LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 
289 
spreading head; the fruit is somewhat like a green- 
gage plum in size and form, but is rounder, and red- 
dish yellow; its pulp contains from one to eight semi- 
oval dark brown stones. It is so hard and harsh as 
to be quite uneatable till the skin is shrivelled by 
the frost, when it becomes soft, sweet, and very 
agreeable ; to my taste much superior to any plum. 
The Opossum is very fond of a ripe persimon ; its 
flesh, through feeding on this and other fruits, 
becomes very good at this season, and is brought 
to table, though rejected in summer. 
Now we get into the lofty woods ; swampy, but 
not very wet soil, where the most prominent trees 
are several species of oaks, as the Chestnut Oak, 
{Quercus palustris)^ the Black-jack [Q, ferruginea^ 
and the Scarlet Oak (Q. coccmea). The first of 
these is a magnificent tree for its lofty structure and 
finely formed head* of foliage, as well as for the 
large size of its leaves and acorns. The last is con- 
spicuous by the brilliant scarlet hue of its leaves 
at this season, whereby it materially assists in con- 
tributing to the bright and various colours which 
the forest is beginning to assume. 
But there are nobler trees than Oaks in this 
swamp. There are the Magnolias, or Laurels, as 
they are called here, two species of which at least 
are common, if not a third. These are the Big Laurel 
{M. grandiflora)^ and the Umbrella Laurel {M. tri- 
petala)^ and perhaps the Cucumber-tree (if. cor data). 
The first of these is among our largest forest-trees, 
straight as a ship’s niast, with a fine pyramidal 
head of massy foliage, whose evergreen verdure 
maintains its colour and its gloss undimmed by the 
storms of autumn and the frost of winter. The 
fleshy conical fruits, four inches in length, are now 
u 
