.^r-a-. m-dU (fioUcge of ^agriculture Htbrara CORNELL UNIVERSTTY LIBRARY 924 052 395 609 The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924052395609 BOOKS BY HARRIET L. KEELER Published by CHARLES SCIUBNER'8 SON.S Our Garden Flowers. Or. 8vo, . rut $2.(10 Our Northern Sh ubs. Cr. 8vi), . . ml .S2.0(> Our Native Trees Each vu . Cr. 8vo, . lime priijii^rli/ iUns . ml nilcd S'i.OO OUR NATIVE TREES OUR NATIVE TREES AND HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM a |)opuIar iitulrp of Cbrir |)abit0 ana ®l)Etr |]ctuUarittcB By HARRIET L. KEELER WITH nS ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRARJLS AND WITH 1G2 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DRAWINGS SEVENTH EDITION CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS NEW YORK :: :: :: :: :: :: 1910 Copyright, 1900, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS TO THE MEMORY OF PHYLLIS AND NICHOLAS MY LOVING COMPANIONS THROUGH FIELD AN13 WOOD THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED PREFACE The trees described in tliis volume are those indigenous to the region extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rock)' Mountains and from Canada to the northern boun- daries of the southern states ; together with a few well- known and naturalized foreign trees such as the Horse- chestnut, Lombard)' Poplar, Ailanthus and Sycamore Maple. It is hoped that this book will commend itself : To amateur botanists who desire a more extended and ac- curate description of trees than is given by the botanical text-books in ordinary use. I'o such of the general public as habitually live near fields and woods ; or whose love of rural life has led them to . summer homes in hill country or along the sea-shore ; or whose daily walks lead them through our city parks and open commons. To ali those who feel that their enjoyment of out-door life would be distinctly increased were they able easily to deter- mine the names of trees. The author is glad to acknowledge her great indebtedness to the following books of reference ; Sargent's "The Silva of North America," Michaux's " North American Sylva," Lou- don's " Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum," Emerson's " ]J.eport on the 'frees and Shrubs of Massachusetts," Sach's " Physiology of Plants," Sach's "Text-Book of Botany," Le Maout and Decaisne's "General System of Botany," Britton and Brown's "Illustrated Flora of the United States and Canada," Dawson's "Geological History of Plants," Hough's "American Woods," Gray's "Manual of Botany," sixth edi- vii PREFACE tion, Vine's " Students' Text-Book of Botany," " The Check List of the Forest Trees of the United States," and the mag- azine Gardoi and Forest. The extracts from the works of Lowell, Longfellow, Emerson, ^Vhittier, Holmes, Thoreau, Burroughs, and Miss Thomas are used with the permission of and b}' special ar- rangement with the publishers Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., those from Wilson Flagg with the permission of the Educational Publishing Co., that from Bryant with the per- mission of the publishers, Messrs. D. Appleton & Co. The quotations from the works of Professor G. l''rederick Wright, Professor George Pierce, and Professor D. T. Mac- Dougal are made by the kind consent of the authors. Es- pecial acknowledgment is due to Professor Charles S. Sar- gent not only because in the preparation of this volume the Silva of North .\merica has been the authority which has decided every case of doubt and because of his kind per- mission to quote from his writings, but also because of his kindly interest and his invaluable assistance in obtaining specimens for illustrations from the Arnold Arboretum. To Miss Anna J. Wright, Miss Charlotte Bushnell and Mr. Charles F. Pack especial thanks are due for valuable notes and suggestions ; also to the Director of the Missouri Bo- tanical Garden for specimens kindly sent upon request. The outline pictures are the work of Miss Mary Keffer of Cleveland, Ohio. The photographs for the illustrations were taken partly by Mr. Alfred Redher, of the Arnold Ar- boretum, partly by Mr. Charles H. Coit, of Glenville, Ohio, but principally by Decker. Edmonson & Co. of Cleveland, Ohio. May 20, 1900. CONTENTS Page Genera and Species xi Illustrations . . xvii Guide to the Trees ....... xxi Descriptions of tlie Trees : Dicotyledones / Gyiiuiospernuv 4J7 Form and Structure of Roots, Stems, Leaves, Flowers, and Fruit 503 Tlie Tree Stem or Trunin 514 Species and Genus $17 Glossary of Botanical Names . . . . ^19 Index of Latin Names ^27 Index of Comnwn Names ^30 GENERA AND SPECIES DICOTYLEDONES Magnoliace* . Mag?io/ia g/a uca . Magnolia Iripctala Magnolia acuminata Liriodendron tiilipifera ANNONACE.t Asiinina triloba TiLIACE.'E . Tilia anii'ficana Tilia pubfscens Tilia Jietej'ophylla Tilia eiiropaa RUTACE/IE . Ptelea trifoliata SlMAROUBACE/B . Ailant lilts glaiidiilo. AQUI FOLIAGES . Ilex opaca Ilex monticola Celastrace^c EuonyiiiHS atropurpurcus Rhamnace.'e Rhamnus caroliniaiia Magnolia Family Swamp Mag'nolia Umbrella-tree Cucumber-tree Tulip-tree . . . . Custard-Apple Family Papaw . . . , Linden Family Linden . . . . Downy Linden White Basswood European Linden Rue Family Wafer Ash AiLANTHUS Family Ailanthus . Holly Family American Holly . Mountain Holly . Staff-tree Family Burning Bush Buckthorn Family Indian Cherry 24 30 30 30 32 ■ 36 41 45 46 49 GENERA AND SPECIES HlPPOCASTANACE^ . -HscuIhs glabra ^-Esctihis oclandra . ^sculus hippocastaniim ACERACE^ . Acer pcnnsylvaniLiiiii Acer spicatum Acer saccJiarum Acer saciharinuin . Acer rubriiin . Acer pla/anoides Acer pseueio-platanus Acer negnndo. Anacardiace^e . RJiiis hiria Rhus copallina Rhus verin'x . LEGUMINOS/E Robinia pscudacacia Rohinia viscosa Cercis canadensis . Gyinnocladus dioicus Gleditsia triacanthos Cladrastis lulea ROSACE^E Prunus nigra Primus aniericana Prunus pennsylvatiica Primus virginiana Prunus serotina Pyrus coronaria . . Pyrus ainericana . Pyrus aucuparia . Pyrus sanibucifolia Cratcegus crus-galli Cratcegus coccinea . Craiagus mollis Horse-chestnut Family Ohio Buckeye . . -50 Sweet Buckeye . . -54 Horse-chestnut . . -54 Maple Family Striped Maple Mountain Maple Sugar Maple Silver Maple Red Maple . Norway Maple Sycamore Maple Box Elder . Sumach Family Velvet Sumach . Dwarf Sumach . Poison Sumach . 6o 64 66 7i 77 82 82 85 91 94 Pea Family Locust • 97 Clammy Locust . • 103 Redbud . 104 Kentucky Coffee-tree . . 109 Honey Locust .112 Yellow-wood . 116 Rose Family Canada Plum . 119 Wild Plum . . 120 Wild Red Cherry . 122 Choke Cherry • 125 Black Cherry . 128 Crab Apple. • 133 Mountain Ash ■36 European Mouiiiain Ash • 138 Elderleaf Mountain Ash . 140 Cockspur Thorn . . 140 White Thorn • 143 Scarlet Haw - 144 GENERA AND SPECIES ROSACE.'E— Ow//««C^. Ci-a/iCi^iis toiiii'iitosa Cratdgus pinutata. sliiielaiuhiff Laiiadciisis. Hamamelidace.b Ha)/iamvlis Tirginiana . Liqiiidaiiibar s/yracifliia Araliace^. Aralia spinosa CORNACE.'E . Cor?iiis florida Corniis alteynifolia. Nyssa sylvatica Caprifoliace.e . / 'ihurniiiii Iciitago . Vihurn inn priiiiifolinm Ericaceae . Kahnia latijolia RJiododcndron niaxiiiiuni Oxydc'ndrttm arborcuiii Ebenace^ . Diospyros virginiana Styracace/e Mohrodendron carolinum Mohrodendroti diptcriiin Oleace^ .... Fraxintis aincricatia Fraxi/iiis pennsylvaiiica Fraxinus lanceolata Fraxintis quadrangulata Fraxinus nigra Chionanthtis virginica . BIGNONIACE^ Catalpa Catalpa Catalpa speciosa PAGE Black Thorn . 148 Doited Haw • 150 June-berry . • 153 Witch Hazel Family Witch Hazel • 157 Sweet Gum . 160 Ginseng Family Hercules' Club . 165 Dogwood Family Flowering Dogwood . .169 Alternate-leaved Dogwood . 175 Tupelo . . . -177 Honeysuckle Family Sweet Viburnum . . i8i Black Haw . . 184 Heath Family Mountain Laurel . i8e Rhododendron . 189 Sourwood . . 192 Ebony Family Persimmon . - 195 Storax Family Silverbell-tree iOC Snowdrop-tree . 202 Olive Family White Ash . . 206 Red Ash . . 212 Green Ash . . 214 Blue Ash . . 214 Black Ash . . 218 Fringe-tree . . 222 Bignonia Family Catalpa . 225 Hardy Catalpa . . 228 GENERA AND SPECIES PAGE Laurace.* .... . Laurel Family Sassafras sassafras . Sassafras . 229 Ulmacete .... . Elm Family Ubnus americana . . White Elm . . 233 Ulmus pubesccns . . Slippery Elm . 240 Ubnus racemosa . Cork Elm . 242 Ubnus alata . . Winged Elm . . 246 Ubnus canipestris . . English Elm . . 248 Celtis occidentalis . . Hackberry . • 249 MORACE^ .... . Mulberry Family Morus rubra . . Red Mulberry ■ 253 Morus nigra . . Black Mulberry . . 254 Morus alba . . White Mulberry . . . 258 Toxylon poiniferuni Osage Orange . . 25S Platanace/e Platanus occidentalis Plane-Tree Family Sycamore .... 263 Juglandace/e . Walnut Family fuglans nigra Black Walnut 269 fuglans cinerca Butternut 274 Hicoria .... Hickory . . . . 276 Hicoria minima Bitternut . . . . 279 Hicoria ova/a. Shellbark Hickory 282 Hicoria hiciniosa . Big Shellbark . 286 Hicoria alba . Mockernut . 286 Hicoria glabra Pignut .... 290 Betulace^. . Birch Family Betula .... . Birch .... 295 Betitla populifolia . . White Birch. 297 Betula papyrif era . Paper Birch. 302 Betula nigra . . Red Birch . 306 Betula lutea .1 . Yellow Birch . 310 Betula lent a . . Sweet Birch. 3" Alnus glutinosa , European Alder . ■ 314 Ostrya virginiana . . Hop Hornbeam . . 316 Carpinus caroliniana . . Hornbeam . • 3'9 GENERA AND SPECIES PAGH CUPULIFERA Oak Family Qiwrcus ..... Oak . • 323 Quercus alba .... White Oak . 32a Querciis minor Post Oak . • 332 Quercus macrocarpa Bur Oak . • 335 Quercus priiitis Chestnut Oak ■ 338 Quercus acuminata. . Yellow Oak • 342 Quercus prinoides . Dwarf Chinquapin Oak 344 Quercics platanoides Swamp White Oak 346 Quercus rubra Red Oak . 349 Quercus coccinea . Scarlet Oak . 354 Quercus velutina . Black Oak . 357 Quercus digitata . Spanish Oak . 362 Quercus palustris . Pin Oak 365 Quercus ilicifolia . Bear Oak . 366 Quercus marilandica Black Jack . 370 Quercus imbricaria Shingle Oak 372 Quercus phellos Willow Oak 375 Fagace^ Beech Family Fagus atropunicea Beech .... 378 Castaiiea dentaia . Chestnut 386 Castanea pumila Chinquapin. 392 Salicace.e Willow Family Salix ..... Willow 393 Salix nigra .... Black Willow . 395 Salix lucida .... Shining Willow , 398 Salix amygdaloides Peach Willow . 398 Salix fluviatilis Sandbar Willow . 400 Salix bebbiana Bebb Willow 401 Salix discolor. Glaucous Willow. 403 Salix alba viiellina White Willow . 405 Salix fragilis Crack Willow 403 Salix babylojiica Weeping Willow . 409 Populus Poplar 410 Populus tremuloides Aspen 413 Populus grandidentata . Large-toothed Aspen . 418 Populus heterophylla Swamp Cottonwood . 419 Populus balsamifera Balsam 422 Populus balsamifera candicans Balm of Gilead . 424 Populus deltoides . Cottonwood. 426 Poprdus alba .... White Poplar 428 Populus nigra italica . Lombardy Poplar 432 GENERA AND SPECIES GYMNOSPERM^ PlNACE^ .... Pine Family Pinacea Pines 439 Pint/s .... The Pine . 440 Finns paluslris Long-leaved Pine 443 Pin us St rob us White Pine . 443 Pinus resinosa Red Pine . 450 Piniis tact/a . Loblolly Pine 452 Piniis rigida . Pitch Pine . 454 Pinus virginiatia . Jersey Pine . 456 Pinus echinata Yellow Pine 458 Pinus divaricata . Gray Pine . 460 Pinus laricio austriaca . Austrian Pine 462 Pinus syh'cstris Scotch Pine 464 Picea canadensis . White Spruce 464 Picea rubens . . Red S]3ruce 468 Picea niariana Black Spruce 470 Picea e.xcclsa . Norway Spruce . 473 Tsuga canadensis . Memlock 474 Larix laricina Tamarack . 476 Larix europa^a European Larch 480 Abies balsaniea Balsam Fir . 480 Tax odium distichiini Bald Cypress 484 Thuja occidentalis. Arborvita; . 486 Cupressus ihyoides. White Cedar 489 Jtiniperus communis Common Juniper 492 Junipcrus vhginiana . Red Cedar . 496 Taxacete Yew Family Salisburia adiantifolia . Gingku-tree 499 ILLUSTRATIONS Swamp Magnolia, Flowering Spray of, 2 Umbrella-tree, Leaf of, 7 Cucumber-tree, Leaf of, 11; Trunk of, 12; Flowering Branch of, 13; Fruit of, 13 TuLii'-TREE, Leaf of, 15 : Flower of, 17 ; Unfolding Leaves of, 17 ; Fruit Cone of, 18 Papaw, Leaf of, 21 ; Flower of, 22; Fruit of 23 Linden, Lea\'es of, 25 ; Fruit of, 27 ; Trunk of, 28 White Basswood, Fruiting Spray of, 31 Wafer Ash, F'ruiting Spray of, 33 Ailanthus, Leaves of, 37 ; Samaras of, 39 ; Sumach Leaflet and, 40 Holly, Fruiting Spray of, 43 Mountain Holly, Leaf of, 45 Burning Bush, Fruiting Spray of, 47 Ohio Buckeye, Flowering Spray of, 51 ; Fruit of, 53 Sweet Buckeye, Leaflets of, 55 Horse-chestnut, Spray of, 57 ; Fruit of, 59 Striped Maple, Leaf of, 61; Keys of, 62 Mountain Maple, Fruiting Spray of, 63 ; Keys of 65 Sugar Maple, Leaves of, 67 ; Keys of 6g ; Trunk of, 71 Silver Maple, Flowers of, 74; Leaves of, 75 ; Key of, 76 Red Maple, Leaves of, 79; Key of, 80 Norway Maple, Fruiting Spray of, 81 Sycamore Maple, Fruiting Spray of, 83 Box Elder, Keys of, 86 ; Fruiting Spray of, 87 Staghorn Sumach, Fruit and Leaf of 89 Dwarf Sumach, Leaves of, 93 Poison Sumach, Leaves of, 95 Locust, Leaves of, 99 ; Raceme of Blossoms of 100 ; Fruit of, loi Redbud, Flowering Branch of, 105 ; Leaf of, 107 Kentucky Coffee-tree, Flowers of, no; Leaves of, in Honey Locust, Leaves of, 113 Yellow-wood, Leaves of, 117 Canada Plum, Fruiting Spray of 121 Wild Red Cherry, Fruiting Spray of, 123 Choke Cherry, Fruiting Spray of, 127 xvii ILLUSTRATIONS Black Cherry, Fruiting Spray of, 129; Trunk of, 131 Crab Apple, Fruiting Spray of, 135 Mountain Ash, Fruiting Spray of, 137 ; Fruiting Spray of European, 139 CocKSPUR Thorn, Leaves of, 141 White Thorn, Fruiting Branch of, 145 Scarlet Haw, Fruiting Branch of, 147 Black Thorn, Sprays of, 149 Dotted Haw, Sprays of, 151 June-berry, Leaves of, 155 Witch Hazel, Leaves of, 159; Flowers and Fruit of, 161 Sweet Gum, Section of Twig of, 162 ; Leaves of, 163 ; Fruit of, 164 Hercules's Club, Leaves of, 167; Drupes of, 168 Dogwood, Branch of Plowering, 171 ; Flowering Spray of, 173 ; Fruit of, 174 ; Fruiting Branch of Alternate-leaved, 176 Tupelo, Fruiting Branch of, 178; Drupes of, 179 Sweet Viburnum, Sprays of, 183 Black Haw, Sprays of, 1S5 Mountain Laurel, Fruiting Branch of, 187 ; Flower Cluster of, 188 Rhododendron, Flowering Spray of, 191 Sourwood, Leaves of, 193; Flowers of, 194 Persimmon, Leaves of, 197 ; Fruit of, 198 Silverbell-tree, Fruiting Branch of, 201 ; Flowers of, 202 Snowdrop-tree, Flowering Branch of, 203 ; Fruit of, 204 White Ash, Leaves of, 207 ; Samaras of, 208 ; Trunk of, 210 Red Ash, Flowers of, 212 ; Leaves of, 213 ; Samaras of, 214 Green Ash, Leaves of, 215 Blue Ash, Flower of, 216; Samaras of, 216; Leaves of, 217 Black Ash, Leaves of, 219 ; Flowers of, 220; Samaras of, 220 Fringe-tree, Flowering Branch of, 223 ; Drupes of, 224 Catalpa, Flowering Spray of, 227 Sassafras, Fruit of, 230 ; Leaves of, 231 White Elm, 237 ; Flowering Spray of, 234 ; Leaves of, 235 ; Unfolding Leaves of, 238 ; Samaras of, 240 Slippery Elm, Leaves of, 239; Samaras of, 241 Cork Elm, Leaves of, 243 ; Samaras of, 244 Winged Elm, Leaves of, 245 ; Samaras of, 246 English Elm, Leaves of, 247 Hackberrv, Fruiting Spray of, 251 Red Mulberry, Fruit of, 254 ; Leaves of, 255 White Mulberry, Fruiting Branch of, 257 Osage Orange, Leaves of, 259; Fruit of. 261 Sycamore, Trunk of, 264 ; Fruit of, 266; I^enfof, 267 Black Walnu'I', Lcnvcs of, 271 ; Trunk of, 273 ; Fruit of, 275 Butternut, Fruit of, 275 ; Leaves of, 277 Shellbark HiCKi.tRY, Staminato Amcnts of, 278 ; Fruiting Spray of, 285 ; Trunk of. 287 Bitternut, Leaves of, 281 ; Fruit of, 282 Mockernut, Fruit of, 288 ; Leaves of, 289 ILLUSTRATIONS Pignut. Fruiting Spray of {Carya porcina), 291 ; Fruiting Spray of {Carya vii- Rkii Birch, Brantli of, 296 ; Leaves of, 307 ; Strolailes of, 308 Sweet Birch, Aments of, 296 ; Strobiles of, 312 ; Leaves of, 313 Paper Birch, Strobiles of, 302 ; Fruiting Sprays of, 303 ; Trunk of, 305 Yellow Birch, Scales of, 297 ; Leaves of, 309 ; Strobiles of, 310 White Birch, Strobiles of, 298 ; Fruiting Branch of, 299 ; Trunk of, 301 Alder, Fruiting Spray of, 315 Hop Hornbeam, Branch of, 316 ; Fruiting Spray of, 317 ; Aments of, 318 Hornbeam, Anient of, 320; Fruiting Spray of, 321 Scarlet Oak, Aments of, 324 ; Flo\\ers of, 325 White Oak, Leaf of, 327 ; Trunk of, 329; Fruiting Spray of, 331 Post Oak, Leaves of, 233 ; Acorn of, 334 Bur Oak, Acorn of, 336; Leaf of, 337 Chestnut Oak, Leaves of, 339 ; Acorn of, 340; Trunk of, 341 Yellow Oak, Leaves of, 343 ; Acorn of, 344 Chinquapin Oak, Leaves of, 345 ; Acorn of, 346 Swamp White Oak, Leaves of, 347 ; Acorn of, 348 Red Oak. Leaves of, 350, 351 ; Trunk of, 353; Acorn of, 354 Scarlet Oak, Aments of, 324 ; Flowers of, 325 ; Leaves of, 355 ; Acorn of, 357 Black Oak, Leaves of, 359, 361 ; Acorn of, 362 Spanish Oak, Leaves of, ^63 ; Variant Leaves of, 364; Acorns of, 364 Pin Oak, Acorn of, 366; Leaves of, 367 Bear Oak, Acorn of, 368 ; Leaves of, 369 Black Jack, Leaves of, 371 ; Acorn of, 372 Shingle Oak, Leaves of, 373 ; Acorn of, 374 Willow Oak, Acorn of, 373 ; Leaves of, 376 Beech, LeaA-es of, 378 ; Fruiting Spray of, 379; Flowers of, 380; Flower Clus- ters of, 3S0 ; Tree, 381 ; Trunk of, 385 Chestnut, Leaf of, 387; Burs of, 389 ; Trunk of, 391 Willow, Flowers of, 394 Black Willow, Staminate Flower of, 396; Pistillate Flower of, 396; Leaves of. 397 Peach Willow, Leaves of, 398 Shining Willow, Leaves of, 399 LONGLEAF Willow, Leaf of, 400 Bebb Willow, Leaves of, 402 Glaucous WilI-ow, Lea\'es of, 404 White Willow, Leaves of, 406 Crack Willow, Leaves of, 407 Weeping Willow, Leaves of, 411 Aspen, Flowers of, 413 ; Leaves of, 415 Large-toothed Aspen, Leaf of, 417 ; Fruiting Ament of, 417 Swamp Cottonwood, Leaf of, 420; Fruiting Ament of, 420 Balsam, Leaves of, 42r, 423 ; Flowers of, 424; Fruiting Ament of, 424 Cottonwood, Leaves of, 427; Winter Branch of, 426; Trunk of, 425; Stam- inate Aments of, 412 ; Pistillate Aments of, 412 White Poplar, Leaves of, 429 ; Aments of, 431, 433 xix ILLUSTRATIONS Lo^IBARDV Poplar, Leaves of, 435 White Pine, Leaves of, 444, 445 ; Trunk of, 447 ; Cone of, 449 Red Pine, Leaves of, 450 Loblolly Pine, Leaves of, 452; Cone of, 453 Pitch Pine, Cone of, 455 ; Leaves of, 456 Jersey Pine, Cones of, 457; Leaves of, 4s8 Yellow Pine, Cones of, 459; Leaves of, 458 Gray Pine, Leaves of, 460; Cones of, 461 AUSTRIAN Pine, Cone of, 463 Scotch Pine, Cones of, 465 White Spruce, Sprays of, 467 Red Spruce, Fruiting Spray of, 468 Black Spruce, Fruiting Spray of, 471 Norway Spruce, Fruiting Spray of, 475 Hemlock, Fruiting Branch of, 477 Tamarack, Fruiting Spray of, 479 Larch, Fruiting Brancli of, 481 Balsam Fir, Leaves of, 483 Bald Cypress, Leaves of, 485 Arborvit,^, Fruiting Spray of, 487 White Cedar, Fruiting Spray of, 491 Common Juniper, Fruiting Branch of, 493 Red Cedar, Fruiting Branch of, 495 ; Leaves of, 49^' Ginkgo, Spray of, 501 GUIDE TO THE TREES Leaves simple — i Leaves compound — 2 I. — Leaves alternate — 3 I. — Leaves opposite — 4 3. — Margins entire — 5 3. — Margins slightly indented — 6 3. — Margins lobed— 7 5. — Oblong-ovate or obovate, large, thick The Magnolias 5. — Oblong, sub-evergreen at the south Swamp Magnolia T- ( Rhododendron ?. — Evergreen \ ., , ■ ^ , ■> ° \ MountaDi Laurel 5. — Obovate, 6' to 10' long Papaw 5. — Oblong, thick, shining, 3' to 5' long Tupelo 5. — Oljlong, tree occurring sparingly at the north Persimmon 5. — Heart-shaped Redbiid 5. — Leaves of three forms — oval, two-lobed, or three-lobed — frequently all three on one spray Sassafras T-i ■ 1 I,' -11 1, J I Shingle Oak 5.— Thick, shming, willow-shaped -j ^y-iil^, q^/, 5. — Thick, shining, ovate, spines in the axils Osage Orange 5. — Broadly oval or obovate, veins prominent, leaves usually in clusters at the ends of the hranches.Allernale-leaved Dogwood 6. — Obliquely heart-shaped The Lindens 6. — Obliquely oval The Elms 6. — Obliquely ovate The Hackberry ^ „ , 1 J 1,1 I ) Tlie Birches 6.-0val or ovate, doubly serrate j The Hornbeams 6. — Repand with spiny teeth Holly 6. — Coarsely-toothed, twigs bearing thorns The Thorns 6. — Of quivering habit, petioles compressed The Poplars GUIDE TO THE TREES 6. — Long, slender, finely serrate The Willoiv 6.— Coarsely crenately-toothed The Chestnut Oaks 6. — Obovate or oval — wavy-toothed Witch Hazel The Plums The Cherries Crab-Apple -Serrate -| Sourwood June-berry The Silver-bells The Beeches 7. — Lobes entire — 8 7. — Lobes slightly indented — 9 7. — Lobes coarsely toothed — 10 8. — Apex truncate, three-lobed Tulip-tree 8. — Lobes and sinuses rounded Oaks {White Oak Group) 8. — Lobes rounded, lobes 2 or 3 Sassafras 8. — Lobed or coarsely toothed, under surface cov- ered with white down IFhite Fcplar 9. — Five-lobed, finely serrate Sweet Gum 9. — Variously lobed, irregularly toothed 77/1? Mulberries 10. — Irregularly toothed, lobes bristle pointed. . Oaks (Red Oak Group) 10. — Leaf broad, lobes coarsely toothed Sycatnore 4. — Margins entire — 11 ,. ■ ^ i Sweet Viburnum 4. — Margins serrate { „, , ,, ^ " \ Black Haw 4. — Margins lobed The Maples 1 1 . — Ovate, veins prominent Flowering Dogwood 1 1. — Heart-shaped, large The Catalpas 1 1 . — Oval Fringe Tree 2. — Leaves pinnately compound — 12 2. — Leaves bi- pinnately compound — 13 3.-Leaves palmately compound j ^f^ Hors7-chestnuts 12. — Alternate — 14 12. — Opposite — 15 14. — Margin of leaflets entire — 16 14. — Margin of leaflets with two or three teeth athase. .Ailantkus ( The Sumachs I4.-Margin of leaflets serrate \ l^' fL^7^"J" "^'^^ " The Walnuts I The Hickories 16. — Leaflets oval, apex obtuse The Locusts 16. — Leaflets oblong apex acute Poison Sumach GUIDE TO THE TREES i6. — Leaflets oval or ovate Chidastris 1 6. — Leaflets ovate — three in number Wafer Ash 15. — Ahirgin of leaflets entire The Ashes I 5. — Margin of leaflets serrate TJie Ashes 15. — Margin of leaflets coarsely toothed Box Elder 13. — Margins of leaflets entire Kentucky Coffee-tree 13. — Irregularly bi-pinnate, margins of leaflets entire, thorns on stems above the axils of the leaves Honey Locust 13, — Margins of leaflets serrate, stems spiny. //('rr«/(-^ Club Note. — // must be I'cmembercd that the typical leaves of a species are to be found upo?i mature trees, not upon young ones. The leaf- lets of a compound leaf can be distinguished from simpde leaves by the absence of leaf-buds from iJie base of their stems. No guide has been prepared for the Conifers, as it is believed the illustrations will be sufficeent. SIGNS USED IN THIS BOOK (') Acute accent over a vowel m?rks the short sound, ( ^ ) Grave accent over a vowel marks the long sound (°) The sign of degree is used for feet. ( ' ) When used with figures means inches. DICOTYLEDONES Flowering Spray of Swamp Magnolia, Magnolia glaitca. Leaves 4' to 6' long, ij^' to 2^^' broad. Flowers 2' to y across. MAGNOLIACEiE^MAGNOLIA FAMILY SWAMP MAGNOLIA. SMALL MAGNOLIA. SWEET BAY Mas^'iiolia g/anca. Magnolia was named by Linnasus in honor of Pierre Magnol, an eminent botanist who lived in the seventeenth century. Glatcca, glaucous, refers to the under surface of the leaf. A small tree, nearly evergreen, with slender trunk. In the Gulf States It reaches the height of seventy feet, with a trunk two or three feet in diameter, but at the north it is reduced to a shrub. Roots fleshy. Prefers swamps and wet soils. Ranges from Essex County, Massachusetts, to Long Island, from New Jersey to Florida, west in the Gulf region to Texas. Bark. — Light brown, scaly ; on young trees light gray, smooth. Branchlets green at first, downy, later reddish brown ; bitter, aro- matic. Wood. — Light brown tinged with red, sapwood cream - white. Sparingly used in manufactures at the south. Sp.gr. 0.5035 ; weight of cu. ft., 31. 3S lbs. Winter Buds . — Terete, pointed, downy, formed of successive pairs of stipules, each pair enveloping the leaf just above. Flower-bud enclosed in a stipular, caducous bract. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, feather-veined, subpersistent, four to six inches long, one and one-half to two and one-half inches broad, oblong or oval, rounded or pointed at base, entire, obtuse at apex ; midrib conspicuous. They come out of the bud conduplicate, pale green, covered with long silvery hairs ; «lien full grown are a soft leathery texture, bright green, smooth and shining abo\e, pale, glau- cous beneath, sometimes almost white. At the north they fall late in November, at the south the leaves remain with little change of color until pushed off by the new leaves in the spring. Petiole short, slender. MAGNOLIA FAMILY Flowfrs. —]viVie. Perfect, solitary, terminal, cream-white, fra- grant, two to three inches across ; enveloping bract thin, caducous. G;/)'.r.— Sepals three, obtuse, concave, shorter than the petals but resembling them, cream-white. Corolla.— VstiaXs nine to twelve, in rows of three, hypogynous, im- bricated in bud, cream-white. S/anii'tis. — Indefinite, imbricated in rows upon the base of the long conical receptacle ; filaments short; anthers adnate, two-celled, introrse ; connective tleshy, pointed. /"/.y/Z/j-.— Indefinite, packed together and covering the lengthened receptacle, cohering with each other and forming an oval mass. Ovaries fleshy, one-celled ; style short ; stigma long, yellow, turned back at the top ; ovules two- Fruit. — Scarlet oval mass formed of the coalescent carpels, smooth, two inches long, containing many seeds. Seeds drupaceous, red, shining, aromatic. Suspended at maturity by a long thin cord of unrolled spiral vessels. September, October. Long they sat and talked together, . . . Of the marvellous valley hidden in (he depths of Gloucester woods, Full of plants that love the summer, blooms of warmer latitudes, Where the .\rctic iMrch is braided by the tropic's flowery vines, And the w hite magnolia blossoms star the twilight of the pines. — John G. WlllTTIER. A sheltered swamp near Cape .^nn not far from the sea is thought to be the most northern habitation of this plant and until lately was supposed to be the only one in Massachusetts. It has recently been found at the distance of some miles in another swamp in the midst of deep woods in Essex. — George B. Emerson. Magnolia trees are among the finest productions of the North American forests. They are distinctively southern trees ; two species alone are indigenous to the northern states, and one of these may be looked upon rather as a survival, or a wanderer wliich has strayed across tlie border and forgotten to return, than as a resident to the manner born. The Swamp Magnolia, or Sweet Bay, to the surprise of botan- ists is found growing naturally in a sheltered swamp on the peninsula of Cape Ann. That it can live there in so exposed a position without protection from man, proves that it can live elsewhere, in a climate equally severe, with such protec- tion. As a matter of fact it is fairly hardy under cultivation throughout the north, but its leaves are not always evergreen 4 SWAMP MAGNOLIA nor will it remain in continuous bloom throughout the sum- mer unless in a moist situation. It must have water in order to do its best. The flowers appear in May, solitary, at the ends of the branches, cream-white, large as a rose and fragrant as a lily. Under favorable conditions they will continue to appear thi'ough the greater part of the summer, and the combination of these creamy blossoms surrounded by the dark shining leaves is beautiful indeed. By midsummer the fruit has formed, a green oval mass, made up of many seed-vessels which have grown together. When ripe this becomes red and is about two inches long. The enclosed seeds turn a brilliant scarlet, and when released from their prison walls hang down for awhile on their slender white threads, and finally fall to the ground or are eaten by birds. In taste they are aromatic, pungent, and slightly bitter. This charming little tree has a variety of common names, referring to its size or its habitat or its individual characteris- tics. Among these names is Beaver-wood, given because the fleshy roots were eagerly eaten by the beavers, who consid- ered them such a dainty that they could be caught in traps baited with them. Michaux relates that the wood was used by the beavers in constructing their dams and houses in pref- erence to any other. The tree is easily propagated by layers which, however, root slowly ; but the preferretl method is to graft it upon a root of the Cucumber-tree, M. acuminata, where it makes a stronger growth than upon its own roots. To obtain plants from the seeds they should be preserved in moist earth and sown very early in the spring in a moist situation. Magnolia iripefala, the Umbrella-tree, frequently planted on northern lawns, is a southern species ranging from Pennsyl- vania to the Gulf. It may be easily recognized by its great leaves, twelve to eighteen inches long, and four to eight inches broad. These radiate from the ends of the branches in such a way as to suggest an open umbrella, whence its common name. Often it sprawls, a straggling bush. The huge, ter- 5 MAGNOLIA FAMILY minal, cream-white blossoms appear in Ma}'. They are from eiglit to ten inches across and exliale a disagreeable odor. Tlie name tripctala refers to the three petaloid sepals. The Magnolia shrubs found in northern gardens whose great white or pink flowers appear before the leaves are of Chinese or Japanese origin. Tlie science of Paleobotany is fragmentary as yet, but enough is already known to give us a wonderful outlook into the life history of our common plants. It is evident that im- mediately preceding the glacial period the polar regions were not covered with ice, but sustained a rich growth of vegeta- tion, and plants flourished there which are now known only in warmer countries. The genus Magnolia to-day is sub-tropi- cal. Its species are found only in southeastern North America, southern Mexico, and southern Asia. But the scientists tell us that once it flourished abundantly throughout America and Europe, and its fossil remains are found in the tertiary rocks of Greenland and elsewhere within the arctic circle. Professor G. Frederick Wright, in " The Ice Age in North America," admirably presents the latest opinion in regard to the flight of the forests. He writes as follows : "The key applied by Professor Gray for the solution of this problem was suggested by the investigations of Heer and others, which had just brought out the fact that, during the Tertiai-y period, just before the beginning of the Ice Age, a temperate climate, corresponding to that of latitude 35° on the Atlantic coast, extended far up toward the North Pole, permitting Green- land and Spitzbergen to be covered with trees and plants sinnlar in most respects to those found at the present time in Virginia and North Carolina. Here, indeed, in close prox- imity to the North Pole, were then residing in harmony and contentment, the ancestors of nearly all the plants and ani- mals which are now found in the north temperate zone, and here they would have continued to stay but for the cold breath of the approaching Ice .\ge, which drove them from their homes, and compelled them to migrate to more hospita- ble latitudes. 6 UMBRELLA-TREE Umbrella-tree, Magnolia tripeiala. Leaves 12' to lii' long, 4' to 8' broad. MAGNOLIA FAMILY " The picture of the flight and dispersal of these forests, and of their struggle to find and adjust themselves to other homes, is second in interest to that of no other migration. A single GEOLOGICAL GYMNO- SPERMS ANGIO- SPERMS FORMATIONS Conifers Cycads Wonocoty ledons Dicoty- ledons QUATERNARY Recent 1 1 1 J Glacial Epoch 1 TERTIARY Pliocene 1 Miocene M Eocene r 1 MESOZOIC Cretaceous 1 A T Jurassic 1 IL J T Triassic ■ f PALAEOZOIC Carboniferous 1 T Devonian f Silurian ARCH^AN Chart Showing the Development of Vegetation during the Geological Ages. tree is helpless before such a force as an advancing glacier, since a tree alone cannot migrate. But a forest of trees can. 'Ireescan "take to the woods" when they can do nothing 8 CUCUMBER-TREE else, and so escape unfavorable conditions. There is a natu- ral climatic belt to which the hfe of a forest is adjusted. In the present instance, as the favorable conditions near the poles were disturbed by the cooling influences of the glacier approaching from the north, the individual trees on that side of tlie forest belt gradually perished ; but at the same time that the favorable conditions of life were contracting on the north, they were expanding on the south, so that along the southern belt the trees could gradually advance into new territory, and so the whole forest belt move southward, fol- lowing the conditions favorable to its existence. It is there- fore easy to conceive how, with the slow advance of the gla- cial conditions from the north, the vegetation of Greenland and British America was transferred far down toward the torrid zone on both the Eastern and Western continent. Being thus transferred, the forest would be compelled to re- main there until the retreat of the ice began again to modify the conditions so as to compel a corresponding retreat of plants toward their original northern habitat. Thus it is that these descendants of the pre-glacial plants of Greenland, ar- rested in their northward march, have remained the character- istic flora of the latitudes near the glacial boundary." CUCUMBER-TREE. MOUNTAIN MAGNOLIA Mai^iwlia Liiiin/iiiala. Aaiminata refers to the pointed apex of the leaves. Of two forms ; in the forest it rises to the height of ninety feet with sturdy unbroken trunk for two-thirds its height ; when allowed sufficient space to develop, it becomes a cone with branches that sweep the crround. Prefers a moist, fertile soil, but will grow on rocky river-banks. Roots fleshy. Ranges from western New York to southern llhnois, south through central Kentucky and Tennessee to Alabama, and throughout Arkansas. Bark.— Brown, regularly furrowed and scaly. Branchlets slender, red brown, downy, later becoming gray. MAGNOLIA FAMILY ;;'()<;here constantly moist, a soil deep antl fertile. It is a magniliccnt tree for lawn plant- ing, and thrives with but little attention. The only objection that can be urged against it is its tendency to drop its leaves more or less throughout the summer. TULIP-TREE. YELLOW POPLAR J.iyioih'mlron lit] 'fi/\ra, Liriodtndi\>}i, from Lwo tireek wairds meaninj^ lily and tree. Tii/i/'i/tia, tulip-bearing. One of the largest and most beautiful of our nati\'cs trees, known to reach the lieight of one hundred and ninety feet, with a trunk ten feet in diameter ; its ordinary height, seventy to one hundred feet. Found sparingly in New England, aljundant on the southern shore of Lake Faie and westward to Illinois, It extends south to Alabama and Georgia, and is rare west of the i\Iississi|ipi Ri\er. Prefers deep, rich, and rather moist soil; is common, though not abundant, nor is it solitary. Roots fleshy. Growth fairly rapid. Typical form of head conical, J!ark. — V,ro\yn, furrowed ; branchlcts smooth, histrous, reddish at first, later dark gray, tinallv brown. Aromatic .and bitter, IVood. — Light yellow to brown, sapwood creamy "hite ; light, soft britde, close, straight-grained, llsed for inteiiiir finish of"'lioiisesi for siding, for panels of carriages, for coffin boxes, ])attern timber, and wooden ware. On account of the growing scarcity of the better qualities of white pine, tulip wood is taking its place to some extent, particularly «heu \erv wide boards are required, Sp, gr,, 0.4230- weiglit of cu. ft,, 26.36 lbs, ]]'iiitcy Bii,/s.~\)?i\-'k red. covered with a bloruii, obtuse ; scales becoming conspicuous stipules for the unfolding leaf, .and persistent until the leaf is fully grown. Flower-bud enclosed in a two-\alvcd. caducous bract, Zc,!7','5,— Alternate, simple, feallier-\-eined, five to six inches long, as many broad, four-lobed. heart-shaped or truncate or slightlj 14 TULIP-TREE Tulip-tree, Liriodendron tulipifera. Leaves 5' to t/ long. MAGNOLIA FAMILY wedge-shaped at base, entire, and the apex cut across at a shallow angle, making the upper part of the leaf look square ; midrib and primary veins prominent. They come out of the bud recurved by the bending down of the petiole near the middle bringing the apex of the folded leaf to the base of the bud, light green, when full grown are bright green, smooth and shining above, paler green beneath, with downy veins. In autumn tliey turn a clear, bright yellow. Peti- ole long, slender, angled. Flowers. — May. Perfect, solitary, terminal, greenish yellow, borne on stout peduncles, an inch and a half to two inches long, cup- shaped, erect, conspicuous. The bud is enclosed in a sheath of two triangular bracts which fall as the blossom opens. Calyx. — Sepals three, imbricate in bud, reflexed or spreading, somewhat veined, earl)' deciduous. Corolla. — Cup-shaped, petals six, two inches long, in two rows, imbricate, hypogynous, greenish yellow, marked toward the base with yellow. Somewhat fleshy in texture. Stamens. — Indefinite, imbricate in many ranks on the base of the receptacle ; filaments thread-like, short ; anthers extrorse, long, two- celled, adnate ; cells opening longitudinally. Pistils. — Indefinite, mibricate on the long slender receptacle. Ovary one-celled ; style acuminate, flattened ; stigma short, one- sided, recurved ; ovules two. Fruit. — Narrow light brown cone, formed by many samara-like carpels which fall, leaving the axis persistent all winter. September, October. Different specie-s of trees move their leaves very differently. On the tulip- tree, the aspen and on all native poplars, the leaves are apparently Anglo-Saxon or Germanic, having an intense mdividualism. Each one moves to suit himself. Under the same wind one is trilling up and down, another is whirling, another slowly vibrating right and left, still others are quieting themselves to sleep. Sometimes other trees have single frisky leaves, but usually the oaks, maples, and beeches have community of interest. They are all active together or all alike still. — Henrv W.^rd Beechek. The 'I'ulip-tree has impressed itself upon popular attention in many ways, and consequently has many common names. In the western states it is called a poplar largely because of the fluttering habit of its leaves, in which it resembles trees of that genus ; the color of its wood gives it the name White- wood ; the Indians so habitually made their dugout canoes of its trunk that the early settlers of the west called it Canoe- wood ; and the resemblance of its flowers to tulips named it the Tulip-tree. The Tulip-tree in the forest reaches a size that may be 16 TULIP-TREE properly called magnificent, for it rises to the height of one hundred and ninety feet. The Tulip-tree, however, standing alone attains its finest development. The trunk rises like a Co- rinthian column, tall and slender, the branches come out symmetrically, and the 'HlftA whole contour of the '* tree, though somewhat formal, possesses a cer- tain stately elegance. The leaves are of unusual shape and de- velop in a most pe- culiar and character- istic manner. The leaf-buds Unfolding Leaves of Tulip-tree. ; composed of scales as is usual, and these scales grow with the growing shoot. In this respect the buds do not differ from those of many other trees, but what is peculiar is that each pair of scales devel- ops so as to form an oval en- velop which contains the young leaf and protects it against changing temperatures until it is strong enough to sustain them without injury. When it has reached that stage the bracts separate, the tiny leaf comes out carefully folded along the line of the midrib, opens as it matures, and until it becomes full grown the bracts do duty as stipules, be- coming an inch or more in length before they fall. The leaf is unique in shape, its apex is cut off at the end in a way peculiarly its own, the petioles 17 Flower of Tulip-lree. MAGNOLIA FAMILY are long, angled, and so poised that the leaves flutter inde- pendently, and their glossy surfaces so catch and toss the light that the effect of the foliage as a whole is much brighter than it otherwise would be. The flowers are large, brilliant, and on detached trees nu- merous. Their color is greenish yellow with dashes of red and orange, and their resemblance to a ./)')) tulip very marked, 'i'hey do not droop from the spray but sit erect. The fruit is a cone two to three inches long, made of a great number of thin nar- row scales attached to a common axis. These scales ai'c each a carpel suri'ounded by a thin membranous ring. Each cone contains si.xtv or seventy of these scales, of which onlv a few are productive. Lon- don says that seeds from the highest branches of ohl trees are most likely to germinate. Tiiese fruit cones remain on the tree in varied states of dilapidation throughout the winter. The 'I'ulip is never abundant in the sense that oaks and beeches and ashes are abundant, because it delights only in deep, loamy, and extremely fertile soils, such as the bottom- lands of rivers and borders of swamps. Its hnesl develop- ment is in the valleys of the rivers flowing into the Ohio. It is recommendetl as a shade-tree, especially for the cities where bituminous coal is burned. The wood of the Tulip is known in the arts as the poplar and the whitewood. Mechanu:s v.'ho use it have divided it into the white antl yellow popku, judging from the color and texture of the wood 'I'here seem to be no botanic distinc- tions suffii'iently constant upon which to base a vaiaety, and the diflerence is believed to depend uion the character of the soil. 'l"he tree grows readily from seeds, which sh(juld be sown in a fine soft mould, and in a cool and shady situation. If iS Fruit Cone of Tulip- tree. TULIP-TREE sown in autumn they come up the succeeding sprnig, but if sown in spring they often remain a year in the ground. It is readily propagated by cuttings and easily transplanted. The LirioJcih/roii is now a genus of a single species. In the cretaceous age the genus was represented by several spe- cies, and was widely distributed over North America and Europe. Its remains are also found in the tertiary rocks. One species alone survived the glacial ice, and this is found only in eastern North America and western China — the well- known Tulip-tree of the western states. 19 ANNONACE/E— CUSTARD-APPLE FAMILY PAPAW Asiniina triloba. Asimiiia is formed from Asiminier, an early colonial name used by the French for this tree. Its meaning is in doubt. Triloba refers to the blossom. A small tree, often a shrub. Its northern limit is the western part of New York, is abundant on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Occurs in eastern and central Pennsylvania, west as far as Michi- gan and Kansas and south to Florida and Texas. Rare east of the Alleghany Mountains, but in the low lands bordering the Missis- sippi River often forming dense thickets. Trunk straight, branches slender and spreading. Roots fleshy ; loves rich bottom lands and sometimes attains the height of thirty feet. Bark. — Dark brown, blotched with gray spots, sometimes covered with small excrescences, divided by shallow fissures. Inner bark tough, fibrous. Branchlets light brown, tinged with red, marked by shallow grooves. Wood. — Pale, greenish yellow, sapwood lighter ; light, soft, coarse-grained and spongy. Sp. gr., 0.3969; weight of cu. ft., 24.74 lbs. Winter Bi(ds. — Small, brown, acuminate, hairy. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, feather-veined, obovate-lanceolate, ten to twelve inches long, four to five broad, wedge-shaped at base, entire, acute at apex ; midrib and primary veins prominent. They come out of the bud conduplicate, green, covered with rusty tomen- tum beneath, hairy above ; when full grown are smooth, dark green above, paler beneath. In autumn they are a rusty yellow. Petioles short, stout. Stipules wanting. Flowers. — April, with the leaves. Perfect, solitary, axillary, rich red purple, two inches across, borne on stout, hairy peduncles. Ill smelling. 20 PAPAW Papaw, Asimtna tiiloha. Leaves to' to 12' long, 4' to 5' broad. CUSTARD-APPLE FAMILY Calv-r- — Sepals three, valvate in bud, ovate, acuminate, pale green, downy. Corolla. — Petals six, in two rows, imbiicate in the bud. Inner row acute, erect, nectariferous. Outer row broadly ovate, refiexetl at maturity. Petals at tirst are green, then brown, and finally be- come dull purple and conspicuously veiny. Sldi/ifiis. — Indefinite, densely packed on the globular receptacle. Filaments short ; anthers extrorsc, two-celled, opening longiludi- nally. I'lstils. — Several, on the summit of the receptacle, projecting from the mass of stamens. Ovary one-celled ; stigma sessile ; ovules many. Fruit. — Baccate, oblong, cylindrical, fleshy, from three to five inches long. Sometimes cur\ed or irregular because of imperfect development of seeds. Edible. Seeds flat, oblong, rouivded at ends, an inch long, half an inch broad, wrinkled. September, Oc- tober. Cotyledons broad, five-lobed. One of two things a forest tree must do, it must be able to reach the top and so enjoy the air and sunlight, or it nuist learn to grow in the shade. The Papaw has elected tt> grow in the shade. In its chosen home, which is the rich bottom lands of the Mississippi valle}', it often forms a dense muler- growth in the forest ; sometimes it succeetls in ohlaiiiing complete possession of a tract, and there it appears as a thicket of small slender trees, whose great leaves aix borne so close together at the ends of the branches, and which cover each otlier so symmetrically^ tliat the effect is to give a pe- culiar imbricated appearance to the tree. The blossom is interesting rather than beautiful. It appears with the leaves, and at first is green as the leaves, but As the days go by it increases in size, darkens in color, and by way of greenish brown and brownish green it arrives finally at a rich, dark, vinous red. Part of the petals are honey laden, erect, gathered close about the stamens and pistils, and the others are open, spreading, finally reflexed. 'Phe flower appeals to the scent, the sight, and the taste, of the vagrant fly and the wandering bee. Flower of P.ipaw. PAPAW The fruit is an unusual one for nortliern forests. The early settlers called the tree Papaw because of the resem- blance of its fruit to the real papaw of the tropics ; it certainly suggests a banana. It is oblong in shape, nearly cylindrical, rounded, sometimes pointed at the ends, more or less curved and often inegnlar in outline ; the flesh is yellow and soft ; the seeds flat and wrinkled. Ripening in Sep- tember and October, it is frequently found in the markets of western and southern cities, and although credited in the books as edible and wholesome, one must be either very young or very hungry really to enjoy its flavor. The Asimiiia is the only genus of the great Custard-Apple family found outside of the tropics, and the Papaw is the most northern species of the genus. Fruit of Papaw, V to 5' long. 23 TILIACEiE— LINDEN FAMILY LINDEN. BASSWOOD. LIME-TREE Tilia af)ifyii'()ita. Tilia is the ancient classical name retained by Linnaeus. Bass- wood alludes to the use of the inner bark for mats and cordage. A native of rich woods in the northern states and Canada, reaches Its greatest size in the valley of the lower Ohio, becoming one hun- dred and thirty feet in heiglit, but its usual height is about se\enty feet. The trunk is erect, pillar-like, the branches spreading, often pendulous, formnig a broad rounded head. Roots large, deep, and spreading. Juices mucilaginous. Bni k. — Light brown, furrowed, surface scaly. Branchlets terete, smooth, light gray, faintly tinged with red, finally dark brown or brownish gray, marked with dark wart-like excrescences. Inner bark very tough and fibrous. IVoihi. — Pale brown, sometimes nearly white or faintly tinged with red ; light, soft with fine close grain ; clear of knots but does not split easily. It is sold generally under the name of basswood, but is soinetimes confounded with tulip-wood and then called wdiite- wood, and is hirgely used in the manufacture of wooden-ware, wagon boxes and furniture. Sp. gr., 0.4525 ; weight of cu. ft., 28.20 lbs. ll'iiihT Buds. — Dark red, stout, ovate, acute, smooth. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, feather - veined, obliquely heart- shaped, the side nearest the branch the largest, five to six inches long, three to four inches broad, unequally cordate at base, serrate, acuminate at apex ; midrib and primary veins conspicuous. They come out of the bud conduplicate, pale green, downy ; when full grown are dark green, smooth, shining above, paler beneath, with tufts of rirsty brown hairs in the axils of the primary veins. In autumn they turn a clear pale yellow. Petioles long, slender. Stipules caducous. 24 LINDEN Linden, Tilia amcrica)ia. Leaf 5' to t/ long, 3' to 4' broad. Fruit half-grown. LINDEN FAMILY Flowers. — June, July. Perfect, regular, yellowish white, fragrant, nectariferous, downy, borne in cymous clusters, pendulous, with the flower-stalk attached for half its length to the vein of an ol^Iong leaf- like bract as long as itself Flower buds densely coated with white tomentum ; bract pointed at base. Calvx. — Sepals five, lanceolate, valvate in bud, hypogynous, downy within, hairy without. Corolla. — Petals five, inibricate in bud, hypogynous, alternate with the sepals, spatulate-oblong, creamy white. S/aniriis. — Numerous, polyadelphous ; filaments thread - like, forked, collected into five clusters, with a petaloid scale placed op- posite each petal ; anthers fixed by the middle, two-celled, extrorse. Pistil. — Ovary superior, fiNC-celled ; style erect ; stigma five- lobed ; ovules two in each cell. Fruit. — Nut-like, woody, tomentosc, gray, ovoid or spherical, clustered on a long stem, about the size of peas. October. Oil, \\ho upon earth could ever ciU dow n a Linden ? — Walter S,\v.\gf. Landor. The Linden is to be recommended as an ornamental tree when a iiia.ss of foliage or a deep shade is ciesired ; no native tree surpasses it in this respect. It is often ](lanted on the windward side of an orchard as a ])rotection to vonng and delicate trees. Its sturdy trunk stands like a pillar and the branches divide and subdivide into numerous ramifications on which the sprav is small and thick. In summer this is p.'ofiisely clothed with large leaves and the result is a dense head of abundant foliage. In winter a lirancli of the Linden may he recognized by its deep red buds ; and the delicate leaves wJiich hurst from them in the spring are a vivid green. Tennyson, mIio saw so many of the hidden beauties of nature, did not fail to observe this, as : A million emeralds break from the ruby-budded lime. The characteristics of the linden family are the same wliedier the individual tree grows in America, Europe, or .Asia. The wood is light, soft, tough, and durable. This makes it valuable in the manufacture of wooden-ware, chea|) furniture, bodies of carriages ; it is also especially adapted 26 LINDEN for wood-carving. The inimitable carvings of fruit, flowers, and game by Grinling Gibbons, tlie famous Engiisli carver, were made entirely of linden ; no other wood could be relied upon to be so even of texture and so free from knots. The leaves of all the lindens are one-sided, always heart- shaped, and the tiny fruit, looking like peas, always hangs at- tached to a curious, ribbon-like, greenish yellow bract, whose use seems to be to launch the ripened seed-clusters just a little beyond the parent tree. The flowers of the European and American lin- dens are similar, except that the American bears a petal-like scale among its stamens and the Euro- pean varieties are destitute of these appendages. The possible age of the Linden in America has not yet been de- termined. In Europe it is known to have reached the age of centu- ries. In the court-yard of the Im- perial Castle at Nuremberg is a Linden which tradition says was planted by the Empress Cuni- gunde, the wife of Henry II. of Germany. This would make the tree nearly nine hundred years old. It looks ancient and infirm, but sends forth thrifty leaves on its two or three remaining branches and is of course cared for tenderly. The famous Linden of Neustadt on the Koclier in Wiirtemberg was computed to be one thousand years old when it fell. The Linden is loved of the bees. No matter how isolated the tree the bees are sure to find the fragrant nectar-laden blossoms. The excellence of the honey of far-famed Hybla 27 Fiuil of the Linden, 'Tilia at LINDEN FAMILY Trunk of the Linden, Tilia jmericaiia. LINDEN was due to the lime-trees that covered its sides and crowned its summit, ^\'e read that in obedience to Amphion's music, The Linden broke her ranks and rent Tile woodbine wreaths that bound her, And down the middle, buzz ! she went With all her bees around her. Homer, Horace, Virgil, and Pliny mention the lime-tree and celebrate its virtues. As Ovid tells the old story of Baucis and Philemon, she was changed into a linden and he into an oak when the time came for them both to die. Herodotus says : " The Scythian diviners take also the leaf of the lime-tree, which, dividing into three parts, they twine round their fingers ; they then unbind it and exercise the art to which they pretend." It is interesting to recall that Linnfeus, the great botanist, derived his name from a linden tree. His father belonged to a race of peasants who had Christian names only, but hav- ing by his personal efforts raised himself to the position of pastor of the village in which he lived, he followed an old Swedish custom, common in such cases, of adopting a sur- name. A very beautiful linden tree stood near his home, and be- ing something of a botanist himself he chose Linne, the Swedish for linden, and called himself Nilsl.inne or Nicholas Linden. When his famous son Carl became professor of bot- any at the University of Upsala, his name Linne was lat- inized into Linnceus, as we know it to-day. Btit when the king of Spain conferred upon him a patent of nobility it was given to him as Count von Linne or Count of the Linden tree. Like the Magnolia the Linden belongs to an ancient and northern race. Tilia appears in the tertiary formations of Grinnell Land in 82° north latitude, and in Spitzbergen. Sa- porta believed that he found there the common ancestor of the lindens of Europe and America. All the lindens may be propagated by cuttings and graft- ing as well as by seed. They grow rapidly in a rich soil, but are subject to the attacks of many insect enemies, 29 LINDEN FAMILY Tilia pubescens, the Downy Linden, or Small-leaved Bass- wood, is a southern species which main account of the reseniblance of its leaves to those of the Quofus Ih'x, the true Ilex of Virgil. Linnaeus adopted the name Jlex for the genus, and preserved the name of Aquifoliuni for the most anciently known species. The name Holly is prohiably a cor- ruption of the word holy, as Turner in his "Herbal" calls it Holv. and Holv Tree, proliably frrc'//ti. — Petals white, four, somewhat united at base, obtuse, spreading, hypogynous, imljricate in bud. S/ajiifiis. — Four, inserted on the base of corolla, alternate with its lobes ; filaments awl-shaped, exserted in the sterile, much short- er in the fertile flowei' ; anthers attachcil at the back, oblong, in- trorse. two-celled, cells opening lonyitudinallv. Pisti/s. — (J\ary supcri(5r, four-celled, rudimentary in staminatc flowers ; style wanting ; stigma sessile, foin'-lobed ; ovules one or two in each cell. J-ruit. — Dru])aceous, spherical or ovoid, crowned with the rem- nants of the stigma, one-fourth of an inch across, red, rarely yellow, persistent all winter. Nutlets few, ribbed and veined, nearly tri- angular. On Christmas eve ttie l^elfs were rung ; On Cliristiiias eve tfie mass was sung ; Ttiat unly night in all tfie year, Saw the stoled priest the clialice rear. The damsel donned her kirtlc sliecn ; The hall was dressed witli huflv green ; Forth to tlie wood dici merrv-nien go To gather in the mistleti'C, M.irmion. — Sir WALTER ScoTT. The mistletoe Imng in the castle tiail, The hollv l)rancli slionc on ttic old oak wnll ; Tlic baron's retainers were Ijhthe and gay A keeping a Christmas holiday. — Thomas H, Baylby. 43 HOLLY Fruiting Spray of Holly, Ilex opaca. Leaves 2' to 2j4' long. HOLLY FAMILY The custom of employing holly and other plants for decorative purposes at Christmas, is one of considerable antiquity, and has heen regarded as a sur\ i\al of the usages of the fioman Saturnalia, or of an old Teutonic practice ol hang- ing the interior o( dwcllnigs with e\'ergreens as a refuge lor sylvan spirits Iroin the inclemency of the weatlicr. — / myc. Brtiannua. hi English poetry and English stories the Holly is insep- arably connected with the merry-making and greetings which gather around the Christmas tide. The ctistom is also ours, and a few days before Christmas the shops are filled with holly and mistletoe for the annual decoi'ation of homes and churches. The severity of our climate forbids the European Holly, with its deep green, gloss}' foliage and coral berries, to live here except upon a most precarious footing. But our Amer- ican Holly makes an excellent second in the class where the European is first, for it very closely resembles the foreign species. The leaves are similar in outline and toothed and bristled very much in the same way, but they are a paler green, and althotigh the surface is polished and shining it does not in brilliancy quite etinal its European cousin. The American Holly is a handsome tree and worthy of far more attention from landscape gai'deners than it gets. Pos- sibly the objection to it is its slowness of growth. The tree is low, the branches almost horizontal, and the gray bark in old trees Ijecomes the willing host of great numbers of gray and white and bluish lichens which make the tree look ven- erable before its time. Its pretty white flowers appear in clusters either in the axils of the leaves or scattered along the young siioots. The berries are scaidet, contain four stony seeds and remain on the tree intt) the winter. The flesh of the berries is so thin and aromatic that the birds do not seem to care for it. The Holly is usually propagated by seeds, or young plants are taken from the woods. As the seeds do not germinate until the second year, transplanting the wild ycumg trees is the best way of obtaining tliem. This should be done in the spring before growth begins. 44 HOLLY Ih'x moiiti'cola, the Mountain Holly, is another species that becomes a tree, but is not very generally known. It is found in the Catskill ISIountains and extends southward along the AUe- ghanies as far as Alabama. The leaves do not at all suggest the pop- ular idea of a holly, as they are de- ciduous, light green, ovate or ob- long, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, serrate, acute at apex, and ut- terly destitute of spines or bristles. They vary from two to six inches in length. The white Howers appear in June when the leaves are more than half grown. The fruit is spherical, nearl}' half an inch in diameter and bright scarlet. It is a tree of re- Mountain Hoiiy, \ux moniUoia. . Leaves 2' to b' long. markably slow growth ; a specmien in the American Museum of Natural History, New York, is five inches in diameter and shows one hundred and seven layers of annual growth, of which seventy-nine are sapwood. The genus Ilex is widely distributed over the world. It has no represcLitative west of the Rocky Mountains, nor any in Australia. But South America is rich in them, the West Indies alone have ten species, eastern North America has fourteen, India twenty-four, China aiid Japan over ■thirty. Europe, strange to say, has only one, but that one has been developed into innumerable varieties. One hun- dred and seventN-five species have already been noted, and undoubtedly there are others not yet described. The fossil remains which are now known give confirmation of the fact that plants are ever changing. The species of to- day are rarely the species of a former age. The rocks tell us that in the early tertiary period several forms of Ilex ex- isted in the arctic regions. / Ilex sptiiescejis, a fossil form, is believed to be the remote com- mon ancestor of the American and European Christmas Hollies. 45 CELASTRACE.E— STAFF-TREE FAMILY BURNING BUSH. WAAHOO. SPINDLE-TREE Enonvnius n li op!ir[^i{rciis . h; ciiyiuus atrof'nrpiDitts. Euo)iv)iins, deri\-ed Inun two (Ireek words, signifies good repute. Atropuypiircn.^, LJ;irk jiurjilc, relers to the fiower. Widely distril^iitcd. Usually a shridj six to ten feet high, becom- ing a tree only in southern Arkansas and Indian Territory. Lo\es the borders of woods ; prefers moist soil. Root fibrous. Batk. — Ashen gray, furrowed, scaly. lii-anchlets slender, dark, purplish brown ; later become brownish gray. Bitter, drastic. Wood. — White, tinged with oiange ; heavy, hard, close-grained. Sp. gr., 0.6592 ; weight of cu. ft., 41.08 lbs. M'intci Sin/s. — Purple with glaucous Ijlooni, small, acute. LroTi's. — Opposite, entire, feather-veined, elliptical or ovate, two to four inches long, one to two broad, pointed at base, finely serrate, acute; mid\'ein and primary veins conspicuous. In autumn they turn pale yellow. Petioles short, stout. Stipules minute, caduco^,s. F/070C7S. — May, June, Perfect, dark purple, halt an inch across, borne in dichotonious, axillary, few-flowered cymes. Peduncles slender. Calyx. — Four-lobed, lobes spreading, imbricate in bud. Disk thick, fleshy, filling the tube of the calyx, four-lobed, adherent to the ovary. Corolla. — Petals four, inserted on calyx under margin of disk, dark purple, obo\ate, imbricate in bud ; margins olten erose. .Stai?ii-i!s . — Four, alternate with the petals, inserted on the disk ; filaments very short; anthers in pairs, two-celled; cells opening longitudinally. Fistil. — Ovary superior, surrounded by and adherent to the disk, four-celled; style short ; stigma four-lobed; ovules one or two in each cell. 46 BURNING BUSH Fruiting Spray <:>f Burning Bush, Eiioiirmons atropurpureus. Leaves 2' to 4' long, \' to 2' broad. STAFF-TREE FAMILY Fruit. — Fleshy capsules, borne on long drooping peduncles deeply four-lobed, angled, smooth, purple, loculicidally three to five-\'alved, opening to discharge the seeds which are inclosed in a scarlet aril. Ripen in October and hang upon the branch until midwinter. Co- tyledons broad and coriaceous. Burning Bush is a satisfactory name for this shrub, which retains its flainc-colored fruit long after the leaves have fal- len and until the winter storms beat it to the ground. Each separate seed-vessel develops a bright purple coveraiid open- ing discloses a seed clothed in scarlet. \\'hen these are borne in considerable numbers the bush is a conspicuous ob- ject upon the lawn or in the forest. The Indians called the plant Waalioo, and used the wood in the manufacture of arrows. Spindle-tree is a name brought over seas and looks backward to a time when spinning and weaving were done at home. The wood of the European species of Euoiiyinus lieing tough, close-grained and also reasonably easy to work, became the favorite wood for the making of spindles — wlicnce the name. Eitouymus is the old Greek name and signifies, of good repute. Now, as a matter of fact, this particular individual is a plant of bad rejnUe, for the leaves, liark, and fruit are acrid and poisonous. (Jne can compreheiul its name only upon the theory of opposites, the principle upon wdiich the Greeks acted when they named the Furies, the Eumenides, the well-wishers. The Burning Bush is not native to New England ; it is a shrub in the middle and western states, and does not attain the dignity of treehood until it appears in the bottom lands of Arkansas and adjoining regions. It is interesting to note that those trees wdiich are distinctively native to our mid- continental valley, reach their greatest development in the southwest. On the l)anks of the Arkansas the Tulip-tree reaches its one hundred and ninety feet, and there our little Burning Bush, a shrub in northern fields and lawns, becomes a tree twenty-five feet high with spreading branches. 48 RHAMNACE.^— BUCKTHORN FAMILY INDIAN CHERRY Klldiniius Larvlinuina. Found along the borders of streams in rich bottom lands. Its northern limit is Long Island, New York, «here it is a shrub ; it be- comes a tree only in southern Arkansas and adjoining regions. Bark. — Ashen gray, slightly furrowed, often marked with dark blotches. Branchlets terete, reddish brown ; later gray, shining. Bitter, acrid. Wood. — Light brown, sa]5wood almost white ; light, hard, close- grained. Sp. gr., 0.5462 ; weight of cu. fl., 34.04 lbs. Winter Buds. — Small, acute. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, feather-veined, elliptical or oblong, two to five inches long, one to two inches broad, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, serrate or crenulate, acute or acuminate ; midrib and primary veins yellow and conspicuous. 'I hey come out of the bud conduplicate and deiisely coated with russet tomentum, when full grown are dark yellow green, smooth alcove, paler and somewhat hairy beneath. Petioles long, slender, downy. Stipules minute, caducous. Floivers. — May, June, when leaves arc half grown ; perfect or polygamo-dict:cious, green, axillary, borne in lew-flowered downy umlDels. Calyx — Campanulate, five-lobcd, lobes triangular, val\ate in bud. Disk lining the calyx tube. Corolla. — Petals fi\'e, inserted on the disk, alternate with the calyx-lobes, minute, ovate, notched at apex, involute around the stamens in bud. Stamens. — Five, opposite the petals, inserted on the disk ; fila- ments short ; anthers in pairs, introrse, two-celled, cells opening longitudinally ; rudimentary in pistillate flower. Pistil. — O.vary stiperior, free, o\'oid, two to four-celled ; rudimen- tary in staminate i^owcr ; style long ; stigma three-lobed ; ovules one in each cell. Fruit. — Drupaceous, globose, black, one-third of an inch in di- ameter, resting on the base of the calyx ; flesh thin, sweet ; nutlets two to four. 49 HIPPOCASTANACE.E— HORSE CHESTNUT FAMILY OHIO BUCKEYE. FETID BUCKEYE yEsciiIiis is derived from csca, nourishment. Glabra, smooth. A tree varying in height from thirty to sc\'cnty feet, native only in the valley of the Mississippi. Prefers the river bottoms; nowhere abundant, but widely distributed. Roots tliick and fleshy. Reaches its greatest development in the valley of the Tennessee and in northern Alabama. Bark. — Dark gray, densely furrowed, broken into plates- Branch- lets orange brown and downy, later reddish brown and smooth, marked with many lenticular spots, finally dark brown. Fetid, me- dicinal. Wood. — White, sapwood pale brown ; light, soft, close-grained. Used especially in the manufacture of wooden limbs. Sp. gr., 0.4542; weight of cu. ft., 2S.31 II33. Wiiilcr Buds. — f'ale brown, t«o-thirds of ,m inch long, acute, outer scales with glaucous bloom. Inner scales enlarge when spring growth begins, become an inch and a half to two inches long, green- ish yellow tipped with red and remain until lca\ es are nearly half grown. Lcai'cs. — Opposite, digitateh- compound. Leaflets fi\e, rarely seven, o\al, oblong, or ovate, gradually contracted at the base, ser- rate, acuminate, feather-veined ; midrib and primary veins promi- nent. They come out of the bud a shining brownish green, downy; when full grown are yellow green above, paler beneath. In :uUumn they turn a rusty yellow. Petiole long, grooved, swollen at b;ise, sometimes chaffy at the point wheie the leallets di\-erge. FloiVLrs. — April, May. June. TcrniinnI, pol\gamo-in(in(ecious, yellow green, unihiteral: borne in terminal p.inicles hvc to si.K inches long, two to three in breadth, more or less downy ; pedicels four to six-flowered. OHIO BUCKEYE Flowering Spray of Ohio Buclceye, /Esculm glabra. Lcatlets 3' to 0' lung. HORSE-CHESTNUT FAMILY Calyx. — Tubular, gibbous, five-lobed ; lobes unequal, imbricate in bud ; disk annular, hypogynous. Corolla. — Petals four, pale yellow, hairy, clawed, imbricate in bud. Lateral pair oblong, superior pair oblong-spatulate, marked with red stripes. Slaiiicns. — Seven, inserted on the disk, cxserted ; filaments long, curved, down)' ; anthers dark yellow, elliptical, introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally. Fistil. — Ovary superior, one to three-celled, downy, echinate ; style long, slender ; stigma pointed ; ovules two in each cell. Fruit. — Coriaceous capsule, three-celled and loculicidally three- valved, the cells by abortion one-seeded. Irregularly ovate, pale brown, one to two inches long, very prickly when young, smooth- ish at maturity. Seeds roundish, smooth, shining, chestnut-brown with large round pale scar or hilum. October, Cotyledons thick and fleshy, remaining underground in germination. One iKiturally expects to find the Buckeye in C)hio. It is called the lltickeye State, its inhabitants are called Buck- eyes, and yet, strange to say, the Btickeye is not widely nor very generally known to Ohioans. The reason for this is to be sought in the character of the tree, for trees vary in so- cial habits : S(.)nie are gregarious and live in coniiiiunities, others prefer solitude. A moment's reflection will show that this is true. A maple grove is of frecjuent occurrence, an oak forest is common enough, the beech alone often cov- ers vast areas of w-oodland, but one never hears of an elm forest ; an elm grove maybe found, but even that is unusual- the elm occurs singly as do the willows and the sycamores. The liuckeye, also, is a solitary tree ; though wiilely distrib- uted it is nowhere abundant and is becoming less so from a belief — well grounded it is said — on the part of farmers that its nuts are poisonous to their cattle, sheep, and horses. Consequently the trees have been very generally cut down and are now comparatively rare. Two (piestions naturally arise. \\'hy was the fetid Horse- chestnut called the Biickeve, and how did it happen that this tree gave the soubriquet to the State of Ohio ? The local and picturesque name is undoulitedly a tribute of the imag- ination of the early settlers. We are all familiar with the 52 OHIO BUCKEYE Buckeye, nut of the Horse-chestnut ; that of the Buckeye is similar. When the shell cracks and exposes to view the rich brown nut with the pale bi^own scar, the re- semblance to the half-opened eye of a deer is not fancied but real. From this resemblance came the name Buckeye. How did it happen that Ohio was called the Buckeye State ? No direct evidence in the matter is forthcoming, but circumstantial evidence is not wanting. I'he vounger Michaux, travelling in this country in 1810, reports in his " Sylva of Xorth America " that he found the .Esciilns i^/al'ra prin- cipally in Ohio, and that it was especially abundant on the banks of the Ohio River between Marietta and Bittsburg. For this reason he named the new tree ()hio Buckeye and as the Ohio Buckeye it has since been known, though its distribution is far wider than Michaux supposed. It was no doubt an easy transition from Ohio Bucke\'e, to Ohio the Buckeye State, but who accomplished the deed seems not to be known. There is a great deal of confusion in the minds of many persons with regard to the Buckeye and the Horse-chestnut. Both belong to the one genus, but they are not the same tree. The Horse-chestnut is European, the Buckeye na- tive. The Horse-chestnut is seven-fingered, the Buckeye five- fingered. The Horse-chestnut is the sturdier tree, the leaves are larger, rougher, the flowers much more profuse and more beautiful than those of the Buckeye. It is a fact well known that European plants — herbs or trees — if they flourish in America at all are very likely to produce sturdier plants than the native representatives of the same genus. We all know that our worst and most troublesome weeds are not native but introduced. The Norway maple is a sturdier tree than our native maples, the white willow is stronger than any of our willows, the wdiite and Lombardy poplars flourish 53 HORSE-CHESTNUT FAMILY \vhei"e our natives would die, and the Horse-chestnut is stronger than the Bucke\"e. There is a certain ilelicacy of fibre inseparable from all American native life. Perhaps some day the biologist will read the riddle. The Sweet Buckeve. .Esi'n/iis Ociii/i^ira. is a beautiful tree of the AUeghanv Mountains, ranging from I'ennsvlvania to Ala- bama and westwartl to the Indian Territru-v. It reaches its greatest size in 'I'ennessee and Xorth Carolina. Its leaflets are five to seven, dark vellow green and smooth, e.xcept the midrib and venis \\diich are sometimes downv. The flowers are borne in paniclcb five to seven inches long, are yellow, varying from pale to dark. The nuts are large, one and a half to two inches broad, the capsule smor)th. .A variety of this tree, _£. ociaiicira lixbiula, characterized b\' its red or purple flowers, has long been a favorite in gardens, where it often makes a handsome head of pendulous branches. The name Sweet Buckeye means simplv that the bark is less fetid than that of others of the genus. HORSE-CHESTNUT Hippocaslaniim from hippos, .1 horse, and ,-,is/aih\i a chestnut. Cultivated. Introduced into Europe in the seventeenth century. Fa\-oiite tree for p.irks, lawns, and ro.idsides. Roots fleshy; pre- fers a strong, rich soil ; reaches the height of one hundred feet. Ba7k. — Dark brown, roughened with small excrescences. or divided by shallow fissures. r>r.nichlets reddish brown, shining, at length dark brown. Abountls in t.innic :icid. teud. Wood. — White, fight, soft, close-grained, not durable. IVintt-y Buds. — Terminal, large, an inch to an inch and a half long, covered with resinous gum. biown. a\illar\' buds smaller. Scales in pairs, closely imbricated, within are lea\es completelv formed and packed in white tonientum. .Scales enlarge wlien spring growth begins, the inner become yellow green tipped with red. One and a half to two inches long before thex tall. Lt-dves. — Opposite, digitately compound. Leaflets seven, obowate, five to seven inches long, wedge-shaped at base, serrate, acute or 54 SWEET BUCKEYE Sweet Buckeye, /Esculiis octandra. Leaflets 4' to 7' long. HORSE-CHESTNUT FAMILY acuminate, feather-veined ; midrib and primary veins prominent. They come out of the bud conduphcate, woolly, brownish green, drooping ; when full grown are dark green, thick, rough abo\'e, paler green beneath. In autumn tliey turn a rusty yellow. Peti- oles long, grooved, swollen at the base, sometimes chatTy at the point the leaflets diverge. Flowers. — May, June. Terminal, polygamo-monrecious, white, unilateral, borne in upright thyrsoid panicles ; pedicles jointed, four to six-fiowered. Calvx. — Campanulate, gibbous, five-lobed, lobes unequal, imbri- cate in bud ; disk hypogynous, annular, lobed. Corolla. — Petals five, imbricate in bud, alternate with calyx lobes, more or less unequal, with claws, nearly hypogynous, spreading, white, spotted with yellow and red. Stamens. — Se\en, inserted within the hypogynous disk ; filaments thread-like, exserted, curved ; anthers introrsc, two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally. Pistils. — Ovary superior, three-celled ; style thread-like ; stigma pointed ; ovules two. Fruit. — A coriaceous capsule, globular, rough, prickly, three or two or one-celled by suppression, loculicidally three-valved. Seeds or nuts solitary in each cell, brown, shining, with a large round pale scar, or hilum. October. Embryo fills the seed; cotyledons very thick and fleshy, remaining underground in germination. The Horse-cliestnut in tlie earlier weeks of M.i\' is :i siglit for ,G:ods and men. — Philip (iiLniiirr H.-\mi;k'I ON. No knowledi^e of technical terms is necessar\" to enalile one to pnll apart one of tile threat iiurse-cliestnut jjuds, to notice tlic water-proof \arnish on the ontside, the scale armor jtist witliin, the sijit down)- padding whieii i>rotects the minute leases and the tip of tlie stem from sudden clianges of temj^erature, to see that leases or fliiwer cluster are alread)' formed in miniattirc ready to burst their coserini; when the fa\-orable time siiall come. — (jF.okgk LJ. Pij^.kce. Our well-known Morse-cliestiuit is a native of Greece and began to he ciiltivatccl throughout Europe in the seventeenth centur}'. Stani^ling- alone and alloweil to attain its natural shape it becomes a stately tree. The trunk is erect, and the branches come out with such regularity that it develops a superb cone-like head. The branches almost invariably take the compound curve, upward from the trunk, downward as the branch lengthens, and upward at tlie tip. The spray is clumsy', and in winter each twig is finished by a large terminal bud an inch or more long, which bears S6 HORSE-CHESTNUT Spray of Horse-chestnut, /EsluIhs bippocastannm. Leaflets 5' to -/ long. HORSE-CHESTNUT FAMILY within its scales the leaves and flowers of the coming year. These buds are gumniv and resinous all the time, but when February comes and spring is in the air, they feel its influence afar and glisten and glitter in the sunlight. ^Vhen the warm davs reallv come the resinous coats drop off and the leaves — tiny, downy, green babies, done up in woolly blankets — come out with infancy written on every line of their drooping surfaces. Tlie gray hoss-chestnut's leetle hands unfold Softer'n a baby's be at tliree days old. Not until they are full grown are they able to hold them- selves horizontal. The growth of the leaves and shoots is e.xtremely rapid. The flowers of the Horse-chestnut are superb, and a fine tree in full bloom is a magnificent sight. The flower clusters are what the botanists call a thyrsus. When a single flower stands upon its own stem it is said to be solitary. A\'hen this stem becomes a central a.xis and bears smaller stems along its length the result is a raceme. When these sec- ondary stems themselves branch, the raceme becomes a panicle, and when this panicle stiffens and holds itself erect it becomes technicallv a thvrsus. A well-known example is the flower cluster of the common lilac. It is always a surprise that there should be so few nuts produced from such an abundance of bloom, for in spite of all this floral display each cluster produces but two or three fruit balls, and some of them not any. The reason is that very few of these flowers are fertile, the most of them have stamens onlv, with an aborted pistil which cannot produce fruit. The fertile blossoms are at the base of the cluster. The round, prickly, fruit balls split open when autumn comes and show themselves to be lined with a strong white covering ; they are partitioned in the middle and contain two nuts, which look in color, markings, and polish for all the world like a bit of weli-rubbed mahogany. HORSE-CHESTNUT Horse-chestnut, .-^scnhts hip- po;astatnt)n. Fruit i!^' to z' long. This nut shares with the potato, in the minds of many people, tlie occult power of being able to cure rheumatism by being carried on the person of the sufferer. The tree is subject to a serious disease, now common and widely spread throughout the northern United States, which is due to a fun- gus. This appears upon the leaf in early summer in the form of a yellow discoloration with a reddish margni. Tater, the patches become quite brown, giving the leaves the appeai-ance of having been scorched by hre, some- times extending from the midrib to the margin of the leaflets, fn time they shrivel and fall, leaving the tree almost leafless in midsum- mer. The liability to this disease is a serious objection to the tree. The name Horse-chestnut, which is only a literal transla- tion of the specific Latin name hippoiastaniDii, has been ac- counted for in many ways. The obvious fact that the scar of the leaf-stem really looks like the imprint of a horse's hoof seems the most reasonable explanation of the name ; many plants have been named for less. The finest plantation of Horse-chestnuts in the world is that of Bushey Park near Hampton Court, the ancient pal- ace of Cardinal Wolsey. Five rows of trees stand on each side of the avenue, and when these trees are in bloom the daily papers announce the fact and all London goes out to see the sight. The Red Horse-chestnut, .Esciiltis rubiciiiida^ conniion in our gardens, is a tree of unknown origin. Professor Sargent inclines to the belief that it is a hybrid between the common Horse-chestnut, .Es. Iiippocastanum and .Es. pavia of the southern states. It resembles the former in its leaves and the latter in its flowers. ACERACE.E— MAPLE FAMILY STRIPED MAPLE. MOOSEWOOD Aci.'/' pennsyhdnicum. A small tree, thirty or forty feet high, with short trunk, slendei upright branches ; often much smaller and scrubby. Lo\es the shade and forms much of the undergrowth of the forests of New England and lower Canada. Roots fibrous. Bark. — Reddish brown, marked longitudinally with broad pale stripes, and roughened with numerous, horizontal, oblong excres- cences. The branchlets arc pale greenish yellow ; later, reddish brown and finally striped like the trunk. Winter Buds. — Red. The terminal bud when it contains an in- florescence is half an inch long. Axillary buds much shorter. Scales enlarge when spring growth begins ; the inner scales be- come an inch and a half to two inches long, changing to yellow or rose before they fall. Wood. — Pale brown, sapwood still paler; light, soft, close- grained. Sp. gr., 0.5299; weight of cu. ft., 33.02 lbs. Leaves. — Opposite, simple, five to six inches long, palmately three-nerved, rounded or cordate at ihe base, doubly serrate, three- lobed at the apex, the short lobes contracted into tapering serrate points. They come out of the bud thin, pale rose color, and downy ; when full grown arc smooth, except some russet hairs at the axils of the nerves, bright green above, paler beneath. In autumn they turn a clear bright yellow. Petiole long, grooved, with en- larged base. Flowers. — May, when leaves are nearly grown, polygamo-monoe- cious, yellow. Borne in slender, drooping, long-stemmed racemes ; staminate and pistillate flowers usually in dilfcrent racemes. Ped- icels thread-like. Calyx. — Five-parted, lobes linear or obovate. Disk annular. Corolla. — Petals five, inserted on the base of the disk, obovate, as long as the sepals, bright yellow, imbricate in bud. '^o STRIPED MAPLE Striped Maple, Acer piiiiisyl'dJiiicum. I-eaves 5' to b' long. MAPLE FAMILY Stii//it-;is. — Seven or eight in the staminate flowers, rudimentary in the pistillate. Hypogynous; filaments short; anthers introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally. Pislil. — Rudimentary in staminate flowers. In pistillate flowers, ovarv superior, purplish broun, downy, two-celled, compressed con- trary to the dissepiment, wing-margined ; style short ; stigmas two, recur\ ed and spreading ; ovules two m each cell, one ot which aborts. F>-uit. — T«o samaras united lorming a maple key. Borne in long drooping racemes, smooth, with thin spreading uings three-fourths to an inch long : on one side of each nutlet is a small ca\ity. Seeds dark reddish brown. Sepleniber. Cotyledons thin, irregularly plicate. This maple is a niouiuain tree. It has no special economic value, but its beauty is its sufficient " excuse for being." Tlie delicate and exquisite coloring" of opening foliage is too often lost upi.m the heedless observer, unless something appears so striking that it cannot be igmired. lUit in the spring- time this drvad of a tree, slender, deli- cate, clothed in a mist}' rosy sheen of butlsand opening leaves, compels every passei'-by to admire its beaut}'. Later its yellow flowers hang in long, graceful, droop- ing racemes and are succeeded by large showy keys with pale green, divergent wings. Its leaves are the largest of all our maples. The New England name Moosewood re- fers to the fact that tile bark and branch- lets are the favorite Keys of Striped Maple, Acer peint^vh'antcitm. , ^ i food of the moose. Emerson savs that in their " winter beats " this tree is always found completely stripped. Evidently the moose 62 MOUNTAIN MAPLE a-g^Ti^sa M Fruitini;- Spray of Mountain Maple, .-la'! spicatnin. Leaves 4' to 5' lung, Hi'mi half grown. MAPLE FAMILY knows a good thing when he finds it, for the young and ten- der shoots are filled with saccliarme juice, which he fully appreciates. It is now well known bv botanists that the headt]uarters of the maples is not in America, but in Asia. North America has but nine species, China and Japan have over thirty. It is estimated that fully one-third of the deciduous forests of Japan is composed of different species of maples. Professor Sargent records that among these maples is one barely dis- tinguishable from our Acer pcuiisylvaniatiii. MOUNTAIN MAPLE Atcr spuatutu , A bushy tree sometimes thirty feet high, more often a shrub. Flourishes in the shade and torms much of the undergrowth of the forests. Ranges from lower St. Lawrence River to northern Min- nesota and region of the Saskatchewan Ri\er; south through the northern states and along the Appalachian Mountains to Georgia. Roots fibrous. Bark. — Reddish brown, slightly furrowed. Branchlets terete, at first gray and downy, then reddish, later, gray again and at last bronn. Wood. — Pale reddish brown, sapwood paler ; light, soft, close- grained. Sp. gr., 0.5330; weight of cu. ft., i^ 22 lbs. Winter Buds. — Terminal flower bud an eighth of an inch long, tomentose ; leaf buds smaller, acute, red ; scales enlarge when spring growth begins ; the inner scales lengthen until they are an inch or more long, become pale and papery before they fall. Leaves. — Opposite, simple, palniately-lobed, sometimes slightly five-lobed ; conspicuously three-nerved with prominent veinlets. Four to five inches long, cordate or truncate at base, serrate ; lolses acute or acuminate. They come out of the bud pale green, very woolly on the under surface ; when full grown are smooth above and covered with whitish down beneath. In autumn they turn scarlet and orange. Petioles long, slender, with enlarged base, scarlet in midsummer. Flowers. — June, after the leaves are full grown. Polygamo-mo- noecious, greenish yellow; small, borne in upright, slightlv com- pound, long, liairy, terminal racemes, five to six inches long ; the sterile at the end of the raceme and the fertile at the base. Pedicels thread-like. 64 MOUNTAIN MAPLE Gr/i'.i-. — Five-lobed, lobes obovate, downy, much shorter than the petals ; disk annular. Corolla. — Petals fi\'e, linear-spatulate, greenish yellow, imbricate in bud. Staniftis. — Seven to ei.^ht, inserted on the disk, filaments thread- like, exserted in the sterile and abortive m the fertile flowers ; an- thers oblong, attached at base, introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally. I'istil. — 0\'ary superior, tomentose, two-lobed, two-celled, com- pressed contrary to the dissepiment, wing margined ; style colum- nar ; stigma two-lobed. Ovules two in each cell, one of which aborts. In sterile flowers the pistil becomes a tuft of white hairs. Fnilt. — Two samaras united, forming a maple key ; bright red in July, brown in autumn ; smooth, borne in a pendulous raceme. Wings more or less divergent. Seeds dark brown. September. Cotyledons thick and fleshy. The Motintain Maple is another example of a tree that has accepted its home in the shade of other trees. It grows on moist rocky hillsides and ranges across the continent westward to the Rocky Mountains, northward to the valley of the St. Lawrence River, and southward to Georgia. At the north it is a shrub, often seen growing by the side of a mountain road. It is our one maple that bears an upright raceme of flowers, but when the flowers have given place to fruit the raceme droops. The fruits of all the maples are very similar. An acorn is no more the char- acteristic fruit of the oaks than the maple key is of the maples. This is a double samara, composed of two carpels, separ- able from a small persistent axis ; these carpels are compressed laterally, and each is produced into a reticulated wing. These wings are thick on the lower mar- gin, but very thin and papery on the upper. The keys do not fly as they would were they better balanced, but they 65 Keys of Mountain Maple, ■_ -Vt'tT spicatitm. Maple family launch the seeds some distance from the parent tree and so perfc)rm their part in the economy of nature. SUGAR MAPLE. ROCK MAPLE. .-/ivr bdrbjliiiii. Acer sauhanim. Widely distributed and abundant throughout eastern North America in rich uplands and intervale. Grows rapidly with a large fibrous root which at first is near the surface but finally penetrates deep. In the forest often reaches the height of one hundred and twenty feet. Produces most of the maple sugar of commerce. A variety, the Black Maple, A. saccliariiin iiii^nuii, is recognized. Bark. — On young trees and large limbs light gray, smooth and slightly furrowed ; on old trees dark, with deep longitudinal furrows, shaggy. Branchlets green, later \ellowish brown, shining, marked with pale lenticels, finally pale brown. Wood. — Light brown, tinged with red; heavy, hard, strong, tough and close-grained, capable of a fine polish. Much used in in- terior furnishing of buildings, manufacture of furniture, handles of tools ; has a high fuel value. Curled and bird's-eye are accidental varieties. Sp. gr., o.6gi2 ; weight of cu. ft., 43. oS lbs. Winter Buds. — Purplish, quarter of an inch long, acute. Scales enlarge when spring growth begins ; the inner scales become an inch and a half long, downy and bright yellow before they fall. Leaves. — Opposite, simple, three to five inches long and of greater breadth. Of rive di\erging lobes which are separated by rounded sinuses. The two lower are smaller and shorter than the others, each lobe tapers to a slender point and each contains a primary vein. Base, heart-shaped by broad or narrow sinus, or truncate, or wedge-shaped. Margin sparingly toothed. They come out of the bud tawny, coated with tonientuni, when full grown are bright or dark green on upper surface, pale green on lower. In autumn they turn crimson, scarlet, orange and clear yellow. Petioles long, slen- der, often reddish. Flowers. — May. Polygamo monrecious or dioecious. Greenish yellow, appearing with the leaves in umbel-like corymbs from termi- nal leafy buds and lateral leafless ones. Sterile and fertile flowers are in separate clusters on the same or on difterent trees, fertile flowers terminal and sterile usually lateral. Pedicels hairy, thread- like, one and a half to three inches long. Calyx. — Campanulate, five-lobed, lobes imbricate in bud, hairy. Ci?rf//<(.— Wanting. 66 SUGAR MAPLE Sugar Maple, Acer sacchanim. Leaves 5' to 5' long. MAPLE FAMILY S/cu/it/is. — Seven to eight inserted on the disk, hairy ; filaments long in the sterile flowers, short in the fertile ones. Anthers introrse, two celled ; cells opening longitudinally. J'istil. — 0\ ary superior, hairy, two-celled, compressed contrary to the dissepiments, wing-margijied ; style of two long, exserted, stig- niatic lobes, united at base only ; o\ ules two in each cell, one of which aborts. Fruit. — Two samaras united forming a maple key. Borne in clusters on long pendulous footstalks. Wings vary from one-halt to one inch long, brown, thin, divergent. One capsule of the key is ' usually empty. Seeds reddish brown. September. Cotyledons thick, leaf-like. South .America possesses the Milk Tree, India the Bread Tree, but it is reserved .ns a Si.trl of climatic para(.kix for our temperate north to furnibli tlie very to["i ol luxur\- in the shape of the Sugar Tree. .-\ man who could persuade these tiiree staple producers to grow on his plantation could henceforth live independent of the milkman, the baker, and the grocer. It would be easy work to gather the yield of the two tropical trees, but the sweet of the maple would still ha\e to be gained by the sweat of the brow. Besides its delicious sweet- ness, there is a rich, almost oleaginous quality in maple syrup which suggests what lite maple nut would have been if Nature had said, "' Consider the ways of the hickor} , beech, and chestnut, how thrifty and hospitable I Their bounty keeps m\biidsand my four-footed groundlings all winter through. Do thou ripen a kernel of thine own more toothsome than theirs." What Nature did sav was brietlv- and practicalh-, " Invest in sugar."" More cold, more sweet, seems to be tl-,e law goxerning the saccharine supply, as though there were warmth and food in the sugar principle, and as though it \vere excited bv keen weather to greater acti\"it\- in order to meet the needs of the trt e. Ihe sap of all \\ood in earlv spring is jTerceptibly sweet. If the discharge of sap Irom other trees were as tree as from the maple it might be profitable to tap them also, as the butternut, fir example. It is plain that Nature drops a little sugar in the milk on which she rears her nursery. All \oung ones love sweets, even to the baby leaves on the old trees, — EniTH Thom.^s. Unquestionably, the Sugar Maple ranks among the finest of American forest trees. It is both useful and beautiful. A\'hen voung its full leafy head is often a pure oval. In tlie forest it frequently rises seventy feet witiiout a branch, and spreads its leaves to the sunliglit one hundred and twenty feet above its base. When growing in the open it some- times develops into a great cylindrical column, sometimes its head becomes a broad dome. The foliage is always dense. Erect in youth and maturity, in old age its trunk is often gnarled and disfigured. 68 SUGAR MAPLE The Sugar Maple makes up- a great part of the native for- est of New England and the middle states. In the race of life it has scored two points ; it has learned to labor and to wait. It can grow as tall as any of its forest companions and it also knows how to prosper while young, in the shade. Consequently, there is always a young maple in training ready to take the place of any dead or dying tree. This characteristic alone has enabled it to take precedence of other trees. The leaves come out of the buds tawny and drooping, nor are they able to hold themselves out firm until they have attained nearly full size. The flowers appear with the leaves, are greenish yellow and borne in clus- ters on thread-like hairy pedicels, two and a half inches long. The fruit or maple key ripens in early autumn, and although it appears to be fully de- veloped, one rarely finds perfect seed in each of the two divisions. This is the tree which produces the maple sugar of com- merce. The testimony of early travellers shows that the Indians, like the moose and the woodpecker, knew all about the sweetness of the maple sap, but it is doubtful if they were able to make maple sugar before the coming of the Europeans ; however, the making of maple sugar was an established industry among them during the last half of the seventeenth century. Sugar-making begins with the upward flow of the crude sap in February or March and continues until the buds begin to swell; when this occurs the sap will not run freely and thoroughly changes in character. Trees twenty or thirty years old are considered the most productive, though there are instances of trees which have yielded sugar every year for a century and are still vigorous and fruitful. 6q Key of Sugar Maple, •■.■iccr saccharum. Maple family Much of ihe splendor of our radiant forest; in early autumn is due to tlie bnllianl coloring- of the Sugar Maple. It glows in red which deepens nito crimson, it flames in yel- low that darkens into orange. The^e wonderful leaves will show colors as pure as anv on the finest porcelain ; a dark green leaf will show a single spot ot crimson, a dark retl bears a single lobe of rose pink. The next will have a patch- work of vellow and purple and scarlet, like a palette set for a sunset picture. Si_mietimes a single branch will turn bright scaidet wliile all the rest of the tree remains green. Indi- vidual trees varv in time and manner of change, ami to some degree these peculiarities are fixed ; for example, certain trees alwavs turn veliow, others al\va\'s turn red, while there are others that varv with changing conditions. There seems to be a very general popular impression that the colors of the leaves in autumn are dependent upon the frosts. Careful oliservation does not sustain this view. It is true that the brilliancv of the autumnal coloring varies; but the changes are now referred rather to the character of the preceding summer than to the frosts of autumn. If the summer has been rainy, keeping the leaves fuli of sap and the cuticle thin and disteiuled, the autumn tints are l)riniant ; but if the summer has been drv the tints are ilnll. Two great problems are conneclctl with the fall of the leaves of deciduous trees. ()ne, why do thev take on such gorgeous colrirs ; and the other, how is it the\' fall leaving no open houihIs behind ? \\'hat are the morphological and physiological changes which produce these results ? The following is jierhaiis as clear a statement of the present opinion ot biologists as can be given in popular form : Tlie c.l^tinL; of tlie iMf is not ."i sudden and quid; response to anv single ch.-inse in enviionim-ninl condili.ms, but is brought about with a complex int. r- play of pr<.>ce-s<-s begun tiays or perhaps weeks before an\' external changes are to be seen. Tlie leal" is rich in two classes of substances, one of which is of no further Ijenefit to it, and another whieh it has cetnstrtieted at great expense of energy, and which is in a form of the highest possible uselulness to the plant. To this class belong the compounds in the protoplasm, the green color bodies, and whatever surplus food may not have been previously conveyed away. The 70 SUGAR MAPLE Trunk of Sugar Maple, Acer sacchantm. MAPLE FAMILY substances which the plant must needs discard are in tlie form ot nearly insolu- able crystals, and by remaining in position mi the leaf drop with it to the ground. •The plastic substances within the leaf which would be a loss to the plant if thrown away undergo quite a different series of changes. These substances are in the extremest parts of the leaf, and to pass into the plant body must penetrate many hundreds of membranes of diffusion into the long conducting cells around the ribs or nerves, and then down into the twigs or stems. The successful retreat of this great mass of valuable matter is not a simple problem. 'I hese substances contain nitrogen as a part of their compounds, and as a consequence are very readily broken down when exposed to the sunlight. In the living normal leaf the green color forms a most eftecti\'e shield fro;n the action ot ihe sun, but when the retreat is begun, one of the first steps results in the disinte- gration of the chlorophyll. This would allow the fierce rays of the S ptember sun to strike directly through the broad expanse of the leaf, destroying all within were not other means pro\'ided for protection. In the first place, when the chlorophyll breaks do~wn, among the resulting substances formed is cyano- phyll which absorbs the sun's rays in the same general manner as the chloro- phyll. In addition the outer layer of cells of die leaf contains other pigments, some of which have been masked by the chlorophyll and others which are formed as decomposition products, so that the leaf exhibits outwardly a gor- geous panoply of colors in reds, yellows, and bronzes that make up the autumnal display. At a time previous to the beginning of the withdrawal of the contents of the leaf or the formation of the autumnal colors, preparations have been steadily in progress for cutting away the leaf when the proper time should arrive. At some point near the base of the leaf-stalk the formation of a layer of special tissue had begun between the woody cylinder in the centre and the thin epi- dermis. When the time for the casting of the leaf arrives, this special tissue grows rapidly, pushing apart or cutting the cells which have held the leaf rigidly in position in such manner that finally the leafstalk at this point consists of the brittle cylinder of wood surrounded by the loosely adherent cells of this newly formed layer of separation. The merest touch or breath of air will split the layer of separation, break the wood, and allow the leaf to fall to the ground, — D. T. MacDoug.\l. The great leaf fall of the northern states conies some time between the fifteenth and twenty-fifth of October. As has been explained the leaves have virtually parted company with the tree some time before ; they have been falling since the first, and the ground is strewn with them, but as you look at the trees they show no perceptible diininution of foliage. But about the third week of October something happens — it may be a wind or rain storm, a heavy frost, or two or three days of excessively hot weather — and then the leaves come pouring down in showers, and though the oaks 72 SILVER MAPLE remain comparative!)' untouched, although the willows are green and the apple trees like summer ; the sword has fallen and the end has come. Only the rear guard will linger along- the line, beautiful in their isolation, pathetic in their loneliness. SILVER MAPLE. SOFT MAPLE. WHITE MAPLE. Arc'r saciJiaihiiini. .Act'}' dasvcdrpiwi. A large tree, ninety to one hundred feet in height with a trunk which soon divides into three or four stout, upright, secondary stems, forming a wide spreading head with drooping branches. Found abundantly throughout the valley of the Mississippi where it is one of the largest and most common of river trees ; rare along the Atlantic coast. Grows rapidly. Sap produces sugar. Bark. — Light gray, smootli until the tree is of considerable size. On old trees reddish brown, more or less furrowed, the surface sep- arating into large loose scales. Branchlets at first pale green, later dark green, finally pale chestnut brown, smooth, shining, at last reddish gray. Wood. — Cream, faintly tinged with brown ; hard, strong, close- grained, rather brittle. Used in cabinet work. Sp. gr., 0.5269; weight of cu. ft., 32.84. Winter Buds. — Flower buds aggregated, obtuse, red. Leaf buds one-fourth an inch long, red ; inner scales enlarge when spring growth begins, become green or yellow and an inch long before they fall. Leaves. — Opposite, simple, five to seven inches long, rather less in breadth. Palmately five-lobed with narrow acute sinuses and acute divisions. The middle lobe is often three-lobed. Base heart- shaped or truncate ; margin coarsely serrate or toothed. Primary veins conspicuous. They come out of the bud pale green and downy, when full grown are bright pale green above, silvery white beneath. In autumn they turn pale yellow. Petioles long, slender, red, drooping. Flowers. — March, April. Polygamo-monoecious or dioecious. Before the leaves, which do not appear until fruit is nearly grown. Greenish yellow, sessile on last year's wood ; borne in sessile axillary fasicles. Caly.x. — Cainpanulate, slightly five-lobed, downy, long and nar- row in the sterile, short and broad in the fertile flowers. Corolla. — Wanting. 73 MAPLE FAMILY S/d>/ii:/!s. — Three to se\'en, hypogynous ; filaments long and slen der in the sterile tlowers, short m the fertile. Anthers reddish, ob- long. two-colleJ ; cells opening longitudinally. J'lStHs. — In sterile flowers rudimentary ; in fertile, ovary borne on narrow disk, superior, downy, two-lobed, two-celled, compressed contrary to the dissepiment, « ing-margined ; styles two, united at base only, long, exserted, red ; o\ ules two in each cell, one usually aborts. Fruit. — Two samaras united forming a maple key. Borne on slender drooping pedicels an inch and a half to three inches long. Vary in length from one and one-half to three inches. Wings di- vergent, straight or curved, three-fourths of an inch broad, deep St.Tminate .tnd Pistill.ite Flowers of Silver .Maple. -Ac^r ^accharinum. red or pale chestnut brown. Seed reddish brown. April, May. Cotyledons thin, leaf-like. Seed germinates as soon as it falls to the ground. The seed of Ac€r usually ripens in the autumn and germinates the fol- lowing spring. The seed of the two American species with precocious Howers, A. riibruni and A. Sad /Liruium. howe\er, ripens at the end of a few weeks after the trees flnwer, and germinate? at once. This is a provisicm. perhaps, acquired by these species to insure their perpetuation ; the\- griiw in Ktw, wet land, often inundated during the winter, and the seed, if it ripened in the autumn would often lie in the water through the winter and be in danger of losing its vitalit)- ; but it reaches the ground after the water has fallen in the swamps and before the exposed surface of the ground has become baked by the hot sun of summer, that is, when it is just in the condition to insure the germination of seed, — Ch.\rles S, S,-\rgent. 74 SILVER MAPLE Silver Maple, Acer sacchariimm. Leaves 5' to 7' long. MAPLE FAMILY The Silver Maple, both in poise and outline, suggests the elm. Its trunk divides into secondary stems, its branches have an air}' upward and outward sweep and its terminal branchlets are slender and drooping ; then, too, the bark is often shaggy on trunk and limbs, making the resemblance still greater. The finely cut leaves hang on long and slender footstalks and sway with every passing breeze, thus showing the silvery whiteness of their under surface and giving to the foliage a delicacy of texture all its own. The tree is a rapid grower, is comparatively free from seri- ous disease, adapts itself to a great variety of soils, and these characteristics have made it a general favorite with those who desire to secure shade trees with as little delay as possi- Key of Silver Maple, -^Accr ijccharinun ble. However, it does not flourish on dry and elevated ground, and should never be planted in such locations, as it soon suffers, the branches become brittle and the tree in time unsightly. It is the first tree to blossom in earlv spring, coming out a week or two before either the red maple or the elm ; in fact it is ready to open its buds at the slightest prov- ocation any time during the winter. The fruit grows as the leaves develop and ripens in early summer. The keys are large with long stiff wings set at wide angles. If planted they will prijduce tiny trees before winter comes. The autumnal tmt of the Silver Maple often varies from the usual pale dull yellow to a brilliant yellow and scarlet 76 RED MAPLE RED MAPLE. SWAMP MAPLE. SOFT MAPLE. .^£"tv- nibritni. Generally distributed throughout eastern North America. Loves the borders of streams and low swamp lands which it sometimes covers to the exclusion of other trees. Will grow when planted on rich, well dressed, upland soil. Roots large, and fibrous. Grows rapidly. Attains the height of eighty to one hundred feet with trunk three to four feet in diameter. Its upright branches form a narrow head. The sap will produce sugar, but not abundantly. Bark. — Dark gray, divided by longitudinal ridges, the surface separating into large scales. Branchlets green or dark red, later bright red and shining, marked by many white lenticels, finally they become light gray tinged with red, sometimes almost white. Wood . — Light brown tinged with red, sapwood lighter ; heavy, close-grained. Not very strong, smooth satiny surface. Presents curled and bird's eye varieties. Used for cabinet work, is suffi- ciently elastic to be used for oars ; fuel value is high. Sp. gr. , 0.617S; weight of cu. ft., 38.50 lbs. ]Vintt-r Buds. — Flower buds aggregated, obtuse, red. Leaf buds obtuse, red, one-eighth of an inch long. The scales enlarge when spring growth begins, the inner become three-quarters of an inch long, narrow, and bright scarlet. Leaves. — Opposite, simple, two to six inches long, rather longer than broad, palmately three to five-lobed, lobes separated by acute sinuses, middle lobe longer than the others ; lobes irregularly doubly serrate or toothed. Base more or less heart-shaped or truncate; principal nerves conspicuous. They come out of the bud pale green and downy, when full grown are smooth, bright green above, whit- ish and downy beneath. In autumn they turn scarlet or crimson. Petioles long, slender, red or green. Flowers. — March, April, before the leaves. Polygamo-montscious, or dicecious. Rich crimson or scarlet or dull yellowish red. Borne on the branchlets of the previous year in few-flowered fascicles, on short pedicels. Ca/vx. — Sepals four to five, oblong, obtuse, red, imbricate in bud. Petals. — Four to fi\e, linear, red, imbricate in bud. Stamens. — Five to six, scarlet ; filaments slender, exserted in the staminate, included in the pistillate ; anthers oblong, introrse, two- celled ; cells opening longitudinally. Pistil. — Ovary superior, two-lobed, two-celled, compressed con- trary to the dissepiments, wing-margined, smooth, borne on a narrow disk. Styles two, united for a short distance, then separated into long, exserted, stigmatic lobes. Ovules two in each cell, 77 MAPLE FAMILY Fruit. — Two samaras united forming a maple key. Borne on drooping stems tliree to four inches long ; scarlet, dark red, some- times broun ; wings thin, convergent at first, divergent when full grown, one-half to an inch long, one-fourth to one-half an inch broad. i\Ia\-, June. Seed dark red, germinates immediately after falling to the ground. Cotyledons thin. The scarlet maple-keys betray, \\'hat potent blood hatli modest May. — Ralph \V.\ldo Emerson. The maple crimsons to a coral reef. — jAMts Russell Lowell. A small Red Maple has gro\\-n, percllance. far a\\'a\" at the head of some retired valley, a mile t'rom an\" road, unobserved. It has faithtully discharged all the duties of a maple there, all winter and summer neglected none of its economies, but added to its stature in the \irtue Avhich belongs to a maf'le, by a steady growth for so lnan_\" months, and is nearer heaven than it was in tlie spring. It has faitlifuUy husbanded its sap, and afforded a shelter to the wandering bird, has long since ripened its seeds and committed them to the ^\ intis. It deserves \\"ell of mapledom. Its leaves ha\'e been asking it frcim time to time in a whis- per, " A\'hen shall we redden ? " and now in this month of .September, this montli of travelling, when men are hastening to the seaside, or the mountains, or the lakes, this modest maple, still without budging an inch, tra\els in its reputa- tion — runs up its scarlet-flag r.n that hillside, which allows that it has finished its summers work belc're all other trees, and withdrawn from the contest. .\t the eleventh hour of the year, the tree which no scnitinv cimld have detected here when it was most nidustriuus is thus, by the tint of its matnritv, bv its very blushes, revealed at last to llie careless and distant traxeller. and leads his thoughts away from the dusty road into those lira\e solitutlcs which it inhabits ; it flashes out conspicuous with all the virtue and beauty of a maple— .-/or yuhriim. ^\'e may now read its title, or rubric, clear. Its \irtues not its sins are as scarlet. — Henry D. Thoreau. Never was a tree more appropriately named than the Red Maple. Its first blossom flushes red in the April sunlight, its keys ripen scarlet in early May, all summer long- its leaves swing on crimson or scarlet stems, its young twigs flame in the same colors and latei", amid all the brilliancy of the au- tnmnal forest, it stands ]ire-emiiient and unapproachable. 1 he Reil Maple shows a decided tendencv to vary in the shape of its leaves. For this reason it has been divided into varieties, bnt these have been given up because the charac- ters do not remain constant. Of two red maples standing 78 RED MAPLE ^.^iM. f ^^>-'":^^y ^-X Red Maple, ^cer rubriim. Leaves 2' to 6' long. MAPLE FAMILY Kev of Red Maple. -. 7cV ruhnim. side by side, one ma}' have large, thin, five-lobed leaves, and the other small, thick, tbree-lobed leaves, or both forms may be found on different parts of the same tree, and sometimes even on the same branch. The llowers appear ver}' earl)', onlv chose of the silver maple precede thcni. Perfect flowers occasionalh' occur, but generally the slaminate and pistillate flowers are produced on separate trees, although a bi'anch with staminate flow- ers can be found on a tree (jii which the flowers are pistillate, and individual ]iistil- late clusters on a staminate branch. If the tiee is very red, one may be certain that the flowers are pistillate, but if yel- lowish they are staminate. All the maples show what is called the curled and bird's-eye varieties. 'I'hese are an accidental and fortuitous arrange- ment of the woody fibre, and as there is no marked outward indication of these varieties, only exiierienced woodsmen can detect them in the living tree, which they do from some slight peculiarities of the bark. It is said that these forms are found only in old trees. Such lumber is now very valuable for the interior furnishings of rooms, railway-cars, and steam- ship saloons. How many such trees were destroyed in the early days through ignorance or indifference no one knows. I re- call a countrv home where the kitchen-stove was fed one entire winter with the most beautiful curled and bird's-eye ma- ple, carefully cut into cordwood eighteen inches in length. Of course the owner knew nothing of the existence of these trees until thev confronted him in his woodpile, and his anger and disnia}' may be imagined as he bewailed the stupidity of his workmen. NORWAY MAPLE Fruiting Spray of Norway Maple, Acer platanoides. Leaves 3' to 5' long. MAPLE FAMILY. NORWAY MAPLE Ac^r plataiuHdfs The beautiful Norway Maple standing by the curb-stone is a common sight in our city streets. Its roots strike deep and spread laterally, this enables it to hold its own in the struggle with city environments. It comes to us from Europe, its range there e.\tending from Norway to Switzer- land. The leaves have a marked resemblance to those of the sugar maple, in form, but are thicker in texture and darker in color. They remain upon the tree fully two weeks longer than those of our native maples and become yellow or fall witli little change of color. The petioles are long and when broken exude an acrid milky sap which quickly coag- ulates. This peculiarity enables one to determine the tree with little difficulty. The greenish flowers appear with the leaves in a short corymbose raceme ; the fruit, also borne in short racemes, is a key with widely divergent wings. The tree reaches the lieight of sixty feet, develops a broad round head, and becomes strong and sturdy. Its winter buds are large and red ; its branchlets at first are green, later they become reddish brown and shining. SYCAMORE MAPLE Acer pscudo-pJiitii)tus This most beautiful of European maples is also planted as an ornamental tree, but it does not seem to take kindly to our climate, failing to become either large or long-lived in the United States. Its leaves resemble those of the sugar maple in general form, but are much darker green in color and of thicker texture. The green flowers appear with the leaves, are about the size of a currant blossom and borne in long, drooping, com- 82 SYCAMORE MAPLE Fruiting Spray of Sycamore Maple, Acer pseudo-platanus. Leaves 3' to 5' long. MAPLE FAMILY pound clusters ; both rachis ami pedicels are hairy. The keys likewise are borne in pendulous clusters, iheir wings di- verge, but are not as divergent as those of the Norway Maple. Like the Norway it holds its leaves two weeks longer than our native species. This is a characteristic of all our accli- mated European trees. It is native to central Europe and was brought into England in the time of Queen Elizabeth, where it has become perfectly acclimated. The history of its common name Svcamore is most inter- esting. Sycamore is derived from two Greek words, one meaning fig and the other mulberry. But this sycamore bears neither figs nor mulberries, nor does its fruit in any respect resemble either. In the New Testament story it is said that Zaccheus climbed a s\'ca?nore tree in order that he might better see Jesus as he passed by. 'I'hat sycamore was a fig-tree, common enough by the waysitle in Palestine and Egypt, but not native in Europe. The interesting question is how did this European maple get the name of the eastern fig-tree? Simply through word transference. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when miracle plavs were produced in all tile churches of Europe for the instruction of the peo- ple, one of the favorite scenes for acting was the fligiit into Egypt of Jiisepli and Mary. It was easily put upon the stage. One legend says that on their way they rested under a sycamore tree, liut no sycamores grew in the countries where these plays were acted and so this maple was chosen to take its [ilace, because the leaves were somewhat like those of the true sycamore. In the play it was called syca- more, and naturally the people began to call it sycamore, and such it has remained to this day. 84 BOX ELDER BOX ELDER. ASH-LEAVED MAPLE Distributed across the continent, abundant througliout the Mis- sissippi valley along banks of streams and borders of swamps. Prefers a deep rich soil and attains the height of fifty to se\'enty feet. The trunk often divides near the ground into a number of stout wide- spreading branches. Grows rapidly. 'Bark. — Pale gray or light brown, deeply cleft into broad ridges, scaly. Branchlets pale green, later are bright green, sometimes purplish with a bloom, lenticular for several years. Wood. — Cream-white ; light, soft, close-grained, not strong ; used for wooden ware and paper pulp. Sp. gr., 0.432S ; weight of cu. ft., 26.97 lbs. JVinter Buds. — Terminal buds acute, an eighth of an inch long. Lateral buds obtuse. The inner scales enlarge when spring growth begins and often become an inch long before they fall. Leaves. — Opposite, compound, of three to five leaflets. Leaflets two to four inches long, two to three inches broad, oval or ovate, rounded or wedge-shaped at base, coarsely and irregularly serrate, acute. The odd leaflet is oftener three-lobed than simple ; midrib and veins conspicuous. They come out of the Isud with under sur- face coated with tomentum, when full grown are more or less downy, bright light green above, paler beneath. In autumn they turn a pale yellow. Petioles long, slender, two or three inches long, bases enlarged and often hairy. Stipules caducous. Floivers. — April, before the leaves, dia:cious, yellow green; staminate flowers in clusters on slender hairy pedicels one and a half to two inches long. Pistillate flowers in narrow drooping racemes. Calyx. — Yellow green ; staminate flowers campanulate, five-lobed, hairy. Pistillate flowers smaller, five-parted ; disk rudimentary. Corolla. — Wanting. Stamens.— Y OMx to si.\, exserted ; filaments slender, hairy ; an- thers linear, connective pointed. • Pistil. — Ovary hairy, borne on disk, partly enclosed by calyx, two-celled, wing- margined. Styles separate at base into two stig- matic lobes. Fruit. — Maple keys, full size in early summer. Borne in droop- ing racemes, pedicels one to two inches long. Key an inch and a half to two inches long, nutlets diverging, wings straight orincur\cd. September. Seed half an inch long. Cotyledons, thin, narrow. 85 MAPLE FAMILY This is our only maple with compound leaves, and so ac- customed are we to simple leaves for the maples that were it not for the keys hanging in graceful clusters from the branches we should question its right to be a maple. But just as certainly as an acorn in- dicates an oak, so does a maple key characterize a maple. The Ash-leaved Maple is a handsome tree with spreadmg branches. Its habitat extends as far east as Cavuga Lake, New York, west to the foot- hills of the Rockies, north to Winnepeg and south to Flor- ida. Compared with its com- panions on the river bottoms it is a small tree, and like the sugar maple it can flourish in the shade. The tree is rare east of the Appalachian range and beyond the Rockies it undergoes a mountain change and appears in California as a different variety. It grows rapidly and is now largely planted in the treeless west, and, strange to say, this lover of water accepts the climatic change and flourishes. Like the silver maple there is no touch of red in its autumnal coloring, its leaves become a pure pale yellow before they fall. Keys of Box Elder, .^ccr nc^u/iJo. 86 BOX ELDER Fruiting Spray of Box Elder, Acer negitiido. Leaflets 2' to 4' long. ANACARDIACEE— SUMACH FAMILY VELVET SUMACH. STAGHORN SUMACH R/nis hut, I — Khiis ty'phiiia Rhus is by some referred to a 1,'eltic word meaning red ; others derive it from the Greek word meaning run, because the roots spread underground to a considerable distance from the trunk; still others refer it to a fireek word wltich indicates its value medicinally. Typliina giant, this being the largest of the North American species. Ilirta, hairv. Sumach is deri\ed Irom Simaq the Arabic name of the plant. A small tree with a slender and slightly leaning trunk, with stout spreading and often contorted branches which form a flat head ; oftener it is a shrub spreading by suckers into thickets along fences and in neglected fields. Roots fleshy ; juice milky and viscid, turn- ing black when exposed to the air. Small branches and young stems pithy. Short-li\'ed. Prefers calcareous soil. Bark. — Smooth, dark brown, sometimes scaly, Branchlets stout, clumsy, coated \\\\\\ long, soft, pink hairs, which change to green and then brown. Branchlets do not become smooth until at least three years old ; in their second year are marked with many lenticels. Bark rich in tannin. Wood. — Orange color streaked with green ; light, brittle, soft, coarse-grained, with satiny surface. Sp gr.. 0.4357 ; weight of cu. ft., 27.15 lbs. Winter Buds. — Terminal bud, large, obtuse ; a.xillary buds, smaller, globular. Leaves. — Alternate, unequally pinnately compound, sixteen to twenty-four inches long ; petiole stout, hairy, enlarged at the base, reddish, and surrounds and encloses the leaf bud in its axil. Leaf- lets eleven to thirty-one, two to five inches long, almost sessile, ob- long, rounded or heart-shaped, slightly unequal at base, serrate, acuminate, middle pairs longer than the others ; midrib prominent, and primary \eins forking near the margin. They come out of the SS STAGHORN SUMACH Fruit and Leaf of Staghorn Sumach, Rbm hirta. Leaves |6' to 24' long. Leaflets 2' to 5' long. SUMACH FAMILY bud yellow green, covered as are the shoot and petiole with bright red hairs. When full grown they become smooth, somewhat darker above, and pale or whitish beneath. In autumn they turn scarlet, varied by shades of crimson, )e!low, and orange. Flowers. — May, June, Dioecious, yellowish green, sometimes tinged with red. In dense panicles with downy stems and branches and large bracts which fall at the opening of the flowers. The pani- cle of sterile flowers is eight to twelve inches long, fi\e to six inches broad, with spreading branches and is nearly a third larger than the more compact fertile panicle, Gr/)'.r. — Five-lobed, lobes acute, hairy ; imiiricate in bud, in staminate flowers shorter than the petals ; in pistillate flowers about the same length. Corolla. — Petals fi\e, imbricate in bud, longer than and alternate with the lobes of the calyx, inserted under the margin of ihe fleshy red disk surrounding the ovary. In staminate flower, yellow green tinged with red, strap-shaped ; in pistillate, green, narrow and acu- minate. .S/ami'/ts. — Five, inserted on the disk, alternate with the petals ; in staminate flowers exserted with large, bright, orange-colored anthers ; in the pistillate flower, short with rudimentary anthers. Anthers large, introrse. Pistil. — Ovary ovoid, downy, with three short spreading styles ; in the staminate flower often rudimentary. Pruit. — Dry drupe ; not poisonous. Borne in terminal thvrse-like panicles six to eight inches long, two to three inches broad, which become full grown and bright red in August but not fulh' mature until Octoljer and remain on the tree all winter. Depressed-globular, with a thin covering, clothed with long crimson hairs. Cotyledons flat, leaf-like. The Velvet Sumach is well named, for its twigs and branches are really velvety to the eve and to the touch. No other of our native trees sends forth its leaves and twigs with so royal a covering. The branchlets are coated with long, soft, pink hairs when thev first come forth, later these turn a bright green, then brown and finallv in their second summer become short and almost black, P'or two years the growing wood of the .Sumach is clothed in velvet. The name Staghorn may be explained in two ways, one quite as good as the other. Some say that the early observ- ers saw a cert.ain likeness between the forking leafless branches and a stag's horn, others, that the soft velvety down go VELVET SUMACH which covers the growing shoot is the point of resemblance to a young stag's horn. The beauty of the Sumach lies entirely in its foliage ; the leafless tree is stiff, awkward and clumsy, but after the leaves come out it is a different creature, clean-cut and beautiful all summer long. Its long, pinnately compound leaves are borne in tufts at the end of the branches, the main stem is either horizontal or slightly curved upward, while the leaflets have a decided tendency to hang down. These lift and sway with every passing breeze, and \\'heii the whole is crowned, as it so often is, with a great thyrsoid panicle of bright red fruit standing out from the centre of each leafy tuft, the effect is unique and beautiful. The little drupes which make the panicles are covered with crimson down which is charged with malic acid, sour but agreeable to the taste. They re- main on the tree all winter and become the food of the birds. In autumn all the sumachs, large and small, are wonderful for the brilliancy of their coloring. They glow in scarlet and gold wdiich sometimes deepens to crimson and orange. The Velvet Sumach makes thickets on its own account, its smaller brother, Ji. gla/ellow blotch ; wings white,, oblong-falcate ; keel petals incurved, obtuse, united below. Stamens. — Ten, inserted with the petals, diadelphous, nine infe- rior, united into a tube which is cleft on the upper ^ide, superior one free at the base. Anthers two-celled, cells opening longitudi- nally. Pistil. — Ovary superior, linear-oblong, stipitate, one-celled ; style inflexed. long, slender, bearded ; stigma capitate ; oxules several, two-ranked. Fruit. — Legume two-\ al\ed, smooth, three to four inches long and half an inch bioad, usually lour to eight seeded. Ripens late in autumn and hangs on the br.inches until early spring. Seeds dark orange brown with irregular markings. Cotyledons oval, fleshy. The value o^ Roh'mia pscNdtrjc'ui is practic.'ill)' clcstrr)yc(l in nearly all parts of the United States bevund the muuntain forusts which arc- its liunie, by tlie borers which riddle the trunk ami liranchcs. Were it not for these insects it would be one of tlie most \'alual)le tinil)er-trecs that cnulil i)e planted in tlie northern and middle states. The character of the tinilier winch; it produces, the rapidity of its growth, its power to adapt itself to difterent soils and to repro- duce itself rapidly by seeds which gernunate readily, and i»y stump and root shoots, would make it a most valualile tree it it could lie protected from in- sects. Young trees grow quickly and \"igor(jusly tor .a nimrl)er of years, but soon become stunted and diseased, and rarely live long enough to attain any commercial value, — Cn.vRLtcs S. Sakgknt. It is an interesting question why some trees grow so much more rapirlly than others, and the explanation seems to lie in the character of the roots. Any tree whose principal roots extend just beneath the surface grows rapidly because the soil there is the richest ; but the cause which produces this LOCUST Locust, RoHiiia pseiidacacia. Leaves 8' to 14' lung. LeaflL-ts 1' to 2' long, 3,_^' to t' broad. PEA FAMILY rapidity at first may retard the growth later ; fo. inless these spreading roots are allowed ample space on every side thev soon exhaust the soil within reach. On the other hand trees whose roots penetrate deep as well as wide grow more slowly and also more steadily, and other things be- ing equal attain the larger size. A smgle Locust, given a free hand and good soil, will soon produce a thicket; for the roots creeping along the upper layers of the soil send up numerous shoots which cpiickly set up in life for themselves. The fo- liage effect of such a thicket is most beautiful. The leaves are compound with delicate, dark green leaflets. New leaves are put forth until past midsummer and these being a light j-ellow green stand out against the dark background of the older leaves, giving the color effect of a mass of soft velvety greens of varied values. Then, too, the leaves respond to a light breeze so quickly, the leaf surface is so smooth, the leaf texture so fine, that the tree is always clean even in dusty places. Loudon reports that a plantation of locusts, Scotch pines, sycamores, limes, chestnuts, beeches, ashes, and oaks was made near Kensington, London, in 1S12 and that the trees were measured in 1827, when it was found that the locust had grown faster than any one kind of the other trees in the proportion of 27 to 22, and faster than the average of them in the proportion of 27 to 18. But this was a case where the race was not to the swift, for at the end of forty years the locusts had been over-topped and ultimately they were destroyed by the other trees. All the beauty of the Locust comes when it is in leaf ; the 100 Raceme of Locust Blossoms, LOCUST Fruit of Locust, Rohinia pseiidacacia. Pod 5' to 4' long. PEA FAMILY leafless tree is not beautiful. The trunk is often twisted, the branches are irreg-ular and twiggy, easily broken, and sc give the tree an unkempt, ragged appearance. This is an instance where the contour of the tree lias nothing to do with its beauty — the beauty lies in the color and disposition of the foliage itself. The young trees are armed with prickles, not thorns. The difference between these lies in the point of attachment. A prickle is part of the bark and will come off with it as do the prickles of the rose, while a thorn is part of the woody growth and belongs ti5 the ligneous tissue. The Locust begins in its third year to convert its sapwood into lieartwood, which is not done by the oak, the beech, or the elm, until after the tenth or fifteenth year. The leaflets fold together in wet weather, also at night ; some change of position at niglit is the habit of the entire leguminous fanhlv. This peculiaritv of the tree led a child to sa\', " It is not bed time, the locust tree has not begun its p raver." The name Locust is said to have been given to our liol'i- nia by the Jesuit missionaries, who fancied that this was the tree that sup-purtcd St. John in the wilderness. L.ut it is native only to North America. Tlie h.icust tree of Spain, which is also a native of Svria, is su|iposed to be the true locust of the Xew Testament ; the friht of this tree may be found in the shops under the name of St. J(jhn's bread. RoHiiia is now a Nh.)rth .\merican genus — but traces of i? are found in the eocene and miocene rocks of Europe. los CLAMMY LOCUST CLAMMY LOCUST Robinia viscosa. Usually a shrub five or six feet high, but known to reach the height of forty feet in the mountains of North Carolina with the habit of a tree. Commonly cultivated at the north for the beauty of its flowers. Bark. — Smooth, dark brown tinged with red. Branchlets dark reddish brown covered with dark gl.indular hairs which exude a clammy sticky substance ; later, these become bright red brown, and sticky, finally they turn light brown and become dry. Wood. — Light brown ; heavy, hard, close-grained. Sp. gr., 0.8094; weight of cu. ft., 50.44 lbs. Winter Buds . — Small, naked, in groups, sunk in the scars of the fallen leaves, protected by a scale lined with tomentum ; do not L'-ppear until spring. Leaves . — Alternate, pinnately compound, seven to twelve inches long ; petiole stout and dark, slightly enlarged at base. Leaflets thirteen to twenty-one, oblong, an inch and a half to two inches long, rounded or wedge-shaped at base, entire, rounded and mu- cronate at apex. Feather-veined ; midrib and primary veins as well as the secondary petioles covered with soft hairs. They come out of the bud yellow green covered with soft, silky, white down, when full grown are dark green, smooth above, pale green and downy beneath. In autumn they turn a clear pale yellow. The stipules are long, slender, sometimes fall, sometimes develop into slender spines. Each leaflet has a minute stipcl which quickly falls, and a short petiole. Flo'd'ers. — June. Perfect, pale rose colored, papilionaceous, borne in crowded, oblong, clammy, hairy racemes, slightly fragrant. Pedi- cels developed from the axils of dark red bracts, which extend be- yond the flower buds and fall as the flowers open. Calyx. — Campanulate, five-toothed, darlv red, hairy, valvate in bud. Corolla. — Papilionaceous, rose or flesh colored, standard narrow with a pale yellow blotch on the inner surface, wings broad. Petals inserted on a tubular disk. Stamens. — Ten, diadelphous, nine in one group, one alone. An- thers two-celled; cells opening longitudinally. Pistil. — Ovary superior, linear-oblong, stipitate, one-celled ; style recurved; ovules several, two-ranked. Fruit. — Legume, many seeded, about three inches long, narrow, winged, glandular-hispid, tipped with the remnnnts of the style. Seeds five to nine, dark reddish brown, mottled. Cotyledons oval, fleshy. 103 PEA FAMILY Robinia viscosa, which appears to be one i.>f the rarest of all our trees, was not seen growing wild in the forests of the southern Alleghany Mountains from the time of iMichaux until 1S82, when it was redisco\-ered h\ Mr. John Donnell Smith near Highlands, Macon Count\', Xorth Carolina, co\*ering a rocky slope known as Buzzard -"idge at an ele\"ation of tour tiiousand five liundred feet abo\e the sea-level, and growing as a shrul:i with stems onl\" a lew feet higli. It lias not been seen in any other locality growing wild. Banram and .Michai x speak of it as a tree forty feet high, audit often attains that height. — Ch.^rles S. Sarge.nt. The Clamm}' Locust has alwaj's been a popular garden plant, because of its fine foliage and beautiful flowers. At least three beautiful varieties of it have been produced, A second crop of flowei's often appears in August from shoots developed early in the summer, on especiall}- vigorous young trees. REDBUD. JUDAS-TREE Ci'nis cajindi'nsis. Cercis is of Greek deri\'ation and refers to a fancied resemblance in the fruit to a weaver's implement of that name. Small tree, with a sturdy upright trunk whicli divides into stout branches that usually spread to form a broad flat head. Found on rich bottoiT. lands throughout the iSIississippi valley ; will grow in the shade and often becomes a dense undergrowth in the forest. \'ery abundant in Arkansas, Indian Territory, and eastern Texas. Hardy far north ; grows rapidly ; is a satisfactory ornamental tree. Bark. — Red brown, with deep fissures and scaly surface. Branch- lets at first lustrous brown, later become darker. Wood. — Dark reddish brown ; heavy, hard, coarse-grained, not strong. Sp. gr., 0.6363; weight of cu. ft., 39.65 lbs. IViiile'r Buds. — Ches'nut brown, obtuse, one-eighth inch long. Leaves. — Altti.ia.e, simple, heart-shaped or broadly ovate, two to five inches long, five to seven-nerved, cordate or truncate at base, entire, acute. They come out of the bud folded along the line of the midrib, tawny green, when full grown become smooth, dark green above, paler beneath. In autumn they turn bright clear yel- low. Petioles slender, terete, enlarged at the base. Stipules ca- ducous. 104 REDBUD Flowering Branch of Redbud, Ccrcis canadensis. PEA FAMILY Flowers. — April, May, before and with the leaves, papiHonaceoiis. Perfect, rose color, borne four to eight together, in fascicles which appear at the axils of the lca\es or afong the branch and sometimes on the trunk itself, Cd/vx. — Dark red, canipanulate, oblique, five-toothed, imbricate in bud. Corolla. — Papilionaceous, petals five, nearly equal, pink or rose color, upper petal the smallest, enclosed in the bud by the wings, and encircled by the broader keel petals. Stainrns. — Ten, inserted in two rows on a thin disk, free, the inner row rather shorter than the others. Pistil. — ' varv superior, inserted obliquely in the bottom of the calvx tub ifipitate ; style fleshy, incurved, tipped with an obtuse stigma. Fr///7.— Legume, slightly stipitate, unequally oblong, acute at each end. Compressed, tipped «'itli the remnants of the style, straight on upper and curied on lower edge. Two and a half to three inches long, rose color, full grown by midsummer, falls in earlv winter. Seeds ten to twehe, chestnut brown, one-fourth of an inch long ; cotyledons oval, flat. A tree as large as an apple tree and having something of the same habit, covered with tin\r rose colored pea-like blos- soms from the crown of its leafless head to its trmik, is an astonishing sight even to one accustomed to observe the wonders of vegetable life. Such is the Redbtul, a low tree with a flat spreading head, growing from Canada to Virginia in the low lands, and dividing the honors of early spring with the .Sliad Btish and the Dogwood. These flowers which ap- pear before the leaves, are small, borne in clusters along the branch except at the very end and sometimes on the trunk itself. The normal place for flowers to appear is in the axils of the leaves, and when bright, beautiful, rosy blossoms break forth from the bark oi old branches or from the very trunk, the fact requires explanation. Manv have been offered and the one accepted is that they are produced year after vear from excrescences which correspond to the axils of ancient leaves and are composed of the remnants of the axes of ear- lier inflorescences which have gradually united and formed a more or less prominent mass. Whatever the explanation 1 06 REDBUD Redbud, Cercis cJiudciisis. Leaves 2' to 5' long. PEA FAMILY may be, the fact remains that such bUissoms may and do an- nually appear on this tree. These pretty blossoms have a very pleasant acid taste and are succeeded by flat, many- seeded pods that reach full size in .\fay, when they become bright rose color, finallv becoming' brown ; they hang upon the tree until early winter. Many trees, however, are sterile, the blossoms falling without producing any fruit. The leaves come out from the bud carefully doubled at the line of the midrib and bent upon the petiole. Tliev are five to seven-nerved, that is, instead of the midrib being the prin- cipal line of the woody structure of the leaf, there come out at the base five or six ribs almost as large as the central or midrib. This kind of venation always makes a leaf broad at the base. Sometimes these primary ribs extend away from the apex, then the leaf is very likely to be lobed as are the maples, but in the Redbud the points curve toward the apex and the result is an entire, heart-shaped leaf. Why should this beautiful creature be called Judas-tree ? Our native tree is very like the species which is common in Europe, in Japan, in Asiatic Turkev and especially in Judea. In the days when legends gathered about whatever was un- usual in nature, this tree glowing red in the spring time was said to blush because Judas hanged himself upon it. The old world name has crossed the ocean and our prettv Red- bud, blo.oming in the heart of a continent unknown to that ancient world, bears in every book the blistering name of Judas-tree. The type is ancient and the genus has existed in Europe almost as at present from the eocene perioil. A white va- riety is recorded but has not become common. loS KENTUCKY COFFEE-TREE KENTUCKY COFFEE-TREE. STUMP-TREE GviN nSihuiiis (/i oil US. GvnniOiladns is of Greek derivation and refers to the stout branches destitute of spray. Widely distribtited, but rare. Not found in New England, but ranging from New York to Arkansas and Indian Territory. Prefers bottom lands, and a rich moist soil. Varies from seventy-five to one hundred feet high with a trunk two or three feet in diameter which usually separates ten or fifteen feet from the ground into three or four divisions which spread slightly and form a narrow pyramidal head ; or when crowded by other trees, sending up one tall central branchless shaft to the height of fifty or seventy feet. Branches stout, pithy, and blunt ; roots fibrous. Bark. — Dark gray, deeply fissured, surface scaly. Branchlets at first coated with short reddish down. Wood. — Light brown ; heavy, strong, coarse-grained, durable in contact with the ground, takes a fine polish. Sp. gr., 0.6934; weight of cu. ft., 43.21 lbs. Winter Buds. — Minute, depressed in downy cavities of the stem, two in the axil of each leaf, the smaller sterile. Bud scales two, ovate, coated with brown tomentum and growing with the shoot, be- come orange green, hairy and about one inch long, before they fall. Leaves. — Alternate, bi-pinnately compound, ten to fourteen pin- nate, lowest pinnEe reduced to leaflets, the others seven to thirteen foliate. One to three feet long, eighteen to twenty-four inches broad, by the greater development of the upper pairs of pinnae. Leaf stalks and stalks of pinnae, are terete, enlarged at base, smooth when ma- ture, pale green, often purple on the upper side. Leaflets ovate, two to two and one-half inches long, wedge-shaped or irregularly rounded at base, with wavy margin, acute ape.\. They come out of the bud bright pink, but soon become bronze green, smooth and shining above. When full grown are dark yellow green above, pale green beneath. In autumn turn a bright clear yellow. Stipules leaf-life, lanceolate, serrate, deciduous. Flowers. — June. Dioecious by abortion, terminal, greenish white. Staminate flowers in a short raceme-like corymb three to four inches long , pistillate flowers in a raceme ten to twelve inches long. Caly.x. — Tubular, hairy, ten-ribbed, five-lobed ; lobes valvate in bud, acute, nearly equal. Corolla. — Petals five, oblong, hairy, spreading or reflexed, imbri- cate in bud. 109 PEA FAMILY Stamens. — Ten, five long and five short, free, included ; filaments thread-like; anthers orange colored, i'ltrorse ; in the pislillate flower small and sterile. Pistil. — Ovary superior, sessile, hairy, contracted into a short style, with two stigmatic lobes ; ovules in two lows. Fruit. — Legume, six to ten inches long, one and one-half to two inches wide, somewhat curved, with thickened margins, dark reddish brown with slight glaucous bloom, crowned with remnant of ilie styles. Stalks an inch or two long. Seeds six to nine, surrounded by a thick layer of dark, sweet pulp. When Kcntuck)- was first settled by the ad\-enturous pioneers froin the Atlnn- tic states who commenced their career in the primeval wiiderness, almost with- out the necessaries of lite, e.xeept as they produced them from the fertile soil, they fancied that they had discovered a substitute for coffee in the seeds ol this tree ; and accordingly the name of Coffee-tree was bestowed upon it. But when communication was established with the sea-ports, they gladl\ relinquished their Kentucky beverage ior the more grateful flavor of the Indian berry ; and n use is at present made of it in that manner. — A. J. Downing. This is another of the soliiary trees of our flora. It grows north as far as JNIontreal and south to the limits of Arkansas, nevertheless one may be a student of forest trees many years ere one finds the Kentucky Coffee-tree growing on its nati\e hills. In p 1 e a s u 1 e grounds it is not uncom- mon, since it is often planted because of its unitjue appearance and interesting character. Like the Simiach it is wliolly destitute of fine spray, its smaller branches are thick, blunt, clumsy and lumpish. Other trees lose their leaves but along their twigs and branchlets are borne the buds, the hope and the promise of the coming year. But the GxinnoLlaJiis seems so destitute of these, that the French in Canada named it Cliicot, the dead tree. Even when spring comes it gives no apparent recog- nition of light and warmth until nearly every other tree is no Pistill.^le and Sl.^minate Flowers of Kentucti' long. FEA FAMILY in full leaf. The casual observer savs it bears no winter buds, but he is mistaken, a tin\' pair, so minute that the_y are detected onlv bv careful searching, wrapped in down and wool, lie sleeping in the axil of every last vear's leaf. One is foredoomed lo die, but the c">ther, if the lates agree, will grow and develop a tuft of great leaves which wdl transform the dead stump into a living tree. The leaves of the Kentuckv Coffee-tree are doublv com- pound and are often three feet long and two feet broad. This form of leaf is not unusual among herbs, but is rare among forest trees. In our norlheim flora there are but three examples, the Kentucky Coffee-tree, the Hcmev lA^^cust, and the Hercules' Club. Notwithstanding the size of the leaves the tree is sparingly clothed and the foliage effect is scanty ; indeed, it has been said of il that the leaves filter the light rather than cast a shadow. The expanding leaves are conspicuous because of the varied colors of the leaflets ; the youngest are bright pink, while those which are older vary from green to bronze. HONEY LOCUST. HONEY SHUCKS Gh'ditsiii tiiiiidutJios. Glcditsia commeniMrates the labors of Gleditsch, a botanist con- temporary with l.iiina_-us. A tree usually fifty to seventy-fi\e feet liish, with stout sturdy trunk, slender spreading often pendulous branches forming a broad fiat top. Native to the .Mississippi valley, it has become naturalized in New England. Is tolerant of many soils, but in the bottom lands of southern Indiana and Illinois attains the astonishing proportions of one hundred and forty feet in height with a trunk si.\ feet in diameter. Roots thick and fibrous, trtmk and branches spinw Bark — Dark, deeply fissured, surface covered by small scales. Branchlets light reddish brown at fii'st, later grayish brown. Wood. — Red 1>rown ; hard, strong, coarse-grained, durable in con- tact with the ground. .Sp. gr., 0.6740 ; weight of cu. ft., 42.00 lbs. 112 HONEY LOCUbT Honey Locust, Gleditsia tiiacanlhos. Leaves 7' to 8' long. Leaflets ij-^' to 2' long. FEA FAMILY U'hi/t-r Buds. — Minute, three or four together, upper one largei than the others. Spine bud minute, abo\e the axil of the leaf and embedded in the bark. Leaves. — Alternate, pinnately or bi-pinnately compound, seven to eight inches long, main stem grooved, enlarged at the base, eigh- teen to twenty foliate ; sometimes bi-pinnate with four to seven pairs of pinns, upper pair often four or five inches long, lowest often single leaflets. Leaflets lanceolate-oblong, one and one-half to two inches long, rather unequal at base, crenulate-serrate, slightly rounded at apex. They come out ot the bud reddish, when full grown are dark green and shining on upper surface, dull yellow green beneath. In autumn they turn a clear pale yellow. Flowtrs. — Alay. June. Polygamo-dicecious, regular, small, green- ish. Staminate flowers in short, many-flowered racemes, two to two and one half inches long. Pistilhite in slender, few-flowered, solitary racemes, two and one-half to three inches long. Caly.x. — Campanulate, fi\-e-lobed, hairy. Corolla. — Petals five, greenish, imbricate in bud. Stamens. — Five, hairy, exserted ; filaments slender, anthers green. Pistil. — Ovary superior, stipitate, one-celled, woolly ; style short ; stigma dilated, rudimentary in the staminate tlower ; ovules sev- eral. Fruit. — Legumes, twelve to eighteen inches long, dark brown, slightly curved, borne in short racemes, walls thin and tough, inner coat papery, contain quantity of sweet pulp between the seeds. In drying they twist, fall in early winter. Seeds twelve to fourteen, oval, flattened. The foliage of the Honey Locust is that of the common Locust etherealized. There are the same varied values in its greens, the same velvety effects in the mass, but the effect as a whole is lighter, more delicate, more beautiful, for the leaves are doubly pinnate instead of singly pinnate, the leaf- lets are smaller and the tree itself not being subject to at- tacks of insects oftener attains its normal proportions. The most striking peculiarity of the Honey Locust is its thorns, and these thorns are of a very aggressive type. Many trees are literally covered, trunk and branches, with spines from two to six inciies long, sometimes in clusters, often tliree pronged or compound, very sharp and rigitl, making a most formidable defence against the attacks of man or beast. The origin of spines or prickles is always interesting. The thorns 114 HONEY LOCUST of Robinia psi'iiJacaLia, the common Locust, are developetl from the most innocent-looking stipules, and always remain attached to tlie bark. But the spines of tlie Honey Locust have their origin in a spine bud wliich forms usually an inch above the axil of the leaf in which the normal buds are formed. These buds also form on the trunk or, formed when the stem was young, remain dormant on the trunk un- til stimulated into life by some means, when they push through the thick bark and develop as spines. They are in fact undeveloped branches, branches that have failed of their normal growth of leaf and bud and flower and have become simply spines, aggressive, offensive, maybe defensive spines. All deciduous trees produce upon occasion or hold in reserve adventitious buds. The sprouts that force their way through the thick bark of stumps after the trunk has been cut down are produced by adventitious buds, long dormant but now stimulated to unusual growth. The waving twigs that feather the trunk of many an elm tree have the same genesis. The Honey IjOCust frequently becomes a picturesque tree, the trunk becomes twisted and the branches e.xtend horizon- tally. The leaves appear late in the spring and fall early in autumn, which is always an objection to an ornamental tree. Unlike the Locust its flowers are inconspicuous. The long, flat, pendulous pods, hang in clusters from the branches, and the sweet pulp that surrounds the seed gives the tree its common name. These pods contract in drying and so twist and curl that they are easily rolled by the wind some distance from the parent tree. Nature, like a careful mother, has many devices to aid her children, and when she does not give her seeds wings to soar with the wind, or prickles to cling to the passer-by, she sometimes provides in the seed vessel a means by which at least it may roll itself into a home of its own. The Honey Locust has many qualities to recommend it as an ornamental tree. It grows rapidly, is tolerant of many soils, is hardy and ver}- free from insects' attacks. It can ■Nourish under the adverse conditions of city life and is often PEA FAMILY planted in the western states along country roads. It has also been used most successfully as a hetlge plant. The genus G/cJitsia is found in America, Africa, and Asia but not at present in Europe, although in the tertiary period it existed there. YELLOW-WOOD. VIRGILIA Cladrdstis lutca Rarest of the trees of eastern North America. Found principally on the limestone clifls of Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina, but is hardy at the north and rather extensively cultivated. It likes a rich moist soil, attains the height of fifty feet, the trunk is very apt to divide into two or three stems, which with slender, wide spreadmg, pendulous branches form a graceful head. Roots fibrous, branches brittle. Bark. — Smooth gray, or light brown. Branchlcts at first downy, but soon become smooth, light brownish green ; later red brown, finally dark brown. Wood. — Yellow to pale brown ; heavy, hard, close-grained and strong. Sp. gr., 0.6278 ; weight of cu. ft., 39.12 lbs. Winter Buds. — Four in a group, making a tiny cone and inclosed in the hollow base of the petiole. Leaves. — .■\lternate, pinnately compound, eight to twelve inches long, mam stem stout, enlarged at base. Leaflets se\'en to eleven, broadly oval, three to four mches long. Wedge-shaped at base, entire, acute, terminal leaflets rhomboid-ovate. Feather-veined, midrib and primary \'eins prominent, groo\"ed above, light yellow beneath. They come out of the bud pale green, downy ; when full grown are dark green above, pale beneath. In autumn they turn a bright clear yellow. Flowers. — June. Perfect, papilionaceous, white, borne in droop- ing terminal panicles twelve to fourteen inches long, five to si.\ inches broad, slightly fragrant. Caly.x. — Canipanulate, five-lobed, enlarged on the upper side. Corolla. — Papilionaceous; standard broad, white, marked on the inner surface with a pale yellow blotch ; wings oblong ; keel petals free. Stamens. — Ten, free ; filaments thread-like. 116 YELLOW-WOOD Yellow-wood, Ctadastris lutea. Leaves 8' to 12' long. Leaflets 3' to 4' long PEA FAMILY Pistil. — Ova.r\ superior, linear, bright red. hairy, bearing a long incurved style. Fruit. — Legume, smooth, linear-compressed, tipped with the rem- nants of the styles. Seeds four to si.\, dark brown. Yellow-wood is recommended as reallv one of the best medium sized trees for cultivation. The only objection that is mentioned is a tendency of the trunk to divide very near the ground. The autumnal coloring of the leaves is a par- ticularly clear bright yellow. Ii8 ROSACE.E— ROSE FAMILY CANADA PLUM. RED PLUM Pi'unus ti)^i'a A small tree twenty feet in height, dividing five or six feet from the ground into a number of stout upright branches which form a rigid head. Prefers alluvial soil. Ranges from Newfoundland through the St. Lawrence valley to Manitoba. By cultivation is naturalized in parts of Michigan, northern New England and north- ern New York. Bark. — Gray brown, outer layer comes off in thick plates. Branch- lets are bright green at first, later become dark brown tinged with red. Wood. — Bright red brown ; heavy, hard, strong and close-grained. Sp. gr., 0.6918 ; weight of cu. ft., 43. 17. Winter Buds. — Chestnut brown, acuminate, one-eighth to one- fourth of an inch long. Scales of flower buds grow with the expand- ing flowers and become pale green tinged with pink. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, oblong-ovate or obovate, three to five inches long, one and a half to three inches broad, wedge-shaped or slightly heart-shaped or rounded at base, doubly crenulate-serrate, abruptly contracted to a narrow point at the apex, feather-veined, midrib conspicuous. They come out of the bud convolute, downy, slightly tinged with red, when full grown arc smooth, bright green above, paler beneath. Petioles stout, bearing two large dark glands. Stipules lanceolate or three to five-lobed, early deciduous. Flowers. — May, before the lea\es. Perfect, white, slightly fra- grant, borne in three to four-flowered umbels, with short thick pe- duncles. The pedicels of the blossoms are slender and dark red. Caly.x. — Conic, dark red, five-lobed ; lobes acute, finally reflexed, glandular, smooth on the inner surface, imbricate in bud. Corolla. — Petals five, inserted on the calyx tube, white, turning pink in fading, margin more or less erose, ovate, rounded, with short claws, imbricate in bud. ROSE FAMILY 5Ar«;t7/,f. — Fifteen to twenty, inserted on the calyx tube ; filaments thread-like : anthers purplish, introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally. Pistil. — Ovarv one, superior, in the bottom of cahx tube, one- celled ; ovules two. Fruit. — Drupe, oblong-oval, an inch to an inch and a quarter long with a tough, thick, orange red skin, free from bloom, yellow flesh adherent to the stone. Stone oval, compressed. August, Sep- tember. Cotvledons thick and fleshy. The Canada Plum is a northern tree, which is distributed through the vallev of the St. Lawrence and westward as far as Lake Manitoba ; its range e.Ktends southward into New- England, New York, and the nortli-western states. It is found in the neighborhood of streams in rich alluvial soil and along the borders of the forest. The tree is small and its branches are very stiff and rigid. The)' have a fashion in their second year of putting out branchlets "which are spines, to all intents and purposes, though they become leafy. Whoever plaved when a child under a wild plum tree will always remember the " lnjUow green plums " that frequently hung on tlie branches or were scattered over tlie ground in May. They were of full size, pale green, leathery to the touch and hollow, with the exception of a few fibrous bands. They were, indeed, a puzzle to childish eyes, but later we learned that they are caused by a fungus and that they are called plum pockets. This disease also attacks cultivated plums ; the young ovaries, just after the fruit sets, swell, often reach the size of full grown plums, become hollow and soon fall to the ground. The fruit of the Canada Plum is sold in large quantities in the markets of Canada and the northern states ; it is eaten raw or cooked and is made into preserves and jellies. The Pniitus aiiin-icaim, or \Vild Plum, is a southern rather than a northern tree. Beginning fiom middle New Jer- sey and central New York its range extends westward to the foot-hills of the Rockies and southward to the mountains of Me.xico. It has been very generally confounded with P. CANADA PLUM Fruiting Spray of Canada Plum, Primus mgra. Leaves 3' to 5' long, 1%' to }' broad. ROSE FAMILY fn'gra or Canada Plum. The fruit is smaller, rounder than that of the Canada Plum and bright red in color. Many cul- tivated varieties have been derived from tliis species, as it quickly responds to the gardener's care ; it also forms an ex- cellent stock upon whicli to graft the domestic plum. Professor Sargent says of this tree, " As an ornamental plant P. aiiii-ru'ana has real value ; the long wand-like branches form a wide, graceful head which is handsome in winter and in spring is covered with masses of pure white flowers followed by ample bright foliage and abundant showy fruit." Exudations of gum from the bark of plum and cherry trees area very common sight. This is generally known as Cherry gum and is a characteristic of the Primus genus. As it first appears it is licpiid and colorless, but with exposure to the air it hardens and becomes dark, A\'hen dry it is brittle, with an insipid, sweet or astringent flavor. The wild plums have been found to be the hosts of the Hop-aphis which is so destructive to the hops just at the time of their maturity and as a consequence it has been recom- mended that all plum trees in the vicinity of hop fields should be cut down. WILD RED CHERRY. BIRD CHERRY A rapid-growing short-li\ed tree with bitter aromatic bark and leaves, thirtv to forty feet in height, regular slender branches which form a narrow head more or less rounded at the summit ; often in the north a shrub only. Roots hl)rous. Common throughout the northern states ; prefers a rich moist soil ; reaches its greatest size on the mountains of Tennessee and often occupies large areas after they have been cleared by fire of their original forests. Will grow in exposed locations. Bark. — Dark, red brown, conspicuously marked with lenticels, smooth and polished on young stems and branches, but on older trunks separates horizontally into broad papery plates. Branchlets 122 WILD RED CHERRY Fruiting Brancli of Wild Red Cherry, Pniinis peiinsjlvanica. Leaves 3' to 5' long. Cherries |i' in diameter. ROSE FAMILY light red and lustrous, finally red brown. They develop in their second year spur-like branchlets. Wood. — Light brown, sapwood pale yellow ; light, soft, close- grained. Sp. gr., 0.5023 ; weight of cu. ft., 31.30 lbs. ll'iu/i'r Buds. — Brown, small, acute, often aggregated. Li-avi's. — Alternate or in pairs, simple, oblong-lanceolate, three to five inches long, three-quarters of an inch to an inch broad, wedge- shaped or rounded at liase, serrate, acute or acuminate. Feather veined. They come out of tlie bud conduplicate and bronze green ; when full grown are bright lustrous green above, paler beneath. In autumn they turn a bright yellow. Petioles slender, grooved, smooth or hairy, often glandular aljove the middle. Stipules acuminate, serrate and early deciduous. FUnvL-rs. — May, when leaves are half grown. Perfect, white, one- half inch across, borne on slender pedicels in four or five-flowered umbels, generally clustered, two or three together. Caly.x. — Campanulate, smooth, five-lobed ; lobes obtuse, tipped with red, finally reflexed, imbricate in bud. Corolla. — Petals five, cream-white, one-fourth of an inch long, nearly orbicular, with shoit claws, inserted on the caly.x tube. Stamens. — Fifteen to twenty, inserted on calyx cup ; filaments thread-like, smooth ; anthers introrse, two-celled ; cells opening lon- gitudinally. Pis/il. — Ovary one, superior, set in the calyx cup, smooth, one- celled ; style filiform ; stigma capitate ; ovules two. Fruit. — Drupe, globular, one-fourth of an inch in diameter, tipped with remnants of the style, light red with thin skin and sour ilesh, July. Stone oblong ; cotyledons thick and fleshy. The ease with which tiie seeds of Priniwi pcinnyh'aii'uii are clisseininated by birds and mountain streams, their \'itality and power of i^Laanination in soil where tlie upper layers ot^ liumus have been destroyed tiy fire, anrl the r,3pid growth of the voung plants, which soon form a covering for longer-li\'ed trees, constitiUe the chief \'ahic and interest of this [ilant, which in the northern part of the country east of the mid-continental plateau, has plajad an important part in the reproduct'on and preservation of the forests. — Gat den and Forest. The range fjf the Wild RetJ Cherry is northern, it rarely goes south and then only by way of the mountain tops. In its best estate the tree is fifty feet high, but ordinarily it is much smaller and it often constitutes the bulk of the un- dergrowth of a forest. It bears the reddish l)rowii, shining bark characteristic of all the cherries, which peels off in hor- izontal strips which is also a characteristic of the cherries. 124 CHOKE CHERRY It loves ravines and rocky woods, will grow and flourish directly on the southern shore of Lake Erie, taking " Free- dom's northern wind " all winter without the slightest detri- ment to its well-being. It blooms profusely in early spring before the leaves are very much in evidence ; the tiny wdiite blossoms are borne in clusters of five to eight-flowered umbels, and fairly cover the tree. The shining green leaves are thickly set upon the spray making a denser foliage than that of the Black Cherry, and by the middle of July all the branches of a fruiting tree are so covered with clusters of berries as to make it as a whole look red. They do not remain long, however, for the birds love them, sour as they are, and carry them away in a few days. When midsummer comes the leaves frequently take the poise of the peach leaf, curving in at the edges and drooping curved from the branch. CHOKE CHERRY, WILD CHERRY Fyuniis znr^^irnana. A shrub throughout the north, only becoming a tree in the south- western part of the United States. Bark. — Dark brown, slightly fissured. Branchlets at first Hght brown or reddish green, later they become darker brown tinged with red, and finally dark brown ; outer layer of bark separates easily in horizontal bands from the inner. Inner bark has a disagreeable odor. Wood. — Light brown ; heavy, hard, close-grained. Sp. gr. ,0.6951 ; weight of cu. ft., 43.32 lbs. Winter Buds. — Chestnut brown, acute or obtuse. Inner scales enlarge when spring growth begins, and often become an inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, oval, two to four inches long, one to two inches broad, wedge-shaped, or rounded at base, serrate, acuminate. Feather-veined. They come out of the bud conduplicate, pale, hairy ; when full grown are bright green above, paler beneath. In autumn they turn yellow. Petioles grooved, slender, two glands near the apex, sometimes many-glandular. Stipules lanceolate, acute, serrate, early deciduous. 125 ROSE FAMILY Flowers. — May, after the leaves. Fertect, white, borne in a many flowered raceme, three to six inches long, one-half to one-third of an inch in diameter. Calyx. — Cup-shaped, five-lobed ; lobes, short, obtuse, reflexed, deciduous. 6>ni//,r. — Petals five, wliite, orbicular, with short claws, inserted on the calyx tube, imbricate in bud. Stamens. — Fifteen to twenty, inserted on calyx tube ; style short, thick ; stigma broad. Pistil.— O^^LX-j one, superior, at the base of the calyx tube ; ovules two. Fruit. — Drupe, globular, dark red, or nearly black, or yellow, with shining skin, dark red flesh. In taste astringent, though there is much difference in the product of different bushes. Stone oblong- ovate ; cotyledons thick and fleshy. The Cherrie trees yeeld great store of cherries which grow on clusters like grapes; they 1)6 much smaller than our English Cherrie, nothing neare so good if they be not very ripe ; they so furred the mouth that the tongue will cleave to the roofe, and the throate was horse with swallowing those red IBuUies (as 1 may call them), being little better in taste. English ordering may bring them to be an English Cherrie. but yet they are as wilde as the Indians. — Wood. " New England's Prospects." Our early writer seems to have learned all there is to know about Choke Cherries, and ever)' one whose childhood was spent in New England or the middle states has had a similar experience. Such an one would never think of the Choke Cherry as a tree. 'I'o him it is always a bush, a bush of varying height growing by creek and river side, in fence corners, at the edge of thickets, and bearing long clusters of berries of different degrees of harshness and astringency. But in that wonderful region round about Nebraska, north- ern Te.xas and Indian Territory where every vegetable creat- ure with the slightest aspirations toward treehood seems able to gratify thein, our humble Choke Cherry stretches its stem, lengthens its branches and becomes a tree. There is, however, no record that by growing larger it has grown better, the fruit is stiU harsh and astringent, loved, indeed, by the birds, but forsaken by the children wiien they can get anything better. It is recorded, tliat in the early days the Indians of the north and west and central p.'^rt of the 126 CHOKE CHERRY Fruiting Spray of Choice Clierry, Piiuiin virgiiiiana. Leaves 2' tu 4' lung, 1' to 2/ broad. ROSE FAMILY continent prized it highly, and that it was to them an im- portant article of food. However, the Choke Cherry has recently come into ex- tensive cultivation on the clav flats bordering the Richelieu anil St. Lawrence Rivers in the prcivince of (Quebec. It is cultivated mosth' in tree form and the fruit varies greatly, not onlv in size and color but also in degree of astringency. Professor Sargent savs : " This is the most widely dis- tributed North American tree. It is fciund within the arctic circle, ranging across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, it extends southward until it reaches the Gulf states and northern Mexico." All our wild cherries and plums carrv with them a menace to the health and well-being of cultivated cherries and plums. For all are subject to a disease native to this continent, known as Black Knot. Tills wartv excrescence was formerly sup- posed to be caused bv insects, but it is now known to be the result of a fungus whicli attacks the tree and the disease easilv passes from the native to the cultivated species. In manv districts it is now impossible to grow cherries and plums because of it. The Choke Clierrv is especiallv sub- ject to its attack, and this makes the tree a dangerous neigii- bor to orchards of cultivated fruit. BLACK CHERRY Pruiuis s^rcfiiui A tree with a stout sturdy trunk, spreading branches and round head, sometimes a narrow oblong head. Usually forty to hfty feet high, but on the slopes of the southern Alleghanies reaches the lieitjht of one hundred feet. Prefers a rich moist soil, but will grow on light sandy soil, and will also endure the winds of the sea-shore. Gro»s rapidly. Widely distributed by the birds. Bark. — On old trunks blackish and rough, broken into small irreg- ular roundish plates; on young trunks and large limits smooth and shining, red brown marked with scattered lines and sometimes sepa- rating into horizontal bands which curl at the edges. Branchlets 12S BLACK CHERRY Fruiting Branch of Black Cherry, Pniiiiis serotina. Leaves z' to 5' long. Cherries Y^' to ^' in diameter. ROSE FAMILY pale green or reddish green and smooth, lenticuhir, later reddish brown, finally become red brown or yra\- brown. Inntr b.irk lias a pleasant and aromatic odor, bitter and aromatic to the taste. ll'ood. — Light brown or red. darkening with cNposm'c ; light, strong, close-grained, susceptible of a fine polish. 01 great \alue in cabinet work and interior finish of houses, now becoming scarce. Sp. gr., 0.5S2; ; weight of cu. it., 36. ;S lbs. W'iiitir Buds. — Chestnut brown, obtuse, one-halt to two-thirds ot an inch long. When spring growth begins the inner scales enlarge and become one-half to two-thirds of an inch in length. Lidvcs. — .Alternate, simple, oblong to lanceolate-oblong, two to five inches long, an inch to an inch and a b.all broad, wedge-sb.iped or rounded at base, serrate, edges otten crinkled, gr.idually acumi- nate or rarely rounded at apex. Fcather-\eined. midrib grooved above, prominent beneath. priinar\- \eins slender. They come out of the bud conduplicate, reddish green; when lull grown are deep shining green abo\e. p. tier beneath: in autumn the_\' turn a clear bright yellow. Petioles slender, terete, often marked with dark red glands. Stijiules caducous. FloiL'crs. — May, June, when lea\"es are halt grow n. I'eiiect. white, about one-fourth of an inch across, borne in narrow, man)-llowered racemes three to four inches long. Caly.x. — Cup-shaped tube, hve-lobed, lobes obtuse, refie.xed, per- sistent, imbricate in bud. Corolla. — Petals fi\-e, white, oboxate. inserted on the calyx tube, imbricate in bud. Stanicns. — Fifteen to twenty, inserted on the calyx tube with the petals; filaments thread-like; anthers introrse, two-celled; cells opening longitudinally. Pistil. — Ovary superior, one, set in the bottom of the calyx tube ; stigma thick, club-shaped. Fi'uil . — Drupe, depressed-globular, one-third to one-half inch in diameter, shining black skin, dark purpile juicy tlesh. Calyx lobes persistent on the fruit. August, September. Stone oblong-ovate ; cotyledons thick and fleshy. Wild cherry, they grow in clusters like gr.ipcs, of the same big-ucss, blackish red when ripe, and of a liarsh taste. — JciSsELYX. " New England Rarities." Pniniis scrotiiia is very generally known because of its cher- ries. These cherries are flattened juicv globes the size of large peas, with a shining bkick skin and dark purple flesh ; borne in a soniewdiat straggling r;icenie. When ripe thev are sliglitlv bitter with a pleasant vinous Ibivor and from the standpoint of one who ate them in childhood delicious, ^\'hen 130 BLACK CHERRY ^-^I'lfVS^A^ rv--/''^-*'^'*^ Trunk of Black Cherry, Pniiiiis seroliiia. ROSE FAMILY macerated and soaked in rum or brandv they give to the liquor a peculiar and agreeable flavor, making what is known as Cherrv Bounce. This flavor is due to a principle called amygdalin, found also in laurel leaves, bitter almonds, peach and plum stones, which under tiie action of a ferment breaks up into grape sugar, oil of bitter almonds, and hvdrocvanic or prussic acid. This active principle exists in very many of the I^i?sdi\\r, notablv in Pruiius caroliiiiaiia, a southern ever- green species which is extensivelv used in the south as a hedge plant. It is there against the law to throw the prun- ings of this plant into the street or where thev may be eaten bv cattle. Ijirds in fact have been known to be overcome by a too greedy consumption of black cherries. The bark of the Black Cherrv is bitter and aromatic and held a large place among the home remedies of an earlier generation. The flowers are small, closelv set by short stems in a sim- ple raceme. Tlie ceiiti'al axis is erect or curved upward in flowering, which begins at llie bottom ; afterward it bends with the weight of the fruit. Only a small proportion of the flowers prdduce fruit. The tree is large and sturdy with a spreading handsome head, and may be easily knowui by its smooth, shining, red- dish brown branches, for oulv the trunk becomes rough, and in young trees that is smooth. The spray is slender and pendulous. The smooth shining leaves are set alternately and rather close together, and often in midsummer heat thev assume the poise of the ash and at a distance when onlv part of the tree can be seen it mav easily be mistaken for an ash. The lilack Ciierry grows very rapidl\-, often adding an inch a year to its diameter. The wood is firm, close-grained, of a light red, darkening with age. It takes a hue polish and when perfectly seasoned will not slirink or warp, and is much used in the manufacture of furniture. 132 CRAB APPLE CRAB APPLE. FRAGRANT CRAB Vyrus ti'iviiilria Pyyus is the classical name of the pear tree, which \A'as adopted by Linnaeus for this genus. Often a bushy shrub with rigid, contorted branches but frequently becomes a small tree with a broad open head. Prefers rich moist soil ; is most abundant in the middle and western states, reaches its greatest size in the valleys of the lower Ohio basin. Bark. — Reddish brcnvn, longitudinally fissured, with surface sepa- rating in narrow scales. Branchlets at first coated with thick white tomentum, later they become smooth reddish brown ; tliey develop in their second year long, spur-like branches and sonietimes absolute thorns an inch or more m length. Wood. — Reddish brown, sapwood yellow; heavy, close-grained, not strong. Used for the handles of tools and small domestic arti- cles. Sp. gr., 0.704S ; weight of cu. ft., 43.92. I'Viiitcr Buds. — Bright red, obtuse, minute. Inner scales grow with the growing shoot, become half an inch long and bright red before they fall. Leaz'cs. — Alternate, simple, ovate, three to four inches long, one and one-half to two inches broad, obtuse, subcordate or .ic.le at base, incisely serrate, often three-lobed on vigorous shoots, .icute at apex. Feather-veined, midrib and primary veins grooved above, prominent beneath. They come out of the bud involute, red bronze, tomentose and downy ; when full grown are bright dark green above, paler beneath. In autumn they turn yellow. Petioles slender, long, often with two dark glands near the middle. Stipules filiform, half an inch long, early deciduous. Flouiers. — May, June, when leaves are nearly grown. Perfect, rose- colored, fragrant, one and one-half inch to two inches across. Borne in five or six-flowered umbels on slender pedicels. Calyx. — Urn-shaped, downy or tomentose, five-lobed ; lobes slen- der, acute, persistent, imbricate in bud. Corolla. — Petals five, rose colored, obovate, rounded above, with long narrow claws, undulate or crenulate at margin, inserted on the calyx tube, imbricate in bud. Stamens. — Ten to twenty, inserted on the calyx tube, shorter than the petals ; filaments bv a p.nrtial twist forming a tube narrowed in the middle and enlarged above ; anthers introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally. 133 ROSE FAMILY Pistil — Of ti\c carpels inserted in the bottom of the calyx tube and united into an interior ovary; stvlcs li\e; stigma capitate: ovules two in each cell. Fruit. — Pome or apple ripening in October. Depressed-globular, an inch to an inch ana a half m tlianieter, crowned with calvx lobes and remnant of tilaments ; yelknv green, delightfully fragrant, sur- face sometimes \\,ixy. 1- lesh white, tlelicate and chaiged with ma- lic acid. Seeds mo or. b\" abortion, one in each cell, chestnut brown shining; cc t_\ lei.lons fleshy. .As t! ajipic tree aiiKaig" the trees of the wood. So i; 111} bekned aii.ung the sons. — SCI.NG or SOLCi.MON. Kalni, who was one of the twehe men wlK-ni LJnn.X'tis called his apostles and sent forth to explore the \eL,'etalile world, writes thus from .\merica : " Crab-lrees are .r speeies of wild .iiiple-trees, which ytow in the woods and glades, but especiall\' e'U little hillocks, near ruers. In New Jersey the tree is rather scarce ; but in Tenii-^) 1\ ania it is pleiniftil. Se'iiie ]->eople had planted a single tree of this kind near their houses on aceiair.t of the fine smells which its flowers aftbrd. It had begun to open some of its flowers about a dav or two ago ; however, most of them were not yet open. The\- are exactly like the blos- soms of the common apple-trees except th.u the ctilor is a little more reddish in the Crab-trees ; thougli some kinds of the cidtivatetl trees have flowers which are very near as red; Init the smell distinguishes them plainly; tor the wild trees have a very pleasant smell, somewhat like the ras|iberry. "The a[:>j:iles. or eriibs, are biiinll. sour and unfit for an\ thing but to make x-ine- gar of. They lie umler the trees all winter and .let-juire a yellow color. They seldom begin to rot before sjiring comes on." 'When man emerges into bisttiry he has the apple in his hand and the clcig' by his side. \\'e ha\-e no reason to believe that tlie European or Asiatic fmbear from which the apple of civiliz;ition is ucsceiukal \v;is any less h;irsli in taste or any kirger in size th;in cmr own crab. Intleed. were all the apples of civilization swept out id' existence they coukl doubtless be regained bv the cultivatiiai of our n;itive tree. As it is, it stamls in all itswihl ;ind untraiued beauty, its greatest charm h'ing, as Kalm clearh' apprehended, in its rose-colored blos- simis, exquisite in tint ami deliciiuis in fragrance. Its flow- ering time is ten tlavs li"i iwo weeks latei' than tliat of the tlomcstic apple, and its fragrant fiaiit clings to the branches on clustered stems long after the leaves have fallen. 134 CRAB APPLE Fruiting Spray of Crab Apple, Prrriis Cnronaria. Leaves 3' to 4', Apple l' to I '2' in diameter. ROSE FAMILY MOUNTAIN ASH Pviiis a/'icn\'thiti A small tree which loves the north and climbs the high mountain ranges of Airginia and North Carolina, but does not cross the Rock- ies. Prefers a ncli moist soil and the borders of swamps, but will llourish on rock\- hillsides. Attains its largest size on the northern shores of Lakes Huron and Superior ; in the United States it is usu- aU_\' a shrub. Bar/:. — Light gray, smooth, surface scaly. Branchlets downy at first, later become smooth, brown tinged with red, lenticular, finally they become darker and the papery outer layer becomes easily sep- arable. Jl'ooif. — Pale brown ; light, soft, close-grained but weak. Sp. gr., 0.5451 ; Weight of cu. ft., 33.97 lbs. U'inltT Bii,is. — Hark red, acute, one-fourth to three-quarters of an inch long. Inner scales are \ery tomentose and enlarge with the growing shoot. Li\t7\-s. — .Mtern.ite. compound, unequ.illy pinnate, six to ten inches long. \\\i\\ slender. groo\ed. dark green or red petiole. Leaflets thuteen to seventeen, l.iiiceolate or long oval, two to three inches long, one-halt to two-tliirds broad, unequally wedge-shaped or rounded at base, serrate, acuminate, sessile, the terminal one some- times borne on a stalk half an inch long, feather-veined, midrib prominent Ijeiiealh. grooved above. They come out of the bud downy, conduplicate ; when full gro" n are smooth, dark vellow green above and paler beneath. In autumn they turn a clear yellow. Stipules leaf-like, caducous. FIoiL'ns. — May, June, after the leaves are full grown. Perfect, white, one-eighth ot an inch across, borne in tlat compound cvmes three or four inches across. Kracts and bractlets acute, minute, caducous. Ca/yx. — I'm-shaped, hairy, five-lobcd ; lobes, short, acute, im- bricate in bud. CoroH.j . — Petals five, creamy white, orbicular, contracted into short claws, insei'tcd on calyx, imbricate in bud. Stdiiii-ns. — Twenty to thirty, inserted on calyx tulie ; lilaments thread-like ; anthers introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longi- tudinally. Pistil — Two to three carpels inserted in the bottom of the calyx tube and united into an inferior ovary. Styles two to three; stig- mas capitate ; o\ ulcs two in each cell. 136 MOUNTAIN ASH Fruiting Spray of Mountain Ash, Prnis americaua. Leaves 6' to [c/ long. Leaflets 2' to 3' long. ROSE FAMILY Fruit . — Berry-like pome, globular, one-quarter of an inch across bright red, borne in cymous clusters. Ripens in October and re- mains on the tree all winter. Flesh thin and sour, charged with malic acid ; seeds light brown, oblong, compressed ; cotyledons fleshy. Hie mountain ,-\sli, Decked w i[h autiunnal berries that outslrinc Springs richest blossoms, }"ields a splendid show Amitl the leat\' woods. — W'llKDSWORTTI. Our Mountain Ash, Pxnis a)nc)iiaiia, so nearly resembles the European, Pvnis aiiciil'i7^u^^t(s f'l'iCi'iu'a. A low tree fifteen to twenty feet high with short stout trunk, crooked spreading branches forming a broad flat head ; common throughout the northern states. Roots filjrous. Found either in thickets or sohtary, m upland woods, in rocky pastures or near the borders of streams. Bark. — Light brown, or ashy gray, slightly fissured surface broken into small scales. Branchlets at first light green, lustrous, later red- dish or light brown or light gray, fiually become armed with slender straight or slightly cur\ed, brown, shining, persistent spines one or two inches long. Wood. — Ih'own, tinged with red ; heavy, hard and close-grained. Sp. gr., 0.S61S ; weight of cu. ft , 53.71 lbs. Winter Buds. — Globular, tiny, chestnut brown. Inner scales grow with the growing shoot, becoming an inch long before they fall. LeaTiS. — Alternate, simple, broad-oxate. one to five inches long, wedge-shaped, rounded or truncate at base, acutely cut or slightly five to nine-lobed, sharply and finely serrate, acute. Feather-\eined, midrib prominent, primary veins strongest toward the base. They come out of the bud, conduplicate, green ; when full grown the)' are thin, smooth, shining, bright green above, paler green beneath. They turn bright yello"' in autumn. Petioles long, slender, grooved, smooth or hairy. Stipules are leaf-like, serrate, acute, early decid- uous. Flowers. — May, when leaves arc nearly grown. Perfect, white, borne in few-flowered corymbs, on slender pedicels ; vary in size from one-half inch to one inch in diameter \\\ih strong and disagree- able odor. Calv-i'. — Urn-shaped, five-Iobed ; lobes much shorter than the petals, finally rcflexed, imbricate in bud. Petals. — Five, inserted on the calj-x tube, white, obovate, erose, imbricate in bud. Stamens. — Ten, inserted with the pclals ; fifiments thread-like ; anthers purple, introrse, tuo-celled ; crils 0|)ening longitudinally. Pistil. — Ovary of two to fn'C carpels, inserted in 'he bottom of the calyx tube and united with it ; st\les two to five ; stigmas capitate ; ovules two. Fruit. — Drupe-like pome with bony siones, boiaie in umbels of two or three ; bright scarlet, crowned with the cnl\\ lubes ; globular or slightly elongated, one-third to one-half an inch in diameter. Sep- tember or October ; remains all winter, somewhat edible. 143 ROSE FAMILY Professor Sargent calls this a " bush)', intricately branched tree " and any one who has ever hunted among- its branches for birds' nests will fully appreciate the felicitous character- ization. This is the thorn of old pasture fields, and the race of sparrows have ever sought safety for their nests among its twisted, rigid, well-armed twigs. The spines are not mature except on third year wood. They are undeveloped branches and appear from buds grow- ing in the axils of former leaves. On the second year wood they reach three-eighths of an inch in length and in winter are crowned with a single globular bud, this continues the growth for another year. Then they become sharp and pointed and further growth ceases except as they enlarge with the branch. The haws of all the thorns arc alike in this, that they sug- gest tiny apples, but the ratio of seed to tlesh is out of all rea- son, from the standpoint of the consumer. It is apparent that even the birds take this view of the case, for the scarlet haws are frequently left on the branches all winter long ; while their neighbors the black cherries are eagerly eaten and the sassafras berries are scarcely allowed to ripen. They are smooth, of a beautiful shining red, but they keep the promise to the eye only to break it to the hope. SCARLET HAW. HAWTHORN Cratirgiis mnllis. A small tree, with straight trunk, spreading and contorted branches, which form a round, compact head. Roots fibrous. Grows on margins of swamps, along the banks of streams, on prai- ries in rich soil, .fia?/-.— Reddish brown to ashy gray. The surface broken into small scales Branchlets when young are tonientous, then become orange broun and lustrous, finally ashy gray. Stout, zigzag, armed with stout, chestnut brown, shining spines two or three inches long, these at length become ashy gray. Wood . ^ UvgXw. brown; heavy, hard, close-grained. Sp. gr,, ■37953 ; weight of cu. ft., 49.56 lbs. WHITE THORN Fruiting' Branch of White Thorn, Crataegus coccinea. Leaves i' to 5' long. Haws y^' to YJ in diameter. ROSE FAMILY ll'in/t-r Biiiis. — Obtuse, chestnut brown, one-eighth of an inch long. Inner scales grow with the growing slioot, becoming nearly an inch long before they fill. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, broadly ovate, almost orbicular, two to four inches long, one and one-half inches to three broad, wedge- shaped, truncate or rounded at base, sharply incised with many shallow lobes, finely and unevenly serrate, acute. Feather-veined, midrib and primary veins prominent beneath and depressed above. They come out of the bud conduplicate, pale green, coated with lo- mentum or hairy ; when full grown are then smooth or rough, light green above, paler beneath. Petioles grooved, stout, hairy, an inch to two inches in length. Stipules leaf-like, acute or linear, early deciduous. Flowers. — May, \\hen lca\cs arc half grown. Perfect, white, an inch to an inch and a quarter aci'oss when expanded, borne in broad, stout, branched, hairy cor) nibs. Caly.x. — Urn-shaped, tomentons or hairy, five-lobed ; lobes acute, serrate, finally reflexed and persistent, imbricate in bud. Calyx and peduncles glandular. Corolla. — Petals fi\e, white, inserted on the calyx, rounded, im- bricate in bud. .'^laiiiens. — Ten, inserted with the petals ; filaments thread-like ; anthers introrse, two-celled ; cells Ojiening longitudinally. Pistil. — 0\arics inferior, two to fi\e, inserted in the bottom of the calyx tube and united with it; styles two to five ; stigmas capitate; ovules two in each cell. Fruit. — Drupe-like pome with bony stones, globular or lengthened or pyriform, crouned with the calyx lobes, bright orange scarlet cov- ered with glaucous bloom, one inch to one and a quarter inches in len,gth. Ripens in September, falls at once. Flesh yellow, juicy, slightly acid and with a pleasant flavor; nutlets lunate. This is the handsomest of the American Hawthorns and bears tlie only haws that by any stretch of the imagination could be considered edible. Idie flesh is thin for an apple, but thick for a haw and of a pleasant flavor. The fruit falls in September as soon as it ripens. For many years this Haw was confused with C. eiieciiica, but there are marked differ- ences between them. The fruit is larger, the leaf is much larger, broader, more nearly orbicular, nor is it so deeply cut. This species is admirably adapted as an ornament to the lawn — its branches touch the ground — it will grow in a close py- ramidal head — is very free from insects' attacks, it flowers and fruits orofusely — and in every way is satisfactory. 146 SCARLET HAW Fruiting Brancli of Scarlet Haw Crjla;^its mollis. Leaves 2' to 4' lojig. Hjws 1' lu \\i' in length. ROSE FAMILY All our thorns are attractive in habit, foliage, flower and fruit and are worth}- of cultivation. One difficult)' in obtain- ing them lies in the slow germination of the seed, which often requires two years. BLACK THORN. HAWTHORN Cra/it'i^'ns tL^infuloSil. Not very common tree, fifteen or tuentv feet in height, with slen- der contorted branches which form a wide flat head, often a shrub with many straggling stems. Roots fibrous. Branchlets armed with sharp slender spines an inch to an inch and a half in length. Bark. — Dark brown to ashy gray, fissured and broken into small scales. Jjranchlets coated at first with thick pale tomentum, later they become dark orange color, finally they become ashy gray. Wood. — Bright reddish brown; heavy, hard, close-grained. Sp. gr. , 0.75S5 ; weight of cu. ft., 47.57 lbs. Win/cr Buds, — Small, globidar, chestnut brown. Inner scales grow with the growing shoot becoming nearly an inch long before they fall. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, ovate to ovate-oblong, two to five inches long, incisely lobed and sharply and finely serrate, except at the base, gradually narrowing at the base and running into winged petioles, acute or rarely rounded at the apex. Conspicuously retic- ulate-veined, midrib broad and primary veins prominent. Thev come out of the bud conduplicate, when full grown are thin gray green, smooth abo\e, but \ery downy beneath. In autumn they turn orange and scarlet. Petioles winged, groo\ed, sometimes glandular. Stipules linear, glandular, serrate, early deciduous. F/o-ocrs. — May, June, later than the White Thorn. Perfect, white, half an inch across, very ill scented, borne in broad, leafv, downy, slender-branched cymes. Calyx . — Urn-shaped, coated with pale tomentum, five-lobed ; lobes lanceolate, serrate, acute, often glandular, finallv reflexed. per- sistent, imbricate in bud. Corolla. — Petals h\t, obovate, erosc, inserted in the calyx tube, imbricate in bud. Staiiu-i!S.—Y\hter\ to twenty, inserted with the petals; filaments thread-like ; anthers introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longitu- dinally. Pistil. — Oxary inferior, two to five carpels inserted at the bottom of the calyx tube and united with it. 148 BLACK THORN Sprays of Black Thorn, Crahrgns tomentosa. Leaves 2' to 5' long. ROSE FAMILY /";•;«'/.— Drupe-like pome with bony stones, ovoid, rarely globular, dull red, one-half inch hmg, crowned with calyx lobes, erect ; flesh thin and dry. Ripens in September and October and remains on branches all winter. Nutlets rounded, obscurely two-groo\-ed on the back. This Hawthorn is not very comnion in the northern states, is found most abtindantly in central Xew York. It prefers rich alluvial soil and is found on the margin of forests. Its brilliant autumn foliage and its red winter berries recommend it as an ornamental plant. It comes into flower somewhat later than the others. DOTTED HAW CmfiC^^nis finu-latn. A thick wide spreading tree, forming a broad, round or flat-topped head. liranches slender, rigid, armed with straight, sharp, light brown spines, two to three inches long, sometimes unarmed. Roots fibrous. Ranges from (jucbec to Ontario and southward to middle Tennessee, and along the mountains to Georgia and Ala- bama. Prefers rich moist soil, will grow in upland pastures where it forms thickets. Baik. — Dark, reddish brown, broken into long scales. Branch- lets at first downy, later they become light brown ; in second year are ashy gray, silvery white, or light brown. Wood. — liright reddish brown ; heavy, hard, close-grained. Sp. gr., 0.7681 : weight of cu. ft., 47. 87 lbs ]\'i)i/ir Buds, — Pale bi'oun. shining, obtuse. Leoi'iS. — .Alternate, simple, \\cdgc-obo\ate, two to three inches long, base wedge-shaped, t.ipeiing trom above the middle of the leaf into long winged petioles, sharply and unevenly serrate above the middle, sometimes incisely cut. often entire below, apex acute or rounded. Feather-\'eined, midrib ami [jrimary \eins depressed above, prominent beneath. They come out of the bud condupli- cate. when full grown are tliick and firm, p.de gray green, smooth above, paler and hairy beneath. In autumn they liuai briglit orange or orange and scarlet. Petioles grooved, winged. Stipules lanceo- late, glandular, serrated, acute, and early deciduous, Flowoys. — May. June, alter the leaves. Perfect, white, one-half to three-quarters of an inch across, borne in broad, thick-branched downy or tomentous corymbs. Pedicels are stout and hairy. DOTTED HAW Sprays of Dotted Haw, Cratcegus punctata. Leaves 2' to 3' long. ROSE FAMILY Ciily-V. — Urn-shaped, more or less tomentose, five-Iobed ; lobes acute, finally reflexed, persistent, imbricate in bud. Corolla. — Petals five, obovate, erose, inserted on the calyx, im- bricate in bud. S/anicns. — Fifteen to twenty, inserted with the petals ; filaments thread-like ; anthers introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longitudi- nally. Fislils. — Ovary of two to five carpels inserted in the bottom of the calyx tube, united with it ; styles two to five. F)'uit. — Drupe-like pome with bony seeds, globular or elongated, crowned with the cahx lobes, dull red, sometimes yellow, marked by many small white spots, three-fourths to one inch in length; flesh thin and dry ; nutlets rounded and grooved on the back. Ripens in September and falls at once. Somewhat edible. All the thorns are trees of the pasture lands. The com- mon story of them all is that they love the moist, rich, alluvial soil, but failing that they will grow in upland fields, not soli- tary only but in thickets. Even the best of them in its best estate and in that most favoring region on this continent, northern Louisiana and Texas, can only reach the height of thirty feet, hence they are doomed in the forest to become of the second grade and to grow in the shade. In the forest they are outclassed by many a rapid grower, but in the pastures, not so. The seeds of ash, maple, and willow may lodge in the pasture land, they may find congenial soil and favoring climate, but they have no protection against the grazing flocks and they yield in the contest. But the thorns present so sharp a defence that in time they triumph over the hard conditions and not only live but flourish. »«« JUNE-BERRY JUNE-BERRY. SHAD BUSH. SERVICE-BERRY. AnulcDuJiic'r ianadjnsis. Amelatuhicr is derived from Amelancier, the popular name of the European species. A medium sized tree with a tall slender trunk and small spreading branches which form a narrow, oblong head. It ranges throughout eastern United States, southward to Florida and westward to Min- nesota. Prefers rich soil in upland woods. On the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee it reaches its greatest size. Roots fibrous. Bark. — Pale red brown, divided into narrow ridges the surface of which is scaly. Branchlets bright green, later become dark brown or purplish brown, smooth. Wood. — Dark brown, sometimes tinged with red ; hea\y, hard, close-grained and strong. Sp. gr., 0.7838 ; weight of cu. ft., 48.85 lbs. Winter Buds. — Chestnut brown, acute, one - fourth of an inch long. Inner scales enlarge with the growing shoot and are some- times an inch long before they fall. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, ovate to ovate-oblong, three to four inches long, one and a half to two inches broad, cordate or rounded at base, serrate, acute or acuminate. Feather - veined, midrib grooved above, prominent beneath. They come out of the bud conduplicate, reddish brown and hairy, when full grown are smooth, deep green above, paler beneath. In autumn they turn a bright yellow. Petioles slender, grooved. Stipules lanceolate, downy, early deciduous. Flowers. — .April, when leaves are about one-third grown. Per- fect, white, borne in racemes from three to five inches long. Each flower has a slender pedicel, furnished with two lanceolate, purplish silky bractlets which fall as the flower opens. Calyx. — Campanulate, five-lobed; lobes lanceolate, acute, downy, persistent, imbricate in bud. Corolla. — Petals five, white, strap-shaped, one-half inch to an inch in length, inserted on the calyx tube, imbricate in bud. Stamens. — Twenty, inserted on the calyx tube ; filaments per- sistent in fruit; anthers introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longi- tudinally. Pistil. — Ovary two to fi\e-celled, united to calyx tube. Styles two to five, with broad stigmas ; ovules two in each cell. When mature each cell has been divided by a cartilaginous partition, giv- ing ten cells and one seed in each. 153 ROSE FAMILY Fruit. — Berry -like pome, depressed - globular or pyriforn.., open at the summit, crowned with the calyx lobes and remnants of the filaments. One-third to one-half of an inch long, rich purple with slight bloom. Ripens in June, is sweet, with delicious flavor. Seeds dark brown; cotvledons thick. At the time when the haz_v, misty cloud of bursting buds rests over the wooded hillside, a single tree suddenly de- taches itself from the cloud}- mist and stands forth clothed in soft, feathery, indeterminate white. This is the June- berry, otherwise known as the Shad Bush. This liomely name of Shad Bush was given it by the early inhabitants of the eastern states because it chances to bloom by the side of our tidal rivers at the time that the shad ascends them to spawn. We know that nature's methods are gradual, that species are not cut apart by sharp divisions, but it is not often that we are permitted to trace the process of species-making, step bv step. The June-berries permit us to do this. There are in America two well-delined species, the .\tlantic, A. cana- deiisis and the Pacific, A. aInifoUa ; they differ in form of flower, shape of leaf, and size of fruit. Yet thev are one, though two. On one side of the continent the mist-laden atmosphere of the low lands and the cold winds from the Atlantic have de- veloped A. caiiadciiiis. t)n the other side the subtle influ- ence of a clearer atmosphere, together with a higher altitude and warmer winds has produced A. ahiifolia. On the Rocky Mountains where the two forms meet they insensibly melt into each other and it is not possible to say where one species ends and the other begins, nor of manv in- dividuals to wdiich household thev belong. Both can be referred to an earlier arctic form which, driven southward by the glaciers, returned to such different environments, that two species developed and the intermediate forms persist. Our June-berry is little known save in its native haunts. Its leaves somewhat resemble those of the pear, but are finer and more delicate, covered with a soft, silken down as they 154 JUNE-BERRY June-berry, Amelanchier canadensis. Leaves 3' to 4' lor-.g. 1^4' To 2' broad. ROSE FAMILY come from the bud but becoming smooth at maturity. The flowers are in loose racemes at the ends of the branches. The fruit is delicious and ripens in June. The onl)^ objec- tion to the berries is that they are so few, the largest trees rarely produce more than a quart, and the birds, knowing a good thing when they see it, get most of them. It is recorded that the Indians esteemed them highly. The flora of Japan, which in so many respects resembles that of America, possesses a very superior June-berry which has been introduced into this country and if acclimated will be a grateful addition to our list of fruit trees. HAMAMEIIDACE^— WITCH HAZEL FAMILY WITCH HAZEL HaniameJis virgiiiihna. Hamamflis is a name anciently applied to a tree which blos- somed at the same time as the apple tree. Witch is a modern spelling of the Saxon wicJi or wych. The meaning of the word in this connection is doubtful ; Loudon refers it to salt springs, moist places ; other authorities think it means pendulous, droop- ing. Two trees are so named — the wych elm and the wych hazel. A shrub of numerous diverging stems ten to fifteen feet high, be- coming a small tree only on the mountains of North and South Carolina and Tennessee. Found in deep ravines, north shaded hill- sides and at the edge of woodlands. Roots fibrous. Bark. — Light brown, smooth, scaly, inner bark reddish purple. Branchlets at first scurfy ; later smooth, light orange brown, marked with occasional small white dots, finally dark or reddish brown. Wood. — Light reddish brown, sapwood nearly white ; heavy, hard, close-grained. Sp. gr., 0.6856 ; weight of cu. ft., 42.72 lbs. Winter Buds. — Acute, slightly falcate, downy, light brown. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, obovate or oval, four to six inches long, unequal at base, wavy-toothed, acute or rounded at apex. Feather-veined; midrib stout with six to seven pairs of primary veins. They come out of the bud involute, covered with stellate rusty down ; when full growri are dark green above, paler beneath ; midrib and veins more or less hairy. In autumn they turn yellow with rusty spots. Petioles stout, half an inch to an inch long. Stipules lanceolate, acute, infolding the buds. Flowers. — October, November. LIsually perfect, yellow, borne in three-flowered clusters on axillary, simple or rarely branched peduncles bearing two deciduous bractlets, each flower surrounded !5/' WITCH HAZEL FAMILY by two or three ovate bracts, slightly united at base to form an in- volucre. Brncts and bractlets coated with rusty hairs. The clus- ters of flower buds appear in August, developed from the axils of the leaves of the year. Calyx. — Deeply four-parted, very downy, orange brown within, imbricate in bud, persistent, cohering with the base of the ovary. Two or three bractlets appear at base. Corolla.— VeXal'i four, inserted on the receptacle, yellow, strap- shaped, narrow, one-half to two-thirds of an inch long, alternate with the caly.x lobes, in\olute in bud. Stainciis. — Eight, inserted in the receptacle, very short, the four which are alternate uith the petals, anther-bearing, the others im- perfect and scale-like. Filaments short, connecti\e thickened and prolonged ; anthers, introrse, two-celled ; cells opening at the side from within by persistent \"al\ es. Pistil. — Ovary of two caipels, free at their apex, inserted at the bottom of the cup-like receptacle, partly superior ; styles two, awl- shaped, spreading, persistent, stigmatic at ape.x ; o\ules one or two in each cell. Fruit. — A yellow brown, two-celled, woody pod, each cell con- taining one black shining seed. Each cell bursts open when ripe and projects the little nut from fixe to fifteen feet. Ripens in Oc- tober when the flowers are expanding. Througli tlie grn\- ,ind sombre wood .'\S.--iin t the dusk of fir and pine Last of their floral sisterhood The hazel's yellow blossoins shi.-ie. —John G. Whittier. This shrubbv little tree is one of the most curious and in- teresting" plants in om^ northern flora. \Vhen all other trees are making ready for winter, when its own leaves are )-ellow and falling, it bursts forth into abundant bloom. The clus- ters of till)' yellow flowers crowd upon a branch already laden with the ripe nutlets of last year's blossoms, and wave in beauty throughout the entire month of November. This peculiarity, together with the suggestive name " witch," is doubtless an explanation of the fact that those persons who profess to be able to indicate the position of hidden springs of water prefer, as divining rods, the forked twigs of ^Vitch Hazel. Although the flowers appear in October no growth takes place in the ovary until the following spring, the calyx lobes 15S WITCH HAZEL Witch Hazel, Hamamelis virginiana. Leaves 4' to 6' long. WITCH HAZEI. FAMILY simply surround and protect it The petals are spirally in- volute in restivation, that is, each one is rolled in upon itself and when fully expanded they still look crumpled and wavy. An interesting peculiaritv of the fruit is the way the tiny nuts are discharged from their woody pod. As the pod bursts the contraction of its edges presses upon the enclosed seeds and causes them to flv to a distance of several feet. Bring home in November a fruiting sprav and place it upon the table ; no sooner has the warmth of the room dried the tinv capsules than the miniature bombardment will begin and will continue until every seed is forced out of its cover- ing. The bark and leaves of the Witcli Hazel are reputed to possess medicinal properties on account of the tradition that they were used bv the Indians in the treatment of external inflammations. "Pond's E.xtract" is a distillation of the bark in dilute alcohol. This remedy has great popularity, but chemists so far have failed to distinguish any active medicinal properties in the plant. SWEET GUM. LIQUIDAMBAR Liquidantbar styracifiHa . The name is derived from liquidus and the Arabic word ambar, referring to the balsamic juices of the tree. Styracifua from the name of an ancient balsam. A tree sixty to one hundred and forty feet in height, with erect trunk two to five feet in diameter, slender branches and handsome conical head. Ranges from Connecticut to Florida on the coast and westward through .Arkansas and Indian Territory. It appears on the mountain ranges in Mexico and Central America. Loves low, moist, bottom lands, but will grow in dry elevated regions. Roots fibrous ; juices balsamic. Bark. — Light brown tinged with red, deeply fissured, ridges scaly. Branchlets pithy, many-angled, winged, at first covered with rusty hairs, finally becoming red brown, gray or dark brown. i6o WITCH HAZEL t-lovvers and hiuit ui Wju WITCH HAZEL FAMILY Wood. — Blight reddish brown, sapwood nearly v.hite ; heavy> straight, satiny, close-grained, not strong ; will take a beaiitilul pol- ish ; warps badly in drying. Has been used with good resulis in the interior finish of sleeping cars and fine houses. The wood is usually cut in veneers ami backed up with some other \ariety which shrinks and warps less. Sp. gr., 05910; weight of cu. ft., 36.83 lbs. U7/thr Biiiis. — Yellow brown, one-fourth of an inch long, acute. The inner scales enlarge with the growing shoot, becoming hall an inch long, green tipped with red. Loaves. — Alternate, three to fi\e inches long, three to seven inches broad, lobed, so as to make a star-shaped leaf of ri\ e to se\en divis- ions, these divisions acutely pointed, with glandular serrate teeth. The base is truncate or slightly heart-shaped. They come out of the bud plicate, downy, pale green, when lull grown are bright green, smooth, shining above, paler beneath. In autumn they vary in color from yellow through crimson to purple. They contain tan- nin and when bruised give a resinous fragrance. Petioles long, slender, terete. Stipules lanceolate, acute, caducous. Flo7V09's. — March to May, when ]ea\es are half grown ; monceci- ous, greenish. Staminate flowers in terminal racemes two to tliree inches long, covered with rusty hairs ; the pistillate in a solitary head on a slender peduncle borne in the a.xil of an upper leaf. Stam- inate flowers destitute of caly.x and corolla, but surrounded by hairy bracts. Stamens indefinite ; filaments short ; anthers introrse. Pistillate flowers with a two-celled, t\.o- beaked ovarv-, the carpels produced into a long, recurved, persistent style. The ova- ries all more or less cohere and harden in fruit. Ovules man\" but fcvv mature. Fiiiit. — Multicapsular spherical head, an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, hangs on the branches during the winter. The woody c.ipsules mostly filled with abor- tive seeds resembling sawdust. The starry rive-puintetl leaves of the Liqiiidambar sug-gest the Sugar Maple, and its fruit balls as thev hang upon their long stems resemlile those of the Buttonwood. The distinguishing mark of the tree, however, is the peculiar appearance of its small brandies and twigs. The bark attaches itself to these in plates edgewise instead of laterally, and a piece of the leafless branch with the aid of a little imagination readily 162 Section of 3 Twig of Sweet Gum Stiowing ttie Corlty Wings of tile Bark. SWEET GUM Sweet Gum, UquicLimbar styractfliia. Leaves 3' to 5' lonjj, 3' to 7' broad. WITCH HAZEL FAMILY takes on a reptilian form ; indeed, the tree is sometimes called Alligator-wood. The autumnal coloring is not simply a flame, it is a confla- gration ; in reds and 3-ellows it equals the maples, and in ad- dition it has the dark purples and smoky browns of the ash. Liquidambar finds its most congenial home east of the Alleghanies and in the basin of the lower jNIississippi. It is one of three who are the sur- vivors of an ancient and wide- ly distributed famil}'. Its im- mediate ancestor inhabited in tertiar)- times Alaska, Green- land and the mid-continental plateau of North America, a similar form is also found in the miocene of Europe. The other living representatives of the genus are L. Lvieiiialis, found in Asia Minor, and L. Formosana, found in China and the Island of Formosa. The storax of commerce is a gum obtained from the inner bark of the two eastern species ; our northern tree |iroduces very little, and that only in its most southern habitat. Fruit of Sweet Gum. 164 ARALIACE.E— GINSENG FAMILY HERCULES' CLUB. ANGELICA-TREE Ardlia spinbsa. An aromatic spiny tree with stout wide spreading branches, twenty to thirty feet in height, trunk six to eight inches in diameter ; oftener a chister of branchless thorny stems ten to twenty feet high. Roots thick and fleshy. Prefers a deep moist soil ; ranges from Pennsylvania westward to Missouri and southward to Te.xas. Bark of the root and tlie berries are used in medicine, principally in do- mestic practice. Bark. — Light brown, divided into rounded broken ridges. Branch- lets one-half to two-thirds of an inch in diameter, armed with stout, straight or curved, scattered prickles and nearly encircled by narrow leaf scars. At first light yellow brown, shining and dotted, later light brown. Wood. — Brown with yellow streaks ; light, soft, brittle, close- grained. Winter Buds. — Terminal bud chestnut brown, one-half to three- fourths of an inch long, conical, blunt ; axillary buds flattened, tri- angular, one-fourth of an inch in length. Leaves. — Clustered at the end of the branches, compound, bi- and tri-pinnate, three to four feet long, two and a half feet broad. The pinn;e are unequally pinnate, having five or six pairs of leaflets and a long stalked terminal leaflet; these leaflets are often them- selves pinnate. The last leaflets are ovate, two to three inches long, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, serrate or dentate, acute ; midrib and primary veins prominent. They come out of the bud a bronze green, shining, somewhat hairy ; when full grown are dark green above, pale beneath ; midribs frequently furnished with prickles. In autumn they turn a beautiful bronze red touched with yellow. Petioles stout, light brown, eighteen to twenty inches in length, clasping, armed with prickles. Stipules acute, one-half inch long. 165 GINSENG FAMILY F/o7L'e>s. — July, August. Perfect or polygamo-moncecious, cream uliite, borne in man\-riowered umbels arranged in compoi;nd pani- cles, forniini; a ternrinal racemose cluster, three tofourteet in length which rises, solitary or two or three together. abo\ e the spreadmg leaves, liracts and bractlets lanceolate, acute, persistent. Ca/i'-v. — Caly.x tube coherent with the ovary, minutely tive- toot.ied. Coi'olla. — Petals live, white, inserted on margin of the disk, acute, slightly intlexed at the ape.\, imbricate in bud. ^/aiiitiis. — Five, inserted on maigin of the disk, alternate with the petals ; filaments thread-like ; anthers oblong, attached on the back, introrse, two-celled : cells opening longitudinally. liitil. — 0\ary inferior, five-celled; styles five, connivent ; stig- mas capitate. Fruil. — ISerry-like diupe, globular, black, one-fourth of an inch long, fi\e-angled, crowned with the blackened styles. Flesh thin, dark. The habit of growth and general appearance of the Her- cules' Club are unique. It is usually found as a group of unbrancheil stems, rising to the height of twelve to twenty feet, which bear upon their summits a crowded cluster of doublv compound leaves, thus giving to each stem a certain tropical palm-like ap]iearance. This slender, swaying, palm- like character is in tlie north only true of the young plants, for after a single stem has buffeted the storms of many win- ters it becomes a scrubbv, deformed, little tree wdiose great leaves can scarcely cover its ugliness even in summer. In the south it is said to reach the height of fifty feet, still re- taining its palm-like aspect. The young stem is stout, thickly covered with sharp spines and foi- the uKjst part branchless or slightly branching, so that when denuded of its leaves it looks very like a club, ^vhence its common name Hercules' Club. The leaves are the largest produced by any tree of our flora, although the casual observer might not think so, as the leaflets are but two to three inches long. The leaves, however, are so compound, in this case doublv pinnate and sometimes pinnate again, that when one measures from the swollen base of the prickly petiole to the apex of the farthest leaflet the tape frequently records three feet and the spread of the pinna? from side to side is often i66 HERCULEb CLUB Hercules' Club, Aratia spinosa. Leaves 3* to 4' long. Leaflets 2' to 3' lonp: GINSENG FAMILY two feet. In the autumn these leaves turn to a peculiar bronze red touched with 3'eliow which makes the tree con- spicuous and lieautiful. The flowers are creamy white and ap- pear in great, loose, flower clusters at the very summit of the stem. You have watched the tree all summer, June has come and gone, July is well under wa)', all other flowering trees are even now maturing their fruit, when, suddenly, the Hercules' Club shows signs of bloom and sometimes in July, often in August and even in September, the belated flowers come forth. The blooming spray, like the leaf, is enormous, sometimes rising tiiree or four feet above the spreading leaves. Many of the flowers are sterile, so there is no such generous production of fruit as might be expected, but there is consider- able. The little black drupes ripen cpiickly and hang in clusters upon the tree all winter long, for their flesh is so thin that they do not commend themselves to the birds. Hercules' Club, Aralia $pl- »;l)5rth America m I753- In the north a broad dense shrub five to ten feet high with many crooked branches and a round compact head ; only becoming a tree on the mountains of North and South Carolina. Ranges from Can- ada to the Gulf along the highlands and mountains, and westward to Arkansas. It is tolerant of man;- locations, lo\'es swamp land or dry slopes at the borders of the forest, will climb the mountain-side to an elevation of three thousand feet or more: does not flourish in a limestone country. Roots fibrous, matted. Easily cultivated. Bark. — Dark l3rown tinged with red, furrowed and scaly. Branch- lets at first light reddish green, downy, later smooth, red green and shining, finally all a bright red brown. Wood. — Brown tinged with red ; hea\y, hard, rather brittle, close- grained. Sp. gr., 0.7160; weight of cu. ft., 44.62 lbs. IVintii- Buds. — Leaf-buds naked, forming in midsummer in the axils of leaves just below those from which the clusters of tlower-buds are produced by which they are almost covered. The tip of the branch dies when these axillary buds are formed. Inner scales en- large with the growing shoot, becoming an inch long before falling. Leaves. — Alternate, or in pairs, or in threes, simple, persistent, oblong, three to four inches long, one to one and a half inches wide, wedge-shaped at base, entire, acute or rounded .it apex and tipped with a callous point. They come out of the bud conduplicate ; each leaf enclosed by the one directly below it, slightlv tinged with pink and covered with glandular white hairs, when full grown are thick and rigid, dark shining green above, pale yellow green beneath; midrib broad, yellow, rounded above and below, veins obscure. 1S6 MOUNTAIN LAUREL Fruiting Brancli of Mountain Laurel, Kaliiiia lalifolia. Leaves 3' to 4' long, 1' 10 1J-2' broad. HEATH FAMILY They remain green and fall during the second summer. Petioles short, stout, slightly flattened. Flowers. — Flowers appear in Ma\' or June irom buds which are formed in autumn in the axils ot the upper leaves in the form of slender cones of downy green scales. These buds usually de\"elop two or more lateral branches, the whole forming a compound many- flowered corymb four or five inches in diameter and overlapped at the flowering time by the leafy branches of the year. Pedicels are red or green, hairy or scurfy and furnished with two bracts at base and developed from the a.\ils of large bracts. Cah'X. — Fi\e-parted ; lobes imbricate m bud, narrow, acute, cov- ered with glutinous hairs. Disk prominent, ten lobed. Corolla. — Sauccr-sliapcd, rose colored, uiiite. or ]unk. Tube short with ten tiny sacs just below the fi\'e-parted limb ; lobes o\"ate, acute, imbricate in bud. The border is marked on the inner surface with a waving rosy line and is slightly purple abo\ e the sac. The buds are ten-ribbed trom the sacs to the acute ajiex of the bud. Stami:)is.--'Y^\\. h\pogynou5, shorter than the corolla, at first held in the sacs of the corolla; tikiments thread-like ; anthers oblong, adnate, two-celled ; cells opening by a short longitudinal pore. Pistil. — 0\"ary superior, fi\e-celled ; st\"le thread-like, exserted ; stigrna capitate; o\ules many in each cell. Fruit. — Wood)' capisule, many seeded, depressed - globular, slightly fi\'e-lobed, five-celled, five-\ahed. Crowned with the per- sistent style, surrounded at base by the persistent cal}x, covered with \-iscid hairs. Seeds oblong. The blossoms of the Moun- tain Laurel are equipped with a most evident device to se- cure cross-fertilization. Nat- ui"e has nianv such arrange- ments, but it is not often that they are so oiienl}' displayed. In this case, liowever, he who runs may read. Each flower has ten stamens and each co- rolla is provided with ten lit- tle pockets, Vhen tlie flower opens each stamen is found bent back with its anther thrust into one of these tiny cavities. In the centre of the flower lies the nectar, and when the bee comes to get it, he i£8 Flower Cluste of Mountain Lourel L-ilifolta. Ka/im'ii RHODODENDRON brushes against the filaments, which fly up and scatter their pollen over his body. He leaves on the stigma of the next flower he visits the pollen he has gathered in the first, and so on he goes from flower to flower. He probably thinks that gathering honey is his business, but as a matter of fact it is a very small jjart of his duties in the economy of natui-e. The Kfountain Laurel is one of the most satisfactory siirubs for lawn or garden. When in fidl bloom it is of sur- passing beauty, and its bright evergreen leaves make it con- spicuous at any time. These lca\'es are believed to be poi- sonous to cattle, and the species, Kaliiiia aiigiistifolia, a low shrub in pastures, is ])opiilarly called Lambkill ; but the probabilit)^ is that its noxious qualities have been overrated. The best observers are inclined to refer what deleterious qualities there may be to the coarse, resinous character of the leaves which make tiieni indigestible than to any positive noxious principle contained in them. RHODODENDRON. GREAT LAUREL. ROSE BAY 7\/!oJoifi'i/iiioi! nidxhfuij}/. In the north a shrub with many divcigciit stems and contorted branches, ten or twelve feet t:ill. I'ionts filji'ous. Distributed from Nova Scotia to shores of Lake Eric and southward to northern Geor- gia. Common on the mountains of New York, it Ijecomes abundant in Virginia, and on the hiyh lands of Tennessee and the C;n"olinas it forms dense thickets hundreds of acres in extent. Flourishes in all soils except those containing lime. Bark. — Reddish brown, scaly. Branchlets at first green, covered with red or rusty tomentum, later become reddish brown or gray tinged with red. Wood. — Light brown; heavy, hard, close-grained. Sp. gr., 0.6303 ; weight of cu. ft., 39. 28 lbs. Winter Buds. — Leaf buds clc.irl)' seen in midsummei', conical, dark green, axillary or tcrininnl, on banx-n shoots covered with closely imbricated scales. Outer scales persist unul shoot is half grown ; inner scales enlarge with the growing shoot and are carried up with it. pdower buds are full grown by September, terminal, -cone-like, an inch and a half long, covered with many imbricated bracts which contract at the apex into long slender points. HEATH FAMILY Lea-i'ts. — Alternate, usually clustered at the ends of the branches, persistent, elliptical, oblong", four to ten inches long, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, entire, tliickened slightly, revolute margin, acute apex. They come out of the bud revolute, pale green, cov- ered with thick pale tomentum. When full grown are smootli, thick, leathery, dark green and shining above, pale beneath ; mid- rib broad, pale, depressed above, prominent beneath ; \einlets ob- scure. Petioles stout, short, terete. F/owtts. — Jime. after the shoots of the year from the buds below the flower-buds arc well grown. Borne in umbellate clusters four or five inches in diameter, perfect, pale rose, or white. Pedicels viscid; bracts caducous. Ca/yx. — Fi\e-lobed ; lobes rounded, imbricate in bud. Corolla. — Campanulate, gibbous on the posterior side, hairy in the throat, pale rose, purplish, or white, h\e-lobed ; lobes rounded, veined ; upper lobe marked with yellow greenish spots. Stamens. — Eight to twelve, white, inserted on a disk ; filaments, unequal, declined, bearded ; anthers attached on the back, two- celled ; each cell opening by a terminal pore. Pistil. — Ovary superior, five-celled, hairy ; style long, white, de- clined ; stigma red, h\ e-lobed ; ovules manv- in each cell. Fruit. — Capsule, surrounded at base by the persistent caly.x and crowned with tlie style. -" The RhodeHleinli-oii becomes a tree in the south only ; on the mountains of Pennsylvania, New York, and ^'irginia it remains a shrub, but oneof tlie most attractive shrul.is in our flora. Both leaf aiul flower are matured in iiiidsumnier and they are so large and crown the summit of the stem so per- fectly that they cannot escape observation. The Rhododendron, tlie Kalmia, the Holly, and the Holly- leaved Mahonia make up our northern list of broad-leaved evergreens. All other broad-leaved trees of our flora have become deciduous. Here and there individual oaks retain their leaves all winter ; so do many voung beeches. These persistent leaves are brown and withered it is true, but they speak of a time when the trees were evergreen. The Oak family still retains an evergreen species, and in South America the forests of Patagonia wave green and dark with an evergreen beech. The Rhododendron flourished in the arctic regie's in tertiary times, and traces of several species are found in the miocene rocks of Europe. I go RHODODENDRON Flowering Spray of the Rhododendron, Rhododendron inaxinwin. Leaves 4' to ic/ long. HEATH FAMILY The ancestrv and hisiorv of our cLiltivaled Rhododendrons are most admirably given bv Professor Sargent in "The Silva of North America." He says ; The cultivated varieties of Rhododendrons are of garden origin and mixed blood. These are chiefly of four races, Indian Azaleas, Ghent Azaleas, The Ca- tawbiense Rhododendrons and Jaxanese Rhododendrons. The Indian Azaleas of the garden are impro\'ed forms of A'. Indnum, a nati\'c of China and Japan which owes its name to the fact that it was first sent to Europe from India ; in its native countries it is a \ariable plant with persistent or deciduous lea\'es and small and usuall_\- l>rick-red fluwers ; for centuries it has been cultivated by the Chinese and Japanese who \aluc it as a chief ornament of their gardens, al- though improvement in the size, form, and coloring of its flowers is due to the skill of European gardeners, who, especially in Belgium, have de\"oted much at- tention to this plant. The race of Ghent Azaleas has been produced by cross- ing the yellow-flowered Oriental R. /hiviim with the Xorth American R. calcn- dulaccum R. viscosnm and R. iiiiji floruDi , and then b\- crossing their hybrid progeny with each other and with the eastern Asiatic R. .■micfi^^e and later with the Cahfornian R. occidcntale and with R. arborescens of the Alleghany Moun- tains. The product of these crosses and of years of careful selection carried on principally in Belgium and England is a race of hardy shrubs with fragrant flow- ers in colors passing from white through yellow and orange to pink and red. The Catawbiense Rhododendrons have been produced by crossing R.cataw- bieiise, a native of the high summits of the southern Alleghany Mountains which it sometimes covers with vast thickets, with A'. F-'oid'uum , the offspring being again crossed with R. arborcam and other Indian species with bright colored flowers or with the Xorth American R. niaxinnnn. The race of Javan- ese Rhododendrons, conspicuous for their brilliantlv colored flowers and their habit of flowering continuously, has been obtained by English gardeners bv in- terbreeding R. Jj-\uiiLum and other Malayan bpecies with persistent foliage and yellow, orange, and scarlet fluwers. SOURWOOD. SORREL-TREE Oxydcudnini arbbrtum . OxvdtiiJnim, of Greek derivation, means sour tree. A slender tree reaching the maximum height of sixty feet, with slender spreading branches and oblong, round-topped head. Ranges from Penns\lvania along the .A.lleghany Mountains to Florida and Alabama, westward through Ohio to southern Indiana and south- ward through Arkansas and Louisiana to the coast. Bark. — Gray with a reddish tinge, deeply furrowed and scaly. Branchlets at first light yellow green, later reddish brown. 192 SOURWOOD Sourwood, Oxrdendriim arboreum. Leaves 4' to -]' long. HEATH FAMILY irooc/.— grained, \v 46.4S lbs. Reddish brown, sapwood paler; heavy, hard, close- 11 take a high polish. Sp. gr., 0.745S ; weight of cu. It., Win/er But/s. — Axillary, minute, dark red, parllv immersed in the bark. Inner scales enlarge when spring growth begins. Ltdi'is. — Alternate, lour to sexen inches long, one and a half to two and a half indies wide, oblong to oblanceolate, wedge-shaped at base, serrate, acme or acuminate. Feather-\ eined, midrib conspicuous. They come out of the bud revolute, bronze green and shming, smooth, when full grown are dark green, shining aboNe, pale and glaucous below. In autunui they turn bright scarlet. Petioles long and slender, stipules wanting. Hea\ily laden with acid. Flowers. — June, July. Perfect, cream-white, borne in terminal panicles of secund racemes seven to eight inches long ; rachis and short pedicels downy. Calvx. — Five-parted, persistent ; lobes vahate m bud. ' Corolla. — Ovoid-cylindric, narrowed at the throat, cream-white, five-toothed. f Staijuiis. — Ten, inserted on the wader than the anthers ; anthers opening by long chinks. Pistil. — 0\'ary superior, columnar ; stigma simple ; manv. Fruit. — Capsule, downy, corolla ; filaments two-celled ; cells ovoid, fi\e-celled ; style disk ten-toothed, o\ules five-\al\ ed, fi\e- tipped b\- the persistent style, the pedicels cur\- ^led, Raceme of flow- ers of Sour- wood, C^v'v- horeum. The Sourwood is iierfectly hardy at the iiDrlh and is worthy of a place in lawns and parks. Its late bloom makes it desirable and its autumnal coloring is particularly beautiful and brilliant. The leaves are heavily charged with acid, and to some extent have the poise of those of the peach. 194 EBENACE.E— EBONY FAMILY PERSIMMON Diospyros virgin itina. Diospyros, of Greek derivation, means the fruit of Jove. Persimmon is the Indian name. Sm.all tree varying from thirty to fifty feet in height, short slender trunk, spreading, often pendulous branches, which form sometimes a broad and sometimes a narrow round-topped head. Prefers a light, sandy, well-drained soil, but will grow in rich, southern, bottom lands. Roots thick, fleshy and stoloniferous. Given to shrubby growth. Bark. — Dark brown or dark gray, deeply divided into plates whose surface is scaly. Branchlets slender, zigzag, with thick pith or large pith cavity ; at first light reddish brown and pubescent. They vary in color from light brown to ashy gray and finally become reddish brown, the bark somewhat broken by longitudinal fissures. Astringent and bitter. Wood. — Very dark ; sapwood yellowish white ; heavy, hard, strong and very close grained. Sp. gr., 0.7908 ; weight of cu. ft., 49.28 lbs. Winter Buds. — Ovate, acute, one-eighth of an inch long, covered with thick reddish or purple scales. These scales are sometimes persistent at the base of the branchlets. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, four to six inches long, oval, narrowed or rounded or cordate at base, entire, acute or acuminate. They come out of the bud revolute, thin, pale, reddish green, downy with ciliate margins, when full grown are thick, dark green, shining above, pale and often puliescent beneath. In autumn they sometimes turn orange or scarlet, sometimes fall without change of color. Midrib broad and flat, primary veins opposite and conspicuous. Petioles stout, pubescent, one-half to an inch in length. Flowers. — May, June, when leaves are half-grown ; dioecious or rarely polygamous. Staminate flowers borne in two to three-flowered 19s EBONY FAMILY cymes ; the pedicels downy and bearing two minute bracts. Pistil- late flowers solitary, usually on separate trees, their pedicels short, recurved, and bearing two bractlets. Calyx. — Usually four-lobed, accrescent under the fruit. Corolla. — Greenish yellow or creamy white, tubular, four-lobed ; lobes imbricate in bud. Stamen:,. — sixteen, inserted on the corolla, in staminate flowers in two rows. Filaments short, slender, slightly hair\' ; anthers oblong, introrse, two-celled, cells opening longitudinally. In pistillate flowers the stamens are eight with aborted anthers, rarely these stamens are perfect. Pistil. — 0\ary superior, conical, ultimately eight-celled ; styles four, slender, spreading ; stigma two-lobed. Fruit. — .-\ juicy berry containing one to eight seeds, crowned with the remnants of the style and seated in the enlarged calyx ; depressed- globular, p:ile orange color, often red-cheeked ; with slight bloom, turning yellowish brown after freezing. Flesh astringent while green, sweet and luscious when ripe. They have a plumb which they call pessemniins, like to a medler, in England, but of a deeper taw nie cullour ; they grow on a most high tree. When they are not fully ri]Te, they are harsh and choakie, and furre in a man's mouth like allam, howbeit, being taken full}' ripe, yt is a reasonable pleasant fruict, somewhat lushious. 1 \y.\\Q seene our people put them into their baked and sodden pud- dings : there l5e whose tast allows them to be as pretious as the English apri cock : I confess it is a good kind of horse plumb. — " The Historic of Tra\aile into \'irginia Brittania." The longest pole takes the Persimmon. — Si'Cl'liKKN Pro\'erb. The Persimmon is one of the most interesting of our na- tive trees. Its habitat is southern, it appears along the coast from New York to Florida ; \vest of the .Vlleghanies it is found in soutiiern Ohio and along through southeastern Iowa and southern Missouri ; Avhen it reaches Louisiana, eastern Kansas and the Indian Territory it becomes a might}' tree, one hundred and fifteen feet iiigh. It can be grown in northern Ohio only by the greatest care, and in southern Ohio its fruit is never edible until after frost. The peculiar characteristics of its fruit have made the tree well known. This fruit is a globular berry, from an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, varying as to seeds, some- times with eight and sometimes without any. It bears at its npe.x the remnants of the styles and sits in the enlarged and 196 PERSIMMON Persimmon, Diospvros virgimana. Leaves 4' to 6' long. EBONY FAMILY Fruit of the Persimmon, Dto^pi' persistent calyx. It ripens in late autumn, is pale orange with a red cheek, often covered with a slight glaucous bloom. One of the delights of the natives in the south is to induce strangers to taste this fruit, for its bitter as- tringency is something that can be known onlv bv experience. The frost is requued to make it edible, but having been subjected to this influence it becomes sweet, juicy and delicious. This peculiar as- tringencv is i.lue to the presence of a tannin siniikir to that of Cinchona. The fruit is much appreciated in the southern states and appears abundantiv in the markets. It is much sought bv tlie opossum, who is supposetl to fatten upon it, and the combination of persimmon, opossum and negro was verv common in the slave songs of ante-bellum days. The tree is greativ inclined to varv in the character and quality of its fruit, in size lliis varies from that of a small cherry to a small apple. Some trees in the south produce fruit which is delicious without the action ot the frost, while adjoining trees proiluce fruit that never becomes edible. Several varieties of the species, Diospyros K^iki have been cultivated in China and Japan from most ancient times. In- deed this seems to be the universallv cultivateel fruit tree of Japan, is there found in everv garden and by every cottage. The Japanese horticulturists have developed it into almost as manv varieties as our ganleners have matle of the a|i|ile tree. Some of these have lieen introduced into California and are said to flourish there. The California persimmon often offered for sale in our northern markets is the product of this Japanese tree. The Persimmon is verv common in the southern and Gulf ;tates, and because of its stoloniferous roots frequently makes extensive thickets in abandoned fields and along the roadsides and fences. iqS PERSIMMON In respect to the power ol making heartwood, the Locust and the Persimmon stand at the extreme op|)osite ends of the list. The Locust changes its sapwood into heartwood almost at once, while the Persimmon rarely develops any heartwood until it is nearly one hundreti years old. This heartwood is e.xtremely close-grained and almost black. Really, it is ebony, but our climate is not favorable to its production. The ebony of commerce is derived from five different tropical species of the genus, two from India, one from Africa, one from Malaya and one from Mauritius. The beautiful variegated coromandel wood is the product of a species found in Ceylon. Although Diospyros is now pre-eminently a tropical tree, enduring but inditferently the cold of the temperate regions, its fossil remains are found in tlie miocene rcjcks of (Green- land and Alaska and m the cretaceous formation of Ne- braska. '99 STYRACACE.E— STORAX FAMILY SILVERBELL-TREE JMohrodcndron iaroltnltni. Ilalisia tctrdptt'ra. A tree sometimes eighty or ninety feet in height, with a tall straight trunk, short stout branches which form a narrow head ; usually much smaller, often in the north a shrub with stout spreading stems. Roots are fibrous- Ranges from the mountains of West \'irginia southward to northern Alabama and Florida, westward to southern Illinois and Arkansas and eastern Texas. Bark. — Red brown, with broad ridges, and surface scaly. Branch- lets slender, terete, at first coated with pale tomentum. later become reddish brown sometimes glaucous. In the second year the bark darkens and begins to show pale longitudinal fissures. Wood. — Light brown, sapwood paler brown ; liglit, soft, close- grained. Sp. gr., 0.5628 ; weight of cu. ft., 35. 07 lbs. Winter Buds. — Dark red, small, obtuse, hairy. Outer scales drop when spring growth begins ; inner scales lengthen with the growing shoot, become strap-shaped, bright yellow and sometimes half an inch long. Flower-buds ovate, obtuse. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, exstipulate, four to six inches long, two to three wide, oval or ovate-oblong, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, obscurely serrate, abruptly contracted into long points at the apex. Midrib slender, primary veins conspicuous. They come out of the bud involute, bronze red, hairy above, petiole and lower surface coated with thick pale tomentum, when full grown bright green above, paler beneath. In autumn they become pale yellow and fall late. Petioles short, stout. Flowers. — May, when leaves are about one-third grown. White, perfect, about one inch long, borne on short, few-flowered racemes or fascicles developed from the axils of the previous year's leaves, subtended by bracts. Pedicles slender, drooping, downy, one to two inches in length. Bracts obovate, yellow green, caducous. SILVERBELL-TREE Fruiting Branch of Silverhell-Tree, Mohrodeiidron carolimim. Leaves 4' to 6' long, 2' to 3' broad. STORAX FAMILY Calyx. — Obconical, four-ribbed, adnate to ovary, four-toothed, tomentose. Corolla. — Campanulate, epigynous, slightly four-lobcd, white. Staiiiciis. — Eight to sixteen, inserted on the base of the corolla : filaments flattened ; anthers oblong, adnate or free at base, introrse, opening longitudinally. Fistil. — Ovary inferior, four-celled ; style long, simply stigmatic at apex. Fruit. — Dry, crowned with the calyx limb and tipped by the per- sistent style ; ellipsoidal, four-wingecl ; one and a half to two inches long, an inch broad, ripens late and remains on branches till mid- winter. The Silverbell is a most beautiful ornament for lawn or park. A native of the mountainous regions of the south it IS perfectly hard)' at the north, although in New England it keeps its shrubby form and in the middle west becomes only a small ti'ee. It reaches its greatest size on the western slopes of the mountains of North Caro- lina and Tennessee. Its flowering time is in May. The flower buds have been upon the branches ah winter and just as the leaves have fairly put forth, the blossoms appear, and clusters of drooping cream- white bells transform the tree into one great white mass of which every [branch, from highest to lowest, drips blossoms. The flowering period lasts about three weeks and the Silver- bell is worthy to be grouped with the Jtme-berry, the Dog- wood and the Redbud as a flowering tree of rare elegance and beauty. The Snowdrop-tree, MohroJciiJi-oii (iip/c-n/iii, is a closely allied species which has developed on the low lands along the southern coast. The two have nearly the same range. 202 Flowers of the Silvcrbell-tree. Mobrcdciidran tarobniiin. SNOWDROP-TREE Flowering Branch of Snowdrop-tree, Mohrodeiidron diplernm. Leaves 4' to 5' long. STORAX FAMILY except that one prefers the mountains, the other the swamps. The Snowdrop never becomes a large tree, thirty feet is its maximum height. The leaves are ovate, when full grown are four to five inches long, three to four inches wide, with very conspicuous veins and stout petioles. Tlie flower is cream- white, the corolla fully an inch long and divided nearly to the base into spreading divisions about as long as the stamens, which are usually eight in number. Tlie ovarj' is two-celled and like the exserted stigma coated with pale tomentum. The fruit is oblong, com- pressed, one and one-half to two inches long, often an inch wide with two broad wings and sometimes little, narrow, supplementary wings between them. The fruit of the Silverbell has four wings, whence the early specific name tctiaptcra. The Snowdrop-tree is perfectly hardy on the soutliern shore of Lake Erie where it forms a small tree with a beautiful, low, broad head. In flower and foliage and general appearance the Silverbell and the Snowdrop are twin sisters and one is not to be pre- ferred to the other. The name of the genus has suf- fered vicissitudes. In the earlier bot- anies the generic name was Ilaksia, but that is now displaced by MohroJeiidron. Halcsia was a name given to the genus in 1759 in honor of Stephen Hales, a botanist of the eighteenth century who wrote one of the first English books upon vegetable physiology. But it happened that an explorer in Jamaica four years before had given the same name to a genus of tropical plants. So that two widely different genera appeared in the books as Halesia. Such dup- lication of names became in course ot time a source of great confusion in botanic nomenclature and the American Associa- Fruit of Snowdrop-tree, Alo/'/o dcndron Jtptctum. Z04 SNOWDROP-TREE tion for the Advancement of Science decided, if possible, to bring order out of tiie perplexing situation. Two rules were established. One — that every plant should hereafter be known by the name under which it was first published to the world, unless that had already been given to another plant ; and the other — that no later name should stand whether the first did or did not. Now comes the result. The trop- ical Halesia was found to be no genus at all but only a spe- cies which was soon referred to its proper place. There then remained but one Halesia. But here the second rule came in, and so our pretty Silverbells lost their generic name. It was then suggested that they should be named Molirodcn- dron in honor of Dr. Charles Mohr, an eminent botanist of Alabama. The suggestion was accepted and so Stephen Hales was deposed and Dr. Mohr reigns in his stead. 205 OLEACE.E— OLIVE FAMILY WHITE ASH Fi'dxinus anwriccina, A graceful tree, sometimes one hundred feet in height hut usually seventy or eighty, with straight trunk three feet or more in diameter at the base. When growing alone it produces a round-topped or a pyramidal head of great beauty. It is distributed from Nova Scotia and Minnesota to Florida and Te.\as, but attains its greatest size on the bottom lands ot the lower Ohio \'alle\'. Grows rapidly, prefers rich moist soil and is recommended for city planting in the eastern states. Bark. — Gray, deeply furrowed into narrow flattened ridges, sur- face scaly. Branchlets stout, terete, at first slightly hairy, dark green, later become pale orange or ashy gray. IVoiu/. — Brown, sapwood paler brown ; hea\y, tough, elastic, close- grained. Used in manufacture of furniture, carriages, agricultural implements, oars. Sp. gr., 0.6543 ; weight of cu. ft., 40.77 lbs. IViii/ei- Biiiis. — Brown, nearl)' black, oxate, obtuse at ape.\. Ter- minal buds large, lateral buds smaller. Outer scales fall when spring growth begins, inner scales enlarge and become green. Lc'di'L's. — Opposite, pinnately compound, eight to twelve inches long. Leaflets fi\e to nine; three to five inches long, one to two broad, petiolate, ovate or oblong-lanceolate, unequally wedge-shaped or rounded at base, entire, or obscurely serrate, acuminate or acute. Tfiey come out of the bud conduplicate, thin, smooth or slighth hairy; when full grown are smooth, dark green, often shining above, pale, sometimes silvery beneath, often hairy along the \eins. Feather- veined, midrib compressed above, primary veins conspicuous. In autumn they turn brownish purple fading into yellow. Petioles stout, smooth, grooved, swollen at the base. Petiolules about one- fourth of an inch long. 306 WHITE ASH White Asli, Fraxiims aincricana. Leaves 8' to 12' long. Leaflets 3' to 5' long. OLIVE FAMILY Flowers. — May, before the leaves ; Dioecious, borne in lengthened panicles near the end of the branches, in axils of last year's leaves. Pedicels smooth ; bracts varying in size and form. Calyx. — Campanulate ; in staminate flower slightly four-lobed ; in pistillate flower deeply lobed. Corolla. — Wanting. Stamc'iis. — Two, rarely three ; filaments, short ; an- thers large, oblong, reddish purple. Pistil. — Ovary superior, two-celled, oval, contracted into a long slender style, with two spreading dark pur- ple stigmatic lobes. Fruit. — Samaras, borne in crowded drooping pan- icles six to eight inches long, these hang upon the leafless branches until midwinter. The samaras vary in length from one to two inches. Body terete, pointed, margin- less below, abruptly dilated into a lanceolate or linear wing, acute or emarginate at ape.x. August, Septem- ber. Cotyledons elliptical. A Staminate and a Pis- tillate Flow- er of White Ash, Frax- iritis anicri- cana ; en- larged. The White Ash is the most beautiful of all the American species. Its common name refers to the pale sometimes silvery under surface of the leaf and its specific name aiiicy- icana fully distinguishes it as the best of its type. Its fibrous roots enable it to flourish in a soil, rich but shal- low, and oftentimes it ma)' be seen clinging to rocks where witli diffi- culty it can obtain a foothold. In the eastern and middle states it has proved itself an admirable city tree, but it has not been successfully planted in the prairie regions of the west, being unable to withstand the severe droughts to which they are subject. In appearance the young tree is singularly graceful. The slender grayish trunk, the easy sweep of its branches, the 208 Samaras of White Ash, Fraxinui itmcricaiia. WHITE ASH slightl)' drooping- poise of its leaves, and the soft, rich, mellow green of its foliage unite to attract our admiration. Its spray is clumsy compared with that of the beech and the maple. Although the leaves are tufted at the end of the spray, the branches are not bare ; on the contrary such is the flowing, clinging effect of its foliage that the tree may be said in a peculiar degree to be clothed with its leaves. The trunk rises more than an average height before it divides and after the division still retains a central shaft, yet this shaft disappears from sight as soon as it enters the mass of foliage, and can- not be traced through the leafy head. The autumnal tints are most unusual and most beautiful. Wilson Flagg in " A Year Among the Trees " writes concern- ing them : " The colors of the ash are quite unique, and dis- tinguish it from all other trees. Under favorable circum- stances its coloring process is nearly uniform. It begins with a general impurpling of the whole mass of foliage nearly at the same time and the gradual changes remind me of those observed in sea mosses during the process of bleaching. There is an invariable succession in these tints as in the brightening beams of morn. They are first of a dark bronze, turning from this to a chocolate, then to a violet brown, and finally to a salmon color or yellow with a shade of lilac. When the leaves are faded nearly yellow, they are ready to drop from the tree. It is remarkable that with all this vari- ety of hues neither crimson nor an}' shade of scarlet is ever seen in the ash. It ought to be remembered that the grada- tions of autumn tints in all cases are in the order of those of sunrise, from dark to lighter hues, and never the reverse. I make no reference to the browns of dead leaves which are darker than yellow or orange, from which they turn. I speak only of the changes of leaves before they are seared or dry." Two traditions follow the ash tree. They have come to us from Europe and their origin seems lost in the mists of antiquity. One is that no serpent willingly glides beneath its branches or rests under its shade. This belief was old in Pliny's time, for he states as a fact that if a serpent be placed 209 OLIVE FAMILY Trunk of White Ash, Fraxinus amencana. WHITE ASH near a fire and both surrounded b}' ashen twigs, the serpent will sooner run into the fire than pass over the pieces of ash ; all of which is important if true. I'he other, refers to the peculiar liability of the ash to be struck by liglitning, and this beUef is embalmed in ancient folk-lore rhymes. The rustic laborer at the approach of a thunder-storm is admonished, Beware the oak it draws the stroke, Avoid the ash it courts the flash, Creep under the thorn it will sa\-e you from harm. Indeed, the oak and ash are frequently associated in coun- try proverbs and rural lore. If the oak is out before the ash, 'Twill be a summer of wet and splash ; But if the ash is before the oak 'Twill be a summer of fire and smoke. The wood of all the ashes is singularly light, strong and elastic. Prehistoric man seeking an available weapon found it in an ashen club. Achilles fought with an ashen spear. Cupid made his arrows first of the asli. The North Ameri- can Indian could find no better wood in the forest for his bow or his paddle than the ash. It is the wood most exten- sively used in the manufacture of agricultural implements. The tree has many insect enemies. All the species can be easily raised from seed, which sometimes does not germi- nate until the second year. Varieties can be multiplied by grafting. Fraxiniis is of wide distribution and ancient type. A tree of the temperate zone it occurs in Europe, Asia and Africa and e.xcept in the extreme north is found in all parts of North America. Its fossil remains prove it to have been abundant in the tertiary period within the arctic circle. OLIVE FAMILY RED ASH FrAxinus pennsylvanica. Frdxiniis pub^scens. A comparatively small tree, averaging forty feet high with stout upright branches and irregular head. Ranges from New Brunswick to Florida, westward to Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. Bark. — Brown or ashy gray with numerous longitudinal shallow furrows, surface scaly. Branchlets slender, terete, at first velvety- downy, finally they become ashy gray or light brown, frequently covered with bloom. Inner face of outer bark of the branches red or cinnamon color. Wood. — Light brown with lighter sapwood. Heavy, hard, strong and coarse-grained. Sp. gr., 0.71 17; weight of cu. ft., 44.35 lbs. Winter Btuis. — Leaf-buds small, acute, downy, dark rusty brown. Outer scales fall when spring growth begins. The inner scales en- large, become green and often leaf-like. Leaves. — Opposite, pinnately compound, ten to twelve inches long. Leaflets seven to nine, petiolate, three to five inches long, one to one and a half wide, oblong- lanceolate to ovate, unequally wedge-shaped at base, serrate, sometimes entire, acuminate or acute. They come out of the bud conduplicate, coated beneath with thick white tomentum, shining and hairy above ; when full grown are firm, yellow green above, pale and vel- vety-downy beneath. Feather-veined, midrib and pri- mary veins conspicuous. In autumn they turn rusty brown fading into yellow. Petioles swollen at base, grooved, hairy. Petiolules thick, grooved, downy, about one-fourth of an inch long. Flowers. — May, with the leaves. Dioecious, borne in compact, downy, bracteate panicles, which appear from the axils of last year's leaves. Caly.x. — In staminate flowers cup-shaped, obscurely toothed. In pistillate flowers cup-shaped, deeply di- vided. Corolla. — Wanting. Stamens. — Two, sometimes three ; anthers linear- oblong, pale greenish purple ; filaments short. Pistil. — Ovary superior, two-celled, contracted into a lengthened style, divided at apex into two green stig- matic lobes. Ovules two in each cell. Fruit. — Samaras, borne in open panicles which remain on the branches throughout winter. One to two inches long ; body slender, terete, half surrounded by a thin wing, rounded or acute at the apex. A Slaminate and a Pis- tillate Flow- er of Red Ash, Frax- I'nus penn- sylvanica ; enlarged. RED ASH Red Ash, Fraxinus pennsylvanica. Leaves ic/ to 12' long. Leaflets 3' to 5' long. OLIVE FAMILY In general appearance the Red and the White Ash strongly resemble each other. But the Red Ash is down}- on branch- let and leaf and petiole while the Wliite Ash is in the main smooth. Its specific name pcviiisy/raiiiia em- phasizes the fact iliat it is a tree of the North Atlantic states and grows best east of the Alleghany Moun- tains. It approaches the Black Ash in its preference tor rich, low, moist soils, the banks of streams and the shores of lakes, but unlike it, will grow in dry localities. The wood is not so valuable as that of the Wiiite Ash, being brittle instead of elastic. Tlie Green Ash, F. laiictolata, whicli is now considered a variety of the Red Ash, may be distinguished from it by its dark and lustrous foliage, by the smoothness of its leaves and branchlets and the briglit green both of the upper and lower surface of the leaves. In New England there are marked differences, but west of the Mississippi the two are connected bv intermediate forms which blend tliem together. The Green Ash is recommended for parks, streets, and shelter belts in the western states, largely because of its abil- ity to flourish in regions of small and uncertain rainfall. Samaras of Red Ash. Frjxinn ptiinivlTaiiu\i. BLUE ASH Frdxiii us quadra }i;^ulhta. - A tall slender tree, sometimes one hundred and twenty feet in height with a trunk two or three feet in diameter, usually much small- er. Native of the Mississippi valley, nowhere very abundant, prefers lime-stone soils. Bark. — Light gray tinged with red, irregularly fissured. Branch- lets, stout, four-angled, more or less four-winged, at first orange color with rusty pubescence, later they become light brown or ashy gray and gradually terete. 214 GREEN ASH Green Ash, Fraximis lanceolata. Leaves 8' to 12' long. Leaflets 3' to 5' long OLIVE FAMILY Wood. — Light yellow streaked with brown, sapwood a lighter yel- low ; heavy, hard, close-grained. Sp. gr., 0.7184 ; weight of cu. ft., 44.77 lbs. IVinti-r Buth. — Terminal bud one-fourth inch long ; outer scales fall when spring growth begins, inner scales enlarge and become green. Leaves. — Opposite, compound, unequally pinnate, eight to twelve inches long ; leaflets trve to nine, petiolate. three to fi\'e inches long, one to two inches broad, o\ate-oblong. unequally round- ed or wedge-shaped at base, serrate, acuminate. l~hey come out of the bud conduplicate. coated with brown tomentum, when full grown are thick, dark green and shining above, pale, smooth or hairy beneath ; in au- tumn they turn from brown and purple to yellow. Petiolules short and grooved. Flowers. — April, before the leaves. Perfect, borne in loose panicles de\eloped from buds formed in the axils Flower of Blue of leaves of the previous year. Calyx. — Reduced to a ring. Corolla. — Wanting, Stamens. — Two, nearly sessile ; anthers dark purple, oblong, ob- tuse, introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally. Pistil. — Ovary superior, two-celled; style short with two, pale purple, stigmatic lobes. Ovules two in each cell Fruit. — Samaras, borne in panicles, lin- ear-oblong, one to two inches long, one-fourth to one inch wide ; the broad wing surrounding the long flat body, emarginate, many-rayed. September, October. Cotyledons elliptical. Ash, Fraxi- nus quadran- gul.ita. The Blue Ash belongs to that group of trees native to the vallev of the JNIiss- issippi. Its habitat extends from south- ern jNIichigan to central Missouri and southward to eastern Tennessee and northern Alabama and through Iowa and Missouri to northeastern Arkansas. Some trees like the Rhododendron re- fuse to grow upon limestone ; the Blue Ash jirefers it. Its chosen locations are rich limestone hills, but it will flourish in fertile bottom lands. It maj' be distinguished among ashes by its peculiar stout, 216 Sam,Tr,is of Blue Ash, Frax in Hi qii.idr.mgiil.ila. BLUE ASH Blue Ash, Fraxiiiiis qnadraiigulata. Leaves 8' to 12' long. Leaflets 3' to 5' long. OLIVE FAMILY four-angled and four-winged branchiets. Its samaras resem- ble those of the Black Ash, in that the broad wing \vholi_v surrounds the long llat body. Its wood has the qualities of the other ashes and prcbablv is not distinguished comnier- ciall_v from them. The tree is recommended for park plant- ing as it is hardy and grows rapidly, and its foliage is a rich, dark, shining green. The inner bark yields a blue color to water, whence its common name. BLACK ASH Frdxijiiis tili^^rn. /''ya.riuns Siinibnti/oHa . A tall, slender tree, with narrow head of slender upright branches. Loves deep cold swamps and muddy banks of streams. Is distrib- uted from Newfoundland to Manitoba, southward to Delaware and \'irginia. Bark. — Granite gray, fissured, surface scaly. Branchiets stout, terete, dark green at first, later ashy gra\- or yellowish, finally dark gray. Wood. — Dark brown, sapwood light brown or white ; heavy, rather soft, tough, coarse-grained. Used for barrel hoops, baskets, cabinetwork and interior of houses. Sp. gr., 0.631S ; weight of cu. ft., 39.37 lbs. ll'iii/or Buds. — Dark, almost black, o\'ate. acute at apex ; outer scales fall when spring growth begins, inner scales enlarge and be come green. I.oa7'os. — Opposite, pinnately compound, twelve to sixteen inches long. Leaflets seven to eleven, sessile except the terminal, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, three to five inches long, one to two inches wide, unequally wedge-shaped or roimded at base, slightly serrate, acute or acuminate. They come out of the bud conduplicate, downy with rusty hairs, when full grown dark green, smooth above, paler beneath and smooth, except the midrdj which is hairy. Feather- veined, midrib and primary \eins conspicuous. In autumn they turn rusty brown and fall early. Petioles smooth, swollen at base, flattened or grooved. f/ozoors. — May, before the leaves. Polygamous, without cal\ x or corolla. Borne in lengthened panicles four or five inches long wliich are opposite, single or in threes, in the axils of last year's leaves, many-bracted. Stannnate flowers are borne on separate trees or inixed with perfect flowers on trees which produce pistillate ones. 218 BLACK ASH Black Ash, Fraximis nigra. Leaves 12' to 16' long. Leaflets 3' to 5' long. OLIVE FAMILY Sta»iens. — Two, anthers large, oblong, dark purple, attached to the back of short frlaments. Pistil. — Ovary superior, two celled, narrowed into a long slender style, deeply divided at the apex into two broad, purple stigmas. Ovules two in each cell. Fruit. — Samaras, borne in panicles. Oblong- linear, an inch to an inch and a half long. Body surrounded by the wing, which is ernarginate at ape.x. Seed solitary by abortion. September, October. Cotyledons elliptical. A Staminate and a Pis- tillate Flower of Black Ash, Fr.rxiiius nigra ; enlarged. The Black Ash is the slenderest of our forest trees, often reaching the height of seventy feet with a trunk whose diameter scarcely exceeds a foot. It is the most nortliern of American ashes flourishing on the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Its inflorescence is polygamous, that is, staminate, pistillate, and perfect flowers iway all be found on a single tree, although usual- ly the staminate flowers are borne on a sep- arate tree. In this species the flower is reduced to its lowest terms. Both calyx and corolla are wanting. Many flowers consist simply of two stamens sitting on the top of the flower stem, others are only a pistil. The Black Ash may be known among other ashes by the fact that its leaflets are sessile with the exception of the terminal one. Its samaras differ from those of the White Ash in that the wing entirely sur- rounds the body. The taste of the seed is aromatic. The wood is remarkable for its toughness and elasticity. The Indians especially used it in the manufacture of baskets, preferring it to every other. The trunk is often disfig- ured by knobs which are sometimes taken off and made into bowls which when polished show very odd undulations of 220 Samar.is of Black Ash, FiLixiiiUi itigra. BLACK ASH fibre. The Black Ash does not transplant well and will flourish only in swampy places. It is considered a tree of slow growth and is short-lived. YGGDRASIL, THE TREE OF THE UNIVERSE It is not within the scope of this volume to ente.- into any extended discussion of the curious myths and traditions that among many nations gravely ascribe the descent of the hu- man race from trees. The mystical " tree of life " was the date palm, the fig, the pine, the cedar, the oak, the elm, the ash — varying with the country and the vegetation. Virgil in the "^Elneid," Book VIII., says : These woods were first the seat of sylvan powers, Of nymphs and fauns and savage men who took Their birth from trunks of trees and stubborn oaks. Juvenal in the Sixth Satire tells us : For when the world was new the race that broke Unfathered, from the soil or opening oak. Lived most unlike the men of later times. In the "Odyssey," the disguised hero is asked to state his pedigree, since he must necessarily have had one. "For," says his questioner, "belike you are not come of the oak, told of in old times, nor of the rock." The most remarkable of all these fables and the best known is that of the Tree of tlie Universe, in the Norse mythology, around which have clustered as many theories as legends without any definite solution of the subject. Yggdrasil, the Tree of the Universe, is generally conceded to have been an ash tree. In the old legend it springs from the body of Ymir the earth, its trunk rises to the sky, its branches overshadow the earth and support the heavens. Three roots sustain and nourish this mighty tree. One ex- tends into Asgard the home of the Gods ; beneath it bubbles a fountain with whose waters the tree is sprinkled. By its 221 OLIVE FAMILY side is a hall wliere tlwell three maidens, Norns — Urd the past, Verdaiuli the present, Slculd the future — the Scandina- vian Fates who direct and swa}' the destinies of men. The seconil root reaches Jotunheim tlie abode of the Giants and by its side is ]\Iimir's spring within whose depths wit and knowledge lie hidden ; the third strikes deep into Nifllieim the region of darkness and cohl. The spring here feeds the serpent Nithhoggr, Darkness, which perpetually gnaws at the root. The leaves of the tree drop honey, and upon the topmost branch sits an eagle who observes all that g<->es on in the world. A scpiirrel, Ratatoskr, runs up and tlown along the trinik and branches bearing messages between the eagle and the serpent and stirring up strife between them. Four stags run back and forth among the branches and bite the biuls ; these are the four winds. Such is the fantastic story of the ash tree, for which there is neither explanation nor reasonable interpretation. FRINGE-TREE Chioiid}!(Jius 7'ir^niiia. CJiionanlhns is of Greek (lei"i\'ation and refers to the snow white flowers of the speeies, A slender tree twenty or thirty feet high ; .it the north a slirtib of several, thick, spreading stems. Commonly planted on lawns and parks. Ornamental. Roots fibrous. Ranges from Pennsylvania to Florida, westward through the Gidf states to Texas, Arkansas and Kansas. Baik. — Crown, tinged with red, scaly, Branchlets terete, liglit green, downy, at first; later they become light brown or orange color. ]]'ood. — Light brown, sapwood paler brown; heavy, hard, close- grained. ll'iii/i-r Buds. — Light brown, ovate, acute, one-eighth of an inch long. Outer scales fall when spring growth begins, inner scales en- large with the growing shoot and become Icafdike, an inch or more in length. FRINGE-TREE Flowering Branch of Fringe-tree, Chioimiitl.nis Viiginica. Leaves 4' to W long, i' to 4' broad. OLIVE FAMILY Leaves. — Opposite, simple, ovate or oblong, four to eiglit inches long, one to four inches broad, wedge-shaped at base, entire with undulate. margins, acuminate, acute or rounded at apex. Feather- veined, midrib stout, primary veins conspicuous. Ihey come out of the buC conduplicate, yellow green and shining above, downy beneath ; when full grown are dark green abo\e, pale below and smooth except the midrib and veins which are hairy. In autumn they turn a clear yellow and fall early. Petiole stout, hairy. Flowers.— ^}A3.y , June ; when leaves are one-third grown. Perfect, white, slightly fragrant, borne in loose, downy, drooping, bracted panicles, four to six inches long, from lateral buds ; peduncles three- flowered. Calyx. — Four-parted, small, smooth, persistent. Corolla. — An inch long, white, dotted on inner surface with purple spots, deeply divided into four, varying to five and six, long and narrow lobes barely united at base ; conduplicate, valvate in bud. Stamens. — Two, inserted on the base of the corolla, extrorse ; filaments short ; anthers pale yellow, ovate, two-celled. Pistil. — Ovary superior, two-celled ; style short; stigma fleshy, two-lobed. Fruit. — Drupe, borne in loose clus- ters, on which the bracts have become leaf-like. Oval or oblong, dark l^iue, glaucous, one-half to three-fourths of an inch long, surrounded at base by the persistent calyx and tipped with reni- Fringe-tree, Chionanthui virgimca. nants of the Style. Skin thick ; flesh Drupes j^' to j^' long. dry ; stone thin. The Fringe-tree is one of the most beautiful of our orna- mental shrubs and although a native of the south it is hardy at the north and is extensively planted. It prefers a moist soil and a sheltered situation and may be propagated by grafting on the ash. The singular appearance of its snow white flowers which look like a fringe, give to it the common name. These flowers appear abundantly when the leaves are half grown and the foliage mass becomes a combination of soft green and pure white, which is most beautiful. 224 BIGNONIACEiE— BIGNONIA FAMILY CATALPA. INDIAN BEAN Catdlpa Catdlpa. Catdlpa bignonioulcs. A tree with a short thick trunk, long and straggHng branches which form a broad and irregular head. Loves river banks and moist shady places. Roots fibrous, branches brittle. Its juices are watery and contain a bitter principle. Bark. — Light 1)ro\vn tinged with red, Branchlets forking regu- larly by pairs, at first green, shaded with purple and slightly hairy, later gray or yellowish brown, finally reddish brown. Contains tannin. Wood. — Light brown, sapwood nearly white ; light, soft, coarse- grained and durable in contact with the soil. Winter Buds. — No terminal bud, uppermost bud is axillary. Minute, globular, deep in the bark. Outer scales fall when spring growth begins, inner scales enlarge with the growing shoot, become green, hairy and sometimes two inches long. Leaves. — Opposite, or in threes, simple, six to ten inches long, four to five broad. Broadly ovate, cordate at base, entire, some- times wavy, acute or acuminate. Feather-veined, midrib and prima- ry veins prominent. Clusters of dark glands, which secrete nectar are found in the axils of the primary veins. They come out of the bud involute, purplish, when full grown are bright green, smooth above, pale green, and downy beneath. When bruised they give a disagreeable odor. They turn dark and fall after the first severe frost. Petioles stout, terete, long. Flowers. — June, July. Perfect, white, borne in many-flowered thyrsoid panicles, eight to ten inches long. Pedicels slender, downy. Calyx. — Globular and pointed in the bud; finally splitting into two, broadly ovate, entire lobes, green or light purple. 225 BIGNONIA FAMILY Corolla. — Campanulate, tube swollen, slightly oblique, two-lipped, five-lobed, the two lobes above smaller than the three below, im- bricate in bud ; limb spreadmg, undulate, when fully expanded is an inch and a half wide and nearly two inches long, white, marked on the inner surface with two rows of yellow blotches and in the throat on the lower lobes with purple spots. Stamens. — Two, rarely four, inserted near the base of the corolla, introrse, slightly exserted ; anthers oblong, two-celled, opening longitudinally; filaments flattened, thread-like. Sterile filaments three, inserted near base of corolla, often rudimentary. Fislil. — Ovary superior, two-celled; style long, thread-like, with a two lipped stigma. Ovules numerous. Fruit. — Long slender capsule, nearly cylindrical, two-celled, partition at right angles to the valves, Six to twenty inches long, brown ; hangs on the tree all winter, splitting before it falls. Seeds an inch long, one-fourth of an inch wide, silvery gray, winged on each side and ends of wings fringed. The Catalpa shares with the Horse-chestnut the distinc- tion uf bearing the most showy llowers of all our ornamental trees. Its value in tliis respect has long been recognized and to-day it holds an assured place in the parks and gardens of all temperate countries. In the northern states it is a late bloomer, putting forth great panicles of white flowers the last of June or early in July when the flowers of other trees have mostly faded. These cover the tree so thickly as almost to conceal the full grown leaves. The general effect of the flower cluster is a pure white, but the individual corolla is spotted with purple and gold, and some of these spots are arranged in lines along a ridge, so as to lead directly to the honey sweets within. A single flower when fully expanded is two inches long and an inch and a half wide. It is two-lipped and the lips are lobed, two lobes above and three below, as is not uncommon with such corollas. The flower is perfect, possessing both stamens and pistils ; nevertheless, the law of elimination is at work and of the five stamens that we should expect to find, three have aborted, ceased to bear anthers and have become filaments simply. Tlien, too, the flowers refuse to be self-fertilized. Each flower has its own stamens and its own stigma and the natural conclusion is that the home pollen should fall upon 226 CATALPA Flowering Spray of Catalpa. Leaves (/ to ic/ long, 4' to 6' broad. BIGNONIA FAMILY the stigma. Bat this is not the case. The lobes of the stigma remain resolutely closed until after the anthers have opened and discharged their pollen ; after they have withered and become effete then the stigma opens and invites the wandering bee. There is nothing more curious in the entire field of biology than this refusal of self-fertilization on the part of so many tlowers. The entire Pink family behave in this way. The leaves appear rather late, are large, heart-shaped, bright green and as they are full grown before the flower clusters open, add much to the beauty of the blossoming tree. Thev secrete nectar, a most unusual proceeding for leaves, by means of groups of tiny glands in the axils of tlie primary veins. The fruit is a long, slender pod packed full of light silvery seeds, each provided with a pair of pretty fringed wings to bear it afloat by wind or water in search of a home. 'I'hese pods hang pendent upon the branches for the greater part of the winter, sometimes far into the spring. The Catalpa is undoubtedly a southern tree. It seems that Europeans first observed it growing in the fields of the Cher- okee Indians, by whom it was called Catalpa. But its vital- ity enables it to flourish at the north and the land of its nativity is somewhat in doubt. The tree is fairlv free from fungal diseases and has few insect enemies. It is easily raised from seeds which germinate early in the first season. It also multiplies readily from cuttings. Catalapa spcciosa is a western species that has come into notice later than C. catalpa ; it is largely planted throughout the same range and is quite as satisfactory a tree for lawns and parks. The difference between them is very slight, and it may be that C. spaiosa will some day be considered simply a variety of the other. The genus is now found only in the United States, West Indies and China. It was common in Europe during the tertiary periled and its fossil remains have been discovered- in the miocene rocks of the Yellowstone. 228 LAURACE.E— LAUREL FAMILY SASSAFRAS Sassafras sassafras. Usually from thirty to fifty feet high, sometimes one hundred, with a stout trunk and flat-topped head ; often much smaller and shrubby. Thick fleshy roots penetrate deep into the ground and send out abundance of suckers, making thickets. Prefers rich sandy loam. Grows rapidly. Ranges from Massachusetts to Florida and west throughout the Mississippi valley. Bark. — Thick, dark, red brown , deeply and irregularly divided into broad flat ridges, separating into thick appressed scales on the sur- face. Branchlets bright yellow green, finally reddish brown, and in two or three years begin to show shallow fissures. Aromatic and spicy. Twigs mucilaginous. IVood. — Dull orange brown ; soft, weak, coarse-grained, brittle, thoagh durable in contact with the soil. Used for posts and rails, sriall boats and ox-yokes. Winter Buds. — Flower-buds terminal, ovate, acute; axillary buds mall. The scales enlarge with the growing shoot, the inner be- coming leaf-like before falling. Leaves. — Alternate, ovate or obovate, four to six inches long, en- tire or one to three-lobed, lobes broadly o\ate, divided by broad sinuses ; margins entire. They come out of the bud involute, red- dish green ; when full grown are smooth, dull dark green above, paler beneath. In autumn they turn to shades of yellow, tinged with red. Petioles slender, slightly grooved. Flowers. — May, with the first unfolding of the leaves. Dicecious, rarely perfect, greenish yellow, borne in loose, drooping, few- flowered racemes ; involucre of scaly bracts. Calvx. — Pale yellow green, six-lobed, spreading, imbricate in bud. ' Corolla. — Wanting. 229 LAUREL FAMILY Stamtits. — In sterile flowers nine, inserted on the base of the calyx in three rows, the inner row with a pair of conspicuous glands at the base of each ; fertile flowers have six short rudimentary stamens. Anthers innate, oblong, four-celled, opening by four up- lifting valves. Pisiil. — 0\'ary superior, nearly sessile in the tube of the calyx, simple, one-celled ; style one ; ovule one, suspended from the apex of the cell. Fruit. — Drupe, oblong, dark blue, shining, surrounded at the base by the enlarged and thickened scarlet calyx raised on a club- shaped rather fleshy pedicel. Cotyledons thick, fleshy. The Sassafras often grows in dense thickets. A single tree, if allowed to spread unrestrained, will soon be surrounded by a numerous and flourishing family, as its stoloniferous roots extend in every direction and send up multitudes of shoots. When full grown it is rather picturesque, as its branches are usually irregular and the head partially flattened. It has the peculiarity of looking older than it really is because of its rough, deeply furrowed, gray bark and rather warped stem. This cracking of the bark is characteristic, it begins on stems two or three years old, and continues through life. A peculiar foliage marks the tree in every situation, for it enjoys the distinction of bearing leaves of three different foniis on the same branch ; a distinction among our common de- ciduous trees shared only with the Mulberry. Those leaves are oval, or oval with a lobe at one side making what are called "mittens," or regu- larly three-lobed. There seems to be no known law which determines the order of their appearance, but the mature tree bears more oval leaves than lobed ones, grow in any loose moist soil, and es- pecially delights in neglected and abandoned fields. The fruit is a beautiful, dark blue, shining berry set on a bright red, club-shaped, fleshy stem. The birds love it and 230 Fruit of the Sassafras. The Sassafras wil SASSAFRAS Sassafras. Leaves 4' to 6' long. SASSAFRAS so eager are they that it is often j-ears before one succeeds in obtaining a perftctly mature specimen. Wings outclass hands when the top of a tree is in question. The wood, bark, and roots are all aromatic. The flavor resides in an essential oil which is especially abundant in the bark of the root. .\t one time Sassafras enjoyed a great reputation in the Mataia iiicJica, but it is now valued chiefly for lis power to improve the flavor of other medicines. Sassafras is now native only to eastern North America. Its remains are found in the arctic regions and traces of it appear in the cretaceous rocks of the extreme west, it also formerly existed in Europe. %%t ULMACEiE— ELM FAMILY WHITE ELM. AMERICAN ELM. WATER ELM Ulmus avicriiana. Ulmiis is the ancient name of tlie elm tree and was adopted by Linnseus as the name of the genus. Abundant in moist woods, throughout the entire north, especially in rich alluvial soil. Varies from sixty to one hundred and twenty feet in height, the trunk sturdy and usually dividing at one-third the height of the tree into two to five branches. Grows rapidly, is long lived. Roots fibrous and run near the surface of the ground, often rise above it. Bark. — Dark gray, rough, with longitudinal and not very closely adherent ridges. Branchlets light green, downy, later become red- dish brown, smooth and finally ashy gray. Wood. — Reddish brown, sapwood pale ; heavy, hard, strong, tough, difficult to split, rather coarse-grained ; will take no polish ; used for hubs of wheels, saddletrees and cooperage. Sp. gr., 0.6506 ; weight of cu. ft., 40,55 lbs. Winter Buds. — Flower-buds larger than leaf buds, produced in the axils of the leaves of the previous year. Leaf-buds brown, one- eighth of an inch long, ovate, acute, slightly flattened ; scales smooth. No terminal bud is formed. When spring growth begins the inner scales enlarge. Leaves — Alternate, four to six inches long, two to three inches broad, obovate-oblong, or oval, unec|ual at base, doubly serrate, acuminate. Feather-veined, midvein and primary veins conspicu- ous. They come out of the bud conduplicate, downy, pale green ; when full grown are dark green, rough above, pale green and downy or smooth beneath. In autumn they turn brown or golden yellow. Petioles short ; stipules fugacious. Flowers. — March, April, before the leaves. Perfect, small, brown- ish yellow or reddish, borne in loose umbel-like clusters, on slender pedicels, on last year's wood. 233 ELM FAMILY Cdfyx. — Campanulate, four to nine-lobed, hairy, green, tinged with red, becoming brown in fading ; lobes imbricate in bud. Corol/a. — Wanting. S/cuiuwis. — Four to nine or as many as the calyx lobes and oppo- site to them, exserted ; filaments long, slender ; anthers bright red, two-celled, cells opening longitudinally ; pollen shed before the stigmas mature. Pistil. — Ovary superior, two-celled ; styles two, light green ; ovules solitary. Fruit. — Samaras, winged all round, maturing as the leaves appear and clinging to the branch in clusters, ovate, one-seeded, one-half inch long, two-beaked, sharp points incurved and closing the notch, green, smooth on faces, densely ciliate at margins. Cotvledons flat, fleshy. W'lio knows not the 'vine prop' elm, with its loft}' grace and slight bene- dictive droop, the oriole's nest still swinging from the end of some branch? — Edith Thom.\s. White Elm and Silver Maple are the first trees to accept the challenge of March that spring has come, and they seal their acceptance with flowers not leaves, for the law of the wild wood is that forest trees shall produce flowers before leaves. The flower-buds are usually borne Flowering Spray of White Elm. Ulmin americana. on the topmost branches of an elm tree, and even in February they respond to the kindly influence uf a few warm davs by becoming swollen and shining. When March stops for a day or two to take his breath and the sun shines and the warm air comes up from the south, these swollen buds shake off their brown scales and come out as little clusters of eight to 234 WHITE ELM White Elm, Uliims americana. Leaves 4' to -olla. — Wanting. Sidineius. — As many as the lobes of the corolla. Pistil. — Ovary superior, raised on a short stipe and coated with white tomentum, one- celled by abortion ; stigmas two. Fruit. — Samaras, winged all round ; mature at the unfolding of the leaves, oblong, one- third of an inch long, borne on a drooping stem, downy on the faces, tipped with incurved downy horns, margins densely ciliate. Wing narrow compared to seed. 246 Winged E!m, Ulnui^ j!.it.i S.imaras ]^' to \,' long. ENGLISH ELM English Elm, Ulimis campestns. Leaves \ to 4' long. ELM FAMILY The Wahoo or Winged Elm is a native of tlie southern states ranging along the line of A'irginia, southern Illinois, and southern Indiana, to the shores of the Gulf of iNIexico. Its leaves are smaller than those of the White Ehii ; its samaras are the smallest of all the elms ; its wood has inter- laced fibres which make it difficult to split; its economic value is virtually nothing. It grows rapidly, branches low to the ground, has beautiful and abundant foliage and may well claim a place in our parks and lawns. The most remarkable thing about the tree are the corky ridges along the sides of the branches from which the name alata has been given to the species. ENGLISH ELM Vhiius canipcstris. This elm was brought over to New England at an early date in the histor\' of the colonies and there are vigorous specimens about Boston fully one hundred and fifty years old. Although known to us as the English Elm, competent opinion inclines to the belief that it was brought into England by the Romans and is not native to the island. This is the common elm tree of Europe and has been valued there both for its timber and its beauty from very ancient times. It does not have the drooping habit of our American elms but rather takes on the appearance of the oak. The leaves are oblique, often two-shouldered, rough, feather-veined and doubly serrate. Its seedlings vary greatly. The ancient poets frequently mention this tree which, in common with many other barren trees, was devoted by them to the infernal gods. The Greeks and Romans considered all trees which produce no fruit fit for human use as funereal trees. Homer alludes to this when he tells us that Achilles raised a monument to the father of Andromache in a grove of elms : Jove's sylvan daughters bade their elms bestow A barren shade, and in his honor grow. —Iliad, Book VI. 243 HACKBERRY The elm was in Roman days and is still used in Italy as a support to the vine. It is interesting, to a stranger, to see a vineyard planted full of small elm trees and the grape vines hanging from their branches or trained from one to another. The manner of cultivation seems not to have changed from ancient times. " If that fair elm," he cried, "alone should stand, No grapes would glow with gold and teinpt the hand ; Or if that vine without her elm should grow, 'Twouid creep, a poor neglected shrub, below." —Ovid. HACKBERRY. SUGARBERRY. NETTLE TREE Ccltis occidc'ntalis. The name Cellis is said to refer to the tree having been known to the ancient Celts ; another e.xplanation is that it was the ancient name of a species of lotus. A large tree with a slender trunk, rising to the height of one hun- dred and thirty feet, is the Hackberry in the southwest, but in the middle states it attains the height of si.xty feet with a handsome round-topped head and pendulous branches. It prefers rich moist soil, Ijut will grow on gravelly or rocky hillsides. The roots are fibrous and it grows rapidly. Native throughout the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Bark- — Light brown or silvery gray, broken on the surface into thick apprcssed scales and sometimes roughened with excrescences. Branchlets slender, light green at first, finally red brown, at length become dark brown tinged with red. \]'ood. — Light yellow ; heavy, soft, coarse-grained, not strong. Used for fencing and cheap furniture. Sp. gr., 0.7287 ; weight of cu. ft., 45.41 lbs. JViii/e?- Buds. — Axillary, ovate, acute, somewhat flattened, one- fourth of an inch long, light brown. Scales enlarge with the grow- ing shoot, the innermost becoming stipules. No terminal bud is formed. Leaves. — Alternate, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, more or less falcate, two and a half to four inches long, one to two inches wide, very oblique at the base, serrate, except at the base which is mostly entire, acute. Three-nerved, midrib and priinary veins prominent. They 249 ELM FAMILY come out of the bud conduplicate with slightly involute margins, pale yellow green, douny ; when full grown are thin, bright green, rough abo\e, paler green beneath. In autumn they turn to a liglit yellow. Petioles slender, slightly groo\ed, hairy. Stipules varying in form, caducous. Plowcrs. — May, soon alter the lea\es. Polygamo-moncecious, greenish. Of three kinds — staminate, pistillate, perfect; borne on slender drooping pedicels. Ca/y.x. — Light yellou- green, five-lobed, divided nearly to the base; lobes linear, acute, more or less cut at the ape.x, often tipped with hairs, imbricate in bud. Corolla. — Wanting. Stamens. — Five, hypogynous ; filaments white, smooth, slightly flattened and gradually narrowed I'rom base to apex ; in the bud incurved, bringing the anthers face to face, as flower opens they abruptly straighten ; anthers e.xtrorse, oblong, two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally. Pistil. — 0\'ary superior, one-celled ; style two-lobed ; ovules sol- itary. Fruit. — Flesh\' drupe, oblong, one-half to three-fourths of an inch long, tipped with remnants of style, dark purple. Borne on a slen- der stem ; ripens in September and October. Remains on branches during winter. \\'hen one for the first time sees an elm tree bearing ber- ries, it gives a shock to all his former ideas. To come upon the Hackberry, "tall and stately by the river," showing its elm relationship in the poise of its trunk, in the sweep and fall of its branches, in the effect of its foliage mass ; showing this so plainly that a novice says, " of course it is an elm," and then to find that elm bearing dark purple berries is m- deed a surprise. Certainly the Hackberry is not an elm, and its stunted growth in the eastern states would never permit it to be mistaken for one, but where it attains its fullest de- velopment it shows unmistakably its family relationship. Native to the Mississippi valley, it is rare east of the Alle- ghanies and west of the Rockies. The wood is not very val- uable, but as an ornamental tree it has much to recommend it. It is tolerant of many conditions of soil and climate, likes water but can live in dry situations. Insects rarely attack its leaves, and it is comparatively free from serious diseases. It is now extensively planted as a shade tree in the western 250 HACKBERRY Fruiting Spray of Hackberry, Celtis occidentalii. ELM FAMILY states. The fruit is sweet and not unpleasant, and is loved by the birds. The t3-pe is ancient, traces of Celtis have been found in the miocene rocks of Europe. The European Nettle, Celtis ausiyalis, is supposed to have been the Lotus of the ancients, whose fruit Herodotus, Dios- corides, and Theophrastus describe as sweet, pleasant, and wholesome. Homer makes LTlysses say ; I sent explorers forth — two chosen men, A herald was the third — to learn what race Of mortals nourished by the fruits ot earth Possessed the land. Thc)- went and found themselves Among the Lotus-eaters soon, wiio used No violence against tlieir lives, but gave Into their hands the lotus plant to taste. Whoever tasted once ot that sweet food Wished not to see his nati\e country more Nor give his friends the knowledge of his fate ; And then my messengers desired to dwell Among the Lotus-eaters, and to feed Upon the lotus, never to return. — Ouvssiiiv, Book DL 3^2 MORACE/E— MULBERRY FAMILY RED MULBERRY JMorus rubra. Morns is the ancient classical name. Common. Prefers rich soil of intervale lands and low hills. Sixty to seventy feet high, with a short trunk three or four feet in diam- eter, stout spreading branches making a dense, broad, round-topped head. Roots fibrous, grows rapidly. Juice milky. Ranges from Massachusetts to Florida, westward to Kansas arid Nebraska. Bark. — Dark brown tinged with red, divided into irregular plates ; separating into thick scales. Branchlets at first dark green, often tinged with red ; later, red brown and finally dark brown. IVood. — Pale orange ; light, soft, coarse-grained, not strong, very durable in contact with the soil. Used for fences and in cooperage. Sp. gr., 0.5898 ; weight of cu. ft., 36.75 lbs. Wiiitey Buds. — Ovate, rounded at apex, one-fourth of an inch in length, light brown. Scales grow with the growing shoot. No terminal bud is formed. Leaves. — Alternate, variable in shape, entire, ovate or semiorbic- ular, three-lobed sometimes five-lobed ; three to five inches long, more or less cordate at base, serrate, acute or acuminate. Three- nerved or in the lobed leaies, palmately-veined. They come out of the bud conduplicate, yellow green with reddish tinge ; when full grown are thin, dark bluish green, shining, smooth or rough above, paler green beneath. In autiunn they turn a bright yellow and fall early. Petioles stout, grooved, rather long. Stipules caducous. Flowers. — May, June, with the leaves ; monoecious and dioecious. Staminate flowers in densely flowered spikes an inch long, on short, hairy peduncles, in the axils of later leaves. A few pistillate are often mixed with these. Pistillate flowers in narrow spikes two to two and a half inches long and borne in the axils of the first leaves. Calyx four-parted ; stamens four ; filaments elastically expanding ; ^5J MULBERRY FAMILY styles two, thread-like ; ovary two-celled, one cell small and finally disappearing. Fruit. — Compound, consisting of drupes each inclosed in a thickened, fleshy calyx. Bright red at first, finally dark purple, sweet and juicy ; about an inch long. Jul\'. The tree {the Mulberr\0 is found in abundance in the nortliw estern parts of Florida. The Choctaw 5 put its inner baric in hot water along w ith a quantity of ashes and obtain filaments, with which they weave a kind of cloth not unlike a coarse hempen cloth. — RoM.ANS's "Natural History of Florida." There are three well known mulberries, the Red, the Black, and the \\'hite ; so named because of the color of their fruit. The Red Miilberr\- is the American species and bears the characteristic berry of the genus which is an aggregate fruit of many drupes. It resem- bles a blackberry. In ripening it is first red, then dark purple. In taste it is rather insipid, but is loved by the birds. The Red Mulberry is generally distributed, but rarely attains great size. Standing in the southern forests it reaches the height of seventy feet, but ordinarily it is a low broad branched tree with trunk proportionately thickened. Like the Sassafras it, bears leaves varying in form, some heart-shaped and others lobed. But these leaves are too thick and rough even when young to make proper food f(.)r the silkworm, which in a cold climate, feeds with advantage on the leaves of the ^^'hite Mulberry onlv. Professor Sargent savs of it, " Surpassing as it does in height and breadth all mulberry trees of temperate regions, the dense shade afforded by its broad compact crown of dark blue green leaves, its freedom from disease and the attacks of disfiguring insects, its prolificness, its hardiness e.xcept in its earliest years, and tlie rapidity of its growth in good soil, make it a most desirable ornamental tree." The Black Mulberry, Moms nigra, is the tree common in Europe, introduced it is supposed from Persia, that nati>'e 254 RED MULBERRY Red Mulberry, Morns rubra. Leaves 5' to 5' long. MULBERRY FAMILY land of so many of our fruits. Its berrj' is large, dark purple, almost black, very juicy and delicious. Like all the mulberries, its leaves vary apparentlv without law. The tree is long-lived and many individuals in England are known to be three hundred years old. In the grounds of Christ Church College at Cambridge is one planted b}' Milton when a student of the college and it still bears delicious fruit as the writer can testif)' from personal e.xperience. In Oxford, in the Common Room Garden of Pembroke College, are two mulberry trees which are said to have been planted before the college was founded in 1624. The Black Mulberry has been known from tlie earliest records of antiquity, which leads to the belief that it is one of the first trees cultivated by man. It is related in the Bible, II. Samuel, v. 23, that David came out against his enemies from behind the mulberry trees, but there is ahvavs a difficulty in identifying anv tree mentioned bv the ancient authors unless its characteristics are expresslv noted. Ovid, however, evidently points out the Black JMulberi'v as the one introduced in the story of Pvramis and Thisbe, and Pliny in several ways seems to identify the tree. In addition to much else he says, "Of all cultivated trees the mulberry is the last that buds, wdiich it never does until tlie cold weather is past and it is therefore called the wisest of trees." The mulberry was very generally introduced into England about 1605 because of an edict of James I. recommending the rearing of silkworms and offering packets of mulberry seeds to all who would sow them. But the roval knowledge was imperfect and the seeds distributed were those of the Black Mulberry which the silkworm «-ill not willingly eat, instead of the White Mulberry upon which the silkworm thrives. Shakespeare's ^Mulberry is referred to this period as it was planted in 1609 in his garden at Xew Place, Stratford. In Drake's Shakespeare, IMr. Drake mentions a native of Strat- ford who remembered frequently to have eaten of the fruit of this tree in his youth, some of its branches hanging over the wall which divided that garden from his father's. Cer- 256 WHITE MULBERRY t-ruiting Branch of White Mulberry, Morns alba. Leaves 3' to 5' long. MULBERRY FAMILY tainly the flourishing plants now growing in that garden, and for the delight of tourists averred to be tlie scions of that classic tree, are Black Mulberries. Tlie mulberr_v was dedicated b}- the Greeks to Minerva, probably because it was considered the wisest of trees. Many persons still remember a children's game played by little girls, with the refrain, — As we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, As we go round the mulberry bush. So early in the morning. The White Mulberry, Morns alba, is a native of China, and although many varieties have been produced they are all alike in this, that the fruit is white. The leaves are the pre- ferred food of the silkworm and the tree seems to have been cultivated in China from most ancient times for the purpose of rearing silkworms. It is hardy on the southern shore of Lake Erie, and doubtless throughout our temperate range, although it succumbs to excessive heat and extreme cold. The leaves are variable in form, dark green and shining. OSAGE ORANGE Toxvlon ponnfeynni. Madura aura}iriaLa. Toxylon, of Greek derivation, alludes to the bidian use of tlie wood in the manufacture of bows. Madura was given in honor of Will- iam Maclure, an eminent scientist. Native to the rich bottoin lands of Arkansas, Texas, and bidian Territory. Forty to sixty feet high with short trunk and handsome round-topped head. Juice milky and acrid. Roots thick, fleshy, covered with bright orange colored bark. Bark. — Dark, deeply furrowed, scaly. Branchlets at first bright green, pubescent, during first winter they becoine light brown tinged with orange, later they become a paler orange brown. Branches with yellow pith, and armed with stout, straight, axillary spines. Wood. — Bright orange yellow, sapwood paler yellow ; heavy, hard, strong, flexible, capable of receiving a fine polish, very durable 258 OSAGE ORANGE Osage Orange, Toxylon pomiferum. Leaves 3' to 5' long, 2' to 3' wide. MULBERRY FAMILY in contact with the ground. Sp. gr., 0.7736 ; weight of cu. ft., 48.21 lbs. IViitter Btnh. — All buds lateral. Depressed-globular, partly im- mersed in the bark, pale chestnut brown. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, three to five inches long, two to three inches wide, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, entire, acuminate, or acute or cuspidate, rounded, wedge-shaped or subcordate at base. Feather- veined, midrib prominent. They come out of the bud involute, pale bright green, pubescent and tonientose, when full grown are thick, firm, dark green, shining above, paler green below. In autumn they turn a clear bright yellow. Petioles slender, pubescent, slightly grooved. Stipules small, caducous. Flowers. — June, when leaves are full grown ; dioecious. Stam- inate flowers in racemes, borne on long, slender, drooping peduncles developed from the axils of crowded leaves on the spur-like branch- lets of the previous year. Racemes are short or long. Flowers pale green, small. Calyx hairy, four-lobed. Stamens four, inserted op- posite lobes of calyx, on the margin of thin disk ; filaments flattened, exserted ; anthers oblong, introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longi- tudinally; ovary wanting. Pistillate flowers borne in a dense glo- bose many-flowered head which appears on a short stoiit peduncle, axillary on shoots of the year. Calyx, hairy, four-lobed ; lobes thick, concave, investing the ovary, and inclosing the fruit. Ovary superior, ovate, compressed, green, crowned by a long slender style covered with white stigmatic hairs. Ovule solitary. FruiL — Pale green globe, four to five inches in diameter, made up of numerous small drupes, crowded and grown together. These small drupes are oblong, compressed, rounded, often notched at apex, filled with milky juice. Seed oblong, the fruit is often seed- less. The earliest account of Toxvloii poiiiifciiiiii was given by a Scotch gentleman, ^Villialll ])iinl)ar, in his narrative of a jour- ney made in 1804 from St. Catiierine's Landing on the Mis- sissippi to the A\'ishita river. In iSio, Bratlbnry, who trav- elled extensively in the interior of North America in 1S09, 1810 and 181 1, relates tliat he fonnd two trees growing in the garden of Pierre Chouteau, one of the first settlers of St. Louis. The)' were known as Osage Orange, the trees having been introduced from a settlement of the Osage Indians. The wood was highly prized by the Lidians as material for bows and war clubs, and Ki-adl)ury relates that the price of a bow was a horse ami blanket. The wood is very elastic, practically incorruptible, and extensively used wherever wood 260 OSAGE ORANGE Fruit of Osaj;t Orange. Varies from 4' to 3' in diameter. MULBERRY FAMILY must bear alternations of wet and dry, or is brought into con- tact with the soil. In color it is a most brilliant orange, bu; this dulls with time. It is largely used as a substitute for olive wood in the manufacture of small articles. The Osage Orange is native to a deep and fertile soil but it has great powers of adaptation and is hardy throughout the north, where it is extensively used as a hedge plant. It neeils severe pruning to keep it in bounds and the shoots of a sm- gle year will grow three to six feet long. The leaves are beautiful singlv, but arranged alternately on a slender growing shoot three or four feet long, varying from dark to pale tender green, every one glistening and glittering in the sunlight, they are indeed beautiful. In form they are very simple, a long oval terminating in a slender point. In the axil of every growing leaf is found a growing spine which when mature is about an inch long, and rather formidable. The pistillate and staminate flowers are on different trees ; both are inconspicuous ; but the fruit is very much in evi- dence. This in size and general appearance resembles a large, yellow green orange, onlv its surface is roughened and tuberculated. It is, in fact, a compound fruit such as the bot- anists call a syncarp. Syncarp means that the carpels, that is, the ovaries have grown together and that the great orange- like ball is not one fruit but many ; in fact just as many as there are tubercles on the surface for each one represents a ripened ovary. It is heavily charged with milkv juice which oozes out at the slightest wounding of the surface, .\lthough the flowering is dioecious, the pistillate tree even when iso- lated will bear large oranges, perfect to the sight but lacking the seeds. The fruit is eaten by cattle but is not good for them. The tree is very prolific and a neglected hedge will soon become fruit-bearing. It is remarkably free from insect ene- mies and fungal diseases. 262 PLATANACE.E— PLANE TREE FAMILY SYCAMORE. BUTTONWOOD Phi/tvms OLcidc'ntalis. Plaianits from plains^ broad, on account of the shape of the leaf. Common throughout the United States. Found along the banks of streams and on rich bottom lands. Seventy to one hundred and twenty feet in height, often divided near the ground into several sec- ondary trunks, very free from branches ; spreading limbs at the top make an irregular, open head. Easily recognized by its mottled ex- foliating bark. Roots fibrous. The trunks of large trees often hollow. Bark. — Dark reddish brown, broken into oblong plate-like scales, higher on the tree smooth and light gray ; separates freely into thin plates which peel off and leave the surface pale yellow, or white, or greenish. Branchlets at first pale green, coated with thick pale to- mentum, later dark green and smooth, finally become light gray or light reddish brown. Wood. — Light brown, tinged with red ; heavy, weak, difficult to split. Largely used for furniture and interior finish of houses, butch- ers' blocks. Sp. gr., 0.5678; weight of cu. ft., 35.39 lbs. Winter Buds. — Large, conical, three-scaled, form in summer within the petiole of the full grown leaf. The inner scales enlarge with the growing shoot. There is no terminal bud. Leaves. — Alternate, palmately nerved, broadly-ovate or orbicular, four to nine inches long, truncate or cordate or wedge-shaped at base, decurrent on the petiole. Three to five-lobed by broad SWaifow sinuses rounded in the bottom ; lobes acuminate, toothed, or entire, or undulate. They come out of the bud plicate, pale green coated with pale tomentum ; when full grown are bright yellow green above, paler beneath. In autumn they turn brown and wither before falling. Petioles long, abruptly enlarged at base and inclosing the buds. Stipules with spreading, toothed borders, conspicuous on young shoots, caducous. 263 PLANE TREE FAMILY I'runk of the Sycamore, Pldtamn occidciilalis. SYCAMORE Flowers. — May, with the leaves; monoecious, borne in dense heads. Staminate and pistillate heads on separate peduncles. Staminate heads dark red, on axillary peduncles ; pistillate heads light green tinged with red, on longer terminal peduncles. Calyx of staminate flowers three to six tiny scale-like sepals, slightly united at the base, half as long as the pointed petals. Of pistillate flowers three to six, usually four, rounded sepals, much shorter than the acute petals. Corolla of three to six thin scale-like petals. Staiiifiis. — In staminate flowers as many as the divisions of the calyx and opposite to them; filaments short; anthers elongated, two-celled ; cells opening" by lateral slits ; connectives hairy. Pistil. — Ovary superior, one-celled, sessile, ovate-oblong, sur- rounded at base by long, jointed, pale hairs ; styles long, incurved, red, stigmatic ; ovules one or two. Fruit. — Brown heads, solitary or rarely clustered, an inch in diameter, hanging on slender stems three to six inches long ; per- sistent through the winter. These heads are composed of akenes about two-thirds of an inch in length. October. Clear are the depths where its eddies play, And dimples deepen and whirl away ; And the plane tree's speckled arms o'ershoot The swifter current that mines its root. ^William Cullen Bryant. The distinguishing peculiarity of the Sycamore is tiiat it "casts its bark as well as its leaves." All trees do this more or less, it is a necessity of life that the bark should yield to the pressure of the growing stem ; and the outer layers be- coming dead fall off in scales or plates of varying size. In the case of the Silver Maple and the Shagbark Hickory the process is not hidden,' but the Sycamore proclaims the fact more openly than any other tree of the forest. The bark of the trunk and larger limbs flakes off in great irregular masses leaving the surface mottled, greenish white and gray and brown, sometimes the smaller limbs look as if whitewashed. In winter it can be recognized from afar by this characteristic alone ; and as it likes to grow upon river banks the course of the stream may often be traced for a long distance by the white branches of this tree. The explanation of this is found in the rigid texture of the bark tissue, which entirely lacks the expansive power common to the bark of other trees, so that it is incapable of stretching to accommodate the growth 265 PLANE TREE FAMILY of the wood underneath and the tree is therefore obliged to slough it off. A second peculiarity is the way tlie leaves protect the growing buds. Examine a branch of almost any tree in early August and nestled in the axils of the leaves yon will find the tinv forming buds which wiU produce the leaves of the conung vear. The Svcaniore branch apparentlv lias no such buds. Are there then to be no more leaves on Sycamores in conung years ? The conclusion is hasty. Observe the sudden enlarge- ment of the petiole, pull it from the branch, and there inclosed in a little tight-filling case made of the base of tlie petiole is the bud. The great merit of the Sycamore is its vigor and luxuriance of growth ; al- though at present the trees are greatlv threatened by a fungus which attacks and destrovs the first leaves and grow- ing shoots. This fungus was first dis- covered in licrmany more than twentv years ago, but its occurrence in the United States was onlv recently recog- nized by botanists. The disease makes its appearance soon after the leaves have expanded, appearing in the form of small black spots which lie close to the veins. .As a result the half grown leaves turn brown, shrivel, and fall. It is very common in early June to see these trees putting forth their second crop of leaves while the first hang brown, dead, and unsightly on the ends of the branches. Xo efficient |-emedy has as yet been applied and if none develops the Sycamore is practically out of the race, for a tree which does not really get its leaves until July 206 Fruit ol" the S\'c.imore, Pljl.iuu; occiJc'ilalis. SYCAMORE .'t. " * f ^ #"• -^ M^'^ -?iJS,->->~ ' ^-S'#^?W,1 ^ ^i «»» ^ S^'camore, Platanns occidentalis. Leaves 4' to 9' long. PLANE TREE FAMILY is too severe!}' handicapped to compete successfully in the struggle for life. In old age the tree is picturesque rather tiian beau- tiful. The stiff branches strike out from the huge trunk irregularly and wander away without law or order. The branchlets likewise are arranged on a plan of hit or miss. But, when the leaves are out, this scrambliug lawless arrange- ment is seen to have its good points, no leaf unduly shades another and the foliage effect is light and airy. The Svcamore is able to triumph over the hard conditions of citv life and is extensivelv planted as a shade tree. It bears transplanting well and grows rapidly. A Sycamore, probablv our present Svcamore, made up a large part of the forests of Greenland and arctic America during the cretaceous and tertiary periods. It once grew abundantly in central Europe whence it has now disappeared. Evidently there is something in present conditions inimical to its development. 369 JUGLANDAcE.E— WALNUT FAMILY BLACK WALNUT Jjiglans is contracted from Jovis, Jove's, and glans a mast, or acorn ; and was applied by the Roman writers to this tree on account of the excellence of its fruit as food, compared with other masts or acorns ; the only species that was known to the Romans having been the Jiiglans rcgui, the tree bearing the walnut of commerce. Generally distributed, least common in the Atlantic states, abundant in the middle Mississippi valley. Prefers rich bottom lands and fertile hillsides. Deep perpendicular roots ; grows slowly ; reaches the height of one hundred feet with a trunk four to six feet in diameter. Bark and husk contain tannic acid. Bark. — Dark brown, slightly tinged with red, deeply divided into broad rounded ridges, broken on the surface into thick scales. Branchlets hairy, dull orange brown, later becoming darker brown. Winter Bitds. — Terminal buds ovate, slightly flattened, one-third of an inch long, covered with silky tonientuui. A.Killary buds obtuse, one-eighth of an inch long, co\ered with silky tomentum ; two to four together. Wood. — Dark purplish brown ; hea\y, hard, close-grained, strong. Very durable in contact with the soil; used for furniture, inteiior finishing of houses, gunstocks. Sp. gr. , 0.61 15 ; weight of cu. ft., 38.11 lbs. Leaves. — Alternate, compound, unequally pinnate, often equally pinnate, one to two feet long. Fifteen to twenty-three leaflets. Leaflets ovate-lanceolate, three to three and a half inches in length, often unequal at base, serrate, long-pointed, and sessile on the cen- tral stem. They come out of the bud shining, yellow green, smooth above, tomentose beneath, when full grown are thin, bright yellow green, smooth. In autumn they turn bright yellow and fall early. Petioles minutely downy. 26g WALNUT FAMILY F/owers. — May, when leaves are half grown ; monoecious. The catkins of staminate flowers appear in the autumn as short cone- like buds, slightly hairy, solitary or in pairs ; when mature are three to five inches long. The perianth, subtended by an acute triangu- lar bract, coated with tomentum, is six-lobed ; lobes imbricate, nearly orbicular. Stamens twenty to thirty, arranged in several rows, with purple anthers surmounted by slightly lobcd connectix'es. Pistillate flowers are borne in a two to h\-e-flo\vered spike, ovate, pointed, maturing later than the staminate. The bract and bract- lets which form the outer covering of the flower are green and hairy above, covered with pale hairs Ijeneatli, sometimes cut into a laciniate border, sometimes undivided, sometimes greatly reduced. Calyx four-lobed ; lobes imbricate, acute, light green, hairy. Styles two ; stigmas recurved, yellow green, tinged with red. 0\'ary in- ferior, ovule solitary. Fruit. — Nut inclosed in an indehiscent in\olucre, making a kind of dry drupe, solitary or in pairs, globose or slightly pyriform, yel- low green, roughly dotted, one and a half to two inches m diameter. The nut is oval or oblong, slightly flattened, without sutural ridges, one and a quarter to one and a half inches in length, dark brown, four-celled at top and bottom. Kernel sweet and edible. Cotyle- dons deeply lobed. The Black ^^'alnut growing alone is one of the grandest and most massive trees of our flora, (iiven a rich soil and ample space, " it equals in the boldness of its ramifications and the amplitude of its head the best specimens of the oak or chestnut." Its lower branches often sweep the ground, while its upper tower sixty or sevent}' feet into lheaii\ Then, too, its plum)- 3-ellow green foliage, tufted at the end of the spraj', long-petioled and narrow-leaved, catches and throws the sunlight and makes of its ver_v shade a golden glow. This is the free creature protected by man. In the forest living under the law of competition it becomes entirely dif- ferent. There, the trunk rises straight as a column forty, fifty, or sixty feet, without the suggestion of a branch, and finally puts forth a narrow round-topped somewhat rigid head, So much a long conununion tends To make us what we arc. A single Black ^Valnut will lighten a tlense foliage mass wonderfully and has great value in a landscape for that rea- 270 BLACK WALNUT Black Walnut, Juglans nigra. Leaves 12' to 24' long. Leaflets 3' to Jj^' long WALNUT FAMILY son. The objection to the tree is that the leaves are late in coming out in the spring and fall early in the autumn so that it often stands naked when its neighbors are apparently in full leaf ; moreover, it is the host of many caterpillars. The bark of the trunk is very dark and the branches seen in contrast with the light foliage look positively black. The walnut grows more rapidly than is generally supposed, and had there been reasonable care in cutting only the large trees and protecting the small ones, it need never have become as rare as it now is. The nut cannot compare in flavor and sweetness with that of the European species, but the wood is far superior. During the tertiary period many species of walnut were abundant in Europe ; now the genus is native onl}' in America and Asia. The European Walnut, Jiiglans regia, is a native of Persia, the home of the peach and the apricot. It was known to the Greeks whose names for it were Persicon and Basilicon, the Persian and royal nut. Curiously enough, it was the fruit of the walnut and not of the oak that the Romans called the acorn. When Ovid tells us that the people of the golden age lived upon .■\c0rn5 that had fallen From the towering tree of Jove, he had in mind not Qtu-ici/s, the oak, but Juglans, the wal- nut. Cowley, in his poem on Plants, says : The walnut then approached, more large and tall Her fruit which we a nut, the gods an acorn call ; Jove's acorn, which does no small praise confess, To have called it man's ambrosia had been less. By the Greeks it was highly esteemed and dedicated to Diana whose festivals were held beneath its shade. The Greeks and Romans strewed walnuts at their weddings, and Horace, Virgil, and Catullus allude to the custom, Spenser mentions walnuts as employed in Christnias games. 272 BLACK WALNUT Trunk of Black V^ilnut, Jug/ans nigra. WALNUT FAMILY For some reason the ancients thought the shade of tht wahiut unwholesome to men and pUints. It is certain that neither grass, tield, nor garden crops thrive well under the walnut. The explanation given is that the injury comes from the deca^-ing of the fallen leaves and the washing into the soil of their astringent properties ; if such is the case tiie evil ma}' be averted by raking them up and carrying them away as soon as they fall. BUTTERNUT. WHITE WALNUT Common. Prefers rich moist lowlands, and fertile hills. Usually fifty to seventy feet high, with broad, spreading, horizontal branches forming a low symmetrical head. Deep perpendicular roots, with a few, thick, fibrous rootlets. Bark. — Light grayish brown, deeply divided into broad ridges which separate on the surface into small plate-like scales. Young trunks and branches, smooth and light gray. Branchlets at first orange brown or bright green, coated with rusty clammy hairs, be- coining later light gray. Contains tannic acid. Wood . — Light brown ; light, soft, coarse-grained and not strong. Will take a beautiful polish ; used for furniture and interior of houses. Sp. gr., 0,4086 ; weight of cu. ft,, 25.46 lbs. Winter Buds. — Terminal buds hairy, somewhat flattened, one-hali to three-fourths of an inch in length. Axillary buds hairy, ovate, flattened, rounded at the apex, one-eighth of an inch long, in groups of three or four, almost naked. Inner scales enlarge when spring growth begins. Leaves. — Alternate, compound, unequally pinnate, often equally pinnate, fifteen to thirty inches long, hairy, with eleven to seventeen leaflets. Leaflets oblong-lanceolate, three to five inches long, one and a half to two inches wide, unequally rounded at base, serrate, acute or acuminate, sessile or short petioled, the terminal leaf- let often borne on a stalk two inches in length. They come out of the bud yellow green and sticky, shining and scurfy above, hairy be- low ; when full grown thin, yellow green, pale ; midribs rounded above, primary veins conspicuous. In autumn they turn yellow Stipules wanting. Petioles downy with clammy hairs. Flowers. — May, when the leaves are half grown ; monoecious. The catkins of staminate flowers appear in the autumn as short cone- like buds covered with pale tomentum ; when mature they are from three to five inches long. The perianth, subtended by an acute 274 BUTTERNUT Fruit of the Black Walnut and of the Butternut. WALNUT FAMILY hairy bract, is one-fourth inch long, bright yellow green, slightly hairy, usually six-lobed, the side lobes bearing tufts of brown hairs. Stamens from eight to twelve, with nearly sessile dark brown an- thers, surmounted by darker connectives. Pistillate flowers are borne in six to eight-tlowered spikes ; one-third of an inch long, ma- turing later than the staminate. The bract and bractlets which form the outer covering of the flowers are coated with white or pink glandular hairs ; bract linear and acute ; bractlets ovate, acute or laciniate ; calyx four-lobed ; lobes imbricate, linear, hairy ; styles two; stigmas two, fringed, spreading, bright red, half an inch long. Ovary inferior, ovule solitary. Fruit. — Nut closed in an indehiscent involucre, making a kind of dry drupe. Three or five often ripen on one branch. Cylindrical, obscurely two to four-ridged, ovate-oblong, pointed, coated with rusty clammy hairs, one-half to two and one-half inches long. Nut is brown, ovate, acute at apex, deeply sculptured and rough with ragged ridges, two-celled at base. Kernel sweet and pleasant but very oily and soon becomes .rancid. Cotyledons ovate-oblong. The Butternut when young much resembles the Black Wal- nut. It is, perhaps, more generally distributed. The form of the fruit differs greatly from that of the Black Walnut, being oblong, oval, and narrowed to a point at the end. The husk is covered with a sticky gum and when green is used domes- tically to dye a dull yellow. The surface of the nut is much rougher than that of any other of the walnut genus. The bark is lighter gray than that of the Black Walnut, and the ridges are very much broader. The leaves are very similar in general appearance, but the petiole of the Butternut leaf is covered with clammy hairs as are the young branchlets. HICKORY Hicbria. Cdrya. The name Carya was applied by the Greeks to the common walnut, in honor of Carya, daughter of Dion, King of Laconia, who was changed by Bacchus into that tree. Diana had the surname of Caryata from the town of Carya in La- conia where her rites were always celebrated in the open air under the shade of a walnut tree. Plutarch says the name of Carya was applied to the walnut tree from the effect of the smell of the leaves on the head. — L0UI50N. Hickory is derived from the Indian name of the liquor obtained by pound- ing the kernels. These the Indians beat into pieces with stones and putting them, 276 BUTTERNUT Butternut, Julians cinerea. Leaves 15' to 30' long. Leaflets 3' to s' long- WALNUT FAMILY shells and all, into mortars, mingling water with them, with long wooden pestells pound them so long togetlier untill the}- make a kind of mylke, or oylie liquor, which they call powcohicora. — Historie of Tra\-aile into ^'irginia Britannia. The Hickories, of which there are nine species on this con- tinent, are strictly American trees, no representatives of the genus having been found elsewhere. The)' are closel\' allied to the walnuts; the chief botanic distinction between them lies in the husk which in the Hickories separates into four pieces and discharges the nut, instead of adhering in an unbroken coat upon it as is the case with the Black \\'alnut and the But- ternut. All the Hickories have alternate, exstipu- late, compound leaves of five, seven, nine or eleven leallets, and although the leaves vary considerably they liave a common typical form well expressed by Hicoria ovata, the Shellbark. All have stout perpendicular tap- roots and thick fibrous rootlets as well. Like the oaks they take strong hold of the earth. Tiie noticeable quality of the wood is its strength and elasticity as well as its fuel value, but it decavs when subjected to alter- nations of wet and dry. The flowers are moncecious and apetalous, appearing after the leaves are well grown. The staminate flowers appear in aments which are borne in threes on a common peduncle which is produced either from the terminal bud or from the lateral buds in the axils of last vear's leaves. The staminate flowers consist of a two, sometimes three- lobed calyx, subtended by an elongated bract which is free nearly to the base, usually much longer tiian the ovate, rounded calyx-lobes. The corolla is wanting. 278 I m Staminate Aments of Shellbark Hickory, Hicoria oiata ; 4' to 5' long. HICKORY The stamens vary from three to ten, are inserted on the slightly thickened inner and lower face of the calyx. Fila- ments short, free ; anthers oblong, two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally. The ovary is wanting. The pistillate flowers appear in a two to ten-flowered clus- ter, borne on a peduncle which is terminal on a leafy branch of the year. The calyx consists of a single lobe. The stamens are wanting. The ovary is inferior, one-celled, inclosed in a slightly four-ridged involucre formed by the union of the chief bract and two smaller bracts ; the bract much larger than the calyx-lobe and the bractlets. The ovule is solitary. The fruit is a nut inclosed in a four-valved involucre. This nut varies in size and shape but when once known is readily recognized under all its protean forms. That of the Shellbark is typical of them all. The autumn color of the leaves is a clear bright yellow ; the leaflets frequently separate from the petiole in falling. The Hickories range from the valley of the St. Lawrence to the mountains of J\fexico and traces of the genus are found in the tertiary rocks of Greenland, also in the upper tertiary formations of Europe. I'here is a prevailing opinion that they are difficult to rear and, to a degree, this is true, for the seedlings need protection against the wind and the sun. But when this is given they flourish, and a well grown hickory is a tree of great dignity and beauty. BITTERNUT. SWAMP HICKORY Hicoria ntiiiima. Carya amara. Widely distributed, but absent from the mountains of New York and New England, abundant throughout the Mississippi valley. Prefers low wet woods, borders of streams and swamps, but is often found on high uplands remote from streams. Reaches the height of one hundred feet, has a tall straight trunk, stout spreading limbs and forms a broad handsome head. Grows most rapidly of all the hickories. 279 WALNUT FAMILY Bark. — Light grayish brown tinged with red, broken into thin plate-hke scales. In old trees very rugged. Branchlets slender, marked with pale lenticels, at first bright green, downy, later become reddish brown, during the first winter reddish or orange brown, shining, with small, elevated, obscurely three-lobed leaf-scars, in the second year dark or light gray. Wood. — Dark or light brown, sapwood much paler ; heavy, hard, close-grained, tough and strong. Used for cooperage and for fuel. Sp. gr. , 0.7552 ; weight of cu. ft., 47.06 lbs. Winter Buds. — Terminal buds one-third to three-fourths of an inch long, compressed, narrow oval, oblique at apex. Lateral buds much smaller. Inner scales enlarge when spring growth begins, the innermost becoming an inch and a half long and half an inch broad, strap-shaped, pinnate at the apex, one and a half inch long, one-half inch broad, yellow green, downy. Leaves. — Alternate, compound, six to ten inches long. Leaflets seven to eleven, lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, or oblong, often un- equally wedge-shaped or partly cordate at base, sessile with the ex- ception of the terminal leaflet, serrate, acute or acuminate. Leaflet vernation involute. They come out of the bud bright yellow green or bronze red, shining, hairy and tomentose ; when full grown are thick, firm, dark yellow green above, paler beneath ; midribs prom- inent. In autumn they turn clear or rusty yellow. Petioles slender, hairy, slightly grooved. Flowers. — May, June, when leaves are half grown ; moncecious. Staminate flowers, green, borne in triple catkins, three or four inches long. Common peduncle about an inch long ; stamens four; anthers yellow ; bract longer than calyx loljes. Pistillate flowers one-half inch long, slightly angled, covered with yellow tomentum. Bract lanceolate, hairy ; bractlets broadly o\ate, shorter than the calyx lobes ; stigmas pale green, mature and wither before the staminate flowers open. Fruit. — Obovate or globular, three-fourths to one and one-half inches long, with four wings or ridges from the apex to the middle which mark the \alves, apex shows the remnants of the stigmas, surface more or less thickly covered with golden scurfy pubescence, and marked on inner surface with dark veins. Nut ovate or oblong, compressed, marked at base with dark lines, gray with reddish tinge. Kernel very bitter. October. DistitiguisJiing Cliaracters. — Winter buds bright yellow, bud scales valvate. I^eaflets seven to eleven, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate. Fruit four-winged from apex nearly to the middle ; nut often broader than long, thin-shelled, slightly four-angled, kernel bitter. The Swamp Hickory or Bitternut has the smallest leaflets of any of the hickories ; they are narrow, almost slender, and suggest willow leaves in their contour. They are a distin- 280 BITTERNUl Bitteriiut, Hicorta minima. Leaves 6' to lo' long. Leaflets 2' to 4' long. WALNUT FAMILY guishing character and differ in general aspect from those of the other hickories. The fruit also is individual, four ridges or wings reacli from the apex Iralf way to the base ; sometimes two of these reach the base, all of them never. The kernel is extremely bit- ter. This species loves the water and in Ohio should be sought at the mar- gins of streams, but in the south it changes its nature and crowds upon the poor, dry, gravelly soil of Ala- bama and Mississippi. It grows rap- idly for a hickory, but the entire fam- ily are slow of growth. The nuts should be planted where they are to grow, as the trees are difficult to transplant. Bitternut, Hi:oria minim.1 SHELLBARK HICKORY. SHAGBARK Hu-hii^i ovata. Cdrya dllhi, Shaghark refers to the loose shaggy appearance of the bark, and as tliis peels off easil\- the tree is also known as Shellbark. Not abundant in New England, reaches its largest size in the val- ley of the Ohio. In the forest attains the height of one hundred feet with a straight columnar trunk. Prefers a deep, rich, rather moist soil. Its tap root is very large and vigorous, and the tree is best reared directlv from the nut. Bark. — Dark gray, separates into strips often three feet or more long, three to eight inches wide, which cling to the trunk usuallv by the middle giving it a rough shaggy appearance. On young stems and branches smooth and light green. Branchlets stout, at first green, slightly angled, downy and co\ered with brown scurf, during first year reddish or light gray, smooth and shining, later becoming dark gray, finally light gray. Leaf-scars are ovate to semi-orbicular or very obscurely three-lobcd, pale. Jl'ood. — Light brown, sapwood nearly white; heavy, tough, close- grained and extremely elastic. Vitd in manufacture of agricultural 282 SHELLBARK HICKORY implemcnis, carriages, axe-liandles, hoops. Best fuel of American wooiis. Sp. gr., 0.8372 ; weight of cu. ft., 52.17 lbs. ll'intef Biiifs. — Terminal buds are broadly ovate, obtuse, one-half to three-fourths inch long, one-third to one-half inch broad, three to four outer scales are broadly ovate, dark brown and usually fall in late autumn or early winter. The inner scales enlarge as spring growth begins, the innermost becoming two and one-half to three inches long, an inch to one and one-half inches broad, oblong-obovate, yellow green tinged with red, downy, and persist until leaves are half grown. Leaves. — Alternate, eight to fourteen inches long, compound, of five, rarely seven, leaflets. Leaflets vary in size. The terminal one is decurrent upon a short stalk, the others are sessile. Terminal one is obovate, wedge-shaped at base, serrate, acute, the lower pair of leaflets are much smaller than the second pair. The leaflets of tile second pair are obovate and often equal the terminal leaflet in size. Leaflet vernation is involute. They come out of the bud thin, shining, light yellow green, woolly coated ; when full grown are dark yellow green, smooth above, paler yellow green sometimes downy below; midrib pi omincnt, primary veins conspicuous. In autumn they turn a rusty yellow. Petiole stout, smooth or hairy, obscurely grooved and enlarged at the base. Flowers. — May, when the leaves are well grown. Monoecious. Staminate catkins three in a group, slender, light green, hairy, four to five inches long ; common peduncle often an inch long ; bracts linear lanceolate, caducous. Staminate flowers are hairy, borne on short pedicels ; bracts long, acute, ovate-lanceolate, much longer than the calyx. Stamens four ; anthers nearly sessile, yellow tinged with red. Pistillate flowers in two or five-flowered spikes, brownish, tomentose ; bract and bractlets green and hairy. Stigmatic lobes green, do not mature until the anthers have withered. Fruit. — Solitary or in pairs, globular, longer than broad, or slightly obovate, depressed at the apex, crowned with the remnants of the stigmas, dark reddish brown or black, one inch to two and a half inches long ; husk four-valved, splits freely, usually one-half inch thick, hard, woody and pale within. Nut varies from oblong to a form broader than long, compressed, clearly or obscurely four- ridged which corresponds to the valve of the husk, acute pr rounded at apex, tipped with a point, pale or brownish white. Kernel sweet with aromatic flavor. October. Distinguishing Characters. — T5ud scales imbricate ; leaflets five to seven, obovate to oblong-lanceolate. Catkins of staminate flowers borne on branches of the year only. Fruit spherical, depressed at apex, without wings ; nut ovate, more or less flattened, four-angled, pale or nearly white, kernel sweet. Park hanging in long, loose plates. The squirrel on the shingly shagbark's bough Now saws, now lists with downward eye and ear Then drops his nut. — James Russell Lowell. 283 WALNUT FAMILY The Shellbark Hickory has three typical forms. When it grows in the forest it rises a tall shaft straight as a column, free from branches until the very top where it sends out a few limbs and makes a small flat head ; again, when a young tree has been permitted to remain after its companions were removed its stout limbs rise and spread, droop a little and make a cone-like head ; the third form, however, seems the really characteristic one, where the central shaft rises in the main intact, but sends out many short, small, lateral branches almost at right angles to the trunk, and forms a long cylindrical body of foliage, round-topped at the summit and drooping a little at the base. Idiis cylindrical body is often broken. Other trees hold their bark loosely, the Silver Ataple often looks as if she would be glad to be rid of hers, the Sycamore frankly and absolutely casts hers and is done with it, but the Shellbark, letting " I dare not wait upon 1 would," holds hers in long unsightly pieces, loose at the edges yet clinging at the centre until the trunk becomes simply shaggy, hence the name Shagbark. A Shellbark just about to put forth its leaves presents a unique and striking appearance, as if covered with brilliant flowers. Early in the spring the outer bud scales fall off and the inner scales enlarge to an astonishing size, frequently becoming five inches long and two inches broad. They are then of a soft leathery texture, very downv, beautifully fringed and take on a gorgeous red or salmon vellow color. In the midst of these petal-like scales appear the leaves, woolly and downy and shining, late indeed but not belated, for they grow rapidly and by the end of June are of full size. Out of this terminal bud come the pistillate flowers ahvavs, and the staminate flowers very frequently. The wood is light, tough, strong and elastic. "Tough as hickory " became a stock phrase among the early settlers of this country. The well-known sobriquet given to President Jackson was " Old Hickory," and this name was no less an expression of personal affection than of appreciation of his 284 SHELLBARK HICKORY Fruiting Spray of Shellbark Hickory, Hicoria ovala. Leaves 8' to 14' long. WALNUT FAMILY character. The excellence of the American axe is believed to be due quite as much to the handle of hickory as to the quality of its steel. •» Hickory nuts were highly appreciated by the Indians. Bertram, in his " Travels in North America," relates that he had seen above one hundred bushels of these nuts belonging to a single familv. 'I'he Indian name of the nut appears in English as Kiskilomas, Kiskytom, and, according to Michaux, Kiskythomas. All are believed to be corruptions of an Indian word Kwaskadamenne which means that it " must be cracked with the teeth." Since this fruit is so excellent in its natural state one cannot help thinking what it migiit become were it improved by systematic cultivation. The Big Shellbark, Hicorla laciiiiosa, is a tree reaching the height of sixtv or seventy feet. The bark is loose, leaflets seven to nine, fruit four-ribbed above the middle, husk very thick, nut lai-ge. It may be known by the orange color of the young branchlets. Ranges from Pennsylvania through central and western New York to Indiana and Illinois and southward to the Indian Territory. MOCKERNUT. BIG BUD HICKORY J/ico)'/:! c7//>- Buds. — Slender, brown, one-fourth of an inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, triangular, two and a half to three inches long, one and one-half to two inches w ide, truncate or slightly wedge-shaped at base, doubly serrate, with spreading glandular teeth, acute or acuminate. They come out of the bud bright yellow green, glutinous. When full grown are dark shining green above, paler shining green beneath ; midribs yellow, raised, rounded, often marked with minute black glands, primary veins conspicuous. In autumn they turn a pale yellow. Petioles long, slender, slightly twisted, often reddish. Stipules ovate, pale green, tinged with red, caducous. Flo'ci't-rs. — April, before the leaves. Staminate flowers borne on terminal catkins which are solitary or in pairs ; when mature are from three to four inches long. These form in the late summer, and during the winter they vary from one and one-quarter to one and one-half inches long, bright pale green, and very rigid. Scales ovate, acute, apiculate. Pis- tillate aments slender, one-half inch long ; scales ovate, acute pale green, glandular; peduncles furnished with conspicuous bractlets. Fruit. — Strobiles cylindrical, an inch long, obtuse at base and apex ; peduncles slender, drooping ; scales pubescent, wedge-shaped at base, three-lobed, lateral lobes larger than the White Birch, Bctuij middle. Spreading. Nut oval, acute or rounded popuUfoiui. Strobiles at base, winged ; the wings rather broader than pendulous, i' long, \\^q seed. Most beautiful Of forest trees— The Lady of the woods. The silvery stems Of delicate birch trees. -Coleridge. — Keats. SoiDetimes trees ascend vertically and having arrived at a certain height, in an air perfectly unobstructed, fork off in various tiers, and send out their branches horizontally like nn apple tree ; or incline them towards the earth like a fir ; or hollow them in the form of a cup. like the sassafras ; or round them into the shape of a mushroom like the pine ; or straighten them into a pyramid like the poplar ; or roll them as wool upon the distaff like the cvpress ; or suffer them to float at the discretion of the winds like the birch. — St, PltKKE. 298 WHITE BIRCH Fruiting Branch of Wliite Birch, Betula popuUfoUa. Leaves 2j^' to 3' long, i^^' to 2' long. BIRCH FAMILY This description, " to float at the discretion of the winds," admirably characterizes the attitude of tlie White Birch. The white stem rises unbroken to the summit of the tree, the branches come out at a large angle, go otit horizontally, or perhaps dip a little and divide into branchlets so long, slender, and delicate that they have no rigidity but yield to every impulse of the passing breeze. The leaves flutter as freely as those of the Aspen for the petioles though not lat- erally compressed are long, slender, and slightly twisted, which puts the leaf into such unstable equilibrium that it re- sponds to the lightest motion of the air. The outer laver of the bark is thin and white, both on the stem and larger limbs, but neither it nor the inner layer will separate from the wood as easily as will that of the Canoe or Paper Birch. A marked characteristic is the triangular black spots appearing on the trunk beneath every limb as well as in otiier places. Although the wood quickly decays in contact with the earth, the bark under similar conditions remains unchanged. This is due to a peculiar resin found in the bark which ren- ders it impervious to water. The tree loves rocky barren woods, old fields and aban- doned farms, and in Xew England has the familiar name of Old Field Birch. It is the least common of all the birches and is rarely found growing in groups. It is plainly unable to hold its own in competition with other trees, and is found largely on exhausted sandy soils where other trees are unable to grow. When planted, however, it does not disdain moist, fertile land and acts as an excellent nurse for other trees, but under no conditions is it long-lived. The Gray Birch so closelv resembles the common Euro- pean birch, Bctiila alba, that it has by some botanists been classed as a variety of that species. However, it grows with less vigor and does not attain so large a size. The European Birch appears in American lawns and parks principallv in its cultivated varieties. The most common of these is Bctula alba var. laiiiiiala, the cut-leaved Birch. WHITE BIRCH Trunk of White Birch, Betula populi/olia. BIRCH FAMILY Others are var. pendula, weeping ; var. fasligidta, pyramidal ; var. pubcsceiis, leaf covered with white down. All are beautiful. PAPER BIRCH. CANOE BIRCH. WHITE BIRCH Bctiila papvrifcra. Widely distributed over a northern range. Sixty to seventy feet high. When young forming a compact pyramidal head, in old age becoming a branchless trunk, supporting a round-topped open head of pendulous branches. Prefers rich moist hillsides, borders of streams, lakes, and swamps. Sap flows freely in spring and by boil- ing can be made into syrup. Bark. — On old trees, near the ground, dark brown or nearly black, sharply and irregularly furrowed. At the base of young trees, brown tinged with red, separating irregularly into large plates. Higher on the trunks of old trees, on young stems and large limbs, creamy white, shining on the outer surface, bright orange on the inner, marked with horizontal lenticels and separating freely into thin papery layers, Branchlets slender, light green, then orange and finally through red and brown in the course of years they be- come wliite. Bark contains not only an astringent principle but a resinous balsamic oil. Wood. — Light brown tinged with red ; light, hard, tough, close- grained and strong. Used for spools, shoe-lasts, wood pulp, fuel. Sp. gr.,o.S955; ^veight of cu. ■J ft., 37.1 1 lbs. Wintci Buds- — Ovate, acute, dark brown, resinous, a quarter of an inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, two to three inches long, onc- half to two inches wide, ovate, heart-shaped or rounded or wedge-shaped at base, coarsely, doubly, or irregularly serrate with spreading teeth, abruptly acuminate; midrib slender, yellow, raised and rounded, and marked with minute black glands. They come out of the bud bright green, pubescent, resinous; when full grown are thick, firm, dull dark green above, pale yellow green beneath, covered willi minute black glands. In autumn they turn clear pale yellow. 302 Paper Birch, Bctiila papvrifcra. Strobiles pen dulous, I \2' to 2' long. PAPER BIRCH Fruiting Sprays of Paper Bircli, Betiila papyiij',ra. Leaves 2.' to 3' long, y^' to 2' broad. BIRCH FAMILY Petioles stout, vellow, co\ered with black glands, enlarged at base, slightly groo\ed. Stipules ovate, acute, light green, caducous. J-'/oruf/s. — April, monrecious, before the leaves. Staminate cat- kins clustered or in pairs, when mature become three to four inches long. PisiiUate catkins one inch to one and a half inches long, peduncles bibracteolate, three-fourths to one inch in length. Scales lanceolate, pale green ; styles bright red. Fruit. — Strobiles, cylindrical, elongated, pendulous, long-stalked. Scales glabrous, wedge-sliaped at base, rather longer than broad, with short, wide-spreading, rounded lobes. Nut o\-al, small, nar- rower tlian its wings. Give me of your bark, O Birch-tree ! Of your yellow bark, O Birch-tree 1 Gro\ving b\- the rushing river Tall and stately in the valley.' I a light canoe will buikl me. Build a swift Cheematm for sailing, That shall float upon the river, Like a yellow leaf in Autumn, Like a )cllow- water-lily ! — HenrvW. Lon'gfellow. The great tritimph of the birch is the bark canoe. The design ofasa\-age, it yet looks like the thought of a poet and its grace and fitness haunt the imagina- tion. I suppose its production was the ine\'itable result of the Indians' wants and surroundings, but that does not detract troni its beauty. It is, indeed, one of the tairest flowers the tliorn)' plant of necessit\' ever bore. — JOII.N BL'RROUGHS. The Paper Birch possesses the most wonderful bark of any of our native trees. In outward color it is a lustrous creamy white, so brilliant that its gieam can be seen in the forest as far as the eye can reach. Beneath the siitooth white skin are the paper-like layers which readily separate into tliin sheets and varv in color from cream to light tan. Tins Liark is the jov antl pride of everv woodsman whether he be tourist, guide, or hunter. It makes his canoe, it roofs his cabin, it becomes for the time Ins dinner-service, it is a cup, a pail, a cloak, an umbrella. The thin papery layers into which the bark separates are of so firm a texture that it is possible both to write and paint upon them. Curious traditions gather about this natural paper. Pliny and Plu- tarch agree that the famous books of Numa Pompilius, written 304 PAPER BIRCH Trunk of Paper Birch, Behilc papvriUra. BIRCH FAMILY seven hundred years before Christ, were of bi.ch bark ; and the sib3'lline leaves purchased b}' Tarquin are bv some be- lieved to have been of the same material. The inner bark contains starch so abundanth- that it is a valuable resource to the people of the extreme north who bruise and mix it with their food. RED BIRCH. RIVER BIRCH Be tula lug I'll. Eighty to ninety feet in height, trunk often dividing into two or •hree shghtly diverging limbs and forming a round-topped pictu- resque head. Branches slender and pendulous. Loves the banks of streams and ponds and swamps, where the water overflows. Ranges from Massachusetts to Florida and reaches its largest size in the low lands of the south. Bark. — Dark red brown, deeply furrowed, scaly. On branches and young stems bright red or reddish brown, or silver white, marked with horizontal lenticels. Separates into thin papery plates, which curl back and show the pinkish inner layer. Branchlets at first coated with tomentum, later become dark red and shining and marked with pale lenticels : finally they become dull red brown and after a time the bark begins to separate into thin flakes. Wood. — Light brown, sapwood pale ; hght, strong, close-grained, used in manufacture of furniture and wooden ware. Sp. gr., 0.5762; weight of cu. ft., 35. 91 lbs. Win/i-f Buds. — Bright chestnut brown, shining, ovate, acute, one- fourth inch long, inner scales enlarge when spring growth begins and become three-fourths of an inch long, strap-shaped, pale brown tinged with red, hairy. Leaves. — Alternate, one and one-half to three inches long, one to two inches broad, broadly ovate, wedge-shaped at base, doubly serrate, often almost lobed. acute. They come out of the bud, pale yellow green, hairy and tomentose ; when full grown are thin, tough, deep shining green above, pale yellow green ; midrib stout, conspicuous, hairy beneath. In autumn they turn a pale dull yellow. Petioles short, slender, flattened, tomentose. Stipules ovate, pale green, caducous. Flowers. — March, April, before the leaves. Staminate catkins clustered in threes, form in late summer, during winter are three- fourths of an inch long, rigid. Scales dull chestnut brown. When flowers open the catkins are two to three inches long, scales light yellow and bright chestnut brown. Pistillate catkins are about one- 306 RED BIRCH Red Birch, Belula nigra. Leaves i'/4' to 3' long, 1' to 2' broad. BIRCH FAMILY third of an inch long ; scales bright green, ovate, downy ; peduncles tomentose, bibracteolate. Sf/'ciliiks. — Ripen in May and June ; cylindrical, oblong, erect, an inch to an inch and a half long, half an inch thick. Scales oblong- obovate, hairy, three-lobed, ^jjjSjj^ lateral lobes shorter than the '-'■'''^"^ central. Nut oval, downy ; wing as broad or broader than the seed. Near!}' every genus of trees contains one species that loves the water. Among the maples it is the V/'-T. Strobiles erect, t> j ^i - i ■. ■ ,,, , Red, among the ashes it is r to I yz long. ' * the Black, among the oaks it is the Swamp ^Vhite and among the birches it is the Red. Like other trees that grow from choice upon lands subject to inundati(.Mi, it ripens its fruit earl_v and casts it broadcast in June when streams are low. (Termination takes place at once ; and each little seedling becomes several inches high and well established in life before the autumn rains inundate its birthplace and threaten its existence. Other birches love the north, climb to the mountain tops and make their way well into the arctic regions ; but the Red Birch seeks warmth not cold, crowds to the water's very edge and dips its pendulous branches into the quiet or run- ning stream. It is the water nymph of the birches ; and reaches its greatest size in the damp misty lowlands of Texas or among the bayous of J,ouisiana or in the swamps of Flor- ida. And yet it [lossesses all the family ability of harmoniz- ing with Its environment and will grow rapidly in good soil quite remote from water. The Red Birch is a beautiful tree ; the bark of a full grown trunk is dark, but small stems and branchlets are really red and in the sunlight are positively brilliant. This red bark easily sloughs loose and shows the paler bark beneath. The spray is particularly delicate, the twigs and branchlets long, flexible, and pendulous. 308 YELLOW BIRCH Yellow Birch, Betula hitea. Leaves 3' to 4' long, i' to 2' broad. BIRCH FAMILY YELLOW BIRCH. GRAY BIRCH Bitula hitc-a. Usually thirty to forty feet in heiglit, occasionally one hundred ; reaches its largest size in Canada, northern New England and New York. Ranges as far south as Tennessee and North Carolina. Pre- fers rich moist uplands. Forms a broad round-topped head with pendulous branches. Bark. — Aromatic and slightly bitter. On old trunks, silvery yel- low gray, divided by irregular fissures into large thin plates ; on young trunks silvery gray or dull yellow or shining golden, either close and firm or somewhat divided, the edges of the irregular fis- sures breaking into thin layers, more or less rolled at border. The branchiets at first are green, afterward lustrous brown, finally dull brown. Wood. — Light brown tinged with red; heavy, strong, hard, close- grained with satiny surface, susceptible of a fine polish. Used in the manufacture of furniture, hubs of wheels, small boxes, butter moulds and for fuel. Sp. gr., 0.6553 ; weight of cu. ft., 40.S4 lbs. Winter Buds. — Acute, light chestnut brown, a quarter of an inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, often in pairs, three to four inches long, an inch to two inches wide, ovate or oblong-ovate, wedge-shaped or shghtly heart-shaped at the slightly oblique base, doubly serrate, acute or acuminate, slightly aromatic. They come out of the bud plicate, bronze green or red, hairy ; when full grown are dull dark green above, yellow green below ; midrib stout, pri- mary veins conspicuous, impressed above, hairy be- low. In autumn they turn a clear pale yellow. Pet- ioles short, slender, grooved, hairy ; stipules ovate, pale pinkish green, caducous. Flowers. — April, before the leaves ; monoecious. Staminate catkins form in late summer, usually in groups, three-fourths to one inch long. Scales pale chestnut brown, o\ate. When the flowers open the catkins are three to three and one-half inches long ; scales pale yellow green below the middle, dark brown above. Pistillate catkins about two-thirds of an inch long ; scales acute, pale green below, light red, hairy above. Fruit. — Strobiles erect, sessile or short-stalked, oblong-ovoid, an inch to an inch and a half in length, three-quarters of an inch thick. Scales wedge- shaped, broad or narrow, three-lobed, lobes variable. Nut oval or obovate, one-eighth inch long ; wing rather narrower than the seed. 310 Yellow Birch, Br /1//.7 luUa. Stro biles erect, \' t< I ';' loner. YELLOW BIRCH This birch is named from its golden bark. On an old trunk, the bark simply suggests the color, it is rather a silver gray with a yellow flush ; and in extreme old age the surface is shaggy with light gray plates the size of a hand. On young trees, when the yellow inner bark is covered by an un- broken, thin, brown, outer layer the result is a dull yellowish brown. But, now and then, in the leafless woods one comes upon a young tree six or eight inches in diameter upon whose trunk the thin outer bark has been loosened and frayed by the wind until it clings a mass of silvery shreds and patches, revealing in the March and April sunshine an inner bark of the most exquisite golden yellow. This disheveled wood- nymph of the forest is rare, but once found its beauty is never forgotten. SWEET BIRCH, BLACK BIRCH, MAHOGANY BIRCH BtHiila IMta. Generally distributed, most abundant northward, but reaches its greatest size on the mountains of Tennessee. Usually seventy to eighty feet high with a round-topped, open head. Prefers moist situations, mountain slopes and borders of streams. Bark. — Spicy aromatic. Dark brown with a reddish tinge. On old trunks deeply furrowed and broken into thick irregular plates ; on young stems and on branches close, smooth, lustrous and marked with pale horizontal lenticels. Does not separate into thin layers as the paper birch. Branchlets at first pale green, slightly viscid, later they change from dark orange brown to bright red brown and finally to dark reddish brown. Wood. — Dark brown tinged with red, sapwood light brown or yel- low ; heavy, very strong, hard, close-grained, satiny and capable of receiving a fine polish. Used largely in the manufacture of furni- ture, hubs of wheels, small articles and fuel. Sp. gr., 0.7617 ; weight of cu. ft., 47.47 lbs. Winter Buds. — Pale chestnut brown, slender, acute, one-fourth of an inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, two and one-half to six inches long, one and a half to three inches wide, ovate or oblong-ovate, heart-shaped or rounded, often unequal at base, doubly serrate, acute or acuminate. They come out of the bud plicate, pale green, downy ; when full 311 BIRCH FAMILY grown are dull dark green above, pale yellow green below ; midrib yellow, primary veins indistinct above but conspicuous and hairy below. In autumn they turn a clear bright yel- low. Petioles stout, hairy, deeply grooved above. Stipules ovate, pale green or nearly white, caducous. F/ou'i>-s. — Apn\, before the leaves. Stami- nate catkins form in late summer, during winter are three-fourths of an inch long. When the flowers open the catkins become three to four inches long, and in general appearance become bright yellow due to the abundant anthers. Scales o\ate, bright red brown above the mid- dle, pale brown below. Pistillate catkins from one-half to three- fourths of an inch long, scales ovate, pale green ; styles exserted, slender, pale pink. Fruit. — Strobiles oblong-ovoid, smooth, ses- sile, erect, one to one and one-half inches long, one-half an inch thick. Scales smooth, with rounded or acute lat- eral lobes. Nut obovate, pointed at base, about as broad as its wing. The Black Birch which is a handsome tree witii its tall dark stem, graceful fragrant branches and dark green foliage, is especially beautiful in early spring when its long staminate catkins hang fron\ the leafless branches changing them for a few days into fountains of golden spray and making it the most conspicu- ous of the American birches. — Cll.\RLHS S. S.\RGENT. Sweet Birch. BduL-i A Strobiles erect, i 1^2' long. The names White, Black, and Yellow are often given to trees with verv little justification, but in the case of the birches they express differences which are apparent to the most casual observer. The trunk of the White Birch is really white, the bark of the Yellow Birch is indeed yellow and that of the Black Birch is so dark that it may easily be considered black. The bark resembles in general appearance that of the common cherry tree, whence the name Cherry Birch, and like that of the other birches, it divides in lines running hori- zontally around the tree. On old trees it becomes very rough and clings in horizontal plates, loosened and often curled at one end. The inner bark is very fragrant and has a pleasant spicy taste. For this reason it is called Sweet Birch. The bark of the Yellow Birch is also aromatic but not to the same degree. This flavor is due to an essen- 312 SWEET BIRCH Sweet Birch, Bettda lentn. Leaves 2^' to 6' long, ij^' lo 3' broad. BIRCH FAMILY tial oil identical with that obtained from Gaultheria pro- cumbens, and which under the name of 'W'intergreen Oil is employed as a remedy for rheumatism. The remedial agent is salicylic acid, of which it contains a large percen- tage. The wood when first cut has a beautiful rosy tinge which deepens with age and exposure. The difference between the annual circles gives it a general clouded appearance and this is especially marked in a section taken from the point of union of a large limb with the body of the tree, ^\'hen such a piece is skilfully stained and polished, it closely resembles mahogany. As a matter of fact, all good imitations of ma- hogany are birch. However, the wood is beautiful enough to have a value of its own. ALDER Abuts gluti}i6sa. The northern native alders east of the Rocky Mountains are shrubs, following the water-courses and nowhere attain- ing the arborescent form. They are aquatic, enjoying situa- tions too wet for either willow or poplar. Theonly alder tree which is commonly found in the northern states is Alniis glutiiiosa, a European species which is fairly naturalized, ft is native to the entire continent of Europe and although naturally aquatic will grow in good soil, some- what removed from water. The leaves are orbicular, obtuse, wedge-shaped at base and serrated at margin. When young the leaves and stems are somewhat glutinous, whence the specific name. The bark is dark and furrowed, and the wood is valuable for but one purpose. It will not endure alternate wet and dry, but if constantly submerged it becomes e.xtremely hard and virtu- ally incorruptible. The flowers are monoecious, the staminate blossoms are long drooping catkins which form in the late summer and hang 314 ALDER Fruiting Spray of Alder, Ahnus glutinosa. Leaves l^' to 2' long. BIRCH FAMILY upon the tree stiff and rigid all winter long, but respond to the first warmth of returning spring. The pistillate blossoms are little cone-like catkins produce i in the spring. When these mature they open to let the seeds fall but themselves remain upon the tree all winter and frequently through the second summer. HOP HORNBEAM. IRONWOOD Ostrya virgin ihiia. Small, slender tree. Usually found on dry gravelly slopes and ridges, often in the shade of oaks, maples, and other larger trees. In Arkansas and Texas it reaches the height of fifty feet ; ranges throughout the United States east of the Rocky Moimtains. Bark. — Gra\ish brown, furrowed and broken into narrow oblong scales. Branchlets slender, tough, at first pale green, later dark red brown. Rich in tannic acid. Wood. — Light brown tinged with red, sapuood nearly white; heavy, tough, exceedingly close-grained, very strong and hard. Durable in contact with the soil and will take a fine polish. Used for small articles like levers, handles of tools, mallets. Sp. gr., 0.S284 ; weight of cu. ft., 51.62 lbs. Leaf Buds. — Ovate, acute, light chestnut brown, one-fourth of an inch long. Inner scales enlarge when spring growth begins. No terminal bud is formed. Leaves. — Alternate, oblong-ovate, three to fi\e inches long, rounded, cordate, or wedge-shape, or sometimes unequal at the base, sharply and doubly serrate, acute or acuminate ; feather-veined, mid- rib and veins prom- inent on the under side. They come from the bud light bronze green, smooth above and hairy beneath; when full grown are thin, extremely tough, dull dark yellow green above, pale yellow green beneath. In autumn they turn a clear yellow. Petiole short, slen- der, hairy ; stipules caducous. 316 Branch of Hop Hornbe.Tm, Ostrv.i virgiiuana, Showing the Stamin.ite Aments .is they Appear in \N'inter. HOP HORNBEAM Fruiting Spray uf Hop Hornbeam, Ostiya virgunaim. Leaves 3' to 5' long. BIRCH FAMILY Fla-J-'ers. — April, May, with the leaves. MoncECious, apetalous ; the staminate naked in long pendulous aments. These aments appear in midsummer about one-half an inch long, stitt, tomentose, with light red brown scales ; they develop from lateral buds and are conspicuous during the winter. In the spring they become about two inches long, loose and drooping. The staminate flower is com- posed of from three to fourteen stamens crowded on a hairy torus, adnate to the base of a broadly ovate concave scale, which is con- tracted at the apex into a sharp point, ciliate at margin, longer than the stamens. The pistillate flowers are borne in erect lax aments, each flower enclosed in a hairy sac-like body formed by the union of a bract and two bractlets. Ovary, two-celled ; style short, two- lobed ; ovule solitary. Fruit. — Strobile, consisting of a number of fruiting sac-like in- volucres, each inclosing a small flat nut. The fruit cluster is from one to two inches long, borne on a hairy stem and resembles a hop. To find in the forest a hop-bearing tree is to the uniniti- ated an experience, and the fruit of this Hornbeam so closely resembles that of the common hop-vine that it has given the name to the tree. In- deed, the tree seems to have very little thai it can reall}' call its own, for it resembles ''^^ the birch in its leaf and the beech in its sprav. One thing, however, is individual, it excels all the other trees of the forest in strength. When wood- men need a iever they seek at once for a Hop Hornbeam, whence its wild - wood name of Leverwood. This is one of the solitary trees ; never found in masses, it stands here and there in the forest and chooses only cool, fertile, shaded situations. The wood 318 Pistillate and Staminate Aments of Hop Hornbeam, Oiirya rirginiana. HORNBEAM being exceedingly close-grained, the growth of the tree is correspop.dingly slow. It can be easily raised from the seeds which do not usually germinate until the second year after they are planted. Traces of leaves and fruit are found in the eocene and miocene rocks of Europe and in tertiary times it ranged to Greenland. HORNBEAM. BLUE BEECH Carp'inus caTolinihua. Some derive Carp'niiis from the Celtic words car, wood and pix^ the head, because of the use of the wood in making yokes for oxen; others refer it to carpentui}!, a sort of cliariot \vhich the Romans , made of this wood. Hornbeam alludes to the horny texture of the wood. — LOUUON. Common along the borders of streams and swamps, loves a deep moist soil. Varies from shrub to small tree, and ranges throughout the United States east of the Rock)' Mountains. Bark. — On old trees near the base, furrowed. Young trees and branches smooth, dark bluish gray, sometimes furrowed, light and dark gray. Branchlets at first pale green, changing to reddish brown, ultimately dull gray. Wood. — Light brown, sapwood nearly white ; heavy, hard, close- grained, very strong. Used for levers, handles of tools. Sp. gr., 0,7286 ; weight of cu ft., 45.41 lbs. Winter Buds. — Ovate, acute, chestnut brown, one-eighth of an inch long. Inner scales enlarge when spring growth begins. No terminal bud is formed. Leaves. — Alternate, two to four inches long, ovate-oblong, rounded, wedge-shaped, or rarely subcordate and often unecjual at base, shar|)ly and doubly serrate, acute or acuminate. They come out of the bud pale bronze green and hairy ; when full grown they are dull deep green above, paler beneath ; feather-veined, midrib and veins very prominent on under side. In autumn bright red, deep scarlet and orange. Petioles short, slender, hairy. Stipules caducous. Flowers. — April. Monoecious, apetalous, the staminate naked in pendulous aments. The staminate ament buds are axillary and form in the autumn and during the winter resemble leaf-buds, only twice as large ; these aments begin to lengtl'.en very early in the spring, when full grown are about one and oni-hait inches ior.g. 319 BIRCH FAMILY The staminate flower is composed of three to twenty stamens crowded on a hairy torus, adnate to the base of a broadly ovate, acute, boat- shaped scale, green below the middle, bright red at apex. The pis- tillate aments are one-half to three-fourths of an inch long with ovate, acute, hairy, green scales and bright scarlet styles. Fruit. — Clusters of involucres, hanging from the ends of leafy branches. Each involucre slightly incloses a small oval nut. The involucres are short stalked, usually three-Iobed, though one lobe is often wanting ; halberd-shaped, coarsely serrate on one margin, or entire. In time it wa.xeth so hard that the toughness and hardness of it may be rather compared to horn than unto wood ; and therefore it was called hornebeam or liard-bcam. The leaves of it are like the clme, saving that they be tenderer ; among these hang certain triangular things, upon which are found knaps or Ut- ile buds in which is contained the fruit or seed. — Gerald. The Home bound tree is a tough kind of w^ood that recjuires so much paincs in riving as is almost incredible, being the best for to make bolles and dishes, not being subject to eracke or leake. — New Engl.and's Prospect. This is a tree of temperate climates enjoying neither extreme heat nor ex- treme cold. In te.xture, its bark re- sembles that of the beech, is dark bluish gray instead of light gray and for this reason is called Bltie Beech. It is credited in the books with forty feet of height but rarel)' attains more than twenty. A peculiarity of its growth is the manner in which the sinews of the branches seem to run down the trunk as if the tree con- struction were Gothic. The beech often shows the same peculiarity but rarely so marked as the hornbeam. The branches are long, irregular, crooked and often pendulous. Some- times a broad flat-topped head of foliage is formed, sometimes only a shapeless mass. The branches are so tough and the tree so tolerant of the 320 A Pistillate and a Staminate Ament of Hornbeam, Carpititis carolifuana. HORNBEAM Fruiting Spray of Hornbeam, Carpinus caioUniana. Leaves 2' to 4' long. BIRCH FAMILY knife that it has become the favorite tree for arbor-walks in parks. The flowers are monoecious ; the staminate flowers appear in long, loose, pendulous catkins from axillary buds. The ]3is- tillate, in loose half-erect catkins at the end of the spray. Each pistillate flower is subtended by a bract which expands with the growth of the fruit into a sort of leaf which gathers around and protects a small oval nut. These fruit clusters often remain on the trees long after the leaves have fallen. The tree can be easily raised from the seed which does not germinate until the second year. Ti'aces of Caipiniis have been found in the tertiary rocks of Alaska and in the upper miocene of Colorado and Nevada, regions from which the genus has entirely disappeared. 322 CUPULIFERyE— OAK FAMILY OAK Qiiercus by some authorities is derived from two Celtic word: qiier, fine, and cucx, a tree. Jove's own tree That holds the woods in awful sovereignty ; For length of ages lasts his happy reign, And lives of mortal men contend in vain. Full in the midst of his own strength he stands, Stretching his brawny arms and leafy hands, His shade protects the plains, his head the hills commands. — Virgil. The oak is the most majestic of forest trees. It has been represented as holding the same rank among the plants of the temperate hemispheres that the hon does among the quadrupeds, and the eagle among birds ; that is to say it is the emblem of grandeur, strength and duration ; of force that resists as a lion is of force that acts. — Loudon. The acorn is the only^ seed I can think of which is left by nature to take care of itself. It matures without protection, falls heavily and helplessly to the ground to be eaten and trodden on by animals, yet the few which escape and those which are trodden under arc well able to compete in the race for life. While the elm and maple seeds are drying up on the surface, the hickories and walnuts waiting to be cracked, the acorn is at work \\ith its coat off. It drives its tap root into the earth in spite of grass and brush and litter. No matter if it is so shaded by forest trees that the sun cnnnot penetrate ; it will manage to make a short stem and a few lea\'cs tlie first season, enough to keep life in the root which will drill deeper and dcL-fier. W'lien age or accident removes the tree which has overshadowed it, then it will assert itself. Fires may run over the land destroying almost everything else ; the oak will be killed to the ground but it will throw up a new shoot the next spring, the root will keep enlarging and when the opportunity comes will make a vigorous growth and throw out strong OAK FAMILY side roots and often care no more for its tap root which has been its only support than the frog cares for the tail of the tadpole after it has got on its own legs." — Robert DotJGLAS in Garden and Forest. This genus is one of close family ties and marked resem- blances. The bark of ever_v species is heavily charged with tannic acid. The roots take hold of the earth in two ways ; a strong tap root goes down deep into the ground and at the same time wide spreading horizontal roots keep near the surface. The very poise of the tree denotes strength and this quality is present in the humblest member of the family. The leaves vary in form. In those g r which contain the representativ cies of the genus the leaves ar shape unlike those of any other The character of the inflores is the same in every species. It is monoecious ; that is, the stamens and pistils are separated, borne in dilferent flowers, but botli kinds of flowers are produced on the same branch. These appear together, just when the leaves are half grown. The staminatc flowers are found in the axils of cjuick falling bracts which are borne on the rachis of slender drooping aments produced from separate or leafy buds in the axils of last year's leaves, or from the a.vils of the inner scales of the terminal bud, or from the axils of the leaves 324 Sprouting Acorn. St.iminate Aments of Scarlet Oak, ducrcui CKci,h\i. C^NMries of Preceding >'e.Tr. OAK of Scarlet Oak, Que. enlarged. 'US cocciiica ; of the year. There is no corolla. The calyx is bell-shaped and divided into four to six divisions. The stamens, usually four to six, with exserted filaments and oblong two-celled anthers, are borne on the torus. The ovary has aborted. The pistillate flowers are subtended by a quick falling bract and are borne in few-flowered spikes, or on solitary peduncles produced from the axils of the leaves of the year. The calyx is urn-shaped and grows fast to the ovary. The stamens have aborted. The ovary is inferior, incom- pletely three-celled and inclosed more or less by a growing scaly a St.iminate and a Pistillate Flower involucre which in time develops into the acorn cup. Styles are usually three, short or long, erect or curved, generally per- sistent on the fruit. There are two ovules in each cell, but all save one fail to be nourished. The nut is a fruit formed by the adhesion of an ovary to the calyx and matures either the first or second 3'ear ; it is always surrounded at the base, or more or less inclosed, by a woody involucre called the cup. The acorn cup is of woody texture made up of a large number of tiny scales which have grown together, sometimes entirely, sometimes with free tips. The seed fills the nut. The cotyledons are thick and fleshy, the radicle minute. An acorn should never be allowed to become dry if it is desired that it should germinate, for the vital principle is fleeting. American oaks in the popular mind have the reputation of being slow growers, but this is based upon the habit of two or three species rather than upon the habit of the family. The White and the Bur Oaks grow slowly. The Scarlet Oak is mod- erately slow. But the Black, the Swamp White, the Pin, and the Red, under favorable conditions, will all grow rapidly in their youth. Probably most oaks require a century to reach maturity ; they rarely bear acorns under twenty years of age 325 O AK FAMILY and increase in productiveness as thev grow older. The entire family is especially subject to attacks of the gall-fly. QuercKS belongs to the long-lived trees ; the life of some species is believed to reach one thousand yeai-s. There are of course no records of long life in America, but there are oaks in England which are believed to have been old trees ia the time of William the Conqueror. Pliny meutions a Qucr- ciis Ilex which was au old tree when Ri.ime was founded and which was still living in his time. In the United States the largest specimens of the genus are found in the Mississippi valley. Remains of oak trees are found far north of their present home in the miocene and eocene rocks of North America. American oaks naturally divide themselves into groups which are characterized by the shape of their leaves and the time required to bring their fruit to inaturitv. The first division comprises those species whose leaves have either rounded lobes or are sinuate toothed, or entire, but are destitute of bristles. These bloom in the spring and mature their acorns the same season. Thev are called the White Oak Group, or the Annuals. The White, Post, Bur, Swamp \\'hite. Chestnut, Yellow, and Chinquapin are Annuals. The second division comprises those species whose leaves have pointed lobes which terminate in bristles. These bloom in the spring, but the acorn does not mature until the autumn of the following year. They are called the Red Oak Group, or the Biennials. The Red, Scarlet, Black, Spanish, Pin, Bear, Black Jack, Shingle and Willow are Biennials. The leaves of the Shingle and the Willow oak are destitute c' bristles, but the acorns mature the second year. jsS WHITE OAK White Oak, Qucrcns alba. Leaves 5' to 9' lung, 5' to 4' broad. OAK FAMILY WHITE OAK Qncn-ns dlba, Alha, ^A'hite, referring; to the pale tint of the bark. Common ; grows to tlie height of eighty or one hundred feet with a trunk three or four feet m diameter. Is tolerant of many soils, often forms the principal tree ol large tracts. Reaches its greatest size in the xalley of the lower Ohio. Is difficult to transplant and is best grown from seed planted «here the tree is to remain. Grows rapidly. Bark. — Light gray, varying to dark gray and to uhite : shallow fissured and scaly. Branchlets at hrst bright green, later reddish- green and finally light gray. M'ood. — Light brown with paler sapwood ; strong, tough, lieavy, fine-grained, durable and beautiful. Used for construction, ship- building, cooperage, agricultural implements, cabinet-making, in- terior finish of houses. Sp. gr., 0.7470 ; weight of cu. ft., 46.35 lbs. Winter Buds. — Reddish brown, obtuse, one-eighth of an inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, five to nine inches long, three to four inches wide. Obovate or oblong, seven to nine-lobed, usually se\en-lobed with rounded lobes and rounded sinuses i lobes destitute of bristles ; sinuses sometimes deep, sometimes shallow. On young trees the leaves are often repand. They come out ot the bud conduplicate, bright red abo\'e, pale below and co\ered with white tomenlum ; the red fades quickly and the\ become sil\er\ greeiiish white and shining; when full grown are thin, bright yellow green, shining or dull above, pale, glaucous or smooth below ; midrib stout, yellow, primary \eins conspicuous. In late autumn they turn a deep red and drop, or on young trees remain on the branches tlirouglioiit the winter. Petioles short, stout, grooved, and flattened. Stipules linear, caducous. Flozveis. — May. when leaves are one-third grown, Staminate flowers borne in hairy ameius two and a h.ilf to three inches long ; calyx bright yellow, hairy, six to eight-lobed, lobes shorter than the stamens ; anthers yellow. Pistillate flowers borne on short pedun- cles ; in\-olucral scales hairy, reddish ; calyx lobes acute ; stigmas bright red. Aeoiiis. — Annual, sessile 01 stalked ; nut o\oid or oblong, round at the apex, light brown, shit 'ng, three-C|uarters to an inch long; cup cup-shaped, encloses about one-fourth of the nut, tomentose on the outside, tuberculate at base, scales with short obtuse tips becom- ing smaller and thinner towa.-d the rim. 328 WHITE OAK Trunk of White Oak, Quercus alba. OAK FAMILY It seems idolatry with some excuse Wlien our forefather Druids in their oaks Imagined sanctit\-. — COWPER. The White of all American oaks is most akin to the common anil familiar tree of European countries, the oak of myths and of poetry, of Uodona and Herc\nia, the tree which Celt and Briton worshipped, which shaded the Druid's sacred fire and has at all times been tlie emblem of strength anil longevity. — G.irJfii ,i>iJ Fji est. Although called the "White Oak it is very unusual to find an individual with an absolutely white bark, the usual color is an ashen grav. All in all, this is the most valuable as well as the most stately and beautiful of our oaks. In the forest it readies a magnificent height, in the open it develops into a massive broad-topped tree with great limbs striking out at wide angles and carrying the idea of rugged strength to the Itv) tips of their branches. In spring the young leaves are exquisite in their delicate silvery piuk, covered with soft down as with a blanket. The petioles are short, and the leaves which cluster close to the ends of the shoots are pale green and downy with the result that the entire tree has a misty, frosty look which is very beautiful. This lovely vision continues for several days pass- ing through the opalescent changes of soft pink, silvery white and finallv yellow green. The autumnal tints of the White Oak are also beautiful ; its rich purplish red glows in the forest and gives a splendor to November days long after the maples and sumachs have shed their leaves. The leaves unfold late ; although they vary in form some- what they keep fairly true to the type and need never be mis- taken. The most divergent form approaches a skeleton leaf. Oblong- or obovate, they are usually seven-lobed with both lobe and sinus rounded and the lobe destitute of a bristle at its a|icx. The acorn is the product of the blossom of the year and the keimel is sweet ; not sweet like that of the chestnut or hickory but sweet compared to other acorns. The White Oak lives long. The famous Charter Oak of 330 WHITE OAK White Oak, Oiteicns alba. Leaves 5' to c/ ]ong, 3' to 4' broad. Acorns ^/^' to \' long. OAK FAMILY Hartford was believed to be several hundred years old. " When the lii'st settlers were clearing" their land the Indians begged that it might be spared. 'It has been the guide of our ancestors for centuries,' said tlie\', ' as to the time of planting our corn ; when the lea\'es are the size of a mouse's ears, then is the time to put the seed into the grduml.' The Indians' request was granted and the tree, afterward becom- ing the custodian of the lost charter, became famous for all time. It fell in a windstorm, August 21, 1S56, and so deeply was it venerated that, at sunset on the day of its fall, the bells of the city were tolled and a band of music played funeral dirges over its ruins." The ^^'hite (Jak like the Black ^Valuut is passing and unless replanted will ere long disappear. Two causes are at work to bring this about. First, its valuable timber which marks it for the axe ; and second, the sweetness of its nuts which causes them to be eaten by the wild creatures, while the bitter nuts of other oaks are allou'cd to germinate undis- turbed. The White (*)ak hybridizes freely with the Bur, the Post, and the Chestnut C)aks. POST OAK Qiu'rttis mhior. A tree reaching the height of fift\- or sixty feet, often a shrub. Grows on dry sand\- soil, (.r gravelly uplands. Rajiges from Massa- cbLisetts to southern New \ork and Michigan, southward to Florida, and is the most abundant oak of central Texas. Bark. — Graxish broi\ n. deeply fissured into liroad scalv ridges. 3ranchlets at first co\-ered with thiirk N'ellow brown tomentuui, soon they become light orange or reddish brown, still down\ , finally they are dark or gray brown . H'OOil. — Brown, sapwood paler brown ; hea\\-, hard, close-grained. durable in contact with soil. I'scd for fuel, fencing, and railway ties. Sp. gr., 0.S367 ; weight of cu. ft., 52. 14 lbs. U'uih'r B/ii/s. — Chestnut brown, ovate, downy, about one-eighth of an inch long. 332 POST OAK Post Oak, Qiu-mis minor. Leaves 5' to S' long, 3' to 6' broad. OAK FAMILY Leaves. — Alternate, five to eight inches long, three to six inches wide, oblong-obovate, base wedge-shaped or rounded, hve-lobed ; lowest pair of lobes small, middle pair broad and undulate or lobed, terminal lobe itself three-Iobed ; midrib broad, yellow, downy, pri- mary veins conspicuous. They come out of the bud convolute, dark red above, densely covered with thick orange brown tomentum ; when full grown are thick, leathery, deep dark green, with stellate tufts of hairs scat- tered over the upper surface, the under sur- face covered with pale pul:)escence. In au- tumn they turn dull yellow or brown. Peti- ole stout, flattened, downy. Stipules brown, caducous. Flo'iuci's. — May, when lea\es are one-third grown. Staminate flowers borne on aments three to four inches long, hairy. Calyx hairy, yellow ; segments five, ovate, acute, laciniate ; anthers yellow, hairy. Pistillate flowers sessile or on peduncles ; stigmas bright red. Acorns. — Annual, sessile or stalked. Nuts one-half to one inch long, oval or ovoid, reddish brown, sometimes striped with darker brown, sometimes pubescent at apex. Cup cup-shaped or turbi- nate, rarely saucer-shaped, usually enclosing one-third to one-half the nut, reddish brown, tomentose, covered with close free scales. Post Oak, Qiici\-iis luuio Acorns J2' lo 1' long. The Post Oak loves to grow at the edge of the timber-land, sheltered but not crowded bv other trees. The bark is nearl}- the color, but appears thicker than that of a White Oak of the same age. It has a fine-cliecked, " alligator-skin " appearance but is even more regular, the vertical furrows being so continuous as to suggest an up and down corru- gation ; this feature is a conspicuous characteristic of the trunk. The tree has a straggling ungraceful habit of growth com- pensated by the pleasing arrangement of the leaves ; the branches do not subdivide freely but put out new shoots all along their length, wdiich gives them a close-wreathed appear- ance ; and so the foliage is distributed evenly through the tree instead of forming a canopy. The leaves are coarse and rough on both sides. As to their shape, there seem to be two varie- ties of tree ; on one tree the leaves have uniformly the char- 334 BUR OAK acteristic cross-shape, while on a Post Oak just beside it the leaves are irregular and varied in shape, with here and there one of typical form. BUR OAK. MOSSY-CUP OAK Qiu'riNS niaLrOidrpu. IMacrocaypa refers to the large size of the acorn. The average height is eighty feet, but in the valley of the lower Ohio it has been known to reach one hundred and sixty. Is tolerant of many soils and grows rapidly. Ranges from Nova Scotia to Mani- toba, south to Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kansas and Texas. Forms the "Oak Openings" of Minnesota. Bark. — Light gray brown, deeply furrowed, scaly. Branches with corky ridges. Branchlets stout, at first greenish, very pubes- cent, afterwards light orange yellow, later ashy gray or light brown, finally dark brown. Wood. — Brown with paler sapwood, heavy, strong, close-grained, durable in contact with the ground, valuable. Used in ship and boat building, all sorts of construction, interior finish of houses, cab- inet-making, cooperage, carriages, agricultural implements, railway ties, fencing. Sp. gr., 0.7453 ; weight of cu. ft., 46.45 lbs. Winter Buds. — Light reddish brown, broadly ovate or acute or obtuse, pubescent, one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch long. Leai/es. — Alternate, six to twelve inches long, three to six inches wide, obovateor oblong, lyrately pinnatifid or deeply sinuately-lobed or divided. Base usually long wedge-shaped, sinuses round, some- times deep, sometimes shallow, lobes five to seven ; the terminal lobe is largest, oval or obovate in outline, and crenately lobed ; or smal- ler and three-lobed ; the lateral lobes are larger than the basal lobes. A second form is broadly ovate and deeply or slightly crenately lobed. A third form is pinnatifidly cut into five or seven pairs of lateral lobes with a three-lobed terminal. They come out of the bud con- volute, downy, yellow green above and silvery white below. When full grown are thick, leathery, bright green, shining above, pale green or silvery and coated with pale or rusty pubescence below ; midrib stout, pale, often pubescent below, primary veins conspicuous. In autumn they turn dull yellow or yellowish brown. Petioles short, stout, flattened and grooved, enlarged at the base. Stipules varying in form, usually an inch in length, sometimes persistent. Flowers. — May, when leaves are one-third grown. Staminate flowers borne in slender hairy aments from four to six inches long; calyx yellow green, four to six-lobcd, downy ; stamens four to six; fil- 335 OAK FAMILY aments short ; anthers yellow. Pistillate flowers are sessile or borne on short peduncles, involucral scales reddish, tomentose ; stigmas bright red. Acorns. — Annual, sessile or stalked, solitary, variable in size and shape- Nut o\-.il or o\ate, pubescent, from one-half to two inches in length ; cup cup-shaped, rarely shallow but usually deep, enclos- ing from one-third to nearly the entire nut, light brown, downy inside, outside dark brown, tomentose, covered with large imbricated scu.les which near the rim become half free and form a fringe-like border Kernel white. The Bur Oak ranges from jNIanitoba to Texas and from the foot-hills of tlie Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic coast. It goes farthei' to the northwest than any other of our eastern oaks, it varies in size from a shrub in Manitoba, to a magnifi- cent tree one iiundred and sixt\' feet high m southern Illinois. It is the most abundant oak of Kansas and of Nebraska, it forms the scattered forests known as " The Oak Openings " of jNIinnesota. Three inarked characters distinguish the Bur Oak. Its leaves have a pectiliar though variable outline which is un- mistakable, rarelv if ever are tv.'o alike, yet all bear so marked a resemblance that there is no difficulty in distinguishing them. Every Bur Oak leaf is somewhere, usually about the middle, cut by two opposite sinuses nearly to the midrib. Tlie terminal lobe so formed may itself be lobed or toothed or re- pand, the lower division may be lobed cir entire, but with all these variations the leaves retain a general siniilaritv. In the spring they are yellow green as they burst from the bud and do not like so many others take on a stain of red. At first they are downy and woolly but soon become smooth and shining. The leaves spread out horizontally from the new shoots and the aments hang down in thick clusters. Their autumn col- 336 Bur Oak. QiLCrnii Acorns J2' 10 ; BUR OAK Bur Oak, Qiiercus macrocarpa. Leaves 6' to 12' long, 3' to 6' broad. OAK FAMILY oring, like their spring coloring, is without red, being bright yellow or yellowish brown. The acorns are peculiar, but the cup is the most noticeable thing about them. The scales are so large and free that they make the cup look mossv. The rim is beautifully fringed. Then, too, this mossy cup fairly embraces the nut, covers two-thirds to three-fourths of its surface. This is the normal fruit ; at the north where the tree changes to a shrub the acorn is small and the cup loses its furbelows. The corky wings which are frequently found on the young branches form a third distinguishing character. These ridges begin to form usually the third or fourth season and remain for several years, finally disappearing as the branches become old. When it is rememliered that the cork of commerce is the outer bark of an oak tree native to southern Europe, it is interesting to see a northern species showing a tendency to produce the same thing. CHESTNUT OAK. ROCK CHESTNUT OAK Qiiertiis pniius. A mountain tree though found in the low lands, usually sixty to seventy feet high, sometimes one hundred ; the trunk dividing into large limbs not very far from the ground. Ranges from Maine to Georgia and Alabama, westward through Ohio and southward to Kentucky and Tennessee. Bark. — Djrk, fissured into broad ridges, scaly. Branchlets stout, at first bronze green, later they become reddish brown, finally dark gray or brown. Heavily charged with tannic acid. IVood. — Dark brown, sapwood lighter ; heavy, hard, strong, tough, close-grained, durable in contact with the soil. Used for fencing, fuel, and railwav ties. Sp. gr., 0.7499; weight of cu. ft., 46.73 lbs. U'inlcr Buds. — Light chestnut brown, ovate, acute, one-fourth to one-half of an inch long. ZfciTi-s. — .Alternate, fi\e to nine inches long, three to four and a half wide, obovate to oblong-lanceolate, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, coarsely crenately toothed, teeth rounded or acute, ape.x 338 CHESTNUT OAK Chestnut Oak, Quercus prinus. Leaves 5' to c/ long, 3' to 4' broad. OAK FAMILY rounded or acute. They come out of the bud convolute, yellow green or bronze, shining above, very pubescent below. When full grown are thick, firm, dark yellow green, somewhat shining above, pale green and pubescent below ; midribs stout, \ellow, primary veins conspicuous. In autumn they turn a dull \ellow soon chang- ing into a yellow brown. Petioles stout or slender, short. Stipules linear to lanceolate, caducous. Fhnvi-rs. — May, when leaves are one-third grown. Staminate flowers are borne in hairy aments two to three inches long; calyx pale yellow, hairy, deeply seven to nine-lobed ; stamens seven to nine ; anthers bright yellow. Pistillate flowers on short spikes ; pe- duncles green, stout, hairy ; involucral scales hairy ; stigmas short, bright red. Acorns. — Annual, singly or in pairs ; nut oval, rounded or acute at ape.x, bright chestnut brown, shining, one and a quarter to one and one-half inches in length; cup, cup-shaped or turbinate, usu- ally inclosing one-half or one-third of the nut, thin, light brown and downy within, reddish brown and rough outside, tuberculate near the base. Scales small, much crowded toward the rim sometimes making a fringe. Kernel white, sweetish. The Chestnut Oak, Q. primis, and the Yellow Oak, Q. acti- miiiaia, have manv chai-acters in coninion. The e.xtrenie t3'pical forms of each differ, but they varv toward each other until the dividing line is difficult to draw ; at their widest they are no far- ther apart than the different forms of the black oaks. The Chestnut Oak is accredited in the books to dry soil and sandy ridges btit it loves wet situa- tions as well. The little streams of northern C)hio which luake their wa}' into Lake Erie cut for themselves deep channels through the yielding shale and form ravines from fifty to two hundred feet deep. Down the sides of these ravines and into the narrow intervale crowd tlie chestnut oaks, until the lowest stands at the water's edge, its 'pendulous branches bending over the stream. The leaves are obovate to oblong, with rounded teeth and 340 Chestnut Oak, i^iici v;^.. pn nns. Acorns \\j,' to ij; long. CHESTNUT OAK Trunk of Chestnut Oak, Qnerais prinus. OAK FAMILY eleven to thirteen pairs of primary veins. The foUage mass is a light yellow green, the tree in the open becomes round- topped. The acorns are large, loiig-oval, usually in pairs and borne in deep cups which are rough outside and very downy within. Thev are endowed with the power of quick germina- tion and scarcely reach the ground before the shell breaks and the radicle protrudes. The kernel is sweetish and eager- ly eaten by the squirrels. The fruit is never abundant. YELLOW OAK. CHESTNUT OAK. CHINQUAPIN Qitc'irus di'uiii iiiata. A tree varying from thirty to one hundred or one hundred and sixty feet high, head smaU, narrow, round-topped. Prefers a lime- stone soil, ranges from New York westward through southern On- tario to southeastern Nebraska and eastern Kansas, southward in the Atlantic region to the District of Columbia, and west of the Alleghanies southwarci to the Gulf of Mexico. Bark. — Light silvery gray, sometimes white, scaly. Branchlets reddish green at first, then dark brown, hnally gray or brown. li'ooJ. — Dark brown, sapwood pale brown ; heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, durable in contact with the soil. Used for fencing, cooperage, manufacture of wheels and railway ties. Sp. gr., o. S605 ; weiglu of cu. ft., 53.63 lljs. \\'i)itcr Buds. — Pale chestnut brown, ovate, acute, one-fourth of an inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, four to seven inches long and two to five inches broad, olilong or lanceolate, wedge-shaped or rounded atbase.sinu- ately toothed, teeth acute or rounded, each tipped with a small gland- ular point, apex acute or acuminate. They come out of the bud convolute, bronze green, hairy above, tomentose below, when full grown are thick, light yellow green above, pale often silvery white, downy below ; midribs stout, yellow ; primary veins conspicuous. In autumn they turn deep yellow and scarlet. Petioles slender, slightly flattened. Stipules linear or lanceolate, brown, caducous. Flowers. — May, \\ hen leaves are one-third grown. Staminate flow- ers borne in hairy anients. three or four inches long ; calyx light yel- low, hairy, deeply six to eight-parted; filaments short; anthers yel- low. Pistillate flowers sessile or borne in short spikes, tomentose; stigmas bright red. 342 YELLOW OAK Yellow Oak, Qitercus acuminata. Leaves 4' to 7' long, 2' to 5' broad. OAK FAMILY Acorns. — Annual, sessile or stalked, solitary or In pairs; nut oval, rounded at apex, pubescent at apex, from one-half to one inch in length, light chestnut brown ; cup cup-shaped inclosing one half of the nut, thin light brown and downy inside, red brown outside, to- mentose, scales thickened at the base, tips free toward the edge and forming a fringe at the rim. Kernel sweet. The Ytllow Oak is one of the mid-continental trees, abun- dant throughout the Mississippi valley and reaching the greatest size in southern Indiana and Illinois. Like Qiici- cus alba it frequently occurs with a wliite bark. Tlie three chestnut oaks, Qiifrci/s piiiius^ Quciciis annninata, and Queicus pri/ioiJcs run into each other by insensible gradations, and speci- mens will always be found on the border line that will puzzle the observer. Often when the leaves vary, the acorns will fi.x the species. Those of the Yellow- Oak are small compared with those of the others. All are to a certain degree edible. The foliage mass of the Yel- low Oak is a light yellow green. The leaves unfold a bronze green, the newest sometimes with a purple tinge, and are so crowded at the end of the branchlets that the foliage has a tufted look. The autumnal tint is yellow, sometimes flushed with scarlet. Yellow Oak. Qucrci Acorn ^2' to DWARF CHINQUAPIN OAK. SCRUB CHESTNUT OAK QuercHS priiiouh's, A shrub growing in clumps, varying in height from two to twelve feet. Ranges from Massachusetts to North Carolina, westward to Missouri, Nebraska, central Kansas, Indian Territory and eastern Texas. In Missouri and Kansas becoming tree-like. Prefers dry sandy or rocky soil. 344 CHINQUAPIN OAK Chinquapin Oalc, Qnercus prinoides. Leaves 5' to b' long, 1' to 3' broad. OAK FAMILY Bark. — Light brown ; branchlets at first dark green and scurfy, finall;- reddish bro\yn or ashen gray ; charged with tannic acid. Wiiitir Buds. — Liglit brown, ovate or globose, obtuse, one-eighth of an inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, obovate or oblong, three to six inches long, one to three inches wide, wedge-shaped at base, coarsely undulate-toothed with rounded or acute teeth, acute or acuminate apex ; midrib and primary veins conspicuous. They come out of the bud convolute, reddish yellow, hairy above, coated with silver tomentum below, with dark glands at the points of the teeth, when full grown dark yellow green, rather shinmg above, pale green or silvery white, covered wuh soft fine pubescence below. In autumn they turn bright orange and scarlet. Petioles stout, short, flattened, groo\-ed ; stipules ca- ducous. Fhnvcrs. — Appear when leaves are one-third grown. Staminate aments one and one-half to two and one-half inches long, hairy. Calyx is pale yellow green, hairy, fi\e to nine-lobed. Stamens five to nine ; filaments slender ; anthers yel- low. Pistillate flowers on short pedun- cles ; involucral scales covered with sil- verv white tomentum ; stigmas bright red! ,/t"(';7/,f.— Abundant, annual, sessile or stalked ; nut o\al, rounded or obtuse at apex vhich is covered with white down, p.de chestnut brown, shining, one-half to three-fourths of an inch long; seed sweet ; cup covers one-half to two- thirds of the nut, thin, deeply cup- shaped, light brown and downy inside, hoary with tomentum outside. Scales loosely imbricated, red- tipped, acute, thickened toward the base of the cup. The acorns are not only eaten by swine and cattle but the wild creatures like them as well. Chinqu.-ipin O.ik, Q^ncr. Acorns '2' to V : prinoidc^ SWAMP WHITE OAK Quc'rcui platauc^des. Qu/nus bicolar. Ordinarily sixty to seventy feet high maximum height, one hun- dred and ten. with narrow round-topped head and pendulous branches. Ranges from Quebec to Georgia and westward to Arkansas. Never abundant. Loves the borders of swamps. Bark. — Gray brown, deeply fissured into flat ridges, scaly. Branches greenish gray, smooth. On young stems smooth, flaky. Branchlets at first stout, green, shining, later reddish brown, finally gray brown or dark brown. 346 SWAMP WHITE OAK Swamp White Oak, Qiicrcus plataiiotdes. Leaves 5' to t/ long, 3' to 4' broad. OAK FAMILY IVood. — Pale brown, sapwood the same ; heavy, hard, strong, tough, coarse-grained, checks in drying. Used in construcuon, in- terior finish of houses, carriage and boat building, agricultural im- plements, railway ties, fuel and fencing. Sp. gr., 0.7662 ; weight of cu. ft., 47.75 lbs. Winter Buds. — Pale chestnut brown, hairy, ovate, one-fourth of an inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, five to six inches long, two to four inches broad, obovate or oblong-obovate, gradually narrowed and wedge- shaped at base, margin coarsely sinuate-dentate or sometimes almost pinnately lobed, apex rounded, sometimes acute ; mid- rib stout, pale, rounded above ; primary veins conspicuous. They come out of the bud con\olute, pale bronze green, hairy above, coated below with sihery tomentum ; when full grown are thick, bright yellow green above, pale green, downv, often sil- very white, below. In autumn they turn dull yellow bronze. Petioles short, stout, grooved and flattened. Stipules linear, brown, caducous. Flowers. — I\Iay, when leaves are half grown. Staminate flowers are borne in hairy aments three to four inches long ; calyx yel- lowish-green, hairy, five to nine-lobed ; lobes narrow, acute, short- er than the stamens ; filaments slender, anthers yellow. Pistillate flowers are borne on tomentose or long peduncles, in few-flowered spikes ; involucral scales covered with thick rusty tomentum ; stig- mas bright red. Acorns. — Annual, on long peduncles, often in pairs. Nut pale chestnut brown, oval, broad at base, pubescent at apex, an inch to an inch and a half long; cup, cup- shaped, light brown and downy with- in, chestnut brown without, roughened toward the base by the thickened tips of the acute scales, higher on the cup these are small, crowded, often free, and sometimes form a fringe about the rim. Kernel, white, sweet. Unlike the AVhite Oak whose leaves unfold a beautiful red, those of the Swamp White come out a Q AVK', r^ , ri bronze green ; their autumnal tint Swamp White Oak, Quci-cui _ '^ ' piatanoidci. Acorns i' to IS a dull ^'ellow without a gleam of '^''°"^- red ; this quickiy changes to a pale yellow brown. The famous A\'adsworth oak, so named from the estate on which it grew, was a Swamp White Oak. It stood for many 348 RED OAK years on the bank of the Genesee River about a mile from the village of Geneseo, New York. Its circumference of twenty- seven feet has kept its memory green although the tree lias long since been destroyed by the washing away of the river- bank. RED OAK Qlti^rciis rubra. Usually seventy to eighty feet high, maximum height one hundred and forty, with stout branches growing at right angles to the stem ; forming a narrow round-topped head ; grows rapidly ; is tolerant of many soils and varied situations, but prefers the glacial drift and well-drained borders of streams. Ranges from Maine to Georgia and Tennessee, westward to Minnesota and Kansas. Bark. — Dark gray brown tinged with red, with broad, thin, rounded ridges, scaly. On young trees and large stems, smooth and light gray. Rich in tannic acid. Branchlets slender, at first bright green, shining, then dark red, finally dark brown. Wood. — Pale reddish brown, sapwood darker ; heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained. Checks in drying, but when carefully treated may be successfully used for furniture. Also used in construction and for interior finish of houses. Sp. gr. , 0.6621 ; weight of cu. ft , 41.25 lbs. iri/i/ir Buds. — Light chestnut brown, ovate, acute, one-fourth of an inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, seven to nine-lobed, oblong-ovate to oblong, five to nine inches long, four to si.\ inches broad ; lobes tapering gradually from broad joases, acute, and usually repandly-den- tate and terminating with long bristle-pointed teeth ; the second pair of lobes froin apex are largest ; midrib and primary veins conspicuous. They come out of the bud con\olute, pink, cov- ered with soft silky down above, coated with thick white tomen- tuiii below. When full grown are dark green and smooth, sometimes shining above, yellow green, smooth or hairy on the axils of the veins below. In autumn they turn a rich red, some- times brown. Petioles stout, one to two inches long, often red ; stipules caducous. Flowers. — May, when leaves are half grown. Staminate aments four to five inches long, hairy. Calyx four to five-Iobed, greenish ; stamens four to five ; filaments slender ; anthers yellow. Pistillate flowers borne on short peduncles ; involucral scales broadly ovate, dark reddish-brown ; stigmas elongated, bright green. 349 OAK FAMILY '^ \ Red Oak, Qitercus rubra. Leaves of broad t>'pe, 7' to cy long. RED OAR. Red Oak, Quercus rubra. Leaves of narrow type, 5' to 7' long. OAK FAMILY Acorns. — Ripen in the autumn of the second year ; solitary oi in pairs, sessile or stalked ; nut oblong-ovoKl wiUi broad base, full, sometimes narrowed at apex, three-fourths to one and one-fourth of an inch long; cup, saucer- shaped, usually covers only ihe base, sometimes one-fourth of the nut, thick, shallow, retlilish broun, somewhat downy withm, covered with thin imbricated reddish brown scales. Kernel white and \ery bitter. What gnarled stretch, w hat depth of shade is his ! There needs no crown to mark the forest's king. How in his leaves outshines full summer's bliss ! Sun, storm, rain, dew, to him their tribute bring. How towers he, too, amid tlie billowed snows, An unquelled e.vile from the summer s throne. Whose plain, uncinctured front more kingly shows. Now that the obscuring courtier leaves are flown. —James Russell Lowell. What delicate f.ins are the great f-^ed Oak leaves now just developeti, so thin and of so tender a green ! Tliey hang loosely fiaccidly down at the mercy of the wind, like a new-born butterfl\ or dragon fl\-. .A strong cold w ind would blacken and tear them. Thev have not yet been hardened by exposure, these raw and tender lungs of the tree. — Hexkv D. Thoreac. The Red Oak finds its finest development in tlie states lying north of the Ohio river ; on the southern shore of Lake Erie it becomes a beautiful tree with a massive trunk, a mag- nificent rounded head and smooth clean-cut limbs which strike out from the trunk at large angles. The bark is smooth ; even m old age the trunk never becomes extremely rough and the limbs are always smooth. In color it is a brownish gray until the tree is old, when it becomes dark brown. The leaves vary from oblong to obovate and are of two typical forms. The full leaf with the shallow sinuses is the youthful form although old trees are often found bearing it. That with the deeper sinuses is perhaps the more common form. Often the petiole and midvein are a rich red color in midsummer and earlv autumn, though this is not true of all red oaks. The leaves come out of the bud a lovely pink and white, in midsummer they become a deep shining green and in autumn they turn a rich, dark, purplish red. The en- 352 RED OAK Trunk of Red Oak, Quercm rubra. OAK FAMILY tire subject of spring and autumn tints is becoming more and more interesting as it is more carefull}- studied. It is now well understood that the frost is not a factor in the problem and tliat both spring and autumn tints arise from changes in the character of the clilorophyll ; the one when the chloro- phyll is not yet mature and the other when it is dying. The acorns are characteristic, and need never be mistaken. The_v are the largest borne by any oak of the Biennial group, and sit in flat shallow cups with prominent rims and close scales. The kernel is white and extremely bitter. ^\"ildwood creatures care little for them and they remain under the trees all win- ter unless eaten by swine. The Red Oak ranges farther north than any other of the Biennials ; it has been found on the banks of the Saskatchewan. Climatic conditions so affect it that there it ceases to be a tree, nor is it even a shrub, but it transforms itself by stress of circumstances into burls and knobs and low knotted heads only a foot or two high. Red 0.ik. Qiu-n Acorns -'.' to i SCARLET OAK Q,,/ Usually seventy or eighty feet high, maximum height one hun- dred and si.xty, with slender trunk, rather small branches, open narrow head. Prefers a dry, sandy soil. Ranges from Maine through central New York to southern Ontario, west through Michigan and Minnesota to Nebraska, south on the Alleghanies to North Carohna and Tennessee. Bark. — Dark brown, with shallow fissures, scaly. Young stems and branches smooth and light brown. Inner side of bark reddish or gray. Branchlets at first scurfy, later pale green and shining, finally reddish, at last light brown. 354 SCARLET OAK Scarlet Oak, Qitercns coccinea. Leaves 3' to 6' long, i^a' to 5' broad. OAK FAMILY Wood. — Light reddish brown, sapwood darker ; heavy, hard, coarse-grained, strong. Sp. gr. , 0.7095 ; weight of cu.ft ,42.20 lbs. ll'inti-r Buds. — Dark reddish brown, hairy, acute, one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, three to si.\ inches long, two and one-half to five broad, oblong or obovate or oval in outline, truncate or wedge- shaped at base, deeply di\ided by wide sinuses into seven or nine lobes, which are repandly dentate, terminating with bristle-pointed teeth. Terminal lobe is three-toothed, the middle division being much longer than the other furnished with two small teeth near its apex. Lateral lobes are obovate, oblique or spreading or falcate, the middle ones usually the largest of all ; midrib and primary veins conspicuous. They come out of the bud con\olute, bright red, coated beneath with silvery white tomentum, finally become green though still sihery ; when full grown are bright green, smooth and very shining above, paler and less shining beneath. In autumn they turn a brilliant scarlet color. Petioles slender, terete, one and one-half to two inches long. Stipules caducous. Flowers. — May, when leaves are half grown. Staminale aments slender, three to four inches long. Calyx is hairy, red in bud, four to five lobed. Stamens usually four ; filaments slender ; anthers yellow. Pistillate flowers borne on downy peduncles ; involucral scales ON'ate, downy : stigmas bright red. Aconis. — Ripen in the autumn of second year. Sessile or stalked, solitary or in pairs. Nut oval, or oblong-ovate or hemispherical, truncate or rounded at base, rounded at apex, one-half to one inch long, light reddish brown, occasionally striate ; cup cup-shaped or turbinate, incloses one-third to one-half of nut, light reddish brown on innersurfice, covered with closely imbricated, light reddish brown scales. Kernel whitish. Stand under this tree and see how finely its leaves are cut against the sky, as it were only a few sharp points extending from a midrib. They look like double, treble or quadruple crosses. They are far more ethereal than the less deeply scailoped oak leaves. They have so little leafv fi'ry,i-ih-wa that they appear melting away in the light and scarcely obstruct our view. The leaves of very young plants are like those of full-grown oaks of other species, more entire, smiple, and lumpish in their outlines, but these raised high on old trees have solved the leafy problem. Lifted hioher and higher and sublimated more and more, putting off some earthiness and cultivating more intimacy with the light each \>-ar, they have at length the least possible amount of earthy matter, and the greatest spread and grasp of sky influences. There they dance arm in arm with the light,— tripping it on fantastic points, fit partners in those aerial halls. So intimately mingled are they with it, tliat what with their slendemess and their glossy surfaces, )-ou can hardly tell at last what in the dance is leaf and what is light. I am again struck with their beauty, when, a month later, they thickly strew the ground in the woods j)iled one upon another under my feet. They are then brown above, but purple beneath, with their narrow lobes and their bold 356 BLACK OAK deep scallops reaching almost to the midrib. They suggest that material must be cheap or else there has been lavish expense in their creation, if so much has been cut out. — Henky D. Thoreau. A Scarlet Oak growing in the open forms a round dome- like head whose lower branches frequently sweep the ground. Its leaves are a bright shining green, borne on slender peti- oles so that they respond to every zeph- yr's breath. Their spring-time tint is bright pink and silvery white, but by the time the flowers come the leaves are pale green, growing darker as they grow older, but never even in midsummer do they become dark green. The especial glory of the species lies in the brilliant color which the leaves assume late in autumn. The autumnal tints of other oaks are beautiful, but they pale their fires before the ruddy gleam of the Scarlet. The acorns greatly resemble those of the Black Oak, but the kernel is white instead of yellow. This difference is characteristic and persistent and may often decide the ques- tion of species for a doubtful tree. Scarlet O.ik, Qit'-rcus CQCcuu\i. Acorns J'2' to 1' long. BLACK OAK. YELLOW OAK Qui'rcus veluCnni. Qujrciis tincthria. A tree ordinarily seventy to eighty feet high ; in the lower Ohio valley reaching one hundred and fifty feet with slender branches and narrow open head. Prefers the glacial drift, but is found on the mountain side ; ranges farther south than any other of the Red Oak group. Bark. — Dark brown or black on old trees, deeply furrowed, scaly; on young trees, stems and branches, smooth. Inner bark is deep orange yellow, heavily charged with tannic acid and largely used in tanning. Hranchlets stout, covered with rusty tomentum at first, later they become reddish brown, finally dark brown. 357 O AK FAMILY U'ooJ. — Bright brown tinged with red. sapwood paler; heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained, checks in drying. Sp. gr., 0.7045; weight of CM. ft., 43.90 lbs. U'i/i/i-r Bi/i/s. — Brown, ovate, angled, obtuse, covered with to- mentiim, one-toiirth to one-hall inch long. Lc\>:'iS. — Alternate, ti\e to six inches long, three to four inches wide, ovate 01" ol)o\ate, iisualh' se\en-lobed and sometimes di\ided nearly to the middle by wide, rounded sinuses into narrow, obovate, dent.ite lobes with stout bristle-pointed teeth; or sometimes the lobes are nearly entire, tapering gradually from a broad base, each tipped with a bristle ; or the sinuses are shallow, the heavy part of the leaf toward the apex, the lobes bioad-dentate or sinu- ate-dentate, but always tipped with a bristle. The terminal lobe is oblong, elongated, acute, with large or small teeth ; or, it is broad and coarsely repandly-dentate. They come out of the bud convolute, bright crimson, covered with white hairs above, and coated below \\ith sih'ery-white tomentum. The lobes are tipped with long white hairs. When full grown the leaves are thick, leathery, dark shining green .above and yellow green, brownish, or tawn)-, more or less pubescent below ; midribs stout, primary veins conspicuous. In autumn they turn brown, or dull red, or yellow and brown and fall late, sometimes remaining untd spring. Petioles long, yellow, gen- erally fl.ittened on upper side. Stipules linear, hairy, caducous. fiOTCi'rs. — May, when lea\'es are halt grown. Staininate flowers borne in the a.xils of brown, hairy, fugacious bracts, in hairy or to- mentose aments four to six inches long. Calyx of staminate flower, hairy, reddish ; lobes o\ate. shorter than the four stamens ; anthers acute, yellow. Pistillate flowers borne on short tomentose peduncles, reddish ; involucral scales oiate. shorter than the acute, hairy calyx- lobes ; stigmas reflexed. bright red. Acoriis. — Ripen in autumn of second year, sessile, or stalked, soli- tary or in pairs ; nut o\ ate-oblong, obovate, oval, or hemispherical, broad and rounded at base, rounded at apex, light reddish brown often striate, frequently pubescent, from one-half to one inch long ; cup cup-shaped or turbinate, embraces one-third to one-half the nut, covered with chestnut brown scales which at base are closely appressed but above are looser, and at the rim form a fringe-like border. Kernel yellow and bitter. The name Black (~)ak refers evidentlv to the color of the bark of the trunk whicii is almost or qtiite black. The inner bark is deep 3-ellow and this characteristic is persistent and unchangintj. Before the era of modern dves this inner bark was highly prized because of a yellow the which was obtained from it called quercitron. The tree is protean in the form of its leaves. Besides its 358 BLACK OAK Black Oak, Qiurcus veluttna- Leaves 4' to 6' long. OAK FAMILY own well distinguished types it varies toward the red oaks on the one side and the scarlet (_iaks vn the other. But what- ever the individual leaf the foliage mass is always beautiful. In early spring the unfolding leaves are red, the freshest of them nearly scarlet. The long, white, silky hairs are dense on the upper velvety surface and the under surface is white with tomentuni. As the red fades out and before the green darkens there is a time when the tree mass takes on a silvery greenish white through which the sunlight plays with magical effect. The deepiv divided leaves are borne on rather long petioles which are bent down at first but soon spread out from the branches. The new shoots are yellowish green, sometimes stained dark red but covered with rusty down. The divided leaves give the foliage a feathery appearance and the long yellow aments respoiul to the slightest impulse, so that a light wind transforms the tree into a misty, shimmer- ing mass. Idle exquisite effects of spring-time coloring must be caught at the supreme moment, thev do not remain un- changed for a dav, scarcelv for an hour. The mature leaf is dark green, in te.\ture alwavs thick, firm and almost leathery. The surface is alwavs shining, some- times showing a " wet gloss." The iietioles are usuallv long and somewhat sleiuler so that these shining leaves move freely, apart from the motion of the branch, and toss the sun- light from a thousand glittering points as thev wave in the summer breeze. In autumn their lint is usuallv brownish yellow, rarely running into dark red, but even then the brown leaves shine as in midsummer and dance in the November sunlight as if it were Mav. These leaves often remain upon the tree all winter long, successtuUy resisting the rough buffeting of storm and wind and falling only when pushed off liv the growing buds of spring. I once knew a pair of robins who selected an oak bough thickly covered with these winter leaves for their nesting place. The nest was built, the eggs were laid, and all went well in the sheltered nook. But, by the time the mother bird was sitting, the bursting buds pushed off the 360 BLACK OAK Black Oak, Qtiercus vetutma. Leaves of obovate type, 5^ to 7' long. OAK FAMILY dry brown leaves and day after day the poor bird sat in her nest at the end of a leafless bough, in full sight of every jay and crow in the neighborhood. In fact, they gathered about and assured her of their deep interest in her enterprise. The robins stood out bravely for awhile but one dav we found the nest deserted and the eggs gone. The acorn is much smaller than that of the Red Oak and varies in shape. In color it is reddish brown -ivhich is often striped with a darker brown. It sits in a deep cup which embraces nearly one- half the nut. The kernel is yellow and verv bitter. The Black Oak hybridizes, sports, and generallv conducts itself so as to make it the despair of the amateur who wishes to know his trees " on sight." For unless tried by careful tests there are man)' trees which will deceive the most elect botanist. Hack Oak. Qiicrciis vdutina Acorns '2' to 1' lon^. SPANISH OAK QiiM-iis digilila. A tree usually seventy to eighty feet high, with spreading branches which form a round topped open head. Rare in the north Atlantic states, abundant in the south. Tolerant of many soils, it flourishes in dry sandy barrens and on wet low lands. Bark. — Dark brown with shallow fissures, scaly, rich in tannic acid. Branchlets stout, covered with rusty tomentum at first, be- coming later reddish brown or ashy gray. IVood. — Light reddish brown, sapwood much lighter ; strong, coarse-grained, checks badly in drying. Has high fuel value, some- times used in construction. Sp. gr., 0.6028; weight of cu. ft., a^.i7 lbs. U'iitit-r Biuis. — Chestnut brown, ovoid, acute, one-eighth of an inch long. 362 SPANISH OAK Spanish Oak, Quercits digitala. Leaves 6' to 7' long, 4' to 5' broad. OAK FAMILY The Variant Lea\'es of Spanish Oak, half inch long, pale orange sometimes deep, often em- braces one-half the nut, covered with reddish brown, pubescent scales. The Spanish Oak is really a southern tree although it appears in New Jersey, southern Illinois and Indiana. Its leaves vary greatly in Leai'i-s. — Alternate, six to se\en inches long, four to five inches wide. Of two forms ; first form oblong or obovate, usually wedge- shaped at base, five to seven-lobed. lobes often falcate, bristle-tipped, sinuses broad ; second form is obo\ate with a broad apc.\ which is three-lobed, otherwise entire. Both forms are found on the same branch, but sometimes character- ize dift'erent trees. They come out of the bud con\olute, when full grown are dark shining green above, pale green covered with rusty pubescence below ; midribs stout, tomentose ; primary veins prominent. In autumn they turn a bright clear yellow or dull yellow brown. Petioles short, flattened. Stipules oblong, caducous. Flo\i\rs. — May, appearing with the lea\es. Staminate flowers borne in hairy aments three to five inches long. Calyx four to five-lobed, pubescent; lobes ovate, rounded, shorter than the stamens. .Stamens four to five with oblong yellow anthers. Pis- tillate flowers borne on stout pe- duncles. Involucral scales tomen- tose, as long as the calyx lobes ; stigmas long, dark red. Aiorns. — Ripen in the summer of second year. Sessile or stalked. Nut is globular to oblong, one- brown; cup thin and saucer-shaped, Spanish Oali, Quercus lilgiiata. Acorns J-a' long. 364 PIN OAK form but as they do not resemble those of any other oak, ihe tree ma)' be readily recognized. It is recommended as a shade tree for cities in the south Atlantic and Gulf states, PIN OAK. SWAMP SPANISH OAK Qni-irns pahistris. Usually fifty to seventy feet high, maximum height one hundred and twenty, with pyramidal head and somewhat pendulous branches. Loves a moist rich soil and is found on the borders of swamps and in river bottoms ; attains its greatest size in the valley of the Ohio. Ranges from Massachusetts to Kentucky and westward to Arkan- sas and Indian Territory. Roots deep and also spreading. Bark filled with tannic acid. Bar/:. — Pale, steel brown, generally smooth, sometimes scaly ; young stems and branches smooth, pale brown, shining. Branch- lets slender, tough, dark red at first, tomentose, later becoming reddish brown and finally gray brown. JVooi/. — Pale brown with dark colored sapwood ; heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained. Sometimes used in construction. Sp.gr., 0.6938 ; weight of cu. ft., 43.24 lbs. Winter Binis. — Chestnut brown, ovate, acute, one-eighth of an inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, four to six inches long, two to four inches wide, obovate or broadly oval in outline, base wedge-shaped, five to seven-lobed, sinuses wide and deep, rounded at bottom ; termi- nal lobe three-toothed toward apex, or entire lateral lobes spread- ing or obliciue or falcate, tapering and acute at apex or obovate and broad at apex. The middle pairs are longer than the others, dentate-lobed ; lobes and teeth ending in long slender bristles. They come out of the bud, convolute, pale reddish green, shining and hairy above, covered with whitish scurfy down below ; when full grown are dark, shining green above, pale green below, bearing tufts of pale hairs in the axils of the primary veins ; midribs stout, rounded above, primary veins conspicuous. They turn a deep scarlet in auttmin and fall late. Petioles yellowish, one-half to two inches long. Stipules red, one-half of an inch long, become brown before falhng. Flowers. — May, when leaves are half grown. Staminate flowers are borne in hairy catkins from two to three inches long ; pistillate flowers on short tomentose peduncles. Calyx of staminate flower is hairy, divided into four or five oblong rounded segments, cut at the margins, shorter than the four or five stamens ; anthers oblong, yel- low. The involucral scales of the pistillate flower are ovate, 365 OAK FAMILY tomentose, shorter than the calyx-lobes ; stigmas bright red, re- curved. Acorns. — Ripen in the autumn of the second season ; sessile or short-stalked, solitary or clustered ; nut nearly hemispherical, about one-half an inch long, less in breadth, light brown, usually striate; cup thin, shallow, saucer-shaped, dark red brown and hairy within and covered by closely appressed ovate, light reddish brown scales, darkest along the margin. Kernel bitter. The Pin Oak when young is a most graceful tree. The stem rises an unbroken shaft ; the branches at the top are short, the middle branches are long and drooping and rather overbear the lower ones which sometimes sweep the ground, thus form- ing the beautiful pyramidal head character- istic of the species. The leaves are small, deeply lobed, borne on long petioles which allow them to toss in the wind. These '''" ^^"^^ Qnmui pjhntrii. Acorns leaves are the especial prey of a gall-fly and i,/ long. are frequently covered with small brown galls. The acorns are small, light brown, striped. The name Pin Oak seems to refer to the great number of tiny branches which are intermingled with the large ones. Of this tree Mi- chaux says, " Its secondar)' branches are much more slender and numerous than is common on so large a tree and are so intermingled as to give it at a distance the appearance of being full of pins. This singular disposition renders it dis- tinguishable at first sight in winter and is perhaps the cause of its being called Pin Oak." BEAR OAK. SCRUB OAK Qiic'i'cus iJuifolia. Qiicrcus punilla. A shrub, with numerous intertwined and contorted branches, oc- casionally becoming a small round-topped tree. Found in New England and along the Alleghanies, on rocky hillsides and on sandy plains. Bark. — Dark brown, smooth, scaly. Branchlets slender, at firsl dark green, tinged with red, tomentose, later red brown and finally dark brown. 366 PIN OAK Pin Oak, Qtiercus palustris. Leaves 4' to (/ long, 2' to 4' broad. OAK FAMILY U'ooii. — Light brou-n ; hard, strong. Winter Buds . — Dark chestnut brown, ovate, obtuse, one-eighth of an inch long. Leaves. — .Alternate, two to five inches long, one and one-half to two and one-hall inches wide, wedge-shaped at base, usually hve- lobed, sometimes three, sometimes se\en-lol3ed ; every lobe bristle- tipped ; sinuses wide and shallow ; form ot lobes variable. They come out of the bud convolute, dull red and coated with tomentum, when half grown are pale green ; when lull grown thick, dark green and shining above, cov ered with pale or sih ery pubescence below ; midribs stout, yellow, primary veins conspicuous. In autumn they turn dull red or yellow. Petioles slender, terete, downw one to one and one-half of an inch long. Stipules linear, caducous. Flowers. — May, when leaves are half grown. Staminate flowers are borne in reddish, hairy aments four to five inches long which often remain until midsummer. Caly.x is red or reddish green, hairy, three to five rounded lobes, shorter than the stamens. Stamens three to fi\'e ; filaments short ; anthers bright red, becoming yellow. Bracts linear, red. hair\'. Pistillate flowers borne on stout tomen- tose peduncles. Involucral scales red, as long as the calyx lobes, tomentose ; stigmas dark red. .Icorns. — Abundant, ripen in autumn of second year, sessile or stalked, in pairs or solitary. Xut somewhat variable in form, ovoid, broad, acute or rounded at apex, one-half inch long, light brown, shining, sometimes striate ; cup cup-shaped, embracing half the nut. thick, light reddish bi'own, the free tips of upper scales forming a fringe-like border. Kernel deep yellow. This little, straggling, shrubby oak loves rockv hillsides and dry sandy barrens. Wherever it grows it indicates the sterilitv of' the soil. The name Scrub Oak follows it every- where, bnl the early settlers of Xew England called it Hear Oak as well, because the bears loved its bitter little acorns. It pro- duces these in great numbers ; a fruiting branch is often verv picturesque because of them. It rarelv rises more than si.x or eight feet and its stem is usuallv one or twci inches in diam- eter. Moth leaves and acorns are variable in form. This is one of the gregarious trees, it is never found as a 368 Bear Oak, Qu.-r; Acorns ^2' tli.-! foU.i. BEAR OAK Bear Oak, Qiierciis ilicifolia. Leaves z' to 3' long, i^^' to 2j-^' broad. OAK FAMILY single specimen or mingled with other trees but always in tracts which it covers almost exclusivel)-. Evidently it can flourish where other species cannot. BLACK JACK. BARREN OAK Qiu'rcKs !na]ild}idiia. Quc'rcits n)gra. A small shrubby tree, with small trunk, spreading and contorted branches. Grows on sandy barrens, and ranges from southern New York westward to Kansas and Nebraska and southward to the Flor- ida coast. Rare in the nonh, but abundant in the south where it is often found on heavy clays. Hybridizes freely. Bark. — Dark brown almost black, divided mto rectangular plates which are covered with small scales. Branchlets stout, at first light red and scurfy, later reddish brown, finally dark brown. Wood. — Dark brown, sapwood lighter ; heavy, hard, strong, used for fuel and in manufacture of charcoal. Sp. gr., 0.7324 ; weight of cu. ft., 45.64 lbs. M'inter Buds. — Light reddish brown, angled, acute, hairy, one- fourth of an inch long. Lfa'is. — Alternate, five to seven inches long, broadly obo\ate, rounded or cordate at the narrow base, usually three-lobed at the broad apex. Form of lobes extremely \ariable, sometimes rounded sometimes acute, each lobe bristle-tipped. They come out of the bud paie pmk, coated with tomentum, when half grown they are still coated with the pale hairs. When full grown they are thick and leathery, dark \ellow green, shining abo\e, and yellow, orange or brown and scurfy below ; midrib broad, dark yel- low, raised and rounded above, primary \eins stout. In autumn they turn brown or yellow. Petioles stout, yellow, grooved above, one-half to three-fourths of an inch long. Stipules three-fourths of an inch long, caducous. Flo'd.>crs. — May, when leaves are half grown. Staminate flowers borne in hairy catkins two to four inches long. Calyx of staminate flowers thin, scarious, tinged with red, covered with pale hairs and divided into four to five rounded lobes. Stamens usually four ; anthers dark red. Pistillate flowers borne on short peduncles covered with thick rusty tomentum. Involucral scales are coated with tomentum and about as long as the calyx lobes ; stigmas re- flexed, short, broad, dark red. Acorns. — Ripen in autumn of second year, solitary or in pairs, short stalked ; nut three-fourths of an inch in length, oblong, full and rounded at both ends, a trifle broader below than above the mid- dle; light yellow brown, often striate. Shell thin, lined with coat 370 BLACK JACK Black Jack, Quercus marilandica. Leaves 3' to 8' long, 2' to 5' broad. OAK FAMILY of dense tawny tomentum. Cup turbinate, deep, covers one-third to two-thirds of nut, is thick, pale brown and downy within, without it is covered by large, reddish brown, loosely imbricated scales, coated with tomentum. On top of cup are rows of smaller scales which form a thick rim around the inner surface. Black Jack is such a peculiar name for a tree that on hear- itig it for the first time, one immediately asks for an explana- tion. The authorities are silent on the subject so one can develop his own theorv without fear or favor. This oak varies from shrub to small tree. Its verv presence marks the sterility of the soil. Its wood is worthless compared with that of other oaks. It is the pariah of its kind. Since very early times Jack has, in certain ways, been used as a word of opprobrium. A worthless fel low was a Jack. What more likely, than that the first settlers of this coun- try finding this worthless oak upon worthless land should name it in opprolirium the Jack Oak. As the bark was dark, almost black, it became Black Jack Oak and oak soon drop- ping out, it became as we know it to-day — Black Jack. 'I'he leaves of this oak are extremely varialile, always obo- vate or pear-shaped thev varv from a form having no lobes at all to one of three lobes and one of five lobes. Bhck Jack, C!"'-' UiiJi^a. Acorn SHINGLE OAK. LAUREL OAK Qnarns ini /n-icai'ia . A tree usually fifty to sixty feet high, maximum height one hun- dred, with broad pyramidal head when young, becoming in old age broad-topped and open. A tree of the mid-continent ; rare in the east, abundant in the lower Oliio valley. Reaches its largest size in southern Illinois ami Indiana, /ia?k. — Light brown, scalv ; on young stems light brown, smooth. Branchlets slender, d.uk green and shining at first, later become light brown, finally dark brown. 372 SHINGLE OAK Shingle Oak, Q^iercus imhricaria. Leaves 4' to 6' long, 1' to 2' broad. OAK FAMILY ll'ooii. — Pale reddish brown, sapwood lighter ; heavy, hard, coarse-grained, checks badly in drying ; used for shingles and sometimes in construction, Sp. gr., 0.7529; weight of cu. ft., 46.92 lbs. Winter Buds. — Light brown, ovate, acute, one-eighth inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, oblong or obo\ate, four to si.\ inches long, one to two inches wide, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, acute or rounded at ape.x, sometimes entire or with undulated margins, some- times more or less three-lobed. They come out of the bud in\olute, bright red, covered with rusty down above and white tomentum be- low. When full grown are dark green, smooth and shining above, pale green or pale brown, downy below ; midribs stout yellow, grooved above, primary veins slender. In autumn they become dark red above, pale beneath, midribs darken, then the leaf Petioles stout, hairy, flattened, grooved. Stipules about one-half inch long, caducous. Flowers. — May, when leaves are half grown. Staminate flowers borne on tomentose aments two to three inches long. Bracts linear-lanceo- late. Calyx pale yellow, downy, four-lobed ; stamens four to five ; anthers yellow. Pistillate flowers borne on slender tomentose peduncles. Involucral scales are downy, aljout as long as ij/ to %'. the calyx lobes ; stigmas short, retlexed, green- ish-yellow. Acorns. — Ripen in autumn of second year ; stalked, solitary or in pairs ; nut almost spherical, one-half to two-thirds inch long ; cup embraces one-half to one-third nut, is cup-shaped covered with light red brown, downy scales, rounded or acute at apex. Kernel very bitter. Shingle Oak, iinhricarui. The Shingle Oak has a smooth bark and for three-fourths of its height is laden with branches. It has an uncouth form \\hen bare in winter, but is beautiful in summer when clad in its thick tutted foliage. The ]ca\-es are long, lanceolate, entire, and of a shining green. — MlCII.\UX. The leaves of Laurel Oak or .'^hingle Oak are very narrow, almost linear at first with their edges so straightly revolute that they almost touch each other. They are slightly hairy, the ground color yellowish green with a purple tinge. The fresh twigs arc flushed with red on the upper side where most exposed to the light. The young leaves stand out stiffly from the ends of the branchlcts, studding them with sharply outlined stellate clusters. Being so narrow the foliage is very open and one can see through the tree top in almost any direc- tion so that the tree has an appearance quite distinct from other oaks. — Gardin and Forest. 374 WILLOW OAK WILLOW OAK Qut'i'i-ns pJu'llos. A tree seventy to eighty feet high, ranging from southern New York along the inland plain to Florida, is also found in the south- western states. Hybridizes easily. Bark. — Pale reddish brown, stem of young tree smooth, that of old trees covered with shallow fissures and scaly. Branchlets slender, smooth, reddish brown, later dark brown or grayish brown. Wood. — Pale reddish brown, sapwood paler; hea\-y, strong, coarse-grained. Occasionally used in construction. Sp. gr. , 0.7472 ; weight of cu. ft., 46.56 lbs. M'iiitLi- Biiiis. — Brown, o\ate, acute, one-eighth of an inch long. Lcdi'is. — Alternate, linear, oblong, narrowed at both ends, some- times falcate, two to h\'e inches long, one-half to one inch wide, wedge-shaped at base, entire or slightly undulate at margin, sharply acute at ape.x. They come out of the bud in\olute, pale yellow green, shining above, coated with pale down beneath ; when full jrown are light green, smooth and shining above, palergreen below ; midribs yellow, rounded above, primary veins obscure. In autumn (hey turn pale yellow and fall late. Petioles stout, and grooved, stipules caducous. Fio-vci's. — May, when leaves are small. Staminate flowers borne in hairy slender amerits t"0 to three inches long. Calyx yellow, hairy, divided into four to five acute lobes. Stamens four to fi\e ; anthers oblong, yel- low. Pistillate flowers are borne on short, smooth peduncles. Involucral scales are brown, hairy, as long as the calyx lobes; stigmas bright red, re- flexed. Acoyiis. — Not abundant. Ripen in autumn of second year, short stalked, solitar)' or in pairs. Nut half-sphere, half an inch in diameter, pale yellow brown, downy, sometimes striate ; cup saucer-shaped, covers the base of nut only ; scales dark reddish orown, thin, ovate, hairy. Kernel orange yellow and very bitter. Willow Oak, 0,1, pll,-l/os. A c .3 5-2' in diamet' The "Willow Oak is a most interesting tree. In the first place its leaf is an anomaly among northern oaks for it has the shape, poise, and general appearance of that of the wil- low. Then, too, the shoots ai^e straight and slender, so in its spray it resembles the willow. Like its namesake it loves to keep its feet in water, seeks the low wet borders of swamps 375 OAK FAMILY Willow Oak, Qiieracs phellos. Leaves 2' to 5' long, ^' to 1' broad WILLOW OAK and but rarely climbs even a hillside ; and yet it avoids the sea-coast. The Willow Oak hybridizes most freely ; all oaks do more or less, but this species seems especially inclined to stray out of bounds. The acorns are tinv, not abundant, the kernel yellow and exceedingly bitter. 'I'he tree is recommended as a shade tree for southern cities. 3?? FAGx\CE.E— 15EECH FAMIL" BEECH Fdg'iis n/ivfii>i/,-i;7. Ft):;/!.! fi-rni^i'iu-a. Fdi^us from /■/hi^v, to eat, because the mils were used as food i the earlv aL:es. Widel\- distributed, growing on uplands and mountain slo^ies, also on alluvial bottom lamls and bonieis of streams. Usually seventy to eighty feet high. In the erowded forest, tall, slender, uith narrow head ; in open situations, short stemmed, forming a round-topped head of slender, slightly drooping branches beset with short lateral branchlets. But one species is native to North America. Grows well on lime- stone. Bark. — Compact, smooth, ashy gray. Ihanch- lets at first pale green, then oli\e green, tinally changing through brown to ashy gray. Wood. — Light red, varying in color in differ- ent loc.Uities ; hard, strong, tough, very close straight-grained and susceptible of a fine polish. Used in manufacture of chairs, agricultural implements and handles of tools. Sp. gr., 0.6S83 ; weight of cu. ft., 42. 89 lbs. Leaf-Buds. — Cylindrical, long-pointed, light chestnut brown, three-fourths to one inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, oblong-ovate, rounded or cordate at base, coarsely serrate with spreading or incurved teeth, acute or acuminate. Feather- veined. They come out of the bud plicate, pale green and silky, when full grov.n become dark green above, pale green beneath. In autumn they turn a clear golden yellow, and 378 BEECH t Fruiting Spray of the Beech, Fagtis atropunicea Leaves 3' to 4' long. BEECH FAMILY A Stjmin.Tte and a Pistillali Flower ol the Beech ; en larged. becoming brown on young trees often cling to the branches all win- ter. When the leaves first appear in the spring they are heavily charged with acid juice. Petioles short, slightK- grooved, hairy. Stipules caducous. /•~/ci2l\ts. — April, when lea\es are one- third grown. Staniinate borne in globose heads an inch in diameter on slender h.ury peduncles, the staminale tlowers are yel- lowish green and consist of a bell-sliaped four to seven-lobed calyx, corolla warning, stamens eight to ten, inserted on the caly.\ ; filaments white, slender, exserted ; anthers green, oblong, introrse. two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally; ovary wanting. Pistillate flowers are borne in two-flowered clusters from the axils of the upper leaves surrounded by numerous awl-shaped bractlets. They consist of an urn-shaped calyx, tube three-angled, adnate to ovary ; limb tour to hre-lobed. corolla wanting, stamens wanting ; ovary inferior, three-celled, styles three, slender, exserted ; o\ules two in each cell. The inner bracts in time become the fruiting invol- ucre. When full grown this is dark green covered with prickles ; in autumn it becomes light brown, the prickles strongly recurved ; it is opened by the first severe frosts and remains on the branch after the nuts have fallen. Fruit. — Nut, triangular, pale chestnut brown, three-fourths of an inch long. Seed is sweet. It is believed that a beech must be fully forty years old before it fruits. \Ve sometimes think that the birds are the first heralds of the spring, but it is not so. Vegetation sleeps like a dog, with one e\-e open, and no sooner has the sun turned from his southern course than nature in all her myriad buds watches for his coming. There are signs of spring to the wise before a blue wing has beat toward the north or a robin Slaminate and Pistillate Flower Clusters ^i the Beech. 380 ■■^jW BEECH A Beech Tree. BEECH FAMILY redbreast alighted on our lawn. Willows glow in green and yellow long before any other indication of qnickening life ap- pears, the last year's wood of the Lonibardy Poplars becomes tawny and shining, and the Beech tree fairly challenges the snow on its limbs bv the frosty white of its smaller branches and twigs. It is surprising since our trees are leafless one-half of the year, that so little attention is paid to planting for winter beauty. A great success is awaiting the artist who can achieve this planting, and in the mean time a small but ever increasing number of persons are appreciating the grace and beauty of the leafless trees. The winter beauty of the Beech is only equalled not surpassed by that of the elm. Then the sinewy strength of its trunk is most evident, the white of its bark is the clearest, the structure of its noble head is most apparent, and the fine spray of its delicate branches stands clear cut in e.xcjuisite tracerv against the sky. It is no less charming in early spring, when the half-opened leaves clinging to the branches make a shimmering mist of soft green and pearly white. In midsummer, because t)f the lateral arrangement of the branches, the foliage lies in great shelving masses and as the leaves are short petioled they have little independent motion but swav \\ith the branch. In autumn, the head becomes a glowing sphere of golden yel- low touched with russet, and as the last leaf flutters to the ground it marks the close of a cycle of unequalled beautv. Lumbermen have always insisted upon two species of Beech, the Red and the White, distinguished by the color of their wood. There are no botanical characters by which such trees can be distinguished, and the reason for the dilterence is unknown. The Beech is gregarious and often forms pure forests of considerable e.xtent. In the first place, it is a tree that suck- ers ; in the second, it makes a shade so dense that it is diffi- cult for the young of other trees to flourish near. Further- more, it readily adapts itself to environment, flourishes on the bottom lands and climbs the mountain slopes. 382 BEECH The genus has several evergreen species. These are all found in the southern hemisphere, — in Terra-del-Fuego, New Zealand, and Australia. Traces cf I^dgus have been dis- covered in the cretaceous rocks of the Dakota group, in the miocene of Alaska and in the gold-bearing gravels of Cali- fornia ; existing once over a broad territory from which it has now entirely disappeared. There was so firtn a belief among the Indians that a beech tree was proof aganist lightning, that on the approach of a thunder-storiti they took refuge under its branches with full assurance of safety. This belief seems to have been adopted by the early settlers of this C(3untry and it is very common to hear a farmer say, "A beech is never struck by lightning. " This popular belief has recently had scientific verification. As a result of caix-ful ex})eriments it has been found that the beech really does resist the electric current much more vigorously than the oak, poplar or willow. The general conclusion from a series of experiments is that trees "poor in fat" like the oak, willow, poplar, maple, elm and ash oppose much less resistance to the electric current than trees " rich in fat " like the beech, chestnut, linden and birch. Of course varying conditions modify the practical working of these facts, but the Indians' conclusion was well founded. Of cultivated beeches the most popular is the well-known Purple or Copper IJeech. Individual trees of this variety have appeared at different times in the forests of Europe. In a natural history published in i6So, three beech trees with red leaves were recorded as growing in a wood near Zurich. Twenty-five years later a popular legend had grown up that these red-leaved beeches marked a place where five brothers had murdered each other. Most of the Purple Beeches now cultivated are believed to be derived from a tree discovered in the last century in a forest at Thuringia, which is supposed to be about two hundred years old, and is still alive. The beech tree figures in ancient literature because of its shade ; the ancient writers from Virgil down were continually 383 BEECH FAMILY sending their heroes, seeking rest and recreation, to recline under wide-spreading beeches. For example : — Beneath the sliade which beechen boughs diffuse, You, TitNTus, entertain your s}]\an muse — Virgil. I ran to meet you as a traveller Gets lYoin tiie sun under a shady beecli, — Thkockitus. Under the brauL-lies of the beecli we flung Our hnibs at ease and our bent bows unstrung. — From the Spanish. There at the foot of yonder nodding beech That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high, His listless length at noontide he would stretch And pore upon the brook that bubbled by. —Gray. The following curious story is told by Pliny in his Natural History. " There was a little hill called Corne, in the terri- tory of Tusculuin, not far from the city of Rome, that was clad and beautified with a grove and tufts of beech trees, which weie as even and round in the head as if thev had been curiously trimmed with garden siiears. This grove was, in old times consecrated to Diana, by the coninion consent of all the inhabitants of Latiuni who paid their devotions to that goddess there. One of these trees was of such surpassing beauty, that Passenius Crispus a celebrated orator who was twice consul, and who afterwards married the Empress Agrip- pina was so fond of it, that he not onlv delighted to repose beneath its shade, but frequently poured wine on the roots, and used often to embrace it." The ancients also knew that beech wood absorbed very little water and for that reason made e.xcellent bowls. .\'o wars d'd men molest When only beechen bowls were in request. — Virgil. In beechen goblets let their beverage shine, Cool from the crystal spring dieir sober wine. — Milton. 384 *^' %..J ^w4 BEECH Trunk of the Beecli, Fagiis Atiopiinicea BEECH FAMILY The beech tree has evidently been the shining mark of lovers from earliest days. Or sliLiU I rather the sad verse repeat Which on the beech's bark I lately writ? —Virgil. On the smooth beechen rind the pensive dame Carves in a thousand forms her Tancred's name. — Tasso. It is perhaps scarcely necessary to say that the beech tree of ancient literature is not the American beech but Firgi/s sylvatica, the common beech of Europe. Our beech differs from the European species in its paler bark and the lighter green of its leaves. CHESTNUT CastiiiL'a dcnicila. Castcliica vcsca. From Castanea a town in Thessal)', or from another town of that name in Pontus. New York Indians call the chestnut, 0-heh- yah-tah, Prickly Bur. Occasionally one hundred feet high ; grows rapidly and lives to great age. Very common on glacial drift of northern states, rarely found on limestone soils. Has stout tap root and thick rootlets. Juices are astringent. Attains its greatest size in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Bark. — Grayish brown divided by shallow irregular fissures into broad flat ridges. Branchlets at first light yellow green, finally olive green and ultimately dark brown. Wood. — Reddish brown, sapwood lighter; light, soft, coarse- grained, not strong, easily split and very durable in contact witli the soil; largely used in manufacture of cheap furniture, interioi" of houses, railway ties, fence posts and rails. Sp. gr., 0.4504 ; weight of cu. ft., 28.07 lbs. Winter Buds. — Dark chestnut brown, ovate, acute, one-fourth an inch long ; all lateral. Leaves. — Alternate, oblong-lanceolate, six to eight inches long, acute or wedge-shaped base, coarsely serrate, acute or acuminate. Feather-veined ; midrib and veins prominent on the under side. Convolute in the bud, late in unfolding ; vhcn full grown are a dark shining green abo\ e, a paler green beneath. In autumn they turn a 386 CHESTNUT Chestnut, Castanea dentala. Leaves (/ to 8' lone. BEECH FAMll-Y bright clear yellow. Petioles short, stout, slightly angled. Stipules caducous. Flou'i-rs. — June, July. Monoecious, fragrant. Staminate catkins six to eight inches in length, with stout, green, hairy stems covered with flower clusters. The androgynous catkins are slender, hairy, from two and a half to five inches in length, near their base are two or three clusters of pistillate flowers ; above these pistillate flowers are scattered clusters of staminate flowers ; these are smaller tlian those on the staminate catkins and fall from the persistent rachis; which continues to rise abo\e the short raceme of fruit. The stami- nate flowers appear in three to sexen-flowered cymes in the axils of minute bracts which are borne on the rachis ot the anient. Calyx bell-shaped, pale straw color, six-lobcd, lobes imbricate in bud, corolla wanting. Stamens ten to twenty inserted on the torus ; fila- ments exserted, white ; anthers pale yellow, introrse, two-celled, cells opening longitudinally. Ovary has aborted. Pistillate flowers appear solitary or two or three together within a short stemmed in- volucre of closely imbricated green scales, at the base of a bract borne on the rachis of the pistillate anients. Calyx bell-shaped, six- lobed. Stamens rudimentary. Ovary inferior, six-celled, styles six, white, hairy, exserted ; o\ules two in each cell. The involucres or burs grow rapidly, are full size by the middle of August, begin to open with the first frost and shedding their nuts fall late in. autumn. Fruit. — Nuts much compressed, two or three in a bur, coated at the apex with thick pale tomentum. The shell is lined with thick rufous tomentum and the seed is sweet. Defenseless in the common road she stands Exposed to restless war of vulgar hands. By neighboring clowns and passing rabble torn Battered with stones by boys and left forlorn. — Cowley. The amber buds of the chestnut arc unfohling into long green fans, though it will be long ere the trees decked with their drooping tassels hum like great hives with the music of the bees. — Edith Tiio.mas. In some places we f\ nd chestnutts. whose wild fruict I male well saie equalize the best in France, .^paine, Gerinan\-, ltal\- r)r those so commended in the Black Sea by Constantinople, all r-f which I ha\c eaten. — HiSTORIK OF Tk.W.AII.E INTO \'IRGINI.\ BKIT.VNNI.^. The Chestnut stamls unnoticed in tlie forest until mid- summer when, all at once, after the other trees have blossomed and some of them fruited, after the elm has scattered her samaras, the red maple dropped lier keys, when cherries are ripe and apples half grown, the Chestnut flings out her 388 CHESTNUT Chestnut Burs. BEECH FAMILY creamy tinted catkins in a wealth of bloom and proclaims that she, too, belongs to the fruit-bearing race and though late she is not belated. Though she blooms in midsummer, her nuts are ripe in earl)- autumn, and the first frosts open the prickly burs and scatter the shining contents at the feet of an\- passer-by. ^\'ilson Flagg speaking of the Chestnut says : " On this continent it is a majestic tree remarkable tor the breadth and depth of its shade. It displays many of the superficial characters of the red oak so that in winter we cannot read- ily distinguish them. 'I'he foliage bears some resemblance to that of the beech but displays more variety. The leaves are long, lengthened to a tapering point and of a bright and nearly pure green. Though arranged alternately like those of the beech on the recent branches, they are clustered in stars, containing from five to seven leaves, on the fruitful branches that grow out from the perfected wood. \\"hen the tree is viewed from a moderate distance the whole mass seems to consist of tufts, each containing several long, pointed leaves, drooping divergently from a common centre." The relation between the American Chestnut and the Sweet Chestnut of Europe has long puzzled botanists. I.ou- don considers ours but a varielv of the European ; Professor Sargent prefers to consider it a distinrt species. The dif- ference between them in anv case is slight and ours has the sweeter nut. Chestnut trees attain enormous size and great age. Lou- don says that the Tortworth Chestnut ti'ee in Gloucester- shire, England, which is still in a healthy condition, was remarkable for its great size in the reign of King Stephen, 1 135 A.D., and is probalilv more than a thousand \'ears old. The species has tlie peculiaritv of sending forth vigorous shoots from a stump and these, growing in a sort of brother- hood, finally unite into a single tree. The famous Chestnut of a Hundred Horsemen on Mt. Etna in Sicilv is believed to have been formed in this wav bv a group of five. A hundred years ago it had the circumference of two hundred feet at 3QO CHESTNUT 1^ Trunk of Chestnut, Caslanea denlala. BEECH FAMILY the surface of tlie ground. Two sections of the trunk have disappeared and a road now runs tlirough what is left. The wood is valuable chieflv because of the tannic acid it contains, which makes it very durable in contact with the soil. During the tertiary period Casfa/iea ranged to Greenland and Alaska and traces of it are found in the miocene rocks of Oregon and Colorado. The Chincpiapin, Castaiica piiDiila, is a southern tree often a shrub, which bears an abundance of small sweet chestnuts. The leaf resembles that of C. dentata but is smaller and very downy on the under surface. This tree is reported as hardy in the Arnold Arboretum. 392 SALICACE^— WILLOW FAMILY WILLOW The Willows are a family of trees and shrubs which differ greatly in size and habit of growth but are very much alike in other respects. All have abundant watery juice, furrowed scaly bark which is heavily charged with salicylic acid, soft, pliant, tough wood, slender branches and large fibrous often stoloniferous roots. These roots are remarkable for their toughness, size, and tenacity of life. Willows are often planted on the border of streams in order that their inter- lacing roots may protect the bank against the action of the water. They make the first growth on the changing, shift- ing banks of western rivers, and after the soil has been made sufficiently stable, the poplar comes. Frequently the roots are much larger than the stem which grows from them. All the buds are lateral, no absolutely terminal bud is ever formed. These are covered by a single scale, inclosing at its base two minute opposite buds, alternate with two, small, scale-like, fugacious, opposite leaves. The leaves are alternate except the first pair which fall when about an inch long. They are simple, feather-veined, and typically linear-lanceolate. Usually they are serrate, rounded at base, acute or acuminate. In color they show a great variety of greens, ranging from yellow to blue. The petioles are short, the stipules often very conspicuous, look- ing like tiny round leaves and sometimes remaining for half 10? WILLOW FAMILY the summer. On some species, however, they are smaU, in- conspicuous, and fugacious. The cliaractcr of the inflorescence is the same in every species. It is dioecious, that is, the stamens and pistils are separate and borne on different trees. 'I'liis makes the fam- ilv difficult to classify, for it is necessary to study two trees in order to determine one species, and the two trees are not always at hand. Furthermore, the species readily hybridize, and also quickly respond to environment, so that only an ex- pert is competent to decide a question with regard to species among willows. The staminate flowers are without either calyx or corolla ; they consist simplv of stamens, in number varying from two to ten, accompanied by a nectariferous gland and inserted on the base of a scale which is itself borr.e on the rachis of a drooping raceme called a catkin, or anient. This scale is oval and entire and verv hairy. The anthers are rose colored in the bud but orange or purple after the flower opens, the\' are two-celled and the cells open longitudinallv. The fdaments are thread- like, usuallv pale yellow, often hairy. The pistillate flowers are also without calvx or corolla ; and consist of a single ovary accompanied by a small flat gland and mserted on the base of a scale which is likewise borne on the rachis of a catkin. This ovarv is one-celled, the scvle two-Iobed, and the ovules numerous. The fruit is a one-celled, two-valved, cylindrical, beaked capsule, contain- ing many minute seeds which are furnished with long, silky, white hairs. The catkins appear before or with the leaves. Although catkin and anient are interchangeable words, cat- kin seems most appropriate for the flowers of the willow be- cause of their furry appearance when half developed. The genus Str/ix is admirably fitted to go forth and in- habit the earth, for it is tolerant of all soils and asks onlv water. It creeps nearer to the North Pole than any othei 394 A Staminate and a Pistillate Flower of a \\'itlo\v. WILLOW woody plant except its coiupaiiion the birch. It trails upon the ground or rises one hundred feet into the air. In North America it follows the water-courses to the limit of the tem- perate zone, enters the tropics, crosses the equator and appears in the mountains of Peru and Chili. In the old world its range is quite as extensive as in the new. It creeps or runs or stands, looks like a weasel or is backed like a camel according to its surroundings. The books record one hundretl and sixty' species in the world and these sport and hybridize to their own content and to the despair of botanists. Then, too, it comes of an ancient hne. Impressions of leaves in the cre- taceous rocks show that it is probably one of the oldest forms of dicotyledonous plants. BLACK WILLOW Sd/ix nii^n'a. Banks of streams and lakes ; the common native willow that be- comes a tree. Twenty to forty feet high. Ranges from New Bruns- wick to Florida, westward to the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains and south into Me.xico ; also appears in California. Bark. — Dark brou-n or nearly black, sonietimes lighter brown, deeply divided into broad, flat, connected ridges. Branchlets slen- der, very brittle at the base, ratlrer bright reddish brown. Wood. — Light reddish brown, sapwood nearly white ; light, soft, close-grained and weak. Sp. gr., .4456 ; weight of cu. ft., 27.77 lbs. Winter Buds. — Acute, small, reddish brown. Leaves. — Alternate, lanceolate, three to six inches long, often curved at tip, and frecjuently conspicuously scythe-shaped (var./<7/- cata), round or wedge-shaped base, serrate, and the entire leaf above the middle gradually narrowed to a tapering tip. Feather- veined. Involute in bud, silky when unfolding, when full grown are a bright pale, shining green above, pale green beneath. In au- tumn light yellow, or fall without changing. Petioles short, slender. Stipules seini-cordate or crescent-shaped, leaf-like, persistent, or small and deciduous. Flowers. — March, April ; before the leaves. Catkins borne on short leafy branches, narrowly cylindrical, one to three inches long ; stamens \'ary from three to six; ovary is ovate, smooth, apex stigmatic. The fruiting catkins vary from an inch and a half to three inches in length. 395 WILLOW FAMILY Fruit. — Capsule, ovate, conical, smootli, and reddish brown. Seed minute, surrounded by a tuft of long, white, soft hairs. Then saffern swarms swing off from all the willers So plump they look like yaller caterpillars. J,\MKs Russell Lowell. There is now but little black ^villow down left on the trees. I think I see how this tree is propagated by its seeds. Its countless minute brown seeds, just per- ceptible to the naked eye in the midst of their cotton are wafted with the cotton to the water, most abundantly about a fortnight ago ; and then they drift and form a thick white scum together with other matter, especiallj' against some alder or other fallen or drooping shrub where there is less current than usual. There within two or three days a great many germinate and show their two little roundish leaves, more or less tingeing with green the surface of the scum, somewhat like grass-seed in a tumbler of cotton. Many of these are drifted in amid the button bushes, willows and other shrubs, and the sedge along the river side, and the water falling just at this time when they have put forth little fibres, they are deposited on the mud just left bare in the shade, and thus probably a great many of them have a chance to become perfect plants. But if they do not get into sufficiently shallow water, and are not left on the mud just at the right time probably they perish. The mud in many such places is now green with them, though perhaps the seed has often blown thither directly through the air. — Henkv D. Thoreau. This is the native willow which oftenest attains tree-like proportions in eastern North America. It is usual!}' fountl leaning over the water of streams and lakes, and may be recognized by its long, narrow, yellow green, shining leaves, which taper gradually to a long point and give the effect of delicate foliage. 'J'hese leaves usually curve in growth, so that they take a sickle shape ; this pe- culiarity is frequent though not in- variable, but the tip is often curved, when the body of the leaf is not. Moreover, each leaf bears small green stipules, crescent-shaped, finely toothed, and persistent as long as the leaf is growing. The bark is rather rough and blackish, although individuals are found with bark fairly light brown. Staminate Flower of Black Wil- low, Salix nigra. 30 BLACK WILLO\A/ Black Willow, Salix nigra. Leaves 3' to 6' long. WILLOW FAMILY SHINING WILLOW Sih'/x lucuia. A bushv tree sometime5 twenty feet in heii^ht, found on banks of streams and swamps, with short trunk and erect branches which form a round-topped symmetrical head. Ranges from Xewl'oundland westward across the continent to the Rocky Mountains, southward as far as Pennsylvania and Nebraska. Bark. — Smooth, dark brown. Branchlets smooth at first, orange color and shining, later dark brown. Wiiiler Buds. — Ovate, acute, light bro«n, one-fourth of an inch long. Leaves. — Alternate, oblong-lanceolate, three to fi\'e inches long, narrowed or wedge-shaped, or rounded at base, finely serrate, acute with long tapering often falcate points. Involute in bud, they come out green, when full grown are leathery, smooth, shining, dark green abo\e, paler beneath, midrib conspicuously prominent beneath. Petioles short, stout, yellow, grooved, glandular. Stipules semi- circular, serrate, membranous and often persistent. Flowers. — April, before the leaxes. Staminate catkins oblong-cylindrical, denseh' flowered, an inch to an inch and a half long, terminal, on short leafy branches ; stamens five. Pistillate catkins slender, an inch and a half to two inches long, becoming three or four inches long when the fruit ripens, often persisting until late. Fiuit. — Capsule, cylindrical, one-third of an inch long, shining. PEACH WILLOW— ALMONDLEAF WILLOW Almondleaf Willow, Leases 2' to 5' long. Sometimes si.xty to seventy feet high, with straight trunk and straight ascending branches, usually much smaller. Follows the water-courses and ranges across the continent ; less abundant in New England than elsewhere. In the west it be- comes the common willow along the banks of streams. 398 SHINING WILLOW Shilling Willow, Salix bicida. Leaves 3' to 5' long. WILLOW FAMILY Leaves. — Lanceolate, frequently falcate, wedge-shaped or rounded often unequal at base, finely serrate, narrowed into long slender points at the apex. When lull grown they are light green and shin- ing above, pale and glaucous beneath. The midrib is stout, yellow or orange ; the petioles are slender, one-half to three-quarters of an inch long ; the stipules renitorm, serrate, frequently half an inch broad and usually caducous. Flowers. — The catkins are two to three inches long, the scales are yellow, very hriry, the stamens from five to nine. Fruit. — Capsule, globose-conical, pale reddish yellow, and about a quarter of an inch long. SANDBAR WILLOW— LONG LEAF WILLOW Salix fliii-idlilis. This willow is usually about twenty feet in height, with a trunk only a few inches in diameter, and short erect branches, spreading by stoloniferous roots into broad thickets. Rarely it becomes a tree sixty feet high ; frequently a shrub five or six feet high. Longleaf Willow, S.ilix flitviatilii. Leaves 2' to b' long, ^-b' to J^' broad. Bark. — Smooth, dark brown, slightly tinged with red and scaly. Branchlets are slender, smooth, light or dark orange color or purplish red. Leaves. — Come out of the bud involute, are linear- lanceolate, often falcate, gradually narrowed at both ends, finely dentate-serrate, acute or acuminate. When they first appear they are exceedingly silky, when mature they are thin, smooth, yellow green above, paler green below. They vary from two to six inches long, one-eighth to one-half an inch wide. Midribs raised and prominent ; petioles grooved ; stipules leafy, deciduous. Flowers. — Aments are very silky, on the staminate plant they are about an inch long, terminal and axil- lary, the terminal flowers opening first. The pistil- late aments are two to three inches long and terminal on leafy branches. Stamens are two with free fila- ments, ovary is very silky and crowned with deeply lobed stigmas. Fruit. — Capsule, light brown, one-fourth an inch long. The range of Sandbar Willow covers the continent from the arctic circle to northern 400 BEBB WILLOW Mexico. It grows on the river baulks and is the first tree or sliriilj in all the northern interior region to spring up on newly formed sand-bars and banks of rivers, holding the soft mud in place with its long rigid roots. It is the herald of the poplars and prepares the river banks for their growth. It is an exceeding!}? valuable tree throughout the entire mid- continental region. BEBB WILLOW Sd/ix Ih'bluLina. Sd/ix rostrafa. A bushy tree sometimes twenty feet high usually much smaller, frequently a shrub. The bark is reddish or olive green or gray tinged with red. Branchlets slender, reddish purple, orange brown or reddish brown. Lt'iiTt's. — Come out of the bud conduplicate, are oblong-obovate, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, remotely serrate or entire, acute or acuminate. When full grown they are thick dull green and smooth above, pale blue, or silvery white, downy below; one to three inches long, half an inch to an inch wide. Petioles are often reddish ; stipules leaf-like, semicordate, acute, sometimes one-half an inch long, deciduous. Flo-ducrs. — Catkins appear with the unfolding leaves, erect and terminal on short leafy branches. The staminate catkins are sil- very white before flowering and pale yellow after, about an inch long and half an inch broad. Pistillate catkins are about an inch long. Stamens two, filaments free. Ovary very silky, crowned with spreading yellow stigmas. Fruit. — Capsule, elongated, narrowed into a long slender beak, borne on a slender stalk which is longer than the persistent scale. The Bebb AViUow will grow in moist and in dry soil, on the borders of streams and on dry hillsides. It is more abundant in British America than in the United States where it ranges southwest to Pennsylvania and westward to Minnesota. It has appeared, heretofore, in the books as S. rostrahi, but the name, has been changed to S. bebbiana, to commemorate the labors of Mr. Michael S. Bebb who was an authority upon the willows of this country. 401 WILLOW FAMILY Bebb Willow. SjIix K-hhuna. Leaves i' to 3' long. GLAUCOUS WILLOW GLAUCOUS WILLOW. PUSSY WILLOW Sa/i\x discolor. A small tree rarely more than twenty feet in height, more often a shrub. Bark. — Light greenish brown sometimes tinged with red, scaly. Branchlets at first are stout, dark reddish purple, coated with pale pubescence, later dull green. Buds are dark reddish purple, flat- tened, acute, three-eighths of an inch long. Leaves. — Come out of the bud convolute, are oblong or oblong- ovate or lanceolate, gradually narrowed at both ends, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, crenately-serrate, acute. When full grown are thick and firm, smooth, bright green above, glaucous or silvery white below, from three to five inches long, from an inch to an inch and a half wide. Midribs are broad, yellow ; petioles slender ; stipules leaflike, semilunate, acute, dentate, about one-fourth of an inch long, deciduous. flowers. — Catkins appear in very early spring, before the leaves, over an inch long, two-thirds of an inch thick, white and silky be- fore the flowers open. Stamens two with long slender filaments. Ovary is elongated, downy, long-stalked and crowned with a short style and broad spreading stigmas. Fruit. — Capsule, cylindrical, long pointed, pale brown and downy. This willow is coinmon along the banks of streams and ranges from Nova Scotia to INIanitoba and south to Dela- ware ; west to Indiana and Illinois and northwestern Mis- souri. The leaves and twigs of many willows are subject to gall growths caused by the stings of insects. The great cone-like buds, an inch or more long and three-fourths of an inch in diameter which are found at the ti]Ds of the branches of Salix i/^r^/i?;- especially, are an interesting e.xample of these. One often sees a Pussy Willow, growing by or fairly in the bed of a small stream, virtually covered with these monstrous buds. But open one of them with a sharp knife and within will be found the sleeping larva of a gall-fly. This bud is formed of many overlapping scales which are crowded and modified leaves, all diverted from their normal purpose and com- pelled to serve as the covering of an enemy. 403 WILLOW FAMILY Glaucous Willow, Salix discolor. Leaves y' to 5' long. Showing a Gall-bud. WHITE WILLOW WHITE WILLOW. YELLOW WILLOW. BLUE WIL- LOW Sti/iA- dll'a var. viieliina ; var. carulea. The magnificent willow tree which waves its narrow pointed leaves above our lieads in cultivated grounds is in all probability a direct descendant, or a variety, or a hybrid, of the White Willow of Europe which was very early intro- duced into this country and has become very generally nat- uralized. It is one of the few foreign trees which finds no equal among American trees of the same genus. Gray says that the original form of Salix alba is now rare- ly found in this country. The common form is Salix vitel- lina or Yellow Willow, so named because of the color of the branchlets. A less common form, Salix carulea, is often seen having green branchlets and dull, bluish green leaves. The best characteristic of this willow is its wonderful te- nacity of life. Push a White Willow wand ten inches into the ground at the edge of a stream where it may always have water and it will grow, and grow rapidly. Loudon says that a plant of Salix alba can be made to turn a summersault, that is, the branches of a young plant may be buried in the soil and the roots left above ground, and that the roots will become branches and the branches will change into roots. CRACK WILLOW Scilix frdg'ilis. This is one of our largest willows, often making a magnifi- cent tree. A native of Europe, it was introduced into this country that its twigs might be used in basket-making ; it has also been cultivated to produce charcoal for gunpowder. Now thoroughly naturalized it is common along the banks of streams and will flourish in any moist situation. Ordinarily, it grows fifty or sixty feet high with a full round head, spreading limbs and green branchlets. The 405 WILLOW FAMILY White Willow, Salix alba, var. vitilhna. Leaves 3j^' to 4' long. CRACK WILLOW Crack Willow, Salix fragtlis. Leaves 4' to 7' long. WILLOW FAMILY leaves are four to seven inches long, one to one and one-half inches wide, narrow — oblong with wedge-shaped base, long, tapering, pointed apex, and serrate margin with thickened teeth. The midrib is very prominent on the under side and shows greenisli wliite above. In color the leaves are a dark shining green above, and smooth, whitish, and glaucous be- neath. The twigs are very brittle at the base, and after a high wind the ground under the tree is often strewn with tliein. At these times Crack Willow seems an appropriate name. The tree, however, is particularly beautiful in a light wind for the leaves are so poised that they readily turn and show the white of their under surfaces. The species may be identified by the leaf which in addition to the characteristics already given has two tiuy excrescences at the base just at the junction of the leaf with the petiole. The tree is worthy of more attention than it has yet received. Pi'ehistoric man knew the uses of the willow. The strong, yielding, flexible withes made natui'al ropes and their use as such has come down to recent times. Tlie modern world has to-day no material better for baskets than the willow, and the Romans used it preciselv as we do. From Britain's painted sons I came. And Basket is niy barbarous name; But now I ani so modish grown Tliat Route would claim me tor her own. — M.\RTI.\I,. Herodotus is the first of ancient writers to mention the willow and he speaks of the divining rods of the ancient Scythians. Exactl\- why this tree should be considered the emblem of despairing love is not clear but that it has been so consid- ered from early times is evident. Shakespeare represents Dido lamenting the loss of ^Eneas : In such a night Stood Dido, with a willow in her hand. Upon the wild sea banks, and waved her love To come again to Carthage. 408 WEEPING WILLOW WEEPING WILLOW S<)/i.\- bahylSnica. By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee, O Zion ! As for our harps we hanged them up upon the uillow trees that are therein. — Psalm 137. The native land of the Weeping Willow is Asia. On the banks of the Euphrates, near Babylon, it is abundant. It is also found in China, in Egypt and elsewhere in Africa. Some authorities say it was brought into England about 1730 ; others give the date of its introduction as 1692. A pretty story is told of Pope in connection with this tree. It seems that he was present when Lady Suffolk received a package from Turkey and, observing that some of the withes bound around it appeared alive, said taking them up, " Per- haps these may produce something that we have not in Eng- land." Whereupon, the story adds, he planted one of them in his garden at Twickenham which became the Weeping Widow, afterwards so celebrated. Years after, this willow was cut down by the owner of the villa for the same reason that Haskell cut down Shakespeare's mulberry tree, because he was annoyed by persons asking to see it. That this willow is a favorite tree in China is clear from the prominence given it in all Chinese pictures of landscape. The famous landscape on the old Canton plates shows Weep- ing Willows bordering the stream and surrounding the home of the irate father. The Chinese also plant it in their ceme- teries. It must, likewise, at one time in this country have been considered a tree fitted to express elegant sorrow, for funeral prints of a tombstone, shaded by a Weeping Willow under which a mourner stands in the abandonment of grief, are among the venerable treasures of many a New England household. Perhaps, the most famous tree of the species is that grow- ing upon the site of Napoleon's grave at St. Helena. Among the trees that had been introduced into the island was a Weeping Willow which attracted Napoleon's notice and under 409 WILLOW FAMILY which he used frequently to sit. About the time of his death a storm shattered it and after the interment of the Emperor, Madame Bertrand planted several cuttings of the tree outside the railing which surrounded the grave. After various vicis- situdes one of the willows was found to be in a flourishing condition and from this one have been obtained the cuttings which have enabled so many to possess a plant of the true Napoleon's Willow. Landscape gardeners plant the Weeping Willow by streams or waterfalls in conjunction with the \\'eeping Birch or in contrast with the Lombardy Poplar. To treat it artistically is oftentimes a problem, as it is difficult to make it harmo- nize with other trees. It roots freely by cuttings and grows with great rapidity in a rich soil, near water. Its siioots are brittle and neither they nor the wood seem ever to have served any economic purpose. POPLAR PipKhls The word Populics is derived hv some from pa!L\ to vibrate or shake ; others suppose that the tree obtained its name from being used in ancient times to decorate the public pUices in Rome, where it was called arbor pop nli, or tree of the people. The Poplars are a group of rapid growing trees closely allied to the willows. Their range includes both temperate and arctic regions and in the extreme north they produce ex- tended forests. Nine species occur in the United States of which five are native to the eastern part of the continent, the others are Rocky Mountain or western trees. In addi- tion to these, three European species are naturalized here ; the ^Vhite Poplar, P. alba, the Lombardy Poplar, P. nigra var. italica, and the Black Poplar, P . nigra. The wood has become valuable of late for jwper making. The bark is heavily charged with tannic acid and in Europe is used for tanning leather. 410 WEEPING WILLOW Weeping WiHuW, Salix babjylo)ncu. Leaves y to 5' long. WILLOW FAMILY The flowers are diacious and appear in early spring belore the leaves. The\' are borne in long, drooping, sessile or pedunculate aments which are produced from buds formed in the axils of the leaves of the previous year. The pistillate aments lengthen verv considerably before maturity. The flow- ers are solitary, each one seateil in a cup- shaped disk which is borne on the base of a scale which is itself attached to the rachis of the anient. The scales are obovate, lobed and fringed, membranous, hairy or smooth, usually caducous. The staminate flowers are without calyx or corolla and consist simply of a group of stamens, four to twelve, or twelve to sixty, inserted on a disk ; filaments short, pale yellow; anthers oblong, purple or red, in- trorse, two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally. The pistillate flower is equally destitute of calyx and corolla and consists of a one-celled ovary seated in a cup-shaped disk. The style is short, stigmas two to four, variously lobed ; ovules numerous. The fruit is a two to four- valved capsule, ripening before the full develop- ment of the leaf ; greenish or reddish-brown. The seed is light brown and surrounded by a tuft of long, soft, white hairs. Popiiliis is the oldest type of dicotyledonous plants yet identified. When Sequoias, Pines and Cycads made up the bulk of the cretaceous forests of Green- land, the Poplar alone of deciduous trees waved its fluttering leaves among their dark branches. Cottonwood, Poptt- luidcltoiJcs. Stam- inate Aments, 3' to 4' long. Cottonwood, Populus del- toiJcs. Pistil- late .Aments, 3' to 4' long. 412 ASPEN ASPEN. QUAKING ASP rSpiiliis trentuloid^s, fi-LimiloidiS refers to the fluttering habit of the leaves. ISIost widely distributed tree of North America. Prefers a rather moist sandy soil and gravelly hillsides. Small, slender, rarely reach- ing the height of fifty feet, but credited with one hundred feet in northern Arizona at an elevation of 8,000 feet above the sea. Grows rapidly and forms a narrow round-topped head. Roots large, vig- orous and stoloniferous. Bark. — On old trees near the base almost black ; higher on the trunk and on young stems, pale greenish brown or yellow brown or nearly white, often roughened with horizontal bands or wart-like ex- crescences and marked below the branches with large, dark, lunate scars. Branchlets at first red brown, and shining, turning finally to a light gray, afterward becoming dark gray, for tuo or three years much roughened by leaf-scars. The sweet inner bark in early spring is used as food by the Indians of the north. Wood. — Light brown, sapwood nearly white, soft, close-grained, neither strong nor durable. Largely used in the manufacture of paper ; and in the west for flooring and turnery. Burns freely when green. Sp. gr., 0.4032 ; weight of cu. ft., 25.13 lbs. Whiter Buds. — Leaf-buds slightly resinous, reddish brown, conical acute, somewhat incurved, onc-lourth of an inch long ; narrower than the obtuse flower-buds. Leaves. — Alternate, simple, one and a half to two inches long, ovate or nearly round, slightly cordate or truncate at base, finely serrate with glandular-tipped teetlr, acute. Feather-veined, midrib and primary veins conspicuous. They come out of the bud involute, smooth, light green, shining, ciliate on margins, when full grown are thin, dark ^>s.u green, shining above, pale, dull, yellow , =Mi™ green beneath. In autumn they turn a ~%^,^^M clear bright yellow. Tremulous. Pet- ~^»- ioles long, slender, and laterally com- pressed. Stipules caducous. Flowers. — April, borne in pendulous aments one and a half to two and a half inches long, from buds formed the season before. The one-flowered scales are deeply divided into three to five linear, acute lobes fringed with long, soft, gray hairs. Stamens from six to twelve, inserted on a disk which is obliciue, with entire margin. Ovary is conical ; style short, thick ; stigmas two, divided into lobes. Ovary surrounded by broad oblique disk, which is persistent. 413 A Staminate and a Pistillate Flower of Aspen, Populus t7-e}nuloidcs ; enlarged. WILLOW FAMILY Fruit. — Oblong-conical capsules, two-valved, thin-walled, light green and nearly one-fourth an inch long, borne in drooping aments about four inches long. Seeds obovate. light brown and surrounded with long, soft, snowy white hairs. May and June. Xature chooses wisely her place for Aspen trcinuU'ides at the edge of a wood, with darker, higher trees behind as a background. — Edith Thonlas. The entire Poplar family are a restless folk and the Aspen the most so of the group. The reason lies in a personal peculiarit}-. The character of the petiole or leaf stem has much to do with the movement of the foliage of every tree. In the beech and elm, for example, the petiole is short and stiff and as a consequence the leaves have little independent motion but sway with the branch. The Poplars, on the other hand, have long slender petioles to begin with, and these are laterally compressed — pinched sidewise, not flattened — and this compression being vei'tical to the plane of the leaf, counteracts the prdinary waving motion which a leaf has in the wind and causes it to quiver with the slightest bi'eeze, whence the proverbial comparison, "Trembling like an aspen leaf." From Homer to Tennvson the race of poets have noted this peculiarity of all asiiens. Some wove the web, Or twirled the spintjle, siltinc;, \sitli a quick Liglit motion like the aspen's glancing leaves. — Odyssey. His hand did c]uake And tremble like a leaf of aspen green. -Spe.vser. A perfect calm, that not a breath Is heard to qui\er through the closing woods, Or rustling turn the many twinkling leaves Of aspen tall. — Tho.mson. Willows \\hiten, aspens quiver. — Tennvson. The small Aspen is a very common tree, little prized and rarely planted. Often an undergrowth in an oak wood, it is 414 ASPEN Aspen, Popiilus tremuloides. Leaves i J.^' to 2' long. WILLOW FAMILY perhaps better known when, forming a little thicket, it makes a mass of trembling leaves on a gravelly hank hy the road- side, or skirts the border of a swaai|), or forms the first growth on drv npland which has been swept by fire. Under favorable conditions it becomes a tree fifty feet in height and in the mountains of Arizona will reach one hundred feet. Small and quivering leaves necessarily make a tree look fragile and it is doubtful if any size could take from it the appearance of weakness which is its marked cliaractcristic. The trunk is slender, the head round-topped, the bark pale green becoming whitish and blotched and marred with age. The leaf is ahiiost round, with a slightly heart-shaped base, serrate margin and acute apex. It comes out of the bud involute, pale green, shining and downy, but finally be- comes smooth and firm in texture, dark green above and dull 3'ellow green beneath. The seeds ripen in May and bv means ot the long white hairs which surround them are borne bv the winds to a considerable distance from the parent tree. ranges from Hudson's Bay to Mexico. It grows farther n-^rth than the spruce and the larch, and nourishes on the mountain ranges of Chihuahua. Professor Sargent says : " The great value of the Aspen hes in the power of its small seeds, supported by their long hairs and wafted far and near by the wind, to germinate quickly in soil Vidiich fire has rendered infertile ; and in the ability of the seedling plants to grow rapidly in exposed situations. Preventing the washing away of the soil from steep mountain slopes and affording shelter for the young of longer-lived trees, it has played a chief part in determining the composition and distribution of the subalpine forests of western America and in recent years it has spread over vast areas of the slopes of the Rocky Mountains from which fire had swept the coniferous trees." Loudon considers our American Aspen to be but a variety of the .Aspen of Europe, Popiihii tie nulla. There lingers m Scotland, it is said, the belief that the 416 LAnOE-TOOTHED ASPEN Large-toothed Aspen, Popiilus grandidentala. Leaves 3' to 4' long. WILLOW FAMILY Aspen is the tree of whose wood the cross of our Saviour was made and that it stiU shivers in remembrance of that fact. Far off in highland wilds 'tis said, But truth now laughs at fancy's lore, That of this tree the cross was made Which erst the Lord of Glory bore; And of that deed its leaves confess E'er since a troubled consciousness. — Spirit of the. Woods. LARGE-TOOTHED ASPEN rdpulus grandidciitata. Common in the forest, preferring rich, moist, sandy soil, near the borders of swamps and streams. Reaches tlie lieight of sixty feet, with a trunlc two feet in diaineter and slender spread- ing brandies whicli form a narrow round-topped head. Ranges from Nova Scotia through Ontario to IMinnesota ; soutliward to Delaware, along the Alle- ghanies to North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. Bark. — On old trees near the base, dark brown, fissured and divided into broad flat ridges ; on younger stems and on the branches smooth and light gray tinged with green. Branchlets stout, coated at first with pale tomentinn, later they become red- brown or dark orange, finally becoine dark gray, much roughened by the leaf scars. \\\)od. — Light brown, sapwood nearly white ; light, soft, close-grained but not strong. Largely manufactured into wood pulp, occasionally used for wooden-ware. Sp. gr., 0.4632; weight of cu. ft., 28.S7 lbs. Lraf Buds. — Spread from the branch at a wide angle, broadly ovate, acute, one-eighth of an inch long ; about half the size of the flower-buds which otherwise resemble them. Li-a~i'cs. — Alternate, simple, three to four inches long two to three inches bioad, broadly-ovate, three- nerved, wedge-shaped, truncate or rounded at base, coarsely and irregularly croiate with incur\ed teeth, acute or acuminate ; midrib and \eins conspicuous. They come out of the bud involute, coated with hoary tomentum, when full grown are dark green above, pale green beneath. In 418 1-arge -Tooth ed Aspen, Pop\thii grandidoilata. Fruiting Ament, 4' to 5' long SWAMP COTTONWOOD autumn tliey turn a clear bright yellow. Petiole slender, laterally compressed, one and a half to two and one-half inches long. Stip- ules caducous. Flowers. — April, borne in pendulous aments, one and a half to two and a half inches long, from buds formed the season before. The one-flowered scales are deeply divided into five or six acute lobes, with soft light gray hairs which also cover the disk. Stamens from six to twelve, inserted on a shallow oblique disk with entire margin ; filaments short, slender ; anthers light red. Ovary oblong-conical, light green, hairy ; style short ; stigmas spreading, divided into fili- form lobes. Tlie ovary enclosed in the persistent disk. Fruit. — Oblong, curved cnpsule, light green, thin-walied, hairy, two-valved, one-eighth inch long, borne on a drooping anient four to five inches long. Seed minute, dark brown, surrounded by rather short, snowy white hairs. May. The Large-toothed Aspen is gregariotis, loves to grow in thickets ; its leaves twinkle on the gravelly hill-side or along the river-bottom ; it ripens its long, drooping, necklace-like aments in May as its leaves unfold and in every particular proves itself a poplar. The high-sounding name, P. granJiJeiiiafa, means simply that the teeth of the haf margin are a little larger than those of P. tyemiiloides. SWAMP COTTONWOOD. BLACK COTTONWOOD. DOWNY POPLAR PSpiilus hctiivpJiylla. Rare in New England, common in the south Atlantic states, abun- dant in the lower Mississippi valley. Loves low wet land. In the north is a tree forty feet high, with a rather round-topped head, its maximum height is ninety feet. Bark. — On old trees, light brown tinged with red, often broken into long narrow plates attached only at the middle ; on young trees divided by narrow shallow fissures into flat tidges. Branchlets con- tain an orange-colored pith, at first are dark red brown or ashy gray, later much darker and roughened by leaf scars. Wood. — Dull brown, sapwood lighter brown ; light, soft and close- grained. Is now often manufactured into lumber in the west and south and used in interior finish of buildings. Sp. gr., 0.4 ■weight of cu. ft., 25.4S lbs. 419 WILLOW FAMILY Swamp Cottonwood, Popuhis hclcrophyllj. Leaves 4' to 7 long. L e af B ti d s .— Slightly resinous, ovate, acute, cov- ered with bright red brown scales, one- fourth an inch long and half the size of the flower-buds. Leaves. — .Alter- nate, four to seven inches long, two to three inches broad, broadly ovate, cor- date or truncate or rounded with a small sinus at Ijase, finely or coarsely crenate- ly-serrate with in- curved glandular teeth, acute, or short pointed or rounded at apex; midrib and veins conspicuous, and sometimes downy. They come out of the bud involute, covered with thick white tomen- tuni, when full grown are dark green above pale and smooth be- neath. In autumn they turn dull yellow or brown. Petioles terete, slender, tomentose or smooth, two and one- half inches long; stipules caducous. Flowers. — March, April. Staminate am- ents are broad, densely flowered, erect at first but finally pendulous, two to two and one-half inches long with stout, brittle, hairy stems. Their scales are narrowly oblong- ovate, brown, divided into many narrow light red brown lobes and falling as the am- ents lengthen. Stamens, twelve to twenty, with slender filaments and large dark red anthers, are inserted on an oblique, slightly concave disk, with spreading border. Pis- tillate aments fcw-tlowered, one to two inches long; ovary ovoid, terete or three- angled ; style short, stout with two or three dilated, two or three-lobed stigmas. Fruit. — In maturing the fruiting aments become four to six inches long, pedicels half an inch long; capsules ripen in May, are ovate, acute, red brown, two to three- valved, one-half an inch long; seed small, dark brown, surrounded by many short, silvery white hairs which are often tinged with orange. .irt uf the Fruiting Anient oi Swamp Cottonwood PopLlus hctcrophylla. 420 BALSAM Balsam, Populns bahanufera. Leaves 3' to 5' long, iji' to 3' bro«d. WILLOW FAMILY Though heart of oak be e'er so stout Keep me dry, and I'll see him out. — Gld f7iscriptio7i oji a poplar plank. The wood of this tree under the name of Black Poplar is much used in the west in the interior finish of buildings. This is the one poplar whose petioles are not laterall}- com- pressed — therefore the !ca\es do not flutter as do those of other species. It is called the Down)' Poplar because the leaves retain the down on their veins more abundantly than other poplars. BALSAM. TACMAHAC. BALM OF GILEAD PSpuliis bahaniifcya. In New England and middle States about sixty feet high, but in the Valley of the Mackenzie River in Canada it reaches one hun- dred feet, with a trunk six or seven feet in diameter. Prefers the bottom-lands of rivers and borders of swamps Bark. — On old trees dark brownish gray, divided into broad rounded ridges covered with small closely appressed scales. On younger stems and branches light brown tinged with green, and smoothed or roughened by dark excrescences. Branchlets stout, dark red brown, shining or downy at first, later they become dark orange, finally gray tinged with yellow green. Wood. — Light brown, sapwood nearly white ; light, soft close- grained, not strony". Used extensively in the manufacture of paper. Sp. gr., 0.3635; weight of cu. ft., 22.65 lbs. Winter Buds. — Leaf-buds ovate, long pointed, brownish yellow, the terminal bud nearly an inch long. The axillary three-quarters of an inch long. Saturated with a yellow balsamic sticky exudation, shining, beginning to open soon after midwinter, they are covered with five oblong, closely imbricated, thick scales. Flower-buds sim- ilar to terminal leaf-buds. Leaves. — Alternate, three to fi\-e inches long, one and one-half to three inches wide, o\ ate-lanceolate, rounded or cordate at base, crenate-serrate with slightly tliickened margins, acute or acuminate ; midrib and primary \eins conspicuous. The)' come out of the bud involute, light yellow green coated with the gummy secretions of the bud and slightly hairy, when full grown are deep dark green, shining abo\e, pale green often ferruginous below. In autumn they turn a brig+it ) ellow. Petioles long, slender, compressed later- 422 BALM OF GILEAD Balm of Gilead, Popnlus hahamifera candicans. Leaves 4' to 6^ long. WILLOW FAMILY ally, enlari:;ed at the base. Stipules vary in shape and remain until the leaf is half gronn. I-'/oiutis. — iMarcli, April, Ijefore the lea\-es. Pistillate aments are two and one-halt to lour inches long, one-third of an inch thick ; scales are broadly ovate, light brown, scarious, often irregularly three-lobed or parted at the apex which is fringed with short thread-like lobes. Stamens twenty to thirty, with short filaments and large light red anthers, inserted on an oblique, slightly concave, S^^(ii/f short-stalked disk. Ovary ovate, slighth' t"0-lobed, ,a?fc^;Vi> sessile in a deep cup-shaped disk. Stigmas two, ses- sile, dilated. Fruit. — Fruiting aments four to six inches long ; capsules open IMay or June, are o\ate-oblong, often curved, t\vo-\al\ed, light brown. Seeds oblong-ovate, light brown suirounded by slender hairs which sur- round the aments with masses of snow-white cotton which is wafted with the seed great distances from the tree. A Staminate and a Pi5tillate Flower of Bal- sam, Poptilii^ enlarged. The greatest part of the drift timber that we observed on the shores of the Arctic Sea was Balsam Poplar. lis Crce name is Matheh-metoos, wliich means ugly poplar. — Sir John- Fk-\xklix's Report of Last Journey. The Balsam or Tacmahac is the largest tree of northwestern America. In the valley of the Mackenzie and upper Yukon it attains magnifi- cent proportions, reaching the height of one hundred feet with a diameter of six or seven, and forms dense forests thousands of square miles in extent. It possesses all the poplar characteristics ; of drooping catkins, whitish trunk, fluttering shimmering leaves, and cot- tony seeds. Populiis balsamifcra candicans is the tree in northeastern United States and Canada known as the Balm of Gilead. It is more and more fre- quently cultivated as a shade-tree, especially in cities where bituminous coal is habitually used. Three varieties are distinguished in cultivation. It differs from the specific form in its more spreading branches, in its broader heart-shaped leaves which are more 424 Balsam, Popnlus bill s J ni i/cr ti. Fruiting Am- ents 4' to 6' long. COTTONWOOD Trunk of Cottonwood, Popiilus dclloidcs. WILLOW FAMILY coarsely serrate, and in the pubescence which when ^-oung is found on both leaves and petioles. The buds and apex of the growing shoots are heavily laden with a fragrant gum- my secretion. COTTONWOOD PS/nliis JcltolJcs. P6puhis menilifcra. P6piilils angidhla, DtUoiiiLS, like the Greek letter delta, refers to the shape cf the leaf; moniU ;\}a refers to the necklace-like pistillate ament ; aii^uhila refers to the angled stem of the shoots. Comparatively rare and ot small size .n the eastern states, the Cottonwood is the largest and most abundant tree along the streams between the Appalachian and the Rocky Mountains, reaching the height of a hundred feet. Winter Branch of Cotton- wood, Popu- lui iiiiljj'Jcs. Bark. — On old trees ashy gray and deeply divided into broad rounded ridges broken into scales which cover the light yellow inner bark. On young stems and branchlets smooth light yellow green tinged with red. Young shoots become angular in their second year. ]]'ood. — Dark brown, sapwood nearly white ; light, soft, close-grained, not strong. Warps badly in dry- ing ; is now used only in the manufacture of paper- pulp, cheap packing cases and fuel. Sp. gr., 0.38S9 ; weight of cu. ft., 24.24 lbs. Lidf Buds. — Resinous, shining, acute, chestnut brown, half an inch long. Flower-buds ovate, ob- tuse, half an inch long. Lravrs — Alternate, three to fi\e inches in length, deltoid or broadly ovate, truncate, slightly cordate or wedge-shaped at base, crenately-serrate with coarse, incurved, glandular teeth. They come from the bud in\olute, gummy, fragrant with balsamic odor, pale green or tawny, drooping, but at maturity they are thick, bright shining green abo\'e, paler green be- neath. In autumn they turn a clear bright \ellow. Petioles slender, two to three inches long, compressed laterally, yellow or red. Stipules vary in size, cadu- cous. Flmvcrs. — March, April, before the leaves. Stani- inate trees densely flowered, aments tnree to four inches long, one-half inch thick. Scales are scarious, 426 COTTONWOOD Cottonwfiod, Populus dcltoides. Leaves 3' lo 3' long. WILLOW FAMILY light brown, smooth, dilated and irregularly divided, caducous. Stamens sixty or more, with short filaments and large dark red anthers, inserted on a broad oblique disk. Pistillate tree sparsely llou-ered. Ovary subglobose, surrounded at base by a cup-shaped disk. Stigmas three to four, dilated or lobed. Friiil. — Alature aments eight to twehc inches long. Capsule ob- long-ovate, acute at apex, dark green, three to four-vah'cd. Seed oblong-o\'ate, rounded at apex, surrounded by a tuft of long \\hite or slightly rusty hairs whicli make up the mass of delicate cotton that has given this tree its common name. A\'ith its massive pale stem, its great spreading limbs and broad head of pen- dulous branches covered with fluttering leaves of the most l^rilliant green, Pop- uliis L^^lU'iaci is one of the stateliest and most beautiful inhaliitants of the forests of eastern America. — Ch.VKLIiS S. S.\rgext. This is the tree that under the name of Carolina Poplar is extensively planted in cities. It is proving itself an admir- able shade-tree for the cities of the middle west where soft coal is burned. Its smooth glossv leaves have jtist encnigh natural varnish about them to keep the soot from clinging, and so they are bright and clean and hetdthy when those of the elm and the maple are soiled and choked and dying. WHITE POPLAR. ABELE-TREE J^dptiliis alha. The poplar th.it with silver lines his leaf. -COWPER. The green wood moved and the light poplar shook Its siher p\-ramid of lea\-es. — B\KHV CiiK.N'W.ALL. The ancients consecrated the VMiite Poplar to lime because the leaves are in continual a,gitation ; and lieing of a blackish green on one side, with a thick white cotton on the other they were supposed to indicate the alternation ..fdav and night. —Saitiiiuiil .•/ F/ou'crs. The English name of this tree is derived from the Dutch name, Abeel ; it is believed to have come into England by way of Holland. 428 WHITE POPLAR Wiiite Poplar, Popiiliis alba. Leaves 2' to 3 long. WILLOW FAMILY The foliage effect of a tree is often compounded of the dif- ferent colors shown by the two sides of us leaves, of which the White Poplar gives a marked example ; or by new leaves coming out and showing themselves upon the dark back- ground of older leaves as is the case with the locusts anti the conifers. This mingling of gi'een and white makes the White Poplar a most effective ornamental tree, but it is never safe to allow it a free hand, for the root is creeping and produces suckers indefinitely, so that in a brief period a parent tree will be surrounded by a numerous and well- grown family that will soon convert the place into a thicket. The White Poplar is native of both Europe and Asia and w'as brought to this country very early. In favorable situa- tions it rises to the height of eighty or one hundred feet, with a sturdy trunk and spreading head. The bark of the lower part of the trunk is dark and furrowed and that of the upper part and larger branches is greenish gray with dark markings and blotches. The young shoots are covered with a white down and continue to come out far into midsummer, thus in- creasing the white appearance of the tree. The leaves are either lobed or coarsely and sparingly toothed, very dark green and smooth above, covered with a thick snowy down beneath, and tremulous like all their kind. With the elm and the early maples it responds to the first warm days of spring and when in full bloom may be said fairly to drip catkins, so covered is every branch with the pendulous aments, thref- inches long and as large as one's finger. According to ancient mythologv the ^\'llite Poplar was consecrated to Hercules because he destroyed Cacus in a cavern adjoining Mt. Aventinus, which was covered with these trees ; and in the moment of his triumph he bound his brows with a branch of White Poplar as a token of his vic- tory. Persons offering sacrifices to Hercules were always crowned with branches of this tree ; and all who had glori- ously contjuered their enemies in battle wore garlands of it, in imkation of Hercules. Homer in the " Iliad " compares 430 WHITE POPLAR Staminate Aments of White Poplar, Populus alba. WILLOW FAMILY the fall of Sinioisius when killed by Ajax to that of a poplar. So falls a poplar that on watery ground Raised high its head with stately branches crowned. Ovitd mentions that Paris had carved the name of .l^none on a poplar, as Shakespeare makes Orlando carve the name of Rosalind upon the trees of the forest of Arden. Virgil gives directions for the culture of this tree and Hor- ace speaks of the White Poplar as delighting to grow on the banks of rivers. LOMBARDY POPLAR PSpiiliis lU'^ra ildlica. The poplar th^re Shoots up its spire, and shakes its lea\'es i' the sun. — Barrn' Cornw.^ll. The Lombard}- Poplar was the first ornamental ti'ee intro- duced into the United States. A century ago it was ex- tremely fashionable, and although it has fallen from its high estate, nevertheless, it is by no means to be despised. Two things it can do. It can make a narrow leafy wall sooner and more satisfactorily than any other tree, and it can grow bv the roadside and not shade the street. It is the onlv deciduous tree whose branches hug the stem and resulting from that is its peculiar spiry shape, which is individual. When the wind blows, unlike other trees that wave in parts, it waves in one simple sweep from top to bottom. The poplar shoot Which like a feather wa\-e5 from heatl to foot. — Leigh Hunt. The native home of the Lombardy Poplar has been a sub- ject of much discussion, but good opinion now is that it orig- inated in Afghanistan. It is said to grow wild in a forest near Cabul at an elevation of 7,500 feet above the level of the sea. In early times it was cultivated in western Asia, 432 WHITE POPLAR Pistillate Anients of White Poplar, Populus alba. WILLOW FAMILY whence it was introduced into Europe. Pliny makes no mention of it whicli indicates that it was not known in Italy in his time. Although not long-lived it has become thoroughly domes- ticated with us. By the middle of April the calkins are drooping from all our native poplars and the Lombardv is not to be left behind. The Abele or \Vhite Poplar, indeed, hung out its plumes first of all, but now the Lombardy ap- pears bearing hers — or rather his for they are all staminate — on the topmost branches of the tree. So high 'are they that it is difficult to get them ere they fall. They appear on the second year's wood and come out stiff and curved and reddish brown but, by and by, like all their kind they droop, and casting their useless pollen to the wind they pass awav. The leaves come out from the bud a lovely yellow green, become firm and darker as the days go by and flutter on op- pressed stems all summer long, turning in au umn to a rich golden yellow. The following quotation given by Loudon from the Gcii- tlciiian's Magazine shows the estimation in which the bom- bardy Poplar was held in his dav : ' The Lombard}' Poplar, considered as a tall conical mass of foliage, be- comes of great importance in scener)' w hen contrasted with round-headed trees. It is a known rule, in the composition of landscape that all horizontal lines should be balanced and supported by perpendicular ones ; hence a bridge displaying a long and conspicuous horizontal line, has its effect greatly increased by pop- lars planted on each end of it. Lombardy Poplars may tie advantageously planted whenever there is a continuance of horizontal lines, but thev should be so arranged as to form part of those lines and to seem to grow out ot them, rather than to break or oppose them in too abrupt a manner. In the case of a stable or other agricultural building where the principal mass extends m Icnglh rather than in height it would be wrong to plant Lombard}' Poplars ox other tall fasti- giate trees immediately before the building, but they will ha\e a good effect when placed at the sides or behind it. This poplar or some equall}' fastigiate tree should a[ii>ear in all plairtatinns and belts that are made with a \iew to picturesque effect. Mosses of round- headed trees, though they might be seen to advantage in some situations, when grouped with other objects, }-et, when contemplated by lhemsel\es are quite un- interesting, from their dull and monotonous appearance, but atld porjlars and you immediately create an interest and give a certain character to the group which It did not before possess. 434 LOMBARDY POPLAR Lombardy Poplar, Populus nigra italica. Leaves i^' to 3' long. GYMNOSPERMAE PINACEyE— PINE FAMILY PINES. CONIFERS Piniiiwc. Conifcra;. The Cone Bearers form an extremely interesting natural group of tre;s. They were so named originally^ because of their fruit of which the pine cone is a typical example. They are commonly known as Evergreens because with the exception of the Larch and the Eald Cypress their leaves remain upon the branches over the winter. These, how- ever, are but outward and visible signs of an inward and structural difference wdiich removes the Pines far away from their companions in the forests of to-day. Without going into technical details, two general principles may be noted. In the first place, every plant is rated in the natural system according to the simplicity or complexity of its floral organs, and by its antiquity as indicated in the geological record. Now the Pines are a survival from the devonian age. They were contemporaries of the Lycopods, the Sigillards and the Cycads, wliose remains constitute our coal measures to-day. They are the oldest living representatives of the forests of the ancient world, and they retain the simplicity of floral structure which marked the vegetation of those early times. In the flower of a conifer t'-.ere is no ovary; the ovule lies naked upon the surface of a, scale. There are no stigmas, no insect is needed to aid in the fertilization, the fate of the Pines depends upon the wind. The scientists calmly assign the Coin/era to a place, with the Club-mosses on one side and the Cat-tails on the other. Tliis arrangement fairly takes the breath of a layman or an amateur but it is unassailable, they belong there. 439 PINE FAMILY The Pinacece as now constituted comprises the Pine, Larch, Spruce, Hemlock, Fir, Cypress, Sequoia, Cedar, Arborvita;, and Juniper. The Yew and tlie Gingl^o, a naturalized Chinese tree, belong to the Ta.xaiwe or Yew famil}-. THE PINE P'i)!llS. There occur within the limits of the United States thirt)-- nine species of Pine ; seven are found in New England and middle Atlantic states, seven flourish principalh' in the low- lands of the south and twenty-five are recognized in the west. The central basin of the Mississippi has none. They are tolerant of maiiv conditions of soil and climate ; they flourish on the lowlands at the water's edge ; thev climb the mountains to the timber line ; thev inhabit the drifting sands upon the shore and keep back the waves of the sea. The method of growth is peculiar and characteristic. The branches are disposed in regular order, circularlv in imper- fect whorls around the central trunk. One of these whorls is formed each vear from the row of branch buds which en- circle the main stem and these whorls furnish an easv way to tell the age of young trees. But in the forest these branches die and even the marks of them disappear so that the trunk rises a smooth unbroken shaft for sixty or one hundred feet. The roots of the Pine never descend deep and they are practically imperishable by the action of the elements alone. When pine lands are cleared, the stumps are often made into fences, by placing them in rows, with their roots interlacing. Such fences are both picturesque and enduring. The wood may be hard or soft but it is usually resinous. The other products are turpentine, rosin and tar. Turpen- tine is the resinous exudation of the tree, obtained in this country by cutting a pocket through the bark into the wood 440 PINE and allowing the resinous juices to collect there. This crude turpentine when distilled gives pure spirits of turpentine and rosin. Tar is obtained by the destructive distillation of the wood, which in the southern states is done in a very crude and wasteful manner. The leaves are of two kinds, primary and secondary. The primar}- leaves are usually simple scales but sometimes they appear green and linear. Tlie secondary are the evergreen needles which make up the ordinary foliage of the tree. These arise from the a.xils of the primary leaves in clusters of two to five, surrounded by a sheath which is formed by the union of several bud scales. In the two-leaved clusters the needles are flat above, con- vex below ; in those clusters containing three or more, the needles are triangular, more or less keeled. The margins are serrulate, the tips usually callous. The flowers are naked, nioncecious and appear in early spring. The staminate flowers are clustered at the base of the leafy shoots of the year in tlie axils of bracts ; are yel- low, orange, or scarlet ; oval, cylindrical, or oblong. They are composed of many, sessile, two-celled anthers, imbricated in many ranks, upon a central axis, each anther surmounted b}' a crest-like, semiorbicular connective. Each flower is sur- rounded at base by an involucre of scale-like bracts, usually definite in number in each species, the two external bracts strongly keeled at the back. The pollen of the jiine is very abundant. The pistillate or ovule-bearing flowers are sub- terminal or lateral, solitary, in pairs, or in clusters, erect or recurved, sessile or pedunculate, borae near the apex of the axils of bud-scales. They ai'e composed of many carpel-like scales, each in the axil of a small bract, and spirally arranged about a central axis. Eacli bract is rounded, obtuse, and bears on the inner surface near the base two, naked, inverted ovules. The fruit is a woody strobile called a cone, which matures the second or third year after flowering. The seeds are in pairs, attached at the base in shallow depressions on the inner 441 PINE FAMILY surface of the scales. As they fall away they take with them portions of the membranaceous lining of the scale which form wing-like attachments. The cotyledons vary from three to eighteen. Pines may be easily raised from seeds which, how- ever, must not be permitted to become dry as they soon lose their vitality. The world finds man\' of its most important timber trees among the Pines, and the wood is used in such enormous quantities that the destruction of the forests is inevitable. Even if left to itself it, undoubtedly, would in course of time have succumbed under the hard conditions of the modern world ; but now that man has come into the field with axe and torch, there is no escape, the Pine is doomed ; and must live hereafter, if it lives at all, as ^ domestic tree, the object of man's care and protection. As Darwin states the situation, " The Oaks have driven the Pines to the sands." The Pine is handicapped in the race of life because of its inabilit}' to reproduce itself with the vigor of other trees. As soon as it is cut down the root dies, there exists no power of sending forth siioots from the stump and forcing new growth. There are exceptions to this rule but this is the general law. The pine seed is light, its vitality fleeting, and it must find favorable conditions at once or its chance is gone. The acorn can wait, and so the Pines have been steadily driven backward by the nut-bearing trees and especially the oaks, foot by foot, from the deep rich soil until the proper characterization of their habitat is not, "Centres of Distribution," but "Areas of Preserva- tion." The following table will assist in the determination of species. Leaves 5 in a sheath ; 3' to 4' long ; cone-scales slightly thickened at the tip. /'. siri'hus. White J'ine. Leaves 2 or 3, in a sheath ; cone-scales much thickened at the tip. I — Cones Ttrntiital or SnbU7nii)tal : Leaves 2 in a long sheath ; 4' to 6' long; cone ovate-conical, ly^' to 2^ long; scales without prickles. P. resinous. Red Pine. 442 WHITE PINE Leaves 3 in a long sheath; 10' to 16' long; cones 6' to 10' long; scales prickle-tipped. P. palusliis. Long-leaved Fine. I — Cinics Lala-al : Leaves j in a sheath (rarely 2 or 4) ; 6' to 10' long ; cones ovate-ob- ^ong, 3' to 5' long ; scales with stout recurved prickles. /'. tacJa. Loblolly Pine. Leaves 3 in a sheath ; 3' to 5' long; cones ovoid-conical or ovoid, i' to 3/^' long' often clustered; scales with short, stout, recurved prickles. /->. ri;^ida. Pitch Pine, x^ Leaves 2 in a sheath; 3^" to 2 '4' long; cones oblong-conical, in- curved, I I,' to 2 long; scales with minute often deciduous prickles. /'. dlvaricata. Gray Pine. Leaves 2 in a sheath (rarely 3) ; 3' to 5' long ; cones oblong-conical . or ovate, lyV to 2!-^' long; scales with slender prickles. P. cchmata. \'ellow ['ine. Lea\'es 2 in a sheath; 1^2' to 3' long; cones oblong-conical often curved, i t<' to 3' long; scales with slender, straight or incur\'ed prickles. P. virgiitiana. Jersey Pine. Leaves 2 in a sheath ; 4' to 6' long ; cones ovate, 2' to 3' long ; scales spineless ; cultivated. P. lai![-io. var. ausiriaca. Austrian Pine. Leaves 2 in a sheath ; 2' to 4' long, twisted, bluish green ; cones ovoid- conic, 2' to 3' long ; scales spineless ; cultivated. P. sylvestfis. Scotch Pine. Scotch Fir. WHITE PINE. WEYMOUTH PINE Pi)!iis s/iblnis. Sif'obits, the name of a Persian tree now unknown. Weymouth is the name common in England because this pine was first cultivated by Lord Weymouth. Vv'hen growing under favorable conditions reaches the height of one hundred and twenty feet with a diameter of three to four feet, rarely, it becomes much higher. Flourishes on sandy soil especially that formed by disintegration of granite rock. Roots stout, horizon- tal, practically imperishable. Branches horizontal and in whorls. Grows rapidly and forms dense forests. Ranges from Newfound- land to Manitoba, south along the Allcghanies to Georgia and south- west to the valley of the Iowa. Ascends 4,300 feet in North Caro- lina and 2,300 feet in the Adirondacks. 443 PINE FAMILY Bark. — On old trees dark gray, divided by shallow fissures into broad scaly ridges. On young stems and branches, thin, smooth, lustrous, brownish green. Branchlets slender at first covered with rusty tomentum, later they become dark yellow brown, smooth, becoming darker as the branch becomes older. Charged with tannic acid. White Pine. Piuns slrobiif. Leaves 3' to 4' long. an inch long Wood. — Light brown, sapwood nearly white ; light, soft, compact, straight-grained, very resinous, easily worked, takes a fine polish. Pumpkin pine is the close-grained valuable wood of large trees that have grown to a great age on rich well-drained soil. Used for lumber, shingles, cal^inet-making, interior of houses, masts and spars ot vessels. Sp. gr. , 0.3854 ; weight of cu. ft., 24.02 lbs. Buds. — The branch buds are ovate-oblong, acu- minate, covered by ovate-lanceolate, light brown scales ; terminal bud usually about one-half an inch long, sometimes as short as the lateral ones that surround it. Lodc'c's. — In clusters of fives ; they come out of the buds which are enclosed under the scales of the branch bud. The buds of leaf clusters are covered by eight scales which lengthen with the growing leaves. The leaves when full grown are soft, slen- der, bluish green, glaucous, three to fi\e inclics long, sharply serrate, mucronate with pale tip ; usually turn yellow anci fall in September of second year. Fibro-vascular bundle one ; sheaih loose, decid- uous. F!o-oois. — June. Staminate flowers oval, light brown, about one-third of an inch long, surrounded by si-\ to eight involucral bracts ; anthers with sliort crests : involucral bracts six to eight. Pistillate flowers cylindrical, subterminal, about one-fourth ; scales pinkish purple on the margins ; peduncles stout, clothed with bracts. Pollen very abundant. Coins. — Subterminal, drooping, cylindrical, often slightly curved, four to si.\ inches long, one inch in diameter. Mature in autumn of second year ; open and discharge seeds during September and fall gradually during the winter and early spring. Scales one and one- fourth to one and one-half inches long. Seven-eighths of an inch wide, oblong-ovate, slightly thickened at apex, obtuse or nearly trun- cate, without spine or prickle ; seeds red brown, mottled ; wing nearly an inch long ; cotyledons eight to ten. Its cloudy boughs singing as suiteth the pine, To snow bearded sea kings, old songs of the brine. — J.i.MES Russell Lowell. 444 WHITE PINE \ Mmw ' p y . \ White Pine, Pinits strobus. Leaves 5 in a sheath, 3' to 4' long. PINE FAMILY The murmuring pines and the hemlocks Bearded with mo5s and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight Stand like Druids of eld with voices sad and prophetic, Stand like harpers hoar with beards that rest on their bosoms. — He.nrv W. Longfellow. Many voices there are in Nature's choir, and none but were good to hear Had we mastered the laws of their music well, and could read their meaning clear ; But we who can feel at Nature's touch, cannot think as yet with her thought ; And 1 only know that the sough of the pines with a spell of its own is fraught. — Fr.\sek's M.\gazixe. The ^\"hite Pine is tlie tallest, the most stately and beauti- ful of all our eastern conifers, it is the most ornamental for parks and la-^vns, as well as b}' far the most valuable econom- ically. In the forest it grows straight as an arrow, towering branchless until it gains the forest roof where it spreads out a more or less open head ; in the open it takes on the form of all free growing trees, the lower branches live and lengthen, the trunk gets fat and sturdy. But no one pine is ever so beautiful as a grove of pines. The great shafts towering up- ward like Corinthian columns — the ceaseless murmur of the wind in the tree-tops — the soft brown carpet of fallen needles --the subdued light — the stillness — the absence of joyous life — all unite to induce feelings of reverence and awe. The White Pine bears the smoothest bark of all the pines, on old trunks it does indeed fissure and separate into small plates but they are simply loose at the edges and do not scale off. On young stems the bark is very smooth, a red- dish green or reddish brown and covered in summer with a verv striking ashy or pearly gloss. The primary 'leaves are simply thin and chaff-like bud-scales, from their axils proceed the secondar)' needle-shaped evergreen leaves in clusters of five. A cross section of these needle-shaped leaves is trian- gular. The edges are serrate. The massed foliage is beau- tiful ; the needles are bright bluish green, soft, slender, delicate, and disposed in pretty tassels upon the branch. Although, apparentlv, to an evergreen all seasons are the same, yet the White Pine has a fashion of folding its needles 446 WHITE PINE Trunk of Wliite Pine, Pinus strobm. A Cultivated Tree. PINE FAMILY together when cold weather comes- as if it were preparing for a long winter's sleep. The cones are long, slender, loose, and terminal, without spine or prickle, and fall in the winter of their second 3'ear. The seeds should be sown in the spring and covered lightly, if at all. The seedlings are delicate and should always be protected from both wind and sun. The expression, " Bearded with moss," is more than a poet's fancy. Tufts of gray moss are found abundantly on the trunks of all pines that grow in damp, close, northern woods, the thread is round and fine like a hair, and a bunch of the moss constantly suggests the gray beard of an old man. yhis moss plays an important part in the domestic lite of the northern Indians, it is in this warm, soft substance that the Indian babies are packed for transportation on their cradle boards. A good Indian mother gathers it by the bushel, it is like linen for the tender flesh, it is soft, resinous, aseptic, porous, healthful ; and the small brown baby swathed in moss may be quite as well off physically as his civilized neighbor clothed in flannel and linen. The economic value of the White Pine gives to its life history an interest which under other circumstances it might not have. It is clear that the commercial su|:)ply will soon be exhausted. The best pines of the northern states have already been cut, a few forest tracts still remain but they are in process of extinction. The White Pine has considerable vitality and has shown itself capable of taking possession of the abandoned lands of New England, where vigorous voung forests are springing up on land worthless for any other crop. But it cannot come again on a tract that has been devastated by fire. 448 WHITE PINE White Pine, Pnms sfrohns. Cones 4' to 0' long. PINE FAMILY RED PINE. NORWAY PINE. CANADIAN PINE phiKS resinbsa. Usual'v seventy to eighty feet high, with straight trunk two to three feet diameter ; in old age forming an open picturesque head. Range is northward from Xewfoundhrnd to Manitoba, in United States is most abundant in Michigan, Wis- «! /] consin, and Minnesota. Found on dry gravel- 1}' or hght sandy soils, or dry rocky ridges. Grows rapidly in cultivation. Bark. — Bright reddish brown, di\-ided by shallow fissures into shallow scaly ridges. Branchlets stout, smooth, pale orange at first, then darker orange and finally reddish brown. Charged with tannic acid. JJ'ooii. — Pale red, sapwood yellow or white ; light, hard, close-grained. Cont.iins broad, dark-colored, very resinous bands of small summer cells. Used lor buildings, bridges, piles, masts and spars ; lai'gely e.xported from Canada. Sp. gr., 0.4854; weight of cu. ft., 30.25 lbs. Buds. — Branch-buds o\"ate, acute, one to three-fourths of an inch long, covered with loosely imbricated, ]3,de brown scales ; bases of scales persistent lor several years. Ltd^'is. — In clusters of two ; four to six inches long, slender, flexible, dark green, shining, serrulate, acute with callous tips; fibro-vascular bundles two ; sheaths firm, per- sistent, half an inch to an mch long. Floivers. — Staminate flowers borne in a dense cluster on the recent shoots, occupying the place of the lea\es for an inch or more, linear-oblong, one-tourth to three-fourths of an inch long ; anthers dark reddish purple with orbicular toothed crests ; scales six, de- ciduous by articulation abo\e the base. Pistil- late flowers terminal, almost globular ; scales scarlet, ovate, borne on stout peduncles cov- ered with pale brown bracts. Coius. — Subterminal, solitary or clustered, mature the second year, ovate-conical, two to two and one-half inches long, smooth, scales slightly thickened at the ape.x, rounded, devoid of spine or 450 Red Pine, Pintn Leaver 4' to o' RED PINE prickle. Seeds oval, compressed, one-eighth of an inch long, chest- nut brown, mottled ; wings three-quarters of an incli long one-quarter wide, broadest below the middle. The Red Pine is a northern tree and finds its most con- genial home in Newfoiuidland and westward along the north- ern shore of the St. Lawrence, through Ontario and Mani- toba, coming but sparingly into the United States. It does not make close forests, hence' it is not a timber tree. It grows when possible in the open ; in the forest one looks for it at the edge of a lake where, at least, it may have light and air and freedom on one side. It is usually found alone on dry, sandy, gravelly or rocky places, never on flat lands with cold clay bottoms. It is a very beautiful tree. The branches are in distinct wdiorls, the branchlets are stout and covered with a thick false bark, composed of the bases of the leaf scales which run down along the stem. The leaves are four to six inches long, in clusters of two, and form very conspicu- ous tufts at the end of the branchlets. The sheaths arc long and it is a common amusement among children to pull out one leaf, put the point of the remaining one into the vacant place, and so make a link of a leafy chain. The glory of the Red Pine is its staminate blossoms. Imagine a tree, eighteen inches m diameterand fifty feet high, branching near the ground as regularly as an oak and stand- ing in an open space on the bank of a nortliern lake. Tlie dark green leaves covered with pale bloom give a shim- mering effect as they respond to the slightest movements of the wind. From top to bottom, on the tip of every branch may be seen in early spring the dark red tassels of staminate blossoms, short and thick and crowded forming a cluster that so far as effect goes is a deep red rose. The supreme mo- ment is brief, the flowers wither very soon, cast tlieir pollen to the wind and are gone. Well developed Red Pine trees are so rare in northern Minnesota that they are landmarks ; the finest are found on the Indian reservations where they have escaped the axe and the torch. The cones are short, unarmed, ovate-conical, a bright cinnamon brown like the 451 PINE FAMILY bark, and fairly clear of resin. They are scattered along the branches and are not ver}' numerous. They hold their seeds fairly well. In the spring as the snow begins to go and the birds come back, the little red-breasted cross-bill sto|)s on its way north to feed on these seeds. The birds come in flocks and take possession of a tree ; and it is interesting to see their little hooked bills jei'k out the seeds from the cones. The Red Pine should find a place in every park. LOBLOLLY PINE. OLD FIELD PINE Pin iaida Taeda, the torch, was the classical name of a resinous pine tree. Varying from eighty to one hundred feet with a tall straight trunk. A southern tree but ranging as far nortli as New Jersey. Inhabits the low lands adjacent to tide-water : rarely makes pure forests. Loves the swamps, Ijut is found in the sandy borders of Pine-barrens. In the southwest it becomes an im- portant timber tree. Grows rapidly; tap root large and strong. Fragrant. Ilcuk. — Reddish brown with shal- low fissures and broad, flat, scaly ridges. Branch lets glaucous, smooth, yellow brown and co\'ered with the brown, reflexed, inner scales of the bi'anch-buds which persist for several years. Wood. — Varicd)Ic in value, light brown, sapwood pale. The more nortliern tree produces lumber which is weak, Ijrittle, coarse- grained, not dtiraljle ; the southern tree produces a better cpiality ; resinous. Ih(ds. — Branch - buds, obovatc- oljlong, acute or acuminate at apex, with brown scales whicli terminate in long, slender, dark tips. Terminal buds much larger than the lateral buds. 452 Loblolly Pine, pinui tacda. Leaves 6^ to 10' long. LOBLOLLY PINE Loblolly Pine, Pinus taeda. Cones y to 5' long. PiNE FAMILY Lt-az'es. — In clusters of three, slender, stiff, slightly twisted, acute with callous tips, serrulate, pale green, glaucous, six to ten inches long; fibro-vascular bundles two. Shealhs close, thin. Flowers. — April, May. Staminate flowers clustered, CN'lindrical, three-fourths of an inch long; anthers yellow with rounded denticu- late crests ; in\ olucral bracts eight to ten. Pistillate flowers lateral, not far from the ape.x of the growing shoot which is several inches long before they appear ; solitary or in pairs, sometimes in clusters of three. Scales yellow ; peduncles short, covered by brown acuminate bracts. Cones. — Lateral, ovate-oblong, three to five inches long. Scales armed with stout recur\ed prickles, slightly concave, rounded at the apex. Seeds dark brown blotched with black, rhomboidal ; wings thin, fragile, three-fourths of an inch long. Scales thickened at apex, tran3\erse ridge prominent, armed with stout recurved prickles, slightly concave, rounded. PITCH PINE, TORCH PINE L'sually fifty or sixty feet in height, with short trunk ; bears cones when quite small ; capable of producing vigorous shoots from both stem and stump alter injury by fire. Bears both primary and secondar\ leaves. Ranges from New Brunswick to Georgia, west- ward to Kentucky and Tennessee. Found in dry sands or rocky soil and in cold deep swamps. Ascends 3,000 leet abo\'e the sea in \'irginia. Ball;. — Dark reddish brown, with deep fissures and broad, flat, scaly ridges. On young stenrs thin and broken into plate-like, dark, red brown strips Branchlets smooth, bright green at first, become orange yellow, finally a dark gray brown. Wood. — Light brown or red, sapwood yellow or white : light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, durable, very resinous. Used for lum- ber, fuel, and charcoal, Sp. gr., o. 5 1 5 i ; weight of cu. ft. , 32.10 lbs. Buds. — Branch-buds obo\atc-oblong, acute, one to three-fourths of an inch long ; scales dark brown, shining, fringed ; bases per- sistent for years. Leaves. — Primary leaves are often borne on \-igorous shoots start- ing from an injured trunk. Secondary leaves in clusters of three, stout, rigid, dark yellow green, three to five inches long ; fibro- vascular bundles two ; sheaths one-half to one inch long. Flowers. — April. May. Staminate flowers clustered on the stem, cylindrical, three-fourths of an inch long ; anthers yellow with nearlv orbicular entire crests ; involucral bracts six to eight. Pistillate flowers lateral, clustered ; scales pale green tinged with rose, acute, with slender tips ; peduncles covered with dark brown bracts. 454 PITCH PINE Pitch Pine, Pimis rigicla. Cones \' \o y long. PINE FAMILY Co/ics. — Ovoid-conical or ovate, one lo three inches long, often ustered ; scales thickened at apex, the iransNerse ridye acute, armed with short recurved piicl^lcs, flat. Often persist on the branches for several years. Seeds nearly triangular, dark brown mottled with black ; wings three-fourths of an inch long, broadest below the middle. The Pitch Pine is, perhaps, the most virile of the genus ; it certainly flourishes under most adverse conditions, for it will " cling like a limpet to the rocks," or it will go down to the barren sands of the sea-shore and cover vast tracts so densely that the moving dunes can move no more. It is even tolerant of a salt sea bath. It is the onlv pine that can send forth shoots after injury by lire. Its economic value is not great, the wood is too thoroughly saturated with resin to be val- uable as lumber. Its value is chiefly as fuel. Tar and turpentine can be obtaincLl from it but much more easilv aiid of better quality from the southern pines. In dense woods the Pitch Pine Pi«„s -trunk grows erect but in the open it becomes 3' to 5' long. tortuous, angled and often picturesque. JERSEY PINE. SCRUB PINE rhuis I'lri^iniana. Vutiis iudps. Usually thirty or forty feet high with a short trunk, long horizontal branches in remote whorls forminga broad pyramidal head. Found on light sandy soil and especially in \'irginia and Maryland on ex- hausted lands. In Indiana it is found one hundred feet high. In Virginia it ascends 3,300 feet above the sea. Bark. — Dark brown with reddish tinge, divided by shallow fissures into flat scaly plates. Branchlets are pale green and glaucous at first, sometimes with purple tinge, finally becoming pale gray brown. Wood. — Pale orange, sapwood nearly white ; light, soft, brittle, slightly resinous. Sp. gr., 0.5309; weight of cu. ft., 33.09 lbs. 456 JERSEY PINE Jersey Pine, Ptmts 'cirgiuiaiia. Leaves l' to 3' long. Cones of one, two, and three years' growth. PINE FAMILY Biitis. — Branch-buds ovate, acute, about one-half an inch long, covered with acute, o\ ate. brown scales, lea\ ing their thickened base as they fall. I.fdi'fs. — In clusters of two, stout, bright green, one and one-half to three inches long, twisted, soft, fragrant, serrulate, acute with callous points ; fibro- vascular bundles two. I^/o7c'c/'s. — April, May. Staminate flowers in crowded clusters, oblong, one-third of an inch long ; anthers brownish yellow with orbicular denticulate crests ; involucral bracts eight. Pistillate flowers near the middle of the shoot of the year. Sub- globose, scales pale green, owate with long, slender, reddish tips ; scales orbicular- Peduncles long, covered with brown bracts. Coih-s. — Lateral, oblong-conical, more or less cur\ed, one to three inches long, persistent for three or lour \ears. Scales nearly flat, thickened at apex, armed with persistent prickles. Seeds oval, pale brown ; wings broadest at middle, dark brown, thin, smooth, one-third of an inch long. YELLOW PINE. SHORTLEAF PINE. SPRUCE PINE Dnits t(-/niia/a. Usually eighty or one hundred feet high, with a tall tapering stem and a short pyramidal head of slender branches. Trunks injured by fire will often produce shoots wliich are co\ered with lanceolate, long- pointed, gray green primar\' lea\es. Ranges in sandy soil from southern Xe«" York to Florida and west to Illinois, Kansas and Texas. Olten forms pure forests. A ^■alual3le timber tree, sometimes worked fir turpentine. Fruits when \er)' young. Bark. — Pale reddish brown, irregularly fissured, co\-ered with small appressed scales. Branchlets stout, pale green or purple, glaucous, later become red brown, finally dark brown. It'ih'if. — Oi'ange or yellow brown, sapwood nearly white ; varies in quality, the best is heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained, very resinous. Sp. gr., o. 6104 ; weight of cu. ft.. 3804 lbs. Leaves. — liorne in clusters of two, or of three, 458 ^'ellow Pine, Pi- Leaves 3 5' long. to YELLOW PINE Vellijvv Pine, Pinus ecbiiiata. Cones 1 J-2' to 2' long. Pine family rarely of four, slender, dark blue green, serrulate, acute, with callous tips, soft, three to five inches long ; fibro-vascular bundles two. Sheaths thin, silvery white at first, later become daik grayish brown. Persist from two to five years. Flowers. — Staminate flowers in short crowded clusters, near the tip of the growing shoots, oblong-cylindrical, three-quarters of an inch long; anthers pale purple with orbicular, slightly denticulate crests ; involucral bracts eight to ten. Pistillate flowers in clusters of two, three or four, subterminal, oblong or subglobose, one-third of an inch long ; scales ovate, rose pink, with slender tips ; bracts nearly orbicular. Cones. — Lateral, very abundant, o\ate or oblong-conical, one and a half to two and a half inches long, persist several years. Scales nearly flat, obtuse, thickened at ape.x, marked with a prominent transverse ridge, armed with small, slender, nearly straight, de- ciduous prickles. Seeds triangular, brown, mottled with black ; wings broadest at the middle, thin, pale brown, one-half an inch long. GRAY PINE. JACK PINE. SCRUB PINE P}nlts Jn'CiriLCtla. Frequently seventy feet high with straight branchless trunk, long spreading branches forming an open symmetrical head ; often much shorter and sometimes shrubby. Fruits when very young. A north- ern tree, ranging from No\'a Scotia southward to i\Iaine, Xew Hamp- shire, and Vermont, westward to northern Indiana and Illinois, and in the northwest to the vallej' of the ^lackenzie River, where it is the only pine tree. In sandy soil, sometimes formintr exclusi\'e forests. Bark. — Dark brown with reddish tinge, with shallow rounded ridges separating into small ap- pressed scales. Branchlets slender, tough, flex- ible, pale yellow green, becoming dark reddish purple and later dark purplish brown. Wood. — Pale brown, rarely yellow, sapwood nearly white ; light, soft, not strong, close- grained. L^sed for t\iel, railway ties, and posts. Indians prefer ii for frames of canoes. Buds. — Branch-buds ovate with rounded ape.x, terminal bud one-fourth of an inch long, as long again as the lateral buds. Covered with ovate- ate pale brown scales with spreading tips, whose bases after the body of the scale has fallen and roughen the lanceol persist branch. 460 GRAY PINE Gray Pine, Finns divaricata. Cones ij^' to 2' long. PINE FAMILY Leaves. — In clusters of two, three-fourths to two and one-half inches long, stout, curved, di\'ergent, dark grayish green, serrulate, acute with short callous point, persistent until second or third year ; fibro-vascular bundles two. Sheaths short, loose, pale brown and silvery white. Flowo's. — April, ?vlay. Staminate (lowers in crowded clusters, about an inch and a half in length ; oblong, one-half inch long ; an- thers yellow ; crests orbicular, slightly denticulate ; involucral bracts six to eight. Pistillate flowers borne in clusters of two to four on the terminal shoot, subglobose ; scales dark purple, o\'ate with short incurved tips. Peduncles stout, short, co\'ercd \vith large, brown, ovate bracts. Cones. — Lateral, one and one-half to two inches long, oblong- conical, oblicjue, incurved. Scales thin, stiff, thickened at apex and armed with small incurved often deciduous prickles. Persist for many years. Seeds nearly triangular, almost black ; wings pale, shining, one-third of an inch long. Cotyledons four to five. The Grtiy Pine is the Scrub Pine of northern latitudes. In good soil it makes a fair ti"ee, but in liarren soils one finds miles and miles of scrub. The leaf is bluish green covered with so marked a gray bloom that the foliage mass is posi- tively gray. The leaves are in clusters of two, short, re- curved, and divergent. The staminate flowers are greenish yellow, more conspicuous than those of the "White Pine, not so large as those of the Red Pine, and for the few days they are in bloom the tree is noticeable. Cones are small, twisted, and look not fully developed for they do not open evenly. They are light gray ; sometimes they shine almost silvery out of the i^ravish mass of foliage. AUSTRIAN PINE Plans lariiio ansfr}ata. The Austrian Pine is extensively planted throughout the north in parks and lawns. The tree is native to the momi- tains of eastern Eiu'ope, and thei'e reaches the height of one hundred and twenty feet. It bears our climate well, endures extremes of both heat and cold, will flourish in any fair soil, and always has a strong healthy hxjk. Its leaves are not 462 AUSTRIAN PINE AusUian Pine, Ptims austnaca. Cones 2' to 3' long. PINE FAMILY unlike those of the Red Pine, they are from three to five inches long borne in clusters of two, are a bright dark green, and appear tufted on the branches. The cones are very like those of the Red Pine, ovate, two to three inches long, and the scales are destitute of prickles. SCOTCH PINE. SCOTCH FIR Phiiis sylvt'stris. The Scotch Pine or Fir as it is called in England is perfectly hardy throughout the north, where it is planted both as an ornamental tree in parks and as a windbreak on the prairies. It is a tree of wide distribution throughout Europe and Asia, and is in fact, the principal timber pine of the eastern con- tinent. But in the United States though beautiful when young, it is not long-lived, and succumbs to disease and in- sect enemies at the age of thirty or forty years. The leaves are in clusters of two, an inch and a half to two and a half in length, stout, rigid, slightly twisted, bluish or grayish green. The cones are ovate, from an inch to an inch and a quarter long and abundant on the tree. WHITE SPRUCE rlica caiiadi'nsis. Fh\-a alha. A slender, conical, evergreen tree, usually sixty to seventy feet high, its greatest height one hundred and fifty feet. Resinous ; foli- age ill-smelling. Ranges from Newfoundland to Hudson Bay and Alaska, southward to Mame, New York, and Michigan, west to South Dakota, Montana, and British Columbia, Bark. — Light grayish brown, separates into thin plate-like scales. Branchlets at first stout, pale gray green, smooth, duringfirst winter orange brown, later become dark grayish brown. Wood. — Light yellow ; light, soft, weak, straight-grained, satiny surface. L'sed for construction, interior finish of houses, and wood pulp. Winter Buds. — Light chestnut brown, ovate, obtuse, one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch long. Branch-buds usually three. 464 SCOTCH PINE Scotch Pme, Ptntis sj/lvestris. Cones i' to i\i' long. PINE FAMILY Leaves. — Spirally disposed, but crowded on the upper side of the branches by the twisting of ihose on the lower ; they point forward especially near the extremities of the branchlets. Linear, four- sided, jointed at the base to short persistent sterigmata, incurved, acute or acuminate at apex, with a rigid callous tip. Pale bluish- green, hoary at first, becoming dark blue green at maturity, one- third to three-fourths of an inch long. FloTiiers. — April, A[ay. ?\IoncEcious. Staminate flowers oblong- cylindrical, axillary, one-half to three-fourths of an inch long, pedicels half an inch long ; anthers pale red, becoming yellow from abun- dance of pollen. Pistillate flowers oblong-cylindrical ; scales broad, pale red or yellow green ; bracts nearly orbicular, denticulate. Ovules two, naked upon the base of each scale. Cones. — Oblong-cylindrical, slender, narrowed at each end, about two inches long ; scales nearly orbicular, obscurely striate, margms entire, pale brown, thin, lustrous, falling in autumn or early winter. Seeds pale brown ; wings narrow, oblique at apex. Three spruces are found east of the Rocky Mountains, the Wliite, tiie Black and the Red. All are trees of a northern range belonging to regions of short summers and long win- ters, or in a southern latitude they seek high elevations. Thev are evergreen, cone-like trees with slender spiry tops, tall tapering trunks, and slender, whorled, horizontal branches \yitli branchlets twice and three times divided, and in old trees pendent. The spiry tops of the spruces outlined against the sky is one of the characteristics of a northern landscape. They difl:er from the pines in that their leaves are much shorter and placed singly upon the branches instead of being clustered in groups. The arrangement of the leaves is char- acteristic. They are set thickly on all sides of the branches. They are borne upon short, rhombic, woody bases called sterigmata, and falling when dry, they leave the bare twigs covered with low truncate projections. The \\'hite .Spruce attains the greatest height of anv of the spruces, sometimes reaching one hundred and fi:'tv feet, with a trunk three feet in diameter. In the northwest it touches the shore of the Arctic ocean and on the Atlantic coast it extends down to southern Maine ; often growing so close to the shore that it is bathed in the spray of the ocean. The foliage of the White Spruce is rich and beautiful but its 466 WHITE SPRUCE Sprays of White Spruce, Picea canadensis. Cones 1^' to 2' long. PINE FAMILY odor is rather unpleasant and this alone will often suffice to distinguish it from the Black Spruce. No other spruce grows more luxuriantly or is more ornamental in parks ami lawns while in the vigor of youth, but as it becomes older it finds the mild climate of the northern states uncongenial and soon perishes or lives on in unsightly decrepitude. Resin exudes from cuts and gashes and hardens into a white gum. RED SPRUCE Pu'ca rubetis. A conical evergreen tree usually seventy to eighty feet high, occa- sionally one hundred feet, and upon its nortliern limit becoming a semi-prostrate shrub. Ranges from Nova Scotia to North Carolina and Tennessee. Grows slowly ; roots thick ; resinous. Bark. — Reddish brown broken into thin irregular scales. Branch- lets at first stout, pale green, pubescent, later become bright reddish- brown or orange brown, finally becoming dark and scaly. Wood. — Pale, slightly tinged with red, sapwood paler; light, soft close-grained, with satiny surface. Used in construction and in production of wood pulp, also for sounding boards of musical in- struments. Sp. gr., 0.4516; weight of cu. ft., 28.13 'hs. Winter Buds. — Pale reddish l^rown, ovate, acute, one-fourth to one-third of an inch long. Leaves. — Linear, four-sided, tipped at apex with callous point, pale bluish green at first, dark shining green when mature ; midrib prominent; one-half to five-eighths of an inch long; they stand out from all sides of the branch, point forward, and are more or less in- curved ; jointed at the base to short, persistent sterigniata. Flowers. — April, May. Monoecious. Staminate flowers oval, almost sessile, one-half inch long ; anther crests bright red, toothed. Pistillate flowers, oblong, cyhndrical, three-quarters of an inch long. Scales rounded, thin, erose at margin ; bracts rounded and lacini- ate ; ovules two, naked on base of scale. Cones. — Ovate-oblong, light reddish brown, shining, apex gradu- ally acute, one and one-quarterto two inches long. Scales rounded, entire or slightly toothed, striate. Seeds dark brown ; wings short and broad. The Red Spruce was for many years confounded with the Black Spruce ; Professor Sargent draws a wide distinction between them. 468 RED SPRUCE Fruiting Spray of Red Spruce, Picea rubens. Leaves i]^' to 2' long. PINE FAMILY The cones of the Red Spruce are large and fall during the first winter. Those of the Black Spruce are persistent for many years. Resinous exudations both of Red and Black Spruce are used as chewing gums ; and the branches of both are used in the domestic manufacture of beer. Black Spruce is a tree of the far north existing but preca- riously south of the northern border of the United States, while the Red Spruce is an Appalachian tree attaining its greatest dimensions in northern New Hampshire and Penn- sylvania. BLACK SPRUCE. Pitwi }nariana. Pitta iii^'-ra. An evergreen conical tree, maximum height one hundred feet, ordinary height fift\' to eighty ; at the extreme north it dwarfs to a shrub. Branches slender, usually pendulous with upward curve forming an open and irregular head. Prefers a hilly and mountain- ous region with an altitude of 1,200 to 2,000 feet, but is also found in low swampy valle\s. Resinous. Roots thick, wide spreading near the surface, rootlets long, flexible, tough. Ranges from New- foundland to Hudson Ba\' and the JNIackenzie River ; southward in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota. Bark. — Co\-ered with thin, appressed, grayish brown scales. Branchlets at first pale green, pubescent, later they become cinna- mon bro«n, finally dark brown. Bark has no commercial value. U'00,1 — Pale, often with reddish tinge, sapwood pure white ; light, soft, weak. Used for wood pidp and house building, sounding- boards for pianos ; fuel value slight. Sp. gr., 0.5272 ; weight of cu. ft., 32.S6 1bs. H'l/i/i-r Bi/i/s. — Branch buds usually three, light reddish-brown, ovate, one-eighth of an inch long. Li-dTiS. — Spirally disposed, thickly set and spreading in all direc- tions : jointed at the base to short, persistent, pubescent sterigmata on which they are sessile ; falling away in drying, the bare twio-s appear covered with low truncate projections. Linear, one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch long, four-sided ; ribbed above and below, abruptly contracted at apex into a callous tip, slightlv in- curved above the middle. Pale blue green at first, dark bluish- green at maturity, hoary on lower surface, lustrous on the upper. Persistent for several years. 470 BLACK SPRUCE '7"^ ^^ . '^S^ ■ ■ a^SP -Jl^ ■iS^w W' f^^^: m # fruiting Spray of Black Spruce, Piced inanana. Cones i' to i J4' long. PINE FAMILY Fiou'L-fs. — May, June ; monoscious. Staminate flowers one-eighth inch long, in subglobose axillary aments ; anthers dark red with nearly circular, toothed crests. Pistillate aments oblong-cylindrical with obovate purple scales ; bracts purple ; ovules two, naked on the base of each scale. Cones. — Terminal on short branches, pale yellow brown, oval or ovate ; one to one and one-half inches long ; incurved at base, dis- cliarging their seeds slowly, and persistent for several years. Scales ridged, rounded at ape.x, margins pale, erose, or jagged. Seeds small, wings pale brown, shining, one-half inch long. The Black Spruce is essential!)' a Canadian tree growing abundantly in the Labrador peninsula and forming great forests in Manitoba. Comparatively rare in the United States, it is found principally along the northern border of New England and New York and most abundantly on the lake-shores in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. It has verv little beauty except when young. Then the branches form a most regular and symmetrical outline, but as age comes on it loses its youthful vigor and beauty and be- comes prematurely old, misshapen, and unsightly. In the forest all the lower branches fall off leaving a columnar shaft which is crowned by a small open irregular head. The Black Spruce derives its name froin the dark green of its foliage which when massed upon a mountain-side and in shadow is of so sombre a hue as to appear black rather than green. The name is given in distinction from the White Spruce whose leaves are of a paler color. In the early botanies the Black and the White Spruce were designated re- spectively as double and single spruce, for reasons which are not apparent, as the disposition of the leaves of each is the same. In fact, these two species bear such resemblance to each other that it is not always easy to distinguish thein ; the cones furnish the principal distinctive feature when the flowering season is past. The cones of the Black Spruce are ovate-oblong, have great staying powers, are always on the trees at the flowering time and usually persist for several years. The cones of the White Spruce on the other hand are oblong or cylindrical and usually fall before the flower- 472 BLACK SPRUCE ing time or during tlie heat of the second summer. The young- leaves of the White Spruce are visible at flower- ing time, those of the Black Spruce are not. Resin flows freely from cuts and gashes and soon hardens into a thick white gum, which with slight preparation is sold as chewing gum. The odor of the leaves is pleasantly resinous aromatic. A favorite domestic drink called Spruce Beer was formerly made b}' boiling the young branches in water and adding to the decoction molasses and yeast in certain fixed propor- tions, but its place has now been taken by other drinks. One of the chief values of the wood is in the manufacture of wood pulp. The characteristics of good pulp wood are : long fibre to insure strength and felting property, light color to save bleaching, soft texture that it may be easily ground, and freedom from foreign matter such as resin, starch, and coloring material. The wood of all the Conifcra is rich in those long coarse fibres known as tracheids and contains relatively very few short cells ; consequently all are valuable as pulp woods unless they are more valuable for something else. The Black Spruces of the Adirondacks fell victims a few years ago to a blight which destroyed one-half of the mature trees of the region. Expert investigation proved the cause of this destruction to be the work of a small beetle. The in- sects excavated a passage between the bark and the wood, eating away part of both and practically girdling the tree. NORWAY SPRUCE Pit ill cxcdlsa. This is a native of the northern part of Europe as its name denotes and consequently is hardy in the northern states. It is the most satisfactory spruce tree that can be planted in northern Ohio. It is a beautiful spiry-topped tree ; the branches sweep downward with a graceful curve and the branchlets, after the tree reaches the height of thirty feet or 473 PINE FAMILY more, become pendulous. The cones are from four to six inches long, beautifully pendent from the tips of the branches. Take it, all in all, it is a very desirable tree, for ornament for hedge or for wind-break. The Norway Spruce is the great tree of the Alps. It there reaches the height of one hundred and fifty feet, forms exten- sive forests, endures severe cold and reaches the eleyation of 4,500 feet aboye the sea. Its wood is the white deal of Europe ; its resin, Burgundy pitch. HEMLOCK Tsu^a ciiihiih'usis. A conical evergreen tree, usually sixty or seventy feet high, maxi- mum height one hundred feet. Loves steep rocky banks and narrow river gorges, otten found on mountain sides. Bark rich in tannin. Grows slowly. Ranges from Xo\-a Scotia to }\Iinnesota and through Michigan and Wisconsin, southward to Georgia and Alabama, reaches its largest size on the mountains ot North Carolina and Ten- nessee. Bark. — Reddish brown or gray, deeply dixided into ridges cov- ered with closely appressed scales. Branchlets at first pale brown, pubescent, later become darker, finally dark gray brown with purple tinge. Wood. — Light brown or white ; light, soft, brittle, coarse, crooked- grained, difficult to work, liable to splinter. Shakes coarse lumber. Sp. gr.. 0.4239 ; weight of cu. ft., 26.42 lbs. Winter Buds. — Light brown, obtuse, one-sixteenth of an inch long. Loai'o.':. — Linear, flat, obtuse, rounded or emarginate at apex, en- tire or obscurely toothed above the middle, dark yellow green, shin- ing above, hoary beneath, spirally arranged around the branch but appearing two-ranked by the twisting of their petioles, jointed to a very short sterigmata and falling away in drying. One-half to three- fourths of an inch long. Petiole short. Floii'crs — April, May. .Moncecious. Staininate flowers axillary, sub-globose, borne on slender stems, about three-eighths of an inch long ; anthers pale ye'low, pistillate flowers one-eighth of an inch long, pale green. Scales short ; bracts broad, laciniate. Cones. — Bright red bro«n, suspended on short peduncles, ovate — oblong, acute, three-fourths to one inch long. Remain on branches until spring. Seeds small ■ wings short, broad. 474 NORWAY SPRUCE Fruiting Spray of Norway Spruce, Picea excelsa. Cones 4' to 6' long. PINE FAMILY The Hemlock is one of the most beautiful of the cone bearing" trees ; and although similar in general form to the spruces, rigiditv has transformed itself into ease and formality into grace and beautv. The branches are slender and pliant, heavilv clothed with foliage, drooping in habit and the lower sweep the ground. As the tree becomes older they become large and strong and stand out horizontally. The dilference between youth and age is marked. The wood is not valuable, it has neither strength nor durabilitv, but the bark is e.xten- sivelv used in tanning and is the chief commercial product of the tree. TAMARACK. LARCH. HACMATACK Larix Idrithnu Lai'ix 7u!n-r!,-ajin. Fifty to sixty feet high, trunk eighteen to twenty inches in diam- eter, «']ien young it forms a narrow pyramidal head and this con- tinues in the forest, but in the open it loses its regular form and develops a broad, open, irregular and otten picturesque head. It ranges northward to the arctic circle and its southern limit seems to be along the line of northern Pennsylvania, northern Indiana, north- ern Illinois, and central Minnesota. Prefers cold, deep swamps but is occasionally lound on dry land. Bark. — Bright reddish brow n. separating into thin appressed scales. Branchlets pendulous, the young branches are green, smooth, and glaucous, later light orange brown, gradually they become darker and at last are dark brown. Wood. — Light brown, very resinous, sapwood nearh' white ; heavy, hard, strong, rather coarsegrained, durable in contact with the soil. Used for ship-timbers, fence posts, telegraph poles, and railway ties. Sp. gr., 0.6236; weight of cu. ft., 38.86 lbs. U'iiiti'?- BiiJs. — Dark red, globose, lustrous, small. Lca'c'cS. — Needle-shaped, rounded abn\-e keeled below, three- fourths to one and one-fourth inches long, at first bright green, later dark green. They turn pale yellow and fall in October. They are borne, either scattered on leading shoots, or in crowded fascicles on short lateral branchlets. each leaf in the a.xil of a minute, decid- uous bud scale. F/oiucvs. — May, with the leaves. Monrecious. Staminate flowers subglobose, sessile, usually borne on branchlets one or two years old ; composed of many short-stalked anthers spirally arranged 476 HEMLOCK V^. Fruiting' Branch of Hemlock, Tsnga canadew-ts. Leaves ^' to ^' long. Cones %' to i' long. PINE FAMILY about a central axis ; anthers subglobase, pale yellow, two-celled; connective pointed. Pistillate flowers oblong, pedunculate ; com- posed of many orbicular rose red scales spirally arranged about a central axis ; each scale in the axil of a pale rose colored bract with a long green tip. Upon each scale lie two naked ovules. Cones. — Bright chestnut brown, oblong, obtuse, one half to three- fourths of an inch long and borne on a short, stout, incurved stem. Scales about twenty, the largest near the middle, the smaller at base and apex. Cone falls during second year. Seed one-eighth of an inch long, pale, with pale brown wings broadest in the middle. '• Give me of I'our roots, O Tamarack! Of your tibrous roots, O Larch-Tree! My canoe to bind together So to bind the ends together That the water may not enter That the water may not wet me." — He\rv W. Lo.n'gfellow. One feature distinguishes the Tamarack from the other northern conifers, it sheds its leaves in the autumn of the year in which tliey are produced ; they turn a dull yellow and fall as do those of the poplar and the maple. This is a tree of the swamps and it serves a very valuable purpose in the econoniv of nature. When in those northern lands where it makes its home, a small lake has silted up from the sur- rounding country and so far dried that the rushes disappear from the margin and a coating of soil covers it ; the Tamarack creeps down and takes possessiiui and the result is a Tama- rack swamp. It is often possible to push a pole down ten feet into the mud about the roots of the trees of such a swam|). The roots developed there, long, tough, stringy are those Hiawatha needed for his canoe, those growing in tlryer soil are not so flexible. The Tamarack will go up the hill- side, it can live on dry land, but it loves the swamp and will- ingly yields the hillside to the spruces. In summer a Tama- rack vamp is dark, cool, mossy ; in winter the appearance is somewhat desolate because the leaves are gone and one in- stinctively thinks of a leafless conifer as a dead tree. The Tamarack and the IMack Spruce go side by side tow- ar the North Pole ; but at the ultimate boundary, at the very 478 TAMARACK Fruiting^ Spray of Tamarack, Laiix Jaricina. Leaves ^' to ij^' long. Cones J2' to 3^^ long. PINE FAMTLY edge of the treeless plain, the Tamarack is found standing a tiny tree, when its companion the Black Spruce is clinging to the ground, like a creeping plant, to escape being torn away by the force of the winds. THE LARCH, Larix ciii-opfZa. The Larch which is extensivelv planted in parks and lawns is not the American species but the European. The Euro- pean Larch is the finer tree in general appearance and as it naturally prefers loose well drained soil it flourishes where our native species would die. 'I'he leaves are longer, they clothe the branches more generously than those of the Amer- ican species, the cones are larger and more abundant. It is a tree of the mid-temperate regions as well as of the north and is found in all the liill country of central Europe and forms large forests in the Alps of Erance and Switzerland. BALSAM FIR. BALSAM. Abies hahainca. A conical evergreen tree, usually fitty to si.xty feet in height, with trunk twelve to eighteen inches in diameter. On mountain tops .Tnd arctic regions reduced to a prostrate shrub. Northernmost hmit yet observed is 62' ; upon the Appalachians it ranges to southwest- ern Virginia. Loves moist alluvial land. Grows rapidly, is short- lived. Resinous. Bark. — On younj; trees pale gray. thin, smooth and marked by swollen blisters filled with resin. On old trees reddish biown, broken into small, irregular, scaly plates. Kranchlets pale jellow green, pubescent, later they become pale gray with reddish tinge, finally reddish brown. Wood. — Pale brown often streaked with yellow, sapwood paler-, light, soft, weak. Coarse-grained, not durable. Used for cheap lumber. Sp. gr.. 0.3S19 ; weight of cu. ft., 23.80 lbs. Winter Buds. — Greenish brown, tinged with red, globose, very resinous. 480 LARCH Fruiting Branch of Larch, Larix europcea. PINE FAMILY LfiTt'is. — Linear, on young trees spreading at nearly right angles to the branch, remote or crowded. On old trees crowded, covering the upper side of branches. Dark green and shining above, pale below ; obtusely short-pointed and occasionally emarginate. and on fertile branches acute or acuminate ; vary from one-half to one and one-quarter of an inch in length and one-si.xteenth of an inch wide. Persistent eight to ten years. Fragrant. Floii'crs. — May, June. Monoecious. Staminate flowers oblong- cylindrical, one-quarter of an inch long. Anthers yellow, tinged with purple. Pistillate flowers oblong-cylindrical, one inch long ; scales orbicular, purple ; bracts oblong-obovate, serrulate, yellow green, contracted into long slender tips. CoHis. — Oblong-cylindrical, narrowed to the rounded apex, dark purple two to four inches long, three-quarters to one and one- quarter inches thick, upright ; scales broad, rounded ; bracts ob- long, serrulate, mucronate at the apex, shorter or equal to the scales. The Balsam Fir carries its resin, not scattered through the wood and under the bark as do the pines, flowing freely with gaslies, but in superficial blisters in the bark itself. So characteristic is this that the New York Indians name the tree, Clio-koh-tung — " Blisters." Whoever played as a child in northern woods remembers with what delight he punctured these blisters in order to see the clean limpid stream of resin flow out. As it comes from the tree it has the consistency of glycerine. Under the name of Canada Balsam it has been used in tlie Materia meJica and it is the medium in whicli microscopic specimens are pre- served upon the pkites. In form the Balsam Fir resembles the spruces. When young it is extremely beautiful, a slender svmmetrical cone of shniing, dark green foliage. In the forest the lower branches die but when the tree attains old age in the open, the head becomes sharp-pointed and spire-like, the lower limbs become pendulous sweeping the ground. Tlie leaves are flat, shining green above, a beautiful sil- very color beneath, and verv fragrant in drving. The\' are arranged spirally around the branch, but appear two-ranked because of a twist near the base ; occasionallv thev spread from all sides of the branch, this is especially true on the upper branches. 482 BALSAM FIR Balsam Fir, Abies batsamea. Leaves %' to i \i' long. rn PINE FAMILY The boughs of the Balsam Fir are sought b)' the northe hunter, fisherman, or tourist to make his wildwood bed. They possess an elastic quality which fits them for the purpose. The dried leaves are the material of which the much prized fir pillows are made. The cones are produced in great numbers, they sit erect in rows on the upper side of the branches, are two to four inches long, an inch or more thick, cylindrical, with rounded ends. Bluish purple when young, they are often so abundant on the upper branches that they give a soft purple haze to the top of the tree. In appearance the Balsam Fir resembles the Silver Fir of Europe which is a much finer tree. BALD CYPRESS. DECIDUOUS CYPRESS « Taxoditiin dlsticJiu}}!. The Bald Cypress is a southern tree growing in swamps and beside rivers, ranging from Delaware to Florida along the coast and in the Mississippi valle\-, growing as far north as southern Indiana. It is frequently planted in the parks and lawns of northern Ohio where it is perfectlv hardy and becomes a tall, slender, spiry tree. Like the Tamarack its leaves are deciduous, falling in October. These are of two kinds ; the ordinary leaf is nari'owly linear, fiat, thin, one-half to three-fourths of an inch long, one-twelfth of an inch wide, apparently two -ranked; when full grown is bright yellow green both above and below. In autumn they turn a dull orange brown before falling. The scale-like leaves appear on the flowering stem. The cones are globular or obovate, usually about an inch in diameter and appear irreg- ularly along the branch. This is the tree that when growing in the swamps forms the well-known cypress-knees, 'i'liese are a development of the roots and appear in greatest size and numbers when the tree grows on submerged land. It seenis to be an effort of the roots to get out of water and into the air. BALD CYPRESS Bald Cypress, Taxodiiim disUchum. Leaves Yi' to ^' long. PINE FAMILY The famous Cypress of Afontezuma in the gardens of Che- pul tepee is a species of Taxodium. This was a noted tree four centuries ago, and is believed to be about seven hundred years old. It is one hundred and seventy feet high and about fifteen feet in diameter. ARBORVIT^. WHITE CEDAR Tlnija OLL-idcntalis. Thuja is derived from a Greek word signifying, to sacrifice, the wood having been used in sacrificial offerings because of its agree- able odor. Otcidcntalii, western. ArborvitEe, Tree of Life, is supposed to have been gi\en because the bark and twigs have been used in medicine. A narrow, conical, evergreen tree with flat frond-like foliage; reaches the height of si.xty feet. Inhabits wet soil along the banks of streams and forms almost impenetrable forests northward ; ranges across the continent from New Brunswick to Manitoba and south- ward to Minnesota, Illinois and in the Atlantic region along the mountains to North Carolina and Tennessee. Roots fibrous ; juices medicinal. Wood, bark, and foliage resinous, aromatic. Bark. — Light reddish brown, slightly furrowed, on old trunks de- ciduous in ragged strips. Branchlets at first flat, disposed in one horizontal plane, light yellow green, changing with the death of the leaves during their second season to light cinnamon red, and grow- ing darker the next year. Gradually becoming terete they are cov- ered with dark yellow, coarse bark. Rich in tannin. Wood. — Fragrant, light yellow brown, sapwood nearly white ; light, soft, brittle, coarse-grained and durable in contact with the soil. Used for fence posts, rails, railway tics and shingles. Sp. gr. , 0.3164; weight of cu. ft. , 19.72 lbs. Leaves. — Opposite, imbricated in four ranks, scale-like, appressed. The scale-like leaves of the ultimate branches are nearly orbicular, or ovate, the two lateral rows keeled, the two otlier rows fiat and cause the twig to appear much flattened ; many of the leaves bear a raised glandular disk. When full grown are vellow green above and below, in winter frequently become brown. The leaxes of older twigs are acute or acuminate and often remote. Leaves of seedlings are lanceolate. Flowers. — May. Monoecious, terminal, reddish brown, solitary. Staminate and pistillate usually on different branchlets. Staminate 486 ARBORVITiE Fruiting Spray of Arborvits, Thuja ocddentalis. PINE FAMILY flowers minute, globose, consisting of four to six stamens arranged upon a short axis ; filaments scale-like, bearing anther cells. Pistil- late flowers small, oblong, or ovoid ; scales eight to twelve, oblong, acute; reddish, the central or lower fertile, bearing two to four ovules. Fruit . — Cone, ripening first season. Pale cinnamon brown, erect, oblong, one-third to one-half of an inch long ; scales six to twelve, obtuse. Seed one-eighth of an inch long, winged. This tree is commonly called ArborvitK, sometimes White Cedar, and the Indians of New York call it, Oo-soo-ha-tah — "Feather-leaf." The leaves are evergreen, arranged in four rows in alternately opposite pairs, completely covering and in fact seeming to make up the fan-like branchlets. They are scale-like, eacii lower pair covering the base of the pair above. The branchlets which they cover are arranged in a single plane as if they were parts of one large, flat, compound leaf. These planes are variously inclined to the horizon, often vertical, and form a marked peculiarity of the tree. The leaves when bruised exhale a very agreeable, aromatic, resin- ous odor. The Arborvita; has been extensively cultivated as an or- namental tree for at least a century, and nearly fifty varieties are recorded. The tree is so formal in outline that it rarely harmonizes with other trees. Its form seems the result of clipping shears but in reality it is its nature to look artificial. It has merits. Because of the density of its foliage, it will form a close leafy screen more efi'ectually than any other evergreen. It is tolerant of many and diverse conditions of hot, cold, wet and dry, bears the knife well, and makes excel- lent hedges. During the early winter it stands up bright and green, during the weather changes of March and April it ap- pears very brown, ragged, and discouraged, but all this is atoned for when the golden green spray starts from every leafy branch, and it responds to the influences of another spring. 488 WHITE CEDAR WHITE CEDAR. Cufrt^ssiis thyoidcs. ChaiiiiTcvpayis spha:roidca. Cuprcssus is the classical name oi the cypress tree. ChamiVcvparis is of Greelc dei'ivation and means a low cypress. A conical evergreen tree with open, flat, fan-shaped spray, reaches the maximum height of eighty feet. Prefers deep swamps and in them forms impenetrable thickets. Ranges from Maine to Missis- sippi along the coast ; endures salt water. Roots fibrous. Bark. — Light reddish brown, furrowed, ridges often twisted around the tree, scaly. Branchlets compressed at first, laterbecome terete ; slender, light green at first, then light reddish brown, finally dark brown. ll'ood. — Light brown with rose tinge, sapwood pale ; light, soft, weak, close-grained, easily worked, very durable in contact "ith the soil, fragrant. Used in boat building, cooperage, interior finish of houses, fence posts and railway ties. Sp. gr., 0.3322 ; weight of cu. ft., 20.70 lbs. Leaves. — Of ultimate branches opposite, imbricated in four rows, scale-like, small, ovate, acute or acuminate, closely appressed or, spreading at the apex, decurrent, often remote on vigorous shoots. Four-ranked, those of the lateral rows keeled, those on vertical rows slightly convex, each with a glandular disk on the back. The young leaves are light bluish green, somewhat hoary below, when full grown they become a dark blue green. During the winter in the north when exposed to the sun they become a rusty brown. Flowers. — ."^pril. Monoecious, minute. Staminate flowers are oblong, four-sided, one-eighth of an inch long, consisting of several shield-shaped scale-like filaments bearing two to four anthers. Pistillate flowers globular, of about six shield-shaped scales, alternat- ing in pairs and bearing generally two black ovules. Fruit. — Woody, globular cone, ripens at end of first season ; about one-fourth of an inch in diameter, sessile on a short leafy branch. Light green and covered with glaucous bloom when full grown, then bluish purple, very glaucous, finally dark red brown. Scales are thick, shield-shaped, each with a central point or knob. Seeds usually one or two under each fertile scale. It is unfortunate that Ciipressus thvoiiies and Thuja occiden- talis are both popularly known as White Cedar. Tliuja is also known as Arborvitse, but many who know it as Arbor- vitfe also know it as White Cedar. Tliis results in endless confusion in the popular mind concerning the two trees. 489 PINE FAMILY They have much in common ; both are evergreens of formal habit. The branchlets of each are disposed in one horizontal plane, and form an open, flat, fan-shaped spray. The spray of the White Cedar is closer than that of Arbor- vitae. The leaves of both are scale-like, opposite in pairs, which makes them four-ranked, and so lirmly pressed to the twig and so closely overlapping each other that they seem to be the twig itself. A tiny glandular disk is almost always present on the scales of the 'White Cedar, frecpiently present on those of the Arborvitae. The width of the ultimate branchlets of the Arborvitaa is nearly an eighth of an inch, that of the "\\'hite Cedar barely a sixteenth. The cones are a marked and distinguishing difference be- tween tiiem. Those of the White Cedar are tiny round balls, ornamented with various points and knobs. Those of the Arborvitre are oblong and consist of six or eight loose scales. White Cedar is the more southern tree. Arbor- vitK has its chosen home in northern latitudes although both are hardv throughout the northern states. 'l"he White Cedar is especially a tree of the swamps, crowding as far into the water as is possible while retaining a foothold of earth. Cedar swamps as a rule are inaccessible except in midwinter on the ice ; or in midsummer when the water is reduced to its lowest stage. When the \\'hite Cedar and the Bald Cvpress inhabit a swamp together, the former crowds to the centre and the latter grows about the edges. Notwithstanding its love of water it will grow in dry situations ; and twelve varieties are re[)orted as in cultivati(jn. .As an illustration of the durability of the wood it may be noted that the trunks of "White Cedar, buried deep in the swamps of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, are found to be un- changed in character and to furnish excellent lumber. 490 WHITE CEDAR Fruiting Spray of Wiiite Cedar, Ciipifssiis thvoides. Cham^vcrpaiis sphceroidea. PINE FAMILY JUNIPER. GROUND CEDAR Jioiipcrtts co/i!U!Unis, Evergreen, varying from a low tree to an erect, or a matted or a prostrate shrub. As a tree its maximum height is about twenty- five feet. Branches spreading, or erect, or drooping. Ranges from Greenland to Alaska, in the east southward to Pennsyh-ania and northern Nebraska, in the Rocky Mountains to Te.xas, Me.xico and Arizona. Bark and fruit aromatic. Bark. — Dark reddish brown, separating into loose papery scales. Branchlets slender, smooth, lustrous, three-angled between the nodes, at first pale reddish yellow growing gradually darker. By the third year the bark begins to scale. Buds. — Ovate, acute, one-eighth of an inch long. co\'ered "with scale-like leaves. Leai'i's. — Linear-lanceolate, free, jointed at the base, acute, rigid, spreading nearly at right angles to the branches, sometimes reflexed, tipped with sharp, rigid, cartilaginous points, \ertici]late in threes, often with smaller ones fascicled in their channels. One-half to three-fourths an inch long, channelled and hoary abo\e. dark yellow green and shining below ; persistent for many years. They have an unpleasant slightly astringent flavor, and during winter turn a dark bronze on lower surface. Flowers. — April, May. LIsually dicecious. From buds formed in the autumn in the axils ot lea\'cs of the year. The staminate flower consists of scales each bearing three stamens, verticillate on a central axis ; anther-cells three or four. The pistillate, of numerous scales each bearing three ovules, arranged on a central axis. Fruit. — Berry-like strobile, maturing the second year. Dark blue, glaucous, subglobose or oblong. Tipped with the remnants of the ovules. One-fourth of an inch in diameter ; flesh soft, mealy, resinous, aromatic, sweet, persists one or two years after ripening. The common Juniper or Ground Cedar is a most interest- ing plant. In the first place it is the most widely distributed tree of the northern hemisphere, ranging around the eai"th on the line of the arctic circle, and in America southward to the highlands of Pennsylvania in the east, and to northern Cali- fornia in the west. It sp;-eads over northern, central, and eastern Asia, ranges to the Himalayas where it ascends 14,- 000 feet above sea level. It is common throughout northern 492 COMMON JUNIPER Fruiting Branch of Common Juniper, Juiiiperus communis. Berries )^' in diameter. PINE FAMILY and central Europe. In North America though not abundant it is generally distributed. It is evidently one of those trees which has been driven from the better lands by more power- ful competitors, for in its temperate habitat it is found on dry, sterile, gravell\- slopes, or worn-out pastui'es or upon high mountain-sides. Because of its enormous geographical range it naturally varies greatly in form, changing from a tree twenty-five feet higli with a trunk ten inches in diameter to a prostrate shrub. Its remains occur in the tertiary rocks of Europe. The Juniper may be readily recognized among evergreens, by Its awl-like leaves, arranged in whorls of threes, spread- ing, sharp pointed, channelled and hoary above, shining green below. The fruit reaches maturity very slowly. The species is dioecious and the flowers appear late m the spring. During the first year the fruit does not enlarge, it looks during all its first winter like a flower-bud, but at the blooming period of the second vear it feels the impulse of quickening life and begins to grow, and by the second winter it has become a hard, green, tiny sphere about three-quarters of its full size, covered with white bloom. During the following season it continues to develop and in earlv autumn becomes dark blue or bluish black covered with a glaucous bloom, with solt, mealy, aromatic flesh, and one to three seeds. This aromatic fruit is gathered in large quantities and used in the manu- facture of gin ; whose peculiar flavor and medicinal proper- ties are due to the oil of juniper berries, which is secured by adding the crushed fruit to uudistiUed grain spirit, or by al- lowing the spirit vapor to pass over it before condensation. The seeds of the Juniper are almost as slow to germinate as they were to mature, requiring two years. Thirteen varieties of liiiiipcnis i'oiiiiiniiiii are reported in the Check List nl the Forest Trees of the United States and several foreign species are also in cultivation. All are tolerant of the knife, and it affords gardeners much pleasure to make them assume pecul- iar and fantastic shapes. 494 RED CEDAR Fruiting; Branch of Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana. Leaves scale-like. Berries ^/^' to }^' in diameter. PINE FAMILY RED CEDAR. SAVIN Evergreen, varying from a shrub to a tree one hundred feet high, which is conical when young but cybndrical or irregular in old age. Ranges from Xova Scotia south to Florida, westward to British Co- lumbia and east of the Rock\ Mountains to Mexico. Tolerant of many soils and varied locations. Roots librous. Bark. — Light reddish brown, scaly or stringy. Branchlets slender and four-angled but after the disappearance of the lea\es become terete and are covered with close, dark brown bark tinged with red or gray. ]Vooit — Bright red, fading with exposure to air. sap\\ood nearly white; fragrant, light, soft, close-grained, weak, durable in contact with the soil. Largely used for posts, railway ties, interior finish of houses, chests and closets in which woollens are preser\ed against attack of moths, cabinet-making and lead pencils. Sp. gr., 0.4S26 ; weight of cu. ft., 30.70 lbs. Leaves. — Opposite, of two kinds; awl-shaped and loose, scale- shaped, appressed, imbricated, and crowded. The awl-shaped ap- pear on young plants and vigorous branches, are linear-lanceolate, long-pointed, light yellow green, one-halt to three-fourths an inch long. The scale-shaped are closely appressed. acute, occasionally obtuse, rounded, often glandular in the back, entire, about one-six- teenth of an inch long, dark blue green, glaucous, turning brownish during the winter at the north, beginning in the third season to grow hard and woody and persisting two or three years longer on the branches. They are four-ranked, making the twig appear quad; rangular. Flozvers. — April, May ; terminal on short axillary brnnches ; dice- cious rarely moncecious. Staminate flowers consist of four to six shield-like scries each bearing about four or h\e yellow pollen sacs. Pistillate flowers minute consisting of about three pairs of fleshy, oblong, bluish scales, united at base, and bearing two ovules. Scales are obliterated in the fruit. Fruit. — [Matures in first or second season. Fierry-like strobile, subglobose, one-third to one-fourth of an inch m diameter, pale green coxered with \idiite bloom, when fully grown, dark blue and glaucous at maturity; flesh sweet, resinous ; seeds two to three. The Reel Cedar grows througliotit the United States. It reaches its largest size in the swamps and rich alluvial bot- tom lands of the soutliern and southwestern states, but in the 496 RED CEDAR Red Cedar, /ninpcnis vxrgiiiiana. Leaves awl-shaped. PINE FAMILY northern states it grows abundantly on dry gravelly slopes and rocky ridges. A distinctive characteristic of the tree is the variation in the form of its leaves. Variation of form occurs among the leaves of the Sassafras and the Mulberry ; the Pitch Pine sometimes bears two forms ; the Red Cedar does so habitually. These are the awl-shaped and the scale-shaped. 'Phere seems to be no law that determines their production except that the awl- shaped always appear upon the young plants, but on mature plants the different forms occur upon the same branchlet. The awl-shaped are rigid, long-pointed, channelled and white glaucous above, yellow green and conve.K below. They vary in length from one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch. 'Phe scale-shaped are minute, closely appressed, acute or obtuse, and usually bear a glandular disk on the back. 'Phey are op- posite but are so closely ranked that they make the leafy twig appear quadrangular. The wood of the Red Cedar is so valuable and has been used so lavishly that it has become extremely expensive. The present commercial supply is obtained cliielly from the swamps near the western coast of Florida. Few insects attack the Junipers, but they are the hosts of numbers of very interesting fungi. These fungi belong to the Rust family and are popularly known as Cedai" Apples. The common Cedar .\pple, Gyinnospofangiiiiii maci-opiis, es- pecially attacks the Red Cedar and forms tufts of bright yel- low, jelly-like masses, from orifices in which long yellow spurs protrude. These cling to the smaller t\vigs and are frequently believed to be the flowers of the tree, or else an astonishing kind of fruit. They will appear in a single night during the rainy season ; and a Red Cedar coyered \yitli these bright )-ellow masses of waving tongues is a remarkable sight. When the weather becomes dry these gelatinous masses contract and they are then seen to arise from the changed tissue of very young twigs. 498 TAXACEyE— YEW FAMILY GINKGO Salisl'uria adianli folia. Ginkgo biloha. The Ginkgo is a Cliinese tree whicli came to England by way of Japan and to the United States by way of England. It is proving itself to be perfectly hardy and is planted in greater numbers year by year. That which astonishes the observer is the singular char- acter of its leaves. There is nothing like them in the ar- borescent foliage of either America or Europe. Appar- ently they are fern leaves ; they so closely resemble the leaves of the Maiden-hair fern, Adiaiitiim, that one of the specific names of the tree is adiaiiiifolia. They are not evergreen ; they turn yellow and drop in late autumn, in that respect partaking of the character of the Larch and the ESald Cypress. The fruit is a drupe about an inch long, oval in shape, very ill scented when ripe, and containing a nut which is high- ly esteemed in Japan. This nut resembles a large plump plum-stone. It is not palatable until roasted, but then it is considered a digestive and is very generally served at ban- quets. The tree has been slow to fruit in this country, but it is becoming apparent that the reason has been that few trees have attained the requisite age. Trees thirty to forty years old are beginning to fruit quite generally. The young trees are tall, slender and spiry with a tendency 499 YEW FAMILY in the branches to hug the stem. But after a time one branch or perhaps two will grow out horizontal!}-, the others will loosen a little so that it becomes very evident that the tvpe of the mature tree is not the Lombard)' Poplar, but rather a spreading oak. The Ginkgo is said to attain enor- mous proportions in its native land ; and if the climate proves favorable it ma}- become a valuable tree in the United States. GINKGO Ginkgo. Ginkeo bitoba. FORM AND STRUCTURE OF Roots, Stems, Leaves, Flowers, and Fruit ROOTS. The root is that part of the plant axis which does not bear leaves. Normally it grows downward, is fixed in the soil and absorbs nourishment from the soil. True roots produce nothing but root branches and root hairs. Roots differ from stems in the following particulars. cap and Root-hairs. They are simpler in internal structure, very irregular in their mode of branching, never directly bear leaves, and their growing point is placed just back of the tip of the root. This tip is covered with a protecting cap called the root- cap and this may push its way without injury to the growing point. The root-hairs are found on the ultimate branches just back of the growing point ; their function is to ab- sorb nutriment from the soil. (Fig. i.) When the main root is simple or the branches are small, it is called a tap root. (Fig. 2.) When the main root divides very soon and is lost in its branches, the root is called fibrous. 503 Fig. 2. — Tap Root. FORM AND STRUCTURE The roots of the deciduous trees of. North America are usuaU}- a modified form of the tap root, often a divided tap root with fibrous rootlets. STEM. The stem is that part of the plant axis \yhich bears the leaves, flowers and fruit, and is the means of communication between them and the root. The stem differs from the root not only in that it is leaf-bearing but its branches are ar- ranged regularl}- and the growing point is at the apex of the branches. A stem increases in length by the growth of a terminal bud and its branches normally originate from buds. The points on the stem where the leaves appear are called nodes. The parts of the stem between the nodes are called inter- nodes. The angle formed b}' the upper side of a leaf and the stem is called the axil. LEAVES. Leaves are stem-appendages and consist of expansions of the stem tissues. Foliage leaves are usually flat, bi-laterally symmetrical organs, green in color, and presenting a distinct upper and under surface. They are pre-eminently the assimilating organs of the plant ; out of the crude sap under the influence of light and air they elaborate the plant food. A Typical Leaf consists of three parts, the blade, the petiole, and the stipules ; any one of these parts may be wanting. (Fig. 3.) The Blade is the expanded portion of the leaf and the part to which the word leaf is usually applied. The Petiole is the leaf stalk. The Stipules are small leaf-like bodies, borne at the base of the petiole, usually one on each side. These are often united. Frequently 504 Fig. 3. — A Typical Leaf. FORM AND STRUCTURE they are wanting. The Sycamore and Black Willow afford excellent examples of stipules. ARRANGEMENT. When leaves are distributed singly at different heights on the stem, they are said to be alternate. A\'hen two stand op- posite each other at the nodes, they are opposite. When more than two are borne at a node in a circle around the stem, they are whorled. KINDS OF LEAVES. Leaves are either simple or compound. A Simple Leaf has but one blade. The leaves of the Elm are simple. A Compound Leaf has more than one blade ; each blade is then called a leaflet. The leaves of the Sumach are pinnately compound ; the leaves of the Horse-chestnut are palmately compound. VERNATION OR PREFOLIATION. In the study of the leaves (jf trees considerable attention is given to the way the leaves are folded in the bud ; this is Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Fig. 7. Fig. 9. called vernation. It may be studied from two points of view ; how the leaves are arranged with reference to each other, or how the individual leaf is folded. 505 FORM AND STRUCTURE The following are the common forms of folding of the in- dividual leaf : Inflexed, bent inward toward the base. (Fig. 4.) Conduplicate, two sides applied to each other, face to face. (Fig. 5-) Plicate, when folded back and forth like the plaits of a fan. (Fig. 6.) Convolute, when rolled inward from one margin to the other. (Fig. 7.) Involute, rolled inward from each margin toward the midrib. (Fig. S.) Revolute, rolled outward from each margin toward the mid- rib. (Fig. 9.) Botanicallv the inner surface of a leaf is that which in ordinar}' description is called the upper surface. VEXATION. The Venation of a leaf is the arrangement of the veins or framework. Three types are distinguished : Forked-venation, seen in ferns. Parallel-venation, seen in grasses and lilies. Netted-venation, the foi-m that prevails among deciduous trees. In the Xetted-venation the veins branch re- peatedly and the veinlets run together end to end, form- ing a more oi' less complicated network. There are three modifications of tliis type : Pinnate or Feather-veined, in which there is a midrib with lateral branches called primary veins which run toward the margin ; as in the leaves of the Elm, Beech, and Chestnut. Palmate-veined, in which there are several ribs radiating from the petiole to the margin ; as in the leaves of the ]Maple and Svcamore. Ribbed-netted-veined, in which there are several ribs run- ning from petiole to apex with a network of small veins between. FORM AND STRUCTURE FORMS OF LEAVES. r.y General Outline we mean the outline form of the leaf, tlisi-e^Lu-ding marginal indentations and slight irregularities. Fig. io. Fig. ii. Fig. 12. Fig. 13. Fig. 14. Fig. [^ Fig. 17 F[C. 19. The principal forms found in the leaves of trees are the following : Needle-shaped, like the leaves of the Pine. (Fig, lo.) Linear, a narrow elongated form. (Fig. ii.) Oblong, two or three times longer than wide with sides nearly parallel. (Fig. 12.) Elliptical, oblong with a flowing outline, the two ends alike in width. (Fig. 13,) Oval, broadly elliptical. (Fig. 14.) Lanceolate, broader at base than apex, but narrow. (Fig. 15.) Oblanceolate, the lanceolate reversed. \F\g. 16.) 507 FORM AND STRUCTURE Ovate, shaped like the longitudinal section of a hen's egg. (F'g- I7-) Obovate, same form reversed, petiole at the smaller end. (Fig. iS.) Orbicular, nearl}- circular in outline. (Fig. 19.) The names are frequently used together in order to de- scribe a leaf accurately. APEX. The Apex is the point of the leaf opposite the petiole. The following forms prevail in the leaves of deciduous trees: Acute, an apex which forms an acute angle. (Fig. 20.) Acuminate, taper or long pointed. (Fig. 21.) Obtuse, rounded or blunt. (Fig. 22.) Truncate, cut off or terminating abruptly. (Fig. 23.) Fig. 23. Emarginate, with the rounded summit slightly indented forming a shallow notch. (Fig. 24.) Mucronate, tipped with an abrupt short point. (Fig. 25.) Bristle-pointed, tipped with a bristle. (Fig. 26.) BASE. The Base is the part of the leaf attached to the petiole or stem. The following forms prevail in the leaves of deciduous trees : Rounded or Obtuse, as shown by the Black Cherry. Cuneate or Wedge-shaped, as shown by the Papaw. Cordate or Heart-shaped, as shown by the Balm of Gilead. Oblique or unequal-sided, as shown by the Linden, 50S FORM AND STRUCTURE MARGINAL INDENTATIONS. A distinction is made between intlentations that are shallow and those that are deep. Of shallow indentations the fol- lowing forms prevail in the leaves of deciduous trees : Serrate, saw-toothed, with sharp teeth which incline toward the apex ; distinguished as fnie and coarse. (Fig. 27.) Bi-serrate, doubly serrate, with two sets of teeth one upon the other. (Fig. 28.) Dentate, toothed with outwardlj' projecting teeth ; distin- guished as fine and coarse. (Fig. 29.) Crenate, scalloped, the teeth broad and rounded. (Fig. 30.) Undulate, when the margin forms a wavy line. (Fig. 31.) Sinuate, deeply wavy. (Fig. 32.) Eepand, margin like that of an opened umbrella. (Fig. 33.) Spinose, margin spiny. (Fig. 34.) The common forms of deeply indented margins found in the leaves of trees are Lobed and Cleft. Lobed, when the indentations extend nearly half-way to the midrib or base, and the segments or sinuses or both may be either rounded or acute. The Oak and the Maple leaves are examples. Cleft, when the sinuses are deep, narrow, and acute. 509 FORM AND STRUCTURE THE INDIVIDUAL FLOWER. A complete flower consists of four sets of organs ■which botanists regard as modified leaves. These are Calyx, Co- rolla, AndrcEcium the Stamens, and Gynoecium the pistils. Thev are borne on a short axis called the receptacle. (F.g! 35-) The Calyx is the outer set. This is usually green though sometimes it is colored. It may consist of a number of separate parts called Sepals ; these may be more or less united. The Corolla is the sec :in d set. This is usually colored. It may consist of a number of separate parts, called petals; these may be more or less united. The calyx and corolla are called the floral envelopes because they surround and protect the stamens and pistils, which are the essential organs of the flower. They are called essen- tial organs because to- gether they produce the seed. The Stamens consti- tute the third set. .\ stamen consists of two parts, the filament and the anther. The Filament is the anther stem. The Anther is the essen- tial part and contains the Pollen «hich it discharges when mature. ^Vhen the filament is wanting the anther is said to be sessile. The Pistils are at the centre of the flower. It is not often 510 Fig. 35. Cherry 1 Corolla ilossom, Showine; Calyx (bud), Stamens, and Pistil. FORM AND STRUCTURE that a number of pistils are found entirely separate ; as a rule they grow together and the parts unite or coalesce. A single pistil consists of ovary, style and stigma. The Ovary is a hollow case which contains the ovules ; the Stig- ma is the upper part, usually flattened, which is covered by an adhesive secretion and which receives the pollen ; the Style connects the ovary and the stigma. It may be want- ing, the stigma is then said to be sessile. (Fig. 36.) The Ovules are tiny sac-like bodies which after they receive the protoplasm of the pollen develop nito seeds. Fig, 36 — Haifa Cherry Blossom Show- ing Ovary, Style and Stigma. '^IG. 37. — Raceme of Barberry Blossoms. INFLORESCENCE. Inflorescence is a term used to denote the arrangement of the flowers on the stem. Flowers may occur singly or in clusters ; thev may be terminal or axillary. Peduncle, is the stem of a solitary flower or of a flower cluster. Pedicel, is the individual stem of each flower in a cluster. Bract, is a small leaf found on a flower stem. Involucre, is a collection of bracts around a flovper cluster or around a single flower. FLOWER CLUSTERS. Raceme, is a cluster in which the flowers are arranged along the central a.xis upon pedicels nearly ec]ual in length, those nearest the base blooming first (Fig. 37). The central axis is called a rachis. ^Vhen the pedicels divide and subdivide the raceme becomes a Panicle. When a panicle stiffens and becomes rigid and 511 FORM AND STRUCTURE Fig. 58. — A Corymb. flowers are at the centre, is called a Cyme. Umbel, resembles a ra- ceme but the central axis is very short and the pedicels are nearly equal in length. (Fig. 39.) Spike, is like a raceme except that the flow- ers are sessile ; they sit directl}' on the central axis. Catkin or Ament, is like a spike except that its bracts are scales and the central axis is often drooping. Flowers of Poplar are examples. erect it is called a Thyrsus. Flowers of Sourwood are borne in a raceme. Corymb, is like a raceme except that the cen- tral axis is shorter and the lower ped- icels are lengthened so as to bring all the flowers to near- ly the same level. The oldest flowers are at the circum- ference (I'ig- 3S.) A flower cluster similar in form, but in which the oldest Fig. 39. — Umbel of Cherry Blossoms. 512 FORM AND STRUCTURE Head, is like a spike except that the central axis is so short that the flowers form a compact cluster. Strobile, is a compact cluster with large scales concealing the flowers. FRUIT. The Fruit consists essentially of the ripened pistil. After the ovaries have been fertilized the ovary is called a Peri- carp. 'I'he following kinds of fruits are those most frequently borne by trees and are the products of a single flower : Akene, is a one-seeded, dry, hard, seed-like fruit. Samara, resembles an akene except that it has a wing-like appendage. The Ash, the Elm and the Maple produce samaras. Glans or Nut, is a fruit with a thick hard pericarp, enclosed more or less in an involucre. The acorn is a nut. Drupe, is often called a stone fruit. In it the wail of the pericarp is differentiated into three divisions — the outer or skin called exocarp, middle or fleshy portion called mesocarp, the inner wall enveloping the seed called endo- carp. A cherry is a drupe. Tryma, is a fruit structurally resembling the drupe, but the mesocarp is harder, more fibrous, and the outer husk ulti- mately splits open and comes off. A hickory nut is an example. Berry, has a thin rind and all the rest of the pericarp is suc- culent. Berries may be one or many-celled. Grape and currant are examples. Pome, is a fleshy fruit, the chief bulk of which consists of an adherent fleshy calyx. The apple is a pome. Legume, is a dry one-carpelled fruit or pod that splits open front and back. The fruit of the Locust is a legume. Capsule, consists of two or more united pistils which open and allow the seeds to escape. Fruits that are the product of one flower but of more than one pistil are called Aggregated Fruits. Raspberry is an example. Fruits that are the products of flower clusters instead of single flowers are called Multiple Fruits. 513 FORM AND STRUCTURE Sorosis, is a multiple fruit of which the mulberry is an ex- ample. Strobile or Cone, is a multiple fruit consisting of a scale-bear- ing axis, each scale enclosing one or more seeds. Pine cones are examples. Galbulus, is a cone, the scales of which have become succu- lent. The juniper berr}' is an example. The Seed is the fertilized and ripened ovule. It contains the embryo and usually more or less albumen. A well de- veloped embryo possesses four parts : a tiny stem or Caulicle, at the lower end of which is the beginning of a root, called a Radicle; and Cotyledons, which are two thickened bodies near the upper end of the caulicle, and between these is a small bud called a Plumule. These parts can be readily seen in the sprouting bean or pea. Some plants produce seeds bearing one cotyledon only ; such are called Monocotyledones. Others bear two co- tyledons, they are called Dicotyledones. THE TREE STEM OR TRUNK. Stems are of two kinds. Endogenous and Exogenous, so named from the character of their growth. In an endogenous stem the wood is made up of separate threads scattered, here and there, throughout the whole diameter of the stem. In an exogenous stem the wood is collected to form a layer sur- rounding a central column of pith and is itself surrounded by bark. A transverse section of a small twig of a tree shows the pith in the centre, around it a zone of wood, then a green inner bark, and finally the outer bark. All parts, except possibly the outer bark, are alive. A transverse section of a mature tree exhibits a centre of heartwood or Duramen and a zone of sapwood or Alburnum, an inner bark and an outer bark. In addition are seen a series of concentric rings known as rings of annual growth, also a number of Hues radiating from centre to circumference called Medullary Rays. The pith has disappeared but the medullary rays are composed of pith tissue and form a set 514 FORM AND STRUCTURE Transverse Section of Trunk of White Oak, Qiierciis alha, Showing Bark, Sapwood, Heartwood, Annual Rings and Medullary Rays. FORM AND STRUCTURE of narrow plates which make the " silver grain " of the wood. In the transverse section these appear as lines but when the wood is cut lengthwise parallel to them, "quartered, ' their faces show as glimmering plates which give a peculiar and beautiful appearance to the wood. Trees differ in the size and number of their medullary rays. Each of the rings is supposed to mark a year's growth of the tree ; as a matter of fact it may or may not do so, but the number of concentric rings will give the approximate age of the tree. The heartwood is the more valuable part of the trunk for timber. It is drier, harder, and more solid than the sapwood. The cells have been so filled by the deposition of hard mat- ter that they are no longer able to take any part in the cir- culation of the tree ; the protoplasm has receded from them and they are virtually dead. The zone of sapwood is a zone of living tissue. But the impulse of life is ever leaving the old and entering the new, and the cells of its inner circumference are continually being transformed into heartwood, and those of its outer circum- ference increased by new growth. Between the sapwood and the bark, united to each, is a zone of growth called the Cambium Layer. 'I'his is a tissue of young and growing cells and it is here that the tree in- creases in diameter. Here is the newest wood and the new- est bark, here new cells are formed, the inner ones adding to the wood, the outer to the bark, producing the annual layers of the two which are ever renewing and continuing the life of the tree. The Bark is the outer covering of the trunk. At the sur- face it is made up of dead and dying tissue which is stretched and torn and shed in plates or scales as the wood beneath it increases in size and requires room to expand. The inner bark consists essentially of sieve-tissue or bast and forms a zone capable of rapidly conducting the fluids of the tree. In all young bark is found a peculiar group of cells, called Lenticels, which protrude through the skin or epidermis. In some trees these lenticels disappear when the bark becomes 516 FORM AND STRUCTURE older, in others they persist. The best opinion now is that they are openings for the purpose of admitting air to the living internal tissues. SPECIES AND GENUS. Under the term Species are included all individuals which possess in common such a number of constant characters that they may be considered to be descended from a common an- cestral form. In the course of multiplication new peculiari- ties may arise and individuals characterized by these peculi- arities are regarded in classification as Varieties. When several species resemble each other so distinctly that their general characters indicate relationship they are grouped together in a Genus. Genera are not fixed, they vary with the views of botanists. The Scientific Name of a plant consists of two words, the first indicating the genus, the second the species. If a third is added it indicates the variety. 517 GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS. Abnormal. — Differing from the usual structure. ABOKriox. — Imperfect development or non-development of an organ. Abortive. — Imperfectly developed or rudimentary. ACL'MIX.A.TE. — Tapering at the end. Acu'tE. — Forming a sharp angle. Adhesion. — The union of members of different floral whorls. Adx.\te. — Grown together. Adventitiols. — Occurring out of the regular order. ^STIV.ATIOX. — The arrangement of floral organs in the bud. Akexe. — A small, dry, hard, one-celled, one-seeded, indehiscent fruit. Album EX. — A name applied to the food store laid up outside the embryo in man\' seeds ; also nitrogenous organic matter found in animals and plants. Alburnum. — Sapwood. Alterx.\te. — -\pplied to that form of leaf arrangement in wdiich only one leaf occurs at a node. Amext'. — A scaly spike or catkin. Angiosperms. — Those plants which bear their seeds within a pericarr Anther. — That part of the stamen which bears the pollen. APET.A.LOUS. — Having no petals. Appressed. — Lying close and flat against. Arborescent. — A tree in size and habit of growth. ^l^II.. — The exterior coat of some seeds. Awl-SHAPED. — Narrowed upward from the -base to a slender or rigid point. ^XIL. — The upper one of the two angles formed by the juncture of the leaf with the stem. Axillary. — Situated in an axil. ]^.\gx. — -A name applied to the inner layer of the bark. Beaked.— Ending in a prolonged tip. BerRV. — A fruit whose entire pericarp is succulent. Bl-PiNN.\rE. — Applied to a leaf which is twice compounded on the pinnate plan. Bractlets. — The smaller bracts borne on pedicels. Bracts. The modified leaves borne on flower peduncles or at the base of flower stems. 519 GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS Caducous. — Applied to the calyx of a flower when it falls off before the flower expands ; also to the stipules of a leaf if they fall as the leaf appears. Calyx. — The outer whorl of floral envelopes. Cam pan ulate. — Bell-shaped. Capsule. — A dry, usually dehiscent fruit, made up of two or more carpels. Carpel. — A simple pistil, or one member of a compound pistil. Cat KIN. — An anient. Cellulose. — A primary cell-wall substance. CuLOIiOPHVLI,. — The green grains in the cells of plants. Claw. — The stalk or contracted base of a petal. Cohesion. — The union of members of the same floral whorl. Conduplicate. — Doubled together. The vernation of a leaf is condupli- cate when the two sides are folded together lengthwise, face to face. Connate. — Grown together. Connective. — That portion of the anther which connects the two lobes. Contorted. — Twisted together. Convolute. — Rolled up ; applied to leaves that are rolled from one edge. Cordate. — Heart-shaped; applied to a leaf which has a deeply indented base. Coriaceous. — Thickish and leathery in texture. Corolla. — The inner whorl of floral envelopes. Corymb. — A flower cluster in which the axis is shortened and the pedicels of the lower flowers lengthened, so as to form a flat-topped cluster. Corymbose. — Like a corymb. Coty^ledon. — C>ne of the parts of the embryo performing in part the func- tions of a leaf, but usually serving as a storehouse of food for the de- veloping plant. Crenate. — Scalloped. Crenulate. — Finely crenate. Cross-fertilization. — When the stigma of one flower receives the pollen of a different flower. Cruciform. — Applied to corollas of four distinct petals arranged in form of a cross. Cuspidate. — Tipped with a sharp and rigid point. Cyme. — A broad and flatfish inflorescence with the central or terminal flowers blooming earliest. Deciduous. — Not persistent ; applied to leaves that fall in autumn and to calyx and corolla when they fall off before the fruit develops. Decurrent. — Applied to leaves which are prolonged down the side of the petiole. Definite. — Limited or defined. Dehiscence. — The act of splitting open. Deltoid. — Triangular, somewhat like the Greek letter delta. 520 GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS Dentate. — Applied to leaves that have their margins toothed, with the teeth directed outward. DiADELPHOUS. — In two brotherhoods. Applied to stamens when cohering by their filaments into two sets. DiCHOTOMOUS. — Forking ; dividing into two equal branches. Dicotyledon. — A plant whose embryo has two opposite ccityledons. Diffuse. — Widely spreading. DiGI T.ATE. — Applied to a compound leaf in which all the leaflets radiate from the top of the petiole. Dliicious. — In two households. With staminate and pistillate flowers sep- arate and on separate plants. Discoid. — Having the form of a disc. Descriptive of the shapes of certain stigmas, glands, etc. Disk. — A development of the receptacle at or around the base of the pistil. Dissepiment.— A partition in a fruit. Drupe. — A fleshy or pulpy fruit with the inner portion of the pericarp hard or stony. A stone fruit. Duramen.— Heartwood. Echin.ate. — Beset with prickles. Emarginate. — Notched. Applied to a leaf which is notched at the ape.x. Embryo. — Applied in botany to the tiny plant within the seed. Endocarp. — The inner la\-er of the pericarp. Epic.^rp. — The outer layer of the pericarp. Epir.YNOUS. — Growing on the summit of the ovary, or apparentl}' so. Erose. — Irregularly toothed, as if gnawed. ET-tRIO. — A fruit, the product of a single flower, which consists of small aggregated drupes. Exocarp. — The outer layer of the pericarp. E.xserted. — Protruding ; as stamens e.vfending beyond the throat of a corolla. ExTRORSE. — Facing outward. Applied to anthers which face away from the pistil. Falcate. — Curved or sickle-shaped. Fascicle. — A bundle. Applied to a compact cyme or a compact cluster of leaves. Fertilization. — The union which takes place when the contents of the pol- len cell enters the ovule. Fibro-vascular Bundles. — The bundles of vascular tissues of plants. FiLA.MENT. — The stalk which supports the anther. Filiform. — Thread-like. FOLIACEOUS. — Leaf-like. Fugacious. — Soon falling off. Galeulus. — A berry-like cone, as the fruit of the Juniper. Gamopetai.ous. — Having the petals more or less united. G.-VMOSEPALOUS. — Having the sepals more or less united. 521 GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS Germination. — The sprouting of a seed. Gibbous, — Swollen on one side. Glabrous. — Smooth ; destitute of hairs. Glands. — x^. secreting surface or structure; a protuberance having the ap- pearance of such an organ. Glans. — A nut. Glaucous. — Covered or whitened with a bloom. Globose. — Spherical or nearly so. Gymnosferms. — Plants bearing naked seeds; without an ovary. Gyncecium. — The pistils of a flower taken as a whole. Habitat. — The geographical range of a plant. Head. — A compact cluster of nearly sessile flowers. HiLUM. — The point of attachment of an ovule or seed. Hispid. — Bristly. Hybrid. — A cross between two species. HyI'OGYNOUS. — Situated on the receptacle, beneath the ovary and free from it and from the caly.x. Applied to petals and stamens. Imbricate. — Overlapping. Incised. — Cut sharply and deeply. Included. — Applied to stamens or pistils that do not project beyond the corolla. Indefinite. — Applied to petals or other organs when too numerous to be conveniently counted. Indehiscent. — Not splitting open. Indigenous.— Native to the country. Inferior. — Applied to an ovary which has an adherent caly.x. Inflorescence. — The flowering part of a plant. Innate. — Applied to anthers which are attached by their base to the apex of the filament. Inserted. — Attached to or grewing out of. Internode. — The portion of a stem between two nodes. Introrse. — Facing inward ; applied to stamens that face toward the pistil. Involucel. — A secondary involucre. Involucre.— A collection of bracts at the base of a flower cluster or of a sin- gle flower. Involute. — A form of vernation in which the leaf is rolled inward from its edges. Lanckol.ate. — Applied to leaves which are slender, broadest near the base and narrowed to the apex. Leaflet. —A single division of a compound leaf. Legume. — A fruit formed of a simple pistil and usually splitting open by both sutures. Lenticels. — Small oval dots which appear upon the branches. Liber. — The inner layer of the bark. 522 GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS Ligneous. — Woody. Limb. — The spreading portion of a gamophyllus calyx or corolla. Linear. — Applied to an organ with parallel margins that is many times longer than broad. Lobe. — Any segment of an organ. Loculicidai.lv. — Dehiscent through the back of a cell of a capsule. Medulla. — The pith. Medullary Rays. — Rays of fundamental tissue which connect the pith with the bark. Membranous, Membranaceous. — Thin and rather soft, more or less trans- lucent. Mesocarp. — The middle layer of the pericarp. Metabolism. — The o.xydizing processes that go on in the living plant. Midrib. — The central or main rib of a leaf. Mon.adelphous. — In one brotherhood. Applied to stamens which are united by their filaments into one set. Monocotyledonous. — Possessing but one cotyledon or seed leaf. Moncecious. — In one household. Applied to plants which have separate staminate and pistillate flowers, but both borne on the same plant. Mucronate. — Tipped with a small soft point. Multiple Fruit. — A fruit composed of numerous small fruits, each the product of a separate flower ; ex. mulberry. Nect.\ry. — The honey gland or honey repository of a flower. Nerved. — Veined. Node. — The point on a stem of a plant from which the leaf develops. Obconic. — Conic with the point of attachment at the apex. Obcordate. — Inversely heart-shaped. Obl.anceol.\te. — Inversely lanceolate. Oblong. — Considerably longer than broad, with flowing outline. Obtuse. — Blunt, rounded. Oval. — Broadly elliptical. Ov.iVRY. — The part of the pistil that contains the ovules. Ovoid. — Egg-shaped. Applied to solid bodies. Ovule. — The rudimentary seed. Pa.nicle. — A compound raceme. Papilion.aceous. — A term descriptive of such flowers as those of the Pea. Parted. — Cleft nearly but not quite to the base or midrib. Pedicel. — The stem of an individual flower of a cluster. Peduncle. — .\ flower stalk. Perfect. — .\pplied to a flower which has both pistil and stamens. Perian TH. — A term applied to the floral envelopes taken as a whole. ParicaRP. — The walls of the ripened ovary, the part of the fruit that en- closes the seeds. Perigynous. — Borne around the pistil instead of at its base. Applied to stamens and petals borne on the throat of the calyx. 523 GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS Persistent. — Long continuous, applied to leaves that remain on the tree over winter and to a calyx that remains until the fruit ripens. Petal. — One of the leaves of the corolla. Petiole. — The stem of a leaf. PlN.\,'\ (pi. pinnsE). — One of the primary divisions of a pinnately compound leaf. PiN'N,\TE. — Applied to compound leaves where the leaflets are arranged on each side of a common petiole. Pistil. — The modified leaf or leaves which bear the ovules ; usually con- sisting of ovary, style and stigma. Pis'TILL.^te. — Applied to flowers that possess pistils but not stamens. Pl.lc.VTE. — Folded like a fan. Plumule. — The primary bud of the embryo. PiiLLEN. — The fertilizing powder produced by the anther. Polygamous. — Applied to plants which produce staminate, pistillate, and perfect flowers all on the same plant. Protoplasm. — The living matter of the cell. Pubescent. — Downy, covered with soft hairs. Race.me. — A simple inflorescence of pedicelled flowers upon a common, more or less, elongated a.xis, Rachis. — Tile a.xis of inflorescence. Radicle. — The primary root of the embryo. Receptacle. — The shortened stem on which the floral organs are inserted. Reduplicate. — Doubled back. I'iEFLEXED. — Bent outward. Repa.nd. — Leaf margin toothed like the margin of an umbrella. Revolute. — Rolled backward. Rotate. — Flat circular disk ; applied to corollas. Samar.\. — An indehiscent dry fruit provided with a wing-like appendage. Secund. — Flowers arranged along one side of a lengthened axis. Sepal. — One of the leaves of the outer whorl of floral organs. Serrate. — Toothed, with siiarp teeth projecting forward. Sinuate. — Wavy. Sinus. — The cleft between two lobes. Spatiil.\'TE. — Resembling a spatula in outline. Spike. — A form of simple inllorescence in which the flowers are sessile or nearly so, borne upon a lengthened axis. The lower flowers bloom first. Spray. — The ultimate division of a branch. Stamen. — The pollen-bearing organ of the flower, usu.ally consisting of filament and anther. S'TAMIN.V'TE. — Applied to fl<.)wers which have stamens but not pistils. SterI(;ma. pi. Sterigmata. — The woody base upon which the leaves of many of the evergreens are borne. Stigma. — That part of the pistil which receives the pollen. 524 GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS Stite. — The stalk possessed by some pistils. SririiLi-:, — One of the blade-like bodies at the base of the petiole of leaves. S'l'OM.A, pi. Stomata. — .\ breathing pore found in the epidermis of the higher plants. Strihulii:. — A compact flower cluster with large scales concealing the flowers. When this cluster matures and contains seeds it is still called a strobile. Style. — That part of the pistil which connects the ovary with the stigma. Superior. — .Applied to an ovary that is not at all adherent to the caly.x. Sync.\rp. — A multiple fruit. T.'VPRijrn'. — The main root or downward continuation of the plant a.\is. Terete. — Nearly cylindrical. Terminal. — Placed at the end. Thvkse or Thyrsus. — A compact panicle. To.MENT<:>SE. — Applied to surfaces which are covered with matted hairs. ToMEXTUM. — Matted hairs. ToRtis. — Another name for receptacle. Tru.N'C-A.te. — Ending abruptly as if cut off. Trym.a. — A drupedike fruit which is commonly two-celled, has a bony nucleus and thick, fibrous epicarp. Turhinate. — Top-shaped. Umrel. — -V flower cluster in \Thich the a.xis is very short and the pedicels radiate from it. Undulate. — W.avy. Vai.vate. — iSIeeting by the edges without overlapping. V.ASCULAR. — Possessing vessels or ducts. Vei."<. — Thread of fibro-vascular tissue in a leaf. \'einlet. — Small \-ein. Ven.vtk.)X. — The system of veins as that of a leaf. Vern'.atio.N'. — The arrangement of the leaves in the bud. Versatile. — .Applied to an- anther that turns freely on its support. Villous. — Covered with long, soft, shaggy hairs. Whorl. — An arrangement of organs in a circle about a central axis. 525 INDEX OF LATIN NAMES Abies balsamea, 480 Acer barbatuni, 66 .Acer dasycarpum, 73 Acer negando, 85 Acer pennsylvanicum, 60 Acer platanoides, 82 Acer pseudo-platanus, 82 Acer rubrum, 77 Acer saccharinum, 73 Acer saccharum, 66 Acer saccharum nigrum, 66 Acer spicatum, 64 Aceracece, 60 .i^sculus glabra, 50 .'Esculus hippocastanum, 54 ^^sculus octandra, 54 ^^sculus pavia, 59 ^sculus rubicunda, 59 Ailanthus glandulosa, 36 Alnus glutinosa, 314 Amelanchier alnifolia, 154 Amelanchier canadensis, 153 Anacardiacens, 88 Annonace?e, 20 Aquifoliaceae, 41 Aralia spinosa, 165 Araliacene, 165 Asimina triloba, 20 Betula, 295 Betula alba, 300 Betula lenta, 311 Betula lutea, 310 Betula nigra, 306 Betula papyrifera, 302 Betula populifolia, 297 Betulaceje, 295 Bignoniaceae, 225 Caprifoliace^, 181 Carpinus caroliniana, 319 Carya alba, 282 Carya amara, 279 Carya microcarpa, 290 Carya porcina, 290 Carya tomentosa, 286 ' Castanea dentata, 386 Castanea pumila, 392 Castanea vesca, 386 Catalpa bignonioides, 225 Catalpa catalpa, 225 Catalpa speciosa, 228 Celastracea?, 46 Celtis occidentalis, 249 Cercis canadensis, 104 Chanirecyparis sphaeroidea, 485 Chionanthus virginica, 222 Cladastris lutea, 116 ConiferrTs, 439 Cornacea. 169 Cornus alternifolia, 175 Cornus florida, 169 Cotinus cotinoides, 92 Cratregus coccinea, 143 Crataegus crus-galli, 140 Cratffigus mollis, 144 Crataegus oxyacantha, 142 Crataegus punctata, 150 Cratcegus tomentosa, 148 Cupressus thyoides, 489 Cupuliferre, 323 DiCOTVLEDONES, I Diospyros kaki, 198 Diospyros virginiana, 195 Ebenace^, 195 Ericacese, 186 Euonymus atropurpureus, 46 Evonymus atropurpureus, 46 Fagace^, 378 Fagus atropunicea, 378 527 INDEX OF LATIN NAMES Fagus femiginea, 378 Fraxinus aniei'icana, 206 Fraxinus lanceolata, 214 > raxinus nigra, 218 Fraxinus pennsylvanica, 212 Fraxinus pubescens, 212 Fraxinus quadrangulata, 214 Fraxinus sambucifolia, 218 Ginkgo biloba, 499 (iieditsia triacanthos, 112 (jymnocladus dioicus, 109 HaLESIA TETRAl'TERA, 200 Hamamelidacens, 157 Hamanielis virginiaiia, 157 I iicoria alba, 286 Hicoria glabra, 290 Hicoria laciniosa, 286 Hicoria minima, 279 Hicoria ovata, 282 Hippocastanacea,', 50 Ilex monticola, 45 Ilex opaca, 41 JUGLANDACE^, 269 J"'glans cinerea, 274 Juglans nigra, 269 Juglans regia, 272 Juniperus communis, 492 Juniperus virginiana, 496 Kalmia angustifolia, 189 Kalmia latifolia, 186 Larix \mekicana, 476 Larix europfea, 480 Larix laricina, 476 Lauraceas, 229 IjCguminosse, 97 Liquidambar styraciflua, 160 Liriodendron tulipifera, 14 M.\ct,ura aurantiaca, 258 Magnolia acuminata, 9 Magnolia glauca, 3 Magnolia tripetala, 5 Magnctliace.TS, 3 Mohrodendron carofinum, 200 Mohrodendron dipterum, 202 Moracea:, 253 Morus alba, 258 Morus nigra, 254 Morus rubra, 253 Negundo aceroides, 85 Nyssa sylvatica, 177 Oleacej^, 206 Ostrya virginiana, 316 Oxydendrum arboreum, 192 FiCEA alba, 464 Picea canadensis, 464 Picea excelsa, 473 Picea mariana, 470 Picea nigui, 470 Picea rubens, 468 Pinaceae, 439 Pinus, 440 Pinus divaricata, 460 Pinus echinata, 458 Pinus laricio austriaca, 463 ^-' Pinus paiustris, 443 Pinus resinosa, 450 Pinus rigida, 454 Pinus strobus, 443 Pinus sylvestris, 464 Pinus tseda, 452 Pinus virginiana, 456 PlatanaccK, 263 Platanus occidentalis, 263 Populus, 410 Populus alba, 428 Populus angulata, 426 Populus balsamil'era, 422 Populus balsamifera candicans, 424 Populus deltoides, 426 Populus grandidentata, 418 Populus heterophylla, 419 Populus monilifera, 426 Populus nigra italica, 432 Populus tremuloides, 413 Prunus americana, 120 Prunus caroliniana, 132 Prunus nigra, 119 Prunus pennsylvanica, 122 Prunus serotina, 128 Prunus virginiana, 125 Ptclea trifoliata, 32 I'yrus americana, 136 Pyrus aucuparia, 138 C28 INDEX OF LATIN NAMES Pyrus coronaria, i_^3 Pyrus sambucitolia, 140 Q u F, R •": L' ■ Que re us Quercus Quercus Que reus Quercus Quercus Quercus Quercus Quercus Quercus Quercus Quercus Quercus Quercus Quercus Quercus Quercus Quercus Quercus Quercus ^ 323 acuuiinata, 342 alba, 328 bicolor, 346 coccinea, 354 digitata, 362 ilicifolia, 366 imbricaria, 372 macrocarpa, 333 marilandica, 370 minor, 332 nigra, 370 palustris, 365 phellos 375 platanoidcs, 346 prinoides, 344 prinus, 338 pumila, 366 rubra, 349 tinctoria, 357 velutina, '^^y RlIAMNACE.^, 49 Rhaninus caroliniana, 49 Rhododendron maximum, 189 Rhus copallina, 91 Rhus coriaria, 92 Rhus glabra, 91 Rhus hirta. 88 Rhus typhina, 88 Rhus venenata, 94 Rhus vernix. 94 Robinia pseudacacia, 97 Robinia viscosa, 103 Rosacere, 119 RutaceLe, 32 Salicace^. 393 Sahsburia adiantifolia, 499 Salix alba, 405 Salix amygdaloides, 398 Salix babylonica, 409 Salix bebbiana, 401 Salix coL-rulea, 405 Salix discolor, 403 Salix fluviatalis, 400 Salix fragilis, 405 Salix lucida, 398 SaHx nigra, 395 Salix rostrata, 401 SaHx vitelhna, 405 Sassafras sassafras, 229 Simaroubaceas, 36 Styracacese, 200 Taxace^e. 499 Taxodium disticluim, 484 Thuja occidentalis, 486 Tilia aniericana, 24 Tilia europnea, 30 Tilia beterophylla, 30 Tilia pubescens, 30 Tiliareae, 24 Toxylon pomiferum, 258 Tsuga canadensis, 474 Ulmace^, 233 Ulmus alata, 246 Ulinus americana, 233 Ulmus campestris, 248 Ulmus fulva, 240 Ulmus pubescens, 240 Ulmus racemosa, 242 Viburnum lentago, i8i Viburnum prunifoiium, 184 539 INDEX OF COMMON NAMES Abele-tree, 428 Acacia, 97 Ailanthus, 36 Alder, 314 Alligator-wood, 164 Almond leaf Willow, 398 Alternate-leaved Dogwood, 175 American Elm, 233 Angelica-tree, 165 Arborvitas, 486 Ash-leaved Maple, 85 Aspen, 413 Aspen-leaved Birch, 297 Austrian Pine, 462 BAT.n Cypress, 484 Ralm of Gilead, 422 Balsam, 422 Balsam F'ir, 480 Barren Oak, 370 Basswood, 24 Bear Oak, 366 Beaver-wood, 5 Bebb Willow, 401 Beech Family, 378 Big Bud Hickory, 286 Big Shellbark, 286 Bignonia Family, 225 Birch Family, 295 Bird Cherry, 122 Bitternut, 279 Black Ash, 218 Black Birch, 31T Black Cherry, 128 Black Cottonwood, 419 Black Haw, 184 Black ]ack, 370 Black Maple, 66 Black Mulberry, 254 Black Oak, 357 Black Poplar, 410 Black Spruce, 470 Black Thorn, 148 Black Walnut, 269 Black Willow, 395 Blue Ash, 214 Blue Beech, 319 Blue Willow, 405 Box Elder, 85 Buckeye, 50 Buckthorn Family, 49 Bur Oak, 335 Burning Bush, 46 Butternut, 274 Buttonwood, 263 Canada Balsam, 482 Canada Plum, 119 Canadian Pine, 450 Canoe Birch, 302 Canoe-wood, 16 Carolina Poplar, 428 Catalpa, 225 Chestnut, 386 Chestnut Oak, 338-342 Chicot, no Chinquapin, 342-392 Chinquapin Oak, 344 Choke Cherry, 125 Clammy Locust, 103 Cockspur Thorn, 140 Conifer, 439 Copper Beech, 383 Cork Elm, 242 Cottonwood, 426 Crab Apple, 133 530 INDEX OF COMMON NAMES Crack Willow, 405 Cucumber-tree, 9 Custard Apple Family, 20 Deciduous Cvpkess. 484 Dogwood Family, 169 Dotted Haw, 150 Downy Linden, 30 Downy Poplar, 419 Dwarf Sumach, qi Ebony Family, 195 Elm Family, 233 English Elm, 248 European Larch, 480 European Mountain Ash, 13S Fetid Buckeye, 50 Flowering Dogwood, 169 Fragrant Crab, 133 Fringe-tree, 222 Ginkgo, 499 Ginseng Family. 165 Glaucous Willow, 403 Gray Birch, 297-310 Gray Pine, 460 Great Laurel, 189 Green Ash, 214 Ground Cedar, 492 Hackberky, 249 Hacmatack, 476 Hawthorn, 144-148 Hemlock, 474 Hercules' Club, 165 Hickory. 276 Holly, 41 Honey Locust, 112 Honey Shucks, 112 Honeysuckle Family, 181 Hop Hornbeam, 316 Hop-tree, 32 Hornbeam. 319 Horse-chestnut, 54 Horse-chestnut Family. 50 Indian Bean, 225 Indian Cherry, 49 Ironwood, 316 Jack Pine, 460 Jersey Pine, 456 Judas-tree, 104 June-berry, 153 Juniper, 492 Kalmia, 186 Kentucky Coffee-tree, 109 Lambkill, 189 Larch, 480 Large-toothed Aspen, 415 Laurel Family, 229 Laurel Oak, 372 Lime-tree. 24 Linden, 24 Liquidamber, 160 Loblolly Pine, 452 Locust. 97 Lombardy Poplar, 432 Longleaf WjIIow, 400 Magnolia Family. 3 Mahogany Birch. 311 Maple Family, 60 Mockernut, 286 Moosewood, 60 Mossy-cup Oak, 335 Mountain Ash, 136 Mountain Holly, 45 Mountain Laurel, 186 Mountain Maple, 64 Mountain Sumach, 91 Mountain Magnolia, 9 Mulberry Family, 253 Nettle tree. 249 Newcastle Thorn, 140 Norway Maple, 82 Norway Pine, 450 Norway Spruce, 475 Oak Family, 323 Ohio Buckeye, 50 Old Field Birch, 300 Old Field Pine. 452 Olive Family, 206 Osage Orange, 258 Pa PAW. 20 Paper Birch, 302 531 INDEX OF COMMON NAMES Pea Family, 97 Peach Willow, 398 Pepperidge, 177 Persimmon, 195 Pignut, 290 Pin Oak, ^^6$ Pine, 440 Pitch Pine, 454 Plane Tree Family, 263 Poison Dogwood, 94 Poison Sumach, 94 Poplar, 410 Post Oak, 332 Pussy Willow, 403 Quaking Asp, 413 Red Ash, 212 Red Birch, 306 Redbud, 104 Red Cedar, 496 Red Elm, 240 Red Horse-chestnut, 59 Red Maple, 77 Red Mulberry, 253 Red Oak, 349 Red Pine, 454 Red Plum, 119 Red Spruce, 468 Rhododendron, 189 River liirch, 306 Roan-tree, 138 Rock Chestnut Oak, 338 Rock Elm, 242 Rock Maple, 66 Rose Bay, 189 Rose Family, 119 Rowan-tree, 138 Rue Family, 32 Sandbar Wtllow, 400 Sassafras, 229 Savin, 496 Scarlet-fruited Thorn, 143 Scarlet Haw, 143-144 Scarlet Oak, 354 Scotch Fir, 464 Scotch Pine, 464 Scrub Chestnut Oak, 344 Scrub Oak, 366 Scrub Pine, 456-460 Service-beny, 153 Shad Bush, 153 Shagbark, 282 Shet-pberry, i?i Shellbark Hickory, 282 Shingle Oak, 372 Shining Willow, 398 Short leaf Pine, 458 Silvcrbell-tree, 200 Silver Maple, 73 Slippery Elm, 240 Small-leaved Basswood, 30 Small Magnolia, 3 Smoke-tree, 92 Smooth Sumach, 91 Snowdrop-tree, 202 Soft Maple, 73-77 Sorrel-tree, 192 Sour Gum, 177 Sourwood, 192 Spanish Oak, 362 Spindle-trf e, 46 Spruce Pine, 458 Stag Bush, 184 StaghoJ-n Sumach, 88 Storax Family, 200 Striped Maple, 60 Stump-tree, 109 Sugarberry, 249 Sugar Maple, 66 Sumach Family, 88 Swamp Cottonwood, 410 Swamp Hickory, 279 Swamp Magnolia 3 Swamp Maple, 77 Swamp Spanish Oak, 365 Swamp White Oak, 346 Sweet Bay, 3 Sweet Birch, 311 Sweet Buckeye, 54 Sweet Gum, 160 Sweet Viburnum, 181 S y caTTrore7"^3 Sycamore Maple, 82 Tacmahac, 422 Tamarack, 476 Torch Pine, 454 Tree of Heaven, 36 Tulip-tree, 14 Tupelo, 177 532 INDEX OF COKTMON NAMES Umbrella-tree, 5 Velvet Sumach, 88 Virgilia, 116 Waahoo, 46 Wafer Ash, 32 Wahoo, 246 Walnut Family, 269 Water Elm, 233 Weeping Willuw, 409 Weymouth Pine, 443 White Ash, 206 White Basswood, 30 White Birch. 297-302 White Cedar, 486-489 White Elm, 233 White Maple, 73 White Mulberry, 258 White Oak, 328 White Pine, 443 White Poplar, 428 White Spruce, 464 White Thorn, 143 White Walnut, 274 White Willow, 405 Whitewood, 16 'V\''ild Cherry, 125 Wild Plum, 120 Wild Red Cherry, 122 Willow Family, 393 Willow Oak, 375 Winged Elm, 246 Witch Hazel, 157 Yellow Birch, 310 Yellow Locust, 97 Yellow Oak, 342-357 Yellow Pine, 458 Yellow Poplar, 14 Yellow Willow, 405 Yellow-wood, 116 Yew Family, 499 Yggdrasil, 221 533 BOOKS ON GARDEN FIELD AND WOOD Our Garden Flo^vers By HARRIET L. KEELER Author of " Our Native Trees " and " Our Northern Shrubs." With 96 full-page illustrations from photo- graphs and 186 illustrations from drawings. Crown 8vo, $2.00 net; postage extra. A popular study of the life histories of familiar flowers, their structural affiliations, their native lands, that has those qualities of clearness, thoroughness, and charm of style that have made her other books famous. It is beautifully illustrated. "This book," says its author in her preface, "is the outcome of a life-long search for a volume with which one might make a little journey into the garden, and become acquainted with the dwellers therein; their native land, their life history, their struc- tural affiliations. "Among the many species of a genus it has often been neces- sary to select but one tor description. As a rule the choice has been either the typical form, or the one longest in cultivation, or the greatest favorite. "While it has been the aim to make the book a fairly complete study of all the annual and perennial flowering herbs commonly found in a hardy garden, it is by no means intended to be a catalogue." Full of practical, tested, systematically arranged, and well indexed information. BOOKS ON GARDEN FIELD AND WOOD Our Northern Shrubs By HARRIET L. KEELER With 205 photographic plates and 35 pen-and-ink draw- ings. Crown 8vo, $2.00 net. The volume is prepared not only for the amateur botan- ist who seeks a more adequate description than the text- books afford, and not only for the lover of nature who desires a personal acquaintance with the bushes that grow in the fields; but also to serve those who are engaged in the estabhshment and decoration of city parks, roadways, and boulevards; those who are seeking to beautify country roadsides and railroad stations as well as those who, in the decoration of their own home grounds, would gladly use our native shrubs were their habits and character better understood. "Simple, clear descriptions that a child can understand, are given of shrubs that find their home in the region extending from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River, and from Canada to the boundaries of our Southern States." — Outlook. "There are over two hundred plates from photographs, and a number from drawings. The photographs, all of shrubs in flower or fruit, are very beautiful, and so clear as to make identi- fication perfectly simple." — Dial. "An interesting feature of this book is the sparing but judicious incorporation of quotations from those authors among us who have best interpreted nature." — Churchman. BOOKS ON GARDEN FIELD AND WOOD By Mrs. WILLIAM STARR DANA (FRANCES THEODORA PARSONS) HOW TO KNOW THE WILD FLOWERS With colored plates and black-and-white drawings. Crown 8vo, $2,00 net. " I am delighted with it ... it is exactly the kind of work needed for out-door folk who live in the country but know little of systematic botany. It is a wonder no one has written it be- fore." — Hon. Theodore Roosevelt. "Every flower lover who has spent weary hours puzzling over a botanical key in the effort to name unknown plants, will welcome this satisfactory book which stands ready to lead him to the desired knowledge by a royal road." — The Ahitioii. HOW TO KNOW THE FERNS With 150 full-page illustrations. Crown Svo, $1.50 iief. " This is a notably thorough little volume. The text is not voluminous, and even with its many full-page illustrations the book is small ; but brevity, as we are glad to see so many writ- ers on nature learning, is the first of virtues in this field. . . . The author of 'How to Know the Items' has mastered her subject and she treats it with authority." — AVtc J'or/' Trihiiiie. " The inspiration that entered into and made 'How to Know the 'Wild Flowers' so deservedly popular has not been lost in 'How to Know the Ferns.'" — iVew York Tiiiics. "From cover to index the book is tastefully and skilfully gotten up . . . the illustrations are abundant and well exe- cuted." — The Dial. BOOKS ON GARDEN FIELD AND WOOD By Mrs. WILLIAM STARR DANA (FRANCES THEODORA PARSONS^i ACCORDING TO SEASON Talks about the flowers in the order of their appearance in the woods and fields. With 32 full-page illustra- tions in colors from drawings by Elsie Louise Shaw. $1.75 net. " It is a privilege to own such a book, for its artistic charm and its contents well deserve their setting." — T/ic Dial. " The charm of this book is as pervading and enduring as is the charm of nature." — Nciii Yoj-k Times. " Delightful talks upon the beauty of the changing year and the parts contributed to such pleasures by forest, grove, and stream." — T/ie Interior. By LOUISE SHELTON THE SEASONS IN A FLOWER GARDEN A hand-book of information and instruction for the ama- teur. Illustrated. %\. 00 net. " Pleasant and useful, and may be confidently recommended to amateur gardeners." — New York Times. " A manual admirably adapted in every way to the needs of people who desire to utilize a small garden space to the best possible advantage." — Providence Journal. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 153-157 Fifth Avenue, New York