12 



BULLETIN 205, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Transportation should be as rapid as possible and the young trees 

 should be set out or heeled in immediately upon receipt. Transplant- 

 ing should be done when the trees are leafless. 



SWAMP PRIVET. 



VALUE AS DUCK FOOD. 



The swamp privet is included principally on account of the testi- 

 mony of numerous hunters as to its usefulness. Wood ducks in 

 particular are said to feed extensively upon its seeds. Weeks before 

 other species of ducks arrive these birds are abundant in the country 

 where swamp privet grows and are said to consume most of the 



crop of seeds, leaving 

 little for other ducks. 

 The seeds have been 

 found in numerous 

 mallard stomachs, but 

 in quantity in only 

 one. 



DESCREPTION OF PLANT. 



Swamp privet (For- 

 estiera acuminata) or 

 bois blanc, found in 

 the same kinds of lo- 

 calities as the water 

 elm, is a smooth- 

 barked shrub (some- 

 times a small tree) 

 usually with drooping 

 stems, which fre- 

 quently take root at 

 the tip. The smooth, light-green leaves (fig. 10) are opposite, oval, 

 taper-pointed at both ends, and with rounded serrations which are 

 more prominent on the apical half. The fruit of swamp privet is a 

 blue watery berry from one-half to three-fourths of an inch in length. 

 Greatly subject to insect attack, it is usually distorted. The pit is 

 nearly as long as the berry, pointed at both ends, and has numerous 

 lengthwise, fibrous ridges. The seed within is white and smooth. 

 The flowers, borne in clusters, bloom in March and April, and the 

 fruit is ripe in May and June. 



As is the case with seeds of the water elm, those of the swamp 

 privet may remain under water for a long period without apparent 

 deterioration. Probably most of the seeds are exposed by the annual 

 lowering of the water level and germinate the summer they are pro- 

 duced. (See fig. 11.) Whether those which fall in deeper water ever 



Fig. 10. — Leaves of swamp privet. 



