102 



off to this depreciation of our walnuts, peculiar to North 

 America, (the walnut of Europe, being Juglcms regia, and 

 introduced there from Persia,) we have 



Chestnuts, ver j sweet and may be (as they usually are) eaten 

 raw ; the Indians sell them to the English for twelve pence 

 the bushel. These famous chestnuts are our variety of Castanea 

 vesca, which are smaller and " sweeter" nuts than the Euro- 

 pean form. 



Beech. Fagus ferruginca, mistaken for F. sylvestris. 

 ' Ash. Fraxiniis Americana and other species, taken for F. 

 excelsior of Great Britain. Quick Beam or Wild Ash, Pyrus 

 (Sorbus) Americana. Our Mountain Ash, represents the P. 

 aucuparia or the Rowan Tree, Roan Tree, Wichen Tree of 

 England, concerning which there are many superstitious beliefs 

 prevalent in that country ; but of which happily none are 

 attached to our species. 



Birch White and Black. Betula alba variety 'populifolia and 

 B. nigra for Betula alba of Great Britian. 



Poplar but differing in the Leaf Populus tremelloides the 

 most common kind instead of P. nigra of Europe. 



Plumb Tree, several kinds bearing som« long, round, white, 

 yellow, red and black plums, all differing in their fruit from 

 those of England. 



This list of plums seems, at first sight, rather formidable. — 

 The common plum tree of England is the Prunus dom^esiica 

 and is there found in hedges ; while the bullace plum (P. 

 insititia) is the other British kind. The first named has been 

 considered only a variety of Pruniis spinosa or sloe^ but 

 whether this be so or not, all the fine varieties of garden plums 

 have originated from the Primus domestica. 



What our author therefore found as New England Rarities, 

 representing the English plum tree, I am inclined to consider 

 as being the Canada plum {Primus Americana^, which bears 

 the "some long," and are yellow, orange or red ; the Beach 

 plum {Prunus mariiima^ which bears the " round" and varies 

 from purple with a glaucous hue to crimson ; but what the 

 " black" and the " white" are, I am at a loss to conjecture, un- 

 less Prunus insititia were really indigenous to this country and 



