uu 



\RBORETUM AND na'TK'ETUM. 



PART 111. 



which is edible, and, though small, is remarkably sweet, and said to be very 

 wholesome. Some of the species, according to Descemet, are very orna- 

 mental : particularly C. crassitolia, the branches of which assume the character 

 of ■ tan ; and ('. occidentalis, the branches of which droop like a parasol. 

 The wood of C. australis is valuable ; but that of most of the other species is 

 too weak to be ol' any use in the arts. The leaves of all the species, like 

 those of all the species of Diospyros, drop off almost simultaneously, and thus 

 sion vcr\ little trouble to the gardener in sweeping them up. Propa- 

 gated by layers or seeds. Plants, in the London nurseries, are Is. Qd. each ; 

 at Bollw viler, 1 franc ; ami at New York, 50 cents. 



5 \.C. ,u straYis L. The southern Celtis, or European Nettle Tree. 



Uentificatkm. Lin. Sp. PL, I47S. ; Mill. Diet., No. 1. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 993. ; Du Ham. Arb., ed. 

 dot., 1 p. 34. t. s. : Lam. 111., t. 884, f. 1. ; Flore Fran?., ;>. p. SIS. ; Duby et Dec. Bot. Gallic., 

 1. p. 4*1 ; Uumii. et Schult Syst. Veg., ti. p. 305. ; Wats. Dend. Brit, t. 105. 

 SynoHymes. 7.otu< arbor Lob. Zlc, 2. p. ISti. ; Lotus sive Celtis Cam. Epit., 155. ; Lotetree; Mico- 

 eoiilier austral, M icocoulier de Provence, Fabrecoulier, Fabreguier des Provencaux (see N. Du 

 Ham: ; Lotu, Ital. 



Hgs. Cam. Epit, ic. ; Lam. 111., t. 884. f. 1. ; Scop. Del. Flor. Insubr., t. 18. ; St. Hilaire 

 . 27. t. 7. ; Du Ham. Arb., ed. nov., 1. t. 8.; Wats. Dend. Brit., t. 105. ; andour^. 1252. 



Spec. Char., $-c. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate, or acuminate, 

 argutely serrated, unequal at the base, rough on the upper surface ; soft, 

 from down, on the under one. Flowers solitary. Fruit black. Indigenous 

 to the south of Europe and the north of Africa {Willd. Sp. PL, and Rcem. 

 it Schult. Syst. Veg.), also to the west of Asia. A tree, growing to the 

 height of 4()ft. Introduced in 1 796 ; flowering in May, and ripening its 

 fruit in October. 



Variety. Brotero, in his Flora Lusitanica, mentions a variety, with variegated 

 leaves, that was found wild in Portugal. 



Description. A tree, from 30 ft. to 40 ft. high, with a straight trunk and 

 branched head. The branches are long, slender, and flexible, with a grey 

 bark, spotted with white, and covered with a slight down at the extremities. 

 The bark of the trunk is dark brown. The 

 leaves are of a dark green, marked strongly 

 with the nerves on the lower side, and, when 

 young, covered with a yellowish down. 

 The\' are oval-lanceolate, terminating in a 

 point at the summit, and at the base having 

 one side prolonged down the petiole. The 

 flowers are small, greenish, and inconspi- 

 cuous ; and are produced at the same time 

 as the leaves. The fruit, which, when ripe, 

 is blackish, and resembles a very small 

 withered wild cherry, is said not to become 

 edible till the first frost (see N. Du Ham., 

 vol. ii. p. :>.').) ; and it hangs on till the fol- 

 lowing spring. It is remarkably sweet, and' 



00 ed to have been the Lotus of the 

 ancients, the food of the Lotopbagij which 

 Herodotus, Dioscorides, and Theophrastus 

 descril t, pleasant, and wholesome; 



and which Jlomer says was so delicious, 

 as to make those who ate it forget their 

 . i - Odyssey, lib. ix. v. 93.) The 

 till eaten IB Spain; and Dr. 



i layi that the modern Greeks are wry fond of them. According 

 to \)v. Sibtborpe, they arc called, in modern Greek, honey berries. (See Hogg 

 on the Classical Plants of Sicily, in the -fount, of Bot., 2d ser., p. 204.) The tree 



rapidly, more especially when once established, and afterwards cut 



, sometimes prodiu tag .hoots, in the climate of London, a ft. or 8 ft. in 

 It bear pruning remarkably well, at every age. Its leaves are very 



