1 in the Isle of Samos; and that particular shrub was long preserved and venerated in the temple of that goddess, in Samos*. Chaucer represents Diana as wearing a chaplet of Agnus castus, and bearing a branch of it in her hand. "See ye not her that crowned is," (quoth she) And for because that she a maiden is, In her hand the braunch she beareth this, FLOWER AND THE LEAF. * See Tournefort's Voyage du Levant, vol. ii. p. 121; and Voyage d'Anacharsis, vol. vi. p. 295. TEREBINTACEÆ. AILANTHUS. POLYGAMIA MONCIA. From the Amboyna name, aylanto, which signifies the tree of heaven.-French, langit. THE Ailanthus grows forty or fifty feet high, with a straight trunk, covered with a gray bark; the leaves are large and smooth; the blossoms are numerous, but not of a pleasant odour. This is a quick-growing tree in our climate, is handsome, and very proper for ornamental plantations. The wood is hard, heavy, glossy, and susceptible of a very fine polish. From the bark, when wounded, flows a resinous juice, which hardens in a few days. The Ailanthus is a native of China, and was first raised in England by Mr. Miller, and Philip Carteret Webb, Esq., about the year 1751. It does not produce fruit in this country. This tree was formerly considered as a species of Rhus, and "is memorable among us," observes Mr. Martyn, "for the dispute it occasioned between Mr. Ellis and Mr. Miller, which is recorded in the Philosophical Transactions. The latter contended that it was the Fasino-ki tree, or spurious Varnish-tree of the Japanese; but it is clear that he was mistaken, for the leaves of that tree are entire, and have none of the singular glands which are found in this; nor does the Ailanthus yield any juice." In the last remark, Mr. Martyn himself appears mistaken; since it seems, and by his own account, that the bark when wounded does yield a juice, more or less. RHAMNEÆ. ALATERNUS. RHAMNUS ALATERNUS. PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. French, alaterne; Italian, alaterno. THE Alaternus is an evergreen shrub, with fine glossy leaves: the honey-breathing blossoms, as Evelyn terms them, come out in May; they are numerous, but very small, and are very grateful to bees. "I have "to be It is a native of the south of Europe and Barbary, and was introduced into this country in 1629. had the honour," observes the amiable Evelyn, the first who brought it into use and reputation in this kingdom, for the most beautiful and useful of hedges and verdure in the world (the swiftness of the growth considered), and propagated it from Cornwall even to Cumberland." 66 Parkinson speaks of it as a rare plant in his time. "The beauty and the verdure of the leaves," says he, abiding so fresh all the year, doth cause it to be of the greater respect; and, therefore, findeth place in their gardens only that are curious conservers of all Nature's beauties." The fresh young shoots will give a fine yellow colour to wool; and the fishermen in Portugal dye their nets red with a decoction of the bark. There is a variety called the Gold and Silver Alaternus ; the leaves being striped with yellow and white; but the variations of colour in the foliage of shrubs usually proceed from want of strength. BETULIDE. ALDER TREE. ALNUS. MONECIA TETRANDRIA. Alder, aller, oller, owler; French, aune, vergne; Italian, alno, ontano. THE Common Alder, Alnus glutinosa, may, in the marshy soil it loves, be reared to a height of forty feet: the leaves are nearly circular, and of a dark green; the nerves on the lower side have white spongy tufts at the angles of their ramifications, like the leaves of the lime-tree. The bark is of a blackish hue, and, in old trees, full of clefts: "As Alders, in the spring, their boles extend, This tree is not only a native of our island, but of Europe, from Lapland to Gibraltar; and of Asia, from the White Sea to Mount Caucasus. With us, it flowers in March and April. The wood is valuable from its property of remaining sound a long time under water; on this account it is used for piles driven into the ground for the support of buildings in marshy places, and is said to have been used under the Rialto at Venice: in Flanders and Holland it is raised in abundance for such purposes. It also makes excellent water-pipes; and serves for various domestic purposes, as spinning-wheels, milk-vessels, bowls, spoons, &c. The roots and knots furnish a beautiful veined wood to the cabinet-maker., Alder-wood is generally red; but when it has lain in bogs, it becomes black. In the Highlands, chairs are made of it, which are very handsome. The branches make good charcoal, and the bark is used by tanners and leather-dressers. Mr. Hall says, that the country-people of Scotland often make their own shoes; and, following the example of their forefathers, to avoid the tax upon leather, privately tan hides with the bark of birch and alder*. The bark of Alder is also used by fishermen for their nets; and the fresh wood and the young shoots, according to the season in which they are taken, and the manner in which they are prepared, furnish dye of various colours: the young shoots dye yellow, and with a little copperas, a yellowish-gray; when cut in March, they give a cinnamon colour; if dried and powdered, a fine tawny. The fresh wood dyes a rappee-snuff colour, the catkins, green; and the bark dried, powdered, and mixed with logwood, bismuth, &c., yields the colour called boue de Paris. It is said that the Laplanders masticate the bark, and, with the saliva so coloured, stain their leathern garments red. The Alder makes good hedges in boggy ground, improves the soil, and tends to keep up the banks: the shade does not injure the growth of grass; some say that it cherishes it: "The Alder, whose fat shadow nourisheth ; W. BROWNE. * Hall's Travels in Scotland, vol. ii. p. 401. |