THE TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 103 



end. The flowers are whitish, in a loose flat topped 

 cluster ; the berries dark bine or bluish black. 



Hackberry. (Celtis occidentals, Linn.) — Com- 

 mon over the United States, sometimes called Nettle 

 Tree, and scatteringly found in all parts of North 

 Carolina. It is occasionally seen as a shade tree in 

 our streets, and is admired by some for its dark green 

 foliage, deep shade and rather graceful branches. 

 The bark of the trunk and larger branches is rough- 

 ened by small, ridged excrescences. The leaves are 

 about 2 inches long, and rather peculiar in having 

 one side perceptibly smaller than the other. The 

 berries are about I or J of an inch in diameter, of a 

 mahogany color, with a sweetish but thin flesh, 

 enclosing a globular nut. This tree is from 50 to 70 

 feet high, and 18 to 20 inches in diameter. The 

 wood does not appear to be used for any important 

 purpose. 



There is a shrubby form of this (var : pumila) 

 occasionally met with in the Lower and Middle Dis- 

 tricts, 3 to 10 feet high, and with smaller, thinner 

 leaves, but easily recognized by those w T ho are famil- 

 iar with the larger form. 



1. Black Gum. (Nyssa aquatica, Linn.) — Com- 

 mon in swamps and shallow ponds of the Lower and 

 Middle Districts, often called Sour Grum or Gum 

 Tree. It is from 30 to 45 feet high, 12 to 18 inches 

 in diameter. The leaves are 1 to 2 inches long, of a 

 dark green and shining above, and somewhat downy 

 underneath when young. The fruit is commonly in 



