The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Part 152

[*] _Flowers nearly sessile; fruit orbicular, not ciliate; leaves very rough above._

1. U. fulva, Michx. (SLIPPERY or RED ELM.) Buds before expansion soft-downy with rusty hairs (large); leaves ovate-oblong, taper-pointed, doubly serrate (4--8' long, sweet-scented in drying), soft-downy beneath or slightly rough downward; branchlets downy; calyx-lobes and stamens 5--9; fruit (8--9" wide) with the cell p.u.b.escent.--Rich soil, N. Eng.

to Dak., and southward. March, April.--A small or middle-sized tree (45--60 high), with tough reddish wood, and a very mucilaginous inner bark.

[*][*] _Flowers on slender drooping pedicels, which are jointed above the middle; fruit ovate or oval, fringed-ciliate; leaves smooth above, or nearly so._

2. U. Americana, L. (AMERICAN or WHITE ELM.) _Buds and branchlets_ glabrous; _branches not corky_; leaves obovate-oblong or oval, abruptly pointed, sharply and often doubly serrate (2--4' long), soft-p.u.b.escent beneath, or soon glabrous; _flowers in close fascicles_; calyx with 7--9 roundish lobes; _fruit glabrous_ except the margins (' long), its sharp points incurved and closing the notch.--Moist woods, especially along rivers, in rich soil. April.--A large and well-known ornamental tree, variable in habit, usually with spreading branches and drooping branchlets.

3. U. racemsa, Thomas. (CORK or ROCK ELM.) _Bud-scales downy-ciliate_ and somewhat p.u.b.escent, as are the young branchlets; _branches often with corky ridges_; leaves nearly as in the last, but with veins more simple and straight; _flowers racemed_; fruit much as in the last, but rather larger.--River-banks, S. W. Vt. to Ont. and central Minn., south to Mo. and Ky. A large and very valuable tree.

4. U. alata, Michx. (WAHOO or WINGED ELM.) _Bud-scales and branchlets nearly glabrous; branches corky-winged_, at least some of them; leaves downy beneath, ovate-oblong and oblong-lanceolate, acute, thickish, small (1--2' long); calyx-lobes obovate; fruit downy on the face at least when young.--Va. to S. Ind., S. Mo., and southward. March. A small tree.

2. PLaNERA, Gmelin. PLANER-TREE.

Flowers monciously polygamous. Calyx 4--5-cleft. Stamens 4--5. Ovary ovoid, 1-celled, 1-ovuled, crowned with 2 spreading styles which are stigmatose down the inner side, in fruit becoming coriaceous and nut-like, not winged. Alb.u.men none; embryo straight.--Trees with small leaves, like those of Elms, the flowers appearing with them, in small axillary cl.u.s.ters. (Named for _J. J. Planer_, a German botanist.)

1. P. aquatica, Gmel. Nearly glabrous; leaves ovate-oblong, small; fruit stalked in the calyx, beset with irregular rough projections.--Wet banks, N. C. to Ky., S. Ill., and southward. April. A rather small tree.

3. CeLTIS, Tourn. NETTLE-TREE. HACKBERRY.

Flowers monciously polygamous. Calyx 5--6-parted, persistent. Stamens 5--6. Ovary 1-celled, with a single suspended ovule; stigmas 2, long and pointed, recurved. Fruit a globular drupe. Embryo curved, nearly enclosing a little gelatinous alb.u.men; cotyledons folded and crumpled.--Leaves pointed, petioled, inequilateral. Stipules caducous.

Flowers greenish, axillary, the fertile solitary or in pairs, peduncled, appearing with the leaves, the lower usually staminate only, fascicled or racemose along the base of the branches of the season. (A name of Pliny's for an African species of Lotus.)

1. C. occidentalis, L. (SUGARBERRY. HACKBERRY.) _Leaves reticulated_, ovate, cordate-ovate and ovate-lanceolate, taper-pointed, usually conspicuously and sharply so, more or less oblique at base, _sharply serrate_, sometimes sparingly so or only toward the apex, scabrous but mostly glabrous above, usually soft-p.u.b.escent beneath, at least when young; fruit reddish or yellowish, turning dark purple at maturity, its peduncle once or twice the length of the petiole.--Woods and river-banks, N. Eng. to Minn., and southward. April, May.--A small or sometimes large tree, with the aspect of an Elm, bearing sweet and edible fruits as large as bird-cherries, at first obovate, ripe in autumn; the flesh thin. Very variable in the form, texture, etc., of the leaves.--Var. PuMILA, Gray. Low and straggling (4--10 high); leaves thin when mature, and smooth, _slightly ac.u.minate_. River-banks, on rocks, from Maryland southward.

2. C. Mississippiensis, Bosc. _Leaves entire_ (rarely few-toothed), _very long taper-pointed_, rounded at base, mostly oblique, thin, and smooth; fruit small.--Ill. to Tenn., and southward. A small tree with warty bark. (Addendum)--Celtis Mississippiensis. Common in low river-bottoms of W. Mo. (_F. Bush_); described as having a very smooth trunk, like a sycamore, and soft yellowish brittle wood, not coa.r.s.e-grained as in C. occidentalis.

4. CaNNABIS, Tourn. HEMP.

Flowers dicious; the sterile in axillary compound racemes or panicles, with 5 sepals and 5 drooping stamens. Fertile flowers spiked-cl.u.s.tered, 1-bracted; the calyx of a single sepal enlarging at the base and folded round the ovary. Achene crustaceous. Embryo simply curved.--A tall roughish annual, with digitate leaves of 5--7 linear-lanceolate coa.r.s.ely toothed leaflets, the upper alternate; the inner bark of very tough fibres. (The ancient Greek name, of obscure etymology.)

C. SATVA, L. (HEMP.) Stem 4--8 high; leaves 4--8' broad; flowers green.--Waste and cultivated ground. (Adv. from Eu.)

5. HuMULUS, L. HOP.

Flowers dicious; the sterile in loose axillary panicles, with 5 sepals and 5 erect stamens. Fertile flowers in short axillary and solitary spikes or catkins; bracts foliaceous, imbricated, each 2-flowered, in fruit forming a sort of membranaceous strobile. Calyx of a single sepal, embracing the ovary. Achene invested with the enlarged scale-like calyx.

Embryo coiled in a flat spiral.--Twining rough perennials, with stems almost p.r.i.c.kly downward, and mostly opposite heart-shaped and palmately 3--7-lobed leaves, with persistent ovate stipules between the petioles.

(A late Latin name, of Teutonic origin.)

1. H. Lupulus, L. (COMMON HOP.) Leaves mostly 3--5-lobed, commonly longer than the petioles; bracts, etc., smoothish; the fruiting calyx, achene, etc., sprinkled with yellow resinous grains, which give the bitterness and aroma to the hop.--Alluvial banks, N. Eng. to western N. Y., the Great Lakes and westward, and south in the mountains to Ga.

July. (Eu., Asia.)

6. MACLuRA, Nutt. OSAGE ORANGE. BOIS D'ARC.

Flowers dicious; the staminate in loose short racemes, with 4-parted calyx, and 4 stamens inflexed in the bud; the pistillate in a dense globose head, with a 4-cleft calyx enclosing the ovary. Style filiform, long-exserted; ovule pendulous. Fruit an achene, buried in the greatly enlarged fleshy calyx. Alb.u.men none. Embryo recurved.--Trees with milky juice, alternate entire pinnately veined leaves, caducous stipules, axillary peduncles, and stout axillary spines. (Named for the early American geologist, _William Maclure_.)

1. M. aurantaca, Nutt. A tree 30--50 high; leaves ovate to oblong-lanceolate, pointed, mostly rounded at base, green and shining; syncarp globose, yellowish green, 2--3' in diameter.--E. Kan. and Mo. to N. Tex.; extensively used for hedges. Wood bright orange.

7. MRUS, Tourn. MULBERRY.

Flowers moncious or dicious; the two kinds in separate axillary and catkin-like spikes. Calyx 4-parted; lobes ovate. Stamens 4; filaments elastically expanding. Ovary 2-celled, one of the cells smaller and disappearing; styles 2, thread-form, stigmatic down the inside. Achene ovate, compressed, covered by the succulent berry-like calyx, the whole spike thus becoming a thickened oblong and juicy (edible) aggregate fruit.--Trees with milky juice and broad leaves; sterile spikes rather slender. (The cla.s.sical Latin name.)

1. M. rubra, L. (RED MULBERRY.) _Leaves_ heart-ovate, serrate, _rough above, downy beneath_, pointed (on young shoots often lobed); flowers frequently dicious; _fruit dark purple_, long.--Rich woods, W. New Eng.

to S. Ont., Dak., E. Kan., and southward. May.--Large tree, ripening its blackberry-like fruit in July.

M. aLBA, L. (WHITE MULBERRY.) _Leaves_ obliquely heart-ovate, acute, serrate, sometimes lobed, _smooth and shining; fruit whitish_.--Spontaneous near houses. (Adv. from Eu.)

8. URTCA, Tourn. NETTLE.

Flowers moncious, or rarely dicious, cl.u.s.tered, the cl.u.s.ters mostly in racemes, spikes, or loose heads. _Ster. Fl._ Sepals 4. Stamens 4, inserted around the cup-shaped rudiment of a pistil. _Fert. Fl._ Sepals 4, in pairs; the 2 outer smaller and spreading; the 2 inner flat or concave, in fruit membranaceous and enclosing the straight and erect ovate flattened achene. Stigma sessile, capitate and pencil-tufted.--Herbs, armed with stinging hairs. Leaves opposite; stipules in our species distinct. Flowers greenish; in summer. (The cla.s.sical Latin name; from _uro_, to burn.)

[*] _Perennials; flower-cl.u.s.ters in branching panicled spikes, often dicious._

1. U. gracilis, Ait. _Sparingly bristly_, slender (2--6 high); _leaves ovate-lanceolate_, pointed, serrate, 3--5-nerved from the rounded or scarcely heart-shaped base, _almost glabrous, the elongated slender petioles sparingly bristly_; spikes slender and loosely panicled.--Fence-rows and moist ground, common. Stings few.

U. DIICA, L. _Very bristly and stinging_ (2--3 high); _leaves ovate, heart-shaped_, pointed, _very deeply serrate, downy beneath_ as well as the upper part of the stem; _spikes much branched_.--Waste places and roadsides, rather rare. Canada and N. Eng. to S. C., west to Minn. and Mo. (Nat. from Eu.)

[*][*] _Annuals; flower-cl.u.s.ters chiefly axillary and shorter than the petiole, androgynous._

U. uRENS, L. _Leaves elliptical or ovate_, very coa.r.s.ely and deeply serrate with long spreading teeth, the terminal teeth not longer than the lateral ones; _flower-cl.u.s.ters 2 in each axil, small and loose_.--Waste grounds, near dwellings, eastward; scarce. Plant 8--12'

high, with spa.r.s.e stings. (Nat. from Eu.)

2. U. chamaedryodes, Pursh. _Leaves ovate and mostly heart-shaped_, the upper ovate-lanceolate, coa.r.s.ely serrate-toothed; _flower-cl.u.s.ters globular_, 1--2 in each axil, and spiked at the summit.--Alluvial shaded soil, from Ky. to the Gulf States. Slender, 6--30' high, spa.r.s.ely beset with stings.

9. LAPoRTEA, Gaudichaud. WOOD-NETTLE.

Flowers moncious or dicious, cl.u.s.tered, in loose cymes; the upper widely spreading and chiefly or entirely fertile; the lower mostly sterile. _Ster. Fl._ Sepals and stamens 5, with a rudiment of an ovary.

_Fert. Fl._ Calyx of 4 sepals, the two outer or one of them usually minute, and the two inner much larger. Stigma elongated awl-shaped, hairy down one side, persistent. Achene ovate, flat, extremely oblique, reflexed on the winged or margined pedicel, nearly naked.--Perennial herbs, with stinging hairs, large alternate serrate leaves, and axillary stipules. (Named for _M. Laporte_.)

1. L. Canadensis, Gaudichaud. Stem 2--3 high; leaves ovate, pointed, strongly feather-veined (3--7' long), long-petioled; fertile cymes divergent; stipule single, 2-cleft.--Moist rich woods. July--Sept.

10. PiLEA, Lindl. RICHWEED. CLEARWEED.

Flowers moncious or dicious. _Ster. Fl._ Sepals and stamens 3--4.

_Fert. Fl._ Sepals 3, oblong, more or less unequal; a rudiment of a stamen commonly before each in the form of a hooded scale. Stigma sessile, pencil-tufted. Achene ovate, compressed, erect, partly or nearly naked.--Stingless, mostly glabrous and low herbs, with opposite leaves and united stipules; the staminate flowers often mixed with the fertile. (Named from the shape of the larger sepal of the fertile flower in the original species, which partly covers the achene, like the _pileus_, or felt cap, of the Romans.)

1. P. pumila, Gray. (RICHWEED. CLEARWEED.) Low (3--18' high); stems smooth and shining, pellucid; leaves ovate, coa.r.s.ely toothed, pointed, 3-ribbed and veiny; flower-cl.u.s.ters much shorter than the petioles; sepals of the fertile flowers lanceolate, scarcely unequal.--Cool and moist shaded places. July--Sept.