The Tupelo. 



fication to those who will insist upon the thing being done, 

 and who will see it done themselves ; and no great matter 

 either, for, perhaps, it would not take up one week altoge- 

 ther, from the beginning to the end, to'superintend the whole 

 of the work of a considerable plantation, from the sowing 

 of the seed to the final planting out ; which I think I am 

 warranted in saying, when / have been able to spare the time 

 to see the thing frequently done as far as the raising of the 

 plants. 



THE TUPIS^O. 



In Latin, Tupelo ; in French, Tupelo. 



r>38. The botanical characters are : — Calyx tubular, superior ; stamina 

 inserted at the commencement of the tube; ovarium inferior ; one stigraated 

 style generally single ; capsul or berry containing a single seed. 



539. This tree seems to have been wholly unknown to 

 Miller. Michaux gave it the botanical name of Nyssa ; 

 but it appears from him, that LiNNiEus never inserted it in 

 his catalogue. There are three varieties of the Tupelo ; 

 one is called simply the Tupelo, another the Sour Tupelo 

 {Nyssa Copitata), the third is called the Large Tupelo 

 {Nyssa Grandidentata), The two former are small trees 

 compared to the last, which attains the height of seventy 

 or eighty feet, with a trunk from a yard to four feet round 

 at five feet from the earth. 



540. The wood of this tree is not of such value as to 

 induce me to recommend it to be planted for profit. It 

 appears from Michaux, as well as from what I have seen 

 and heard cf it myself, to be of very little value ; but, in 

 its form and its foliage, it is a singularly beautiful tree, and 

 grows very fast. I have some plants now at Kensington 

 more than a foot high, though sown only in April last. 



