FEATHER BUSH. 
29 
abound with carbonic acid. We saw it afterwards in 
the central chain, on either side Thornberg’s ravine, 
towards the summits of the highest ridges, to which, by 
its enduring and dark verdure, it contributed to give a 
wild and gloomy robing, contrasted by the glittering 
white of the impending cliffs of gneiss near which it 
grew. On the summits of the Beer Spring hills it form- 
ed extensive thickets, each tree spreading out many 
branches at a few feet from the ground with consider- 
able regularity, almost in the manner of a Peach tree. 
The stem was in some trees about a foot in diameter, 
and the greatest height of the plant did not exceed 15 
feet. It had much the appearance of a stunted Olive 
tree, and was bitterish to the taste. 
The wood is hard, tough, whitish, and very close- 
grained, somewhat resembling that of the Birch. It 
appeared to be of slow growth and sempervirent; the bark 
smooth and whitish, the branchlets full of circular cica- 
trices, and the leaves clustered at the extremities of the 
twigs. The leaves are at length nearly smooth, at first 
hairy, with a short pubescence, beneath always softly 
villous, with brownish curled hairs,- their form is lanceo- 
late, about li inches long, and 3 or 4 lines wide, the 
border entire and revolute; beneath the hairs on the 
under side we see the usual straight nerves. The older 
leaves and other parts of the plant exude in small quan- 
tities an aromatic resin, having the scent of that found 
on some species of Birch (or Betula ). The flowers are 
small and white, produced at the extremities of the twigs, 
and are succeeded by the fruit, which forms one of the 
most remarkable and singular characters of the genus,- 
these have a strong resemblance to the seeds of the 
Geranium, each small cylindric carpel sending out a 
long plumose, tortuous tail, nearly two inches in length, 
covered with yellowish-white silky hairs, which appear- 
