TUPELO TREE. 



NYSSA. 



SANTALACE^. POLYGAMIA DKECIA, 



Named Nyssa, from a water nymph, on account of its growing in 

 the water. 



The Mountain Tupelo tree, or Sour Gum, a native 

 of Pennsylvania, was cultivated in this country by the 

 Duke of Argyll, in 1750. It will grow as high as forty 

 feet, with a trunk two feet in diameter. The leaves are 

 of a dark lucid green on the upper surface ; paler, and 

 somewhat hairy underneath ; those of the male tree are 

 generally much narrower than those of the female, or 

 fruit-bearing tree. The timber is close-grained and 

 curled, so that it will not split : it is useful in making 

 carriage-wheels. 



The Virginian, or Water Tupelo tree, is a native of 

 the wet swamps of Virginia, Carolina, Florida, &c. and 

 will grow to the height of an hundred feet. There is a 

 beautiful variety in the foliage of this tree, produced by 

 the downy whiteness of the lower side of the leaves, con- 

 trasted by the deep green of the upper side, and the 

 long slender foot -stalks which keep them in continual 

 play. The berries are about the shape and size of small 

 olives ; and are preserved, like that fruit, by the French 

 in the neighbourhood of the Mississippi, where the tree 



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