willows of this fine group, by its broad, heart-shaped, glossy, deep-green leaves, wavy margin, and sharp point; also by its large stipules. The staminate plant, in flowering time, may also be distinguished by its long and slender catkins, and the absence of the irised ring or zone, exhibited by S. rigida and S. cordata in flowering time, when the anthers are elevated above their respective scales and short fine hairs. The pistillate plant may also be distinguished early in spring by its delicate, flesh-colored, four-parted stigma. The leaves do not blacken in drying; it is very distinct from S. rigida and S. cordata. This is probably one of the best native willows we possess, for protecting the banks of rivers with rapid currents. It does not grow as high, and is more disposed to spread in these situations than its congeners, S. cordata and S. rígida. It furnishes abundance of stout twigs or rods."—Barratt.

I found this beautiful willow growing abundantly along the banks of the Connecticut, in Longmeadow and Springfield, and also on the plains between the Arsenal and Chicopee Falls. As found growing on the uplands, it is a showy plant, six or eight feet high, stem erect or bending, of a light gray color with blackish clouds. Branches long, bending upwards, of a shining gray. Twigs bronzed or yellowish green, with a red or purplish hue above. Stipules very large, half-heart-shaped, rounded above, often folded around the leaf so as to appear double. Leaves rich and luxuriant, hearted or rounded at base, broad, oblong-lanceolate, tapering gradually to a long point; footstalks

short.

There is a great resemblance between the last three willows, and it is only by very attentive study that they can be clearly distinguished. Torrey's willow has doubtless been confounded with the two previous, until Dr. Barratt, by planting them side by side, has availed himself of the opportunities thus presented of comparing them in all stages of their growth, and at all

seasons.

I have specimens from Williamstown, of what Dr. Barratt tells me is S. angustàta of Pursh, but I have had no opportunity of particularly examining the plant. I had taken it for a narrow-leaved variety of S. cordata.

FAMILY IX. THE BREAD-FRUIT FAMILY. ARTOCARPEÆ. BROWN.

This family consists, with a single exception, of trees and shrubs, with alternate, toothed, or lobed, or entire leaves, and milky juice. They are natives of tropical regions, two or three genera, Mòrus, Broussonétia and Maclùra, being found towards the north, and a single species of Mòrus, as far as Canada.

To this family belongs the famous Upas tree, Antiàris, of Java, which has long been considered the most deadly poison in the world. And here also, in strange companionship, are the Bread-fruit Tree, the Fig, the Mulberry, the Osage Orange, and the Fustic, a kind of mulberry whose wood furnishes the wellknown yellow dye. The juice of all is remarkable for being milky, and contains a considerable portion of caoutchouc. It is, even in those that produce wholesome fruit, usually acrid and of a suspicious character, and sometimes poisonous. Yet here also we find the Palo di Vacca, the famous Cow-tree of South America, which yields a large supply of rich and wholesome milk; and the fruit of several of the plants, besides those already mentioned, are eatable. Many virtues are ascribed to the various kinds of fig. The Ficus religiosa, the Indian Fig, or Banyan tree of India, is justly looked upon as one of the signal favors of Providence to tropical India, furnishing to the traveller a natural temple, thick shade, and refreshing fruit.

This family is distinguished by having its fruit usually situated on or within a fleshy receptacle, covered by numerous nuts or drupes,―rarely a single one,-enveloped by a fleshy or pulpy involucre, and forming a compound fruit, like many berries or fleshy fruits grown together. The name Artocarpeæ, was given by De Candolle to a section of the nettle family, to indicate the most important tree of this group, (the Artocarpus, literally bread-fruit,) and the fleshy character of the fruit.

The genera that are found native or cultivated in this climate are Mòrus, Broussonètia, and Maclùra. The only one native is,

THE MULBERRY TREE. MORUS. L.

The flowers of the two sexes are usually on the same plant, sometimes on distinct plants. The male flowers are in a drooping, axillary spike, with a calyx of four-parted sepals and four stamens. Female flowers in ovate, dense, erect spikes; calyx of four sepals, concave, becoming pulpy and juicy. Ovary of two cells, one having one pendulous ovule, the other none. Stigmas two, long. When ripe, each ovary is a fleshy nut covered by the fleshy calyx; the aggregate from a spike of flowers forming the compound berry.

The several species are trees, with white sap, and alternate, rough, usually lobed, leaves, which are the favorite food of the silk-worm, the caterpillar of the Bombyx Mòri, but are hardly attacked by any other insect. There are ten or more species, two of which have been known from remote times. The only species natural to New England, is

THE RED MULBERRY. M. rùbra. L.

Figured in Michaux, Sylva, III, Plate 116; and in Loudon's Arboretum, VII, Plate 183.

This species naturally grows farther north than any other mulberry. Pursh speaks of it as growing in the Middle States; Michaux thinks it is not found east of the Connecticut River, or north of Lake Champlain. According to Darlington, it sometimes reaches the height of thirty feet in Pennsylvania, and a diameter of from twelve to twenty inches, with numerous spreading branches at top. But Michaux found it, in the upper part of that State and in Virginia, sixty or seventy feet high, and sometimes two feet in diameter. According to all who have spoken of it, the wood is exceedingly hard, strong, and durable. Michaux says it is almost as durable as the locust, and by many persons esteemed quite equal to it. In the southern ports, all that can be obtained of it is employed in shipbuilding, and it is preferred to every other wood except locust, for treenails. For posts, also, it is highly valued, from its durability when exposed to the weather. In boat-building, and for

the light timber of vessels, it is preferred in Carolina to any wood except the red cedar.*

The use of its leaves as food for silk-worms, has been tried, but not with encouraging success. The fruit is very agreeable, and by most persons is preferred to that of any other species. I have found it growing wild on the Westfield River, where it is a small tree about twenty feet in height, like an apple tree. The recent shoots are gray, and somewhat downy. Larger branches, a light gray or brownish buff, smooth, with prominent gray dots. Trunk rough, with long superficial clefts and furrows. The leaves are heart-shaped, ovate or three-lobed, ending in a long point, rough on the upper surface, and downy on the lower.

The Black Mulberry, M. nigra, L., is occasionally cultivated here, as it has been in most parts of the civilized world from very ancient times, for ornament, and for its shade. It is supposed, from the circumstance of its being found, in great numbers, wild in the forests of Persia, to have been originally a native of that country, and to have been introduced thence, at a very remote period, into Europe; and others think it probable that it was brought, at a still more remote period, into Persia, from China. Its leaves are of no great value as food for the silk-worm, and its wood has not much strength or durability.

Several of the numerous varieties of the White Mulberry, M. alba, L., have been introduced, and are much cultivated in this country, with reference to the production of silk, the leaves having been long considered the natural and best food for the silk-worm. None of the varieties are so hardy as the black and red mulberries-and their range of climate is much less extensive. Its native country is China; but it has been naturalized in several parts of Europe, and it flourishes in all the temperate parts of this continent. It is a rapidly growing tree, reaching the height of twenty feet in five or six years, and when fully grown, attaining that of thirty or forty feet. The Many-stemmed Mulberry, M. múlticaulis, is a native of China, where it is said to be preferred for the food of silk

* Elliott.

worms.

Perrottet brought it from Manilla to Senegal in 1821, and, some years afterwards, to Europe. It has been extensively propagated in this country, and affords a great abundance of more delicate leaves than those of any other mulberry; and the silk formed by worms feeding on them, is considered very excellent, perhaps superior to any other.

The Paper Mulberry, Broussonètia papyrifera, so much resembles a mulberry tree in its general appearance, that it has until recently been included in that genus. It is a low, thickbranched tree, with large, light colored, downy or hairy leaves, and dark scarlet fruit. It is very hardy, grows rapidly, has considerable beauty, and might be introduced as an ornamental tree, but is of no value for its wood. It receives its specific name from the fact that, in Japan and China, of which it is a native, its bark is manufactured into paper. In the South Sea Islands, where also it is found, the bark is made into the curious dresses which we sometimes see imported thence.

THE OSAGE ORANGE, Maclùra aurantiaca, is a native of the banks of the Arkansas, and other regions west of the Mississippi. Its name was given by Nuttall in honor of William Maclure, a liberal and distinguished patron of the Natural Sciences in North America. It is a beautiful, low, spreading, round-headed tree, with the port and splendor of an orange tree. Its oval, entire, pointed leaves, have the polished, shining green of natives of warmer regions, and its curiously tesselated, succulent, compound fruit, the size and golden color of an orange.

The male and female flowers, which are green and inconspicuous, are found on different trees; and different kinds. must grow in immediate vicinity, in order that the fruit may be fertile. In the neighborhood of Philadelphia, I saw, in the Autumn of 1839, some fine specimens of this tree, several of which were loaded with fruit. I have rarely seen an object in the vegetable world more strikingly beautiful.

It was first introduced into St. Louis from the country of the Osage Indians, and thence received the name, which it well deserves, of Osage Orange. It has since been cultivated in many