24 
LARGE TUPELO. 
Georgia and of East Florida, where it is designated by the name of Large 
Tupelo. I have been assured that it abounds, also, in Lower Louisiana on 
the hanks of the Mississippi, where it is called Wild Olive. In fine, it 
exists in all parts of the United States which produce the Long-leaved 
Pine. I am induced also to believe, though with less conclusive evidence 
of the fact, that it grows wherever we find the Cypress, and, consequently, 
that it extends north beyond the limits of Virginia, hs the Cypress abounds 
in the swamps of Maryland, at a little distance from the sea. In South 
Carolina and Georgia, I have seen them constantly united, and, with the 
Over-cup Oak, Water Locust, CottonWood, Carolinian Poplar and Water 
Bitternut Hickory, they compose the dark and impenetrable forests which 
cover the miry swamps on the border of the rivers, to the distance of one 
or two hundred miles from, the ocean. The extensive swamps still enclosed 
in the forests produce the same trees, whose presence is an infallible proof 
of the depth and fertility of the soil, and consequently of its fitness for the 
culture of rice. 
The rivers, at their annual overflowing, sometimes cover these marshes 
to the height of 5 or 6 feet, as is shown by the marks left upon the trees 
by the retiring waters. Vegetation seems only to acquire new energy 
from these inundations, and the Large Tupelo sometimes attains the height 
of 70 or 80 feet, with a diameter of 15 or 20 inches immediately above its 
conical base, and 6 or 7 feet from the ground. This size continues uni- 
form to the height of 25 or 30 feet : at the surface the trunk is 8 or 9 feet 
thick, which is a greater disproportion than we observed in the preceding 
species. 
I cannot attribute this extraordinary swelling of the trunk entirely to 
the humidity of the soil ; if such was the cause we would probably witness 
the phenomenon in other trees which accompany the Tupelo. 
The leaves of the Large Tupelo are commonly 5 or 6 inches long and 2 
or 3 inches broad ; on young and thriving stocks they are of twice these 
dimensions. They are of an oval shape, and are garnished with two or 
three large teeth, irregularly placed, and not opposite, like those of other 
leaves. At their unfolding in the spring they are downy, but they become 
smooth on both sides as they expand. The flowers are disposed in bunches, 
and are succeeded by a fruit of considerable size and of a deep blue com- 
plexion, of which the stone is depressed and very distinctly striated. 
Bruised in water this fruit yields a fine purple juice of which the color is 
tenacious ; but the quantity is too minute to afford resources in dyeing. 
The wood of the Large Tupelo is extremely light and softer than that 
of any tree of the United States with which I am acquainted. In the 
arrangement of its fibres it resembles the other species of the genus. Its 
only use is for bowls and trays, for which it is well adapted, as it is wrought 
with facility. Its roots, also, are tender and light, and are sometimes 
