, and in some other kinds, the leaves are large, long, and some- 

 times pointed, with the marginal teeth more obvious, though, perhaps, only 

 from the size of the disk ; their green is lighter ; and, in general, they fall 

 off much earlier, than those of U. campestris. The different kinds vary, also, 

 considerably in their time of leafing. The leaves of all the sorts have the base 

 unequal, the margins doubly dentated, and are feather-nerved. The flowers 

 are always protruded before the leaves, and are disposed in small groups, 



