1408

arboretum and fruticetum.

I’ART III,

rican elms. Stamens 5—7. Stigmas purplish. Samara, when young, downyon both sides. This tree has been introduced, but when is not stated inBritish catalogues.

Description , §c. The red, or slippery, elm, according to Michaux, bears astrong resemblance to the Dutch elm. It forms a tree from 50 ft. to 60ft,high, and 15 in. or 20in. in diameter. In the winter, Michaux observes,“ it is distinguished from the white American elmby its buds, which are larger and rounder; andwhich, a fortnight before their developement, arecovered with a russet down.” ■ The flowers areproduced in tufts at the extremity of the youngshoots. The scales which surround the bunchesof flowers are downy, like the buds. The calyx isdowny and sessile ; the stamens short, and of a pale ^rose colour. The seeds are large, destitute of fringe,round, and very similar to those of the Europeanelm; and they ripen very early. The bark isbr.own ; and the leaves are oval-acuminate, doublydenticulated, and larger, thicker, and rougher thanthose of U. americana. “ Except the maritime

imm

districts of the Carolinas and Georgia, this species of elm is found in allparts of the United States and of Canada .” ( Michaux .) “It is lessabundant than the white American elm ; and the two species are rarely foumltogether, as the red elm requires a substantial soil, free from moisture, mileven delights in elevated and open situations, such as the banks of steep rivers,particularly the Hudson and the Susquehanna. The heart-wood is coarser-grained and less compact than that of U. americana, and is of a dull red tinge; |whence the name of red elm. Even in the branches of 1 in. or 2 in. in diameter,it consists principally of perfect wood. It is the best wood in the United IStates for blocks; and it makes excellent rails, which are of long duration, andformed with little labour, as the trunk may be easily and regularly split; and jthis is probably the reason that it is never employed for the naves of wheels. |The leaves, and bark of the branches, macerated in water, yield a thick and :abundant mucilage (whence the name of slippery elm), which is used as a jrefreshing drink for colds, and for emollient plasters, in the place of the marsh ;mallow root, which does not grow in the United States . ( Michx .) There :are small plants bearing the name of U. fulva, in Loddiges’s arboretum; jbut they are scarcely, if at all, distinguishable from U. americana.

S 11. U . ala'ta Michx. The Wahoo, or cork- winged, Elm .

Identification. Michx. FI. Bor. Amer., 1. p. 173.; Arb., 3. p. 275. ; Michx. North Amer. Sylva, )p. 87. t. 127-; Pursh FI. Amer. Sept., 1. p. 200.; Spreng. Syst. Veg., 1. p. 931.; Kees’s Cycl.No. 11.

Synonymcs. TJ. pAmila Wall. FI. Carol., 111.; Wahoo, Indians of North America.

Engravings. Michx. North Amer. Sylva, 3. t. 127. ; and our fig. 1248.

Spec. Char., $c. A middle-sized tree, with leaves like those of the hornbeam(Carpinus /letulus L.). Branches bearing two longitudinal corky wrou 1Leaves with short petioles, and disks that are oblong-oval, narrowed to aaacute point, almost equal at the base, toothed. Samara downy, beanngadense fringe of hairs at the edge: it is smaller than that of U. americaMiby the figure in Michaux’s Isforth American Sylva, narrowed to both ends fand having an open niche at the upper one. {Michx. A r . A. S., PtnASA. S .) A tree, 30 ft, high. Introduced in 1820.

Description, Sfc. The wahoo elm is a tree seldom exceeding 30 ft. in heigfcwith a diameter of 9 in. or 10 in. The flowers do not differ materially from thoseof the other elms. The seeds are fringed, and much smaller than those oft®white American elm. The leaves are oval, doiibly denticulated, and rathersmat jThe most remarkable part of the tree is, however, a fungous appendage,or three lines wide, attached to the branches throughout their whole lei#'from which the name of alata (winged) has been given to the species. U