SELECTION OF FURNITURE   253
Tupelo and black gum are also called gums but are not botani-
cally related to the gum. They are harder and heavier than red
gum and in color range from white to grayish brown. They are
almost identical, but the tupelo is considered superior. Black gum
has a ribbon stripe when quartered. These gums are used for
kitchen furniture and for hidden parts of furniture.
Birch. Birch is considered one of the strongest furniture woods.
It takes and retains finish well over its fine grain, and it can be
made to imitate costlier woods. It is combined with other woods
for strength in plywood and is also used in the construction of
early provincial pieces and bentwood.
Ash. White, green, and black ash all have white sapwood.
The heartwood of white and green ash is light grayish brown;
that of black ash is darker. Ash is desirable furniture wood as it
has a nice grain, is fairly strong and hard, is easily worked, bends
well, and does not warp.
Other American Hardwoods. Beech is a plain, strong wood.
Chestnut resembles oak and is used for outdoor and simple indoor
furniture. Cherry is strong and beautiful in grain and color but
is very scarce. Elm is a durable plain wood. Holly is a hard
white wood used for inlays. Hickory is remarkably strong, tough,
and elastic. However, hickory shrinks and is attacked by bor-
ing insects; pecan is the most popular of the hickory group.
Sycamore is used for concealed parts of furniture mostly, although
it has grain. Cottonwood is soft and uniform in texture.
American Softwoods. Softwoods comprise less than 10 per
cent of the furniture woods in the United States. They are espe-
cially valuable because of their flexibility. Western fir, spruce,
hemlock, red cedar, pine, white pine, and redwood are employed.
Southern yellow pine is used for common furniture. Eastern red
cedar is used largely for chests, because of its fragrance and its
resistance to moth larvae.
Imported Hardwoods. True mahogany is the best known of
the imported woods. It comes from the. West Indies and Central
and South America. The preferable finish for mahogany is now
lighter and reveals the grain of the wood; a dark reddish opaque
finish is fortunately unfashionable. Other imported hard woods
are primavera, tanguile, lauan, rosewood, satinwood, and ebony,