OF FOREST-TREES,

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CHAP. IV.

The ELM 9 .

l. T_JlMUS, the ELM. Of this there are four or five sorts, and, from chapthe difference of the soil and air, divers spurious: Two of these kinds S '^ s 'are most worth your culture, viz. the Vulgar, or Mountain Elm , which istaken to be the Oriptelea of Theophrastus, being of a lefs jagged andsmaller leaf; and the Vernacula, or French Elm , whose leaves arethicker and more florid, glabrous, and smooth, delighting in the lower

“The Elm is the next tree that offers itself to our observation: and it deserves this place,whether we consider its beauty when growing, or its usefulnefs when felled. TheWych Elm , or Ulmus Campestris, is the only species that grows in Great Britain, the restbeing varieties.

1. ULMUS ( campestris) foliis duplicate serratis; basi intequalibus. Lin. Sp. PI. 327.—Elm with leaves doubly sawed on their edges , and unequal at their base. Ulmus vulgatifsima, foliolato, scabro. Ger. Emac. 1480. The Common Elm , with a broad rough leaf. The wych elm.

The Wych Elm is very common in the north-west counties of England, where it grows to a verylarge size, and is generally believed to grow naturally in the woods. The bark of the youngbranches is smooth and very tough, but that of the old trees cracks and is rough. Thebranches spread, and do not grow so erect as those of the small-leaved, or English Elm.—The leaves are rough, and are doubly sawed on their edges. Their base is unequal, aboutthree inches long and two broad, of a dark green colour, and stand upon short foot-stalks.—The flowers come out in March upon the slender twigs, standing in clusters; they areof a deep red colour; these are succeeded by oval bordered capsules, containing oneroundish comprefsed'seed, which ripens in May. The wood of this tree is good for all thepurposes of any kind of Elm ; but the leaves do not come out till late in the spring, so thereare few persons who plant these trees near their habitations. The five following arevarieties.

ULMUS (scabsa) foliis oblongo ovalis intequalitur serratis, calycibus foliaceis. Elm withoblong aval leaves which are unequally sawed, and haveleafy emjtalements to the flowers. Ulmus foliolatifsimo, scabro. Ger. Emac. 1481. Elm with a rough and very broad leaf. The ivychhazel.

This sort grows naturally in some of the northern counties of England, where it is called WychHazel, from the resemblance that the young shoo ts and leaves bear to those of Hazel.

It grows to a tree of great magnitude. The bark of the young shoots is very smooth andtough; it is of a Yellowish brown colour, with spots of white. The leaves are oval, six

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