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soil, which must be kept moist; and the situation should be sheltered, though the foliage of the plants must be fully exposed to the influence of the sun, otherwise they will not flower freely. They may be propagated from seeds, and by cuttings or layers.

Properties and Uses. The wood of this tree is hard, compact, heavy, and finegrained, and is susceptible of a brilliant polish; from which circumstances, it may be substituted for numerous purposes to which box-wood is applied. The sap-wood is perfectly white, and the heart-wood is of the colour of chocolate. In the United States, it enters into the construction of many articles both for utility and ornament, such as the handles of light tools, mallets, toys, &c. It is sometimes used by farmers for harrow teeth, for the hames of horse-collars, and also for shoeing the runners of sleds; but to whatever purpose it is applied, being liable to split, it should never be wrought till it is perfectly seasoned. The shoots, when three or four years old, are found suitable for the light hoops of small casks; and in the middle states, the cogs of mill-wheels are made of them, and the forked branches are converted into the yokes which are put upon the necks of swine, to prevent them from breaking into inclosed fields. In the parts of the country where it abounds, it serves for excellent fuel. The inner bark of this. tree is extremely bitter, and has proved an excellent substitute for the Peruvian bark. The bark, also, may be substituted for galls in the manufacture of ink; and from the bark of the more fibrous roots, the American Indians obtain a good scarlet dye. An infusion of the flowers of this tree is also used by them in the cure of intermittents. The fruit is sometimes taken as a tonic, in the form of a spirituous impregnation; and it likewise affords a favourite repast for various species of birds. In England, the sole use of this species is an ornamental shrub; and, from its large white flowers, "emulous of the purity of snow," which finely contrast with the "forest green," it richly deserves a place in every collection wherever it will thrive.

* Dr. Walker of Virginia, in an inaugural dissertation on the comparative virtues of the Cornus florida, Cornus sericea, and Cinchona officinalis, of Linnæus, after detailing a great number of experiments, remarks:-" A summary recapitulation of these experiments shows, that the Cornus florida, sericea, and Peruvian bark, possess the same ingredients; that is, gum, mucilage, and extracts; which last contain the tannin and gallic acid, though in different proportions. The florida has most of the gum mucilage and extracts; the sericea the next, which appears to be an intermediate between the florida and cinchona; while the latter possesses most of the resin. Their virtues appear similar, and equal, in their residence. The extract and resin possess all their active powers. The extract appears to possess all their tonic powers. The resin, when perfectly separated from the extract, appears to be purely stimulant; and probably the tonic powers of the extract, are increased when combined with a portion of the resin, as in the spirituous tincture."

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Derivations. The name Pinckneya was so called by Michaux, in honour of Mr. Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, a gentleman who was engaged in the cause and advancement of botanical science. The other names have been applied to the trees of this genus, from the resemblance they were supposed to bear to the Cinchona, and Mussænda.

Generic Characters. Sepals unequal, one or two of them foliaceous. Corolla a long tube. Filaments in the base of the tube. Capsules 2-valved, valves bearing the divisions in the middle.-Loudon, Enc. of Plants.

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HIS genus is nearly allied to Mussænda, and embraces but one species, a native of North America. To the same order belong a great number of genera; but a few of the species of which are sufficiently hardy to withstand the climate of Britain, and the middle and northern parts of the United States, even when protected by garden walls. The only truly hardy kind is the button-bush, (Cephalanthus occidentalis,) a shrub growing to a height of six or eight feet, in the margins of ponds and of streams leading from them, from Canada to Florida. Allied to the same natural family are the mistletoe (Viscum album); the various species of elder (Sambucus); the European guilder rose. (Viburnum opulus); the cranberry-fruited guilder rose, (Viburnum oxycoccus,) a native of elevated lands from New Jersey to the Rocky Mountains and Hudson's Bay; and the edible-fruited guilder rose or tree-cranberry, (Viburnum edule,) found from New York to Canada, and celebrated for its subglobose red berries, of an agreeable acid taste, and when completely ripe, are frequently employed as a substitute for cranberries; also, the various species of woodbine and honeysuckle (Lonicera); and the beautiful Leycesteria, (Leycesteria formosa,) much admired for the deepgreen hue of its stems and leaves, and its beautiful, large bracteas of flowers and fruit. To these may be added the coffee-tree, (Coffea arabica,) which produces the coffee of commerce, and may be distinguished by its conical-shaped head; light-brown bark; opposite, oblong, wavy, shining, light-green leaves, with clusters of white, fragrant flowers at their base; and its bright-red berries, when fully grown, but black, when perfectly ripe.

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Derivations. The word pubescens is derived from the Latin pubesco, to become downy, in allusion to the down which grows upon the flowers, leaves, and branches of this tree. Pubescens signifies an incipient state of becoming covered with hair or down; and pubens implies fully grown with hair or down. The French and German names have the same signification as the botanic one. From the properties of the bark of this species, and from its abounding in the state of Georgia, it is called Georgia Bark.

Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pl. 49; Audubon, Birds of America, ii., pl. clxv.; Loudon, Arboretum Bri tannicum, ii., fig. 830; and the figures below.

Specific Characters. Branches and leaves tomentose. Flowers rather large, pubescent, white, and tinred

with red.

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Description.

HE Pinckneya pubes

cens is a low tree, di

viding itself into nu-
merous branches, and

Its

rarely exceeds the height of twenty-five feet, with a stem five or six inches in diameter. leaves are opposite, four or five inches long, of a light-green colour, and downy beneath. The flowers, which put forth in May and June, are white, with longitudinal rose-coloured stripes, and occur in panicles at the extremity of the branches. Each flower is accompanied by a floral leaf, bordered with rose-colour, near the upper edge. The capsules are round, compressed in the middle, and contain a great number of small winged seeds.

Geography, &c. The Pinckneya is indigenous to the southern parts of the United States, and particularly abounds on the borders of

swamps in Georgia and Florida, where the soil is deep and fertile, and where the situation is rather cool and shady. In England, the plant is generally kept in green-houses or cold-pits; but it will thrive much better if planted in the free ground, and trained against a wall with a southern exposure. It requires a shady situation, and is said to thrive best in a mixture of sand and peat.

Properties and Uses. The wood of the Pinckneya is soft, which, together with its diminutive size, renders it unfit for use in the arts. The inner bark is extremely bitter, and appears to partake of the febrifugal virtues of the Cinchona officinalis; for, the inhabitants of the southern parts of Georgia successfully employ it in the cure of the intermittent fevers, which, during the latter part of summer and in autumn, prevail in that country.

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Derivations. This genus was named Lyonia, in commemoration of Mr. John Lyon, an indefatigable English collector of North American plants, who fell a victim to a dangerous epidemic amidst those savage and romantic mountains which had so often been the theatre of his labours. Andromeda was the name of the daughter of Cephalus, king of Ethiopia. She was tied naked to a rock, and exposed to be devoured by a sea-monster to appease the wrath of Neptune; but was delivered by Perseus, who afterwards inarried her, and they had many children. The following reasons for the application of the name of Andromeda to this genus of plants are extracted from Linnæus' "Lachesis Lapponica":"Andromeda polifolia," says Linnæus, "was now (June 12,) in its highest beauty, decorating the marshy grounds in a most agreeable manner. The flowers are quite blood-red before they expand; but, when full grown, the corolla is of a flesh-colour. Scarcely any painter's art can so happily imitate the beauty of a fine female complexion; still less could any artificial colour upon the face itself bear a comparison with this lovely blossom. As I contemplated it, I could not help thinking of Andromeda, as described by the poets; and the more I meditated upon their descriptions, the more applicable they seemed to the little plant before me; so that, if these writers had it in view, they could scarcely have contrived a more apposite fable. Andromeda is represented by them as a virgin of most exquisite and unrivalled charms; but these charms remain in perfection only so long as she retains her virgin purity, which is also appli cable to the plant now preparing to celebrate its nuptials. This plant is always fixed on some little turfy hillock in the midst of the swamps, as Andromeda herself was chained to a rock in the sea, which bathed her feet, as the fresh water does the roots of this plant. Dragons and venomous serpents surrounded her, as toads and other reptiles frequent the abode of her vegetable resembler, and, when they pair in the spring, throw mud and water over its leaves and branches. As the distressed virgin cast down her blushing face through excessive affliction, so does this rosy-coloured flower hang its head, growing paler and paler till it withers away. Hence, as this plant forms a new genus, I have chosen for it the name of Andromeda." Our great mas. ter has drawn this fanciful analogy still further in his "Flora Lapponica." "At length," says he, "comes Perseus, in the shape of summer, dries up the surrounding water, and destroys the monsters, rendering the damsel a fruitful mother, who then carries her head (the capsule) erect."

Generic Characters. Calyx 5-parted. Carolla ovate or tubular, with a contracted, 5-toothed mouth. Filaments short, flat, downy. Anthers with membranous cells that open lengthwise. Style 5-cornered. Stigma obtuse. Capsule 5-cornered. Flowers for the most part terminal, disposed in racemose panicles.-Loudon, Arboretum.

YONIA embraces evergreen and deciduous shrubs, and also one tree, natives of North America, and bearing the common character of the plants of the order Ericaceae, both in respect to beauty, soil, situation, propagation, and culture. All the species which compose this family have hair-like roots, and require a peat soil, or a soil of a close, cohesive nature, but which is yet susceptible of being readily penetrated by their finest fibrils. They all may readily be propagated from seeds, by cuttings, or by layers.

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Derivations. The specific name arborea is derived from the Latin arbor, a tree; on account of the large size which this species attains. It is called Sorrel-tree from the acidity of its leaves. The French, German, and Italian names signify Andromeda-tree, and Sorrel-tree.

Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pl. 85; Catesby, Natural History of Carolina, i., pl. 71; and the figures

below.

Specific Characters. Branches taper. Leaves deciduous, oblong, acuminate, serrate, with mucronate teeth, glabrous, acid. Flowers in terminal panicles of many racemes. Corollas white, ovoid-cylindrical; downy-Don, Miller's Dict.

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Description.

F all the species of the genus, the Lyonia arborea is the only one which rises to a sufficient height to be ranked among trees. In favourable situations, it usually grows to a height of from forty to sixty feet, with a trunk from twelve to eighteen inches in diameter; but, in dry and gravelly soils this tree is observed to be so much stinted that it presents itself only in the form of a shrub. The bark of the trunk is very thick, and deeply furrowed. The leaves, which are downy in the spring, and become smooth and glabrous in acquiring their growth, are alternate, oval-acuminate, finely denticulated, and from four to five

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inches long. The flowers, which put forth from June to August, occur in white spikes five or six inches in length, and are succeeded by small capsules containing a number of exceedingly minute seeds. United in groups, the flowers have a fine effect, which renders this tree very proper for the embellishment of gardens and ornamental plantations.

Geography and History. This species is indigenous to the United States, from Pennsylvania to Florida; and is found in the valleys of the Alleghanies from Virginia to their termination in Georgia; but, in advancing either eastward or westward from these mountains, it becomes more rare, and ceases entirely in the maritime parts of the southern states. It was introduced into Britain in 1752, where it is found in several collections, from fifteen to twenty feet in height, and ripens seeds every year, from which an abundance of plants have been raised.

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