chap. xxx. xanthoxyla v ce;e. pte'lea. 489 



$ 3. X. mite Willd. The smooth, or thorniest, Xanthoxylum, or Toothache 



Tree. 

 Identification. Willd. Enum., 1013. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 727. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 802. 

 Spec. Char., $c. Thomless. Leaves impari-pinnate, downy beneath. Flowers axillary. {Dec. Prod., 

 i. p. 727.) Introduced from North America in 1812, and said to be a tree growing to the same 

 height as X./raxineum, with flowers of the same colour, and produced in the same months. It 

 may, possibly, be only a variety of the X. /raxineum, as Gleditsclu'a inermis is only a variety of G. 

 triacanthos. 



A pp. i. Half -hardy Species. 



The species of this genus are not very ornamental, otherwise, there are some others, which are 

 natives of China and Japan, which might be tried against a conservative wall : see the enumeration 

 of all the species that have been introduced into Britain, in our Hortus Britannicus. 



Genus II. 



1 



PTELEA L. The Ptelea, or Shrubby Trefoil. Lin. Syst. Monce cia 

 Tetra-Pentandria. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 152, ; Dec. Prod , 2. p. 82. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 806. 

 Synonym.es. Belinda Adans.; Orme de Samarie, Fr. ; Lederblume, Ger. 



¥ 1. P. trifoliata L. The three-fc«^<?fed-leaved Ptelea, or Shrubby Trefoil. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 173. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 1. 670. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 82. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 806. 

 Synont/mes. Orme de Samarie a trois Feuilles, Fr.,; dreybliittrige Lederblume, Ger. 

 Engravings: Dill. Elth., t. 122. > Mill. Ic., t. 211.; N. Du Ham., t. 57.; Hayne Abbild., t. 74. ; 

 Schmidt Arb., 2. t. 76. ; and the plate in our Second Volume. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaf of three leaflets that are ovate acute, the middle one 



much tapered towards its base. Flowers in corymbs, usually tetrandrous. 



{Dec. Prod., ii. p. 82.) A shrub or low tree from North America, where 



it is found from New York to Carolina in shady moist hedges, and on the 



edges of woods among rocks. It was introduced in 1704, and produces its 



small greenish white flowers in corymbose clusters in June and July. These 



are succeeded by flattened winged capsules, somewhat resembling those of 



the elm ; whence the French name of orme. 



Varieties. 



P. t. 2 pentaphylla Munchh. Hans., 3. p. 342., has 5 leaflets ; but we have not seen a plant. 

 P. t. 3 pubescens Pursh has pubescent leaves, and is a native of Pennsylvania ; but we are not 

 aware of its being in cultivation in Britain. 



Description, fyc. When this plant is pruned up with a single stem, it forms 

 a handsome low tree with a hemispherical head ; but in British gardens it is 

 more frequently found as a large shrub, with numerous stems proceeding from 

 the same basal point. The species was originally sent to England by Banister, 

 and plants of it were raised by Bishop Compton at Fulham ; but they were 

 lost, and the plant was reintroduced from Carolina by Catesby in 1724. 

 Being hardy, and of easy culture in any common soil, the tree is not uncom- 

 mon in collections ; and it well deserves a place there, both on account of 

 the beauty of the leaves, and of the fruits, and the handsome general form of 

 the tree. It is easily propagated by cuttings (put in in the autumn, and 

 covered with a hand-glass), or by seeds. 



Statistics. At Purser's Cross, there is a tree 25 ft. high, with a trunk 14 in. in diameter ; at Glou- 

 cester Lodge, Brompton, is a somewhat deformed specimen, 16 ft. high, with a trunk 8 in. in diameter 

 at the ground ; in Sloane Square is one upwards of 12 ft. high ; in the Fulham Nursery, one 12 years 

 planted, and 14ft high ; in the Hammersmith Nursery, one 5 years planted, 10 ft. high ; in Mid- 

 dlesex, near Shepperton, by the road side, a very handsome tree, about 25 ft. high, with the head 

 30 ft. in diameter ; in Surrey, at Claremont, 15 ft. high ; in Wiltshire, at Longleat, one 50 years 

 planted, and 18 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 14 in., and of the head 24 ft. ; in Worcestershire, 

 at Croome, 10 years planted, and 15 ft. high. In Scotland, in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, 15 years 

 planted, and 12 ft. high ; in Bamffshire, at Gordon Castle, 45 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 15 in., 

 and of the head 27 ft., in a loamy soil, and a sheltered situation. In Ireland, at Terenure, near 

 Dublin, 15 years planted, and 8 ft. high. In France, at Paris, in the Jardin des Plantes, 60 years 

 planted, and 37 ft. high, the diameter of the head 40 ft. ; at Sceaux, 10 years planted, and 20 ft. high ; 

 in the Botanic Garden at Toulon, 10 years planted, and 10 ft. high ; at Nerrieres, near Nantes, 15 ft. 



