and of more luxuriant vegetation, than in North Carolina, on the loftiest parts of the Alleghanies. It there occupies large tracts, and forms thickets upon their summits, and for a third of the distance down their sides, which are rendered almost impenetrable by the crooked and unyielding trunks, crossed and locked with each other. As the shrubs which compose these copses are nearly of the same height, and richly laden with evergreen foliage, they present, at a distance, the appearance of verdant meadows, surrounded by tall trees.

This species was introduced into Britain in 1734, by Peter Collinson, who procured it from Pennsylvania, and planted it in Catesby's garden, at Fulham, where it flowered for the first time in England, in 1741. It was introduced into France, by the elder Michaux, in about the year 1790, and is to be found in many of the European collections.

Soil, Situation, &c. The Kalmia latifolia, in its natural habitat, usually occurs on the sides of stony hills, near water, where the soil is sterile; but when cultivated, it flourishes best in a soft, loose, and cool soil, with a northern exposure. For propagation and culture, the reader is referred to our article on the Rhododendron maximum.

Properties and Uses. The wood of the Kalmia latifolia, particularly that of the roots, is very compact, fine-grained, and marked with red lines. When green, it is of a soft texture, and is easily wrought; but, when well seasoned, it is very hard, and more nearly resembles the European box, (Buxus sempervirens,) than any other American wood. Consequently it is worthy of the attention of mathematical instrument-makers, and of engravers on wood. It is sometimes employed in the United States for the handles of light tools, for screws, boxes, &c.; and it is said, also, to make good clarionets. It is used by the American Indians for making small dishes, spoons, and other domestic utensils. The whole plant is regarded as poisonous to young cattle, and sheep, but not to goats and deer. A decoction of the leaves of this tree was formerly taken by those miserable natives who had determined on self-destruction. But modern enterprise has successfully enlisted it in the service of medicine, and it is applied, in a pulverized form, internally, in fevers, or topically, for the relief of cutaneous affections. A few drops of the tincture poured upon the body of a large and vigorous rattlesnake, killed the reptile in a short time. The powder which covers the leaves is popularly employed in some parts of the country where it grows, for snuff. The honey collected from the flowers by bees, is accounted deleterious, which, with other noxious qualities of this elegant shrub, lessens that esteem which its beauty claims.

Halesiace.

Syst. Nat.

Genus HALESIA, Ellis.

Dodecandria Monogynia.
Syst. Lin.

Derivation. Named by Ellis in honour of the learned and venerable Stephen Hales, D. D. F. R. S., author of " Vegetable Sta tistics," published in 1727.

Generic Characters. Corolla monopetalous, ventricosely campanulate, with a 4-lobed erect border. Stamens 12 to 16. Filaments combined into a tube at the base, and adnate to the corolla. Anthers oblong, erect, 2-celled, dehiscing lengthwise. Ovarium inferior. Style 1. Stigma simple. Drupe dry, corticate, oblong, with 2-4-winged angles, terminated by the permanent style, containing a 2-4celled putamen, which is acute at both ends. Cells 1-seeded. Seeds attached to the bottom of the cells. Testa of seeds simple, very thin. Embryo the length of albumen, with linear-oblong cotyledons, and a long, linear, compressed, inferior radicle. Albumen fleshy. Trees, with alternate serrated leaves, and lateral fascicles of pedicellate, drooping, white flowers.-Don, Miller's Dict.

CHE genus Halesia embraces but two species, natives of Carolina and Georgia, both of which are highly ornamental and sufficiently hardy to withstand the climate of Britain and the temperate parts of the United States. The Halesia diptera, a native of Georgia, has leaves which closely resemble those of the Styrax grandifolium, but differ from them in not being downy beneath, and is frequently sold for it in nurseries. Indeed, in affinity, as well as in general appearance, this genus approaches near to that of styrax; and there is so close a resemblance among all the allied species of styrax, that they may possibly be only varieties of one form. To the last-named genus belongs the officinal storax of apothecaries, (Styrax officinale,) much used at the present day in Catholic countries to burn as incense. The common storax of commerce differs from that of the shops, and is a liquid balsam, said to be obtained from the Liquidambar styraciflua.

Derivations. The specific name tetraptera is derived from the Greek tetra, four, and pteron, a wing; in allusion to the four wings of the fruit of this tree. It is called Snowdrop-tree, from the resemblance which its flowers bear to those of the snowdrop. Engravings. Curtis, Botanical Magazine, pl. 910; Audubon, Birds of America; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, ii., fig. 1012 and vi., pl. 196 et 197; and the figures below.

Specific Characters. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acuminated, sharply serrated. Petioles glandular. Fruit with 4 wings. Leaves acuminated, with the middle depressed. Flowers pure white, 9-10 in a fascicle, drooping, resembling those of the snowdrop.-Don, Miller's Dict.

T

Description.

HE Halesia tetraptera is a beautiful low tree or large shrub, growing from fifteen to thirty feet in height, with a trunk from five to eighteen inches in diameter. The bark of the trunk is of a darkish colour, with many irregular fissures. The leaves are ovate-acuminate, serrate, with the middle depressed. The flowers, which are of a pure white, put forth in April and May, and are succeeded by an acid fruit, of a rhomboidal form, with four wings. Its flowers are produced in great abundance; and, from their shape, colour, and pendulous appearance, they are considered as resembling those of the snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis.)

Variety. H. T. PARVIFLORA. Small-flowered Four-winged-fruited Halesia or Snowdrop-tree; Halesia parviflora, of Pursh, Michaux, and others. This variety, though usually considered as a distinct species, differs from the Halesia tetraptera, chiefly in having the leaves downy and glaucous beneath.

Geography, &c. The Halesia tetraptera is found in shady woods, on the banks of streams, from Carolina to Texas. It was introduced into Britain in 1756, and is to be met with in most of the European collections. The largest recorded trees of this species in Britain, are at Purser's Cross, and at Syon House, near London, which exceed thirty feet in height, with trunks about eighteen inches in diameter. At Schwöbber, in Hanover, Germany, there is another tree of about the same dimensions.

This species may be propagated from seeds which often remain in the ground more than a year without vegetating. It may also be increased by cuttings or by layers.

Properties and Uses. The wood of the Halesia tetraptera is hard, brittle, and veined; but owing to its small size, and comparative scarcity, it is appropriated to no particular use in the arts. The fruit, when ripe, is eaten in a crude state, by some people; and, when green, it is sometimes employed as a pickle. As this species is one of the most ornamental of the American deciduous trees, it richly deserves a place in every collection.

Derivation. The word Diospyros is thought to be corrupted from the Greek Diospuros, (dios, divine, and puros, wheat,) a name given by the ancients to the Lithospermum officinale. Its application to the date plum is supposed to have arisen by con founding the Greek puros, wheat, with the Latin pyrus, a pear-tree, to the fruit of which the date plum may have been thought

to bear some resemblance.

Generic Characters. Flowers polygamous. Calyx deeply 4-cleft, sometimes 3 or 6-cleft. Corolla urceolate, 4-cleft; sometimes 3 or 6-cleft. Male flowers having the stamens inserted by pairs into the base of the corolla, twice the number of its segments, with double or twin filaments, and the rudiment of a pistil. Hermaphrodite flowers having fewer and sterile stamens. Ovarium 8-12-celled; cells 1seeded. Berry globose, with a spreading calyx which is at length reflexed. Albumen horny.-Don, Miller's Dict.

HE genus Diospyros embraces deciduous low trees, with white or pale-yellow flowers; natives of Europe, northern Africa, western Asia, the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and North America. The only hardy species cultivated to much extent in Europe or America, are the European lotus, (Diospyros lotus,) and the Virginian date plum, or persimon (Diospyros virginiana.) The former grows to twenty or thirty feet, or more, in height, and is characterized by the beautiful dark, glossy green of the upper sides of its leaves, which, when mature and exposed to the air, assume a purplish hue beneath. Its fruit is sometimes brought to the market at Constantinople, under the name of Tarabresan Curmasi; and in that part of Europe, it appears to grow much larger than either in Britain or in Italy, being nearly of the size of a walnut; it is austere, however, and unfit for the table, unless made into a conserve.

Nearly allied to the same natural family are the iron-wood argania, (Argania sideroxylon,) a native of Morocco, and several species of bumelia, natives of the southern states of the American union.

Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pl. 93; Audubon, Birds of America, i., pl. lxxxvi.; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, vi., pl. 200 et 201; and the figures below.

Specific Characters. Leaver ovate-oblong, acuminated, glabrous, shining above, and paler beneath, retieulately veined. Petioles short and curved, and, as well as the branchlets, downy. Leaf buds glabrous. Flowers quadrifid, rarely quinquefid. Flowers pale-yellow.-Don, Miller's Dict.

Description.

"If Fever's fervid rage

Glow'd in the boiling veins, with care they sought
The firm Diospyros."

TRAITS OF THE ABORIGINES.

HE Virginian Date Plum, when grown under favourable conditions, sometimes attains a height of sixty or seventy feet, with a trunk eighteen or twenty inches in diameter; but, under ordinary circumstances, it does not usually exceed one half of these dimensions. The trunk of a fullgrown tree is covered with a deeply-furrowed blackish bark, from which exudes a greenish gum, without taste or odour. This tree is readily distinguished from the European date plum, by its leaves being nearly of the same shade of green on both surfaces; while those of the latter are of a dark purplish-green above, and much paler, and furnished with a somewhat pinkish down beneath. Those of the Virginian date plum are from four to six inches in length, oblong, entire, of a fine green above, glaucous beneath, and often, in autumn, are variegated with black spots. The terminal shoots are observed to be usually accompanied, at the base, by small rounded leaves. This species belongs to that class of vegetables, the sexes of which are confined to different trees. Both the barren and fertile flowers are of a greenish-yellow, but not strikingly conspicuous. They put forth in June and July, and are succeeded by a round fruit, about the size of a bullace plum, of a reddish complexion, with a fleshy pulp, containing six or eight semi-oval stones, slightly swollen at the sides, and of a dark-purple colour. The fruit is not palatable till it has been softened by frost, when it becomes sweet, though still astringent. In the southern states of the union it adheres to the branches long after the leaves have dropped; and when it falls, it is eagerly devoured by wild and domestic animals.