Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, volume 1.djvu/103

Rh

, Wild. Sp. Pl. vol. iv. p. 1113. Pursh, Flora Americ. p. 177. , Michaux, Arbr. Forest, de l'Amer. Sept. t. ii. p. 252. Pl. 19.

, Linn., Juss.

This species, which occurs in the Southern States only, growing in low and marshy grounds, attains a height of from seventy to eighty feet, with a diameter of eighteen or twenty inches some feet above the ground, although at the very base it is sometimes five or six feet. The leaves are five or six inches in length, elliptical, acuminate, distantly toothed, when young very downy, but finally smooth. The fruit is oblong, and of a dark purple colour. The wood is remarkably light and soft.