Am6cJtX"rPimm-}     The  Names  of  Medicinal  Plants,  etc.  487 
shores  are  washed  by  the  tempered  waters  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  we 
have  the  palmetto,  the  live  oak,  and  the  sugar  cane ;  and  proceeding 
westward,  we  attain  an  altitude  of  6,700  feet,  the  highest  point  east 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  where  we  find  the  fir,  the  hemlock,  the 
balsam  and  the  white  pine,  thus  representing  all  the  varieties  of  soil 
and  climate,  from  Florida  to  Canada.  Indeed,  it  may  possibly  be 
a  matter  of  surprise  to  many  of  you  to  know  that  were  North  Caro- 
lina wheeled  about  so  as  to  occupy  a  position  directly  north  and 
south,  it  would  extend  across  the  States  of  Virginia,  Pennsylvania 
and  New  York,  and  over  Lake  Ontario  into  Canada. 
The  gradual  increase  in  elevation  from  east  to  west  secures  to  the 
State  a  variety  of  climatic  influence  that  would  be  gained  by  twenty 
degrees  of  latitude. 
North  Carolina  has  been  a  favorite  field  with  the  most  distin- 
guished botanists.  From  Bartram,  who  made  his  tour  in  1776,  the 
elder  and  younger  Michaux,  from  1787  to  1802,  down  to  the  later 
botanical  explorers,  Dr.  de  Schweinitz,  Nuttall,  Dr.  Gray,  Mr.  Cary, 
who  explored  the  higher  ranges  of  our  mountains  in  1841,  and  our 
own  Dr.  Curtis — all  agree  that  nowhere  on  the  American  continent 
are  trees  to  be  found  of  such  beauty,  value  and  variety,  as  in  North 
Carolina.  Many  of  the  trees  and  shrubs  now  familiar  to  Euro- 
pean ornamental  and  economic  uses  were  introduced  from  this  State, 
among  which  are  the  locust  (Robinia  pseudacacia),  the  tulip  tree 
(Liriodendron),  the  rose  locust  (Robinia  hispida),  the  rhododendron 
in  its  various  forms,  the  ivy  (Kalmia  latifolia),  and  many  others,  con- 
firming what  Dr.  Curtis  has  said,  that  "  in  all  the  elements  which 
render  forest  scenery  attractive,  no  portion  of  the  United  States 
presents  them  in  happier  combination,  in  greater  perfection,  or  in 
larger  extent  than  do  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina;"  and  he 
might  have  said  the  same  of  the  State  at  large,  for  no  portion  of  it 
is  deficient  either  in  the  number  or  variety  of  its  species,  or  in  the 
size  and  value  of  its  trees. 
In  order  to  realize  the  extent  to  which  this  richness  of  forest  de- 
velopment is  concentrated  within  the  area  of  this  State,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  call  attention  to  the  distribution  of  a  few  kinds  which 
are  dominant  and  characteristic.  Of  species  found  in  the  United 
States,  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  there  are  Oaks  22,  and  19  in 
N.  C. ;  Pines  8,  and  8  in  N.  C. ;  Spruces  5,  and  4  in  N  C. ;  Elms  5, 
and  3  in  N.  C. ;  Maples  5,  and  all  in  N.  C. ;  Walnuts  2,  and  both  in 
