N. sylvática.
1. Nýssa sylvática, Marsh. (Pepperidge. Black or Sour Gum.) Leaves oval to obovate, pointed, entire (sometimes angulate-toothed beyond the middle), rather thick, shining above when old, 2 to 5 in. long. The leaves are crowded near the ends of the branches and flattened so as to appear 2-ranked, like the Beech; turning bright crimson in the autumn. Fruit ovoid, bluish-black, about ½ in. long, sour. Medium-sized tree with mainly an excurrent trunk and horizontal branches. Wood firm, close-grained and hard to split. Rich soil, latitude of Albany and southward. Difficult to transplant, so it is rarely cultivated.
2. Nýssa biflòra, Walt. (Sour Gum.) Leaves 1 to 3 in. long, smaller than in N. sylvatica; fertile flowers and fruit 1 to 3, in the axils; stone decidedly flattened and more strongly furrowed. New Jersey to Tennessee and southward. Too nearly like the last to need a drawing. All the species of Nyssa may have the margin of the leaves somewhat angulated, as shown in the next.
N. uniflòra.
3. Nýssa uniflòra, Wang. (Large Tupelo.) Leaves much larger, 4 to 12 in. long, sometimes slightly cordate at base, entire or angularly toothed, downy beneath. Fruit solitary, oblong, blue, 1 in. or more in length. Wood soft, that of the roots light and spongy and used for corks. In water or wet swamps; Virginia, Kentucky, and southward.
Order XXIII. CAPRIFOLIÀCEÆ.
(Honeysuckle Family.)
Shrubs (rarely herb or tree-like plants) of temperate regions.
Genus 47. VIBÚRNUM.