82 WILLIAM BARTRAM 



it " the most beautiful of any vegetable production " he knew 

 of; he believed that not even the " towering Laurel Magnolia, 

 and exalted Palm . . . exceed it ... in elegance, delicacy, and 

 gracefulness " (p. 131). He remarks that the cypress " stands 

 in the first order of North American trees " (p. 90), and that 

 on passing by a swamp he had observed a species of cypress 

 which " differs little from the white Cedar of New- Jersey and 

 Pennsylvania (Cypressus thyoides) " (p. 411). The halesta 

 dipt era reminds him of " our common wild Mulberry " (p. 

 410). The Nyssa coccinea, he thinks, should be seen in the 

 autumn, " when their fruit is ripe, and the tree divested of 

 its leaves; for then they look as red as scarlet, with their fruit," 

 and he informs us that " The most northern settlement of this 

 tree, yet known, is on the Great Ogeeche, where they are called 

 Ogeeche limes " (p. 17) . The live oaks of the South appeal to 

 him by their " astonishing magnitude." Once he reports that 

 he had " stepped about fifty paces, on a straight line, from the 

 trunk of one of these trees, to the extremity of the limbs " 

 (pp. 84-85). He notes palm trees whose '" straight trunks are 

 sixty, eighty or ninety feet high, with a beautiful taper of a 

 bright ash colour, until within six or seven feet of the top, 

 where it is a fine green colour, crowned with an orb of rich 

 green plumed leaves " (p. 116). A species of Robinia attracts 

 his attention because it displays " a singular pleasing wildness 

 and freedom in its manner of growth " (p. 335) . 



Shrubs, flowers, and other plants are even more numerous 

 than trees in Bartram's landscape, and again the emphasis is 

 on tropical plants or on the uncommon species of semi-tropical 

 and temperate plants. He observes '" a new and most beautiful 

 species of Annona, having clusters of large white fragrant 

 flowers " (p. 18) . He guesses that a certain " admirably beauti- 

 ful and singular " evergreen shrub is a species of Cacalia (p. 

 164) . He is impressed by the strength of the Cactus opuntia, 

 which can support the weight of a man (p. 163). The Cana 

 (sic) Indica presents to him " a glorious shew," the stem rising 

 " six, seven and nine feet high, terminating upwards with spikes 

 of scarlet flowers " (p. 426) . A species of Cleome attracts him 

 by its " very strong scent, somewhat like Gum Assafetida," and 



