208 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 167. 



A inert' inspection of these names seems to make clear what 

 has been stated, that not only were they not derived from any 

 European name or description of sugar, but that, whatever 

 may be the difference in the dialects or language of different 

 tribes, they all agree in referring sugar to the Maple-tree, and 

 to the rlovv or rain of sap which runs from it so freely in the 

 spring. And when we estimate the natural force and internal 

 pressure of the sap when most active in trees, the suggestion 

 that the idea of pressure exerted to express the sap applies 

 better to the Sugar-cane than to the Maple, loses all its force. 

 It is true that more extended information as to Indian names for 

 the Maple and for sugar is desirable, and it is to be hoped that 

 the investigation of them will be pursued through all the 

 languages of the tribes within the habitat of the Sugar Maple. 

 But whether it takes place sooner or later only one result can 

 be anticipated. 



The historical facts adduced show maple-sugar to be a prod- 

 uct we owe either to the Indian or to the French. But the 

 French, whether clergy or laity, always in their writings treat 

 the sap and the sugar as novelties to be explained to their cor- 

 respondents ; and no claim on the part of the French to its 

 introduction by them has yet been found. On the contrary, 

 both the cleric Lafitau and Bossu the chevalier explicitly 

 agree, though writing at different periods, in ascribing its 

 origin to the Indians themselves — a conclusion which it is 

 difficult, if not impossible, to avoid. 



The linguistic evidence, so far as brought out, is remarkably 

 consistent, and points with equal directness and force to the 

 same conclusion. 



As the evidence of history and of language thus combine to 

 support the same proposition, it seems only reasonable to 

 accept their decision, that it is, after all, to the Indian that we 

 are indebted for the important and national product of maple- 

 sugar. 



Providence, R. i. William D. Ely. 



Winter Studies of the Pine Barren Flora of Lake 

 Michigan.- — III. 



HTHE Huckleberry and the Blueberries are objects of interest 

 -*• in their winter appearance. Four species, representing two 

 genera, are found here. All have reddish or purple branches, 

 whatever may be the color of the bark in summer. The 

 Black Huckleberry [Gaylussacia resinosa) often looks rusty, 

 even to the smaller twigs, imparting to the shrub, as a whole, 

 a sombre look. It branches freely, with an irregular, strag- 

 gling spray. Many of the twigs are red or reddish, and the 

 small buds on them of a brighter red. It averages about two 

 feet in height, but attains three or four feet in damper and 

 richer soils, equaling smaller stems of Vaccinium corymbosum, 

 near which it may be growing. It is very abundant on the 

 sand-ridges, especially where they are open, and the Pines 

 have given way to the Oaks. The Low Blueberry {Vaccinium 

 vacillans) grows along with it, and is about as common. It is 

 not quite as tall, averaging a foot and a half, and is a prettier 

 plant in its winter garb. The main stem has a smooth, light- 

 gray bark, frequently greenish above, crossed and checked 

 with fine cracks, forming a mesh of dark lines. The branches 

 are short and spur-like, somewhat regularly arranged around 

 the stems. They start out horizontally, but soon curve up- 

 ward. The fresh-grown twigs and smaller parts of the 

 branches are usually pale red or pink, and contrast very 

 clearly in color with the body of the plant. Such branches, 

 as well as those of Gaylussacia, look as if they had been 

 dipped to a certain depth in a red dye, the line of division 

 between the red and the gray bark being abrupt and sharply 

 drawn. The bud-scales are of a darker red than the twigs, 

 and the buds near their ends prominent. In the Dwarf Blue- 

 berry ( r. Pennsylvanicuni) the whole plant is reddish purple, or 

 the lower part of the stem may be green and the top colored. 

 Its height is about a foot ; the branches are irregular and 

 ascending, making an acute angle with the stem, and the buds 

 are quite large, with scales bright-colored like the bark. The 

 Dwarf Blueberry generally grows in damper places than the 

 two just mentioned, fringing the open places occupied by 

 sloughs or wet ground, taking the border-land between the 

 wet and the dry, where it thrives best. But the three grow 

 together in many localities, and, though no close lines of 

 habitat can be drawn, they prefer those mentioned, and are 

 about equally abundant. The largest of the Vacciniums, V. 

 corymbosum, the Swamp Blueberry, is of limited range, being 

 found on the borders of a few of the ponds and Cranberry- 

 marshes. The canes are from three to seven or eight feet 

 high, the thickest of them barely an inch in diameter, the shrub 

 being considerably smaller than those found in the Tamarack 



swamps, which are its more usual habitat. The grayish, 

 flaky, outer bark of the older stems is easily detached, coming 

 off in spots and exposing the brown inner bark, giving them 

 a mottled look when this occurs. The new shoots and twigs 

 are red, the longest of them straight and brier-like, though 

 with a bark more shining than that of the Dogwoods, in this 

 respect resembling some of the Willows. The bark of this 

 fresh growth is slightly roughened by countless specks of a 

 lighter color, appearing like minute blisters, and contributing 

 a pretty feature to the comely shoots. 



With the Dwarf Blueberry, but oftener in wetter ground, 

 will be seen the purple stems of the Running Blackberry 

 (Rubus hispidus). They are very slender, and clothed with 

 an abundance of weak, reflexed prickles. The leaves are 

 quite persistent, becoming dark purple in autumn, and cling- 

 ing to the vines in winter. Sometimes, when the winter is 

 mild, the leaves of the Strawberry persist, turning purple like 

 those of the Running Blackberry, and appear quite fresh when 

 in sheltered spots where they are partly covered by fallen 

 leaves, or protected by the branches of some low-growing 

 Pine. 



Englewood, III. E. J. Hill. 



New or Little Known Plants. 



Encephalartos Freclerici Guilielmi. 



HPHIS remarkable and extremely ornamental Cycad was in- 

 ■*- troduced into England in 1877, when stems of it were 

 forwarded from Grahamstown to Kew as " a new species of 

 Encephalartos, with fronds like those of Cycas revoluta, the 

 crown of the stem clothed with wool to the thickness of about an 

 inch." The specimen represented in the illustration on page 209 

 was one of these. Soon after its arrival it developed a whorl of 

 female cones, each about nine inches long, which, however, 

 had to be removed to save the life of the plant. So far as I 

 know, it has not attempted to flower since. It is now a hand- 

 some specimen, the stem being five feet in circumference, 

 nearly three feet high, crowned with one hundred and seven 

 leaves, each three feet long, rigid and spineless. The pinnae 

 are narrow, set closely together, conduplicate, gray-green and 

 spine-tipped. A whorl of new leaves is produced every year, 

 the last whorl consisting of no less than thirty-four full-sized 

 leaves. The diameter of the head is seven and a half feet. 



There are about a dozen species of Encephalartos, all natives 

 of tropical and southern Africa. They are all represented by 

 living examples at Kew,' where many of the specimens are of 

 very large size. E. coffer, E. Altensteinii and E. horridus are 

 veritable giants in the Palm house, the conditions in which 

 appear to be peculiarly suitable to this genus. E. brachy- 

 phyllus and E. Ghillinckii, both natives of the same region as 

 E. Frederici Guilielmi, namely, Kaffraria, and both near allies 

 of that species, may be grown in an ordinary greenhouse if 

 kept a little dry in winter. All the other kinds are happiest in 

 a sunny stove. 



The cones of some of them are very ornamental, the female 

 cones of E. villosus, another south African species, being, 

 when ripe, at least twice as large as the largest pine-apple, 

 the color of the large, fleshy scales being rich, orange-yellow, 

 that of the nut, like fruits half-hidden beneath them, a brilliant 

 scarlet. In the woods along Buffalo River, near King William's 

 Town, this species is as plentiful, and produces a somewhat 

 similar effect to that of the male fern in the woods of England. 

 The fruits, if allowed to remain till they ripen, are destroyed 

 or greedily eaten by the monkeys and large birds, but in the 

 vicinity of towns they are favorite ornaments with the colon- 

 ists, who cut the cones in their green state and take them 

 home to ripen. 



Some of the species produce very large cones, as, for 

 instance, E. Altetisteinii, recently figured in the Botanical 

 Magazine (t. 7162). This has a female cone eighteen inches 

 long by thirty inches in circumference, the fleshy scales 

 packed closely together, and orange-yellow in color. A male 

 plant at Kew developed two cones last year. Sir Joseph Hooker 

 mentions a huge specimen of this species which was seen by 

 a Mr. Sanderson " in a secluded valley in Natal, about thirty 

 miles from the sea, the trunk of which measured sixteen feet 

 before branching, and twenty-five to the crown, which was 

 formed of five branches." 



For large conservatories these plants have a special value, 

 being bold and handsome, the fronds exceedingly durable and 

 not easily injured, whilst they are so robust in constitution 

 that it takes a considerable amount of bad treatment to affect 

 their health. In the southern states of America most of them 



