In Down of the trunk 24 in., and that of the head 4 ft.-In Ireland. In King's County, at Charleville Forest, 8 years planted, it is 9 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 3 in., and that of the head 9 ft. at Ballyleady, 26 years planted, it is 15 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 12 in. In Louth, at Oriel Temple, 40 years planted, it is 22 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 11 in., and that of the head 15 ft.-In France, in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, 25 years planted, it is 20 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 6 in.; in the Botanic Garden at Toulon, 50 years old, it is 50 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft.; at Avranches, in the Botanic Garden, 29 years planted, it is 30ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 7 in., and of the head 8 ft.-In Hanover, at Harbke, 8 years planted, it is 10 ft. high. In Prussia, at Berlin, at Sans Souci, from 45 to 50 years old, it is 18 ft. high, with a trunk 11 in. in diameter.-In Italy, in Lombardy, at Monza, 24 years old, it is 30 ft. high, the dia meter of the trunk 1 ft., and of the head 25 ft. Commercial Statistics. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 1s. 6d. each; and seeds in the cone, or catkin, are 2s. per pint. At Bollwyller, plants are 2 francs and 50 cents each; and at New York they are 25 cents. 2. L. IMBE'RBE Willd. The beardless, or Oriental, Liquidambar. Identification. Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 475.; Ait. Hort. Kew., 3. p. 365.; N. Du Ham., 2. p44. Synonymes. L. orientalis Mill. Dict., No. 2. ; ? Plátanus orientalis Pocock. Itin., 2. t. 89. ; L. imberbis Smith in Rees's Cycl. Engravings. ? Pocock. Itin., 2. t. 89.; and our fig. 1963. 1963 Spec. Char., &c. Leaves palmate-lobed, with the sinuses at the base of the veins; smooth. (Willd.) This is a low stunted tree, or large bush, of slow growth, with numerous small branches crowded together into an irregular head. The young shoots are pliant and reddish; the leaves are much like those of the preceding species, but smaller, and more like those of the common maple; because they are bluntly notched, while the others are acutely so. See fig. 1964., in which a is a leaf of L. Styraciflua, and b one of L. imbérbe, both to the same scale. The veins of the leaves, in this species, are naked, while in the other they are hairy at the base of the midrib. The flowers are disposed like those in the preceding species, and the fruit is smaller, and more sparingly furnished with prickly points. The rate of growth, in the climate of London, is slow, being not more than 5 ft. or 6 ft. in ten years; and the largest tree 1964 that we know of in England, which is in the Mile End Nursery, is only 15 ft. 6 in., though it must have been planted 50 years, and probably more The tree is a native of the Levant; and was introduced into France, accord ing to Du Hamel, by M. Peyssonel, consul at Smyrna; and from France sent to England, to Miller, who raised plants of it in the Chelsea Garden in 1759. It has since been cultivated in choice collections; but, from its only being raised by layers, and not forming such a handsome tree, not so generally as the Liquidámbar Styracíflua. We are not aware that it has ever flowered in England. It will grow in a soil rather drier than the preceding species will; though Du Hamel was informed that in its native country it grows in moist soil, by water, like the willow. It is therefore probable, that, if planted in similar soil in England, and in a sheltered warm situation, it would attain a much greater height than it has hitherto done in this country. Price of plants, in England, as in the preceding species. It is not in the Bollwyller catalogue, and at New York the price of plants is 1 dollar each. App. i. Species of Liquidámbar not yet introduced. L. Allingia Blume Bjdr., 10. p. 527., Fl. Jav., t. 1., and our fig. 1965.; Altingia excélsa Noronha in Batav. Verhand., 5. p. 1., Pers. Syn., 2. p. 579., Spreng. Syst. Veg., 3. p. 888., Lambert's Genus Pinus, 1. t. 39, 40.; Lignum papuanum Rumph. Herb. Amb., 2. p. 57.; Alting's Liquidambar. Leaves ovate-oblong, acuminate, serrated, glabrous. (Blume.) A tree, with a spreading head, from 150 ft. to 200 ft. high; the trunk straight and thick, especially towards the bottom, where there are 4 or more deep furrows, seeming as if they had been hollowed out. The bark externally is of a whitish ash colour, even or warty, of a brownish red internally; the juice acrid and somewhat bitter: when wounded, a honey-like sweetish balsam exudes. Branches alternate, round, and warty; young ones furrowed, and smooth. Leaves alternate, petioled, from 3 in. to 5 in. long, scarcely 2in. broad; leathery. Petioles from in. to above 1 in. in length, weak, roundish, having at the base 2 small, subulate, deciduous stipules. Capsules obcordate, somewhat 2-lobed. This immense tree can never escape the eye of the traveller in the forests of the west of Java. It is found very plentifully in the provinces of Bantam and Buitenzorq, at an elevation of from 2000 ft. to 3000 ft.; but in the east of Java it is very rare, if not totally wanting. Noronha first described this tree in the Act. Soc. Batav. ; but he had not the least suspicion that it belonged to the genus Liquidámbar Linn. The small grains which are found along with the seeds in some capsules, which are nothing more than abortive ovules, and which had been observed by Linnæus in L. Styraciflua, he described as small chaffy bodies, mixed with the membranous tops of the seeds. It is called by the natives of Java, Ras-sama-la; by the Arabs, Rasem-malla; by the inhabitants of New Guinea, Russimal; and by those of Cochin-China, Rosa-malla. The wood is at first reddish, and afterwards brownish; very compact, hard, of a beautiful grain, and having a grateful balsamic odour. It is much esteemed by the Javanese for beams and planks. The flowers appear in May and June; and the fruit is ripe in September, and the following months of the same year. (Blume Fl. Jav., t. 1, 2.) Sprengel imagined that this tree was the same as our Araucària excélsa; an error which was detected by the description and figure of Blume, as given above. CHAP. CIX. OF THE HARDY AND HALF-HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER MYRICA CEÆ. MYRICA L. Flowers unisexual; those of the two sexes upon different plants.― Male flowers in cylindrical sessile catkins. Each flower consists of 4, rarely more, stamens: these are inserted at the base of a bractea. Bracteas extending beyond the stamens, loosely imbricated. - Female flowers closely disposed into ovate sessile catkins, and attended by closely imbricated bracteas. One bractea attends 2 flowers. Each flower consists of a calyx of 2-4 very minute scales; an ovary, to which the scales adhere; a short style; and 2 long thread-shaped stigmas. Ovary 1-celled, and including one upright ovule. Carpel involucrated by the adherent, more or less fleshy, enlarged calyx, and so more or less resembling a berry. Seed erect, exalbuminous. Species few; natives of the torrid and frigid zones of both hemispheres. Shrubs. Leaves alternate, persistent, or annual; simple in most, if not all; generally more or less serrated, besprinkled with resinous dots, as are the scales of the buds, and the surface of the fruit; which yield, when rubbed, an aromatic odour. Catkins axillary, expanding early in the following year in the kinds with annual leaves. (T. Nees ab Esenb. Gen. Pl. Fl. Ger.; Smith Eng. Fl. ; and observation.) COMPTONIA Gærtn. Flowers unisexual; those of both sexes upon one plant, and in catkins.- Male catkins lateral, cylindrical, of several flowers. Bracteas imbricated. Flower of "3-twin" (Watson) stamens, seated towards the base of a bractea; sessile. Anthers 2-lobed, opening at the side. Female catkins lateral, ovate, of several flowers. Bracteas imbricated. Flower of a calyx and pistil. Calyx free, flat, 6-parted; segments slender, unequal in length; the longest as long again as the bractea. Ovary subglobose, depressed. Style short. Stigmas 2. Fruit 1-celled, ovate, hard, shining, attended by the calyx. Seed 1, oval. Species 1, a bushy dwarfish shrub, wild in sandy, stony, or slaty woods, in North America, from New England to Virginia. Leaves alternate, lanceolate, pinnatifidly toothed, downy, sprinkled with golden, resinous, transparent particles; annual. A fragrant odour resides in the resinous particles upon the leaves, and, it is likely, in other parts of the plant. (Wats. Dend. Brit. ; N. Du Ham.; and observation.) GENUS I. MYRICA L. `THE CANDLEBERRY MYRTLE. Lin. Syst. Diœ'cia Identification. Lin. Gen., 518.; Juss., 409.; Fl. Br., 1076.; Lam., t. 809.; Gærtn., t. 39.; Eng. Synonymes. Galé, Fr.; Wachs Strauss, Ger. Derivation. From myro, to flow; the plants being found on the banks of rivers. Description, &c. Aromatic shrubs; natives of Europe and North America. They are of low growth, and generally require a moist, peaty soil. In British gardens, the species are propagated by layers, the stools being planted in moist peat soil. As the species throw up abundance of suckers, they may be also propagated by removing them, or by division of the plant. The American species is sometimes propagated by seeds, which should be sown in autumn, as soon after they are received from America as possible; for, if kept out of the ground till spring, they will not come up till the spring following. Plants, in the London nurseries, are from 6d. to 2s. each; at Bollwyller, 1 franc 50 cents; and at New York, 37 to 50 cents. 1. M. GALE L. The Sweet Gale, Sweet Willow, Candleberry Myrtle, or Dutch Myrtle. Identification. Lin. Sp. Pl., 1453.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 745.; Fl. Br., 1076.; Eng. Bot., t. 562.; Hook. Scot., 288.; Fl. Dan., t. 327.; Ehrh. Pl. Off., 339.; N. Du. Ham., 2. p. 194.; Eng. Fl., 4. p. 239.; Hook. Br. Fl., p. 432.; Lindl. Synop., p. 242.; Mackay Fl. Hibern., p. 257.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. Synonymes. Gale Raii Syn., 443., Bauh. Hist., 1. p. 2.; Elæágnus Card. Hist., 212., Lob. Ic., 2. p. 116.; Myrtus brabántica Ger. Emac., p. 1414.; Rhús myrtifolia bélgica Bauh. Pin., 414.; R. sylvestris altera Dalech. Hist., 110.; R. sylvestris Park. Theat., p. 1451.; Myrica palustris Lam.; Galé, Pimento royal, Fr.; gemeine Wachs Strauch, Ger. Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 562.; Fl. Dan., t. 327.; Hayne, t. 200.; Lob. Ic., 2. p. 116. f.; N. Du Ham., 2. t. 57.; and our fig. 1966. The Sexes. Both are in the arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves lanceolate, serrated; tapering and entire at the base. Scales of the catkins pointed. (Smith.) A deciduous aromatic shrub, which rises with many stems, from 2 ft. to 4 ft. high; dividing into several slender branches, which are covered with a ferruginous-coloured bark, sprinkled with white dots. The leaves are alternate, on short footstalks, obovate-lanceolate, tapering and serrated towards the point. They are rigid, smooth on both sides, and of a light or yellowish green, palest on the under side. They are covered with resinous dots, which emit a delightful fragrance when bruised. According to Sir W. J. Hooker, the whole "plant diffuses an agreeable smell: 'Gale from the bog shall waft Arabian balm.'" Brit. Flor., ed. 2., p. 432. The catkins are numerous and sessile; they are formed in the course of the summer's growth, and remain on during the winter, expanding the following spring, before the leaves. The flower buds are above the leaf buds, at the ends of the branches; whence, as soon as the fructification is completed, the end of the branch dies, the leaf buds which are on the sides shoot out, and the stems become compound. The scales of the male catkins are of a red shining brown; and the lower ones of the female catkins have a circlet of red hairs towards the tip. The berries are very small, and covered with resinous dots, like the leaves. Though the male and female flowers are generally produced on different plants, they are sometimes found on the same plant; a fact first observed by John Templeton, Esq., of Belfast. (See Smith's Eng. Flora, iv. p. 239.) The sweet gale is a native of the north and centre of Europe, of the north of Asia, and of North America, in Pennsylvania and Canada. In Europe, it is found in Lapland, Norway, and Sweden, France, Germany, and the Austrian dominions, as far south as the north of Italy. In Great Britain, it is found from Sutherland and the Grampian Mountains, to Cornwall, as high as 1400 ft. above the level of the sea; being more hardy than the hazel. It is a native of Ireland; and there, as every where else, it is found almost exclusively in bogs and marshes. The gale was noticed by all the older botanists: Ray and Bauhin (in his Historia Plantarum) called it Gale; Carduus and L'Obel, Elæágnus; and Dalechamp and Parkinson, Rhús; the latter supposing it to be the Rhús sylvestris, or wild sumach, of Pliny; while the Danish professor, Simon Paulli, asserted it to be the same as the Chinese tea tree. According to Gerard, this plant, in his time, grew so abundantly in the Isle of Ely, that the inhabitants made faggots of it (which they called goule sheaves) to heat their ovens. In more modern times, the twigs are laid by country people among clothes, to give them an agreeable smell, and to keep away the moths. The Welsh lay branches on their beds to keep off the fleas. The plant is also used, both in Wales and Sweden, to dye wool yellow, and to tan calf-skins. The leaves are bitter, and are sometimes used instead of hops in brewing beer; but, unless boiled a long time, they are reported to give a headach. A strong decoction of the leaves and twigs is used, in Sweden, to destroy bugs; and both the Highlanders and the Welsh give an infusion of the leaves to children, to kill worms. In Scotland, the inhabitants stuff beds with the leaves. The berries are put in beer, in the same manner as those of Cócculus indicus, to make it heady and intoxicating; and, when dry, they are used, at St. Léger, in the neighbourhood of Paris, as spice. In a fresh state, they yield an essential oil by distillation. Linnæus states that the catkins, when boiled, will throw up a scum like wax. The gale is the badge of the Highland clan Campbell. A variety with larger leaves, &c., is mentioned by Mirbel, and a figure of it given in the Mém. Mus., 14. p. 474. t. 28., of which our fig. 1967. is a reduced copy. 2. M. CERI FERA L. The common Wax-bearing, or American, Candleberry Myrtle. 190. Identification. Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 745.; Pursh FL. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 260.; N. Du Ham., 2. p. Synonymes. M. cerifera angustifolia Ait. Hort. Kew., 3. p. 396.; Myrtus brabántica, &c., Pluk. Engravings. Pluk. Alm., t. 48. f. 9. Cat. Car., 1. t. 69. The Sexes. Only the male is in the Hackney Arboretum; but, as seeds are annually imported from America, the female is doubtless in the country in many places. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves lanceolate, pointed, serrated, flat, somewhat shining. (Lam. Encyc.) A large shrub, from 5 ft. to 12 ft. high, and upwards; a native of North America. Introduced in 1699, and flowering in May or June. Varieties. M. c. 2 latifolia Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 1., iii. p. 396.; M. c. mèdia near Paris, has attained the height of 8 ft. It is mentioned by Catesby, as having its leaves broader, and more serrated, than the common American candleberry myrtle; and it appears that it was |