Andromeda arborea. 107 



ward or westward, and ceases entirely in the maratime parts of the 

 Carolinas and Georgia. Mr. Elliot says, "it is found as low down 

 as St. John's, Santee, within forty miles of the ocean."* 



This is the only arborescent species of the genus Andromeda, and 

 it is remarkable that all the other species are low shrubs. The 

 sorrel tree itself, however, degenerates into a shrub, in soils un- 

 congenial to its constitution. It is remarked by Michaux, in his 

 magnificent work on the Forest Trees, that it becomes stunted 

 in dry and gravelly lands, particularly in the neighborhood of 

 Knoxville, where it is most abundant, and where he says it pre- 

 sents itself in the form of a bush. According to Mr. Elliot, it 

 rarely attains a greater stature than fifteen or twenty feet, except 

 in the vallies of the mountains. The acidity of the leaves has given 

 rise to the name of Sorrel Tree, by which it is universally recog- 

 nized where it grows. They are said to be chewed by the hunters 

 in the mountains when they cannot procure water, and are report- 

 ed to be very refreshing ; and Pursh says, they find that they allay 

 thirst. Their leaves are said by Michaux to become black in dry- 

 ing. But this, though frequently the case, is not invariably so, many 

 specimens retaining a good green colour when carefully exsiccated. 

 He informs us, that " where sumac is not to be obtained, they are 

 used to impart a black colour to wool." 



* Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and Georgia. 



