tion. 
SPINDLE-TREE. 
it was found on the banks of rivulets, from New 
York to Carolina. The branches are smooth; 
the leaves lanceolate, and serrated; the flowers 
small, dark purple, numerously produced on the 
peduncles from opposite sides of the stem, and 
appear in June and July, and are succeeded by 
red fruit. 
The American spindle-tree, Huonymus ameri- 
canus, forms a sub-evergreen small shrub, grow- 
ing from 6 to 8 feet in height. The leaves are 
elliptic-lanceolate, and serrated; the branches 
smooth; the flowers small, yellow tinged with 
red, from one to three on a peduncle, produced 
in June and July; and they are succeeded by 
scarlet fruit which hang like those of the straw- 
berry tree, and have a very gay appearance, and 
which occasion the tree to be called, in America, 
the burning bush. It is found in damp and 
shady places, in hedges, among rock, and on the 
borders of streams, in North America, extending 
from New England to Carolina. 
The narrow-leaved spindle-tree, Huonymus 
angustifolius, is a small deciduous shrub, grow- 
ing 5 or 6 feet high, with smooth branches, and 
leaves generally linear-elliptical, or oblong-ellip- 
tical. The flowers are small, usually solitary, of 
a yellowish red, as in ZL. americanus, to which 
plant it is nearly allied. It is found in shady 
woods, in Georgia, North America. It flowers 
in June. 
Hamilton’s spindle-tree, Huonymus Hamiltont- 
anus, is a shrub or low tree, attaining 20 feet in 
height, and remarkable for the whiteness of its 
stem, and the large size of its leaves. It is 
scarcely hardy, having been killed to the ground 
by the winter of 1837-8, but sprang up again 
hardy, with vigour. It has an erect trunk and 
spreading branches, forming a dense fastigiate 
bush with numerous suckers. The branches are 
smooth; the leaves are lanceolate, and finely 
serrated ; the flowers, yellowish green, in forked 
bunches, or cymes. 
The obovate-leaved spindle-tree, Huonymus 
obovatus, is a trailing shrub, extending over a 
considerable circumference, but not often exceed- 
ing a foot in height. The stem is decumbent 
and rooting, producing upright angled shoots; 
the leaves are broadly obovate, obtuse, and finely 
serrated; the flowers, three in a bunch, and 
pinkish, and are produced in June and July. It 
inhabits marshy places in Pennsylvania. 
The large flowered spindle-tree, Huonymus 
grandiflorus, is a deciduous shrub, growing from 
8 to 10 feet high, with smooth branches, obovate- 
oblong serrated leaves, and large white flowers, 
in June, succeeded by pendulous clusters of yel- 
low fruit. It inhabits the forests of Nepaul. 
The Japan spindle-tree, Huonymus japonicus, 
is a handsome evergreen shrub, nearly hardy, 
having been but little injured by the winter of 
1837-8, when planted against a wall, and stand- 
ing out in ordinary winters with very little protec- 
It has obovate, dark green shining leaves, 
SPINE. 
and whitish or pinky flowers, which are produced 
in July. The plant is not usually, in this coun- 
try, of very large growth; but in Japan, where 
it is a native, it grows 20 feet and upwards. 
There is a variety called EZ. 7. foliis variegatis, 
which differs in having variegated leaves; and 
has been found to be more hardy than the normal 
plant. 
These plants are usually increased either by 
seeds, which are produced abundantly, by cut- 
tings, or layers, which root freely, or by grafting 
or inarching, in the case of newly-introduced or 
rare kinds. Seeds and cuttings, however, are 
the most usual modes of propagation; and in 
raising plants in this way, nothing is required 
beyond the ordinary method of carrying this 
operation into practice. Some of the species, as 
Lf. europeus and EH. verrucosus, are best suited for 
the company of large and common shrubs,— 
where, however, if not planted too closely with 
the other trees, they will individually attain 
considerable size, and become rather interesting 
than otherwise. All the commoner deciduous 
European species grow very freely in the ordinary 
soil of gardens, without the least difficulty. The 
North American species are more difficult to 
cultivate; they appear to grow naturally in 
damp shady woods, and on the margins of streams, 
and hence require more moisture and shade than 
are usually afforded them in this country. Some 
are even found in marshes, and would conse- 
quently require the characteristic features of the 
native localities to be imitated in artificial cul- 
tivation. ‘These appear, also, to prefer a soil 
rather sandy or peaty; and hence, perhaps, the 
kinds of soil and situations usually provided for 
rhododendrons, and similar plants, would be 
found most suitable for these. The kinds which 
succeed best under this mode of treatment, are 
EL. americanus, E. atropurpureus, EL. angustifolius, 
and £. obovatus. The Nepaul, or Indian species, 
and H. japonicus and its variety, the most de- 
sirable plants of the family, inhabit, for the most 
part, mountains of considerable elevation, and 
require, in their artificial management, to be 
provided with a soil as little subject to super- 
abounding dampness as can be provided. Situa- 
tions, however, which are usually devoted to the 
growth even of common shrubs, are generally 
sufficiently drained to secure all that these 
plants require. L£. japonicus, and its variegated 
variety, are suitable plants both to plant out as 
specimen bushes on a grass plat, in sheltered 
situations, and to plant against walls or buildings 
which it may be desirable to cover with a peren- 
nial foliage. 
SPINE. The backbone or vertebral chain of 
a vertebrated animal. It commences with the 
bone which supports the head; and is continued 
in the bones of the neck, the back, and the loins; 
and, in most species, is prolonged beyond the 
posterior members, in the small bones of a tail. 
its vertebre work upon one another in sockets, 
