ITRTICACEJE. 233 



Amerfcana,i\erWo(\ from America, its native country ; fulva, T.atin. yellow, due 

 to the color of wood ; racemosa, the Howors being borne in racemes ; ainta, 

 from the Latin ala, a wing, due to the ridges in the bark of the branches, 

 wliich are wing-like; campestris, Latin campester, pertaining to a plain or 

 field, due to the fact that the plant grows in open places. 



Histori/. — The elm is mentioned by Pliny. Little is known of its early 

 history, and at what date it began to assume importance as an ornamental 

 tree is not recorded. There are some remarkable specimens mentioned for 

 size and age. One planted by Henry IV. of France nvas standing in 1790. 

 One in England, planted by Queen Elizabeth, was cut down in 1745 ; this was 

 more than four feet iu diameter. 



The elm is the most majestic tree we have in planted grounds ; the ni.jst 

 desirable are the U. Americana of America, and the U. campestris of 



Europe. 



Use. — The Ulmus Americana is a favorite ornamental tree, on account ot 

 its majestic form ; it forks into large branches, and wlien planted in parallel 

 rows along walks and drives, the branches interlace, forming graceful curves 

 aud pointed arches. The timber of this tree has not been used nmch in 

 America, because an abundance of better timber is to be found. The Euro- 

 pean U. campestris is not only prized as an ornamental tree, but it yields an 

 excellent lumber, whicli is reinarkable for its dural)ility, especially in water. 



The American species, U. fulva, has a thick inner bark, which is highly 

 charged with mucilage, and is used in medical practice for throat and bron- 

 chial troubles, and for poultices. 



HUMULUS, L. Flowers dicecioiis; cah^x of the staminate flowers 

 5-petaleil, with 5 stamens; anthers with 2 pores; pistillate flowers 

 axillary in short strobiliforni spikes; bracts leaf-like, laxly imbri- 

 cated, '2-fiowered, each floret sessile at the base of a scale-like invo- 

 lucre, embraced by its involute margin; calyx urceolate, truncate, 

 with small teeth; ovary ovoid, compressed ovule, single and pendu- 

 lous; strobile membranaceous, made up of the enlarged imbricated 

 bracts and .scales. Fruit roundish, egg-shaped, inclosed in the trun- 

 cated calyx ; cotyledons linear, spirally involute. Perennial twining 

 herb, with opposite leaves. 



H. lupulus, L. (Common Hop.) Root branching; stem 20 feet long, a 

 number from the same root, twining with tlie sun, striate or angular, twi.sted ; 

 slender l)ranches near the top, upon which the flowers and fruit ai)pear. Leaves 

 opposite, and lobed near the root, alternate and entire above, scabrous on the 

 upper surface ; petioles long ; stipules elliptical-lanceolate and wedge-shaped 

 below, the scales sprinkled with resinous dots, which resin produces the peculiar 

 odor and taste of the hop. July. 



There are several varieties, which differ very little from each other. 



Geor/raphi/. — The. hop grows wild throughout middle Europe and Sil)eria, 

 as far north as the f)2d parallel, the Levant, and Asia Minor, and hsis been 

 introduced into Egvpt. It is also indigenous to .southern Japan and to North 

 America, along the font bills (.f the Rocky Mountains, along the upper 

 Arkansas. Missouri, and Mississippi rivers, and near the shores of Lake 

 Winnipeg, also throughout the Atlantic States north of Virginia. The variety 

 in cultivation was brought to northeast America by European colonists. 



