BOX ELDER OR ASH LEAVED MAPLE. 115 
appropriate denomination : I have chosen the other, though absolutely 
insignificant of any characteristic property of the tree, because it is sanc- 
tioned by general use. The French of Illinois call it Erable à Giguières. 
The leaves of the Box Elder are opposite, and are from 6 to 15 inches 
long, according to the vigor of the tree, andl the moisture of the soil in 
which it grows. Each leaf is composed of two pair of leaflets with an odd 
one. The leaves are petiolated, oval-acuminate, and sharply toothed : 
toward fall, the common petiole is of a deep red. The male and female 
flowers are borne on different trees, and are supported by slender, pendul- 
ous peduncles, 6 or 7 inches in length. 
Of all the Maples of the United States, this species ventures least into 
northern latitudes, for in the Atlantic States, it is first seen on the banks of 
the Delaware, in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, and even there it is 
rare. In the maritime parts of the Southern States, also, it is far from 
being a common tree ; which is less attributable to the heat of the summer, 
than to the marshy nature of the soil on the borders of the rivers. West 
of the Mountains, on the contrary, it is extremely multiplied, and instead 
of being confined, as in the upper parts of Virginia and of the Carolinas, 
to the river sides, it grows in the woods, with the Locust, Wild Cherry, 
and Coffee-Tree. But in the bottoms which skirt the rivers, where the 
soil is deep, fertile, constantly moist, and often inundated, this tree is most 
abundant, and most fully expanded. Even here, it can be considered only 
as a tree of secondary size: the largest Box Elders that I have seen were 
not more than 50 feet in height, and 20 inches in diameter, and trees of 
these dimensions are found only in Tennessee and in the back parts of 
Georgia, which lie far to the south. In Kentucky, they are of only half '^\ 
this height. Though growing in thick forests, the Box Eider expands into 
a head like that of the Apple tree. I have remarked this form, particularly, 
on the banks of the Ohio, where I have also observed that the trunk 
bulges into knots at unequal distances, and is often decayed at the heart. 
A fine row of Box Elders in the botanical garden of Paris, along the Rue 
de Bujfon, affords a sufficiently just idea of their appearance in the forests, 
on the rivers Monongahela and Ohio. It may be concluded from what 
has been said, that to attain its full proportions, this tree requires a climate 
three or four degrees milder than that of Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and 
Paris. 
The Box Elder branches at a small height. The bark of its trunk is 
brown, and I have remarked a disagreeable odor in the cellular tissue. 
The proportion of the sap to the heart is large, except in very old trees ; 
in these the heart is variegated with rose colored and bluish veins. Some 
cabinet-makers in the Western Country employ it to ornament furniture 
made of Mahogany or Wild Cherry Tree. The wood is of a fine and 
close grain, and is said to split with difficulty: but as it soon decays when 
