LEGUMINOSE.

JUDAS TREE.

CERCIS.

DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

The botanical name of this tree is from the Greek, and signifies a little sheath. The French call it gainier, which has the same signification; and arbre de Judée ; as we call it Judas tree; because it is said Judas hanged himself upon this tree, which has also been reported of the elder tree. The Spaniards, on account of its beauty, or as Gerarde terms it, its "braveness," call it the tree of love, rather contradictory with the last-mentioned name.

THE European Judas tree, Cercis siliquastrum, will grow twenty feet high, dividing into many irregular branches; the bark is dark brown, the leaves are of a pale green on the upper, of a greyish colour on the under side; the flowers are papilionaceous, of a bright purple, and very beautiful; they come out in the spring in large clusters on every side of the branches, and often of the stem also, and are in full blow before the leaves have attained half their size. These are succeeded by long flat pods, containing each one row of seeds; but in this country the pods are seldom seen upon the standard trees, because the birds commonly pick off the flowers as soon as they are full blown. Where they are planted against the wall, they will produce pods, which in warm seasons ripen very well. This tree deserves a place in every shrubbery or pleasure-garden, being indeed singularly handsome; when of a good size, it is so productive of flowers as to be sometimes closely covered

with them, and the shape of the leaves, somewhat like those of the cyclamen, helps also to make a pretty variety in the summer. When planted as a standard, this tree blossoms in May, but against a wall it will be some weeks earlier. The wood is beautifully veined with black and green; and taking a fine polish, may be converted to many uses. The flowers have an agreeable poignancy, and are eaten in salads.

There are two varieties of this tree, one with fleshcoloured, and one with white blossoms, but they cannot compare with the first in beauty. It is a native of the Levant, Spain, South of France, Italy, &c. and was cultivated by Gerarde in this country, in 1596.

The American Judas tree, Cercis Canadensis, grows naturally in North America, where it is called Red-bud tree, from the red flower-buds appearing in the spring before the leaves. This seldom exceeds twelve feet in height in this country, but in its native soil grows much higher. The branches are weaker than those of the former mentioned kind; the leaves are downy, and pointed at the end; the flowers smaller and not so handsome, but the tree is equally hardy.

The blossoms are eaten by the inhabitants of America in salads, and the French in Canada pickle them. The wood is similar to that of the Common Judas tree: the young branches dye wool of a fine nankin colour. This species was not introduced here till about the

year 1730.

CUPRESSIDEÆ.

JUNIPER BUSH.

JUNIPERUS.

DIECIA MONADELPHIA.

French, genevrier; Italian, ginepro, ginebro.

THERE are many species of Juniper in our plantations, though some of them are also called by other names. The Spanish Juniper, Juniperus thurifera, grows thirty feet high, and sends out branches, which form a sort of pyramid the berries, when ripe, are very large and black. This was cultivated by Mr. Miller in 1759.

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The Bermudas Juniper, Juniperus Bermudiana, also called the Bermudas Cedar, has very short leaves, upon four-cornered branches; the berries are of a dark red colour, inclining to purple. The wood has a strong and agreeable odour, and was formerly in great esteem for wainscoting rooms and for furniture. It is of a reddish colour, and is commonly known in this country by the name of Cedar-wood. It is this which is so much in use for holding blacklead pencils. It is a lasting timber, as may be seen by the wainscoting, staircases, &c. in many old mansions. In old times it was common to have one room wainscoted with this timber, that bore the appellation of the Cedar-room; such are often described by Mrs. Radcliffe.

This was probably the Cedar described by Homer, in the cave of Calypso, as shedding a sweet perfume when Mercury alighted there :

"And now arriving at the isle, he springs
Oblique, and landing with subsided wings,
Walks to the cavern 'twixt the tall green rocks,
Where dwelt the goddess with the lovely locks.
He paused; and there came on him, as he stood,
A smell of citron, and of cedar-wood,

That threw a perfume all about the isle ;

And she within sat spinning all the while,

And sang a lovely song, that made him hark and smile."
Odyssey, book v. translated by L. HUNT.

The Bermudas Cedar was first cultivated in England in the year 1700, by Lord Clarendon.

The Chinese Juniper, Juniperus Chinensis, is a mere shrub.

The common savine, Juniper sabina, French savinier, cedre à feuilles de cypres, Italian sabina, is a native of the Levant and of the South of Europe. In this country it is from three to five feet high at full growth. The leaves are short, the berries of the same colour as those of the common Juniper, but smaller. The whole plant has a strong unpleasant scent when handled. There is a variety with variegated leaves. Turner speaks of two kinds, a larger and a smaller, of which he had seen the latter in England, and the former in a "preacher's garden in Germany." Professor Pallas says, that in the Chersonesus Taurica it is often seen with a trunk a foot in diameter.

Tournefort says, that in some places this is burnt as common fuel: "L'isle d'Amorgos manque de bois; on n'y brule que de Lentisque, et du Cedre à feuilles de cypres, que la feu devore en un instant*.” "The isle of Amorgos has little wood; they burn nothing there but Lentiscus and the common savine, which the flames de

* Tournefort's Travels, vol. i. p. 287.

vour in an instant." He says that the Greeks use this wood often when they are fishing: burning it at night to attract the fish by the light*. The wood does not grow on the island, but is brought from Caloyero, Cheiro, and other places in the vicinity.

The Red Cedar, Juniperus Virginiana, is a native not only of North America, but also of the West India islands, and of Japan. It is one of the largest timbertrees in Jamaica. The berry is blue; the bark thin, and breaks off in large pieces. The wood is of a reddish brown, close and firm, shining, and very odoriferous, like the Bermudas Juniper. Like that, too, it is used for wainscoting rooms, making escritoires, cabinets, &c., cockroaches and other insects disliking the smell of it. W. Browne, enumerating many trees, speaks of the

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Juniper, where wormes ne'er enter."

This, however, is contradicted by naturalists, who maintain that worms make great havoc with this wood.

This tree is called the Red Cedar in North America, to distinguish it from a kind of cypress (Cupressus, thyoides) which they call the White Cedar. There is a variety of this species, called the Carolina Cedar. This species was cultivated in England in 1664. This may probably be the tree described by Captain Stedman as the Surinam Cedar. He says, though it bears the name of Cedar, it is different from the cedars of Lebanon: that "the Surinam Cedar grows also to a great height, but is principally esteemed because the wood is never eaten by worms or other insects, on account of its great bitterness it has also an agreeable smell, and is there

* An interesting description of this mode of fishing, as practised in America, is given in "The Pioneers."