162 



SANTALACEiE. 



Nyssa. 



young, sparsely clothed with longish silky hairs, which finally disappear, except on the midrib, 

 margins and petioles ; somewhat coriaceous when old, the upper surface of a deep green and 

 shining. Sterile el. in pedunculate capitate racemes at the extremity of the branchlets, and 

 from the same buds as the leaves : peduncle about an inch long : pedicels 1-2 lines long. 

 Calyx-tube very short and turbinate : segments of the limb oblong. Stamens spreading, three 

 times as long as the calyx-segments. Perfect fl. sessile at the extremity of the peduncle 

 (which is thicker than in the sterile flowers, and thickened upward), usually 3 together, but 

 sometimes 4 or only 2, with several ovate involucrate bracts at the base. Segments of the 

 calyx oblong. Stamens smaller than in the sterile flowers. Ovary oblong, truncate at the 

 summit, and crowned with the disk : style rather stout, deciduous, incurved or involute at the 

 extremity : ovule anatropous, nearly filling the cell. Drupes nearly half an inch long, often 

 only one or two ripening on each peduncle, blackish blue when ripe ; the pulp rather thin, 

 but juicy, acid and bitterish until touched by the frost, when it is somewhat palatable. Nut 

 very hard and tough, oval, somewhat acute at each end, a little compressed, marked with 

 three or four obtuse ridges on each side. Embryo in the axis of thin albumen : cotyledons 

 very broad and thin : radicle short. 



Moist woods and borders of swamps ; frequent throughout the State, except in the northern 

 counties ; very common about New-York and on Long Island. Fl. May - June. Fr. Sep- 

 tember. I have never been able to distinguish satisfactorily more than one species of this 

 genus in the State, nor in the neighboring parts of New-Jersey, and this seems unquestionably 

 to be the N. multiflora (N. sylvatica, Michx. sylv.). Indeed the two species are very closely 

 allied, and cannot be distinguished by the figures in the Sylva Americana. The author of 

 that work states that the River Schuylkill may be assumed as the northern boundary of this 

 tree, and that N. aquatica is abundant in the southern part of New-York. This confusion I 

 am at present not able to explain. Besides the names of this tree, given above, it is often 

 called Tupelo, Peperidge, and Gum-tree. The leaves are the first to change in the autumn, 

 turning to bright crimson. The wood, as in the rest of the genus, is remarkable for its tough- 

 ness, so that it can scarcely be split even in short pieces ; hence it is employed for the naves 

 of wheels, and for certain parts of heavy machinery, etc. 



