The vegetation of the United States is as various as the climate
and soil. In Florida and the southern states, the superb magnolia,
the majestic tulip tree and the deciduous cypress charm the traveller
by their grandeur and beauty. The lofty oak, the stately fir and the
gracefully-waving elm of the north, present a different and still a
highly interesting study to the naturalist. As a general observation,
the trees of the United States are larger, taller, and more generally
useful for timber than those of Europe. As to height, it is observed
by Michaux, that, while in France only thirty-seven species of trees
arrive at thirty feet, in the transatlantic republic, one hundred and
thirty exceed that elevation. A general idea of the American forest
having thus been given, we will now notice, as largely as our limits
will permit, the most remarkable trees.
_Oak._――The _White Oak_ is found throughout the United States,
though it is by no means equally diffused. It abounds chiefly in the
middle states, particularly in that part of Pennsylvania and Virginia
which lies between the Alleghanies and the Ohio, a distance of about
one hundred and fifty miles, where nine tenths of the forests are
frequently composed of these trees, whose healthful appearance evinces
the favorable nature of the soil. East of the mountains, this tree is
found in every exposure, and in every soil which is not extremely dry
or subject to long inundations; but the largest stocks grow in humid
places. In the western districts, where it composes entire forests,
the face of the country is undulated, and the yellow soil, consisting
partly of clay with calcareous stones, yields abundant crops of wheat.
The white oak attains the elevation of seventy or eighty feet, with a
diameter of six or seven feet; but its proportions vary with the soil
and climate. Soon after their unfolding, the leaves are reddish above
and white and downy beneath; when fully grown, they are smooth and of
a light green on the upper surface. In autumn, they change to a bright
violet color, and form an agreeable contrast with the surrounding
foliage which has not yet suffered by the frost. This is the only
oak on which a few of the dried leaves remain till the circulation is
renewed in the spring. By this peculiarity and by the whiteness of the
bark, from which it derives its name, it is easily distinguishable in
the winter. This tree puts forth flowers in May, which are succeeded by
acorns of an oval form, large, very sweet, contained in rough, shallow,
grayish cups, and borne singly or in pairs, by peduncles eight or ten
lines in length, attached, as in all species of annual fructification,
to the shoots of the season. The fruit of the white oak is rarely
abundant, and frequently, for several years in succession, a few
handfuls of acorns could hardly be collected in a large forest where
the tree is multiplied. Some stocks produce acorns of a deep blue color.
Of all the American oaks, this is the best and the most generally used,
being strong, durable, and of large dimensions. It is less employed
than formerly in building, only because it is scarcer and more costly.
Among the uses of this wood, the most important is in ship-building. In
all the dock yards of the northern and middle states, except Maine, it
is almost exclusively employed for the keel, and always for the lower
part of the frame and the sides: it is preferred for the knees, when
sticks of a proper form can be found. In the smaller ports south of New
York, the upper part of the frame is also made of white oak; but such
vessels are less esteemed than those constructed of more durable wood.
The medicinal properties of oak bark depend on its astringency, and
that again on its tannin. The inner bark of the small branches is the
strongest, the middle bark next, and the outer bark is almost useless.
The _Gray Oak_, _Water Oak_, _Bear Oak_, _Upland_, _Willow Oak_, and
_Bartram Oak_ are interesting varieties. The _Laurel Oak_ is a stranger
north of Philadelphia, and is rare in the more southern states. It is
most abundant in the open savannas of Illinois. Rising to the height
of forty or fifty feet, clad in a smooth bark, and for three fourths of
its height laden with branches, it presents an uncouth appearance when
bared by the winter blasts, but in the summer with its thick tufted
foliage is really beautiful. The _Black Oak_ is found throughout the
country, with the exception of the northern part of New England. It is
one of the loftiest of the American forest trees, rising to the height
of eighty or ninety feet, with a diameter of four or five feet. The
wood is reddish and coarse-grained, with empty pores, but is esteemed
for strength and durability. It furnishes excellent fuel, and the bark
is largely used for tanning. Other varieties of the oak are numerous.
_Walnut._――The _Black Walnut_ is met with in large numbers in the
forests in the vicinity of Philadelphia, and with the exception of the
lower parts of the southern states, where the soil is too sandy, or too
wet as in the swamps, it is met with to the banks of the Mississippi
throughout an extent of two thousand miles. East of the Alleghanies in
Virginia, and in the upper parts of the Carolinas and Georgia, it is
chiefly confined to the valleys where the soil is deep and fertile,
and which are watered by creeks and rivers. On the banks of the Ohio
and on the islands of this beautiful river, the black walnut attains
the elevation of sixty or seventy feet, with a diameter of three to
seven feet. Its powerful vegetation clearly points out this, as one of
the largest trees of America. When it stands insulated, its branches,
extending themselves horizontally to a great distance, spread into
a spacious head, which gives it a very majestic appearance. The bark
is thick, blackish, and on old trees deeply furrowed. The leaves when
bruised emit a strong aromatic odor.
When the wood of this tree is freshly cut, the sap is white and the
heart of a violet color, which, after a short exposure to the air,
assumes an intenser shade, and becomes nearly black: hence probably is
derived the name _Black Walnut_. There are several qualities for which
its wood is principally esteemed: it remains sound for a long time,
even when exposed to the influences of heat and moisture; but this
observation is only applicable to the heart, the sap speedily decays:
it is very strong and very tenacious: when thoroughly seasoned, it is
not liable to warp and split; and its grain is sufficiently fine and
compact to admit of a beautiful polish. It possesses, in addition to
these advantages, that of being secure from worms. On account of these
excellencies, it is preferred and successfully employed in many kinds
of work. East of the Alleghanies, its timber is not extensively used
in building houses, but, in some parts of Kentucky and Ohio, it is
split into shingles which serve to cover them: sometimes also this
timber enters into the composition of the frame. But it is chiefly in
cabinet-making, that this wood is employed wherever it abounds.
There are several other species of the walnut. The _Shell-bark Hickory_
sometimes grows to the height of eighty or ninety feet, with a diameter
of less than two feet; the trunk is destitute of branches, regularly
shaped, and almost of a uniform size for three fourths of its length.
The _Butternut_ is found in all the New England states, and in the
middle states.
_Maple._――The _Sugar Maple_, called also rock maple, has leaves
five-parted, and yellowish green flowers, and is one of the loftiest
trees in our forests. Its trunk is usually straight and entire, to the
height of from forty to eighty feet, where it suddenly unfolds into a
dense top, crowded with rich foliage. The bark of the older trees is
gray, and marked with numerous deep clefts. The wood is firm and heavy,
though not durable. It is much used by cabinet-makers, and when cut
at the right season forms excellent fuel. Michaux says, that it grows
in its greatest perfection, between the forty-third and forty-sixth
degrees of north latitude.
The _White Maple_, sometimes called silver maple, is distinguished by
having its leaves five-parted, and white beneath; its flowers reddish
yellow, without flower-stalks. The trunk frequently divides near the
ground, so as to appear like several trunks close together. These
divisions diverge a little as they rise, and often at the height of
from eight to twenty feet the top commences. This is generally larger
in proportion to the trunk, than the top of any other tree. It blossoms
earlier than the sugar maple. The fruit is larger than that of any
other species: it advances with great rapidity towards perfection,
ripens and falls about June in Georgia, and May in Pennsylvania. The
fruit of the sugar maple does not ripen until October. The white maple
is principally found on the banks of rivers, and on the banks of such
only as have a clean gravelly bottom and clear water. It is most
luxuriant on flats which are subject to annual inundations, and is
usually the first settler on alluvial deposits. ‘The banks of the
Sandy river, in Maine,’ says Michaux, ‘and those of the Connecticut in
Windsor, Vermont, are the most northerly points at which I have seen
the white maple. It is found more or less on all the rivers of the
United States, flowing from the mountains to the Atlantic, but becomes
scarce in South Carolina and Georgia. In no part of the United States
is it more multiplied than in the western country, and no where is its
vegetation more luxuriant than on the banks of the Ohio, and of the
great rivers that empty into it. There, sometimes alone, and sometimes
mingled with the willow, which is found all along these waters, it
contributes singularly by its magnificent foliage to the embellishment
of the scene. The brilliant white of the leaves beneath, forms a
striking contrast with the bright green above, and the alternate
reflection of these two surfaces in the water, heightens the beauty
of this wonderful moving mirror, and aids in forming an enchanting
picture, which during my long excursions in a canoe, in these regions
of solitude and silence, I contemplated with unwearied admiration.’
The _Red-flowering Maple_ is a beautiful tree, and in the swamps of
New Jersey and Pennsylvania, it is found to the height of sixty or
seventy feet, with a diameter of three or four. It blossoms earlier in
the spring than any other tree, and flowers from the middle to the last
of April. The blossoms, of a beautiful purple or deep red, unfold more
than a fortnight before the leaves. This tree furnishes wood adapted
to a variety of purposes; it is much used in making domestic wares
and agricultural implements. Furniture of great richness and lustre
is also made of it. It is not good fuel. The _Mountain_, _Striped_ and
_Ash-leaved Maples_ are all beautiful trees.
_Birch._――The _Black Birch_ abounds in New England and the middle
states; farther south it is confined to the summits of the Alleghanies.
It often exceeds seventy feet in height. At the close of winter, the
leaves, during a fortnight after their birth, are covered with a thick,
silvery down, which soon after disappears. When bruised, the leaves and
bark diffuse a very agreeable odor, and as they retain this property
when dried and carefully preserved, they afford a pleasant infusion,
with the addition of a little sugar and cream. The wood is applied to
a variety of useful purposes; it is of a rosy hue, which deepens on
exposure to the light. The _Yellow_, _Canoe_, _White_, and _Red Birch_
are found in various localities throughout the country.
_Pines._――The pines constitute a large and interesting class of
American forest trees. The most valuable species is that which is known
in England and the West Indies as the _Georgia Pitch Pine_; and which,
in the United States, is variously called yellow pine, pitch pine,
broom pine, southern pine, red pine, and long-leaved pine, a name which
is adopted by Michaux. Towards the north, the long-leaved pine makes
its appearance near Norfolk, in Virginia, where the pine-barrens begin.
It seems to be especially assigned to dry sandy soils; and it is found,
almost without interruption, in the lower part of Carolinas, Georgia,
and the Floridas, over a tract more than six hundred miles long, from
north-east to south-west, and more than a hundred miles broad, from the
sea towards the mountains. Immediately beyond Raleigh, it holds almost
exclusive possession of the soil, and is seen in company with other
pines only on the edges of swamps, enclosed in the barrens; even there
not more than one stock in a hundred is of another species, and with
this exception, the long-leaved pine forms the unbroken mass of woods
which covers this extensive country.
The mean stature of the long-leaved pine is sixty or seventy feet, with
a uniform diameter of fifteen or sixteen inches for two thirds of this
height. Some stocks, favored by local circumstances, attain much larger
dimensions, particularly in East Florida. The timber is very valuable,
being stronger, more compact, and more durable, than that of all the
other species of pine: it is besides fine grained, and susceptible of
high polish. Its uses are diversified, and its consumption great. But
the value of the long-leaved pine does not reside exclusively in its
wood; it supplies nearly all the resinous matter used in the United
States in ship-building, with a large residue for exportation; and in
this view, its place can be supplied by no other species, those which
afford the same product being dispersed through the woods, or collected
in inaccessible places. In the northern states, the lands, which at
the commencement of their settlements were covered with pitch pine,
were exhausted in twenty-five or thirty years, and for more than half a
century have ceased to furnish tar. The pine-barrens are of vast extent,
and are covered with trees of the forest growth; but they cannot all be
rendered profitable, from the difficulty of communicating with the sea.
Among the varieties which we can only enumerate, without an attempt at
description, are the _New Jersey_, _Table Mountain_, _Gray_, _Pond_,
and _White Pine_.
_Spruces._――The _American Silver Fir_ is found in the colder regions
of the states; towards the south, it is found only on the tops of the
Alleghanies. It flourishes best in a moist, sandy loam. Its height
rarely exceeds forty feet, with a diameter of twelve or fifteen inches.
The trunk tapers from a foot in diameter at the surface of the ground
to seven or eight inches at the height of six feet. When standing alone
and developing itself naturally, its branches, which are numerous and
thickly garnished with leaves, diminish in length in proportion to
their height, and form a pyramid of perfect regularity. The bark is
smooth and delicate. The leaves are six or eight lines long, and are
inserted singly on the sides and on the top of the branches; they are
narrow, rigid and flat, of a bright green above, and a silvery white
beneath; whence probably is derived the name of the tree. The flowers
appear in May, and are followed by cones of a fragrant odor, nearly
cylindrical, four or five inches long, an inch in diameter, and always
directed upwards. The seeds are ripe in autumn, and if permitted to
hang late will fall apart and scatter themselves. The wood of the
silver fir is light and slightly resinous, and the heart is yellowish.
The _Hemlock Spruce_ inhabits a similar tract of country, though moist
ground appears not to be the most favorable to its growth. It arrives
at the height of seventy or eighty feet, with a circumference of six or
nine feet, and is uniform for two thirds of its length. The _White_ and
_Black Spruce_ are varieties of this genus.
_Cypresses._――The _Cypress_ is a very interesting tree, from its
extraordinary dimensions, and the varied application of its wood.
Its northern boundary is Indian river, in Delaware, in latitude about
thirty-nine degrees. In proceeding southward, it becomes more abundant
in the swamps, and in Louisiana those parts of the marshes where
the cypress grows almost alone are called cypress swamps, and they
sometimes occupy thousands of acres. In the swamps of the southern
states and the Floridas, on whose deep, miry soil a new layer of
vegetable mould is every year deposited by floods, the cypress attains
its utmost developement. The largest stocks are one hundred and twenty
feet in height, and from twenty-five to forty feet in circumference,
above the conical base, which at the surface of the earth is three or
four times as large as the continued diameter of the trunk: in felling
them, the negroes are obliged to raise themselves upon scaffolds five
or six feet from the ground. The base is usually hollow for three
fourths of its bulk.
Amidst the pine forests and savannas of the Floridas is seen here
and there a bog filled with cypresses, whose squalid appearance, when
they exceed eighteen or twenty feet in height, proves how much they are
affected by the barrenness of a soil which differs from the surrounding
only by a layer of vegetable mould, a little thicker upon the quartzous
sand. The summit of the cypress is not pyramidical like that of the
spruce, but is widely spread and even depressed upon old trees. The
foliage is open, light, and of a fresh agreeable tint; each leaf is
four or five inches long, and consists of two parallel rows of leaflets
upon a common stem. The leaflets are small, fine, and somewhat arching,
with the convex side outwards. In autumn they change from a light green
to a dull red, and are shed soon after. This tree blooms in Carolina
about the first of February.
Among the resinous trees of the United States, the _White Cedar_ is one
of the most interesting for the varied utility of its wood. North of
the river Connecticut, it is rare and little employed in the arts. In
the southern states, it is not met with beyond the river Santee, but it
is found, though not abundantly, on the Savannah: it is multiplied only
within these limits and to the distance of fifty miles from the ocean.
The white cedar is seventy or eighty feet high, and sometimes more
than three feet in diameter. When the trees are close and compressed,
the trunk is straight, perpendicular and destitute of branches to the
height of fifty or sixty feet. When cut, a yellow transparent resin
of an agreeable odor exudes, of which a few ounces could hardly be
collected in a summer from a tree of three feet in circumference.
The foliage is evergreen: each leaf is a little branch numerously
subdivided, and composed of small, acute, imbricated scales.
The _White Ash_ is one of the most interesting among the American
species for the qualities of its wood, and the most remarkable for
the rapidity of its growth and for the beauty of its foliage. A cold
climate seems most congenial to its nature. It is everywhere called
_White Ash_, probably from the color of its bark, by which it is easily
distinguished. The situations most favorable to this tree are the banks
of rivers and the edges and surrounding acclivities of swamps. The
white ash sometimes attains the height of eighty feet, with a diameter
of three feet, and is one of the largest trees of the United States.
The trunk is perfectly straight and often undivided to the height of
more than forty feet. On large stocks the bark is deeply furrowed, and
divided into small squares from one to three inches in diameter. The
leaves are twelve or fourteen inches long, opposite and composed of
three or four pair of leaflets surmounted by an odd one. The leaflets
are three or four inches long, about two inches broad, of a delicate
texture and an undulated surface. Early in the spring they are covered
with a light down, which gradually disappears, and at the approach
of summer they are perfectly smooth, of a light green color above and
whitish beneath. It puts forth white or greenish flowers in the month
of May, which are succeeded by seeds that are eighteen lines long,
cylindrical near the base, and gradually flattened into a wing, the
extremity of which is slightly notched. They are united in bunches
four or five inches long, and are ripe in the beginning of autumn.
The shoots of the two preceding years are of a bluish gray color and
perfectly smooth: the distance between their buds sufficiently proves
the vigor of their growth.
_Elm._――The _White Elm_ inhabits an extensive tract of the states,
being found from Nova Scotia to the extremity of Georgia. It is also
found on the banks of the western rivers; growing in low, moist and
substantial soils. In the middle states, this tree stretches to a great
height, but does not approach the magnificence of vegetation which it
displays in the countries peculiarly adapted to its growth. In clearing
the primitive forests, a few stocks are sometimes left standing;
insulated in this manner, it appears in all its majesty, towering to
the height of eighty or one hundred feet, with a trunk four or five
feet in diameter, regularly shaped, naked, and insensibly diminishing
to the height of sixty or seventy feet, where it divides itself into
two or three primary branches. This species differs from the red and
European elm in its flowers and seeds; it blooms in the month of April,
previous to the unfolding of the leaves; the flowers are very small, of
a purple color, supported by short, slender footstalks, and united in
bunches at the extremity of the branches. The _Wahoo_ and the _Red Elm_
are interesting species.
The _American Chesnut_ sometimes attains the height of seventy or
eighty feet, with a circumference of fifteen or sixteen feet. Though
this tree nearly resembles that of Europe in its general appearance,
its foliage, its fruit and the properties of its wood, it is treated
by botanists as a distinct species. Its leaves are six or seven inches
long, one and a half broad, coarsely toothed, of an elongated oval
form, of a fine, brilliant color and of a firm texture, with prominent
parallel nerves beneath. It flowers in June. The fruit is spherical,
covered with fine prickles, and stored with two dark brown seeds or
nuts, about as large as the end of the finger. They are smaller and
sweeter than the wild chesnuts of Europe. They are ripe about the
middle of October. The wood is strong, elastic and capable of enduring
the succession of dryness and moisture.
_Buttonwood_ or _Sycamore_.――Among trees with deciduous leaves,
none in the temperate zones, either in the old or new continent,
equal the dimensions of the planes. The species which we are about
to describe is not less remarkable for its amplitude, and for its
magnificent appearance, than the plane of Asia, whose majestic form
and extraordinary size were so much celebrated by the ancients.
In the Atlantic states, this tree is commonly known by the name of
_Buttonwood_, and sometimes in Virginia, by that of _Water Beach_. On
the banks of the Ohio, and in the states of Kentucky and Tennessee,
it is most frequently called _Sycamore_, and by some persons _Plane
Tree_. This tree, in no part of the United States, is more abundant
and vigorous than along the rivers of Pennsylvania and Virginia; though
in the more fertile valleys of the west, its vegetation is still more
luxuriant, especially on the banks of the Ohio and of the rivers that
flow into it.
On the margin of the great rivers of the west, the buttonwood is
constantly found to be the loftiest and largest tree of the United
States. Often with a trunk of several feet in diameter, it begins to
ramify at the height of sixty or seventy feet, near the summit of
other trees; and often the base divides itself into several trunks,
equally vigorous and superior in diameter to any of the surrounding
trees. On a little island in the Ohio, fifteen miles above the mouth
of the Muskingum, Michaux mentions a buttonwood which, at five feet
above the ground, was forty feet and four inches in circumference, and
consequently more than thirteen feet in diameter. The American species
is generally thought, in Europe, to possess a richer foliage, and
to afford a deeper shade than the Asiatic plane: its leaves are of
a beautiful green, alternate, from five to fifteen inches broad, and
formed with more open angles than those of the plane of the eastern
continent.
_Beech._――The species of _Red Beech_ is almost exclusively confined to
the north-eastern parts of the United States. In the state of Maine,
New Hampshire and Vermont, it is so abundant as often to constitute
extensive forests, the finest of which grow on fertile, level or gently
sloping lands which are proper for the culture of corn. The red beech
equals the white species in diameter, but not in height; and as it
ramifies nearer the earth and is more numerously divided, it has a
more massy summit and the appearance of more tufted foliage. Its leaves
are equally brilliant, a little larger and thicker, and have longer
teeth. Its fruit is of the same form, but is only half as large, and
is garnished with firmer and less numerous points.
The _White Beech_ is one of the tallest and most majestic trees of
the American forests. It grows the most abundantly in the middle and
western states. On the banks of the Ohio, the white beech attains the
height of more than one hundred feet, with a circumference of eight to
eleven feet. In the forests, where these trees vegetate in a deep and
fertile soil, their roots sometimes extend to a great distance even
with the surface, and being entangled so as to cover the ground, they
embarrass the steps of the traveller and render the land peculiarly
difficult to clear. This tree is more slender and less branchy than
the red beech; but its foliage is superb, and its general appearance
magnificent.
_Poplar_ or _Tulip Tree_.――This tree, which surpasses most others of
North America in height and in the beauty of its foliage and of its
flowers, is one of the most interesting from the numerous and useful
applications of its wood.
In the Atlantic states, especially at a considerable distance from the
sea, tulip trees are often seen seventy, eighty and one hundred feet
in height, with a diameter of eighteen inches to three feet. But the
western states appear to be the natural soil of this magnificent tree,
and here it displays its most powerful vegetation. M. Michaux mentions
a tulip tree, near Louisville, on the Ohio, which at five feet from
the ground was twenty-two feet six inches in circumference, and whose
elevation he judged to be from one hundred and twenty to one hundred
and forty feet. The flowers bloom in June or July. They are large,
brilliant, and on detached trees very numerous, variegated with
different colors: they have an agreeable odor, and produce a fine
effect. The fruit is composed of a great number of thin, narrow scales,
attached to a common axis, and forming a cone two or three inches in
length. Each cone consists of sixty or seventy seeds, of which never
more than a third part are productive. For ten years before the tree
begins to yield fruit, almost all the seeds are unproductive, and on
large trees, those from the highest branches are the best.
_Catalpa._――In the Atlantic states, the _Catalpa_ begins to be found
in the forests, on the banks of the river Savannah, and west of the
Alleghanies, on those of the Cumberland, between the thirty-fifth and
thirty-sixth degrees of latitude. Farther south it is more common,
and abounds near the borders of all the rivers which empty into the
Mississippi, or which water West Florida. In the regions where it grows
most abundantly, it frequently exceeds fifty feet in height, with a
diameter from eighteen to twenty-four inches. It is easily recognised
by its bark, which is of a silver-gray color, and but slightly furrowed,
by its ample leaves, and by its wide-spreading summit, disproportioned
in size to the diameter of its trunk. It differs from other trees also
by the fewness of its branches. The flowers which are collected in
large bunches at the extremity of the branches, are white, with violet
and yellow spots, and are beautiful and showy.
_Magnolia Grandiflora._――‘Bartram and others,’ says Mr. Flint, ‘by
overrating the beauty of this tree, have caused, that when strangers
first behold it, their estimation of it falls too low. It has been
described, as a very large tree. We have seen it in Florida, where
Bartram saw it. We have seen it in its more congenial position for
full developement, the rich alluvions of Louisiana; and we have never
seen it compare with the sycamore, the cotton wood, or even the ash,
in point of size. It is sometimes a tall tree; often graceful in form;
but ordinarily a tree of fourth or fifth rate in point of comparative
size in the forest, where it grows. Its bark is smooth, whitish, very
thick, and something resembles that of the beech. The wood is soft,
and for aught we know, useless. The leaves strongly resemble those of
the orange tree, except in being larger, thicker, and having a hoary
yellowish down upon the under side. The upper side has a perfect
verdure, and a feel of smoothness, as if it was oiled. The flowers
are large, of a pure white, nearest resembling the northern pond lily,
though not so beautiful; and are, ordinarily, about twice the size. The
fragrance is indeed, powerful, but to us rather sickly and offensive.
We have felt, and we have heard others complain of feeling a sensation
of faintness, in going into a room, where the chimney place was filled
with these flowers. The tree continues to put forth flowers for two
months in succession, and seldom displays many at a time.
‘We think, few have been in habits of examining flowering trees more
attentively than ourselves, and we contemplated this tree for years in
the season of flowers. Instead of displaying, as has been represented,
a cone of flowers, we have seldom seen a tree in flower, which did not
require some attention and closeness of inspection, to discover where
the flowers were situated among the leaves. We have not been led to
believe, that others possessed the sense of smell more acutely, than
ourselves. In advancing from points, where these trees were not, to
the pine forest, on the water courses of which they are abundant,
we have been warned of our approach to them by the sense of smell,
at a distance of something more than half a mile; and we question,
if any one ever perceived the fragrance much farther, except by the
imagination. The magnolia is a striking tree, and an observer, who
saw it for the first time, would remark it, as such. But we have been
unable to conceive whence the extravagant misconceptions, respecting
the size, number, fragrance and beauty of its flowers, had their origin.
‘There are six or seven varieties among the laurels of the
magnolia tribe, some of which have smaller flowers than those of
the _grandiflora_, but much more delicate, and agreeably fragrant.
A beautiful evergreen of this class is covered in autumn with berries
of an intense blackness, and we remarked them in great numbers about
St. Francisville. The holly is a well-known and beautiful tree of this
class. But that one, which has struck us, as being the handsomest of
the family, is the laurel almond. It is not a large tree. Its leaves
strongly resemble those of the peach; and it preserves a most pleasing
green through the winter. Its flowers yield a delicious perfume. It
grows in families of ten or fifteen trees in a cluster. Planters of
taste in the valley of Red river, where it is common, select the place
of their dwelling amidst a cluster of these trees.’
The _Bow Wood_ is a very striking tree, found about the upper courses
of the Washita, the middle regions of Arkansas, and occasionally on
the northern limits of Louisiana. Its leaves are large and beautiful,
and its fruit, which somewhat resembles a large orange, is of a most
inviting appearance, but is ‘the apple of Sodom to the taste.’ It is
considered by many the most splendid of all forest trees.
The _China Tree_ is much cultivated in the south-western region of the
states, as an ornamental shade tree. Its leaves are long and spiked,
set in correspondence on each side of the stem. The verdure is deep
and brilliant. When in full flower, the top is one tuft of blossoms.
The tree is of most rapid growth, and its beautiful color imparts
delightful freshness to the landscape. After the fall of its leaves,
a profusion of reddish berries remain, and give at a little distance
the appearance of continuing in flower. This berry is a narcotic, and
stupefies the birds that eat of it.
The _Papaw_ is seldom found north of the river Schuylkill, and is
extremely rare in the low, maritime parts of the southern states. It
is not uncommon in the bottoms which stretch along the rivers of the
middle states; but it is most abundant in the rich valleys intersected
by the western waters, where at intervals, it forms thickets
exclusively occupying several acres. In Kentucky and in the western
part of Tennessee, it is sometimes seen also in forests where the soil
is luxuriantly fertile; of which its presence is an infallible proof.
It seldom exceeds thirty feet in height, and a diameter of six or eight
inches, though it generally stops short at half this elevation. The
trunk is covered with a silver-gray bark, which is smooth and finely
polished. The leaves are alternate, five or six inches in length, and
of an elongated form, widening from the base to the summit. They are of
a fine texture, and the superior surface is smooth and brilliant. The
flowers are pendent, and of a purple hue. When the fruit is ripe, which
takes place towards the beginning of August, it is about three inches
long, one and a half thick, of a yellowish color, and of an oval form,
irregular and swelling into inequalities. Its pulp is soft, and of an
insipid taste, and it contains several large, triangular stones.
_Persimon._――The banks of the river Connecticut, below the
forty-second degree of latitude, may be uniformly considered as the
northern limit of this tree; but it is rendered rare in these parts by
the severity of the winter, while in New Jersey it is common, and still
more so in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the southern states; it abounds,
also, in the western forests. The persimon varies surprisingly in size
in different soils and climates. In New Jersey it is not more than
half as large as in the more southern states, where, in favorable
situations, it is sometimes sixty feet in height, and eighteen or
twenty inches in diameter. The trunk of a full-grown tree is covered
with a deeply-furrowed blackish bark, from which a greenish gum exudes,
without taste or smell. The leaves are from four to six inches in
length, oblong, entire, of a fine green above; in autumn they are
often variegated with black spots. This tree belongs to the class
of vegetables whose sexes are confined to different stocks. Both the
barren and fertile flowers are greenish and not strikingly apparent.
They put forth in June or July. The ripe fruit is about as large as the
thumb, of a reddish complexion, round, fleshy, and furnished with six
or eight semi-oval stones, slightly swollen at the sides, and of a dark
purple color. It is not eatable till it has been touched with frost, by
which the skin is shrivelled, and the pulp, which before was hard and
extremely harsh to the taste, is softened and rendered palatable. The
fruit is so abundant in the southern states, that a tree often yields
several bushels. In the south, it adheres to the branches long after
the shedding of the leaf, and when it falls, it is eagerly devoured by
wild and domestic animals.
_Dogwood_ and _Red Bud_.――These are plants between shrubs and trees.
The former has a heart-shaped leaf, and an umbrella-shaped top. In
spring, it adorns itself with brilliant, white flowers, and in autumn
with fine scarlet berries. The latter is the first blossoming shrub on
the Ohio; and its blossoms there resemble those of the peach tree. They
are scattered every where through the wood, and impart a charm to the
whole descent of the ‘beautiful river.’ The two are the most common, as
they are the most beautiful shrubs of the great western valley.
_Mountain Laurel._――This is a large shrub, which indifferently bears
the name of _Mountain Laurel_, _Laurel_, _Ivy_, and _Calico Tree_. It
abounds in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Proceeding thence south-west,
it is found along the steep banks of all the rivers which rise in the
Alleghanies; but it is observed to become less common in following
these streams from their source, towards the Ohio and Mississippi on
one side, and towards the ocean on the other. It is rare in Kentucky
and in West Tennessee, and in the southern states it disappears
entirely when the rivers enter the low country, where the pine-barrens
commence.
In favorable situations, this shrub grows to the height of eighteen
or twenty feet, with a diameter of three inches. The flowers put forth
from May to July, are destitute of odor, and disposed in clusters at
the extremity of the branches: in general they are of a beautiful rose
color, and sometimes of a pure white. They are always numerous, and
their brilliant effect is heightened by the richness of the surrounding
foliage.
The _Palmetto_ inhabits the southern states, as far north as Cape
Hatteras. It is from forty to fifty feet in height, crowned with a
tufted summit, which gives it a beautiful and majestic appearance. The
_Coral Tree_ is a brilliant and gaudy shrub, native of the open forests
of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida; it grows to the height of two
or three feet. The _Snow Berry_ is an ornamental shrub, inhabiting the
banks of the upper Missouri. In the autumn, when the large bunches of
ivory or wax-like berries are matured, the appearance is said to be
extremely beautiful.
_Fruit Trees._――The _Chickasaw Plum_ is common from thirty-four degrees
north latitude, to the gulf of Mexico. It is found in great abundance.
Prairie plums are found in great quantities on the hazel prairies of
Illinois and Missouri. When cultivated under favorable circumstances,
the Osage plum is delicious. Crab apple shrubs are found in great
quantities in the middle regions of the central valley. Their blossoms
resemble those of the cultivated apple tree, and the tree is useful
as a stock in which the cultivated apple and pear may be grafted. The
_Mulberry_ is rare in the Atlantic states, but abounds in every part of
the Mississippi valley. Its wood is valuable, and scarcely less durable
than that of the locust.
_Vine._――The common grape vine is diffused through all the climates.
It frequently happens that we see, in the rich lands, vines of the size
of a man’s body, perpendicularly attached at the top to branches sixty
or eighty feet from the ground, and at great lateral distance from
the trunk of the tree. It is common to puzzle a man first brought into
these woods, by asking him to account for the manner in which a vine
of prodigious size has been able to rear itself to such a height. There
can be no doubt that the vine in this case is coeval with the tree;
that the tree, as it grew, supported the vine; and that the vine was
carried from the trunk with the projection of the lateral branch, until,
in the lapse of years, this singular appearance is the result. In many
bottoms, half the trees are covered with these vines. In the deep
forest, on the hills, in the barrens, in the hazel prairies, and in the
pine woods, every form and size of the grape are found.
Of the plants of the winter grape, which so generally clings to the
trees in the alluvial forests, probably not one in fifty bears any
fruit at all. The fruit when produced is a small circular berry not
unlike the wild black cherry. It is austere, sour, and unpleasant,
until it has been softened by the winter frosts; but it is said, when
fermented by those who have experience in the practice, to make a
tolerable wine. The summer grape is found on the rolling barrens and
the hazel prairies. It is more than twice the size of the winter grape,
is ripe in the first month in autumn, and, when matured under the full
influence of the sun, is a pleasant fruit. It grows in the greatest
abundance, but is too dry a grape to be pressed for wine. The muscadine
grape is seldom seen north of thirty-four degrees. More southerly, it
becomes abundant, and is found in the deep alluvial forests, clinging
to tall trees. The fruit grows in more scanty clusters than that of
other grapes. Like other fruits, they fall as they ripen, and furnish
a rich treat to bears and other animals that feed on them; they are of
the size of a plum, of a fine purple black, with a thick tough skin,
tasting not unlike the rind of an orange; the pulp is deliciously sweet,
but is reputed unwholesome. The pine woods grape has a slender, bluish
purple vine, that runs on the ground among the grass. It ripens in the
month of June; is large, cone-shaped, transparent, with four seeds,
reddish purple, and is fine fruit for eating.
_Cane._――The _Cane_ grows to the height of twenty or thirty feet on the
lower courses of the Mississippi, Arkansas and Red rivers. Its leaves
are dagger-shaped, long and narrow, and of a beautiful green. It grows
in masses so compact that the smallest sparrow would find it difficult
to fly in the intervals. A man could not make his way through a cane
brake, at a rate more rapid than three miles a day.
_Flax._――A species of flax was found by Lewis and Clarke growing in
the valleys of the Rocky mountains, and on the banks of the Missouri.
The bark possesses the same kind of tough fibres as the common flax,
and the Indians are in the habit of making lint and gun-waddings of it.
_Berries._――The gooseberry is indigenous to the United States, and
in the western parts grows to great size. The red raspberry is also
indigenous. Whortleberries, and blackberries high and creeping, are
found in prodigious abundance; many of the prairies are red with
strawberries. The cranberry is a native of the country, growing in
morasses and rich bottom through its whole extent. Large cranberry
swamps occur in New Jersey.
_Other Plants._――There are many annual and evergreen creepers in the
United States, of various kinds, form and foliage. The grasses are
various and luxuriant. In the prairies they are rank and coarse; the
Atlantic country is covered with a fine sward. The rush is a useful
herbaceous plant, which grows on bottoms of an elevation between that
of the cane brakes and the deeply-flooded lands. The pea-vine covers
the richer soil of the forest lands; it is small and fibrous. The wild
rice is a plant of great importance, found on the marshy margins of the
northern lakes, and in the shallow waters of the upper courses of the
Mississippi. One of the most striking of the forest productions is the
wax-plant, which is nearly entirely of a snow-white, and resembles the
most delicate wax preparation. It grows in rich shady woods, and is
much prized.
The common kinds of water-plants are found in the marshy grounds
and ponds; particularly a very beautiful and fragrant lily. This
closely resembles the European water-lily. One of this genus is said
to be unrivalled for size and beauty. Dr. Barton considers it to be
the same as the sacred bean of Judea, and mentions it as abundant in
Philadelphia, but rare otherwise, and refusing propagation. Mr. Flint
found it in the southern states, and says that it attains great
splendor on the lakes and stagnant waters of the Arkansas. There is a
large variety of parasitic plants in the states, the most remarkable of
which is the long moss.
It will be observed that in these chapters on the natural history
of the United States, we have only intended to describe the most
conspicuous objects, without reference to scientific arrangement. A
mere scientific catalogue of the natural productions of our country
would occupy all the space we have devoted to the subject, and possess
no interest or attraction for the general reader.
GENERAL REMARKS ON BOTANY.
Botany, the science of plants, is generally divided into two
branches, one of which describes their internal structure and
organic action, and the other their external appearance. At the
revival of learning, hardly fifteen hundred plants were known from
the descriptions of the ancients. More than fifty thousand, at
a reasonable estimate, have been described. Linnæus founded his
system exclusively on the sexual relations of plants; dividing
them all into two general divisions, one of which has, and the
other has not, visible sexual parts. This division is generally
adopted as the basis of elementary instruction, but many
objections have been brought against it.
The second general division of this science begins with the
anatomy of plants, or an investigation of their internal structure.
This study has been recently cultivated to a great extent,
particularly by the Germans. With this division is connected
chemical botany, which investigates the constituent parts, the
various changes, and the different combinations of the liquid and
solid parts of plants. From these we rise to the laws of vegetable
life, which are generally the same with those of animal life; the
physiology of plants and of animals is thus of course intimately
connected.
Of the two general divisions of botany, the physiological, or
philosophical is the elder. It was created by Theophrastus of
Eresus. Historical botany was founded by the Germans. In the
seventeenth century, the foundation of botanical anatomy was laid
by Grew and Malpighi; botanical chemistry was founded by Homberg,
Dodart, and Mariotte: and the difference of sex was discovered by
Grew, Morland and Camerarius.