1408 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART HI. 



rican elms. Stamens 5 7. Stigmas purplish. Samara, when young, downy 



on both sides. This tree has been introduced, but when is not stated in 



British catalogues. 



Description, $c. The red, or slippery, elm, according to Michaux, bears a 

 strong resemblance to the Dutch elm. It forms a tree from 50ft. to 60ft. 

 high, and 15 in. or 20 in. in diameter. In the winter, Michaux observes, 

 " it is distinguished from the white American elm 

 by its buds, which are larger and rounder; and 

 which, a fortnight before their developement, are 

 covered with a russet down." The flowers are 

 produced in tufts at the extremity of the young 

 shoots. The scales which surround the bunches 

 of flowers are downy, like the buds. The calyx is 

 downy and sessile ; the stamens short, and of a pale 

 rose colour. The seeds are large, destitute of fringe, 

 round, and very similar to those of the European 

 elm; and they ripen very early. The bark is 

 brown ; and the leaves are oval-acuminate, doubly 

 denticulated, and larger, thicker, and rougher than 

 those of U. americana. " Except the maritime 

 districts of the Carolinas and Georgia, this species of elm is found in all 

 parts of the United States and of Canada." (Michaux.) " It is less 

 abundant than the white American elm ; and the two species are rarely found 

 together, as the red elm requires a substantial soil, free from moisture, and 

 even delights in elevated and open situations, such as the banks of steep rivers, 

 particularly the Hudson and the Susquehanna. The heart-wood is coarser- 

 grained and less compact than that of U. americana, and is of a dull red tinge ; 

 whence the name of red elm. Even in the branches of 1 in. or 2 in. in diameter, 

 it consists principally of perfect wood. It is the best wood in the United 

 States for blocks; and it makes excellent rails, which are of long duration, and 

 formed with little labour, as the trunk may be easily and regularly split ; and 

 this is probably the reason that it is never employed for the naves of wheels. 

 The leaves, and bark of the branches, macerated in water, yield a thick and 

 abundant mucilage (whence the name of slippery elm), which is used as a 

 refreshing drink for colds, and for emollient plasters, in the place of the marsh 

 mallow root, which does not grow in the United States. (Michx.} There 

 are small plants bearing the name of U. fulva, in Loddiges's arboretum; 

 but they are scarcely, if at all, distinguishable from U. americana. 



X 11. U. ALA'TA Michx. The Wahoo, or co?--winged, Elm. 



Identification. Michx. FL Bor. Amer., 1. p. 173. ; Arb., 3. p. 275. ; Michx. North Amer. Sylva, 3. 

 p. 87. t. 127. ; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 1. p. 200. j Spreng. Syst Veg., 1. p. 931. j Ilees's Cycl., 

 No. 11. 



Si/nonymes. U. pdmila Walt. Fl. Carol., 111. ; Wahoo, Indians of North America. 

 Engravings. Michx. North Amer. Sylva, 3. t. 127. ; and our fig. 1248. 



Spec. Char., $c. A middle-sized tree, with leaves like those of the hornbeam 

 (Carpinus J?etulus L.}. Branches bearing two longitudinal corky wings. 

 Leaves with short petioles, and disks that are oblong-oval, narrowed to an 

 acute point, almost equal at the base, toothed. Samara downy, bearing a 

 dense fringe of hairs at the edge : it is smaller than that of U. americana, 

 by the figure in Michaux's North American Sylva, narrowed to both ends, 

 and having an open niche at the upper one. (Michx. N. A. S., Pursh FL 

 A. S.) A tree, 30 ft. high. Introduced in 1820. 



Description, fyc. The wahoo elm is a tree seldom exceeding 30 ft. in height, 

 with a diameter of 9 in. or 10 in. The flowers do not differ materially from those 

 of the other elms. The seeds are fringed, and much smaller than those of the 

 white American elm. The leaves are oval, doubly denticulated, and rather small. 

 The most remarkable part of the tree is, however, a fungous appendage, two 

 or three lines wide, attached to the branches throughout their whole length ; 

 from which the name of alata (winged) has been given to the species. The 



