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THE AMERICAN 



over two feet iu length, one I measured being 

 twenty-seven inches. Tlie tree owed much 

 of its beauty to the multitude of leaflets that 

 made up a single leaf, as the branches, when 

 stripped of tlieir foliage, had a rough club- 

 shape, about as beautiful as some of our Sumacs 

 under similar circumstances. I could not find 

 any name in my botany, either scientilic or 

 common, that 1 was willing to call it, and all 

 the name T could find by inquiry among the 

 inhabitants, was " Tlie Tree." People who had 

 lived there mon^ than forty years knew as little 

 as I did about it; only that the tree had stood 

 there from their earliest recollection, and had 

 changed but little during that time. Being 

 diflerent from the rest of the forest trees, it had 

 been left when the land was cleared, probably 

 as a curiosity. I found upon inquiry that there 

 was an old surgeon living at Pompey — a small 

 place ten miles northeast — who could tell me 

 about this wonderful tree. I wrote to him, 

 and in reply he gave me not only the name of 

 the tree but some other facts (concerning it; 

 however, I will give his description, using such 

 parts of his letter as applies to this subject: 



"The tree you speak of on Mr. Winchel's 

 farm I recollect, as it was a rare specimen which 

 I did not expect this side of Mason and T)ixon's 

 line. This tree is the Zanthoxylum clava-Her- 

 culis, and it is a native of the West Indies, and 

 not of the United States; it is also found on the 

 coast of the Chesapeake Bay. Tjie Zanthoxy- 

 lum fraxineum is indigenous to the Northern 

 and Middle States, and was considered by Lin- 

 n;pus as a variety of this species. About forty 

 years ago there was a tree of the same kind 

 growing in this town (Pompey) , which attracted 

 much attention, and was visited by DeAVitt 

 Clinton, former Governor of this State. He 

 pronounced it the Zanthoxylum, and said he 

 knew of no other tree of the kind this side of 

 Louisiana. The original tree was cut down, 

 but a few sprouts have been preserved, and are 

 considered beautiful shade trees. A medicine 

 has been extracted from the bark called Zan- 

 thoxylin, which is found useful in rheumatism, 

 and in (luickening the blood. It imparts its 

 virtues to water by boiling, or to spirits. This 

 tree is so rare I think it would be profitable to 

 cultivate all you can. Jehiel Steauxs." 



1 wrote to Prof. AVood upon the subject a short 

 time afterward, but he seemed to be ignorant 

 of any such tree, nor have I seen this species 

 referred to by Gray. The only reason I could 

 assign for its being so far north was that it had 

 been brought there by the Indians in some of 

 their migrations from the shores of the Chesa- 

 peake, perhaps, and planted there for its medi- 

 cinal properties. In substantiation of this view, 

 there are abundant evidences that the ground 

 where both these trees stand was used long 

 before the plow of the whiteman touched its 



soil for an Indian camping ground, as Indian 

 relics are found there in such abundance as to 

 indicate that it was not the transitory lodge for 

 a day or two, but an often frecjuented resort, if 

 not a steady dwelling place. Again, the tree I 

 observed, though notvery largo. isold. I counted 

 the concentric rings of a limb less than an inch 

 in diameter, and found that there were twenty- 

 six yearly additions ; another, a little more than 

 an inch llirongh, had over forty: so that if the 

 body of the tree grow as slowly as the limbs, a 

 hundred years would make but very little change 

 in its size. I find, then, in a specimen I have 

 before me, there are eighteen wood circles in 

 five-sixteenths of an inch. That climate docs 

 not seem to be natural for it, as I noticed the 

 next spring that it did not leaf out till long 

 after the other trees had spread their leaves to 

 the sunshine. It seems to be somewhat accli- 

 mated, however, for though late in putting forth 

 its leaves, and also not maturing its young shoots 

 always so but that they die near down to the 

 beginning of that year's growth, yet it thrives 

 and braves the winter winds and snows, slowly 

 assimilating earth and air to its use during the 

 more genial part of midsummer, when the cli- 

 mate is nearer that of its native West Indies. 

 Though it grows so slowly there. I am satisfied 

 from its appearance that it would be a tree of 

 rapid growth where the climate is more favor- 

 able. G. H. French. 



IRVIXGTON, IlAS. 



[Note. — We invite attention to the subject of 

 the above article. Zanthoxylum fraxineum, 

 referred to in Dr. Steam's letter, is a synonym 

 for our American Prickly Ash {Zanthoxylum 

 Americamnn. J*Iili), which was also called by 

 Linuieus a variety of Zanthoxylum ClavaSer- 

 culis. The Angelica tree (Aralia spinosa, L.), 

 which grows in the Southern States (reaching 

 also into Southern Illinois), is sometimes called 

 Prickly Ash, and is found in cultivation under 

 the name of Hercules' Club. If dried specimens 

 of the leaves of the tree in question could be 

 sent to a well iuformed botanist, we do not doubt 

 the species could soon be determined. — Kd.] 



A WOKD or two, supposing we have flowers: 

 In the genial spring time, after the close con- 

 finement of winter, outdoor work is happiness. 

 To hoe, to rake, to dig in the moist fragrant 

 earth, seems to be what we shall always like to 

 be doing. But it is not always spring. Plants 

 are the most tyrannical of pets ; they must be 

 tended in season aiul out of season. Neglect 

 is death; or worse, deterioration. Better have 

 only a grass plat, than a garden gone to waste. 

 It liiakes one think of the garden of Eden after 

 the fall. 



