92 
DEVIL WOOD. 
shore, it springs with the Live Oak in the most barren and sultry spots, 
and in other places it is seen with the Big Laurel, the Umbrella Tree, the 
Sweet Leaves, etc., in cool, fertile £nd shaded situations. 
This tree, or, to speak more accurately, this large shrub, is sometimes 
30 or 40 feet high, and 10 or 12 inches in diameter: but this size is extra- .. 
ordinary; it commonly fructifies at the height of 8, 10, or 12 feet. The 
leaves are 4 or 5 inches long, opposite and lanceolate, entire at the edge, 
smooth and brilliant on the upper surface, and of an agreeable light green. 
They are ever-green, or at least are partially renewed only once in 4 or 5 
years. The fertile and barren flowers are on separate trees : they are very 
small, strongly scented, of a pale yellow, and axillary, or situated between 
the petiole of the leaves and the branches. The season of flowering, in 
the neighbourhood of Charleston, is about the end of April. The fruit is 
round, and about twice as large as a common pea. When ripe, it is of a 
purple color, approaching to blue, and consists of a hard stone thinly coated 
with pulp. As it remains attached to the branches during a part of the 
winter, its color forms, at this season, an agreeable contrast with the foliage. 
The bark which covers the trunk of the Devil Wood is smooth and 
grayish. The wood has a fine and compapt grain, and when perfectly dry 
it is excessively hard and very difficult to cut or split ; hence is derived the 
name of Devil Wood. It is, notwithstanding, neglected in use. On lay- 
ing bare the cellular tissue of the bark, its natural yellow hue changes 
instantaneously to a deep red, and the wood, by contact with the air, 
assumes a rosy complexion. Experiments should be made to detect the 
nature of this active principle in the bark, which causes it to change color 
so suddenly by exposure to the air. 
From the temperature of the native skies of this tree, we may conclude 
that it is capable of resisting a greater degree of cold than the Common 
Olive ; it becomes then, on account of its beautiful foliage, its odor- 
iferous flowers and its showy fruit, a valuable acquisition to Italy and the 
south of France. 
PLATE LXXXVI. 
A branch with leaves and fruit of the natural size. Fig. 1 , Floivers. 
