BARTRAM'S EXPLORATION. 15 



the flora of the banks of the river up to the Tombigbee. On one of 

 these excursions he discovered the scentless wax myrtle, a small tree , 

 called by the French the wax tree, which possessed none of the fra- 

 grance of the common wax or candleberry tree (Myrica, ceriferci), and 

 for this reason was described by this author as Myrica inodora. Sick 

 with fever, he went in search of a plant of great repute as a remedy 

 against malarial diseases. This he found about 30 miles higher up on 

 the banks of the river, growing under the shelter of Stuartia virgin- 

 ice^ azaleas, and others of the shrubs noticed before. He recognized 

 it as a species of Collinsonia, 1 and named it C. ftnisata, on account of the 

 fine scent of the plant, reminding one of sweet anise and lemon. There 

 he also found the blue sage, Sal/via azurea, u with its spikes of flowers 

 of celestial blue," the scarlet calamintha (Clinopodium coccineum), and 

 a plant of peculiar beauty described as Gerardia flammea, easily rec- 

 ognized by his description as Macranthera fucJisioides Torr. The 

 swamps are mentioned as covered by tall grasses and by cypress of 

 astonishing growth, above which rise on the higher banks magnificent 

 forests of magnolias, with Ilalesia diptera and other trees, the bullace 

 grape with its juicy berries of various colors, crossvine, and American 

 glyciue (Krauhnia ( Wisteria] frutescem], ascending these trees to their 

 loftiest heights, and the dense shrubbery beneath them entangled by 

 the trumpet vine, grape vines, and yellow jessamine. On his return 

 from the Perdido River and from Pensacola, Bartram describes the 

 grassy savannas with their sarracenias extending from the Apalachi- 

 cola to the Mobile River. 



Delighted with his rich harvest of "curious vegetables, " but with 

 his health shattered by malarial fever, Bartram left the banks of the 

 Tensas River and the Bay of Mobile for the banks of the Pearl River 

 in search of medical aid. Returning to Mobile soon afterward, he 

 started near the end of November, 1777, with a party of traders toward 

 the Atlantic coast. After three days' travel he arrived again at the 

 settlements of the Creek Nation, between the falls of the Moclassee 

 (Tallapoosa River) and the Indian town Alabama, near the confluence 

 of the Coosa and the latter river. After a short rest he again left the 

 soil of Alabama by crossing the Chattahoochee River between the 

 towns of Chehaw and Usetta (a short distance above the city of 

 Columbus, Ga.). 



At this point in his narrative this genuine lover of nature repeats 

 his praises of the fragrant groves of illicium left behind him, stating 

 that he never met with it north of latitude 33 nor south of Mobile 

 except at one place, namely, at Lake George, eastern Florida, in 

 latitude 28. 



/The citronella of the settlers, a decoction of it frequently used in fevers as a dia- 

 phoretic and invigorating drink. 



