64 



NORTH AMERICA. 



Sugar Maple. ^zalia. Aster. 



The forests consist of pines and larches unknown in Europe, of many kinds of oaks, of locust 

 trees (Robinia pseudacacia) , black walnuts of enormous size, hickories, and ashes, among 

 which the noble tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) rears its towering head ; in the swamps grow 

 the deciduous cypress {Taxodium distichum), the white cedar (Cupressus thyoides), certain 

 fir-trees (Pinus serotina and Abies pendula) , the rhododendron or rose-bay, the glaucous kal- 

 mia, andromedas, sarracenias, and the glaucous magnolia ; the sides of the mountains are 

 covered with the arbor vitae (Thuya occidentalis)^ magnolias, and hemlock spruces {Mies 

 Canadensis) , among which spring up the arborescent araleas, the sorrel-tree [Jlndromeda arbo- 

 rea), and the beautiful mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) ; and finally, the undergrowth of the 

 woods and plains contains endless species of aster, several kinds of aralea and asclepias, dwarf 

 pyrus, and various of the exclusively American genera liatris, phlox, &c. Tobacco, maize 

 (Zea mais), and wheat, are the staple objects of cultivation. 



The following list of some of the most important species, with their scientific and popular names, 

 will serve to complete this general view of the trees and shrubs of the United States. 



The three tilias are white lime (T. Alba), Basswood {T. Americana), and downy lime-tree (7*. 

 pubcscens); the oaks are white oak [Qucrcvs alba), which abounds particularly in the Northern 

 and Middle States, reaching the height of 70 feet, with a diameter of six; the live oak (Q. vircns), 

 the most durable of our trees, and affording the most valuable ship-timber, found only near the sea in 

 the extreme Southern States ; the scarlet oak (Q. coccinea), most common in the middle and southern 

 States, and reaching the height of 80 feet; the red oak [Q. rubra), a more northern species; the 



