Nuttall's last work, The North American Sylva; or a Description of the Forest-Trees of the United States, Canada and Nova Scotia, not described in the work of François André Michaux (Philadelphia, 3 vols., 1842-49), was, as the title indicates, undertaken as a supplement to the earlier work of Michaux.[1] It was completed on the eve of his departure from the United States, and entrusted to a friend for publication. Part one of the first volume appeared in 1842, and the second part the following year. The remaining volumes were delayed by various causes, not being printed until 1846 and 1849, respectively.
In 1841, by the bequest of an uncle, Nuttall received the estate of Nutgrove, near Liverpool, with the accompanying condition that during the remainder of his life he reside in England at least nine months of each year. Reluctantly leaving the land of his adoption and the field of his labors, impelled, it is said,[2] by regard for the needs of his sisters' families, he retired to the ancestral estate, which he largely devoted to the cultivation of rare plants. He revisited America in 1847-48; by taking three months at the end of the first year and three at the beginning of the next, he was able to spend six consecutive months outside of England without infraction of the terms of his relative's will. After seventeen years of the simple farm life which both his disposition and circumstances required, his death came, September 10, 1859, as the result of overstraining in his eagerness at unpacking a case of plants which had been sent to him from Asia.
Nuttall's natural shyness was enhanced by the character
