FIELD AND FOREST. 



2 9 



Timber-trees of the Dismal Swamp. 



During a recent excursion made by a party of botanists from Wash- 

 ington to and through the Dismal Swamp of Virginia, the growth of 

 timber-trees was carefully noted, and I submit the following list of all 

 the species observed to attain a height of twenty feet or more and a 

 diameter of four inches and upwards, together with the subjoined re- 

 marks. 



Magnolia glauca, L. 

 Liriodendron Tulipifera, L. 

 Rhus copallina, L. 

 Acer rubrum, L. 

 Liquidambar Styracifiua, L. 

 Aralia spinsoa, L. 

 Nyssa multiflora, Wang. 

 Nyssa uniflora, Walt. 

 Oxydendrum arboreum, D. C. 

 Ilex opaca. Ait. 

 Ilex Cassine, L, 

 Diospyros A^irginiana, L. 



Fraxinus Americana. L. 

 Fraxinus viridis, Michx. 

 Ulmus fulva, Michx. 

 Ulmus Americana, L. 

 Ulmus alata, Michx. 

 Quercus aquatica, Catesby. 

 Fagus ferruginea, Ait. 

 Myrica cerifera, L. 

 Salix nigra, Marsh. 

 Pinus Taeda, L. 

 Cupressus thyoides, L. 

 Taxodium distichum, Richard. 



It is not of course pretented that the twenty-four species here enu- 

 merated constitute all the trees growing in the Dismal Swamp, per- 

 haps not all that might have been detected if none had escaped our 

 observation, but it is believed that the list could not be very consider- 

 ably extended without pursuing other routes through the Swamp than 

 that followed by our party, which was through Jericho, Feeder and 

 the Dismal Swamp Canals, and around the northern and eastern shores 

 of Lake Drummond. 



To many this list will appear remarkable for what it does not con- 

 tain. The absence of oaks ( Q. aquatica excepted,) of hickories and 

 other Jicglandacae, oi Plat anus, Celtis, Morus, Betula and Populus was 

 certainly not to be expected, yet if any of these trees inhabit the Dis- 

 mal Swamp they are no where abundant or common. This list, how- 

 ever, as in all such cases, conveys a very inadequate idea of the real 

 character of the timber of the Swamp. This is due to the great prev- 



