CHAP. XCVI. 



S ANT ALA CEJE. NY SUA. 



iim 



2 1. N. 



Identification. 



biflo v ka Michx. The twin-flowered Nyssa, or Tupelo T 



ree. 



Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 259. j Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 111:3. 



Synonymes. N. aquatica Lin. S/>. PL, 1511., Hurt. Ctijl., 462., 7J/< BW" Harbh:, 1. p. 114., J/tC&r. ,V. 

 Amer. Si//., iii. p. 36. ; N. caroiini&na /.. ; N. integnfblia Ait. Hot/. Keto, 3. p. 446., SmrtA in Rees's 

 Cyclop. ; N. pedunculis uniflbria Grim. Virg., 121. ; Mountain Tupelo, Mart. Mi//. ; Gum Tree, Sour 

 Gum Tree, Peperidge, Amer. 



Engravings. Catesb. Car., 1. t. 41. j Tluk. Aim., t. 172. f. 6. ; and our figs. 1 195, 1190. 



Spec. Char., $c, Leaves ovate-oblong, entire, acute at both ends, glabrous. 



13.) The 

 A decidu- 



Female flowers two upon a peduncle. ( Willd. Sp. PL, iv. p. 1 

 drupe is short and obovate, and the nut striated. (Michaux.) 

 1195 ous tree, a native of Virginia and Ca- 

 rolina, in waterv places, where it 

 grows to the height of 40 ft. or 45 ft. ; 

 flowering in April and May. It was 

 introduced in 1739, and is one of the 

 most common sorts in British collec- 

 tions. The tupelo tree is most abun- 

 dant in the southern parts of New 

 York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, 

 where it grows only in wet ground ; 

 having a clear stem, of a uniform size, 

 from the base to the height of 5 ft. or 

 G ft., where it throws out horizontal branches. On old trees the bark is 

 " thick, deeply furrowed, and, unlike that of every other tree, divided into 

 hexagons, which are sometimes nearly regular." (Michx. N. Amer. Syl., iii. 

 p. 37). The leaves are smooth, slightly glabrous below, and often united 

 in bunches at the extremity of the young lateral shoots. The flowers are 

 small, and scarcely apparent ; but the fruit, which is always abundant, and 

 attached in pairs, is of a deep blue colour, and is ornamental, remaining on 

 the tree after the falling of the leaf, and affording food for birds. " The 

 tupelo holds a middle place between trees with hard and those with soft 

 wood. When perfectly seasoned, the sap-wood is of a light reddish tint, 

 and the heart-wood of a deep brown. Of trees exceeding 15 in. or 18 in. 

 in diameter, more than half the trunk is hollow." (Michx.) The timber 

 of the tupelo is of little value, but, from its peculiar organisation (the fibres 

 being united in bundles, and interwoven like a braided cord), it is extremely 

 difficult to split. It is on this account much esteemed in America for 

 wooden bowls. As fuel, it burns slowly, and diffuses a great heat. "At 

 Philadelphia, many persons, when making their provision of wood for the 

 winter, select a certain proportion of the tupelo, which is sold separately, 

 for logs." (Michx.). In British gardens it does not appear that much 

 pains have ever been taken to encourage the growth of this or any other 

 species of Nyssa ; for though there are abundance of plants to be procured 

 in the nurseries, yet there are very few of a tree-like size to be seen in 

 pleasure-grounds. The largest tupelo tree that we know of in England is 

 at the Countess of Shaftesbury's villa at Richmond, where it is 45 ft. high, 

 and has a trunk 1 ft. 4 in. in diameter. There are, also, a tree in Lee's Nursery 

 20 ft. high ; one in the grounds of the villa of the late Mr. Vere, at Kensing- 

 ton Gore, about 15 ft. high ; one at the Duke of Wellington's, at Strathfield- 

 saye, 30 ft. high ; and some at White Knights ; from all of which, except that 

 at Lady Shaftesbury's, we have received specimens when in flower, and all 

 these were male blossoms. At Schwobber, in Hanover (see p. 148.), there is 

 a nyssa 40 ft. high. To insure the prosperity of the tree, it ought always to be 

 planted in moist peat, or near water. The trees at Strathfieldsaye and at 

 Schwobber are in moist meadows, on a level with the water of adjoining rivers. 



¥ 2. N. (b.) villoma Michx. The hairy-leaved Nyssa, or Tupelo Tree. 

 Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 258. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 4* p. 1112. ; Pursh Fl. Amer., Sept., 



Synonymes. N. sylvatica Mich. N. Amer. Syl., 3. p. 33., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; N. multifldra Wan- 

 genh. Amer., 46. t.16. f. 39. ; N. montana Hort. ; N. pedunculis mullifloris Gron. Virg., 121. ; Sour 

 <ium Tree, Black Gum, Yellow Gum, Amer.-. haariger Tulpclobaum, Gcr. 



Engravings. Wangenh. Amer., t. 16. f. 39. ; Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t. 110. : and ourfigs. 1197, 11Q8 



4 r 4 



