CHAP. XLII. 



iiOSA v CE^:. C'E UASUS. 



7J1 



100 ft., with a trunk of 3 ft. or 4 ft. in diameter, rising straight and erect to 

 the height of 25 ft., or nearly 30 ft. It varies much in size in different cli- 

 mates and soils j according to Dr. Richardson, 

 being only about 20 ft. high on the sandy plains 

 of the Saskatchawan ; and, on the Great Slave 

 Lake, in lat. 62°, seldom exceeding the height 

 of 5 ft. The bark is so peculiar, that the tree 

 can be known by it, even when without its 

 leaves, or when its branches are too far above 

 the eye for the leaves to be examined indivi- 

 dually. The general surface of the bark is 

 smooth ; but it is blackish and rough, and de- 

 taches itself in narrow semicircular plates, which 

 are hard and thick, and adhere a time to the 

 trunk before dropping off. The leaves are 5 in. 

 or 6 in. in length, oval, acuminate, very much 

 pointed, and of a beautiful, smooth, shining 

 green, with small reddish glands at the base. 

 It has been remarked, in America, that the 

 leaves are more subject to be eaten by caterpillars than those of any 

 other tree. It appears that Linnaeus considered the P. virginiana as a 

 variety of the common bird cherry; and Seringe, in De Candolle's Prodro- 

 mus, also expresses a doubt whether it may not be a variety of that species. 

 To those who have seen the two trees known by these names in the London 

 gardens growing together, there can be so little doubt on the subject, that we 

 are tempted to conclude that the Primus virginiana of Linnaeus, and C. 

 virginiana of De Candolle, must be a different plant from the C. virginiana of 

 British gardens. The two species are easily distinguished, in all their stages, 

 by their wood, which is much darker, and more robust, in C. Padus, than in 

 C. virginiana ; by their leaves, which are rough, thick, and not shining in the 

 former; while in the latter the} - are thin, smooth, and shining. The leaves 

 of C. virginiana remain on till late in the autumn, and sometimes till spring, 

 retaining their colour till they drop off; so that the tree may be considered as 

 sub-evergreen ; while those of C. Padus become yellow in August, about the 

 time the fruit ripens, and soon afterwards drop off. Sir W. J. Hooker is of 

 opinion that Michaux has confounded C. virginiana with C. serotina; but, 

 as we believe them to be both the same, this is to us a matter of little conse- 

 quence. If they are not distinct species, they are, at all events, very distinct 

 races. 



Geography, History, 8?c. In the Atlantic states of America, as well as in 

 those of the west, this cherry is more or less abundant, as the soil and climate 

 are more or less favourable to its growth ; to which extremes of cold and 

 heat in the seasons, and of dryness and humidity in the soil, are alike unfa- 

 vourable. It abounds in the Illinois, in Genessee, and in Upper Canada ; but 

 is nowhere more profusely multiplied, nor more fully developed, than beyond 

 the mountains in the states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. In the state 

 of Maine, where the winter is long and intense, it hardly exceeds 30 ft. or 40 ft. 

 in height, and from 8 in. to 12 in. in diameter. In the southern and maritime 

 parts of the Carolinas and of Georgia, where the summer is intensely hot, 

 and where the soil is generally arid and sandy, it is rarely seen ; and on the 

 banks of rivers, where the ground is too wet, its dimensions are stinted ; but 

 in the upper parts of these states, where the climate is milder, and the soil 

 more fertile, it is sufficiently common, though less multiplied there than in 

 Virginia and Pennsylvania. Wherever it abounds, it is found associated with 

 Quercus macrocarpa, Juglans nigra, Gledftschia triacanthos, U'lmus rubra, 

 and Gymnocladus canadensis ; forming immense masses of forest, which it 

 adorns by its beautiful flowers in May, and which it contributes to stock with 

 birds, by the great nourishment which it affords to them with its fruits in 

 August, September, and October. The Virginian bird cherry appears to 

 have been one of the first North American trees brought to England ; the 



