CHAP. CI 



n,MA ( !•:.!•:. CE'LTJS. 



1419 



Surumyme*. C cardifdlia VHtrtL Hart Par. \ C cordfcta DesftmL, t. 2. p. 448., Dum. Coins. Bot. 



Cult., 6. 389., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; Hagberry or Hoop-ash, Amer.; Micocouliet :« Femlles en 



Cdnir, Fr. 

 Engravings. Michx. North Amer. Sylva, a t. 115. ; N. Du Ham., 2. t. 9. ; and our fig. 1254. 



Sjh-c. Char., $c. Leaves with disks ovate-acuminate, Gin. long, 3— 4 in. 

 broad ; heart-shaped, auricled and unequal at the base ; serrated with un- 

 equal teeth, rather leathery, rough on both surfaces. Flowers 1 — 2 

 upon the peduncle. Fruit black. (Mkihx., Lam. Encycl., H'i//d., Pur.sh.) 

 Indigenous to North America, in woods and near rivers in Virginia, 

 Kentucky, and Tennessee; in which places it flowers in May. (Pursk.) Al- 

 lied to C '. occidental. Young branches downy. Bark red brown. Leaves 

 a in. long, and more. Petioles slightly hairy, 3— 6" lines long. Flowers 

 much like those of C. australis, upon slender peduncles; the peduncles of 

 the fruit longer than the petioles. Fruit of the size of the bird cherry. 

 (Lamarck, as quoted in Rcem. et Schult. St/st. Veg., vi. p. 307.) 

 Description, %c. This, according to Michaux, is a very distinct species ; and 

 it forms " one of the finest trees which compose the dusky forests of the Ohio." 

 It sometimes grows to the height of more than 80 ft., but with a trunk of the very 



1254 



disproportionate diameter of only 18 in. or 20 in. 

 " The hackberry is distinguished by the form of 

 its trunk, which is straight, and undivided to a 

 great height ; and by its bark, which is greyish, un- 

 broken, and covered with asperities unequally dis- 

 tributed over its surface. Its leaves are larger than 

 those of any other species of nettle tree; being 

 (> in. long, and 3 in. or 4 in. broad. They are oval- 

 acuminate, denticulated, cordiform at the base, of 

 a thick substantial texture, and of a rough surface. 

 The flowers are small, white, and often united in 

 pairs on a common peduncle. The fruit is round, 

 about as large as a pea, and black at its maturity." 

 (X. Amer. Syl. y iii. p. 48.) The hackberry is found 

 in the greatest abundance in the western states of 

 America, and on the banks of rivers and in valleys, 

 wherever the soil is fertile, in Kentucky and 

 Tennessee. The banks of the Delaware above Philadelphia may be con- 

 sidered as its north-eastern boundary; and it has never been found in 

 any of the more southern states. It was introduced into England in 

 IS 12. It is principally considered, even in America, as an ornamental tree; 

 and is well adapted for planting in situations where a screen or shade 

 is required, from the rapidity and luxuriance of its growth, and the large 

 size and thick texture of its leaves. The wood is of little value, from its 

 weakness, and its liability to decay when exposed to the weather. It is, 

 however, " fine-grained and compact, though not heavy ; and, when freshly 

 exposed, it is quite white. Sawn in a direction parallel or oblique to its 

 concentric circles, it exhibits the fine undulations that are observed in the 

 elm and the locust." (X. Amer. SyL, iii. p. 48.) The sap-wood, Michaux 

 adds, if laid open in spring, will change, in a few minutes, to green, from a pure 

 white. The only uses to which the wood is applied, in America, is for 

 shingles, for the bottoms of chairs, and for baskets ; for which it is admirably 

 adapted, from its lightness, facility to split, and elasticity. The plants of this 

 kind of Celtis, in the arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges (where it is named C. 

 cordata), are quite small ; and from their appearance we should judge it to 

 be only a variety of C. occidentalis, though, according to Michaux's figure 

 (of which fig. 1254. is a reduced copy), the two sorts are very distinct. 



Statistics. In Cheshire, at Eaton Hall, a tree, 13 years planted, is 15 ft. high. In Durham, at 

 South End, 6 years planted, it is lift. high. Near Dublin, at Terenure, 10 years planted, it is 

 8 ft. high. In Austria, at Briick on the Levtha, 12 years planted, it is 9 ft. high. In Lombardy, 

 at Monza, 24 years planted, it is 35 ft. high ; diameter of the trunk 7 in., and of the head 20 ft. 



