Geography, &c. This tree is a native of the United States, and of Canada: in the latter country, it is abundant about the Red River, in N. lat. 54°, which is its most northern limit. It is seldom found in the northern states of the Union, or in the maritime parts of the southern states. It commences on the banks of the Delaware, in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, and increases towards the Alleghany Mountains, to the west of which it is most abundant; and, instead of being confined, as in the upper parts of Virginia and of the Carolinas, to the river sides, it grows in the woods, with the locust (Robínia), wild cherry (Cérasus virginiàna), and coffee tree (Gymnócladus). But in the bottoms which skirt the rivers, where the soil is deep, fertile, constantly moist, and often inundated, this tree is most abundant, and attains the largest size. Even here, however, the tree seldom exceeds the height of 50 ft., with a trunk 20 in. in diameter; and trees of these dimensions, Michaux adds, are found only in Tenessee, and in the back parts of Georgia, which lie far to the south. In Kentucky, it seldom attains above half this height.

History. This species was cultivated by Bishop Compton in 1688; and it was introduced into France by Admiral Gallisonière, in the time of Du Hamel. As already observed, only the female plant of the species is in British gardens, though the male plant exists in the form of the variety N. f. crispum. Both male and female plants appear to be in cultivation in France; because, according to Baudrillart, the Administration of Forests at Paris received a quantity of seeds from the neighbourhood of Lyons, from which a number of young plants were raised, and distributed through the national forests. The old tree of this species, in the garden at Fulham, planted by Bishop Compton in 1688, measured, in 1793, 6 ft. 4 in. in girt at 3 ft. from the ground, and was computed to be 45 ft high. In 1809, it measured 7 ft. 14 in. in girt; and in 1835, as appears in p. 43., the dimensions are scarcely varied. The tree, from the rapidity of its growth, its showy appearance, the fine green of its shoots, its large pinnate leaves (which move with the slightest breeze) and spreading head, and its faculty of growing in almost any kind of soil, is a general favourite, and is to be found in most collections.

Properties, Uses, &c. The wood of this tree has a fine even grain, and is saffron-coloured, slightly mixed with violet, but it is rather tender; the proportion of the soft wood to the heart-wood is so great, that it has never been used for any purpose in America except for that of fuel: in Europe, it is used for cabinet-making, particularly for inlaying; it works well, and is elastic and sonorous. According to some, sugar has been extracted from the sap; but Michaux denies this to be the case. He suggests that, from its rapid growth, after being cut down to the ground, it might form a valuable underwood, to be cut every 3 or 4 years, for fuel, charcoal, or other purposes. It has been tried in this way in France; but, unless the soil be kept constantly humid, the stool is found to decay in a very few years. Baudillart considers it the least useful of all the tree maples. In England, it is solely to be considered as an ornamental tree; and, as we have before observed, it is one of considerable show; and, being also one of rapid growth, it well merits the attention of planters, in situations where immediate effect is an object.

Soil, Situation, &c. The same soil and situation which suit the Acer will answer for the Negúndo. The plant grows with amazing rapidity, when the soil is deep and somewhat moist; but, as it is not a long-lived tree, it should not be placed in situations where the permanent effect of wood is of importance. When raised from seed, it should always, if possible, be sown in the autumn, as soon as practicable after gathering, as it keeps with difficulty till the spring, even when mixed with sand.

Statistics. In the environs of London, the oldest tree is that already mentioned at the Bishop of London's; and the largest one, at Kenwood, 35 years planted, and 47 ft. high. There are trees at Syon, at Kew, and at Purser's Cross, above 40 ft. high; in Buckinghamshire, at Temple House, 40 years planted, and 40 ft high; in Yorkshire, at Grimston, 10 years planted, and 30 ft. high. In Wales, in Pembrokeshire, at Golden Grove, 30 years planted, and 25 ft. high. In Scotland, in the Glasgow Botanic Garden, 14 years planted, and 14 ft. high. In Ireland, in Galway, at Coole, 39 ft. high. In France, Michaux informs us, a row of these trees was planted in the Jardin des Plantes, in the Rue

de Buffon, which gave an excellent idea of their appearance in their native forests; the highest these trees now remaining, estimated at upwards of 60 years of age, are 51ft in height, with heads 54 ft. in diameter. At Toulon, in the Botanic Garden, a tree 20 years planted, is 50 ft high. In Saxony, at Wörlitz, a tree, 65 years planted, is 40 ft. high. In Austria, in Held's Nursery, at Vienna, 20 years planted, and 25 ft. high; at Brück, on the Leytha, 48 years planted, and 80 ft. high, with a head 48 ft. in diameter, close by water. In Prussia, at Sans Souci, 45 years planted, 24 ft. high. In Bavaria, at Munich, 24 years planted, and 30 ft. high. In Hanover, in the Botanic Garden at Göttingen, 20 years planted, and 40 ft. high.

Commercial Statistics. In London, plants of the species are Is. each, of the variety N. f. crispum 1s. 6d. each, and seeds of the species 4s. a quart. At Bollwyller, plants of the smallest size of the species are 50 cents each, and larger plants 2 francs. At New York, plants are 25 cents each, and seeds 1 dollar a quart.

App. i. Anticipated Species of Negúndo.

† N. mexicanum Dec. is a native of Mexico, with trifoliate leaves, which grows to the height of 40 ft. It has been described under the name of A. ternatum Moc.; and also by De Candolle, who expresses a doubt as to whether it may not be a variety of N. fraxinifolium. Seeds or plants of it ought, if possible, to be obtained from Mexico.

N. cochinchinense Dec. is a doubtful species, probably belonging to Sapindaceæ rather than Aceràceæ. It is a tree 25 ft. high, in the woods of Cochin-China, and would form a very desirable addition to the British arboretum. A variety of N. fraxinifòlium (the leaves having their two lower and their terminate leaflets ternate) is mentioned by Dr. Hooker, as having been received by him from Dr. Schwinitz in the state of dried specimens, (Fl. Bor. Amer., i. 114.)

App. I. Other Aceràcea.

Dobinea vulgàris Hamilt. (altered from the Nepalese name), a shrub 6 ft. high, a native of Nepal, with elliptical, oblong, acutely serrated leaves, is, in all probability, hardy, and would add to the variety of British collections. There no other species of this genus, and no other genus belonging to the order Aceràceæ has been yet discovered and recorded, either hardy or tender.

CHAP. XXIII.

OF THE HARDY TREES AND SHRUBS OF THE ORDER ESCULA`CEE. Identification. Lindl. Key,

Synonymes. Castaneaceæ Link; Hippocastanea Dec.

Distinctive Character. Calyx campanulate, 5-lobed. Ovary roundish, trigonal. Seeds large and globose; albumen wanting. Embryo curved, inverted, with fleshy, thick, gibbous cotyledons not produced above ground in germination. Plumule large, 2-leaved. Deciduous trees, with opposite digitate leaves. The fruit large and bitter, sternutatory, abounding in potash and starch. The bark astringent and tonic; and the fruit containing æsculine, a febrifuge. The genera are two, which are thus contradistinguished: :

E'SCULUS L. Capsule echinated.

PAVIA Boeh. Capsule sooth.

GENUS I.

E'SCULUS L. THE HORSECHESTNUT. Lin. Syst. Heptándria Monogynia.

Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 462.; Hayne Dend., p. 43.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 597.; Don's Mill, 1.

P. 562,

Synonymes. Hippocastanum Tourn.; Marronier d'Inde, Fr.; Rosskastanie, Ger.

Derivation. The word Esculus, derived from esca, nourishment, is applied by Pliny to a species of oak, which had an catable acorn. The word Hippocastanum, from hippos, a horse, and castanea,

a chestnut, is said by some to have been given to this tree ironically, the nuts, though they have the appearance of sweet chestnuts, being only fit for horses; and by others, because, in Turkey, it is said the nuts are used for curing horses of pulmonary diseases. According to Evelyn, they are also given in England to horses that are broken-winded, and to other cattle that have coughs

and colds.

Description. All the species (except one, which is a shrub) are deciduous trees, with deeply cut leaves, and showy flowers; and they are distinguished from the genus Pavia by the roughness of their fruit, and by the comparative roughness, also, of their leaves. To us it appears doubtful if the roughness of the fruit be a sufficient generic distinction, since it varies much in different individuals, and since, in some of the sorts, which have apparently been originated between 'sculus and Pàvia, the fruit is as smooth, or nearly as much so, as in the proper pavias. It is highly probable that the two genera consist, in fact, of only two, or at most three, distinct species: however, all the different sorts in cultivation are so truly ornamental, that they may very conveniently be kept distinct, as races or botanical species. The common horsechestnut is invariably propagated by the nuts, which are sown when newly gathered, or in the following spring; and in either case they will come up the succeeding summer. All the other sorts, as being varieties of the species, are propagated by budding or grafting.

1. E. HIPPOCA'STANUM L. The common Horsechestnut. Identification. Lin. Sp., 488.; Willd. Baum., p. 14.; Hayne Dend., p. 43.; Dec. Prod., 1. p 597.; and Don's Mill., 1. p. 652.

Synonymes. Hippocastanum vulgàre Tourn.; Marronier d'Inde, Fr.; gemeine Rosskastanie, Ger. Engravings. Woody. Med. Bot., t. 128.; Plenck Icon., t. 293.; Willd. Abbild., t. 40.; and the plate of this species in our Second Volume.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaflets 7, obovately cuneated, acute, and toothed. A tree, growing to the height of 50 ft. or 60 ft., in cultivation since 1629, and flowering in May.

Varieties.

E. H. 2 flore pleno. The double-flowered Horsechestnut. — This variety is recorded in nurserymen's catalogues, but is not common. E. H. 3 variegata. The variegated-leaved Horsechestnut. The leaves are blotched with yellow, or yellowish white, but they have a ragged and unhealthy appearance, and are by no means ornamental. Description. A tree of the largest size, with an erect trunk, and a pyramidal head. The leaves are large, of a deep green colour, and singularly interesting and beautiful when they are first developed. When enfolded in the bud, they are covered with pubescence, which falls off as the leaves become expanded, sooner or later, according to the dryness or moistness of the season. The growth, both of the tree and of the leaves, is very rapid; both shoots and leaves being sometimes perfected in three weeks from the time of foliation; in which time, says Miller, I have measured shoots 14 ft. long, with their leaves fully expanded. The flowers appear a short time after the leaves, and are white, variegated with red and yellow: they expand in May, and the fruit ripens about the end of September or the beginning of October. It is allowed to fall from the tree; but, if wanted for seed, must be soon afterwards gathered up, and either sown, or mixed with earth; because, if exposed to the atmosphere, it will lose its germinating faculties in a month. (Baudrillart.) The buds are covered with a gummy substance, which protects their downy interior from the wet. Miss Kent observes that "we cannot have a better specimen of the early formation of plants in the bud, than in that of the horsechestnut." A celebrated German naturalist detached from this tree, in the winter season, a flower bud not larger than a pea, and first took off the external covering, which he found consisted of seventeen scales. Having removed these scales, and the down which formed the internal covering of the bud, he discovered four branch leaves surrounding a spike of flowers, the latter of which were so distinctly visible, that, with the aid of a microscope, he not only counted 68 flowers, but could discern the pollen of the stamens, and perceive that some was opaque, and some transparent. This experiment

KK

may be tried by any one, as the flowers may be perceived with a common magnifying glass; but, as detaching the scales requires care, it would be advisable for an unpractised student to gather the bud in early spring, when the sun is just beginning to melt away the gum with which the scales are sealed together. (Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. iii. p. 135.)

Geography. "The native country of the common horsechestnut," Mr. Royle observes, "is yet unknown, though stated, in some works, to be the north of India." He adds that he has "never met with it, though often visiting the lofty mountains of Northern India, where, if anywhere, it was likely to be found, and where the nearly allied Indian pavia is so abundant.” (Illust., p. 135.) As the genus Pàvia is a native both of India and America, and as Esculus ohioénsis, which is nothing but a variety of the common horsechestnut, is a native of North America, it seems to us highly probable that the genus 'sculus will ultimately be found to belong to both continents.

History. The horsechestnut passed from Asia to Europe about the middle of the sixteenth century. The tree was first described by Matthiolus, and afterwards by Clusius in his Rariorum Plantarum Historia, &c. He there says, that, in 1581, it was still considered as a botanical rarity; but that in 1588 there was a plant of the species at Vienna, that had been brought there twelve years before, but which had not then flowered. In France, it was first raised from seed procured from the Levant, in the year 1615, by one Bachelier whose flower-gardens at Paris were then celebrated. The largest tree of the kind in France, and which was considered as the parent stock from which all the others have been propagated, formerly existed in the gardens of the Temple. (Beckmann's Hist., vol.i. p. 317.) A tree of this species was planted in the Jardin des Plantes, in 1650, which was the second plant introduced into France: it died in 1767; and a section of its trunk is still preserved in the Museum of Natural History. According to M. Jaume Sainte-Hilaire (see p. 147.), and his account appears to us the most probable, the horsechestnut passed from the mountains of Thibet to England in 1550, and was afterwards taken to Vienna by Clusius, and thence to Paris by Bachelier. The earliest notice which we have of the horsechestnut being in England is in Gerard's Herbal, where, in 1579, he speaks of it as a rare foreign tree. In Johnson's edition of the same work, in 1633, the horsechestnut is said to be growing in Mr. Tradescant's garden at South Lambeth. Parkinson, in 1629, says, "Our Christian world had first a knowledge of it from Constantinople." The same author placed the horsechestnut in his orchard, as a fruit tree, between the walnut and the mulberries. How little it was then known may be inferred from his saying, not only that it is of a greater and more pleasant aspect for the fair leaves, but also of as good use for the fruit, which is of a sweet taste, roasted and eaten, as the ordinary sort. Houghton (1700) mentions some horsechestnut trees at Sir William Ashhurst's at Highgate, and especially in the Bishop of London's garden at Fulham. Those now standing at Chelsea College were then very young. There was also a very fine one in the Post-house Garden, in Old Street, and another not far from the Ice-house, under the shadow of the Observatory in Greenwich Park. (Mart. Mill.) In Germany, as we have seen in p. 147., the horsechestnut, after having been planted at Vienna, soon found its way to Baden, where it was planted about the end of the sixteenth century, and where some of the trees are still in existence. The tree is now generally cultivated in the middle states of Europe, and also in North America.

Properties and Uses. The wood weighs, when newly cut, 60 lb. 4 oz. per cubic foot; and, when dry, 35 lb. 7 oz. ; losing, by drying, a sixteenth part of its bulk. According to other experiments, the wood, green, weighs 62 lb. 3 oz.; half dry, 46 lb. 2 oz.; and quite dry, 37 lb. 3 oz. It is soft, and unfit for use where great strength, and durability in the open air, are required; nevertheless, there are many purposes for which it is applicable when sawn up into boards; such as for flooring, linings to carts, packing-cases, &c. In France, sabots are made from it; and it is said to be used by carvers, turners,

&c. Boutcher says, that it is suitable for water-pipes that are to be kept constantly under ground; and it is also recommended for this purpose by Du Hamel. The charcoal of the horsechestnut may be used in the manufacture of gunpowder; and the ashes of every part of the plant, more especially of the fruit, afford potash in considerable quantity. The bark, which is very bitter, is employed for tanning, and also for dyeing yellow; and it has been used medicinally as a substitute for Jesuits' bark. In Turkey, the nuts are ground, and mixed with horse food, especially when the horses are brokenwinded: and, in their natural state, they are eaten by goats, sheep, and deer. Rutty says the nuts are an excellent food for deer and hogs: they also possess a detergent quality, and serve, in some degree, as a soap. They are used in Ireland to whiten flaxen cloth, and for this purpose are rasped into water, in which they are allowed to macerate for some time. (Nat. Hist. of the County of Dublin, vol. i. p. 107.) The nuts, when ground into flour, and mixed in the proportion of one third with the flour of wheat, are said to add to the strength of bookbinder's paste. (Mech. Mag., vol. viii. p. 223.) M. Vergaud has proposed to change the starch which can be extracted from the nut into sugar, and afterwards to employ it in distillation. (Gard. Mag., vol. i. p. 318.) Parmentier, in his Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle, after noticing most of the uses to which this tree and its nuts have been applied, says, it appears, after all, that no use applicable to every-day purposes has yet been discovered respecting it. (See Baudrillart, Traité, &c., tom. ii. p. 364.) In Britain, the horsechestnut can only be considered as an ornamental tree, and, as such, is well known, and needs no eulogium. It produces a splendid effect when in flower, either singly, in avenues, or on the margins of plantations. The finest avenue of these trees in England is that at Bushy Park. Gilpin objects to the horsechestnut, as being lumpish in its form; but in saying this he evidently judged of the tree merely with reference to picturesque beauty, to which it has few pretensions till it becomes very old: whereas, in point of floral beauty, it and its several varieties, or races, are unequalled by any tree of equal size which will endure our climate. A very remarkable vegetable principle, called æsculine, which is found in this genus, and which is said to possess alkaline properties, and to act as a febrifuge, is mentioned in Stephenson and Churchill's Medical Botany, vol. ii. Miss Kent states that the fruit is not only sometimes ground and given to horses, but that deer are very fond of it, and that it is given to sheep, in a raw state, or when made into a paste, after maceration in lime water, to fatten them. Soap and starch have also been procured from these nuts. (Mag. Nat. Hist., iii. p. 135.)

Some

Poetical and legendary Allusions. The horsechestnut, where allowed to attain its proper shape on a lawn, is certainly a most magnificent tree. authors have compared it to an immense lustre or chandelier, its long racemes of flowers tapering up from its drooping foliage like lights. A horsechestnut tree, in full flower, has been called by Daines Barrington a giant's nosegay; and in the Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. iv. p. 238., an eloquent description of this tree has been given by Mr. Dovaston, who compares its racemes of flowers to those of a gigantic hyacinth. Miss Kent, in the same work, vol. iii. p. 135., calls it a Brobdignagian lupine. In Paris, the magnificent trees in the garden at the Luxembourg have been celebrated by Castel.

"Là de marroniers les hautes avenues

S'arrondissent en voûte, et nous cachent les nues."

The manner in which it scatters its flowers on the grass, and the comparative uselessness of its fruit and timber, make it an excellent emblem of ostentation. Soil, Situation, &c. The horsechestnut requires a deep, free, loamy soil, and will neither attain an ample size, nor flower freely, except in a situation rather sheltered than exposed. In England, it seldom suffers by the frost in spring; and the severest of our winters do not injure either its young shoots or its buds, which are covered with a resinous gluten. The species is always