2050 AKBOllETUM AND FKUTJCETUM. PART 111. 



stead of the face, as is the case with the bark of most other trees. The 

 bark of the young shoots is smooth, and of a yellowish green colour. 

 The leaves are alternate, and on rather long petioles ; they vary in size from 

 Sin. to 6 in. in diameter; and they are palmate; that is, they are divided into 

 five deeply cut lobes, which are finely denticulated at the edge. When they 

 first expand, a small tuft of reddish down is perceptible at the back of the 

 middle rib of each leaf. " In warm weather, a viscous substance exudes from the 

 leaves of those trees which have grown on dry ground ; and, when bruised, they 

 emit a sensible aromatic odour." (Michaux.) The male and female catkins, 

 which appear about March or April, are on different branches of the same tree. 

 The male are oval, and about 1 in. in length ; the female ones are not conspicu- 

 ous. " The fruit is globular, and bristling with points. When arrived at maturity, 

 it is about l^in. in diameter, and is suspended by a flexible pedicel, 1 in. or 

 2 in. long : the globes, which are green at first, and afterwards yellow, are com- 

 posed of a great number of closely connected capsules. At the beginning of 

 autumn, these capsules open, and give liberty to the seeds, which are small, 

 blackish, oblong, compressed, and surmounted by a wing. Each capsule con- 

 tains one or two seeds, united with a number of minute bodies, incapable of 

 germination." (Id.) The leaves die off of an intensely deep purplish red, 

 more or less mixed with orange, and with some leaves entirely of that colour. 

 They hang on the trees till the first frosts, when they drop off simultaneously. 

 The rate of growth of this tree, in the climate of London, is from 8 ft. to 10 ft. 

 in 10 years from the seed ; and in 20 years it will attain the height of 

 25 ft. or 30 ft., and flower and ripen fruit. In good soil, and sheltered situ- 

 ations, the tree will attain the height of upwards of 60 ft., there being trees 

 exceeding this size at Woburn Farm, Chertsey, and at Strathfieldsaye. These 

 trees flower and produce fruit ; but it has not been observed whether the 

 seeds arrive at maturity. The longevity of the tree is probably not great, 

 from its growing in marshy situations, and from the want of durability in its 

 wood. 



Geography. The liquidambar spreads through nearly two thirds of the 

 United States, and through a great part of Mexico. In North America, its 

 most northern point is between Philadelphia and Boston, lat. 43 30' N. ; and 

 it extends westward as far as the Illinois River. " In the middle, western, and 

 southern states," says Michaux, "the sweet gum is sufficiently abundant to be 

 numbered among the most common trees ; and it is met with wherever the 

 soil is fertile, cool, and exposed to temporary inundations. In the south, it 

 grows, also, in the great swamps that border the rivers ; and there, owing, 

 doubtless, to the mildness of the winters, and the intense heat of the summers, 

 it displays its amplest dimensions." The largest trees grow in moist rich 

 soils ; but, where the soil is dry and gravelly, the tree does not attain half its 

 usual size. The largest tree observed by Michaux " was in a swamp five or 

 six miles from Augusta, in Georgia. At 5ft. from the ground, it was 15 ft. 

 7 in. in circumference ; and its head was broad and spreading in proportion to 

 the size of its trunk. It is found, in the American forests, in company with 

 the chestnut white oak (Quercus Prinus palustris), the willow oak (Q. 

 Phe"llos), the wahoo ( t/'lmus alata), the black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), the red 

 maple (/Tcer rubrum), the red ash (jPraxinus tomentosa), and the black 

 ash ( F. sambucifolia)." (Michaux.) In Mexico, the liquidambar is generally 

 found in moist valleys, where it attains an enormous size. 



History. The first record we find of the liquidambar appears to be in a 

 work written by Francis Hernandez, a Spanish naturalist and physician, who 

 was sent out by Philip II. of Spain to examine and describe the natural pro- 

 ductions of Spanish America. This work, which professed to be a history 

 of the plants, animals, and minerals of Mexico, was originally published in 

 that country, in Spanish, under the care, and with the name, of Father 

 Ximenes ; but it was afterwards republished, in Latin, at Rome, with the name 

 of the real author attached, in 1651. Dr. Hernandez describes the liquidambar, 

 or Xochiochotzo-Quahieliel, as he calls it, as being a large tree, and producing 

 a fragrant gum, which, from its appearance, gave the idea of amber in a 



