DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 
169 
States is it more multiplied than in the western country, 
and nowhere is its vegetation more luxuriant than on the 
banks of the Ohio. There, sometimes alone and sometimes 
mingled with the willow, which is found along these waters, 
it contributes singularly, by its magnificent foliage, to the 
embellishment of the scene. The brilliant white of the 
leaves beneath, forms a striking contrast with the bright 
green above ; and the alternate reflection of the two surfaces 
in the water, heightening the beauty of this wonderful 
moving mirror, aids in forming an enchanting picture, 
which, during my long excursions in a canoe in these re- 
gions of solitude and silence, I contemplated with unwearied 
admiration. 5,# There, on those fine, deep, alluvial soils, it 
often attains twelve or fifteen feet in circumference. 
As an ornamental variety, the Silver-leaved maple is one 
of the most valuable. It is exceedingly rapid in its growth, 
often making shoots six feet long in a season ; and the 
silvery hue of its foliage, when stirred by the wind, as well 
as its fine, half drooping habit, render it highly interesting 
to the planter. Admirable specimens of this species may 
be seen in the wide streets of Burlington, N. J. 
The Moose wood, or Striped maple (A. striatum), is a small 
tree with beautifully striped bark. It is often seen on the 
mountains which border the Hudson, but abounds most 
profusely in the north of the continent. Acer nigrum is 
the Black sugar tree of Genesee. A. Negundo,\ the Ash- 
leaved maple, has handsome pinnated foliage of a light 
green hue ; it forms a pleasing tree of medium size. 
These are our principal native species J 
* N. A. Sylva, i. 214. + Negundo jraxinifolium. 
t Mr. Douglas has discovered a very superb maple (A. macrophyllum) , on 
the Columbia river, with very large leaves, and fine fragrant yellow blosscms 
