A Ss il 1 O24S54b57 y IN | | 3 17b Brea EARS oe wc e by fb4tgias : “vase ys a at yh Min OPE in teat} at asta t at Leys Mee th 149s apt Wiha Veheiae Bor) il HI? fay iy SUASE Eran rar Me ‘ y Pete sans 2G 4 ‘ He AN As siete Hin Sct t U Vy, VARY u thins nt ey cha MW ene? Pa Wa oN Wee a EN Ki bs phe it . oes parent as nt ete oo ee eneeoe tae aoe «ti ary Cav ayia it yd rel Hedile sf +S ies t, F < : “” Bs ite ARSON tte oo aha ; as SE Sheva’ ier) Lied if eke Asin § # BO St a oe of A AEMae titers EERE ee Bsterearayy o Lf swe « naa fete ay eue ; " a5 8! J a Lee a be iaree Bethke tats Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/familiartreestheOOmathuoft | ann ‘ Sv Mua a iy Maree hey Hae i ; hy iis re i Lal bn ny ¢ hi oh i ne fh 7 ioe inne * ei Pane Tha LIQUIDAMBAR. Leiperville, Delaware Co., Penn. EDITION IN COLORS Familiar Trees and their Leaves Described and Ilustrated by F. Schuyler Mathews Author of Familiar Flowers, Familiar Life in Field and Forest, and Familiar Features of the Roadside With Illustrations in Colors and over Two Hundred Drawings by the Author, and an Introauction by Prof. L. H. Bailey, of Cornell University New York and London D. Appleton and Company IgII CorrniauHT, 1896, 1901, 1911, By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. Printed in the. United States of America a PREFACE TO THE EDITION IN COLORS. One of the most interesting things in connection with the study of nature and the pursuit of art is the study of color. It would take a massive volume profuse with illustrations to adequately describe and portray those phases of color which are common at any hour of the day in the field and woodland. Trees have their moods as well as men, and these are expressed in color which is influenced by, and largely dependent upon, sunlight and atmospheric conditions. To be sure, it is not quite possible to perfectly represent these moods in a process repro- duction of a water-color study; but a suggestion of such character is far better than the complete absence of it, and, it must be acknowledged, mod- ern processes are wonderfully faithful to form and the touch of the artist’s brush. With the hope of more clearly expressing by illustration the life and moods of some of our com- mon trees, the publishers have added to this new edition the likenesses, in color, of the birch, maple, red spruce, liquidambar, and other familiar charac- iii ‘y FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. ters of the field and forest. My sketches in water- color were therefore intentionally impressionistic. I avoided all those petty details which the camera could have given with minute fidelity, and aimed for color and effect, for mass and character. Whether the effort was successful or not remains for the reader to judge. At all events the repro- ductions deserve to be kindly received, because color invariably involves such a stupendous amount of labor in the process of duplication (a fact which few appreciate or understand), and mechanical results are so extremely uncertain even in the hands of a skilled workman. But there is one good point about process : it does not superimpose another man’s hand between the artist and his reproduced picture. It does not distort his drawing, nor does it ignore his technique; in fact, it has now proved itself a fair means of attaining both color and form with some degree of fidelity. A mere black-and-white photo- graph fails to tell half the truth of nature. In June, when the maple and the liquidambar are verdant green, the lifeless photograph takes no account of the fact. Nothing short of palette and brush in the hands of an artist can tell the truth about the field and forest on a rare day of June. The lilac shad- ows, the purple tree trunk, the emerald foliage, the cobalt sky, the warm pink tone of the atmosphere on what is commonly called “an artist’s day ”’—these are not to be photographed. The colored fire of PREFACE TO THE EDITION IN COLORS. Vv cloud and sky, the soft emerald of the meadow broken by the lilac-blue shadow of the stately elm —what can the camera tell of these ? We have some little record of these colors in the tree pictures; they tell how the oak differs from the maple, and the tupelo from either. We must not expect more; it is a simple chromatic demonstra- tion, beyond the boundary of photography. Regarding the scientific nomenclature which is adopted for this book, one word of explanation is necessary. The names are those of Dr. Asa Gray, and his successors connected with the University of Harvard; the addition of Dr. Sargent’s scientific names I considered particularly necessary in defer- ence to his magnificent work, The Silva of North America, to which we must all of us go for a wider knowledge of tree life. All other systems of no- menclature, however popular they may seem to be, seem to me both unnecessary and unreliable, as well as conducive of much confusion, especially to the younger generation. We certainly are in safe hands if we depend upon the botanists of Harvard Univer- sity. It is not necessary to say more than that. F. Scuuyter MatTuews. May 1, 1901. PREFACE. Posststy there are some of us who may not think that a leaf is a thing of beauty. We are prone to > as though use the expression “‘ Nothing but leaves,’ leaves were the worthless, homely, and uninteresting things of an otherwise beautiful creation. They cer- tainly are common, but they are far from -common- place. If we doubt this, let us try to draw or paint a single leaf. Only a great artist can depict all of some one of its manifold truths; one may draw ever so carefully and well, yet he can not tell with the pencil or the brush all the truth and beauty of one leaf. Its color is too waxen and pure to be imitated by earthy pigments; its outline is too subtile, its teeth are too finely and vigorously formed, and its veins are too infinitely complex for one to copy with absolute, lifelike accuracy. No, it is not possible to portray all the beauty of a leaf with the pencil. Yet this work of Nature’s wonderful art is common: the vii ae PREFACE. world is filled with untold billions of leaves, no two of which are exactly alike. This is a case in point where Nature distinctly shows that infinity of character which sometimes balks all attempts at a rigid classification. I am still of the opinion that types and rules are valuable only as guide-posts are on a strange path. The drawings and descriptions set forth in this volume, which pro- ceeded from original investigation with an attempt to give a different point of view from that of the professional botanist, remain as good to-day as they were when the book first appeared. But meantime the characteristic unrest of the scientific mind has produced important changes in both nomenclature and classification. The International Congress of Botanists, held at Vienna, June, 1905, established a code which now meets with universal acceptation —leastwise among all generous and broad-minded botanists. These recent changes involve more than the super- ficial naming of plants: they mean that a plant or a tree is at last placed where it belongs relatively with some other plant or tree. To be sure, botanical re- search is ever going on, new species are constantly turning up, and old ones are proving to have been insufficiently studied. One is not disposed to com- PREFACE, ix plain, therefore, at the botanist’s redistribution of scientific names; it means an advance, and some slight confusion very naturally precedes reorganiza- tion. Everything is not yet settled, and further changes are bound to come; still, so far as the lim- ited number of species are concerned which are con- tained in this book, it seems likely that they will not be disturbed hereafter. It is gratifying to know that after the lapse of quite a number of years Familiar Trees is a suffi- ciently successful book to require a second revised edition. This revision in a great measure relates to its scientific nomenclature which follows the initia- tive of the seventh edition of Gray’s Manual, revised by Dr. B. L. Robinson and Prof. M. L. Fernald, and under their supervision illustrated by me. It has been my privilege, therefore, to acquire a clearer insight into the reason and need for the nomencla- torial changes through my association with those who accomplished that excellent work. But I have con- cluded that it would be wiser, on the whole, to retain all the old names and place them just over the new ones, thus giving the reader the opportunity of see- ing precisely the extent of the revision. It is a curious coincidence that a large number of Professor Sargent’s names exactly accord with those of the . PREFACE. seventh edition of the Manual, so on that account it has been quite unnecessary to change the index in any respect. The supplement, being alphabetically arranged, furnishes an index in itself, and, of course, it contains all the nomenclatorial revisions. The introduction in the supplement of a score of hew species—that is, species new to the book—re- sults from the fact that some new Birches, Ashes, and Maples have been discovered in the past decade, and also that a number of rather rare trees have become somewhat common. In all cases I have drawn or described these species from types in the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University. One is disposed to believe that the work of investigation connected with the tribe Betula is not yet altogether complete, for there are some very puzzling phases of the northern Birches; but the reader will undoubtedly be glad to know that both Professor Fernald’s and Mr. Blanch- ard’s trees are not difficult to find in the localities given in this book. That there is always the trouble- some “ intergradient ” with which one must reckon goes without saying; in that case it is better to sub- mit the specimen to the botanist. But the guidance which one may obtain from a careful drawing, it must be acknowledged, is almost limitless. It was John Ruskin who once said (it is one of his char- PREFACE. xi acteristic sweeping assertions which carries with it a tiny grain of truth) that in time every plant and tree would be drawn and there would be no further need for botanies! As a matter of fact, the latest approved scientific name of a tree is not an aid to its identification, nor is the succinct technical phrase constituting a botanical definition the last word that may be said of a leaf. It often remains for the photograph or the artist’s brush to discover by a glance of the eye those subtle truths which no words can accurately measure or describe. F. Scuuyter Matuews. Ex Fureipis, Buarr, Campton, N. H., August, 1910. Jenetiagtte es, woth fies iM > ‘crite athe eet i he moe VR Tia! tae dt in it, INTRODUCTION. TREE growth is a constant source of wonder to one who contemplates Nature. The rigid bole, the bracing and far-searching roots, the outspreading top with its myriad members and its infinite variety of form and expression, all combine to make an organ- ism in which strength, durability, gracefulness, and tenderness are all at once the dominant characteristics. In all the range of Nature there is no object which so commonly inspires the tenderer and finer emotions, and which would leave the earth so bare of loveliness if it were to be removed. Itself devoid of person- ality, it still lends itself to the expression of all the feelings of the heart. It is gay or sad, warm or cold, peaceful or restive, the reflection of the passing mood of the observer. Every one loves the trees, though he may not know it, and it often happens that those love them best who know them least. I mean to say that one who attempts to analyze the kinds and spe- cies may wholly overlook the tree itself in his search xiii xiv FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. for details. The tree exists as an individuality wholly aside from its name and classification -and botanical technicalities. There are, then, two ways of know- ing a tree. One is the way of human feeling and sympathy, through which a tree becomes a part of one’s self, as the sunshine does. It is identified with every hallowed experience. The influence of its be- nignant branches throws a savor into the commonest nooks and corners of our lives. Another way to know the tree is the botanical or analytical way. This method sternly scrutinizes every detail. This is essential to truth, but not to feeling. It is so likely to restrict and dwarf the vision and the sympathies as to make the tree but a laboratory filled with curiously fashioned mechanisms. Some persons are slaves to facts. There are botanists, no doubt, who know all the kinds of trees, but who have never seen the greenness and verdure and sublimeness of the woods. Yet, despite the narrow vision which may come from the analytical study of plants, there is no in- herent reason why the person who traces the veins in the leaf, counts the seeds in the pod, and unravels the structure in the wood, may not also see the tree of which all these charming details are but the various parts. Fortunately, the greater number of persons will always desire to know the tree as an entirety; but they may enjoy it the more if at the same time INTRODUCTION, XV they have some knowledge of its kinships and its names. The name is the index to all that has been written about it,—a means of learning its range, its habits, and its uses. Such persons approach the tree in a different spirit than the botanist does. They want an easy and personal method of apprehending it. They have no desire to discover or record scien- tific facts. They are not of the analytical turn of mind. They simply want an introduction to the trees whom they meet. Their desire is as legiti- mate as the botanist’s, and it is more necessary that it be satisfied. The botanist can make his own helps, if need be. I am glad of every new book, therefore, which invites people to see and to know Nature. That method of treatment is best which in- terests the greatest number of persons. If only the statements are clear and accurate, the critic has no right to condemn the book. If the book is made for the people, time is the only judge of its merits. As foliage is the most obvious feature of trees, aside from form, it would seem that leaf-forms afford the most useful basis of introduction to a common knowl- edge of trees; and if, in addition, the artist draws and describes the objects as he sees them, the result must be beneficent. | L. H. Barzey. CorNnELL University, May, 1896, A PLAN FOR LEAF IDENTIFICATION. All leaves may be divided into five general classes, as follows: I. Simple alternate-growing leaves. II. Simple opposite-growing leaves. Ill. Compound alternate-growing leaves. 1V. Compound opposite-growing leaves. V. Evergreen leaves, of the Pine family. The first four classes which comprise the deciduous leaves are sub- divided into two classes, as follows: 1. Without teeth. 2. With teeth. These two classes are again subdivided, as follows: A. Edge not divided or cut into. B. Edge divided or cut into. Class V is subdivided as follows : 1. With long needles. 2. With short, flat, blunt needles, or with soft needles, 3. With short, sharp needles, or with scales. Under this general classification the leaves are arranged in botanical 3uccession through the following chapters: I. Simple alternate leaves: ; A. Edge not divided. Chap. II. 1. Without teeth. | Rdge divided. Chap. ine : A. Edge not divided. Chaps. IV to 1X. 2 LE | B. Edge divided. Chaps. X to XIII. II. Simple opposite leaves : 1. Without teeth. A. Edge not ee eee a : A. Edge not divided. ap. : 2a WW 1h neath, | B. Edge divided. Chap. XVI. III. Compound alternate leaves : : Leaflets bordering main 1. Without teeth. | leaf stem. . Chap. XVII. eT Leaflets bordering main 2. With teeth. | cate Chap. XVIII. IV. Compound opposite leaves : 1. Without and Leaflets bordering main with teeth. leaf stem. Chap. XIX. 2. With teeth. Leaflets radiating. Chap. XX. VY. Evergreen leaves, of the Pine family: 1. With long needles. Chap. XXI. 2. With short, flat, blunt needles, or with soft needles. Chap. XXII. 3. With short, sharp needles, or with scales. Chap. XXIII. Xvi COLORED PRINTS OF TREES. FACING PAGE Liquidambar : a : f . : Frontispiece Tupelo. : : 3 é : : : : : aoa Sassafras. ‘ ; ‘ ‘ ‘ : : : edo Paper, Canoe, or White Birch . ‘ j : Sou eoe: Chestnut. : : 3 ‘ A : x 5 OG White Oak . ‘ , , : : : 2 : . 146 Sugar Maple : : é : a : . : Les Black Walnut. : : : 2 : : ; . 226 Hickory : ‘ 3 , s : ; F ‘ . 229 Fir Balsam . ; : és : 4 : : + 2218 Red Spruce . ‘ : ; : 5 : ; : . 282 Red Cedar . A 4 : : : - 2 ae98 xvii ke i 3 it Ki THE PAINTED BEECH. FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. CHABTER —L THE LEAF AS A BUILDER. Tue trees may be justly numbered among our best friends, for the simple reason that our lives are inseparably connected with and greatly benefited by them. But we need to know our leafy friends , better. It is not enough to be able to distinguish an ash from a hickory, or a fir from a spruce; it is more important by far that we should become ac- quainted with the form and character of the leaves, the fruit, and the bark and thus acquire a fuller knowledge of the way the tree lives. To know a tree is to become familiar with the purpose and condition of its life. This is revealed in no small measure by the leaves. The needle of the pine enables the tree to withstand a hurricane on a mountain top, yet its slender figure is perfectly adapted to the task of gathering light and air for the 1 9 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. tree’s life. The broad-leaved buttonwood would fall before the gale which the pine successfully weathers. Se, ries ute eee «iy ca WT Ait i (Gt ' ae Be = by alee 2S it BRE = = SS > al \h: ‘“‘The rough and fuzzy leaf of the Slippery Elm,” Se THE LEAF AS A BUILDER. 3 Not less plainly does the diversity of character in a leaf reveal the diversity of tree life itself. No two leaves are exactly alike; no two trees are exactly alike. There are spe- cific as well as generic differ- iA \ \\ ZX K \ ‘ a ° : fi i rugged, wild, and struggling an Ss a ; i \\ \\\ 2. = life ; another an easy, luxurious ences which are _ strongly marked. One tree leads a q j == ° \\ \ \) Ez life. The rough and fuzzy leaf \ ) eee of the slip- \\) i = pery elm, the VS ) silky leaf of Yi the beech, the shiny leaf of the gray birch, these are all widely differ- ent; but there are also dis- tinct differences between the leaves of different kinds of birches, elms, and maples. Still, there are puzzling similarities, and one is often compelled to study minute details in order to make sure of a particular species. ‘The silky leaf of the Beech.” 4 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. We find no more than just so many berries on a stem, and this fact decides a species; the leaves grow just so many in a cluster, and this decides anoth- er species; the bark is marked thus and so, and there is no further doubt about yet another species. It is plain, therefore, that by comparative ex- Nyssa biflora; amination we can decide lease a beyond peradventure what the tree is by its leaf, its fruit, or its bark. But it is with the leaves that we have chiefly to do; in almost all cases their assistance is sufficient for the identification of the tree. I have consequently arranged them in the succeeding chapters according to a progression from simple to complex forms. Fig. A is the sim- Nyssa uniflora ; not more than one berry. plest form of a leaf; it is without divisions and has an entire and unbroken edge. But this is not all which we must look at; it is a most important fact to know how the leaf grew. Did it spring THE LEAF AS A BUILDER. 5 from the twig in alternate order with its neighbors, or did it grow opposite a neighbor? Fig. B shows how leaves grow alternate- ly; but Fig. C also shows how alternately - growing leaves sometimes double up, and, growing thus in pairs, appear to be opposite. But 4 ijn Yo Y i , wy 5 rf ve it is the main branchlet to which the term “ opposite” applies, and Fig. D illustrates the way opposite leaves seem to spring out from either side of the branchlet. The next simple form of a Fie. A.—Catalpa Leaf. leaf is one which is divided or “cut into,” but is FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES, x XN ces Aan\var SW NR) ASS ‘ SAW /\ : . It we t yea hy! v7 if a xv ~ EUAN = Fie. B.—Yellow Birch. THE LEAF AS A BUILDER. y | Ny =< : Wy? WAYGZAX SS Y a, \ = \Z Aly — 2 a, Kd a SN Ae Ml 4 Ii WES AN f ) LS, SS = Ay ZEA \ AF Z \\ ABE \ ZI \x ZZ ZINN —— eS 8 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. fl } i), et i | = ; Ae ti SS: Nh LZ ee li, TT \\\ ms ats Is Fic. D.—Striped Maple. “THE LEAF AS A BUILDER. 9 still without a toothed edge. The lobed leat of the sassafras is a good illustration of this type (see Fig. E). The toothed leaf of the yellow birch (see Fig. B) comes next among the simpler forms; but even this type is not quiteas / Fie. E.—Sassafras Leaf. simple as that of the beech leaf (see the second drawing in this chapter), for the birch as well as the slippery-elm leaf is double- toothed, while the beech leaf is the plain- est, shallowest-toothed affair which Nature has designed. Perhaps Viburnum dentatum, which will be found in a succeeding chapter, has , ‘ “NS ly N WN AF WW a leaf almost correspond- vi ee, ni Z | NW g\, WEE JES ingly simple, but the teeth SU ae Nya ARN > are cut deeper, and the SV id ; = A yf Ls fe f-- veining is not nearly so Wf OWES: s SEES npr plain. LP =e fe OAS Oe ga . \ /Ovige Zs = aa > = WW. Ay v) Vn ' LA Z- sm = |? = y AS Z = — Se x} wer NS SARS SS AY Re) . “1 he) ze X NSS 4 \ . \ a ee 3 ! NY : RO GUA. Qe) BNR ee ss 4 wy \ ; ST oc a | ae SL FU | a ON yh N . Kw 4h i y yi ,\\ , Zlbly i o S Ys ; = - DN HBL AN RE Norte yh WES Via) WA AW Pt ew AW Hy) Sy IN SS y) te iu wy % \ A hs ih) wy S Ss | \ \ if é Mf AN— If "y 5 Y S \ E \ \ fy, WN Qh . ti) “NY i e\ : ahh lig ) li Ly Y THE LEAF AS A BUILDER. 11 it is an extreme type. A less pronounced variety of this sort of leaf is Fig. G; here there are hardly Fie. H.—White Ash. any teeth at all, and the few are large enough to be called “ divisions,” or, better yet, subdivisions. 12 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES y' AG ll we (eZ SS Fic. I.—Pignut. THE LEAF AS A BUILDER, 13 Next in order comes a compound leaf without teeth, and following it one with teeth. (Figs. H and I illustrate these two types perfectly.) Lastly comes the horse-chestnut leaf, which has a radiating form (see Fig. J), which is the extreme type of complexity in a leaf. These types comprise all the leaves of trees out- side of the pine family; the needle leaves of the latter are too simply formed to require explanations beyond those given in the chapters devoted to the evergreens. The possession of a simple method whereby we may identify a tree by its leaf is a stepping stone to a better knowledge of the tree itself. It seems a strange fact that we do not fully comprehend the great value of the billions and billions of leaves that clothe the vast forests which, as time progresses, are slowly disappearing before the axe. The cubic feet of lumber which a tree yields are not nearly as valuable to us as the leaves which the living tree puts forth season after season. The greatest sphere of usefulness which a tree occupies is connected with its life. It is a great air- purifier ; it absorbs from the atmosphere the carbonic- acid gas which is poisonous to us; it holds and slowly dispenses moisture which the parched air needs; it gives out the ozone (or oxygen in an active electro- negative condition) which is peculiarly conducive to FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 14 5 Hh ie S— Fia. J.—Horse-Chestnut Leaf. THE LEAF AS A BUILDER. 15 our health ; and it modifies heat which would other- wise be overpowering. Step into the thick woods from an open space on a very hot day, and imme- diate relief is experienced from the intense heat. This is not wholly the result of shade furnished by the trees; much of it proceeds from the modifi- cation of the air through the breathing of the tree leaves. These leaves not only absorb heat and sun- light, but also carbonic-acid gas, and through tiny channels transmit them to the growing wood fiber of the tree. The fact is, a tree is built up far more by the sun and the atmosphere than it is by the soil from which it grows. In the delicate structure of the leaf, which, upon close examination, we will see is composed of a complicated net work of nervelike “ veins,” carbonic- acid gas is broken up into carbon, which is retained by the tree to form its woody structure, and into oxygen, which is liberated and passes into the atmos- phere. Each leaf, therefore, is a builder and an air- regulator of a nature which is beneficial to us. Its capacity for heat and sunshine is something astonish- ing. I have estimated that a certain sugar maple of large proportions, which grows near my cottage, puts forth in one season about four hundred and thirty- two thousand leaves; these leaves combined present a surface to sunlight of about twenty-one thousand 3 16 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. six hundred square feet, or an area equal to pretty nearly half an acre. Every inch of this expanse breathes zn life for the tree, and owt health for man, while it absorbs in the aggregate an enormous amount of heat and sunlight. In time of rain it also holds the moisture, and allows it to evaporate by slow degrees when hot days return. The forests are vast sponges, which, through the agency of leaves, soak up the beneficent raindrops and compel them to pass slowly through shaded channels to the parched lands beyond. It is indeed quite impossible to over- estimate the value of the billions and billions of leaves which work and build for the benefit of hu- manity. Only forty per cent of a tree is utilized by the woodsman ; the pity of it is that the waste is so fearfully out of proportion to the gain. I do not say that a waste of leaves is a very serious loss, but I do say that the wanton destruction of more than half the tree, with its thousands of leaf-workers, is inex- cusably careless. A tree is most likely felled at an immature age ;* how much larger it would grow if given an extra ten years’ lease of life some of us would be astonished to learn. In that time a sugar maple I call to mind, at * Spruce and pine “sticks” (the trimmed logs) are floated down the Merrimack River to the lowland mills by thousands, not one of which measures more than nine or ten inches in diameter. THE LEAF AS A BUILDER. 7 first but eight feet high, grew to measure fully thirty feet, and expanded over a space three times as great as that it originally occupied.’ An elm, now probably thirty years old, in the same length of time added fifteen feet to its stature, and spread ten feet in the radius of a circle. This tree is before me as I write. Another, which stood four feet high in 1870, and twenty feet in 1885, now reaches over thirty-five feet above the point it started from. A white pine, which ten years ago had a stem as thick as a portiere pole, and a height only a trifle superior to my own, I can now walk under without stooping; its trunk meas- ures twenty-three inches in circumference, and its topmost bough is twenty feet above the ground. Four firs, which ten years ago measured twelve feet, now stand over twenty feet high. A silver maple, which I planted when it was but four inches high, in ten years grew nearly twenty feet. Two sugar ma- ples, which looked like bean poles when they were set out in 1875, are now symmetrically egg-shaped, and reach far above the ridgepole of the neighboring house ; in ten years’ time I estimate that these trees expanded six feet in all directions, and their trunks nearly doubled their diameter. The imperceptible and irresistible force with which a tree grows I have found curiously demon- strated in a certain butternut, around which was built 18 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. a rustic arbor some ten years ago. The roof was un- wisely fastened close about the trunk, to exclude the rain; now the rafters are forced asunder fully six inches on either side of the tree, and an opening of that width shows itself in the arbor roof. What is most astonishing is the way three or four six-inch iron spikes have retained their original position, while the wood has been forced (regardless of the nail-heads) entirely beyond them. According to recent tests, it takes a pulling force of six tons to dislodge a six-inch nail. Think, then, of a tree growing with an irresistible pushing force of thirty-six thousand pounds, and this merely the trunk expansion! It is remarkable, also, to see how a tree apparently growing out of a bowlder holds it with an iron grasp, as its vigorous roots (much in the way one’s fingers encircle a ball) pass over it on their way down to the nourishing soil below. There are several trees growing this way in the charming woods opposite the Flume House, Franconia Mountains ; one may see them beside the path leading to the Pool. The life of a tree is not only interesting, but it is ot more value to us than we can easily estimate. The loss of large areas of air-vivifying leaves is a menace to our health. Forests prevent sudden changes of temperature in all seasons of the year; they decrease THE LEAF AS A BUILDER. 19 the frequency of destructive frosts in early autumn, and they maintain an equable climate in winter; they absorb and give out heat more slowly than the open fields, and they act as a screen to land lying to the leeward of blasting winter winds. When we interest ourselves in tree life we begin to realize how great a worker and builder the leaf is. It builds the tree, and it works for our benefit. So intimately is it con- nected with the tree life, that from it proceeds a tiny channel, or nerve, so to speak, down the trunk to the very root of the tree. John Ruskin, in Modern Painters, vol. iv, speaks thus of the leaf-worker: “ It leads a life of endurance, effort, and various success, issuing in various beauty ; and it connects itself with the whole previous edifice by one sustaining thread, continuing its appointed piece of work all the way from top to root.” CHAPTER II. i. Simple Alternate Leaves. 1. Without teeth. A. Edge undivided. THE MAGNOLIAS, ETC. Tue simplest possible leaf which grows on a tree —I ought rather to say, which helps to build one— we will find on the Southern magnolia. This tree, which leads all others in botanical classification, puts forth a leaf of the plainest design we can discover in Nature—a leaf of an elliptical figure with pointed ends, plain as the plainest New England farmhouse without cornice, dormer, or column, and quite as re- freshingly simple. The magnolias are distinctly Southern trees, with dark, shining, evergreen leaves, which are more or less out of tune with a Northern environment. Just as the sober olive has its perfect setting in the bril- liant light and color of Italy and Syria, so the deep- hued magnolia finds its most congenial surroundings in the sunny South; and no doubt Nature is aware of this fact, for she does not allow the trees to ex- 20 THE MAGNOLIAS, ETC. 21 pand to their normal size in the North. The mag- nolia in New Orleans is quite a giant compared with his fellow which has been exiled to bleak New Eng- land. Away from the Southern swamps or the pictur- esque streets and gardens of Mobile and New Or- leans, separated from its natural associates, the pecan, cypress, and fig tree, the magnolia can not be seen in the prime of its strength and beauty. The finest of the species is the great- Great-flowered : Magnolia, or flowered magnolia, or bull bay. In Bull Bay. the South this ae beautiful grandiflora. aN oS — ‘AN Ah, \ ve a ch lech Ss i) \ ft i tt : Uli M Magnolia grandiflora. reaches a height of from 60 to 80 feet; its trunk, which is not infrequently as much as four feet in diameter, is of a harsh brown gray color, and is coy- ered with scales about an inch in length. The deep- 92 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. green leaf is from five to eight inches long, thick, shiny above, and somewhat rusty beneath. The ma- jestic and lilylike flowers measure seven or eight inches across; they are cream-white, exceedingly fra- grant, and bloom from April to June in the South, but as late as early August in the North. The finest growth of this tree, according to Prof. Sargent, is in western Louisiana, where it forms a conspicuous feature of the forest.* It grows wild in river swamps and pine barrens as far north as the Carolinas, and is a most familiar and _ beautiful object in the streets and gardens of the Southern cities. This great-flow- ered magnolia, the only perfectly ever-green species, is not hardy in the North—a pity, for it is certainly the most magnificent flowering tree of our country. Small Magnolia— The small Sweet Bay. magnolia, or Magnolia glauca. sh Magnolia sweet bay, 1s Virginiana. ~ frequently reduced to the condition of a shrub in the North, but southward it attains a * Vide Silva of North America, C. S. Sargent. THE MAGNOLIAS, ETC. 23 height of 50 feet or more, and has a trunk two or three feet in diameter if circumstances are favorable to a perfect development. Its bark is light brown- gray; the new twigs are decidedly green, and turn a ruddy hue as they grow older. The leaves are thick, oval-shaped, obtuse, and at most not over six inches long; the middle rib is very prominent, the stem slender, and the surface below very whitish. In the South the old leaves remain on the tree until the new ones appear; in the North they fall in Novem- ber. The cream-white flowers are much the same shape as the yellow pond lily, roundish, and bloom from May to August; they are also fragrant. This tree, frequently seen in gardens, in its wld state is never found north of Gloucester, Mass., and is mere- ly local there; it appears also beside the red maple and andromeda bush in the deep swamps of New Jersey; from there it extends southward near the coast, and forms with the loblolly and red bay almost impenetrable thickets in Florida, especially in the interior swamps and pine barrens.* Cucumber Tree, LHe cucumber tree in the South Magnolia grows from 50 to 90 feet high, but sundabeaoamar ve Sta only a moderate size in the North. In beauty it is not to be compared with the * Vide Silva of North America, C. S. Sargent. 94 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. luxuriant, sweet-flowered magnolias. The somewhat tulip-shaped flowers, which come late in spring, are three inches wide, greenish ; yellow-white, and fragrant. Magnolia acuminata. The leaves are rather thin, dark green above, lighter green and slightly downy below, and they measure from seven to ten inches in length. They are widely distributed along the branch and not clustered at the end. The orange-red seeds of the peculiar, curved fruit-cone ripen in autumn;* when green, the cone resembles a small cucumber; it is about two or three inches long. The wood is soft, durable, and light ; it has been extensively used for pump logs and water troughs. This tree grows wild from western New York southwestward to Arkansas, and southward to southern Alabama; it is one of the largest of * The seeds, on being released from the pods, hang suspended by little white filaments, like those of the great and small mag- nolias, THE MAGNOLIAS, ETC. 25 the magnolias, and is a rapid grower, but its nar- row-petaled flowers are rather poor-looking in com- parison with the beautiful white ones of the two foregoing species. Yellow Cucumber Lhe yellow cucumber tree has really Tree, beautiful lemon-yellow flowers, which Sat cordata. form a very dainty color combina- acuminata, tion with its rich foliage. This tree var. cordaia. +. a native of Georgia and South Carolina; it has been eul- tivated in gardens for nearly a century, and its beauty is 4 deserving of close Sah attention. It is found to be quite hardy as far north as Boston, where it sur- vives the cold of that trying climate.* The leaves are similar to = 4 ea . y \\\\\ u t S those of the foregoing Ke We Wo species, but they are broadly oval, decidedly Magnolia cordata. woolly-white beneath, and less pointed at the ends. * There are two specimens of this tree in the botanic garden of Harvard University. 26 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. Gray says they are seldom cordate * (heart-shaped at the base). The yellow flowers are often slightly streaked with red. The tree grows from 20 to 50 teet high. The great-leaved Great-leaved r : Magnolia, . Magnolia is a Magnolia Southern tree, — macrophylla. , “ee’”~ with huge, deep- green leaves (sometimes not less \Y NN : Ne than thirty inches long) clus- aK tered at the summit of the branches ; they are also woolly-white beneath, and are narrowed down to two small scallops at the base. The bell-shaped flowers are truly Brobdingnagian, for BZ Ny aE, © they measure fully eight and even twelve inches across. They are mildly Magnolia aceon: fragrant, and are cream-white, of a very soft tone, with a dull pinkish spot at the base of the petal. The tree grows from 30 to 50 feet high, and is found in its wild state from Ken- tucky and North Carolina southward. It is culti- vated as far north as Boston, where, in Jamaica Plain, one of the suburbs, there are two beautiful * The species name Magnolia cordata was given it by the younger Michaux; but Prof. Sargent considers this magnolia a variety of M. acuminata. MAGNOLIA MACROPHYLLA. From a photograph by Mr. A. R. Wilmarth, Jamaica Plain, Mass. THE MAGNOLIAS, ETC. 27 specimens about 20 feet high, some of whose flow- ers measure nine inches in diameter. Umbrella Tree, Lhe umbrella tree gets its name from Magnolia Umbrella. the resemblance which the leafy ends Magnolia tripetal. & the branches bear to an umbrella, the leaves being arranged in a circle, with veins and stems radiating from a common center; the umbrella- like appearance is readily per- ceived by one who stands below. It was first — er / Af pte 1, Magnolia tripetala. called parasol or umbrella tree by the early settlers in the South. The leaves are from eighteen to twenty inches long, deep green above and lighter green beneath ; they are downy (on the under side) when young, but soon grow smooth. The cream- white flowers, six to eight inches across, with rather 98 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. narrow petals, have a strong and somewhat dis- agreeable odor; they bloom in May and June. The height of the umbrella tree is from 30 to 40 feet; its branches are usually contorted, and after sprawl- ing out quite a distance from the trunk they turn up and grow nearly parallel with it. The bark is light gray, smooth, but sometimes blistered. The tree is found in parks and gardens; it grows wild from New York southward, along the Alleghany Mountains, and attains its greatest size in the valleys extending from the western slopes LI of the Great Smoky i QQ "L4 Mountains in Tennes- ff ET AR emits see ; southward its limit Me ~ : is central Alabama, and Ss westward, southwest- ern Arkansas. \ Ear-leaved The ear Ne Umbrella Tree. i VN yy Magnolia leaved \ AN \ \ i v Fraserit. tumbrel- la tree grows from 30 to 40 feet high. The flowers, six to nine inches in diam- eter, are cream- f Magnolia Fraseri. white, slightly sweet- THE MAGNOLIAS, ETC. 29 scented, and bloom from May to June. The leaf, searcely a foot long, is similar to that of the umbrel- la tree, but is conspicuously heart-shaped at the base. This tree is found from south- western Virginia southward ; west- \\ \\ \ ward it extends to the valley of the Pearl River, Mis- sissippi ; and it is seen in cultivation as far north as New York city. Papaw—Custard The papaw, or cus- Apple. tard apple, has a Soe a) ene veemilar’ in shape to that of Magnolia Umbrel- la, and is another Southern tree Papaw. which does not attain its nornral proportions in the North. In rich soil and a warm climate the tree will grow to a height of 35 feet or more. It is sometimes cultivated, but grows wild from New York southward, and westward to southern Mich- igan and Texas. The best growth is found in the valleys of streams which are tributary to the lower Ohio River. Nearly all parts of the unfortunate tree smell badly, including the flowers, which are 30 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. prettily triple-formed and have a soft, purplish-red hue. The leaves are eight to twelve inches long, thin, rusty-downy beneath when young, but event- ually smooth. The straight trunk, perhaps ten inches in diameter, has smooth, shiny, silver-gray bark ; the branches, marked lengthwise with little grooves, are slender and spreading, with bark of a light reddish- brown color. The fruit of this tree is rather shape- less and bulky, three to five inches long, yellow and soft inside, dark brown and wrinkled outside, and has a fragrant, sweet taste greatly prized by the Southern negro. It is ripe in September or early October. In the unripe condition the greenish skin is smooth, with a bloom, and the pulp is disagreeable to the taste. It is said that the fruit has the most deli- cate flavor after having been frozen. In the South, where the trees are common, the fruit is brought into market; but, at best, those who like it must confess to an acquired taste. Red Bud—Judes lhe red Tree. bud is a Cercis Canadensis. very small tree, 40 or 50, but com- ha monly not over 25 feet high, famous for the beauty of its dainty clusters of small pale crim- THE MAGNOLIAS, ETC. 31 son-magenta flowers, the petals lighter, which ap- pear from March till May before the leaves are out. These leaves are four inches long, dark green, smooth and glossy, and perfectly heart-shaped; they turn yellow in the fall. The French Canadians use the acid flowers in their salads and pickles. The name ‘Judas tree” is handed down to us by tradition ; in olden times it was believed that this tree was the one on which Judas hanged himself. The red bud is common from New York southward and westward to Alabama and Missouri, and is most abundant in Indian Territory and eastern Texas; it is also fre- quently seen in cultivation. There is a very pretty but small specimen opposite the Public Library on Millmont Street, Roxbury, Mass. The tupelo or sour Tupelo—Sour Gum. Nyssa sylvatica. gum reaches its finest proportions in the South, but it is j more or less com- mon from central ' New York south- ward, and westward to Michigan. In the extreme Northeast it may occasionally be found as far as Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica). Vermont and southern Maine; but I have never seen the tree in New Hampshire. It is medium 4 32 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. in size (rarely it grows 45 feet high), and has hori- zontal branches, a rough grayish trunk, and ellipti- cal pointed leaves about two to five inches long, dark shiny green above but lighter below. The leaves turn a brilliant dark red in the autumn. The wood is exceedingly close-grained, tough, and hard to split; for this reason it is employed in the making of hubs, pul- leys, and mauls. In Virginia it is much used by the ship-builders. The leaf of the water tupelo is Water Tupelo. Nyssa biflora. ee ieee Nyssa seni Rs Ae nearly like that of the foregoing species, but it is smaller; we must rely, therefore, on other means for the identification of the tree. It grows from the pine barrens of New Jersey southward. The blue fruit is smaller, and the stone is decidedly flattened and strongly ridged ; this is not the case in the other tupelo, which bears a larger fruit with a rounder stone (ovoid) scarcely ridged at all. Large Tupelo, Lhe large tupelo bears a leaf from Nyssa uniflora. four to ten inches long, which is Nyssa aquatica. sometimes angularly toothed, and often quite downy beneath; it is also apt to be a SOUR GUM OR TUPELO. Bucks Ce., Penn. THE MAGNOLIAS, ETC. 33 trifle heart-shaped at the base. This tree bears soli- tary flowers, and fruit about an inch long with a flat- tened and ridged stone. It is found in water or deep swamps, from Virginia and Illinois southward. These three tu- pelos may easily be dis- tinguished apart, by reason of their different fruit and flowers; for in- Large Tupelo. stance, one can not find Vyssa biflora with more than three flowers on one stem, and in the greatest number of cases it has only two. The single flower or fruit also unmis- takably indicates VV. aquatica. The persimmon, sometimes called Persimmon. cane date plum, is distinctively a Southern Diospyros : Virgiwana. tree, although it may be found as far north as Long Island or southern Connecticut ;* but only in the South will the tree be seen fully devel- oped; here it grows, when unobstructed, 40 or 50 feet high, with widely spreading branches; in the forests it attains a height of 100 feet or more. The dark-green leaf is from two to five inches long, rather * The specimen which I have sketched grows in Bucks County, Pa., and is over 40 feet in height. 84 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. thick, smooth and shining above, lighter colored and a trifle downy below; the ribs are greatly curved and irregular. The bark of the trunk is dark reddish brown, deeply divided into rather square-looking sections. The short-stemmed, plumlike fruit, which is about an inch or a little more in diameter, rip- ens in mid-summer south- ward, but not until No- vember northward. It is pale orange of a ruddy tone when fully ripe, and at has a_pleas- At ES “1A Ny Wi : es = Sts p Ww Wily Sc = =. ant, sweet wy hy, Fa S\ flavor after Ny a) “SS: = 4 ARS ag Tha oe SS 4 \ 2 — frost,* which Bove. wt, Ws SN seems neces- sary to render it edible. One rash bite of a per- simmon before it has reached its fullest development * This, however, is a matter of opinion. There are those who insist that the fruit is best ripened defore frost, for, although the © latter removes the disagreeable astringency, it also destroys the flavor, particularly if the fruit has not reached a certain stage of maturity. Ina half-dried condition a persimmon has the shriv- eled appearance of a raisin, and it tastes not unlike a date. PERSIMMON TREE, BUCKS CO., PA. From a photograph by Mr, N, Williams. THE MAGNOLIAS, ETC. 35 sets every tooth “on edge”; this remarkable as- tringency proceeds from the tannin it contains. The wood of the persimmon is close-grained, hard, and blackish in color; it is peculiarly adapted to carvy- ing. The kaki, or Japanese persimmon (Diospyros kakt), one of the principal fruit trees of Japan, is now planted in the Southern States, where it seems perfectly at home. It has a picturesque, con- torted figure, large, leathery, shining leaves, and luscious fruit, which sometimes measures two inches in diameter. Carolina Red Bay. Lhe Carolina red Persea Carolinensis, bay, which grows, fersea Bortonia. according to. cir- cumstances, 15 or even 70 feet high, is another Southern tree. It is found in the low grounds or swamps of Delaware and the South. Its leaves, two to five inches long, are downy when young, but soon grow smooth; they are evergreen. The flowers, which appear in summer, are inconspicuous, and of a greenish-white color. The berry, half an inch long, is dark blue with a red stem ; it ripens in autumn. Carolina Red Bay. CHAPTER III. I. Simple Alternate Leaves. 1, Without teeth. B. Edge divided. THE TULIP TREE AND SASSAFRAS. Tur tulip tree is also known as white- Tulip Tree— Whitewood. wood, but this name is commonly ap- Liriodendron plied to the lumber. The wood, Tulipifera. however, is far from white; it is rather dull greenish yellow, sparingly streaked here and there with dark or blackish brown. This tree is often a remarkable sight in May or June, with its countless greenish-yellow “tulips,” touched inside with orange, which measure four or more inches across. ‘The whole effect of color is worth study. It is as esthetic and lovely as it is curious amid the plainer green of other trees. The tulip tree attains a gigantic size in the South and West; it measures not infrequently 140 feet in height and eight feet in diameter; sometimes specimens are found which are 160 to 190 feet in height. The trunk often carries an almost uniform 36 THE TULIP TREE AND SASSAFRAS. ot f NG , if - N IY \ iy WOgy QE a; ’ M ar X ky; WA Qh NU, SS Ze EN \i We \ G \ iy Y & >» \ , VW ‘ Ls l SNS aN : XQ) Ws R RRR << \ Wav SO Tulip tree. 388 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. diameter for forty feet upward, and when near the summit divides itself into strong, regularly disposed branches, which, with the far-reaching ones below, give the tree massive proportions and a truly mag- nificent appearance. As compared with the sugar maple, the foliage is not nearly so rich and dense, but superiority of size entitles it to the honor of being called a tree-giant. The leaf is so peculiarly cut off at the end that one recognizes it at once; it is unique in shape, very smooth, thin, and it generally turns a russet color in the fall.* The seed pod expands (notice my sketch) into a charmingly decorative figure, which greatly adds to the beauty of the tree in autumn. Whitewood is extensively used for interior finish, especially for paneling and moldings; it is so free from knots, and the grain is so straight, that carpen- ters prefer it to the best of white pine. It is also used in carriage building, as no other wood is quite so well adapted to the curved paneling which this work requires. The best growth of the tulip tree is found in the lower Wabash River Valley and on the west- ern slopes of the Alleghany Mountains, but much of the lumber used in the Northeastern States is brought from Michigan and Wisconsin. The tree does not * Sometimes it turns bright buff-yellow, THE TULIP TREE AND SASSAFRAS, 39 grow thickly anywhere, and it is seldom that one finds more than a few good-sized specimens on an acre of forest land. There is, or used to be, a large tulip tree growing on the slope of Mount Mitchell, in North Carolina, not far from the spot where Prof. Mitchell lost his life. The trunk of this tree in 1866 measured thirty- three feet in circumference at three feet from the ground. There is a notable group of six beautiful trees, each one of which is over 50 feet high, near the Eastern Railroad station at East Saugus, Mass. On the eastern side of the town of Englewood, N. J., there is a small but most symmetrical specimen, which at the period of bloom is a domelike mass of soft, yellow-green flowers and leaves. I have never seen a tulip tree which equaled this one in form and color. fea iras: Sassafras may be identified at once Sassafras oficinale, by its strongly aromatic taste; not Sassafras sassafras. only the root, bark, and twigs, but also the leaves, have a pungent flavor, reminding one of a certain kind of old-fashioned sugar candy. A decoction of the root and bark also contributes largely to the making of root beer. The tree, according to Gray, attains an altitude of 125 feet, and Prof. Ap- gar records its height as 100 feet.* This is a sur- * Vide Trees of the Northern United States, Austin C. Apgar; 40 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. prise to many of us, who possibly have never seen a specimen which exceeded 40 feet. I have frequent- Kt ft y. ) WW \yy Ss NY Sassafras. ly found sassafras in the vicinity of Lake Mahopac, Putnam County, N. Y., 10 or 15 feet high, and oc- casionally in New Jersey, perhaps 25 feet high; in the South, however, it commonly grows to a height but in Silva of North America Prof. Sargent places the maximum height at 90 feet. SASSAFRAS. Windy Bush, Bucks Co., Penn. THE TULIP TREE AND SASSAFRAS. 41 of from 50 to 60 feet. Sassafras is found throughout the North and West, from eastern Massachusetts to Towa, Kansas, and Indian Territory ; southward it ex- tends as far as central Florida, and from there to Texas. | The leaves have three distinct forms, each of which I have sketched; the texture is smooth, and rather thick. Although all parts of the tree are aro- matie,* it will be found that the bark of the roots is bit- ingly strong, and from Y-. this the oil of sassafras TY, EY 7 tig { ‘ paar ap CTURC KS -4 is distilled; it is most- 8g ly made in Pennsylva- {S“ eA as — Bie Ea nia and Virginia. The eZ aaa oh bark of a young treeis \ia (ZX a warm, buffish gra \\ s> & P £ y = a A A\D ‘Won . RS streaked with green; the twigs are shiny yel- Sassafras Leaf. lowish green. The fruit, which is ripe in September, is small, oval, one-seeded, bluish, and has a reddish, rather fleshy, club-shaped stem. The flowers are inconspicuous, greenish yel- low, and appear in early spring with the developing leaves. I have never found the sassafras in the * The leaves furnish the flavoring used in gumbo soup. 49 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. White Mountains nor in any part of the country immediately south of them. There are two beauti- ful little trees, perhaps 12 feet high, in the Arnold Arboretum, of quite symmetrical proportions. On the 21st of October, 1895, I noticed that these trees had scarcely shed a dozen leaves apiece; but three days later (a heavy frost had intervened) not one leaf was left on either tree.* In Milton, Mass., there is a tree measuring over 40 feet in height, and in Manchester, Mass., near the center of the town, is an- other quite as high. * The foliage of the sassafras, more than that of any other tree except the horse-chestnut, is conventional to a fault. One is impressed with the similarity between the leafage in an old print of Bewick’s and that of the sassafras; both are regular and deco- rative. CHAPTER IV. I. Simple Alternate Leaves. 2. With teeth. A, Edge not divided. THE LINDENS, ETC. American Linden, THE American linden, which some- or Basswood. times grows under favorable circum- Tilia Americana. tances 130 feet high, is best known by the name of basswood. In the northern part of New Hampshire it never seems to attain any con- siderable size. Most of the basswood which may be found in the White Mountains is half hidden among the shrubbery; but if one comes across a handsome, large, heart-shaped leaf with strongly marked veins and sharply pointed, irregular teeth, and with tiny tufts of rusty hairs on the back ex- actly at the junction of the veins, he may be pretty sure it belongs to this tree. If the irregularity of the toothed edge is examined, it will be seen that there is often a regular alternation of fine and coarse points; it would seem as though Nature had first edged the leaf with bold, sharp notches, and 43 44 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. afterward, not content with her handiwork, had in- terspersed the notches with a series of smaller and more delicate ones. The leaf is also characteristic- ally veined; on either side over the two-scalloped c Ms Hl pe SE ee C\WEeAZ-S iar Wr = ZB ii \ W \4 TIEN N whZ a QQ Y, Le Yr QY* ~ Basswood, American Linden. THE LINDENS, ETC. 45 (heart-shaped) base is a long vein, from which extend four or five branching ones with a backward curve. This peculiar veining will be more easily seen in my drawing of the European linden’s leaf. So far as the appearance of the leaves is con- cerned, there is very little difference between the American species and its foreign relative; but be- tween the ¢rees the difference is at once apparent. European Linden. The European linden (Zilia Europea) is smaller, not often over 35 or 40 feet high;* its twigs are nu- * The tree in Europe shows a very different record; for in- stance, the linden of Neustadt, on the Kocher in Wiirtemberg, was large enough in 1550 to require stone columns to support its 46 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES, merous and slender, and its top usually tapers to quite a point. The American linden has a rounder figure, its small branches are heavier, its leaf is larger (four to six inches long), and it frequently attains a height of from 60 to 70 feet, with no branches below a point some sixteen feet above the ground. But these are superficial points of distinction; the botani- cal difference is found in the flowers. In the Eu- ropean variety there are no petal-like scales attached to the stamens. Our basswood is distinguished by a cream-colored, sweet-scented flower which has these scales. Basswood is frequently used in cabinet work, and is a great favorite for the manufacture of wooden ware, as it is easily worked, and its grain is firm, white, and clear of knots. The linden is common throughout the North, and it extends among the mountains as far south as Ala- bama. It is also found in Indian Territory and eastern Texas. It flowers in late spring, and in Oc- tober its tiny fruit, like elongated brown peas, hangs suspended from a fine stem, half of which appears to be merged in a leaflike brown wing called a bract. enormous branches. In 1664 this tree had a trunk over thirty- seven feet in circumference, and was computed to be from eight hundred to one thousand years old.—Scientific Papers, 11, 39, Asa Gray. THE LINDENS, ETC. 47 Closely related to the tree just described is a small- leaved basswood (Z%lia pubescens) not over forty feet high. In this species the leaves are usually two or three inches long; they are thin, rather hairy be- neath, and the fruit “ bract ” is ‘rounded at American Linden Seed. the base, not pointed or tapering as in Z%lca Amer- icana; the fruit is also rounder than that of other species. This tree is common from New York south and southwest. There is another native species of basswood, com- mon in the mountains of Pennsylvania and in the South and Southwest as far as Tennessee, called white basswood (Zilia heterophylla). Its leaves are very large, sometimes seven inches long, smooth, oblique, deep, shiny green above, and silvery white and velvety beneath, with pur- plish veins. This tree grows to a height of from 50 to 60 feet. Although my draw- ings do not show any especial lopsidedness to the 4) 48 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. linden leaf, it will be found that in many cases this irregularity is very pronounced ; in the last-mentioned species it is particularly so. American Holly, We have our own American holly, Llex opaca. which is indeed a fine tree well wor- thy of cultivation, although, through the frequent ab- sence of the scarlet berries, it has not the brilliancy of its English relative. It is not quite hardy a little north of 42° lati- tude. This holly grows from 15 to 50 feet high, has light brown- gray, smooth bark, and white flowers which appear in May. The evergreen leaf is rather thick and flat, has a wavy margin with scat- American Holly. tered spiny teeth, and lacks the luster of that of the English holly. The tree will be found in moist woodlands near the coast from Quincy, Mass., to New Jersey, and south- ward to Florida; from southern Indiana it extends southward to the Gulf. The wood is very white, THE LINDENS, ETC. 49 close-grained, and hard. The leaves are commonly used for decoration at Christmas time. Dahoon Holly, Lhe Dahoon holly is a small tree lex Dahoon. (frequently it appears in shrub form, Ilex Cassine. not over 10 feet high) which grows in the pine barrens or swamps of Virginia, and from there southward; rarely it at- tains a height of 80 feet. The ever- green leaf is two or three inches long, with a curling margin toothed only at the end; sometimes it has no \ teeth at all, and what there are can not be called spiny. The Ge, berries are a varied red—less scarlet, perhaps, than those of J. Bay quae opaca. The small branches and the veins on the under side of the leaf are somewhat downy. RESSQY \ 2 Af ff! <=" 2 ih Mi z= 4 ie ji)! a WN WE s WA&sy : Ce = s Pee \¥ SS ~"42. 7 SSX B - Sa an ae * eZ Zap oN oy v/a Crab Apple. a grand organ. The bees at least do not overesti- mate the value of this tree. The crab apple’s leaves are larger than those of most apple trees, and are not infrequently heart-shaped at the base. My drawing was taken from a tree in cultivation, but THE LINDENS, ETC. 61 the leaves in no wise differ from a type common to the wild tree, although the latter often shows a leaf with three notches on either side.* The fruit is about an inch and a quarter in diameter; the pulp is yellow, hard, and fit only for preserving. The tree erows from 15 to 30 feet high, and in its wild state extends from western New York westward to south- ern Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas, and along the mountains southward to Alabama. Shadbnis or The beautiful shad- Juneberry. bush, which most uncial otten 18 < found : in Canadensis. shrub form, frequent- ly attains the proportions of a hand- ne some tree 30 feet high. It is some- times called Juneberry or service berry. The white flowers, with petals twice as long at least as they are wide, appear in advance of the leaves, and hang in loose, graceful clusters. The fruit looks some- thing like a large huckleberry, with the same star- like indentation at the top, and a similar black-pur- ple color. The beauty of the berry lies in its diverse color- ing. Sometimes we may find on one tree dull pink, * For a somewhat similar leaf, see my drawing of the scarlet- fruited thorn, 62 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. crimson, magenta, and plum-purple as well as black- purple berries, which are in various stages of ripe- ness; but I may add that their appearance is as a promise unfulfilled, for, ripe or unripe, they are all equally satisfactory — or rather unsatisfactory; they are quite tasteless. The leaf Ua, Uf A> {Vy “tg : ae V4 f i, } f_E Shadbush or Juneberry. is interesting if not exceedingly beautiful; it fre- quently varies from the pointed oval figure, which THE LINDENS, ETC. 63 was characteristic of the specimen which I have drawn, to an oblongish or square-shouldered shape. Its texture is hard and smooth, reminding one of leather; the teeth are extremely regular, sharp, fine, and the veins are delicate and regularly arranged ; there are few leaves, in fact, that can compare with the perfection of form and structure which is ap- parent at a glance in the shadbush leaf. Did I say perfection? That was hardly the right word; no leaf is really perfect. To demonstrate this fact to our own. satisfaction, we may begin what will prove a fruitless search for a specimen whose outline we may trace with a pencil, and then, reversing the leaf, find the drawing still in conformity with it. No, Nature does not trouble herself about that kind of perfection which may be measured with a foot rule. The fruit of the shadbush is ripe in June and July; its flower is in bloom about the time the shad “run.” The bark of the tree is smooth, and laven- der-brown ; less ruddy than that of black birch. I call to mind a certain tree at least 20 feet high growing wild on a river intervale among the White Mountains, which would be an ornament of striking beauty at its time of bloom in park or garden ; but it remains a wild tree, which, like Thomas Gray’s wild flower, was “born to blush unseen.” It would be well worth our while to search for : 64 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. the shadbush in springtime and learn to love its beauty for its own sake; it is common in all the seaboard States, and extends westward to Minne- sota and eastern Nebraska, and southwestward to Louisiana. Wild Red Plum. There is a wild plum from 10 to 35 Prunus Americana. feet high, more or less common on the banks of streams and the borders of woods, which may be found from Connecticut south, and westward to Colorado. This bears nearly round, dull yellow and red fruit about $ inch in diameter, excellent for the purpose of preserving. ‘The branches are thorny, and the rather long obovate leaves are sharp-pointed and sharply double-toothed. The white flowers with narrow obovate petals bloom in early spring, during or just before the develop- ment of the leaves. There is also a var. mollis with the under side of the leaf permanently soft-hairy. This is distributed from Iowa to Louisiana and Texas. CHAT PEI oV. I. Simple Alternate Leaves. 2. With teeth. A. Edge not divided. THE WITCH-HAZEL, SORREL TREE, ELMS, JISHOL Witch-Hazel, | HE weird-looking witch-hazel, whose Hamamelis twigs are decorated in autumn with Virginiana. tiny tangled yellow blossoms, is a shrub rather than a tree, reaching a height, how- ever, of fully 30 feet if it happens to grow under advantageous circumstances. In the woods of the White Mountains it rarely grows more than 12 feet high, but in the township of Campton I know of three handsome trees over 16 feet in height, each of which possesses only two or three stems; their appearance, in fact, is quite treelike. The leaf of the witch-hazel, on an average two and a half inches long and nearly as broad, is rather roughly modeled; one side is larger than the other, their irregular teeth are coarse and wavy pointed, the 65 66 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. Witch-Hazel. THE WITCH-HAZEL, SORREL TREE, ETC. 67 veins are straight and depressed, so that the leaf ap- pears somewhat corrugated, and the surface is more or less covered (when young) with down. The flowers appear just as the leaves are turning from a dark green to a golden yellow spotted with brown and olive. If a single blossom is disentangled from the tousled but pretty little cluster of yellow flowers on the brown twigs, the figure with a little straightening out will look like my sketch at A. On these twigs also appear the twin seed-pods left from last year’s flowers; these have a fashion of suddenly bursting when the seeds (polished little flattened brown pellets) are ripe, and ejecting their contents many yards away.* Thirty feet is no exaggerated estimate of. the distance, al- though in my own experience I do not remember having seen a seed fly more than twelve feet. But Mr. William Hamilton Gibson has put the matter to a thorough test, so I quote what he says: “ My experi- ments with the pods upon a long piazza and else- where proved that the momentum of the seed would commonly carry it to a distance of twenty feet, often over thirty feet, and in one or two instances the diminutive double-barreled howitzers succeeded in * « feet. high, and bears dark red, or, when finally ripe, black-purple ber- Mass., not far from the Harvard Botanical Gardens, is a@owded with thousands of berries as late as the end of January. 78 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. ries, resembling in shape and size long wild blackberries. The leaves, as one may see from my drawings, are ex- tremely variable in figure ; perhaps it may occasion some surprise when I say that these leaves which I have drawn all came Y NH {ir ff \ 1 9 off the same tree. This particular tree grows in the Pemigewasset Val- ley (White Mountains), just in front of an ideal farmhouse, and is not over 15 feet high; but it is extraor- dinarily beautiful both in roundness of figure and in brilliancy of fo- liage. Nothing is more charming in color than Red Mulberry. the leaves of a young THE WITCH HAZEL, SORREL TREE, ETC. 79 mulberry tree in early summer; they are usually of a soft, warm, yellow-green hue, in agreeable con- trast with the surrounding darker-leaved trees, and they seem to hold the afterglow in some mysteri- ous manner peculiar to themselves. This rare and glowing yellow-green color is identical with that which we have ad- mired perhaps in the garments of the Madonna in a picture called The Virgin Enthroned, by the American artist, Abbott H. Thayer. The red mul- berry is common east of the Mississippi River, and Cut-leaf of Red Mulberry. in that locality reaches a height of 70 feet or more. It extends throughout the country. There is also a white mulberry (Morus alba) with leaves similar to those of the red mulberry, except that they are smooth and shiny. This tree was intro- duced from China about 1830, and cultivated for the sake of its leaves, upon which silkworms delight to feed. The oval fruit is whitish, and at times pur- plish; it is edible, but has a rather sickening sweet taste. The tree is common throughout the North; southward it extends to Florida and Texas. I recol- lect a tall and handsome specimen at Palenville, N. Y., 7 80 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. near the Catskill Mountains. The wood of the mul- berry is yellowish, and durable in contact with the ground. The trees all have milky juice. The black mulberry (AZorus nigra), another native of Asia, has large, dull, dark-green leaves tapering into a sharp point, rather rough above, usually not lobed (divided), fine-toothed, and evenly balanced on either side of the stem. The fruit is large and sweet, purple-black in color, and double the size of the red mulberry; it is much esteemed in Europe. The tree, however, is rarely cultivated in this country, and it is barely hardy above 42° north latitude. It grows to a height of from 20 to 30 feet. The pa- Paper 1 Mulberry. per mul- Broussonetia berry is rifera. : ppyrfera. uitivated from New York southward as a shade tree; its leaves are very hairy Paper Mulberry. above, downy beneath, round-toothed, and in young trees divided, but in old trees somewhat heart-shaped and rarely divided. The club-shaped fruit, ripe in August, is dark red, sweet, and insipid. The tree grows 25 feet or so high, with branches which hang low. It comes from Japan. CHAPTER VI. I. Simple Alternate Leaves. 2. With teeth. A. Edge not divided. THE BIRCHES. Black, Sweet, or Tue black, sweet, or cherry birch has Cherry Birch. slender, dark reddish-brown twigs Betula lenta. with a delightful aromatic taste, which is a sufficient means for the unmistakable identifica- tion of the tree; the bark of no other birch possesses exactly this aromatic flavor, although there is a cer- tain sweetness to the yellow birch’s twigs. It is from the twigs of the black birch that the flavoring for birch beer is obtained. This tree has an evenly balanced, oval-pointed leaf, with a regular double-toothed edge, which is an easy means of distinguishing it from its neighbors. Com- pare for an instant my leaf drawings of the black birch and the American elm: it will be seen at once that the leaves are somewhat similar in general out- line, in double-toothed edge, and in prominent, almost 81 89 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. We ry Ss Ss CGE BA” | ‘ BZ - 3 \\t ( \K\ ih VSS es / WF f' Up Z aw Y NG iy “ey Ve — =~ 1) VA — = —— —— NW s\h = ~- — Jf =" " “SS WA SN \ ‘ = => ZS N BAAS \ BE e|!\. ; fe \Y BEA Baz \\\ FE ee \ \ on Nt Black Birch. CF THE BIRCHES. 83 conventional veining. But here the resemblance ends: the birch leaf is shiny, the elm leaf is not—on the contrary, it is rough; it also has a much more lop- sided figure. Furthermore, my drawing of the birch shows that the leaves grow in pazrs alternately along the stem; the elm leaves grow singly; then, the little elongated dots on the tiny twigs of the birch, and the downy, short leaf stem, both of which bespeak the Betula tribe, are characteristics wholly’ unelmlike. There is also another distinguishing mark of the black- birch leaf: its base is unmistakably scalloped.* Now, compare this shape with that of the hop-hornbean leaf, and it will be seen that the scallop in the latter is extremely slight. These are minor differences, which, however, should not escape our notice. I find the black birch in a shrublike condition in Campton, N. H., much more frequently than in tree form; but when it does reach the proportions of a tree it grows from 20 to 70 feet high, and carries a fairly straight trunk covered with a gray-brown bark somewhat resembling the cultivated cherry, but with those unmistakable horizontal marks which charac- terize the birches. With the sunshine distributed over its brilliant * The botanical expression for this scalloped base is “ cordate” or “heart-shaped”; but I refrain from using a term which might mislead one to believe the entire leaf was shaped like a heart. 84 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. green leaves this tree makes a fine show in an open space where there is no interference with its vigorous growth. Its wood is reddish brown, fine grained, and is well adapted to cabinet work. As a matter of fact, it is often stained to imitate mahogany, and so treated one is completely deceived as to the true nature of the wood. Its bark does not separate into thin layers, like that of the paper birch. Yellow Birch. ‘The yellow birch gets its name from Betula lutea. its yellowish trunk; there is really little yellow in it, but enough, perhaps, to justify the name; more exactly, I should describe the color as silvery yellow-gray: Again, those horizontal marks which characterize the Betula family are sprinkled over the delicate, silvery bark; notice, also, the way this thin bark is curled and frizzled away from the trunk ; it ornaments the latter with a thousand shin- ing, edges, which catch and hold the scattered, flicker- ing sunlight of the woods so that the tree is dis- tinctly separated from its stalwart, dull-hued, rough- seamed neighbors. Indeed, the yellow birch possesses a certain unmistakable femininity of character which is suggestive of some tattered and disheveled woodland nymph. RSSS < \\ SS KS wey bea Oa cas he, See WS -SS KA \ White or Gray Birch, THE BIRCHES. 89 paired, its outlines are scrawny, and its strength is lost in the effort to elbow its way above encroaching companions of a more vigorous growth. But place the tree where it has a chance to do its best, and it will develop into astonishingly graceful proportions. This birch, is distinguished from its near relatives, by several marked characteristics. Notice the bough where it joins the white trunk ; this triangular brown patch below the branch is always present in any tree of any age. The leaf stem is slender, rather long, and not downy; the leaf (often growing, as in my sketch, in pairs) is very smooth and shiny on both sides; also, the stem being slender the leaf shakes with the slightest breeze, and its varnished surface, reflecting the sunlight, breaks it into shifting, spark- ling green fire. This is no exaggeration of the truth. Watch some tree on the edge of a dark wood on a clear day in early June, when Zephyr is at play among its branches, and the flashes of green light which come and go will fairly dazzle the eyes. The white bark is not easily separable into layers, and it lacks that freedom from knotty imperfections which makes the canoe or paper birch so dazzlingly white in broad sunlight. Often in very young trees the bark runs through dark brown to tan color, and only the thickest part of the trunk is sparingly white ; but through all the branches and over the trunk are 00) FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. the same lines and dots which always mark the Betula tribe. The tree is small, rarely reaching a height of more than 30 feet. Its wood is white, soft, and is used mostly for fuel; rarely it is made into spools such as are common in the weaving mills of New England. European For the sake of comparison, I in- White Birch. troduce here a sketch of the Euro- Beaulaaba ean white birch. This foreign rela- tive of our Betula populifolia, which is indeed closely allied to our tree, is certainly very beautiful, and is becoming quite common in cultivation. The specimen which I have sketched was taken from a tree which was planted in front of a private residence in Plymouth, N. H.* It is a cut-leaved variety of the European birch, specitically named Betula alba, var. lacumata. But when I admit its beauty (pos- sibly some landscape gardener may lift his eyebrows at the word admit), I must remind those who have studiously observed our own gray birch that its Euro- pean relative does not possess the power of flashing that jewel-like green light to which I have drawn attention. In a word, the foreign tree possesses a beautifully shaped leaf, without the splendid lively color of its American relative. These ornamentally * This beautiful tree, some 30 feet in height, stands near the gateway entering the grounds of Dr. Robert Burns. On these grounds are also several rare trees of various foreign species. THE BIRCHES. 91 ty pl European White Birch, cut-leaved. slashed leaves (John Ruskin would call them rent) are rather a dark green, and they are not very 99 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. shiny—in fact, they are not constituted as sunlight flashers. This makes a vast difference with the appearance of a tree, supposing, of course, we take into consid- eration its effect under conditions of light and shade. I could identify our gray birch at a great distance in the focus of strong sunlight gathered from a cloud-rent; such a thing would hardly be possible with any other tree. The European birch under similar conditions would appear at best commonplace, if, indeed, it was recognizable at all. Then, also, in early October, when our own birch is transformed into pale, shining gold, there is hardly a suggestion of gold in its European relative. I have seen both trees together under the same climatic conditions, and the change of color in the foreign tree was not com- parable with that of its American relative. My draw- ing is sufficient for the identification of this particular European birch. The different kinds of European birch (Betula alba) are; var. pubescens, leaf covered with white hairs; var. pendula, weeping; var. laciniata, cut- leaved; var. fastigiata, pyramidal; and var. atro- purpurea, purple-leaved. These are all to be met with in parks and private grounds, but as yet I think none of them have escaped from cultiva- tion. THE BIRCHES. 93 Paper, Canoe, or The splendid White Birch. white-trunked Betula papyrifera, AP Betula alba, var. paper or canoe papyrifera, birch called by the less specific name of white birch, is so well known through its useful and beau- tiful paperlike bark that the identification of the tree is de- } WN pendent on no other means. But lest it should be confused with its Soy a EN near relative, the gray or white birch (L. populifolia), 1 will draw attention to certain differences. Unlike the gray birch, the extreme- ly white bark is scarcely marked with a distinct triangular brown patch, from the top of which grows the branch; indeed, there is hardly any brown at all Paper or Canoe Birch. 94 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. below the branch; in the gray birch it is never ab- sent. The bark on a large tree will hold broad spaces unfurrowed by knotty imperfections. The paperlike layers of the bark are easily separated into numerous thin sheets, varying from a buffish cream color to a light tan, the lightest color belonging to the outermost layers. The leaf is altogether unlike that of the gray birch; its stem is short and often very downy (notice in my drawing that the stems are short, thick, and not sharp or clean looking); its out- line is oval, with a moderate point, and the teeth are coarsely irregular; in color it is dull green, smooth above and hairy below, especially on the ribs and at their angles; at the base it is oftenest rounded, but now and then it is remotely heart-shaped. The branches have no tendency to droop, as do those of the gray birch, and the whole color effect of the tree is darker. It is also a tall variety of the Birch family, sometimes reaching a height of 75 feet. The beauty of the white-trunked tree in the North- ern forests can scarcely be overestimated ; it is one of those woodland characters which does not seem to lose anything by the overcrowding process. I have seen great, handsome specimens in the dense woods of the White Mountains, undespoiled of their virgin, white bark by the hands of tourists, growing straight up in the air and sending out widespreading branches eee aa ace - ¥ - oO ET CR IE A = RC I Campton, Grafton Co., N. H. a ) ce faa} on tl am Chestnut. 10g FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. een years ago are bringing in their owners better returns than the same acreage in farm products. The chestnut has a very \ dark green leaf of a decid- SN ZS —s =) Nw Wee AR edly rugged character; its teeth are like those of a circular saw, and its ribs 2 J give it a somewhat corru- gated surface, which I have tried to portray in my sketch. WN X Zi The tree grows from 50 to 80 We, feet high, has very coarse grayish bark, and its luxuriant deep-green foliage, crowned with the light rusty tinge of innumera- ble developing burs in the month of August, forms a color effect so soft and beautiful that it com- mands the admiration of the most casual observer. In North Caro- lina there are many specimens whose trunks measure sixteen feet in cir- cumference, so it is not always a fine leaf which makes a beautiful tree. The wood Chinquapin. is yseful and durable, rather soft, yellow- ish, and has a coarse but handsome grain, which is at once apparent in the gilding of many a picture frame. sa TSS I ERTIES MSTA — ee ee ee CHESTNUT. Upper Solburg, Bucks Co., Penn. aa THE ALDER, ETC. 107 Ohinquapin. The chinquapin is a small variety of Castanea pumila. the chestnut, common in the South, which grows from 7 to 35 feet high. The bur, about an inch wide, bears a single small nut rounder than a chestnut. The leaf is like that of the chestnut, but has a downy or woolly appearance beneath, is usually less distinctly toothed, and is seldom over five inches long. The tree grows wild in southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and southward. Its foliage is whitish olive-green. Beech. The beech tree is common in all our Fagus ferruginea, WOOdS North and South; it extends Fagus grandifolia. westward to Missouri and south- ward to Florida and Texas, and attains its finest growth in the southern Mississippi River Valley. In the middle of winter, when the forest is bare of leaves, we ought to be able to recognize the beech at a glance: no other tree has the same smooth, light gray, spotty bark; no other the same smooth, round- ish curves on long, low branches which extend hori- zontally a good distance from the trunk. The bark of trees may easily be grouped under three classes: first, perpendicularly ridged; second, horizontally striped; and, third, round spotted. To the first class belong a great number of trees, including the elms; to the second belongs the birch; and to the third belongs the beech, almost alone. I think, then, there 108 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. is no reason why one should not know a beech even in midwinter. We | The leaves of this tree are iA most wonderfully delicate and rz charmingly simple; indeed, I ‘ge know of nothing in the leaf \) a = world quite so silky and thin, \\ \\ Se a . \\\ \V poe oe yet firm. On the under side \\ —— of abeech , Zz le Zz leaf the del- Fe (Ws icate, whit- —— : : CS ish, wiry : veins run straight from the center rib to the small sharp tooth at | j the edge; between, the Wi f Lf Lone surface is smooth and i WSS : ff Ye S aren, not the slightest / Cy indication of texture ff \47% Y showing itself unless 5 slender twigs which bear \\ Beech and Fruit. one uses a glass. The the leaves spread out hori- zontally, not droopingly like elm leaves, are also a marvel of delicacy. The tiny three-cornered nut in- cased in the miniature bur is familiar to every Amer- THE ALDER, ETC. 109 ican boy, and needs no praise here. The tree often grows toa height of 100 feet in the South; north- ward it is commonly 50 feet high. In the early au- tumn it is particularly beautiful; all its leaves turn an even, clear, pale golden yellow, which seems on a sunny day to diffuse a strange radiance in its imme- diate vicinity. With my eyes closed I have been sen- sible of the peculiar light reflected from the tree in its yellow dress. There is no prettier combination of color than that of the golden leaves and white-spotted gray and greenish trunk. The wood is very hard, close-grained, and is used for making chairs, loom spools, shoe lasts, and milking stools. The tree is so strikingly beautiful in its winter aspect that it has become a favorite subject with several well-known artists; Mr. W. L. Palmer, in particular, delights to portray its picturesque and stolid gray trunk casting blue shadows over the sunlit snow. It has been well named “the painted beech,” for no other tree has a trunk so attractively painted by Nature. The European beech (/ugus sylvatica), occasion- ally planted in our parks, is the tree, I believe, which is indirectly responsible for the downfall of Mac- beth. It was not the Birnam beeches* which cost * The old forest, Birnam Wood, has long since disappeared, and in its place is a meager young growth scarcely deserving the name. 110 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. him his life, but something very nearly related to them—spears! The leaf of this tree resembles that of its American relative, but it is broader, shorter, and in many varieties it is wavy, without teeth; in others it is deeply cut at the margin. The pur- ple or copper beech (var. atropurpurea)* is a va- riety with a rounded figure, very dark copper-colored foliage, and somewhat curved leaves sparsely toothed. There are several handsome specimens in the Public Garden, Boston. The tree is very slow in unfolding its leaves, and it is extremely loath to part with them ; for that matter, the beeches often hold their faded, ghostly, brown-white leaves throughout the winter. * The latest name for the copper beech is Fagus sylvatica foliis atrorubentibus. S CHAPTER VI I. Simple Alternate Leaves. 2. With teeth. A. Edge not divided. THE WILLOWS. Goat Willow. Many of the willows, more especially Salix Caprea. — those under cultivation, have become so greatly mixed that it is not easy to discriminate between them.* One of the most troublesome ones in this respect—the goat willow—comes from Europe, but it is very frequently seen in cultivation in this coun- try. It furnishes the stock or the foundation, so to speak, for that beautiful umbrella-shaped tree which is known in our parks and gardens as the Kilmarnock willow, of a “weeping” form. But this willow may at once be distinguished by its rowndish leaf; it is oval or long-oval in shape, thick, deep green above * It is a singular fact that many willows must be grafted on other species quite a distance above the root, otherwise they never attain any considerable height—that is, if planted in the shape of cuttings. 9 111 119 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. al and rather soft-downy below. The catkins, which are bright yellow, appear in early spring long . before the leaves. The goat willow has brown or red- dish-brown branches, and grows not over 30 feet high. It is adapted to dry situations. Heart-leaved Willow. The heart-leaved wil- Sala cordate. low may also be easi- ly distinguished by its leaf, which is usually inclined to a scalloped form at the base. But Gray says this is a most widely distributed and variable species with an inappropriate name, as its leaves are seldom heart-shaped at the base. However, my drawing was made from a speci- men obtained at the side of a road in the valley of the Pemigewasset Riv- pee A’ pet, New Hampshire, and having compared it with another specimen which grew in southern New York, I found the differences wholly insignificant. A distinguishing THE WILLOWS. 113 characteristic of the leaf of this tree is the conspic- uous little leafy formation (called a stipule) at the junction of the leaf stem with the branchlet; this is always present. The leaf is green on either side, scarcely paler but smooth beneath, and finely toothed. The heart-leaved willow grows from 8 to 20 feet high, and is very common in low and wet places. The long-leaved Long-leaved Willow, willow is easil Salix longifolia. aig recognized — by its extremely narrow, long leaf, which tapers at each end and is rather coarsely toothed. It is often a shrub, but occasionally, when favored by circumstances, it attains a height of 20 feet. This species is common west- ward, but rare along the Atlantic coast from Maine to the Potomac River, Virginia. Crack Willow. One of our larg- Salix fragilis. — est willows—the crack willow—came to us from Europe, and was Long-leaved Willow. planted at an early date in the vicinity of Boston, in some of the older cities and towns of New Hampshire, and elsewhere in the North. It has since become ex- tensively naturalized. Its twigs are largely used in 114 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. Crack Willow. ee ee ee ee THE WILLOWS. 115 the manufacture of baskets.* This willow grows 50 to 75 feet, and under favorable conditions 90 feet high. I know of a very old and handsome specimen in central New Hampshire, with a spread of over fifty feet, and a remarkably picturesque contour ; it is planted opposite an old and interesting farmhouse, in combina- tion with which it forms a very beautiful pic- ture. The crack willow is not sufficiently ap- preciated as an ornamental tree; it has been too often displaced by the weeping willow, iaceen whose conventional and sober aspect is a pee poor substitute for the cheerfulness and willow. vivacity of the other tree with its scintillant foliage.t The crack willow may be identified by its shining leaf, which has two tiny excrescences at the base just at the junction with the leaf stem, and rather thick, fine teeth ; these, when magnified, look like my sketch at A. The under side of the leaf is whitish and smooth. The twigs are yellow-green, polished, and very brittle at the base; hence the name of the tree. * It was imported in the especial interest of basket manufac- ture before the Revolutionary War. + The sparkling color of the crack willow’s foliage is caused by the swaying of the firm leaves in the wind. The weeping willow never shows this effect, but its drooping leaves have a listless motion. 116 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. White Willow. The white willow, also imported from Saker anon Europe, is similar in many respects to the foregoing species ; in fact, it has become so much mixed with it that a recognition of either species by means of the leaves is far from easy. There are also several va- vieties of the white wil- ' low. In its typical form the twigs are olive, and the leaves are somewhat silky on both sides. In var. vitellina the twigs are yellow ; in var. cwrulea they are olive, and the leaves, smooth above, are a trifle bluish |... green. In var. argentea the foliage is very Willow. whitish—silvery gray ; but in each instance the leaves in outline taper both ways, and have sharp, thick teeth. The wood of the white willow is used in the manufacture of charcoal for gunpowder. The tree is very common throughout the country. Weeping Willow. It is scarcely necessary to say that the Salix Babylonica. weeping willow is also a species intro- duced from Europe; but it is extensively cultivated here, and is usually planted beside the water. Gray says in many places it has spread along river banks and lake shores through the drifting of detached branches. The large, graceful tree with its long pendulous branchlets is too familiar an object to THE WILLOWS. £7 need description. There is a variety called annularis (hoop willow), with leaves almost curved into rings. Black Willow. The black willow has rather rough, Salix nigra. — hlackish bark, and a woolly-stemmed, variable leaf which is most often attenuated lance- shaped.* There is, besides, a little stipule (leafy termi- nal) at the junction of the leaf stem with the branchlet, though this may not always be present. The branches are very brittle at the base. The leaf is commonly small, not much over two inches in length, and when mature is smooth, except beneath, on the midrib, which is woolly. This willow is common on the banks of streams and lakes. In salixv nigra Black var. falcata the leaves are extremely long, Woe narrow, and frequently scythe-shaped ;, they are fur- nished with stipules (leafy terminals to the leaf stem) which do noé fall off when the leaves are young; the edges are very finely and_ sharply toothed. The black willow grows from 15 to 35 feet high. _ * I mean, for instance, wider nearest the base of the leaf, then gradually narrowing to the tip; but one must not rely too much on this form. The leaves are very variable. 118 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. Western Black The Western black willow is Willow. found from central New York \\, Sadia amygdaloides. westward to Missouri. The leaves are rather oval-lance-shaped, pale or often hairy beneath, and have long, slen- der stems; the little stipules (encircling the stems like leaflets) fall off when the leaves are yet young. This tree grows from 15 to 40 feet high, and is common on the banks of streams from Ohio to Missouri. Shining Willow. The shining willow may Saiia lucida. he recognized at once by 0 een its bright leaf, which is shiny on both sides, deep green above and lighter be- low; the shape is elliptical, with an extremely elongated, sharp point. The branchlets are also shiny and olive-green. The shining willow is rather a shrub than a tree, and grows only 15 feet high at most. It is extremely beautiful in bright sun- shine by reason of its glossy leaf, and it commonly grows on the banks of streams from Maine to Pennsylvania, westward and northward. It is sometimes called American bay willow, THE WILLOWS. 119 Long-beaked Willow. Long-beaked Willow. The long-beaked willow is a very ) Salix rostrata, gommon species, which rarely 420 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. grows to the dignity of a tree; it is seldom over 15 feet high. The leaf is so pronounced in character that I think few of us can fail to recognize it at a glance; it is thin, leathery, large, deep olive-green above, and whitish, blue-green below; when young it is velvety on the under side, but this velvet tex- ture is nearly lost as the leaf becomes older; on the upper side there is also an inclination toward downi- ness. My drawing shows the edge of the leat scalloped rather than toothed, and the surface some- what broken in lights and shadows. This willow is common on roadsides and in moist or dry grounds from Maine to Pennsylvania, westward and north- ward. It may be found beside the streams which wind through the valleys, and at an elevation of over two thousand feet among the mountains of New Hampshire. CHAPTER IX. I. Simple Alternate Leaves. 2. With teeth, A, Edge not divided. THE POPLARS. White Poplar, ALTHOUGH Abele Tree. the white Populus alba. poplar, or, as it is frequently called, abele tree, is not American, it has become so familiar through wide cultivation in this country that I must give it especial notice. It may be iden- tified easily by the extremely white, P. Alba. cottony look of the 121 122 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES, under side of its leaf, which is variously shaped according to the varieties which I have drawn. The branches of this tree are also downy and white when young, and its roots are apt to produce numerous suckers. Its typical form is less grown here than P. Alba, var. Nivea. aod UNE The variety of the white poplar which, according to Prof. Bailey, is commonest in this country, is called P. alba, var. nivea.* Its leaves have three or five maplelike divisions, and they are very cottony be- neath. Another variety intro- duced into Europe in 1875, from Turkistan, is called P. alba, var. Bolleana. This tree has a compact- P. Alba, var. Bolleana. growing habit, something like the * Vide The Cultivated Poplars, Bulletin 68, L. H. Bailey. THE POPLARS. 123 Lombardy poplar; its leaves are rather more deeply divided than those of the var. nivea. The white poplars are rapid growers, and frequently attain a height of from 50 to 80 feet. American Aspen. American Aspen, Loe American aspen is not com- Poplar. monly known by this name; it is Populus tremuloides. most frequently called by the coun- try people “popple,” a corruption of poplar. It 124 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. seems to me that a more significant and proper name would be trembling aspen, for its leaves flutter with the slightest zephyr. The tree may be easily identified by the trembling of its leaves and the whitish-green color of its trunk. It is never very large, and although in northern Kentucky it may attain a height of 45 feet, in other parts of the coun- try it does not often exceed 25 feet. The flat, white- veined, heart-shaped leaf, of a leathery texture and dull, pale-green color, spreads out on a plane at right angles with a singularly flattened long stem, so limber that it allows the leaf to wiggle with the slightest. stir of air. Ifa small spray or branch of the tree is held in the hand before the mouth and one blows gently on the leaves, it will be seen at once how and why they tremble in every passing breeze; the swaying motion is exactly like that of a bit of writing paper allowed to fall through the air. The Lombardy poplar leaf also has a long, flat stem, and it sways in the same way. . The aspen is sometimes mistaken for the gray or white birch, because both trees have a whitish trunk, spare horizontal lower and oblique upper limbs, and both are similar in figure; but the leaves of these two trees are entirely different: the birch has an exceed- ingly brilliant light-green foliage, which reflects the sunlight and quite often dazzles the eye, while the THE POPLARS. 125 aspen has a whitish foliage without a suspicion of shininess. Along the banks of the Pemigewasset River, and in the adjacent woodlands, this tree, with its ever-trembling leaves, is a very familiar object. Its smooth, greenish trunk is cut by the lumbermen into short, round logs, which are sent to neighbor- ing mills and ground by powerful machinery, with the aid of water, into a soft pulp; this is pressed into paste-boardlike layers, in which preparatory condition it is sent to various factories for the man- ufacture not only of paper but of an infinite variety of useful objects, such as pails, stove-mats, wash- tubs, boxes, trays, etc. The large-toothed aspen has a larger Large-toothed Aspen. and coarser leaf than that of the Populus variety just described, and its outline grandidentata, , is roundish and irregularly wavy. There are, perhaps, only seventeen coarse teeth to each leaf, and these are very dull-pointed. The leaf stems are also flat and long; in fact, the large-toothed aspen has leaves of nearly the same character as those of its more beautiful relative, but lacking the pretty heart-shape. The leaf is large, however, from three to five inches long, smooth on both sides when old, but covered with down when quite young. The tree is common in the North, but rare southward, except in the Alleghanies. It grows from 40 to 80 feet high, 126 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES, Hl Hae SS ee — \ re VE, a SS de i eed = | iy Wy ore — - ily WAN) y =e “a — H 2 it hy Matt Ne whl Large-toothed Aspen. has greenish-gray, smooth bark, and soft, white wood, which is also ground into pulp and used extensively in the manufacture of paper, etc. THE POPLARS. 127 Downy Poplar, Lhe downy poplar is distinguished Populus by its leaves, which, downy when heterophy’™ Young and becoming smooth on both sides when older, still retain the down on the veins beneath. The leaf is also quite blunt at the end, never tapering to a point, and the teeth are obtuse, with an in- ward curve. The tree grows from 40 to 80 feet high, and is rather rare. It will be found on the borders of swamps from Connecticut to southern Illinois Downy Poplar. and southward. Cottonwood. The cottonwood, or Carolina poplar, Carolina Poplar. . a t iacead rane ete Populus monilifera. Fe er ee ae ee Populus deltoides. varying from 60 to 150 feet in height. In the Mississippi Valley and immediately west it borders every stream. It can also be found, but not in great plenty, from western New England to Florida. The leaf is similar in character to those of the poplars already described, except that it is quite smooth, glossy, nearly as wide as it is long, and sometimes has in- curved, slightly hairy teeth; this last is hardly a very common characteristic, but it is observable in many 10 498 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. instances. The rapidly growing young twigs bear leaves which sometimes measure eight inches in length. However, it must not be forgotten that the seedlings and young shoots of all trees frequently pro- duce leaves of ,an abnormal size, if we take the leaf of an old tree as a standard. Ralgaee reales The leaf of the balsam Tacamahac, poplar, or tacamahac, is a tuple great remove from its balsamifera. : , trembling relative. It hardly resembles it in any particular, if I except the white back. Above, the color is a somewhat yellowish green; be- Cottonwood. low, it is whitish, like that of all other poplar leaves. The outline is distinctly egg-shaped, but pointed, and is finely but obtusely toothed. Prof. Bailey speaks of this tree as the most variable of all the poplars cultivated in this country. He says it is rep- resented by three marked varieties, “differmg from the species and from each other in the habit of growth, shape and color of leaves, and character of twigs.” The tree grows from 40 to 70 feet high, has a pyramidal THE POPLARS, 129 figure, and is found in the woods and beside the streams in the Northern States. Its leaf is thick, firm, and borne erect on the twigs; and the large, brown- yellow leaf buds are covered in spring with a fragrant resinous coating. I have. drawn for comparison the leaves of the three varieties which are—var. intermedia, var. viminalis (P. laurifolia, Sarg.), and var. latifolia. Balm of Gilead. Balm of Populus Gilead may balsamifera, : var. candicans. be recognized Populus candicans. by its fragrant resinous leaf buds; these are especially odorous in spring. It is purely a matter of taste “ Populus balsamifera. if one considers the buds fragrant; but de gus- tibus non est disputandum. In my own opinion, the smell is unpleasantly suggestive of the “ great unclean,” or rather the madly unclean, who use per- fumery, resulting in a mixture which can not de- ceive! Guessing at an analysis of the perfume in a leaf bud, I should define it thus: equal parts of sandal- wood, patchouli, and barber shop to one part of es- sence of boiled onions. The bit of balm of Gilead I had in my hands last September smelled just that way. 130 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. The leaves are large and beautiful, perfectly heart. shaped, green, of a light-olive tone above and whitish (sometimes rusty) beneath; their stems are an inch ZZ Z ZZ [ZZ has Ye y AM r0 ty J A N X FR \ ‘NAS P. Balsamifera, var. P. Balsamifera, var. P. Balsamifera, Intermedia. Viminalis. var. latifolia. and a quarter long, a trifle hairy, and a little bit flattened; sometimes they are touched with red. The bark of the twigs is raw-umber brown in color; that of the trunk is about the same, with darker patches. The tree is exceedingly rare in a wild state, but is very common in cultivation. It was planted on the borders of the lagoon at the World’s Fair, where its rich, broad foliage showed in handsome, irregularly rounded masses. The tree in this respect is quite dif- ferent from the other poplars, which exhibit rather pyramidal figures. | Perhaps the most beautiful of these taller and THE POPLARS. [St slenderer trees is the Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra, var. Italica ; also Populus dilatata), which Balm of Gilead. ascends like a church spire some 100 feet or more to the sky. It has a pretty, triangularly shaped leaf, with a flattish stem, often red, and a smooth, thin, leathery texture; the teeth are not sharp; the color 132 FAMILIAR TREES AND: THEIR LEAVHS. ~ Ae yi Ny SS J SMwi4il — Ks = Wh 6 SS = G = a 7] THE POPLARS. 133 above is a deep, clear green; that beneath is a little lighter. The trunk of this tree is almost completely covered from the ground upward with suckerlike straight branches; these have a lightish gray-green bark. The Lombardy poplar, one of the most pic- turesque of objects in a hilly landscape, is unfortu- nately ill adapted to the severity of our Northern climate. In the Pemigewasset Valley I know of three fine specimens which are gradually losing their tall figures through the bitter cold of the New Hamp- shire winters; the tops are slowly taking on the ap- pearance of so much perpendicular brushwood bare of every leaf. CHAPTER X. I. Simple Alternate Leaves. 2. With teeth. B. Edge divided. THE HAWTHORNS. Tue hawthorns, or white thorns, as they are some- times cailed, are commonest in the South; but many varieties may be found in the North, where they can always be distinguished from other trees, at all seasons of the year, by their thorns. Washington Thorn. The Wash- Crategus cordata. Crategus pheno- pyrum. ington thorn tree, which grows not over 30 feet in height, is much / esteemed for its Washington Thorn. beautiful flowers and bright-red berries. The leaf is a deep, lustrous green in summer, and turns late in the fall a rich orange-red. The flowers ap- pear about the last of May; they are white, and 134 THE HAWTHORNS. 135 clustered like cherry blossoms, but in miniature. The berries are not much larger than peas; they are bright red, and ripen in Sep- tember; many of them cling to the boughs throughout the winter, but eventually become brown and sere. The Washington thorn is hardly common, but is found generally scat- tered through the South from the valley of the Potomac River to English Hawthorn. northern Georgia and Alabama, and from Tennessee and Kentucky to the valley of the lower Wabash River in I[llinois.* It is hardy northward to south- ern New England, where it flowers later than any of the other thorns. It is a favorite among gar- deners for hedges, and it has long since found its way into European gardens. It does not quite equal the English hawthorn (Crategus oxyacantha),t how- ever, for this species has a most charming pink (some- times white) flower, which has been sung by all the English poets. There is a narrow-leaved thorn (Crataegus spathu- lata), closely related to the Washington thorn, which * It has also found its way into Bucks County, Pa. + There are several large, handsome English hawthorns in the Public Garden, Boston, some of which are doubdle-flowered. This species is occasionally found in Bucks County, Pa., running wild, 136 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. has a similar fruit, and a singularly long, dark-green leaf, thick, and almost evergreen. This tree or shrub grows sometimes 20 feet high, and is found (it is not very common) from Virginia southward. It flowers in May. Tall Hawthorn,” Lhe tall hawthorn is a Crategus viridis, Southern tree, 20 to 35 Cratege Marshall. feet high, whose; leat is most frequently undivided, and rather pointed at each end. Its bright-red fruit is ovoid, and not over a quarter of an inch broad. The branches bear a few large thorns or none. This variety is rare in the extreme Southeastern States, but is Tall Hawthorn. AA eR De common west of the Mississippi, from St. Louis southward to the Colorado River, Texas. It grows beside streams or in low, rich soil. Parsley-leaved The parsley-leaved thorn has a beau- Thorn. tiful, deeply cut leaf, Crateequs aprisolla. somewhat similar to that of the English hawthorn; the divisions are irregularly toothed and crowded together. The flowers ap- pear in late May; they are white, Parsley-leaved } about half an inch in diameter, and ase there are many in a cluster. The fruit is rather long ovoid in shape and less than half an inch in THE HAWTHORNS. 137 length ; it is coral-red, and ripens in September. The tree grows from 10 to 20 feet high, and has long spreading branches. It may be found in moist woods or in rich ground from southern Virginia southward to Florida, and westward to Arkansas and Texas. waite. ae The white Soarlet-fruited thorn, some- Thorn. Crataegus : coccinea, Scarlet-fruit- ed thorn, is a small tree times called White Thorn. (often a shrub), scarcely over 25 feet high, which may be found in woods or on the borders of fields through- out the North; it is rather rare southward, although 138 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. it extends to Florida. The fruit is dull orange-red, and resembles a very diminutive crab apple; it is ripe in September. The flowers grow in clusters similar to those of the English hawthorn, and meas- ure about two thirds of an inch across; they are white, and very often pink-tinged. The leaf is ex- tremely ornamental—conventionally regular in char- acter as well as appearance with its deep - green, smooth, and shiny surface. The branchlets are more or less covered with thorns about an inch long. The white thorn is well worthy of cultivation, as early and late, in flower or fruit, it is both beautiful and decorative. Scarlet Haw. The scarlet haw, which formerly was Crategus mollis. eonfused with the preceding variety, is marked with pronounced differences. The fruit is much larger (an inch to an inch and a quarter in diam- eter); it is sweet and edible, and falls in September. The leaf divisions are less sharply pointed, and the leaf itself is lighter green and much larger. This thorn also flowers early—when the leaves are half grown, in the middle or end of May. The mature leaf measures from three to five inches in length, and is often densely cottony below. The scarlet haw grows on the margins of swamps and along streams, in rich soil, from Massachusetts Bay to Michigan and Missouri, and from the middle THE HAWTHORNS. 139 of Tennessee to Texas. In New England it looks more treelike, and attains a larger size than the other American thorns.* Blackthorn. The blackthorn has smaller fruit Crategus tomentosa. (half an inch long), ovoid in shape and dull-red in color. The leaves have a very doubt- fully divided outline—that is, some of them are so slightly incised that they can hardly be called divided. They are light olive-green, and turn dull orange-red in the autumn. The flowers are very ill-scented, and appear two or three weeks later than those of the foregoing va- | riety. This thorn grows from 10 eae to 20 feet high, and is distributed from eastern New York westward to Michigan and Missouri, and south- westward to Georgia, Tennessee, and eastern Texas. It is not very common. Dotted-fruited The dotted-fruited thorn has a small Thorn. Jeaf (perhaps an inch and three quar- Crataegus punciata. tor. Jong) which is not divided, but is irregularly toothed; it is pale, dull green. The fruit is an inch in diameter, round, more or less white dotted, and generally red, but often deep yellow. This (a es * Vide Silva of North America, C. S. Sargent. 140 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. tree grows less than 30 feet high, and is common throughout the North; it extends southward to Georgia. Its branches are always _hori- zontal. Cockspur Thorn. The cockspur Crategus thorn is a Os Crus-galli. Saviety most Dotted-truited lis Nia frequently favored by culti- Ss vation ; it is very common- ly used for hedges. The thorns measure two or three inches in length. The leaves are not divided, and are toothed only above the middle; they are dark green and shiny above, but pale below; in autumn they turn a dull orange-red. The flowers, which bloom as late as the middle of June, are white, and somewhat fragrant. The fruit is similar to that of the scarlet- fruited thorn, but rather more pear- shaped (very slightly so); it also ripens about the same time, and Cockspur ThGeh. remains on the tree all winter. The cockspur thorn is found on the margins of swamps, or in rich soil, throughout the North; it extends southward to Florida and west- ward to Missouri and Texas; it is most abundant and reaches its largest size in Arkansas and Louisiana. THE HAWTHORNS. 141 Yellow or Summer Lhe yellow or summer haw is a Haw. Southern variety of the thorn which Cratagus #44 owows not over 20 feet high, and is esteemed for its fruit, which is edible and pleasant flavored ; it is yellow, tinged with red, generally pear-shaped, but frequently round. The leaf is somewhat wedge- shaped, but variable. This thorn extends through the South from Virginia to Mis- sour. Southern Summer Lhe Southern summer yeltoworSum- Haw. haw is a Southern thorn ™* ™*™ Crataegus estivalis. which grows not higher than 30 Summer Southern Haw. Summer Southern Haw, with larger fruit. feet, and bears fragrant, edible fruit, bright red, somewhat dotted, and about two thirds of an inch in 149 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. diameter. This is gathered in quantities where the tree is common, and sold in the markets of the towns in southwestern Louisiana. It is made into preserves and jelly. The leaf is somewhat wedge-shaped, leath- ery, and toothed above the middle. The summer haw grows from the valley of the Savannah River, South Carolina, to northern Florida; it extends westward to Texas. This tree bears the largest flowers and the best-flavored fruit of all the thorns. CHAPTER XI. I. Simple Alternate Leaves. 2. With teeth (some without). B. Edge divided. THE OAKS WITH ACORNS WHICH RIPEN IN ONE YEAR. THERE are so many oaks, and there is such an in- finite variety to the shape of their leaves, that it is best for us to learn the exact location * of each spe- cies, and carefully note the differences which exist between their acorns, bark, wood, ete. I have there- fore placed the oaks in regular botanical order. First come the white oaks, chestnut oaks, and the ever- green-leaved live oak, all of which bear acorns which ripen within the year; next the black and red oaks, whose acorns take two years in which to mature ; and finally, the leather-leaved oaks, some of which are almost or quite evergreen in the South; these also take two years in which to ripen their acorns. It * Tam indebted to Prof. C. S. Sargent in many instances for the precise localities of certain species. 11 143 144 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES, will certainly be quite an easy task to identify a tree Dy its leaf, acorn, and bark, as they are described or drawn here, without the aid of a method of arrange- ment different from that which will be found in Gray’s Field, Forest, and Garden Botany. Of course, the acorn is a “telltale” of the oak; but in case it should not be conveniently present, or we should fail in recognizing it, there are other equally reliable means which [ have pointed out of identifying a tree. But we must bear in mind that the certain recogni- tion of a particular species by means of its leaf’ is rendered somewhat difficult at times by vareations. Little seedlings are especially troublesome in this re- spect, so one’s attention should be turned to the larger trees. White Oak. The white oak grows from 70 to 100 Quercus alba. feet, and in the forest 150 feet high, if it is crowded away from the sunlight; but in the open, where it reaches its fullest development, it sends out great, wide-spreading branches, and attains a very moderate height, with rather a domelike figure. The leaves are round-lobed, narrow at the base, smooth, deep bright green above and pale green below ; when very young they are woolly and red ; in the fall they turn a rich dark red, and many of them remain on the branches through the winter. The rough-cupped (not scaly-cupped) acorn is generally borne in pairs, 145 THE OAKS WITH ACORNS, Se wy SM YY tall, massive trunk. It 2 =\/<4 grows in swamps and beside streams, from Wilmington, Del., southward to north- ern Florida, and extends from In- diana and Missouri Huskich Gale. S southward to Texas and the Gulf. Chestnut Oak. The chestnut oak grows from 60 to Quercus Prinus. %) and occasionally 100 feet high, and has leaves which somewhat resemble those of the chestnut tree. They are orange-green when young, and decidedly yellow-green when mature. In the 154 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. autumn they turn a lovely warm bufi-yellow, with occasional touches of pale scarlet. They are mi- nutely downy beneath, but very smooth above. aa) ae : PAY 4 (l e i uf Fa i ‘hed a ils i, ‘= a | i Sei a i | ue “7 NG Yo Me i@ ; a EY YU Vi abe sae £ _ eS” spite WAY PRA Chestnut Oak. The chestnut oak is generally found on hillsides and on high banks of streams. It is very common along the lower banks of the Hudson River and in the vicinity of New York city. It extends generally from the southern coast of Maine to Delaware and THE OAKS WITH ACORNS. 155 the District of Columbia, and follows the Alleghany Mountains as far south as Alabama. It attains its finest development in the mountains of North Caro- lina and Tennessee. In the North it may also be found on the west shore of Lake Champlain, in the valley of the Genesee River, N. Y., and on the shores of Lake Erie; from here it extends south- ward to Tennessee. I do not find the chestnut oak at all common in New Hampshire. In the valley of the Pemigewasset River it is entirely absent; but in the village of Bed- ford, in the southern part of the State, there is a large specimen near the house of Mr. 8. Manning which is remarkably beautiful. A large and famous tree is now standing at Presqwile, near Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, under which, it is said, Washington in 1783 used to mount his horse when he went from his headquarters on the west bank of the river to the army encampment at Fishkill. The diameter of its trunk is fully seven feet, and a hun- dred years ago it was famous for its age.* The bark of the chestnut oak is particularly rich in tannin, and is much used in the tanning of leather. The tree is one of the most beautiful of all the oaks. Its rich, warm, green foliage marks the landscape * Garden and Forest, vol. i, p. 511. 156 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. with agreeable luminous color, especially in the mid- dle distance. The yellow chestnut oak has a pe- Yellow Chestnut Oak. i Sey een culiarly narrow leaf scarcely two inches in width, which more near- ly resembles the chestnut leaf than that of any other chestnut oak. The tree grows from 80 to 100, and sometimes 160 feet high, but it rarely exceeds an altitude of 50 feet when growing in the open. The bark of the trunk is dull, sil- very gray, with a more or less scaly surface. The leaves, which are a_ beautiful yellow green above and silvery gray below, are crowded at the ends of the branches, and hang so that the under surfaces show with every passing breeze. This imparts a novel Z and delightful flickering color to the EN Chestnut tree which reminds one of the trem- hack bling aspen; but the oak’s shift of light is slower, and its coloring is far richer. In autumn the leaves turn an orange-bronze hue. THE OAKS WITH ACORNS. 157 The yellow chestnut oak grows on rich lands over the same extent of country (but in lower regions) as the chestnut oak. It extends no farther northeast than Massachusetts, but in the West it is found as far as Nebraska and eastern Kansas. It also extends through the South to Texas. It attains its fullest proportions in the valley of the lower Wabash River and its vicinity. The acorn has a rounded, thin cup with close scales, which most fre- quently covers one third of the nut. These four species conclude the list of chestnut oaks. Live Oak. The live oak has an Quercus virens. essentially different Be ee? lege. froma 7 those which I have already described. It is evergreen, thick and leathery, has no lobes or divisions, and is rarely, if ever, toothed. . It measures from two to five inches in length, and is smooth, dark green above, but hoary beneath. The acorns are rich dark brown in color, and have a rather Live Oak. pointed nut with a sweet kernel. The leaves remain green well on into the winter, and then turn yellowish brown, falling only when 158 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. the new leaves appear in the spring. The wood has a yellowish color and is extremely heavy, a cubic foot weighing a trifle over fifty-nine pounds. It has a beautiful grain and is susceptible of a fine polish, but it is extremely hard to work, and takes the edge off every tool. Years ago it was highly esteemed for shipbuilding, and in 1799 the Government spent two hundred thousand dollars in the purchase of Southern lands on which live-oak timber was grow- ing suitable for the navy. The use of iron in mod- ern shipbuilding, however, having greatly diminished the need of oak timber, the Government, by the con- summation of an act finally approved by Congress in February, 1895, opened for entry and occupation by the public large tracts of wooded land which it had held for many years in the interest of the navy.* Live oak grows from Virginia southward near the coast to Florida, where it abounds. It extends along the Gulf States to Texas, where it reaches its limit in the valley of the Red River and the extreme western borders of the State. It varies in size from a mere shrub to a tree 40 or 50 feet high. * Vede Silva of North America, C. S. Sargent. CHAPTER XII. I. Simple Alternate Leaves. 2. With teeth (some without). B. Edge divided (some undivided). THE OAKS WITH ACORNS WHICH RIPEN IN TWO YEARS. Red Oak. Tue red oak grows from 70 to 80 Quercus rubra. feet high, and is the most northern species of the country. I find it very common in the White Mountain region of New Hampshire. A hand- some though not large specimen growing on the slope of Sunset Hill, Campton, measures 45 feet in height, and has a trunk with a circumference of over nine feet. The red oak extends from Maine to Tennessee, and follows the Alleghany Mountains to northern Georgia; westward it extends to Minnesota and cen- tral Kansas. In the summer its bristle-tipped leaf is bright green, and in the autumn it turns a rich, deep red or a dull orange. The acorn requires two years in which to mature; its cup is saucer-shaped, and the nut is large. The tree attains its greatest size in the 12 159 160 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. States north of the Ohio River, but at its southern limit it is very small. The red oak, near the northern borders of the yy WN" \\\ Y SM AW AWN . = Any \ a . \\ Ty = 2s A wi EF © AQ al an\ de Za Lip \ at ¢ y WH a Le 7A Red Oak. United States, often bears leaves with fewer divisions, and smaller acorns; but such forms are so intermixed and inconstant that they can not be considered varie- THE OAKS WITH ACORNS. 161 ties.* My larger drawing was taken from a young tree in Campton, N. H., and that of the single leaf was taken from a tree in New Jersey. The bark of the trunk is dark gray-brown, with a surface of scaly plates. » The : tree grows rapidly and is peculiarly adapted for the ornamentation of parks and road- sides in the most northern States, although it is by no means as beautiful as the following spe- cies. Soarlet Oak. The Quercus coccined. gear. ———$—— let oak deserves its 4 name, as the leaves ) turn a most. bril- liant red, all but % ple scarlet.t This statement may seem a trifle anoma- * Vide Silva of North America, C. S. Sargent. + Scarlet is a red thoroughly saturated with yellow: vermilion is typical of such a color, and it is commonly seen in the Madame Crozy canna. 162 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. lous, but the name is not inapplicable, for “scarlet” is a word commonly accepted as synonymous with bright red, and the foliage of this species turns a more Scarlet Oak. brilliant color than that of any of the other oaks. The leaf is bright red when it is born, lustrous green when it reaches maturity, and burning red when it dies. It THE OAKS WITH ACORNS. 163 vo is also, as Ruskin would say, ‘deeply rent,” for the lobes are cut very deeply, and impart a very ragged appearance to the foliage. The acorn has a thick, top-shaped cup, which covers the third of the nut. The kernel is bitter and whitish. The bark of the trunk is thick, brownish, and roughly seamed. The tree grows from 70 to 80 feet high, and is one of our most charmingly orna- mental sylvan characters, particularly suited to the landscape garden because of its beautiful autumn coloring, and its vivacious leafage which fairly sparkles in the sunlight. The scarlet oak grows beside the Androscoggin River in Maine, and extends thinly through south- ern New Hampshire to Vermont and central New York. It also extends from Massachusetts Bay to the District of Columbia and along the Alleghany Mountains to North Carolina; westward it is found from Michigan and Illinois to Nebraska and Min- nesota. Black Oak. § The leaves of the black oak are not Quercus coccinea, var. tinctoria. ‘ : Quercus velutina. let oak, and its trunk is much darker so deeply incised as those of the scar- in color; in fact, its branches often appear blackish. The tree grows 70 to 80 and rarely 150 feet high. It has a wide range, which extends from New York to the Gulf States. Its limit eastward is in southern New 1¢4 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. England, and westward in Kansas and Texas. The finest growth is in the valley of the lower Ohio River. K a { \e Xi 4 y, QW LZ & . x on i \ pi 1 l 4 oN rw: Nw WA : aN ZN Mn yp, 2M te Black Oak. The leaf is somewhat thin, dark green when mature, with a yellower under surface, and in autumn it turns a dull, rich, leather-red color. It falls during the winter. The acorn is small, and has a deep cup with rather a jagged rim and rough surface. I have no- THE OAKS WITH ACORNS. 165 ticed that many of the smooth nuts are striped, but a much more reliable characteristic is connected with the kernel; this is very yellow and bitter. The inner bark of this oak is orange in col- or and sat- urated with tannin, which makes it valua- ble to the tanner and dyer. It is commercially known as quercitron. Pin or Swamp The leaf of Spanish Oak. the pin oak Quercus palustris. has broa d, rounded, deep incisions and sharp, bristle - tipped “divis- ions; it is bright green above and a trifle paler below in summer, and in autumn it changes to a rich bronze red. The acorn has a saucer-shaped cup with thin scales, and a round- Pin Oak. 166 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES, ish nut barely half an inch in length. This oak is common on the borders of swamps and in low lands from Connecticut westward to Missouri, and south- ward to the Potomac River, Virginia; it also extends from central Kentucky to the eastern parts of Indian Territory. It is rare and small in New England, and reaches its finest development in the valley of the lower Ohio River. It grows 70 or 80 and in thick forests occasionally 120 feet high. The bark is light gray-brown, smoothish, and has small scales. The wood is reddish and coarse-grained. The pin oak gets its name from the pinlike appearance of the tiny branchlets which are set in the limbs and trunk. I know of no beautiful specimens of this tree in New England, excepting two comparatively youthful ones in the Arnold Arboretum, near the residence of Mr. Jackson Dawson; but in Flushing, L. 1, in Fair- mount Park, Philadelphia,* and in Prospect Park, Brooklyn,t there are quite a number of handsome and symmetrical large trees, which can not fail to attract attention. * In this park there is an avenue of beautiful pin oaks which, although they were planted as late as 1881, have already attained symmetrical proportions and an average height of 30 feet. The trunks are about a foot in diameter now, but when the trees were planted they measured about an inch and a half. + Prospect Park is particularly fortunate in the possession of many splendid large trees. In this respect it excels Central Park, New York, THE OAKS WITH ACORNS. 167 Spanish Oak. 4 The Spanish oak is distinguished by Quercus falcata. jts broad-ended, three- to five-divi- sioned leaf, which is always downy underneath and of a somewhat dull- green color above. The acorn has a saucer-shaped cup with a top-shaped base, and a round- ish nut with a bitter kernel ; it is nearly stemless. The tree grows from 40 to 70 feet high, and is found in dry or sandy soil from Long Island through New Jersey to Florida; * west- ward it extends from southern Indiana and Illinois to Mis- souri and Texas. The bark is ee ay blackish brown and is deeply furrowed. It contains a large amount of tannin, and is therefore valued by the tanner. The Spanish oak and the four species preceding it complete the list of black and red oaks which are common. Their acorns require two years in which to ripen. The water oak, as its name implies, is Water Oak. Beene found in wet situations. It grows from 30 to 40 and occasionally 80 * It is also reported from Bucks County, Pa, 168 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. feet high. In summer the leaf is a glossy, rich bottle- green, and in autumn it changes to a duller green, and remains that color well on into the winter. It is, in fact, partially ever- green. The acorn has a saucer- shaped cup, and a globular, downy nut with a very bitter kernel. The water oak is distributed from southern Delaware to Tampa Bay, Florida, and thence through the Gulf States to Texas. It also ex- tends from the centers of Kentucky and Tennessee Lens to Missouri and Arkansas. The bark is comparative- ly smooth, and light brown, with close scales. The leaves are variable, but I have drawn the common- est types. Black Jack or Lhe — black Barren Oak. Jack or bar- Quercus nigra. Quercus Marilandica. a singularly ren oak has { wedge-shaped, broad-ended leaf, Black Jack Oak. thick, dark shining green above, and THE OAKS WITH ACORNS. 169 yellowish and rusty colored below. In autumn it turns brown or brown-yellow. The acorn has a coarse-scaled, top-shaped cup which half covers the nut. It is nearly but not quite stemless. The black Jack oak is common in sandy barrens, and extends from Long Island southward to Tampa Bay, Florida, and westward to southeastern Nebraska and Texas, including portions of the intermediate country. It isa small tree, 20 to 30 or rarely 50 feet high. Laurel or Shingle Oak. The laurel or Quercus imbricaria. shingle oak grows from 30 to 60, and in low, rich grounds occasionally 100 feet high. Its leaf is similar to that of the laurel; thick, stiff, dark green, smooth, and lustrous above, and pale green and downy below. In autumn it turns a rich, leather- red color. The acorn has a globu- lar nut and a thin cup with close- | pressed scales. The kernel is bitter. Teall Gals. The bark is light brown, and has close, ruddy scales. The wood from an early date has been used in the making of shingles—hence the name “shingle oak.” This species is commonly found in rich woodlands from Lehigh County, Pa., 170 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES, to Wisconsin, Missouri, and northeastern Kansas. It extends southward along the Alleghany Mountains to Georgia and Alabama, and also from Tennessee to northern Arkansas. Its largest growth is in the valley of the lower Ohio River. Willow Oak. The willow oak neers eae (G0) oun oO ee hee high), so named because its leaves resemble those of the willow, is a beautiful tree which frequently shades the streets of Southern towns. The leaf is a brilliant light Willow Oak. green above, and dull, pale green below. The tiny acorn has a sau- cer-shaped cup and a small globular nut. The ker- nel is orange-yellow and bitter. The stem is exceed- ingly short. This oak is found on the borders of swamps or in sandy, low woods, from Tottenville, Staten Island, N. Y., to northeastern Florida. It is also distributed along the Gulf States to Texas, and extends from southern Kentucky through Tennessee to Arkansas and southeastern Missouri. The bark is reddish brown, and has close scales ; it th Comparatively smooth. The willow oak is a beauti- ful shade tree, whose remarkable foliage lights up THE OAKS WITH ACORNS. 171 prettily in the sunny South. Its small, leathery leaf remains green long after those of other trees are brown and sere. The tree has also the advantage of being a rapid grower. One of its most distinguished relatives, the English oak (Quercus Pobur), is hardly more interesting or beautiful. Certainly the contrast between these two trees of the same family could not be greater. There is hardly a point of resem- blance between them. The great aged oaks of Eng- land * are nursed and guarded with something like reverential awe. Their historical associations are cherished records. But the American willow oak is a tree without a history. Nevertheless, it is certainly a modern sylvan beauty, refreshingly novel, and decid- edly unconventional. The willow oak and the three species which pre- cede it complete the list of common leather-leaved oaks, some of which are nearly or quite evergreen in the South. * Some of these English oaks were planted about the time of the Norman conquest, 1066. Cowthrop oak, Cowthrop, Yorkshire, is seventy-eight feet in circuit at the ground, and is at least eight- een hundred years old. The Cowthrop oak is on the estate of Lord Petre; it has a girth of sixty feet, and previous to the de- struction of its largest branch by a storm in 1718, it spread over half an acre. There is one in Dorsetshire said to be its equal in age, and one near Fountain Abbey, Ripon, in Yorkshire, is cer- tainly over twelve hundred years old. CHAPTER XIII. I. Simple Alternate Leaves. 2. With teeth. B. Edge divided. BUTTONWOOD AND LIQUIDAMBER. Tue buttonwood, which is also com- Buttonwood or ; y Sycamore, Monly but quite improperly called Platanus sycamore, is a tall, ruggedly hand- occidentalis. 5 i 2 some tree, which sometimes attains a height of 150 feet. Gray calls it our largest tree, and Whittier has made it celebrated in his poem entitled The Sycamores. The Occidental plane trees —Hugh Tallant’s syeamores, sung by the poet— were planted by the Irish pioneer in 1738, over a century and a half ago, beside the Merrimac River, where now stands the city of Haverhill, Mass.* Be- neath their shade, tradition says, Washington passed in his triumphal journey through the:North in 1789, * Only two or three of these trees now remain standing; they measure about six feet in trunk circumference. Formerly a long row of them adorned what is known as the Saltonstall estate. 172 BUTTONWOOD AND LIQUIDAMBER. 173 the year of his election to the presidency of the new nation; and to this day, Still green and tall and stately, On the river’s winding shores, surrounded by city sights and sounds, stand the old buttonwood trees.* Kentucky is the favorite home of the buttonwood, and in its rich soil the tree thrives far better than it does in the less fertile regions of the North. Beside the grave of Daniel Boone, in the cemetery at Frank- fort, stand several handsome trees which, although they are not very tall, possess ample and graceful proportions. I found in the village of Plymouth, N. H., two grand old specimens, which I have sketched; these must be quite one hundred years old. Among the leaves which had fallen from the trees in October last were several handsome russet-colored specimens which measured ten inches in width. The leaves are boldly if not beautifully modeled, and have a fine leathery texture; the few teeth which they possess are so large that the leaf really appears to have an undisturbed, entire edge. I remember, as a child, * It is said that under these trees, which form a green archway over the river road, Whittier conceived the plan of his poem, Skipper Ireson’s Ride. FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 174 ‘y8a'T poomnoyng SON Ne . ‘ Mant Z ee au \h re | i es Be 7 \ Yao. \"\ a ee pi ay \ SW — > = S Wie F nde = Ay aS A. J) Ww 2ZfZA SX -\ Sh Vo. ee Se Si 2 LAN Nin \ WHO NYS me ES SSW Ny N \\ Se Sy, V Rt \ Mh i. Gs a Sy. SS An \\ N\ Ww S OW WONT WH ae Zoo Sl \ WwW : DN PN YAN Sei Fi4h mj ry ay) 3 se \ “ 7 ar, 4 te \ SS eS No *Y ah I). L. yy \ : zs oy Tee hy : Av I) ISS =) ~ OF Vi iy Wy NK ast” as “nt i) \ ia S e ‘ aN INS SS 7 Shy YY) Dry fr Ming NY Sil Vows’ Tae mS i Mi a) yes ; y ly jin i WIN \ ., f Ady jh I) aah ) If ip SSN ie Li ly MW"? Mf Lx PG} hi ee a 178 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. The bark is brown-gray, and is seamed vertically ; the branches push out at almost right angles below (not so very far from the ground), and if these are examined it will be found that they are covered with strange, corky-looking ridges, reminding one of a fun- gous growth. In a warm climate the sweet-smelling gum is frequently noticeable on the bark, and by bruising the leaf the same spicy odor may be obtained. One is enabled to recognize the tree without difficul- ty by means of the leaf and the aro- matic sap. But this is not enough ; the liquidambar is deserving of our closest attention. From the con- Tignidariar ventional and decorative seed- Seve ball, filled with a lot of abortive seed (there are few good ones) fine as sawdust, to the wide expanse of the charmingly proportioned tree itself, it is beautiful in every way; as a shade tree it has few rivals, and as an ornament for a park or private grounds it has no equal, unless it be the sugar maple. Both trees frequently assume a perfect egg-shaped outline, but in its leafy details I consider the liquid- ambar decoratively superior to the maple. The tree reaches its finest growth in the Mississippi Valley ; it can rarely be found north of Connecticut, and it is commonest south of Baltimore and St. Louis. COuri- BUTTONWOOD AND LIQUIDAMBER. 179 ously enough, although the liquidambar bears no re- semblance to the witch-hazel (Hamamelis Virgini- and), it belongs, with only two other members, to the Witch-Hazel family. CHAPTER XIV. II. Simple Opposite Leaves. 1. Without teeth. A. Edge not divided. FLOWERING DOGWOOD, ETC. Flowering Dogwood. THE flowering dogwood is distin- Cornus florida. guished by apparent, large, dull- white flowers with four notched petals; but these are really bracts (leaflets) set around the cluster of true flowers in the center, which are greenish yel- low.* The leaves are from three to five inches long, and have in- dented whitish ribs nearly following the general curve of the Flowering Dogwood. edges; they turn a rich red in autumn. The bunches of ovoid, bright- * They bloom in Massachusetts in late May, and in Texas in March. 180 5 FLOWERING DOGWOOD, ETC. 181 red berries are ripe in early autumn, when with the changing foliage they produce a very decorative effect on the tree. The flowering dogwood grows from 15 to 40 feet high, and is common in dry woods from southern New England to Florida, fexas, and southern Missouri. There are several beautiful though not large specimens in the Arnold Arboretum, where, with many other foreign species, they combine in making the roadsides gorgeous in October. Alternate-leaved lhe very name of the alternate- Dogwood. leaved dogwood seems to imply that Cornus alternifolia. it ig out of place here in my leaf classification. But this particular species is an ex- ception to the rule, and ought not to be separated from its relatives, as its general appearance also rather inclines one to think it opposite-leaved—look at my sketch! The leaves really seem opposite, but they are not; one stem grows independently just below the other, and not conjointly with it.* For the reverse of this arrangement look at the red maple, which very likely will be found growing beside the dogwood, convenient for comparison. The alternate- leaved dogwood has very beautiful, slender, coral-like * It occasionally happens, though, that the leaves do grow opposite. 182 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. red stems bearing pretty, dark, gray-blue berries, which are ripe in early October. The tree is com- WV : Lf, ZA, Alternate-leaved Dogwood. mon beside the roads and on the banks of streams in the mountain regions of New Hampshire; in fact, it is a familiar object in all the Northern States; it also extends southward through the Alleghany Mountains as far as northern Georgia and Alabama. It is often- est found in shrub form, but frequently it grows to a height of 25 or even 30 feet, FLOWERING DOGWOOD, ETC. 183 For the sake of comparison with the alternate- leaved variety, 1 draw a spray of red osier (Cornus "tn py 2 Gilly Mt TAZ. Red Osier Dogwood. stolonifera), which is opposite-leaved. This charm- ing species is frequently a prominent object on the border of a snow-clad meadow in midwinter, when its bright-red twigs may be distinguished a mile away. It is merely a shrub, which grows only 6 184 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. feet high. Its foreign relative, the Siberian red- stemmed cornel (Cornus alba), is another shrub or tree handsomely colored ; this variety is often found in parks and gardens; it has a white berry. Tartasion The Tartarian honeysuckle, although Honeysuckle. it does not belong to our country, has Lomicera, Tariorite: Deeome pretty firmly rooted) In) our parks and gardens. It often grows to the height of nearly 20 feet, and is occasional- ly trimmed into a treelike figure. There is just such a well-trained tree in the Public Garden, Bos- ton, which is very beautiful in its spring dress. The leaves are smooth and somewhat _heart- Tartarian Honeysuckle. shaped. The flowers grow in pairs, and are of a soft, magenta- pink color; they bloom in May in great profusion. This honeysuckle comes from Asia. Fringe Tree, /he fringe tree has a smooth, thick Chionanthus leaf, three to six inches long, which rirginiea. vesembles that of the magnolia. It gets its name from yy, snow, and avOos, flower, in allusion to the snow-white flower clusters ; these hang in beautiful, loose, drooping tassels, which in early June give the tree a very ornamental appearance. The petals of the flower are narrow, and about an FLOWERING DOGWOOD, ETC. 185 inch in length. The oval fruit is half an inch long, and purple covered with a bloom. The fringe tree grows from 8 to 30 feet high, and is commonly cultivated ; it is found wild along the river banks of New Jersey, south Pennsylvania, and the Southern States. The ca- talpa, or In- Catalpa. Indian Bean. Catalpa bignonoides. dian bean, has a large, light - green, heart - shaped ee leaf, smooth above and downy below, especially on the ribs; the stems are also woolly. The tree grows from 20 to 40 feet high, and has wide-spreading, coarse, stiff branches, with bark of a light buff-gray color. The trunk has dull, silver-gray bark slightly seamed up and down. The delicate, sweet-scented flowers are white, plen- tifully spotted with yellow and purple; they appear in thick clusters in early summer.* The catalpa is common from New York city southward, and is cultivated as far north as Albany * It is said that honey collected from these flowers has poison- ous properties. 186 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. and Boston; in fact, I know of several flourishing, good-sized specimens beside a hotel in the White Mountain region of New Hampshire. The first tree of this species planted in New England stands on Washington Street, Hart- ford ; itis over ninety years old.* The ca- Me talpa bean, I remember, long years ago was surreptitiously smoked by small boys; wheth- er it is to-day or not I do not know, but the somewhat aro- Catalpa Leaf. matic smell of a smoldering * Vide Trees and Tree Planting, by General J. S. Brisbin. FLOWERING DOGWOOD, ETC. 187 pod haunts one’s memory, and it was vividly recalled to mine, bringing with it a long chain of old ascoci- ations, by a recent visit to an Italian cathedral in which incense had been burned. The pod is ten inches long, of a dull, light-brown color; its seeds are winged and fringed (see the drawing at A). The tree is a rapid grower. Western Catalpa. The Western catalpa is a much larger Catalpa speciosa. gpnecies; it frequently attains a height of from 40 to 70 feet. Its leaf is similar to that of the other catalpa, but the two-inch-long nearly white flowers are pale-spotted, and the pod is coarse and thick. This tree is found growing wild in rich wood- lands in southern Indiana and immediately south and west. Gray says the catalpa is sometimes called Cigar Tree, from the alleged use of the ripe pods as cigars. The wood is grayish-white and suscep- tible of a high polish, but it is not in common use ° by cabinetmakers. CHAPTER XV, II. Simple Opposite Leaves. 2. With teeth. A. Edge not divided. BURNING BUSH, ETC. Tue burning bush, sometimes called Burning Bush, rt ‘ Wahoo, wahoo and spindle tree, is most fre- Evonymus* quently found in the form of a tall atropurpureus. shrub; but it is very often cultivated and trimmed so as to appear treelike. It sometimes attains an altitude of nearly 25 feet when circumstances are advantageous. The mi- nutely toothed leaves are about the color of those of the holly, but have a waxy finish; they are from two to five inches long; in autumn they turn pale yellow. The flowers, which ap- pear in June, have a four-parted ap- Burning Bush : P range pearance ; the rounded petals are deep * Also spelled Huonymus: from ei, good, and évoya, name, because it has the bad reputation of poisoning cattle.—Gray. 188 BURNING BUSH, ETC. 189 purple. The fruit, which ripens in October, is also four-parted, and hangs on long, slender stems; it is half an inch broad, light magenta-purple in color, and imparts to the tree a very ornamental appear- ance in autumn. The burning bush grows wild from western New York to Wisconsin, Nebraska, Indian Territory, and southward to northern Florida. There is also a European burning bush (Hvonymus Europeus), which is commonly seen in parks and gardens; the fruit is similarly four-divided, but these divisions are somewhat flattened and angular; its color is a soft, wnvarnished crimson, with a singular touch of ruddy orange—certainly a very odd com- bination of color. This shrub also expands to large proportions under favorable conditions. There is a very pretty specimen, perhaps 15 feet high, in the Public Garden, Boston. The burning bush is easily identified by its singular four-sided crimson or ma- genta berries scarcely half an inch in diameter. It is rare, too, that one finds a red berry of a ervmson hue and without a glossy surface. In this respect, therefore, the fruit of the burning bush is quite unique. I know of two beautiful but small speci- mens which grow beside an arbor in front of a hotel in the White Mountains, New Hampshire, where they are exposed to rigorous winter weather with the mercury frequently falling to 25° below zero. 190 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. Sweet Viburnum, Lhe sweet viburnum has a smooth, Sheepberry. bright-green leaf about three or Viburnum Lentayo. foyy inches long, closely and sharp- ly toothed and sharp tipped; the rather long stem has a crinkly edge either side. Its ovate berry, blue-black in color with a bloom, ripens in autumn and is sweet and edi- ble; it is about half an inch long, and is borne in red-stemmed clusters. The fine white flowers bloom in flat, broad clusters in May or June. The sweet viburnum is a small tree (it grows from 15 to 30 feet high), common 6 Pree in swamps, along streams, and in the Viburnum. * woods, through a wide north- ern range extending all the way from Hudson Bay to northern Georgia and from the Atlantic States to south- western Missouri and eastern Nebras- ka. Black Haw. The black haw is a Viburnum species of viburnum, prunifolium. with obtuse - pointed, dark - green leaves from one to two Black Haw. inches long; the stems are not crinkly on the edges. The flowers and fruit are similar to those of the foregoing variety. The fruit is also edible. The BURNING BUSH, ETC. 131: black haw is a very small tree, from 15 to 30 feet high; in the North it is oftenest a thickly branched shrub. It is common in dry soil or beside streams, and extends from south- western Connecticut westward to Missouri and Indian Territory, and southward to Florida and Texas. Arrow-wood, Thearrow- Viburnum dentatum. wood gets its name from the fact that spew rood: its stems were used by the Indians to make arrows. The leaves are altogether different from those of the two preceding varieties; they are broadly ovate, sometimes slightly heart-shaped, light green, strongly straight-veined, and the very prominent, sharp teeth resemble those of a small circular saw. Its fruit, a quarter of an inch long, is rich purple-blue in color. The arrow-wood is a small tree, or oftenest a shrub, which grows from 5 to 15 feet high; it is common in wet places from Maine to Minnesota, and extends as far south as northern Georgia. 14 CHAPTER XVI. II. Simple Opposite Leaves. 2. With teeth. B. Edge divided. THE MAPLES. THE maples are without doubt our handsomest trees in the largest sense of the word; no others can compare with them in the splendid coloring of their autumnal dress. What surprises our English cousins, on beholding for the first time a New Eng- land landscape in autumn, is the brilliancy of the foliage. More credit is due to the sugar and silver maples for this brilliant color than to all the rest of the trees put together. Scarlet in its purest tones, yellow in its clearest tints, golden orange with hardly a touch of rust—these are hues which the maples almost exclusively possess, and colors which are rarely seen in Old England. Exclusive of its noble proportions, symmetry, abundant foliage, and broad shadows, the autumnal coloring of the sugar maple entitles it to the first 192 THE MAPLES. 193 Mountain Maple. 194 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. place in our estimation as a strikingly handsome American tree. But some of its near relatives are almost as beautiful; not the least among these is the Mountain Maple, mountain maple, which oftener takes Acer sprcatum. the form of a tall shrub than it does that of a small tree. Its leaves are downy beneath ; they are divided into three parts (rarely five), and the teeth are rather coarse ; in autumn they turn a bright, deep, ruddy orange or red. Its spikelike clusters of greenish-yellow flowers appear in June. The seeds, with narrow wings diverging at an obtuse angle, are often a lovely tone of pale terra-cotta pink ; finally they turn red. The mountain maple is com- mon in the rich woods of the North, and among the mountains as far south as northern Georgia. It is most frequently found by shady roadsides or the banks of streamlets; its brown branches rarely rise over fifteen feet high, and as they have a common habit of growing in clumps, this maple is properly classed as a shrub; sometimes, however, it reaches a height of from 25 to 30 feet. The mountain maple may be distinguished from a young red maple by the erect flower clusters, and the undeveloped condition of the leaves, if the time is June; later, by the three or five-divisioned leaves of soft texture and reflex curves, and also by the ab- sence of the red color which characterizes the twigs THE MAPLES. 195 of the red maple, and in the fall by the seeds whose brownish wings diverge at fully a right angle. The striped maple can be distin- Striped Maple. Lae a guished at once (especially in win- cer Lennsylvanicum. ter) by its vertically striped bark, and large, three-pointed, goose-foot-shaped leaves, which measure five or six inches in length. The bark is smooth, greenish, and is striped with a sort of rust color sometimes quite dark. The leaves are very finely and sharply double-toothed. Its flow- ers are greenish, and appear in May or June. The seeds have large, divergent, pale-green wings, and depend in long, graceful clus- ters. The tree is small and slender, nev- 4) er reaching a height of over 35 or Y Mountain Maple. 40 feet ; it is common throughout the North, but is merely a shrub 15 feet high, beside the shaded roads which pass through the White Mountain district of New Hampshire ; it reaches its greatest height in the Big Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, and extends no farther south than north- ern Georgia. I might call attention to this maple as having a leaf distinctly wnlike those of its rela- tives; it is so large, thin, and delicately if not softly 196 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES, WN & 4a, } Sean {) tay a a ZS aces Striped Maple. THE MAPLES. 197 modeled, that one is impressed by its sharp contrast with the rugged leaf of the sugar maple, when the two are placed side by side. A comparison of Wf " S\in\ yy, S | \ VD: WY) AZ \ Sugar Maple. my drawings will show how widely the leaves differ in character, 198 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. dupa of Rock Maple The sugar or rock maple is the Acer saccharinum. grandest member of the family. It Acer saccharum. sometimes reaches a height of from 100 to 120 feet. Its leaf is bold, and lacking in fine modeling, but that in no wise detracts from the symmetrical beauty of the dignified tree. The leaves generally have five divisions, the notches be- tween which are very rounded ; the teeth —if they can be called such, so very few and coarse are they—have blunt points. Compared with its “striped” relative, the sugar maple is a tree Bicas tapi sec with foliage of a decidedly rugged character. The greenish-yellow flowers of this maple droop from very slender, hairy stems; they come in April or May, while the leaves are expanding. The wings of the seeds are about an inch long, and diverge something less than at a right angle; they are usu- ally of a beautiful, pale yellow-green; the seed is ripe in September. The trunk is most frequently divided eight or ten feet from the ground into three or four stout, perpendicular branches. The leaf is smooth, dark green, and has an eggshell gloss; in the autumn it regularly turns a clear straw yellow on some trees, and a variety of toned light reds on SUGAR MAPLE. Campton, Grafton Co., N. H. THE MAPLES. 199 others; not infrequently it assumes a golden or an orange tint.* The bark of a young tree is smooth and gray, but on very old specimens it becomes deep- ly furrowed, scaly, and assumes a dark, gray-brown hue. The wood is yellowish white, and is exten- sively used in cabinet work ; it is very hard.t There is no more interesting tree in the woods in March than our much-prized sugar maple. At this season the farmer taps the tree (with a three- quarter-inch auger) for the sweet sap which the warm sunshine draws upward from its roots; and while the snow is yet lying on the ground, the evi- dences of a spring awakening are shown by the tree in the ceaseless drip of its watery blood into a tin pail suspended at its side. When the sap runs well, usually when the sun has warmed the tree in the middle of the day, about seventy drops fall in the pail every minute; it is a slow proceeding, but it continues relentlessly, until after three weeks or so the tree has yielded up its life blood to the extent * The turning of maple leaves to unvarying hues each autumn is quite remarkable. For years, two trees I know of have re- sumed exactly the same colors: one, russet orange above and dull scarlet below, and the other yellowish rust color; even an individual branch will resume its own particular hue each fall. + The so-called bird’s-eye maple and curled maple are rare conditions of the wood, caused by undulations or deflections of its fiber. 900 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. of twenty-five gallons.* A large orchard in Ver- mont or New Hampshire will yield, in a good season, one thousand pounds of sugar, besides one hundred gallons of sirup, without injury to the trees.t In a small maple grove, which is near my summer home in the White Mountains, it has been my privilege to watch the effect of “tapping” on scores of trees for a period of twenty-five years—in fact, ever since childhood—and I can not say to-day that they seem to have lost any of their vigor; yet many a farmer has told me that the process eventually kills the tree. This, I find by experience, is entirely depend- ent upon the treatment it receives. There is a sensitive if not a human quality in a maple which responds to kindness, and rewards the care-taker with an abundance of sugar without injury to its own life. There are, however, careless and igno- rant farmers who bore their trees in several places at once, or out of season, and as a consequence the exhausted trees die sooner or later, according to the measure of the abuse. To tap a tree in threatening ea bee se eine ee * One gallon of sap yields about three ounces of sugar. Few trees yield more than thirty gallons of sap, if the tapping is properly done, so the average production of sugar from a single tree is about five and a half pounds; but in many instances the average, I find, does not rise over four and a quarter pounds. +On a large estate near Stamford, N. Y., the output of sugar in a season is five thousand pounds. THE MAPLES. 901 or stormy weather, or before the temperate genial warmth which is usually brought by the south wind, is considered by some sugar-makers an ill-advised pro- ceeding ; the weather must be neither too hot nor too cold to obtain the best flow of sap. The methods employed to-day in the making of sugar are quite scientific compared with those in practice twenty years ago. A patent evaporator, with an infinite length of trough through which the sap flows,* now takes the place of the long pan over the bricked-in log fire. Also, in place of the wooden tap or spout for the tree, a new galvanized iron one (which does not clog up the pores) is in common use. The sap is evaporated to a certain point in the pro- duction of sirup, and it passes through a process of still greater evaporation in the making of sugar.t In my own judgment, the sugar made by the old- fashioned, boiling-down method possesses the high. * The passage of sap through the trough to the necessary point of evaporation is about two hours. There is also a partitioned pan now in use, the principle of which is similar to that of the evaporator. + One hundred eight-quart bucketfuls of sap are boiled about sixteen hours in the production of sirup, and about twenty hours in the production of sugar. The test is made by stirring and cool- ing some of the boiled sap in a saucer: if it granulates and adheres to the spoon and saucer the process is completed; also, some of the sap is dropped on snow or ice, and if this becomes “‘ like glass,” . the proper point is reached. 909 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. est and best flavor; but in the market the super- refined, lighter-colored sugar made by the patent evaporators is of course considered much finer, and brings a higher price. The best sugar brings the New Hampshire farmer rarely more than eight cents per pound, and the sirup about sixty cents per gal- lon. The retail prices even in country towns is frequently over fifty per cent in advance of these figures. Black Sugar Maple, The black sugar maple is a variety Acer saccharinum, of the common sugar maple, with var. nigrum. Acer saccharum, var. nigrum. excepting that the leaf is often fine- no great distinguishing differences ly covered with down un- derneath ; it usually has three lobes (leaf divi- sions) which are wider, shorter, and freer of teeth, and the sides of the es A K\ A\ clefts at Sea 4 Z ZA Wi ! the base : of the leaf often overlap. The bark of the tree has also a blackish color, and the seed Black Sugar Maple. wings, set wide apart, only slightly diverge. THE MAPLES. 203 Silver or White Maple. The silver or white maple has Acer dasycarpum. Acer saccharinum. an extremely ornamental leaf, prettily divided Tr and toothed, — Rey which could not possibly be con- fused with the Ps leaves of the maples already de- scribed. It is distinct- ly silver - white be- neath and downy when young; its five divisions are separated by deeply eut, sharp notches, and its teeth are very variable in size. This tree should not be confused with the red maple; the latter has a leaf which is characteris- tically three- lobed — that. is, it impresses one Zi with its triple i aspect, even } though we often : Silver Maple. 904 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES, find a specimen with five lobes. Compare my draw- ings, and this difference of type will at once become apparent. The flowers, which precede the leaves, are light yellowish-lavender ; the seeds follow some time in July; their wings are large, and set at right an- gles. This maple I consider remarkable for its beau- tiful details; its branches are long, spread- ing, and frequently droop enough to de- serve the term “ weeping ”—in fact, i certain cut-leaved and weeping varieties are sold by the nurs- erymen. The silver maple is most common along river banks, and is found from Maine to western Florida; MES westward it extends to the US Dakotas and Indian Territo- ry. Its seeds, taking root in sandy river margins, quickly _ Cutt cat untae sprout, and before the sum- mer is done the budding leaves contribute a deli- cate ruddy tint to the monotonous buff of the sand. It is a curious fact that dying leaves are often stained with the same ruddy hues in which they appeared at birth. The silver maple grows to a height of from 90 to THE MAPLES. 205 120 feet, but commonly it does not exceed 50 feet. Its wood is soft, white, and of little value. Red or Swamp Maple. The red or swamp maple, a tree ee common in swamps and wet woods, rarely attains a height of over 50 feet in the North, but sometimes measures 80 to 120 feet in the South. It may be distinguished by its reddish branches; the twigs of very young trees are bright, dark red.* The leaf, as I have al- ready said, is characterized by three divisions, although one may fre- quently find specimens with the five | a he points distinctly defined. The com- monest type of leaf will be seen in the drawing marked Type A. I conclude also to give another common type which may frequently be seen in very young trees; this attenuated outline is confusingly near that of the mountain maple’s leaf; but in presenting this type I do so to call attention to the fact that Nature does not follow cast-iron rules, however we mistake the botanist’s descriptions as such. What we choose to * The branchlets of the maples are apt to change color at dif- ferent seasons: the red maple is brightest red during the winter; in summer the twigs become brown red. 206 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. call Nature’s rules are really general principles char- acterized by a remarkable quality of elasticity. I have not yet found a botanist, to whom I had occa- sion to defer some difficult specimen, who did not preface his opinion with some reference to this elas- ticity. Now, in distinguishing the red from the mountain maple I should never rely wholly on a particular leaf. The flowers of the red maple much precede the leaves in early spring; the twigs are red, not brown, as in the mountain maple; the wings of the : seeds only slightly Attenuated Leaf of Red Maple. diverge, and the leaf is whitish underneath, free from the down which characterizes the other maple (except, perhaps, at the junction of the veins), and it turns bright, deep red or orange in autumn. The drawing of the long, narrow leaf was taken from a young tree which grows in the White Moun- tains; that of the typical leaf was taken from an older tree in the Arnold Arboretum; and that of the three-lobed leaf represents a specimen belong- ing to a large tree at Plymouth, N. H. The red maple is common throughout the North, THE MAPLES. 207 and extends southward to Florida and westward to the Dakotas and Texas; it is one of the very earliest trees to blossom in the spring, when it assumes a ruddy hue by reason of the red flowers; in autumn its rich red foliage again dem- onstrates the right of the tree to its name; even the hard wood has 4s a reddish tinge at times, \ Q S Weis os ‘ & ” * VAN? i, WS and with a “curled” grain XX syv it is considered peculiarly handsome in cabinet work. I have drawn a leaf of the beautiful Norway maple (Acer platanoides) so that we may com- pare it with that of our own su- gar maple; the shapes are very similar. Notice the extremely divergent seed wings which are characteristic of this tree. It is pea maple. a handsome maple, very round T°? bed leaf. in outline, and is easily distinguished by the milky juice which is best seen at the base of the young leaf. It is becoming very common in our Eastern cities. My drawing was taken from a tree which grows in Roxbury, Mass. Acer palmatum is a beau- 15 908 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. tiful dwarf variety of the maple which comes from Japan; it is not infrequently seen in our city parks. The leaves of some of these Japanese maples are so slashed and rent that they hang like a fringe from ‘ AKA lie the twigs. Acer ma- NUTS i VAN crophyllum is a Cali- WN LAA I YAZ TN I ly ‘e CAA fornian species, with SS | t ae i a huge leaf aN ed eight to twelve = ~>NX i ’ Za ane i 8 SSS YF inches broad, Ss and yellow, fra- grant flowers f NOS which bloom after the 4 WA leaves have expanded. The tree is very large, sometimes reaching a height of 100 feet. It — is not hardy north of 40° north latitude. For ash- leaved maple (Acer negundo) see Chapter XIX. SS = Norway Maple. ee ee CHAPTER XVII. III. Compound Alternate Leaves. 1. Without teeth. Leaflets bordering main leaf stem. THE AILANTUS AND LOCUSTS. ‘Ailavitus: The ailantus,* familiar to us all Ailanthus glandulosus. through its greenish flower clus- Sistas Oka ha aba ters, which have such an offensive odor in the balmy days of June, comes from China, and is called there “The Tree of Heaven”! For- tunately, not a// the trees are disagreeable, as some do not bear the ill-smelling, sterile (staminate) flowers. The ailantus was first brought into the United States by Mr. William Hamilton in 1784, and a sucker from the original tree, planted in 1809, de- veloped to large proportions, now stands in the Bar- tram Botanic Garden. In 1820 Mr. William Prince, of Flushing, L. I., imported the ailantus from Europe, and from this stock most of the trees * «© Commonly, but improperly, spelled ac/anthus.”— Webster. But I do not interfere with the spelling of the established botan- ical names. 209 Gull yx Z VAG Dy Z THE AILANTUS AND LOCUSTS. O11 around New York have originated. In Washing- ton Square and its vicinity during the “sixties” there were innumerable trees, which eventually became so offensive because of their odor and lia- bility to be attacked by the abominable brown “inch- worm” * that most of them were cut down. But the tree in appearance is very graceful; its compound leaves have stems frequently measuring three feet in length; the base of the stem where it joins the branch is swollen so that it resembles in shape a miniature horse’s hoof. The leaflet is sharp- pointed, and has two or more singular dull teeth at the base. The winged seed clusters, which somewhat remind one of seaweed, are often beautifully pink- tinged, but generally pale green. The tree is in- clined to spread from seed, and in rubbish heaps and the cracks and crannies of areas around old city houses we may frequently see its youthful, fuzzy, light-brown stem and a cluster of graceful leaflets. The tree is distinguished in the absence of its leafage by its coarse, blunt twigs; these do not possess the delicacy which characterizes those of most other trees. * I believe the advent into this country of the English sparrow put an end to the “inch-worm” years ago. | 912 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES, Yellowwood, Lhe yellowwood is rather a rare tree, Cladrastis tinctoria, reaching a height of about 40 feet, Cladrastis lutea. ith yellowish wood, smooth bark resembling that of the beech, long, beautiful, light- green leaflets, and delicately fragrant, cream-white flowers which bloom in June; these hang in graceful clusters a foot or more in length. The pods, which are two inches long, are ripe in the latter part of Au- gust. The tree is found wild in Kentucky and Tennessee, but is a much more familiar object in parks and gardens. Its re- semblance to the locust bespeaks Yellowwood. a close relationship with the lat- ter tree. There is a beautiful specimen of this tree at Dosoris, L. I., andanother in the Phenix Nurs- ery, Bloomington, Ill. One of the most beautiful and symmetrical yellow- wood trees I have ever seen is on the grounds of the eer THE AILANTUS AND LOCUSTS. 913 late Andrew S. Fuller, at Ridgewood, N. J.; it was his favorite tree, and is 45 feet high. Locust. The common locust has a pretty leaf Foobinta Peeudacacia. syray of from nine to twenty-three Robinia ' p Pseudo- Acacia. parts which are devoid of teeth. Its twigs are not sticky—that is the most impor- tant thing to remember about it. Its fra- grant white flowers, shaped like pea-blos- soms, hang in loose clusters from the sides of the branchlets in late spring or early summer. The flat pods, about two or three inches long, are smooth, of a purplish-brown color, and are ripe in September. The tree is slender in figure, and : Locust. reaches a height of from 35 to 80 Robinia Pseudacacia. feet, according to its situation and circumstances. Its exceedingly hard and durable wood has a yellowish color and smooth grain; it is used for posts and exterior construction intended to withstand dampness. The tree is common through- out the eastern United States. Clammy Locust, The clammy locust differs from the Robinia viscosa. ¢ommon locust in the following par- ticulars: the tree is never over 40 feet high, its dark- brown twigs are very sticky, and its rather upright flower cluster is a trifle pinkish, and nearly if not 914 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. =N II tn! “LZ Lae) We Wy SSS Y, ) f SS) EA SS, SN WH Sma os Se => Tk 4 Clammy Locust. quite without perfume. The tree is found in the mountains from Virginia to Georgia, and in the North, where it is common in cultivation, it has THE AILANTUS AND LOCUSTS. 215 frequently escaped to roadsides and the borders of fields. I find it quite common in Campton, N. H., on either side of a road which passes a large ceme- tery, where there are several handsome trees over 35 feet in height. Kentucky Coffee-tree. The Kentucky coffee-tree is tall, yn naie, ©H4 has coarse bark extending over anadensis. Gymnocladus dioicus. the limbs, stout branchlets like the ailantus, and leaves which are unequally twice-com- pound ; the leaflets are rather broad and sharp-pointed. This doubling up of the compound character of the leaves is the sure means by which we may recognize the tree. My sketch, somewhat convention- al in arrangement, reveals the leaf sys- Y temata glance, The prton of dovble compound Ia whole spray is from two to three feet long; the leaflets are without teeth, and are dull, dark green. The brown, curved pods are two inches broad, and from six to ten inches long ; they contain hard, gray seeds half an inch in diame- 916 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. ter, which are ripe in October. The tree grows from 45 to 80 and occasionally 110 feet high, and has few branches. In the South its seeds were at one time used as a substitute for coffee. In the Public Garden, Boston, not far from the path leading to Newbury Street, there is a very handsomely proportioned but rather small specimen perhaps 40 feet tall. The Kentucky coffee-tree is a native of rich woods, and is common from western New York to Minnesota and Arkansas. Honey Locust, Lhe honey locust is a tree which Gleditschia boys do not care to climb, for an triacanthos. obvious reason; its murderous-look- ing thorns, which grow on the trunk in formidable bunches, are altogether too threatening for the average juvenile climber. The leaves are sometimes twice compound, but not very often; they suggest a sort of toothed edge, but so indistinctly that the fact would escape notice unless the leaflet was subjected to close scrutiny. The inconspicuous and greenish- colored flowers appear in short spikes in early sum- mer; the long, red-brown, straplike, twisted pods ripen in late autumn, and contain most remarkably hard, shiny brown, flattened seeds; the pod is filled between the seeds with a greenish-yellow, sweet pulp much relished by the “small boy,” who respects the tree’s defenses, and waits for the fruit to drop. THE AILANTUS AND LOCUSTS. 217 Ane \ — * —s SS \ = \y ae VN ey Mal My =| es ~~ r Honey Locust. 918 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. The tree is very large, and with its graceful, fine foliage presents a handsome appearance in midsum- mer. Along the river banks of Illinois it frequently attains an altitude of from 80 to 90 feet.* It is a quite rapid grower, and a seedling will reach a height of 18 or more feet in ten years. In the North the leaves unfold about the middle of May. The honey locust grows wild from Pennsylvania southward to northern Alabama and Texas and west- ward to eastern Nebraska. There are two varieties frequently found in parks and gardens: var. énermis, without thorns, and var. Bujoti: pendula, with ex- ceedingly graceful, drooping foliage. Water Locust, | Lhe water locust is a much smaller Gleditschia aquatica. tree than the honey locust, but its general character is the same; it usually attains a height of 30 feet, and rarely 50 or 60 feet. Com- pared with the other locusts its leaflets are smaller, its thorns are less branched and more slender, and the pod is very short (two inches long), rounded, and contains rarely more than one seed, and no sweet pulp. It is found in the swamps of southern Illinois and Indiana and southward, but is frequently planted in the North for ornament. * Prof. Sargent records its maximum height at 140 feet. CHAPTER XVIII. ItI. Compound Alternate Leaves. 2. With teeth. Leaflets bordering main leaf stem. THE SUMACH, WALNUTS, HICKORIES, ETC. Stag-horn Sumach, The stag-horn sumach is a rugged- Rhus typhina. looking shrub or tree from 10 to 30 and occasionally 40 feet high, with milky juice and remarkably ruddy, velvety twigs and branches, by means of which it may readily be identified. Notice how the beautiful compound leaves (composed of from eleven to thirty-one leaflets, very pale beneath) are gracefully set around the smaller branches so that each is out of its neighbor’s way and does not ob- struct sunlight ; they change from a lively light green in August to a most beautiful scarlet red in Septem- ber. The pyramidal fruit cluster reveals a curious, red-haired character under the magnifying glass, and its effective red-maroon patch of color gives the tree a most picturesque appearance in later summer. The graceful, drooping effect of the leaflets, and the bold, 219 920 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. tortuous ramifications of the upper branches place the tree in sharp contrast with its surroundings; it grows beside almost every road in the Northern States, and extends south- ward along the Alle- ghany Mountains to Al- abama. In autumn I know of no other tree which clothes itself in a color so near- ly approaching pure scarlet, and there is no wood of any other tree which seems to me quite 680 f , : green - yellow. es! Sy” Gray calls it or- ange-colored, but it is rather that peculiar citron hue which may be pro- duced by mixing or- ange and green; a daub of this color from {e; my paint brush exactly Stag-horn Sumach. Matches the wood, but anoth- THE SUMACH, WALNUTS, HICKORIES, ETC. 991 er of orange cadmium is in strong contrast with it. In the Catskill Mountains sumach wood is used by the turners in making walking sticks, boxes, and a variety of ornamental knickknacks. It is a pity the tree does not grow sutticiently large to furnish wood available for cabinet work. The stag-horn sumach, common throughout the North (its southern limit is northern Georgia), is too familiar an object on our byways and hillsides to need any leaf description here, and I would rather call attention to it as one of our most beautiful, picturesque, but unappreciated roadside characters, whose brilliant coloring in autumn is unexcelled even by the maple. We must not confuse it with the vicious poison sumach (/2hus venenata),* whose leaflet is without teeth, and whose fruit is a greenish- white berry about the size of a pea. The smoke tree (/¢ius cotinoides) + is a small tree from 25 to 40 feet high, which is a near relative of the sumach, but which is quite out of place here in this division of my leaf classification, for it has a simple, plain-edged leaf, oval, thin, and smooth, or nearly so; it measures from three to six inches in length. Usually most of the flowers are abortive, * Also called Rhus verniz.—C. S. Sargent. t Also called Cotinus Americana.—C. S. Sargent. 999 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. ee S SAY RSS SS Mountain Ash. THE SUMACH, WALNUTS, HICKORIES, ETC. 993 while their stems lengthen, branch, and bear long, plumy hairs, making large, light, and feathery or cloudlike bunches, either greenish gray or ruddy tinged.* The smoke tree grows wild from Missouri and Tennessee southward. It is rarely cultivated. Mountain Ash, The beautiful mountain ash t—which Pyrus Americana. ig, of course, no ash at all, but a charming relative of the apple and pear—has a con- ventional, compound leaf, which would lead one to suppose (if superficial appearances counted for any- thing) that it was related to the sumach. This is not the case, however, and a comparison of the charac- ters of the two plants shows wide differences. The sharply toothed leaflets, thirteen to seventeen on a stem, are nearly if not perfectly smooth, as well as the stem itself and the branchlets. The berries are bright red, about the size of peas, and they appear in their richest coloring, great flat clusters of them, in the latter part of September. They remain on the branches into the winter. The grooved leaf stem in the early autumn often assumes a bright-red hue, and the trunk bark is a dull, raw umber brown; when it is cut or bruised it smells like that of the wild black cherry—not so surprising, in view * Vide Field, Forest, and Garden Botany, Gray. ¢ Sometimes called the rowan tree. 16 994 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. of the fact that the latter tree is a family rela- tion. This slender and graceful tree, which grows from 15 to 30 feet high, is common. in swamps and cold mountain woods throughout the Northern States from Maine to Minnesota; southward it follows the Alle- ghany Mountains to North Carolina. It is very frequently seen in the vicinity of Lake George, and on the higher peaks of the White Mountains, and I found it at every step beside the steep path which ascends Mount Cannon, in the Franconia Notch. In the struggle for existence at an alti- tude of three thousand five hundred feet it did not attain a height of over 4 feet. The elder- leaved mountain ash (Pyrus sambucifolia), found also in the higher mountains of the northern part of New England and westward to Lake Superior, has more obtuse and abruptly sharp-pointed leaves, usually double-toothed. The berries are larger but the clusters are smaller than those of the other variety. Butternut. The butternut, sometimes called oil Juglans cinerea. ut, is very common in New Eng- land and the extreme Northern States; it extends westward to the eastern Dakotas, eastern Nebraska, and northeastern Arkansas, and southward to Delaware and through the Alleghany Mountains to Georgia. I can hardly call it a beautiful tree, as its foliage is THE SUMACH, WALNUTS, HICKORIES, ETC. 995 sparse, its rough, gray limbs are scraggy, and its figure lacks symmetry. It grows from 30 to 50 and occasionally 100 feet high. In the pasture lands among the hills of New Hampshire it fre- quently attains a tall, broad, and imposing figure, which is often unfortunately marred by gaunt, dead branches. The compound leaves are composed of from nine to seventeen leaflets, which are rather un- evenly toothed and fuzzy - stemmed ; _ the base of the stem is conspicuously _ horse- hoof-shaped. In the early part of the season the branchlets are very fuzzy and sticky. The fruit, two to three inches long, is at first downy, green, and Butternut. sticky; on being bruised it stains the fingers a deep yellow. The nut 996 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. is ripe in October, when the husk is black brown; it is sharply rough, and the kernel, greatly relished by the squirrels, is sweet but very oily. The butternut is one of the first trees to lose its leaves in the fall. After a heavy night frost in early October, on the following morning one will see the leaves, stem and all, silently drop one after another, until bs SCA a in the course of the day the branches are almost completely stripped of their fo- liage. The leaves turn a bright yellow not long be- fore they fall. In summer the general effect of the tree is yellowish green, and in spring the late-arriv- ing, green-yellow, budding leaves combine with the gray bark of the branches in forming a most pe- culiar but beautiful combination of color.* The hard, strong-grained, beautiful, light yellow-brown wood makes a handsome interior finish, and is highly esteemed by the cabinetmaker. Black Walnut. The black walnut is esteemed so Juglans nigra. highly for its rich, dark-brown wood, that in recent years woodcutters have made it very searce. It is claimed that one hundred years are re- * In March the tree is often tapped with the sugar maple, but 1 know nothing of the quality of the sugar which is made. I am told that it has some medicinal properties. he FES ICP ee gts, BLACK WALNUT. The Hedges, Bucks Co., Penn. THE SUMACH, WALNUTS, HICKORIES, ETC. 997 quired for this tree (in the forest) to attain a sufti- cient size to make it valuable for timber; yet in twenty-five years’ time its destruction has steadily proceeded until it has been almost exterminated in the Mississippi basin, and vast tracts of forest land have been bereft of. nearly every speci- men considered val- uable for its tim- ber. I am told by a gentleman who is SOW \\\ y \ A, ; connected with the lumber interest of this country that in- dividual valuable trees are bought “on the stump” by the lum- ber companies in all accessible forest re- gions. The black walnut is found from western Massachusetts to central Ne- Black Walnut, portion of leaves. braska and eastern Kansas, and it extends southward to western Florida and Texas. It was once very plentiful in the forest regions west of the Alleghany Mountains, where it attained its largest growth. There are a few large specimens in Massachusetts, 998 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. one of which, at West Medford, has a trunk cir- cumference of about fourteen feet at five feet above the ground ; another, at Saugus (Centre Village), measures 60 feet in height. The compound leaf is composed of from fifteen to twenty-three sharp-toothed leaflets on a stem (with- out the horse-hoof base) which measures one to two feet in length. The leaf* is thin, bright yellow green above and somewhat downy beneath; it turns yellow in autumn. ‘The splendid, large fruit is rough, dull green, and generally round; it has a pleasant, aromatic odor. The nut, after the ripened blackish husk is removed, reveals a dark-brown, sharply cut, rough, hard shell; the kernel has a delicate but decided flavor. The English walnut (/uglans regia) is sparingly cultivated in this country, but it is barely hardy in the North. It has from five to nine ovate, pointed, unevenly toothed leaflets which crowd the stem, and a thin-shelled nut which the husk, becoming brittle and open, soon sheds. The nut is the common Ma- deira nut of commerce. The tree grows from 35 to 60 feet high. *T am told that in Bucks County, Pa., the leaves are often stripped from the tree by caterpillars; in the White Mountains the trees are remarkably free from them; probably a winter temperature of 30° below zero is a trifle too strong for some worms. HICKORY OR SHAGBARK. Near Boston, Mass. THE SUMACH, WALNUTS, HICKORIES, ETC. 299 Hickory or Shagbark. Lhe hickory, sometimes called Carya alba. shagbark or shellbark, is a tall, al aba ats spreading tree 70 to 90 and occa- sionally, in the forest, 120 feet high. It usually has a straight trunk with gray bark loosely attached, which hangs in strips nearly a foot long and six inches wide; the ends of these strips frequently curve away from the trunk, and give it the rugged appearance which accounts for the name “shagbark.” The younger branches are smooth and light gray. As a rule, there are but five sharp-toothed leaflets on a stem (sometimes there are seven), and these are from four to eight inches long; they are rather thin, and dark yellowish green; the leaf stem is rough, and some- what enlarged at the base. The fruit, which is ripe in October, has a thick, hard husk, which splits into four separate sections; the whitish nut, slightly flat- tened at the sides, has a thin wall, and a large, sweet kernel which I consider superior in flavor to any other American nut. This hickory is the commonest of the species in the North; it extends from Maine to central Minne- sota and southeastern Nebraska; southward it fol- lows along the Alleghany Mountains (on their west- ern slopes, and in the Ohio basin it attains its largest size), and reaches its limit in western Florida and Texas, 930 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. <=Ss VSS KY S " a> spp Ld i SS Ih —<—~ garg — AS i" a h “i hy y Mi Shagbark Hickory. THE SUMACH, WALNUTS, HICKORIES, ETC. 931 The brownish-white wood is exceedingly tough and hard, and is much used in the manufacture of carriages, agricultural implements, axe handles, and farm wagons. The handsome, clear green foliage and the symmetrical proportions of the shagbark hickory make it an impressive tree of exceptional beauty. There is a most stately and picturesque tree, over 50 feet high, on the land of Mr. Augustus Fowler, at Danvers, Mass. Big Shellbark, Lhe big shellbark differs from the Carya sulcata, foregoing species in the fol- Carya laciniosa. lowing particulars : There are usually seven leaflets (sometimes there are nine) which are more downy and of a bronze- green hue beneath ; above, they seem to me to be a deeper green. The young branchlets are somewhat orange-colored. The nut is much larger (from an inch and a quarter to nearly two. inches long), and it is usually pointed at both ends. The strips of bark are narrower. This hickory is rather rare and lo- Big Shellbark, a leaflet: cal, and extends from Bucks Coun- ut showing sharp point at the base. ty, Pa., and central New York westward to Missouri and Indian Territory. 932 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. a The mockernut is a tall, slender tree ockernut. y Carya tomentosa. from 70 to 100 feet high, with light Cares aes: gray, close bark which does not scale of. There are from seven to nine blunt-toothed leaflets on a stem, which are deep yellow green above and somewhat paler and rough downy below; they are very fragrant when bruised. The large, thick- = ES So M8GES*- shelled, brownish nut has a thick SS husk which splits nearly to the base SS when it is ripe; the kernel is small and indifferently flavored. Probably the tree gets its name from the out- ward promise of the nut, which the small kernel fails to fulfill. The mockernut is found on ridges and hillsides from New England south- a ec. ward to Florida and Texas ; westward it extends to eastern Kansas and In- dian Territory ; it is common in the South, but rather local and rare in the North. Bignut, The pignut, sometimes called broom Carya poreina. hickory,* is a gracefully proportioned Carya glabra. tree from 60 to 90 and occasionally * It is said that the early settlers used the wood split into thin, narrow strips for brooms. THE SUMACH, WALNUTS, HICKORIES, ETC. 933 RA = 89 Cia CAN AW y i \ AN N AY . eX \ aie \\ Pignut. 934 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 120 feet high. Its sharp-toothed leaflets grow from five to nine on a stem (usually seven, and rarely nine); they are smooth above and below, but some- times tufts of pale hairs will be discovered at the angles of the ribs; the leaf color is a rich, deep, yel- low green. The fruit has a very thin husk, and is somewhat pear-shaped or else oval; the husk often splits open only at the apex, and falls with the nut to the ground. The kernel is at first sweet, then after- ward bitter. The fruit from which my drawing was made measured scarcely one inch in length; not in- frequently, however, larger specimens are found.* The pignut is distributed from Maine to south- eastern Nebraska, southward to Florida, and along the Gulf States to Kansas and Texas. It is very common on hillsides and dry ridges in all the North- ern States. perecit The small-fruit hickory bears a small Hickory, nut with a thin husk which splits Carya microcarpa. open nearly to the base; the smooth- shelled nut is roundish and free from angles; in some instances it is hardly more than half an inch deep. The kernel is very sweet. There are usually five (often seven) leaflets on a * In the Silva of North America, Prof. Sargent says Hicoria glabra varies more in the size and shape of its fruit than any other of the hickories. THE SUMACH, WALNUTS, HICKORIES, ETC. 935 stem; they are fine-toothed, and very smooth above and below, except that the angles of the ribs are apt to be a trifle fuzzy. This hickory (considered by Prof. Sargent a variety of the foregoing species) grows from 60 to 90 feet high, and is found from eastern Massachusetts to Delaware, and from New York westward to central Michigan, southern I[h- nois, and Missouri. The bark is somewhat shaggy but separates in narrow, thin plates. Sy anaes The bitternut, or swamp hickory, is Swamp Hickory. 2 large tree with spreading limbs, Carya amara. . which is found in low, wet woods Carya cordiformis. 2 and swamps; it grows from 50 to 75 and occasionally 100 feet high. There are from seven to eleven narrow leaflets on a slender stem; these are smooth on both sides, or very slightly downy beneath, es- pecially when young. The fruit is roundish, and the rath- er soft, thin husk separates down to about the middle; the thin-shelled, whitish nut is de- pressed at the top, and has an Bitternut, portion of leaf. extremely bitter kernel, which was at first sweet. The husk and nutshell are thinner than those of the 936 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES, other species, and they may be broken with a very slight blow. The swamp hickory is distributed from Maine to Minnesota and southeastern Nebraska; southward it extends to Florida and eastern Texas. The bark of the trunk is rather smooth and close. Dis ae The pecan nut is a Southern species Carya oliveformis, Of hickory, which grows from 80 to Carya IWinansis. 1()() and occasionally 170 feet high. There are from nine to fifteen leaflets on a stem; these are finely toothed and slender-pointed, and of a warm, deep yellow-green color. The fruit, about an inch and a half long, has a thin, yellow-haired husk which splits in four sections nearly to the base, and, discharging the nut, not infre- quently remains on the branch through the winter. The smooth, thin-shelled nut has a very sweet kernel, and is considered by many the best flavored Pecan Leafet. Of all nuts, native or foreign. The tree is a rapid grower, and it will produce a small amount of fruit at the end of its eighth or tenth year. It is the largest of the hickory trees, and grows in rich soil in the neigh- borhood of streams from Iowa, southern [llinois and Indiana to Louisiana and Texas; it also extends into THE SUMACH, WALNUTS, HICKORIES, ETC. 937 central Mississippi and Alabama. Most of the nuts in the market come from Texas, but of late years orchards of se- lected varieties of the pecan nut have | been planted in many of the Southern States.* It is one of the most impos- : Pecan nut in ing and beautiful trees of the South. husk. * Vide Silva of North America, C. S. Sargent. CHAPTER XIX. Compound Opposite Leaves. With or without teeth. Leaflets bordering main leaf stem. THE ASH-LEAVED MAPLE AND THE ASHES. Ture are odd trees as well as odd people in the world, whose characters are problems somewhat dif- ficult of solution. A man can tell who he is, but a tree only reveals its individuality by certain /itéle dif- ferences which distinguish it from others of its kind. When these differences assume a contradictory aspect, we are put to some confusion. “ From your speech,” said one traveler to another, guessing at the latter’s nationality, “I judge you are an Englishman ; from your carriage and quickness of perception, I imagine you are an American; but your physiognomy be- speaks a German nationality.” “Not right,” said the other; “for my mother was Dutch, I was born in Paris, reared and educated in Boston, and the last three years of my life have been spent in London.” One of the maples is quite as problematic in its out- side appearance. 238 THE ASH-LEAVED MAPLE AND THE ASHES. 939 Where or how the ash-leaved maple Ash-leaved Maple or Box Elder, spent the first years of its existence Negundo aceroides. nobody knows. The tree can not Ee account for itself, but that it has puzzled more than one botanist its various names assuredly testify. Some one has thought it looked sufficiently like the elder to name it box elder.* Another has seen the strong resemblance of its foli- age to that of the ash, and named it ash-leaved maple ; and, finally, Prof. Sargent (following Michaux’s initia- tive) has sifted the qualifying aceroides down to plain Acer +—a common-sensible conclusion, it seems to me, if one will look at the perfectly plain family signature, the double-winged seed.t{ “ By their fruits ye shall know them.” This really ought to be the text of one who is in search of the real character of a tree; we can tell a great deal about that by the leaves, but when there is a shadow of doubt we must turn to the fruit. The leaf of the ash-leaved maple has three or five slightly rough, strong-ribbed leaflets, the outer edges of which are irregularly and coarsely * Michaux says this name was commonly used in the Carolinas, so he adopted it also, although it was without any particular sig- nificance. + Which is the name given by the younger Michaux. t+ My expressed opinion is, perhaps, presumptuous; it is sim- ply a case of ipse diait! Many of the botanists believe that Negundo acerovdes is essentially different from the genus Acer. if 940 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. toothed. The fruit ripens in early summer, and hangs in graceful yellowish-green clusters from six to eight inches long. The newer twigs are a beautiful pea green. ‘Cu This tree is =) j ZA found from \\ Gz gf ’ the Winooski ( yA ZS, River, Vt, a= 2 and the Ver- mont shore of Lake Champlain to Cayuga Lake, N.Y. Southward it extends through eastern Penn- sylvania to Florida, and westward to the Rocky Mountains in Montana, the Wah- Reripaved Maple! satch Mountains in Utah, and western Texas. The ash-leaved maple is a handsome, rapidly grow- ing tree with wide-spreading branches, which some- times reaches a height of 70 feet; usually it is: from 30 to 50 feet high. The foliage is deep green and very ornamental. It is said to be not long- lived, as it arrives at maturity in fifteen or twenty THE ASH-LEAVED MAPLE AND THE ASHES. 241 years.* There are specimens of this tree on the Schuylkill River and in the vicinity of Philadelphia which measure 50 feet in height, and have a trunk circumference of four feet. White Ash. The white ash is one of the no- Fraxinus Americana, hlest of our forest trees, and one which is second only to the oak in value for its timber. This stately tree measures 60 or 70 and sometimes 100 or 120 feet in height. In the forest its rather slim upright branches usually reach far above those of its neighbors. Its compound leaf (eight to twelve inches long) is composed of from five to nine (usually seven) leaflets; these are deep green, smooth above, and pale, silvery green below, with a trifle of down on the ribs; the teeth are very indistinct, or else the leaf edge is quite unbro- ken. The leaf stem is smooth and grooved, and the leaflet stems are quite a quarter of an inch long. The tall, heavy trunk on large specimens is gray, with deep intersecting furrows which cut the bark into short ridges. The ash is one of the latest trees to unfold its leaves in the spring, and in autumn, after the first severe frost, they blacken and fall to the ground; * Vide Trees and Tree-Planting, J. S. Brisbin. But I am in- clined to doubt this. A box elder I know of over twenty years old, still shows signs of development, 942 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES, this, however, is after they have turned a soft yellow somewhat modified by spots of persistent green. — < MANY Y \ SS SSS \ ATS : SX “LY White Ash. The winged seeds are dainty, narrow, wedge-shaped little things about an inch and a half long. They THE ASH-LEAVED MAPLE AND THE ASHES. 943 hang in loose clusters, and frequently remain on the bare branches until the middle of winter. The ash is a rapid-growing tree, which in thirty years from the time of planting will attain a height of 40 feet and a trunk diameter of sixteen inches. It is distinctively an inhabitant of the forest, and it likes rich, moist, cool soil. It is found from New England to northern Minnesota; southward it ex- tends to northern Florida, and from there westward to Indian Territory, Kansas, and central Texas. The hard, tough wood has a handsome grain, and it is extensively used for the interior finish of houses, for furniture, carriages, agricultural implements, and oars. Red Ash. The red ash is @ Fravinus smaller species, which Pennsyaies. wows from 40 to 60 feet high, and is dis- tinguished by the velvety hairiness of its leaf stems and branchlets. From seven to nine leaflets grow on the eee slightly grooved stem; they are indistinctly toothed, light green above and pale green below, covered with downy hairs. The seed is rather blunt-tipped. 944 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. Probably the red ash owes its name to the ruddy color on the inner surface of the rough outer bark on the branches; but I have also noticed that the very young shoots have a decidedly ruddy or rusty colored downy surface. The red ash is found in low, rich, moist soil from Maine to eastern Nebraska and the Black Hills of the Dakotas; southward it extends to northern Florida and central Alabama. West of the Alleghany Moun- tains the tree is less common and smaller than it is in the East. Green Ash. The green ash is consid- Fraxinus viridis. ered by Prof. C. S. Sar- Fraxinus Pennsyluanica, Gent a variety of the war-danceolata. . ' forenoine/ species. .. he branchlets, leaves, and stems are quite smooth, without any downiness except a very slight amount sometimes found in the angles of the ribs on the under side of the leaflets; there are five to nine of these, bot tee end they are distinctly toothed and some- what narrowed at the base; the color is bright green above and a very slightly paler green below. The green ash is distributed from the eastern shore of Lake Champlain through the Appalachian region to northern Florida, and throughout the THE ASH-LEAVED MAPLE AND THE ASHES. 945 West.* It rarely attains a height of more than 30 or 35 feet. Its beautiful deep-green leaves, nearly the same color on either side, make it a handsome and ornamental tree deserving more extensive cultivation, partic- ularly as it is a rap- id grower. In the Western cit- ies It is common in streets and parks. Blue Ash, The blue Fraxinus ash is distin- quadrangulata. guished by its rather square branchlets, at least on young and vigorous a shoots, so says Gray; but [ Blue Ash, with seed twisted one quarter of the way do not find that the average around. blue ash trec has this marked characteristic ; of course, this is due to the fact that the older branchlets have become round. The blue ash is a large Western species which grows from 60 to 70 feet, and sometimes 100 or even 120 feet high. * Kast of the Mississippi River the red and green ashes grow side by side, and retain their individual character; but in the West they are connected by intermediate forms which can be re- ferred to one as well as the other.— Silva of North America, C.S. Sargent, 946 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. The bark of the trunk is light gray, and it cracks in thin scales. The leaves (eight to twelve inches long) are com- posed of from five to nine (usually seven) yellow- green leaflets, which are slightly paler below, and tipped along the rib with downy hairs; the edges are sharply toothed, and the leaflet stem is barely an eighth of an inch long. In autumn the foliage turns a pale, dull yellow. The seeds are rather blunt and somewhat notched at the end of the wing. The blue ash is not a very common tree, and it is found mostly in moist woods or on rich limestone hills in the West, from southern Michigan to central Minnesota ; southward it extends to northern Alabama and northeastern Arkansas. The wood is hard and close-grained. In color it is brownish yellow, and it is used extensively for the interior finish of houses. A blue dye is extracted from the inner bark by steeping it in water, and to this fact it undoubtedly owes its name. Wate Ash. The water ash is a tree from 25 to Fraxinus platycarpa. 40 feet high, which inhabits the Hraxinus Carolintana. 1 ost inaccessible river swamps of the South, where it is found in the shade of the bald cypress. Its leaves (seven to twelve inches long) have from five to seven ovate leaflets, which are deep green above and pale green below, with per- THE ASH-LEAVED MAPLE AND THE ASHES. 947 haps a slight downiness along the ribs. This tree may be easily distinguished from the other ashes by its broad, roundish, slightly toothed leaflets, and the elliptical (not wedge-shaped) seeds. The water ash extends from southern Virginia to central Florida; westward it reaches its limit in the valley of the Sabine River, Tex., and in south- Black Ash. eastern Arkansas. Fravinus = === The black ash is a sambucifolia. Fraxinus nigra. tall, slender tree which grows from 40 to 70 feet, and occasionally, in the forest, 90 feet high; it has a dark-gray trunk. Its leaves (twelve to sixteen inches long) are composed of from seven to eleven leaflets, which are joined to the main stem without a sign of a stemlet; they are distinctly Boater but irregularly toothed, and the stem is grooved; in color they are a deeper green than those of the white ash, and pale below, with rusty hairs scattered over the whitish ribs. In the White Mountain re- gion they do not appear until the latter part of May, and they turn brownish and drop after the first heavy frost in early October. In fact, I have noticed that the black ash sheds its leaves almost if not quite as soon as the butternut. The winged seed is blunt at 248 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 4, Black Ash. both ends, and the wing forms a margin all around the seed. The black ash is found in swamps and moist wood- THE ASH-LEAVED MAPLE AND THE ASHES, 949 lands, and is distributed from Maine to northern Minnesota ; southward it extends to the mountains of Virginia, and southwestward to central Missouri and northwestern Arkansas. The light, brownish wood is soft and has a handsome grain. It is used for the interior finish of houses, and for cabinet-work and barrel hoops. The pliable and tough wood of young saplings I have found very useful for ribs in the con- struction of a river canoe. Soaked in hot water, it is quite surprising to see-how much bending and twist- ing a strip of young black ash will bear before it breaks. The European ash (Fraxinus excelsior), which is sometimes found in parks and gardens, has from eleven to thirteen leaflets (a lesser number in some varieties), which are deep green, broad, lance-shaped, and toothed. The seed, like that of the black ash, is also winged all around. The weeping ash (var. pen- dula) is one of the most beautiful forms of this species. CHAPTER XxX. IV. Compound Opposite Leaves. 2. With teeth. Leaflets radiating. THE HORSE-CHESTNUTS OR BUCKEYES. Tue beautiful native buckeyes and the foreign horse-chestnuts, with broad, rounded figures and hand-shaped, radiating leaves, are conventional char- acters which concede little in the direction of the picturesque. Even the symmetrical sugar maple is not without a certain freedom in detail as well as out- line; but the horse-chestnuts are the embodiment of rule and order, both in figure and foliage. SY == ~~ —— NG ft ar — LI ff aa "e