460. 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



Genus II. 



NEGU'KDO Moench. The Negundo, or Box Elder. Lin. Si/si. 

 Dice^cia Pentandria. 



Identification. Mcench. Meth., 334. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 596. j Don's Mill., 1. p. 647. and 651, 



Synonymes. A\Br Lin. -, NegAndium Rafinesque. 



Derivations. This genus was constituted from yi'cer Negundo L. ; but the meaning of the latter word 

 is unknown. Probably, it may be merely the Illinois name of G\g\xeres {froxa\ giguer, to romp, 

 alluding to the tremulous and playful motion of the long pinnated leaves) Latinised. 



Gen. Char. Sexes dioecious. Flowers without a corolla. Cali/x with 4 — 5 

 unequal teeth. Male flowers upon thi-ead-shaped pedicels, and disposed 

 in fascicles : anthers 4 — 5 linear, sessile. Female flowers disposed in 

 racemes. Leaves impari-pinnately divided. {Dec. Prod., i. p. 596.) 



^ ]. iST f-RAxiNiFO^LiUM Nutt. The Ash-leaved Negundo. 



Identification. Nutt. Gen. Amer., 1. p. 253. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 596. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 651. 

 Synonymes. A'cer NegundoiL., Mich. Arb., Tratt. Arch.; N. aceroldes Mcench; Neg&ndium 



americanum Rafin.; the Ash.leaved Maple, the Black Ash; E'rablea Feuilles de Frene, Fr.; 



E'rable a Giguiferes, Illinois; Eschenblattriger Ahorn, Ger. 

 Engravings. Mich. Arb., 2. t. 16. ; Tratt. Arch., 1. No. 10. ; Schmidt, Arb., 1. t. 12. ; Wats. Dend., 



1. 172. ; E. of PI., No. 14294. ; and tlie plate of this species in Vol. II. It is the female plant that is 



represented in these figures, except, perhaps, that of Trat. Arch., which we have not seen. 



Spec. Char. Sfc. Leaves of from 3 to 5 leaflets, the opposite ones coarsely and 

 sparingly toothed, the odd one oftener three-lobed than simple. {Dec. Prod., 

 i. p. 596.) A tree from North America, in 1688, growing to the height 



' of 50 ft. or 60 ft.j and flowering in April. 



Variety. 



^ N. f. 2 crispum G. Don. The curled-\ea\eA Ash-leaved Negundo, or 

 Box Elder. — Figured in our Second Volume. The plant of this va- 

 riety in the arboretum of theLondon Horticultural Society is of the 

 male sex : the inflorescence consists of pendulous panicles of flowers, 

 that are green, with some redness from the colour of the anthers ; 

 and each is placed upon a slender peduncle of about 1 in. long. 



Description. As far as is known, only the female plant of the species has, 

 as yet, been introduced into England. The flowers are produced, profusely, 

 about the middle of April, and appear with the leaves : they are green, small, 

 and in slender pendulous racemes. The racemes of flowers are inconspicuous, 

 so that the flowering of the tree may occur without being noticed, unless the 

 tree be carefully watched at its flowering season. The racemes of fruits that 

 succeed to the flowers, increasing gradually to the length of 6 in. or 7 in., be- 

 come obvious as the season advances, and appear conspicuously among the 

 foliage. The leaves are opposite, and are from 6 in. to 15 in. long, according 

 to the vigour of the tree, and the moisture of the soil in which it grows. 

 Each leaf is composed of two pairs of leaflets, with an odd one. The leaflets 

 are petioled, oval-acuminate, and sharply toothed : towards autumn, the com- 

 mon petiole becomes of a deep red. The tree grows rapidly, arriving at ma- 

 turity in 15 or 20 years ; and in a suitable soil and situation, attains the height 

 of 40 ft. or 50 ft. : it branches at a small distance from the ground, and forms a 

 loose and wide-spreading head. The bark of its trunk is brown; and there is a 

 disagreeable odour in the inner bark : that of the young branches is of a smooth 

 rush-like appearance, interrupted by very few buds, and of a most beautiful 

 pea-green, like the shoots of the common jessamine (./asminum oflicinale), but 

 on a larger scale. The proportion of the sap-wood to the heart-wood is 

 large, except in very old trees : in these the heart-wood is variegated with 

 rose-coloured and bluish veins. 



