SETTLE FAMILY. 



293 



tolerable substitute for Iiay. The tree being smaller, and tlie branches 

 straggling, it does not answer for a shade tree so well as the preceding. 

 Besides these species, U. racemo'sa, T'nomas, the Corky White Elm, 

 with racemed flowers and the bark often with corky ridges, is found in 

 the iSTorth and AVest ; and U. ala'ta, i^-^^-- the Winged Elm, or ^Va- 

 hoo, with small leaves and corky-winged branches, at the South and 

 South-west. U. Campes'teis, L., the English Elm, is frequently culti- 

 vated. It is a less graceful tree than our American Elm, having more 

 the sturdy habit of an oak. Its wood is very valuable, as it is not 

 liable to split or warp. 



2. CEL'TIS, Tournef. Nettle-tree. 



[An ancient name of the Lotus ; applied to this genus.] 



Flowers monoeciously polygamous. Cahjx 5 - 6-parted, persistent. Sta- 

 mens as many as ths sepals. Ovary ovoid, 1-celIed, with a sin<jle sus- 

 pended ovule ; stigmas 2, elongated, recurved. Drupe globose,^fleshy, 

 smooth, 1-seeded. Cotyledons conduplicate, enclosing a scanty gelati- 

 nous central albumen. Flowers axillary, solitary or in pairs, dull, green 

 ish-yellovr. 



1. C. occidenta'lis, Leaves obliquely ovate, acuminate, serrate; 

 fruit on a peduncle once or twice the length of the petiole, reddish or 

 yellow, turning dark purple at maturity. 



Fig. 184. Flowers of the Xettle-tree (Celtis occidentalis). 185. Fruit and developed 

 leave.?, a. An enlarged flo'.ver opened to shov<" the embryo. 



