298 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
rough; the older branchlets grayish, or grayish purple. The 
leaves are on short, stout, lairy and rough footstalks, very 
large, from four to seven inches long, and three or four wide; 
heart-shaped and very unequal-sided at base, the upper side 
being full and spreading back over the footstalk; the termina- 
tion a long slender point; the margin coarsely and doubly, 
rather obtusely serrate; both surfaces very rough, the lower 
less so, but hairy on the veins and nerves, which are prominent, 
parallel, straight, and usually divided towards the edge. ‘The 
upper surface is a pale green, the lower much whiter; veins 
irregular, reticulate; serratures less falcate than in the common 
elm. The surface of the latter is rough in one direction, and 
smooth in the other; of the slippery, rough in both. The buds 
are small, acute, and black. ‘The larger branches are brown- 
ish, somewhat striate, the bark cracking and becoming rag- 
ged at an earlier age than in most trees. On the young and 
vigorous branches, theleaves are often eight or ten inches long, 
by four or five broad, and of an oblong shape. The bark is 
tough and mucilaginous, with abundant mucilage beneath it. 
The flowers are in lateral clusters, on short footstalks. The 
flower-cup is usually divided into seven parts, and has seven 
long stamens with dark purple anthers. The ovary is com- 
pressed, surmounted by two, purple, glandular styles. The 
seed vessel, or samara, 1s larger than that of the common elm, 
and with a broader and more entire border. 
The slippery elm is rare in the eastern part of the State. I 
have not found it, growing naturally, nearer to Boston than 
Natick. In the western counties, itismore abundant. In many 
places I have found it dead or dying, from having been stripped 
of its bark. The largest tree of this kind which I have meas- 
ured, was six feet ten inches in circumference, at four feet from 
the ground. It was found growing in Natick. Contrary to the 
observation of Michaux, I have found this tree growing in rich 
low ground, much more frequently than on higher. 
The inner bark of this elm contains a great quantity of mu- 
cilage, and is a favorite popular prescription, in many parts of 
the country, for dysentery, and in affections of the chest. 
It is much to be regretted that the slippery elm has become 
