The MULBERRY TREE is of two kinds, red and white, and nearly of the same size of those of France and Italy, and grow in such plenty, as to feed any quantity of silk worms.
The CRAB APPLE TREE bears a fruit that is much larger and better flavoured than those of Europe.
The PLUM TREE. There are two sorts of plums in this country, one a large sort of a purple cast on one side, and red on the reverse, the second totally green, and much smaller. Both these are of a good flavour, and are greatly esteemed by the Indians, whose taste is not refined, but who are satisfied with the productions of nature in their unimproved state.
The CHERRY TREE. There are three sorts of cherries in this country; the black, the red, and the sand cherry; the two latter may with more propriety be ranked among the shrubs, as the bush that bears the sand cherries almost creeps along the ground, and the other rises not above eight or ten feet in height; however I shall give an account of them all in this place. The black cherries are about the size of a currant, and hang in clusters like grapes; the trees which bear them being very fruitful, they are generally loaded, but the fruit is not good to eat, however they give an agreeable flavour to brandy, and turn it to the colour of claret. The red cherries grow in the greatest profusion, and hang in bunches like the black sort just described; so that the bushes which bear them appear at a distance like solid bodies of red matter. Some people admire this fruit, but they partake of the nature and taste of alum, leaving a disagreeable roughness in the throat, and being very astringent. As I have already described the sand cherries, which greatly exceed the two other sorts both in flavour and size, I shall give no further description of them. The wood of the black cherry-tree is very useful, and works well into cabinet ware.
The SWEET GUM TREE or LIQUID AMBER (Copalm) is not only extremely common, but it affords a balm, the virtues of which are infinite. Its bark is black and hard, and its wood so tender and supple, that when the tree is felled, you may draw from the middle of it rods of five or six feet in length. It cannot be employed in building or furniture, as it warps continually. Its leaf is indented with five points like a star. This balm is reckoned by the Indians to be an excellent febrifuge, and it cures wounds in two or three days.
SHRUBS.
The Willow, Shin Wood, Shumack, Sassafras, the Prickly Ash, Moose Wood, Spoon Wood, Large Elder, Dwarf Elder, Poisonous Elder, Juniper, Shrub Oak, Sweet Fern, the Laurel, the Witch Hazle, the Myrtle Wax Tree, Winter Green, the Fever Bush, the Cranberry Bush, the Goosberry Bush, the Currant Bush, the Whirtle Berry, the Rasberry, the Black Berry, and the Choak Berry.
The WILLOW. There are several species of the willow, the most remarkable of which is a small sort that grows on the banks of the Mississippi, and some other places adjacent. The bark of this shrub supplies the beaver with its winter food; and where the water has washed the soil from its roots, they appear to consist of fibres interwoven together like thread, the colour of which is of an inexpressibly fine scarlet; with this the Indians tinge many of the ornamental parts of their dress.
SHIN WOOD. This extraordinary shrub grows in the forests, and rising like a vine, runs near the ground for six or eight feet, and then takes root again; in the same manner taking root, and springing up successively, one stalk covers a large space; this proves very troublesome to the hasty traveller, by striking against his shins, and entangling his legs; from which it has acquired its name.
The SASSAFRAS is a wood well known for its medicinal qualities. It might with equal propriety be termed a tree as a shrub, as it sometimes grows thirty feet high; but in general it does not reach higher than those of the shrub kind. The leaves, which yield an agreeable fragrance, are large, and nearly separated into three divisions. It bears a reddish brown berry of the size and shape of Pimento, and which is sometimes used in the colonies as a substitute for that spice. The bark or roots of this tree is infinitely superior to the wood for its use in medicine, and I am surprized it is so seldom to be met with, as its efficacy is so much greater.