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Trees are mentioned in the writings of Hesiod and Homer. The garden of Alcinous is said to have contained various sorts of fruit trees and directions are given in Hesiod for lopping the poplar, and other species, for fuel; and felling the oak, the elm, and other kinds of large trees, for timber.

The principal trees of the Egyptians, according to Herodotus, were, the palm, the sycamore fig, the lote tree (Céltis austràlis, according to Mr. Hogg, Gard. Mag., x. 291.), the olive, and the pomegranate. There are, we know, several other trees which are natives of Egypt; but these were probably thought most worthy of being recorded, as producing edible fruit.

The gardens of the Persians contained trees; and those in the garden of the younger Cyrus, at Sardis, were all planted with his own hand, in straight lines: the only mode which, at that early period, when scarcely any but indigenous trees were in use by planters, could convey the expression of art and design. In general, the trees which most attracted the attention of the ancients were those which bore edible fruits, produced spices, had a terebinthine odour, or possessed spreading branches to afford shade. Hence the frequent mention of the palm, the fig, the olive, the cinnamon, the camphor, the cypress, the sycamore fig, and the plane.

The only positive source of information respecting the trees known to the nations of antiquity, down to the time of the Greeks, is to be found in the works of Theophrastus. Stackhouse, in his edition of Theophrastus's Historia Plantarum, has endeavoured to show the modern botanical names for the plants of which Theophrastus has treated. Sprengel had done the same thing in his Historia Rei Herbaria. Stackhouse has added to his own indentifications as many of those of Sprengel as are different from, and supplementary to, his own. From both we have selected the following list of the ligneous species. Stackhouse has stated in the preface to his second volume (his work is in two volumes, 1813, 1814), that Sprengel has carefully ascertained 357 of the kinds treated of by Theophrastus, and that he has passed over the rest, which are nearly as many in number, in silence; except remarking the circumstances which make them so ambiguous as to render the identifying of them hopeless. To some of the identifications which have been proposed, doubt appertains; and, in the case of the ligneous species, in the enumeration below, this doubt is expressed by notes of interrogation. It may be observed, that the greater number of these plants, according to Sibthorp's Flora Græca, are natives of Greece, and that most of those which are not, will endure the open air, or are cultivated, in that country. The whole of them, with scarcely any exceptions, are in British gardens and hot-houses; and all those which we have marked

with a star, are indigenous to the British Isles. We have thrown the species into the groups indicated by the natural orders, in order to aid the memory of the botanical reader, and to facilitate generalisation.

Ranunculaceæ.

Clématis orientalis.

Capparideæ. Capparis spinòsa.

Cistinec. Cistus créticus and salviæfòlius.

Malvacea. Gossypium arboreum; Málva tomentosa; ? Hibíscus, an arboreous species if a hibiscus.

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Tiliacea. Tilia europæ`a.

Aurantiaceæ. Citrus Médica and Aurántium.

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Acerineæ. Acer campéstre and Pseudo-Plátanus.
Ampélida. Vitis vinifera, 3 kinds, and indica.

Rutacea. Ruta graveolens.

Celastrineæ.? Celastrus, the species was, in habit, a tree of middle size; Euonymus europæ`us.

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Rhamneæ. Rhamnus lyciöìdes and ? Alatérnus, Paliùrus aculeatus, Zizyphus vulgaris.

Terebinthacea. Pistácia Terebinthus and Lentíscus, Balsamodéndron gileadénse, Rhús Coriària más, C. fœ'mina, and Cótinus, ? Mangífera índica.

Leguminosa. Acàcia arábica, Sénegal, Catechu, myrrhífera Stackhouse, and polyacántha; ? Tamarindus indica; Cércis Siliquástrum; Colùtea arboréscens and cruénta; Cathartocarpus Fistula; Cytisus Labúrnum and "Maránta;" Ceratònia Siliqua; Moringa pterygospérma; Genísta lusitánica and ? Scorpius (Spártium villosum Flora Græca); Medicago arbòrea; ? Coronilla E'merus; E'benus crética; Astragalus Tragacántha.

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Rosacea. Rosa, the 5-leaved, the 10-leaved, the 20-leaved, and the 100-leaved; Rubus fruticosus, cæ`sius, and * idæ us. Amygdaleæ. Amygdalus commùnis; ? Pérsica vulgaris; Cérasus Pàdus, durácina and ? Laurocérasus; Prùnus sitítia and doméstica var. Juliàna.

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Pomacea. Pyrus commùnis wild, and cultivated; * Màlus wild, and cultivated; * A`ria, and crética; * Sórbus, two varieties of; ? torminàlis and? a variety of; Méspilus *? germánica, ? a variety of; Cydònia vulgaris, wild and cultivated; ? Amelanchier vulgaris; Cotoneaster vulgàris; Crataegus Pyracántha, Azaròlus, and * Oxyacántha.

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Granateæ. Pùnica Granatum.
Rhizophoreæ. Rhizophora Mángle.
Tamariscínea. * Tamarix gállica.
Myrtacea. Mýrtus communis.
Cáctea. Opuntia vulgaris.

? Grossulaceae. ? Ribes Grossulària.
Umbelliferæ. Bùbon Gálbanum.

Araliacea. Hédera * Hèlix, and varieties of it.

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Caprifoliacea. Caprifolium Periclýmenum; ? Lonicera pyrenaica; Vibúrnum *? Lantàna, *? Opulus, and ? Tìnus; Sambucus nigra.

Córnea. Cornus más and * sanguínea.

Loranthaceae. Loránthus europæe us; * Viscum álbum. Compósita. Santolina rosmarinifòlia; Helichrysum Sto`chas; Kentrophyllum (Onobròma) arboréscens; Conyza saxátilis. Vaccinièa. Vaccinium Vitis idea.

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Ericacea. Erica; Arbutus Andráchne and * Unedo; ? Rhododendron pónticum.

Styracineæ. Styrax officinale.

Ebenacea. Diospyros Lòtus.

Oleacea. Olea europæ a, sylvestris; Phillyrea latifòlia; ? Ligustrum vulgàre; O'rnus europæ`a; *? Fráxinus excélsior. Apocyneæ. ?Nèrium Oleánder; * Vínca major, or * minor. Cordiàceæ. Córdia Sebestèna and Mýxa.

Solàneæ. Cápsicum frutéscens; Lycium bárbarum and ? europæ`um.

Labiata. Lavándula Spica; Rosmarinus officinalis; Sálvia tríloba, crética; Teucrium créticum; ? Marrùbium PseudoDictamnus, Origanum Dictamnus, Tournefortii, and ? ægyptiacum; Satureja capitàta; Thymus vulgàris, ? Mastichina. Verbenacea. Vitex A'gnus cástus. Plantaginea. Plantago? Cynops.

Chenopodea. *Salicórnia fruticosa.

Laurineæ. Laúrus nóbilis, var. platyphýlla and var. leptophýlla; Cinnamòmum vèrum.

Myristiceæ. Myrística.

Thymela'a. Daphne Cneòrum and serícea.

Euphorbiaceæ. Euphorbia Pithyùsa,

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sinites; Búxus sempervirens.

Charàcias, and Myr

Urticea. Ficus Caprifìcus, Cárica, religiòsa, and Sycómorus Mòrus nigra.

Ulmacea. Ulmus campestris, ? and another kind; Céltis austràlis.

Piperacea. Piper nigrum.

Juglándeæ. Juglans règia.

Salicineæ. Salix * álba, nìgra; *Hèlix variegata and babylónica; Pópulus * nìgra, * álba.

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Betulínea. Bétula * álba and ? Alnus glutinòsa; Alnus oblongata.

Cupuliferæ. Quercus ? Ilex, Sùber, coccifera, Ballòta, Egilops, E'sculus, Cérris, * Ròbur, fagínea Desf., and Tournefortii;* Córylus Avellàna; Castanea vésca; Fàgus * sylvática; Ostrya vulgaris.

Plataneæ. Plátanus orientalis.

Coniferæ. Cèdrus Libàni; Làrix europæ`a; Pinus halepensis, Pinea, marítima, and sylvéstris; Abies excélsa and Picea; Cupressus sempervirens; Thùja aphýlla; Táxus* baccata; Juniperus commùnis, Oxýcedrus, lýcia, and * nàna.

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Cycadea. Cycas revoluta.

Smilacea. Smilax áspera; Rúscus hypophýllum, * aculeatus ? racemòsus.

Pálma. Phoenix dactylifera, and four varieties; Còcos nucífera; Chama`rops; ? Areca Catechu.

Gramineæ. Bambùsa arundinacea.

It thus appears that the total number of species known to Theophrastus was not less than 170, which belong to 53 groups or natural orders.

The Romans appear to have begun with a knowledge of all the trees possessed by the Greeks; and there are added to them, in their works, almost all the trees of the colder regions of Europe. It is evident that the Romans introduced trees into Italy from other countries; because frequent mention is made, by their agricultural writers, of the platanus, the cedar, the cypress, and other trees, which are not indigenous to Italy; and the cherry, the peach, and other fruits, we are informed, were imported from Persia. The pine, the bay, the plane, and the box appear to have been the favourite trees of gardens: the first, for its refreshing odour; the second, for its beauty, and because it was used in crowning martial heroes; and the third, on account of its shade. Pliny observes, "In old times trees were the very temples of the gods; and, according to that ancient manner, the plain and simple peasants of the country, savouring still of antiquity, do at this day consecrate to one god or other the goodliest and fairest trees that they can meete withall; and verily, we ourselves adore, not with more reverence and devotion, the stately images of gods within our temples (made though they be of glittering gold and beautiful ivory), than the very groves and tufts of trees, wherein we worship the same gods in religious silence. First, the ancient ceremony of dedicating this and that kind of tree to several gods, as proper and peculiar to them, was always observed, and continues to this day. For the great mighty oak, named esculus, is consecrated to Jupiter, the laurel to Apollo, the olive to Minerva, the myrtle to Venus, and the poplar to Hercules." (Holland's Translation of Pliny's Natural History, p. 357.)

The Romans cultivated trees for useful purposes, like the moderns. They planted coppice woods, for fuel, fence wood, and props for the vine; they had osier grounds, for producing hoop and basket willows; single rows of elms and poplars, for supporting the vine; and they had indigenous forests on the hills

and mountains, for supplying timber for building and other purposes. The larch was a favourite tree among them; and instances are given by Pliny of the enormous size which it attained, of its durability, and its resistance to fire. The positive knowledge of the Romans, with respect to trees, may be found in Pliny's Natural History; and an enumeration of the species which that work contains, as far as they can be guessed at by modern botanists, is given by Sprengel in his Historia Rei Herbariæ, vol. i. It contains so few, in addition to those known to Theophrastus, that it seems unnecessary to introduce it here.

CHAP. II.

OF THE HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF THE TREES AND SHRUBS NOW IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS.

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THE trees and shrubs now indigenous to, or cultivated in, the British Islands, including Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the other adjacent isles, naturally form two divisions; viz., those which are of spontaneous growth, and those which have been introduced or originated by the art and industry of man. order to convey distinct ideas respecting the number and nature of the native woody plants which may be considered as aboriginal and permanent inhabitants of this country, we shall give an enumeration of them, arranged according to the natural orders to which they belong; and, in order to show the progress of the introduction of foreign species, the number introduced, and the individuals to whom we are indebted for such introductions, we shall treat of the native and foreign plants separately.

SECT. I. Of the Native Trees and Shrubs of the British Isles.

THE native plants of any island may generally be considered as the same as those of the continent to which that island belongs; and hence we find that there are very few trees and shrubs which are indigenous to the north of France, Belgium, and the north of Germany, which are not also natives of Britain. In countries which have been long civilised, it appears difficult to determine what trees or plants are aboriginal, and what have been introduced; and even in wild countries, the same difficulties may be said to occur, since the seeds of the plants of one country may be, and undoubtedly are, carried to another country by birds and other animals, and may spring up there, mature themselves, and continue their species like aboriginal plants. It is probable that this process has gone on more or less in every country from its

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