106 Andromeda arborea.
reddish colour; vernal shoots green. Furrows deep. Leaves pe-
tioled, numerous, crowded, from three to five inches long, and from
one to two inches broad; alternate, oval-acuminate, generally serrulated
with sharp, pointed serrulations, although many of the leaves
are found entire on the margin. They are slightly downy when
they first, appear; but, after attaining maturity, become glabrous and
shining on the upper disk, reticulately veined, and destitute of pubescence
on the under surface except the costa, which is frequently
garnished with white, scattered hairs. They are very acid and
agreeable to the taste when chewed. Petioles an half or three-quarters
of an inch long. Flowers numerous, small, pedicellated, se-
cund, borne on numerous, large, terminal, divergent, many-spiked
panicles, five inches long. Calix small, five-toothed; teeth acute.
Corolla ovate, opening at the mouth, monopetalous, pubescent.
Stamen and pistil included. Anthers linear, unawned. Style
pentangular, persistent. Capsules small, ovate, reddish-brown, containing
numerous, minute, subulate seeds, garnished with membranaceous
points, and longitudinally imbricated in the capsule. Most
common in the western and southern section of our states, growing
on the margins of streams and swamps, and flowering in June
and July. . According to Michaux, f. | it begins to appear on the Alleghany
mountains in Virginia, and is found to their termination in
Georgia.” It is not uncommon in the southern states, being found on
the steep banks of the rivers that flow from the mountains; but it becomes
more rare in following them from their source, whether eastShulromeda
arborea. 1 0 7
ward or westward, and ceases entirely in the maritime parts ot the
Carolinas and Georgia. Mr. Elliot says, “ it is found as low down
as St. John’s, Santee, within forty miles of the ocean.” *
This is the only arborescent species of the genus Andromeda, and
it is remarkable that all the other species are low shrubs. The
sorrel tree itself, however, degenerates into a shrub, in soils uncongenial
to its constitution. It is remarked by Michaux, in his
magnificent work on the Forest Trees, that it becomes stunted
in dry and gravelly lands, particularly in the neighbourhood of
Knoxville, where it is most abundant, and where he says it presents
itself in the form of a bush. According to Mr. Elliot, it
rarely attains a greater stature than fifteen or twenty feet, except
in the vallies of the mountains. The acidity of the leaves has given
rise to the name of Sorrel Tree, by which it is universally recognized
where it grows. They are said to be chewed by the hunters
in the mountains when they cannot procure water, and are reported
to be very refreshing; and Pursh says, they find that they allay
thirst. Their leaves are said by Michaux to become black in drying.
But this, though frequently the case, is not invariably so, many
specimens retaining a good green colour when carefully exsiccated.
He informs us, that “ where sumac is not to be obtained, they are
used to impart a black colour to wool.”
* Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and Georgia.