CHAP. LX. 



i/AMAMELA CE.dE. 7/AMAME LIS. 



1007 



superior hilum. Albumen fleshy. Embryo with a superior radicle, and Hat 

 cotyledons. Leaves alternate, ovate, or euneated, feather-nerved, nearly entire. 

 Flowers nearly sessile, disposed in clusters in the axils of the leaves; girded 

 by a 3-leaved involucre. Petals yellow. (Don's Mill,, iii. p. 396., adapted.) 

 — Deciduous shrubs, natives of North America and Asia. 

 Fothergi'll.4 L. Calyx campanulate, 5 — 7-toothed. Anthers in the form of 

 a horseshoe. Styles 2. Capsule 2-lobed, 2-celled ; cells 2-valved at the 

 apex, 1-seeded. Seed bony, pendulous, with a superior hilum. Leaves 

 alternate, obovate, feather-nerved, bistipulate, clothed with soft starry down. 

 Flowers sessile, in terminal ovate spikes, having a solitary bractea under 

 each; those at the base of the spike trifid, and those at its apex nearly 

 entire. Petals white, sweet-scented, sessile. Anthers yellow. (Don's Mill., 

 adapted.) — A low deciduous shrub, a native of North America. 



Genus I. 



Syst. 



Liu 



//AMAME'LIS L. The Hamamelis, or IVycii Hazel. 

 Tetrandria Digynia. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., 169. ; Dec. Prod., 4. p. 268. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 396. ; Lindl. Nat. Syst., 



p. 333. 

 Synonyme. Trilopus Mith. Act. Acad. Nat. Cur., 8 App. 



Derivation, i/amamelis is a name by which Athenceus speaks of a tree which blossomed at the 

 same time as the apple tree: the word being derived from hama, together with, and metis, an 

 apple tree. The modern application seems to be from the /famamelis having its blossoms accom- 

 panying its fruits (mela) ; both being on the tree at the same time. 



Identification. 



II. VIRGl'NICA L. 



The Virginian Hamamelis, or Wyeh Hazel. 

 ed. 1836. 



Dec. Prod., 4. p. 268. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 396. ; Lodd. Cat 

 Synonymes. Hamamelie de Virginie, Fr. ; Virginische Zaubernuss, Ger. 

 Engravings. Mill. 111., t. 10. ; N. Du Ham., 7. t. 60. ; Bot. Cab., t. 598. ; 



and our figs. 756, 757. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves obovate, acutely toothed, with 

 a small cordate recess at the base. (Don's Mill., iii. 

 p. 396.) A deciduous shrub, a native of North 

 America, from Canada to Florida ; found in dry and 

 stony situations, but frequently also near water, and 

 growing to the height of 20 ft. or 30 ft., with a trunk 

 6 in. or more in diameter. It was introduced in 1736, 

 and flowers from the beginning of October to the end 

 of February. In British gardens, it has been but 

 little cultivated, notwithstanding the singularity of 

 its appearance in autumn and winter ; when it is 

 profusely covered with its fine rich yellow flowers, 

 which begin to expand before the leaves of the pre- 

 vious summer drop off, and continue on the bush 

 throughout the winter. After the petals drop off in 

 spring, the persistent calyxes remain on till the leaves 

 reappear in April or May. The flowers are either 

 polygamous, dioecious, monoecious, or androgynous ; aid hence the names, 

 in some American catalogues, of H. dioica, //. monoica, and II. androgyna. 

 The American Indians esteem this tree for its medical properties : the bark 

 is sedative and discutient ; and it is applied by them to painful tumours 

 and external inflammations. They also apply a poultice of the inner rind to 

 remove inflammations of the eyes. In the neighbourhood of London, it is 

 rarely found above 5 ft. or 6 ft. high ; but there is a plant of it in the 

 grounds of Ham House upwards of 15 ft. high, growing in deep sandy 

 soil, not far distant from water, of which Jig. 757. is a portrait taken in 

 November, 1835, to a scale of lin. to 12 ft. Owing to its flowering during 

 the winter season, it deserves a place in every collection where there is 

 room. It will grow in any light free soil, kept rather moist; and it is pro- 

 pagated by layers and by seeds ; which last, though rarely produced in Bri- 



3 x 



