and tapering; the leaf like the narrow willow, shorter, and delicately soft; the blossoms hang in bunches of small flowers, either red or white, according to the colour of the wood; the fruit is small, and valuable only for its seed The tree thrives in a hilly rocky situation, and there produces wood of the finest grain and strongest scent. On low land, and a richer soil, it degenerates, and is, in all respects, less esteemed.-JAMES FORBES, Esq., F.R.S., &c. THE PALM TREE. DR. CLARKE gives the following description of this very beautiful and useful tree: We continued our journey, says the doctor, to Aboukir, along the sandy neck of land which stretches, in the shape of a ribbon, from the place where our army landed entirely to Alexandria, having the lake of Aboukir upon our right, and the sea upon our left. The whole of this tract is a desert, interspersed here and there with a few plantations of palm-trees. The dates hung from these trees in such large and tempting clusters, although not quite ripe, that we climbed to the tops of some of them, and bore away with us large branches with their fruit. In this manner dates are sometimes sent, with the branches, as presents to Constantinople. A ripe Egyptian date, although a delicious fruit, is never refreshing to the palate. It suits the Turks, who are fond of sweetmeats of all kinds; and its flavour is not unlike that of the conserved green citron, which is brought from Madeira. The largest plantation occurred about halfway between Alexandria and Aboukir, whence our army marched to attack the French on the 13th of March. The trees here were very lofty; and, from the singular formation of their bark, we found it as easy to ascend to the tops of these trees as to climb the steps of a ladder. Wherever the date tree is found in these dreary deserts, it not only presents a supply of salutary The leaves of these trees, when grown to a size for bearing fruit, are six or eight feet long; and may be termed branches, for the trees have no other. food for men and camels*, but nature has so wonderfully contrived the plant, that its first offering is accessible to man alone; and the mere circumstance of its presence, in all seasons of the year, is a never-failing indication of fresh water near its roots. Botanists describe the trunk of the date tree as full of rugged knots; but the fact is, that it is full of cavities, the vestiges of its decayed leaves, which have within them an horizontal surface, flat and even, exactly adapted to the reception of the human feet and hands; and it is impossible to view them without believing that He who, in the beginning, fashioned "Every tree, in the which is the fruit of tree yielding seed, as meat for man," has here manifested one among the innumerable proofs of his beneficent design. The extensive importance of the date tree is one of the most curious subjects to which a traveller can direct his attention. A considerable part of the inhabitants of Egypt, and Arabia, and of Persia, subsist almost entirely upon its fruit. They boast, also, of its medicinal virtues. Their camels feed upon the date-stones; they make couches, baskets, bags, mats, and brushes from the branches; cages for their poultry, and fences for their gardens; from the fibres of the boughs, thread, ropes, and rigging; from the sap is prepared a spirituous liquor; and the trunk of the tree furnishes fuel. It is even said, that from one variety of the palm tree, the Phoenix farinifera meal has been extracted, which is found among the fibres of the trunk, and has been used for food.-DR. CLARKE's Travels through Europe, Asia, and Africa. THE GREAT AMERICAN ALOE. THE American Aloe, is a most curious and remarkable plant; it has very thick leaves, broad towards the root, and tapering to a point, stiff, and prickly, and yielding a kind of cotton, of which laces may be made. From the midst of the leaves rises a stem, which bears the flowers and fruit. The flowers grow at the end of the branches that shoot out opposite to each other; and each consists *The Arabs feed their camels with he date-stones, after grind ing them in their hand-mills. but of one leaf, cut into six segments at the top, like a hyacinth. The fruit is oblong and cylindrical, divided into three cells, in which are contained flat, and, for the most part, semicircular seeds. Most of the African sorts produce flowers with us annually, when grown to a sufficient size; but the American aloe, which most commonly produces its flower stem immediately from the centre of the plant, seldom flowers till it be of great age, and this but once during the life of the plant, so that to have one flower in England is reckoned a curiosity, and generally draws a vast number of spectators. It is observed, that when the flower-stem, which is usually large, and grows to a great height, begins to shoot from the middle of the plant, it draws all the nourishment from the leaves; so that, as the stem advances, the leaves decay; and when the flowers are full blown, scarcely any of the leaves remain alive; but, whenever this happens, the old root sends forth numerous off-sets; and it is only at this time that some of these aloes can be propagated. Dr. Morret tells us, that he had an American aloe, consisting of eleven leaves, which was tied about with a red dry cloth, and hung up without oil, in his kitchen. In a whole year he observed it lost two ounces, three drachms, and twenty-four grains of its weight. The next year being drier, and hotter, it lost upwards of three ounces; and more than double in the six colder than in the six hotter months. He kept it about five years, and it wasted much in the same proportion, till at last, hanging it in a cold garret, it died. Our author observed, that every year, two of the greater leaves first changed colour and withered, and every spring there succeeded two fresh and green ones, of the size of the preceding; from whence he thinks it may be probably inferred, that there is a circulation of the nutritious juice in this plant, for how is it possible that the roots, continuing firm and solid as at first, should supply so much nourishment-unless the said juice returned from the old decayed leaves into the root, and so produced new ones.-SMITH'S Wonders. THE BRITISH OAK. AMONG the traditions of this wonderful tree, the following, we trust, will prove highly acceptable to our readers. The large Golenos Oak, which was felled in the year 1810, for the use of his majesty's navy, grew about four miles from the town of Newport, in Monmouthshire; the main trunk, at ten feet long, produced 450 cubic feet; one limb 355, one ditto 472, one ditto, 235, one ditto 156, one ditto 106, one ditto 113, and six other limbs, of inferior size, averaged 93 feet-each making the whole number 2,426 cubic feet, of sound and convertible timber. The bark was estimated at six tons; but as some of the heavy body bark was stolen out of the barge at Newport, the exact weight is not known. Five men were twenty days stripping and cutting down this tree; and a pair of sawyers were five months converting it, without losing a day (Sundays excepted). The money paid for converting only, independent of the expense of carriage, was 821., and the whole produce of the tree, when brought to market, was within a trifle of 6007. It was bought standing for 4051.; the main trunk was nine feet and a half in diameter, and, in sawing it through, a stone was discovered, six feet from the ground, above a yard in the body of the tree, through which the saw cut; the stone was about six inches in diameter, and completely shut in, but round which there was not the least symptom of decay. The rings in its butt were carefully reckoned, and amounted to above 400 in number, a convincing proof that this tree was in an improving state for upwards of 400 years; and, as the ends of some of its branches were decayed, and had dropped off, it is presumed it had stood a great number of years after it had attained maturity.-Time's Telescope, vol. iji 107 REMARKABLE FLOWERS. PASSIFLORA CŒRULEA, or COMMON BLUE PASSION FLOWER. ALL the Passifloras claim the admiring eye, nor is this, though the most common, as thriving well out of doors, the least attractive. It was discovered in the Brazils, and its wonders were soon proclaimed to Christian kingdoms, as representing the passion of our Lord, whence its present appellation. The leaves were said exactly to resemble the spear that pierced our Saviour's side; the tendrils, the cords that bound his hands, or the whips that scourged him; the ten petals, the Apostles, Judas having betrayed, and Peter deserted him; the pillar in the centre, was the cross or tree; the stamina, the hammers; the styles, the nails; the inner circle, about the central pillar, the crown of thorns; the radiance, the glory; the white, in the flower, the emblem of purity; and the blue, the type of heaven. On one of the species, the Passiflora Alata, even drops of blood are to be seen upon the cross or tree. The flower keeps open three days, and then disappears, denoting the resurrection. At last this sacred flower was brought from the Brazils to Europe, and became a denizen of our gardens in the year 1699. The Alata Passion-flower, from South America, is reckoned by far to surpass all its kindred, both as to the elegance and brilliancy of its appearance, and exhibits to a fervent imagination the same fancy of a crucifix; and here we might add, that the column in the centre is spotted, as if stained with blood.-DR. THORNTON. The following lines on this beautiful flower, are from the pen of Dr. Shaw: Beneath the covert of o'er-arching trees, * Murucuia, the ancient American name of this plant. |