jamerican il^atute ^ttit& Group I. Classification of Nature NORTH AMERICAN TREES BEING DESCRIPTIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE TREES GROWING INDEPENDENTLY OF CULTIVATION IN NORTH AMERICA, NORTH OF MEXICO AND THE WEST INDIES BY NATHANIEL LORD BRITTON, Ph.D., Sc.D. Director-in-Chief of the New Tork Botanical Garden WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF JOHN ADOLPH SHAFER, Pharm. D. Custodian of the Museums of the New Tork Botanical Garden NEW YORK HENRY HOET AND COMPANY 1908 67^ COPYBIGHT, 1908, BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY Published, April, 1908 The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass. USJi PREFACE HIS book is designed to describe all the kinds of trees known to grow independently of planting in North America, north of the West Indies and Mexico, and to illustrate them by figures showing the character of fohage, flowers, and fruit; a number of photographs illustrating the general aspect of certain species have also been reproduced by engraving. The drawings have been made with very few exceptions from specimens in the museums or herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden, and the descriptions have been drawn up from these specimens and from field observations. The Jesup collection _ r METRIC AND ENGLISH MEASURE Metric Name Kilometer Meter Decimeter Centimeter Millimeter Micron or micro- millimeter Relation to Standard 1000 meters Standard Pij of a meter x^Tj of a meter j-jW of a meter TTiW of a millimeter Abbre- viation km. m. dm. cm. mm. English Equivalent 1093.61 yards ) .62138 of a mile J 39.37 inches ) 3.28 feet [ 1.094 yards ) 3.937 inches . 3937 of an inch .03937 of an inch .00003937 of an inch Approxi mat ely in English § of a mile 39^ inches 4 inches f of an inch ^V of an inch 5T^CTT of an inch pnotogragns oy ivir. r. \^. ueiic. Figures 27, 106, no, 265, 334, 506, 567, 657, 755, and 762 are from photographs by Dr. Marshall A. Howe. Figures 32, 129, 139, 145, 148, 149, 205, 207, 211, 212, 214, 216, 234, 245, ^^3^ 335, 33^, 340, 345, 35o, 35i, 357 to 360, 470, 475, 476, 47^ to 481, 483 to 489, 491 to 493, 495, 496, 498, 501 to 505, 507, and 540 are from drawings by Mr. A. Meriolle. Figure 78 is from a photograph by Mr. W. F. Ballou. Figure 102 is from a photograph by Professor W. M. Wheeler. Figure 105 is from a photograph by Dr. D. T. MacDougal. Figure 107 is from a photograph furnished by Professor F. S. Earle. lU I • I PREFACE HIS book is designed to describe all the kinds of trees known to grow independently of planting in North America, north of the West Indies and Mexico, and to illustrate them by figures showing the character of foliage, flowers, and fmit; a number of photographs illustrating the general aspect of certain species ha^'e also been reproduced by engraving. The drawings have been made with very few exceptions from specimens in the museums or herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden, and the descriptions have been drawn up from these specimens and from field observations. The Jesup collection of North American woods at the American Museum of Natural History has fur- nished much information relative to characteristics of woods and barks. While descriptions of trees necessitate the use of some technical terms, it has been sought to reduce these to as small a number as possible, in order that the book shall be available, not alone to persons trained in botany, but to any person of ordinary information; for convenience of use, a glossary of special terms em- ployed is appended. Trees are woody plants which have a single erect stem or trunk, and this feature distinguishes them from shrubs, which have several or many stems arising from the same roots; some kinds of woody plants fall into both categories, at times developing to a single stem, at others forming several, so they may properly be classified as both, or either, trees or shrubs. As a general rule trees are much larger than shrubs, but there are exceptions, and we have to deal both with small trees and with large shrubs. All species which are known to us to become trees have been admitted, even if they are almost always shrubs. The relationships of the native and naturalized trees of North America to those of other parts of the world are discussed, and the products of trees useful in the arts, sciences, and industries are mentioned or described. It is believed that the descriptions and illustrations will render easy the identi- fication of our trees by their foliage, flowers, or fruit. The illustrations used have been obtained as follows: Figures 2, 30, 50, 91, 190, 236, 306, 348, 365, 541, 682, 739, and 779 are from photograghs by Mr. F. C. Berte. Figures 27, 106, no, 265, 334, 506, 567, 657, 755, and 762 are from photographs by Dr. Marshall A. Howe. Figures 32, 129, 139, 145, 148, 149, 205, 207, 211, 212, 214, 216, 234, 245, 2,2>3^ 335. 2>2>^, 340, 345. 35°, 35i. 357 to 360, 470, 475, 476, 47^ to 481, 483 to 489, 491 to 493, 495, 496, 498, 501 to 505, 507, and 540 are from drawings by Mr. A. Meriolle. Figure 78 is from a photograph by Mr. W. F. Ballou. Figure 102 is from a photograph by Professor W. M. Wheeler. Figure 105 is from a photograph by Dr. D. T. MacDougal. Figure 107 is from a photograph furnished by Professor F. S. Earle. iii iv Preface Figures 109 and 703 are from photographs by Dr. C. F. Millspaugh. Figures 120, 652, and 655 are from photographs furnished by Mr. C. L. Pollard. Figures 153, 356, and 717 are from photographs by Miss Helen M. Ingersoll. Figures 178, 226, 290, and 310 are from photographs by N. L. Britton. Figures 198, 203, 229, 241, 339, 362, 376, 397, 457, 511, 535, 560, 596, and 675 are from photographs by J. A. Shafer. Figures 258, 262, 268, 272 to 275, 277, 296 to 298 are from the Bulletin of the New York Botanical Garden, Vol. 2. Figure 270 is from a photograph furnished by Prof, E. O. Wooton. Figures 337, 477, 482, 525, 546, 563, and 661 are from photographs by Mr. Geo. V. Nash. Figure 580 is from a photograph furnished by Dr. J. N. Rose. Figures 3 to 16, 18, 20, 21, 24, 28, 29, 31, 33, 35, 38, 40, 41, 45 to 49, 53 to 56, 59 to 67, 69, 70, 72 to 77, 80, 81, 83 to 90, 93 to loi, 103, III to 119, 121, 124, 125, 130 to 132, 134, 136, 141, 142, 144, 155 to 157, 159, 161, 162, 164, 165, 167, 169, 170, 173, 174, 179 to 182, 184, 187, 200, 201, 204, 208 to 210, 218, 220 to 224, 232, ^2>2,, 237, 239, 242 to 244, 246, 248, 252, 254, 257, 259 to 261, 263, 264, 267, 269, 271, 276, 278 to 282, 285, 287, 288, 293 to 295, 299, 302, 303, 311, 312, 315 to 320, 322, 323, 327 to 332, 341, 354, 366 to 372, 374, 380, 382, 386, 388, 389, 392 to 396, 398 to 400, 402, 403, 405 to 426, 428, 431 to 442, 444 to 446, 448, 450, 455, 460, 461, 465, 466, 468, 469, 471 to 474, 508, 509, 514 to 524, 527, 528, 530 to 534, 536 to 539, 543 to 545, 547 to 554, 556, 557» 562, 564, 566, 569, 573, 575, 576, 578, 583 to 586, 590 to 592, 594, 598, 599, 603 to 605, 607 to 609, 612, 613, 616, 617, 619 to 626, 628 to 634, 636, 637, 639, 640, 642 to 649, 651, 653, 654, 656, 658 to 660, 662 to 671, 673, 678, 684, 686, 689, 691, 693 to 698, 700 to 702, 704 to 709, 711, 713 to 715, 718, 720, 722, 724 to 726, 728, 730 to 733, 735 to 738, 741 to 743, 746 to 754, 756, 760, 761, 763 to 765, 767 to 773, and 775 are from drawings by Miss Jessie H. Foster. Figures i, 17, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26, 34, 36, 37, 39, 42 to 44, 51, 52, 57, 58, 68, 71, 79, 82, 92, 122, 123, 126 to 128, 133, 135, 137, 138, 140, 143, 146, 147, 150 to 152, 154, 158, 160, 163, 166, 168, 171, 172, 175 to 177, 183, 185, 186, 188, 189, 191 to 197, 199, 202, 206, 213, 215, 217, 219, 225, 227, 228, 230, 231, 235, 238, 240, 247, 249 to 251, 253, 255, 256, 266, 283, 284, 286, 289, 291, 292, 300, 301, 304, 305, 307 to 309, 313, 314, 321, 324 to 326, 338, 342 to 344, 346, 347, 349, 352, 353, 355, 361, Z^^Z, 364, 373> 375. 377 to 379, 381, 383 to 385, 387, 390, 391, 401, 404, 427, 429, 43o> 443. 447. 449. 45 1 to 454, 456, 458, 459, 462 to 464, 467, 490, 494, 497, 499. 500, 510, 512, 513, 526, 529, 542, 555, 558, 559, 561, 565, 568, 570 to 572, 574, 577, 579. 581, 582, 587 to 589, 593, 595, 597, 600 to 602, 606, 610, 611, 614, 615, 618, 627, 635, 638, 641, 650, 672, 674, 676, 677, 679 to 681, 683, 685, 687, 688, 690, 692, 699, 710, 712, 716, 719, 721, 723, 727, 729, 734, 740, 744, 745, 757 to 759, 766, 774, 776, 777, 778, 780, and 781 are from "Illustrated Flora of the Northern States and Canada. New York Botanical Garden, February, 1908. ' GENERAL KEY TO THE FAMILIES I. Ovules not enclosed in any ovary but borne naked on the face of a scale. Fruit a cone, of many or few scales, berry -like in Juniperns Fruit, in our genera, a fleshy disk partly surrounding a bony seed, or the seed naked. II. Ovules enclosed in an ovary. A. Embryo with one cotyledon; stem not differentiated into bark, wood and pith; leaves mostly parallel - veined. Leaves pinnately or palmately compound; ovule i in each cavity of the ovary. Leaves simple, elongated; ovules many in each cavity of the ovary. B. Embryo normally with two cotyledons; stem differ- entiated into bark, wood, and with pith, at least when young; leaves mostly net-veined. 1. Petals normally separate to the base, or wanting. I. Leaves reduced to appressed scales; branches loosely jointed; tropical tree, introduced in Florida. 2 Leaves not reduced to appressed scales, though sometimes small or caducous; branches not loosely jointed. a. Petals none, except in the pistillate flowers of the Walnuts (Juglans), and in the Olax Family. * Calyx none, except in the Walnut Family; flowers, at least the staminate ones, in catkins. Leaves simple. Fruit many-seeded; seeds with a tuft of hairs at one end. Fruit only one-seeded. Stigmas 2. Style stigmatic above. Leaves odd-pinnate; fruit husk. ** Calyx present. Leaves odd-pinnate; stamii Leaves simple. Flowers, at least the staminate ones, in catkins Both staminate and pistillate flowers in cat kins. Class Gymnospermse. Pine Family. Yevi^ Family. Class Angiospermae. PAGE I 3 122 129 Subclass MONOCOTYLE- DONES. 130 Palm Family. Dracaena Family. Subclass DICOTYLE- DONES. Beefwood Family. 131 149 161 162 WiLLOvir Family. 165 Bayberry Family. 209 Corkwood Family. 213 nut enclosed in a Walnut Family. 215 ; flowers in catkins. Walnut Family. 215 Birch Family. 240 VI General Key to the Families Staminate flowers in catkins; pistillate flowers subtended by an involucre which becomes a bur or a cup in fruit. Flowers not in catkins (in catkin-like spikes in the Mulberries); variously clustered or rarely solitary. Ovary superior, free from the calyx; flowers mostly imperfect. Stamens not adnate to the calyx; flowers regular. Sap not milky. Sap milky. Stamens adnate to the calyx; flowers ir- regular. Ovary inferior, at least in part, adnate to the calyx. Ovary superior; flowers perfect, regular. Stipules united into a sheath. Stipules none, b. Petals present (wanting in the Laurel Family; in the Sweet Gum; in some Prickly Ashes; in the Spurge Family; in some Maples, and in some of the Buck- thorn Family, the Chocolate Family and the Hand Tree Family). * Ovary superior, free from the calyx (ex- cept in the Witch Hazel and Apple Families). t Ovary or ovaries simple; sepals mostly separate. Stamens numerous; petals present. Fruit aggregate, cone-like. Fruit large berries. Stamens 9 or 12, in 3 or 4 series of 3; petals none It Ovary compound; sepals separate; stamens hypogj^nous. Leaves simple. Leaves pinnately decompound. ttfOvary simple or compound; sepals confluent with the concave receptacle (hypanthium); stamens epig}^nous or perigynous. JFlowers regular or nearly so. Endosperm of the seed usually copious. Leaves opposite. Leaves alternate. Corolla and usually the calyx present; ovule one. Corolla and calyx wanting; ovules many; flowers in dense heads. Endosperm none. Flowers monoecious, minute, in dense heads. Beech Family. PAGE 268 Elm Family. 344 Mulberry Family. 361 Protea Faihly. 373 Olax Family. 375 Knotweed Family. 378 Four-o'clock Family. 382 Magnolia FAinLY. Custard -Apple Family. Laurel Family. Caper Family. Horseradish Tree Faivuly. 384 394 397 405 407 Cunonia Family. 408 Witch Hazel Family. 410 Sweet Gum Family. 412 Plane Tree Family. 415 General Key to the Families Vll PAGE Flowers perfect, or, if monoecious or dioecious, not in dense heads. Ovaries several, or, if but one, becoming an achene in fruit. Ovaries separate, rarely united with the calyx; fruit achenes, follicles or drupe- lets. Ovaries united, enclosed by and united with the hypanthium, forming a pome in fruit. Ovary one, not becoming an achene in fruit Leaves simple; ovary with 2 ovules; fruit a drupe. Leaves compound; ovary with several or many ovules; fruit a legume. Petals valvate in the bud. Petals imbricated in the bud. JJFlowers irregular. L^pper petal enclosed by the lateral ones in the bud; corolla not papilionaceous. Upper petal enclosing the lateral"T)nes in the bud; corolla papilionaceous. lltlOvary compound; sepals mostly sep- arate (more or less united in some of the Buckthorn Family). § Stamens few, rarely more than twice as many as the petals. ||Stamens opposite the sepals and of the same nimiber, or fewer; ovules pen- dulous, or erect or ascending. ^Ovules pendulous, the raphe toward the axis of the ovary. "Petals present, usually as many as the sepals; sap not acrid nor milky; leaves mostly compound. Plants without secreting glands; fruit, in our species, a dry capsule. Plants with secreting glands, at least in the bark; fruit various. Filaments nearly or quite separate. Leaves with pellucid dots. Leaves without pellucid dots. Ovaries more or less united; leaves pinnately compound. Sap bitter. Sap resinous and aromatic. Ovaries separate; leaves simple. Filaments united into a tube. °°Petals often wanting; sap acrid, usually milky; leaves simple. Rose Family. 420 Apple Family. 426 Plum Family. 483 Mimosa Family. 513 Senna Family. 533 Senna FAanLY. 533 Pea Family. 549 Caltrop Fa^hly. Rue Family. 564 567 Quassia Family. 583 TORCHWOOD Family. 590 Bay Cedar FAmLY 589 Mahogany Faiuly. 593 Spurge Family. qg6 Vlll General Key to the Families Cyrilla Faadly. Holly Family. Staff Tree Faialy. Canotia Family. Buckthorn Family. TfT[ Ovviles pendulous, the raphe away from the axis of the ovary, or erect or ascending. Ovary one-celled; sap resinous. Sumac Family, Ovary two to several-celled; sap not resinous. Leaves pinnately veined, simple. Seeds without an aril; ovules one in each cavity of the ovary. Flowers racemose, perfect; fruit dr)\ Flowers not racemose, mostly imperfect; fruit fleshy. Seeds with or without arils; ovules 2 or more in each cavity. Foliage normal; parts of the flowers in 4's. Leaves none; parts of the flowers in 5's. Leaves palmately veined, simple, or compound. Leaves opposite. Flowers regular. Fruit a bladdery capsule. Fruit a pair of samaras. Flowers irregular; fruit a leathery cap- sule. Leaves alternate. II II Stamens alternate with the sepals; ovules erect. §§Stamens usually very numerous (few in the Chocolate and Hand Tree Families, j I Sepals valvate; placentas united in the axis of the ovary. Petals present. Anthers 2-celled; stamens distinct, or in sev- eral groups. Anthers i-celled; stamens united into a tube surrounding the pistil. Petals none, in our species; stamens united into a tube. Fruit, in our species, of separate follicles. Fruit a capsule, 4-or-5 valved. 1 1 II Sepals or calyx-segments imbricated or convolute; placentae mainly parie- tal. Sepals separate. Stamens united into a tube. Placentae parietal; aromatic plants. Placentae axile; resinous plants. Stamens separate. Fruit capsular. Styles none; leaves small, scale-like. Styles present; foliage normal. PAGE 604 617 620 630 635 Bladdernut Family. 636 Maple Family. 638 Buckeye Family. 657 Soapberry Family. 663 671 Linden Family. 683 Mallow Family. 691 Chocolate Family. 693 Hand Tree Family. 695 Wild Cinnamon Family. 697 Balsam Tree Family. 699 Tamarisk Faahly. 701 Tea Family. 703 General Key to the Families IX Fruit a berry; leaves reduced to deciduous scales. Sepals more or less united into a tube. Herb-like trees with large lobed leaves. Fleshy spiny plants with no leaves, or leaves very small. **Ovary inferior, wholly or partly united with the calyx or hypanthium. Ovules several or numerous in each cavity of the ovary. Cotyledons spirally convolute. Ovary several-celled; ovules numerous, not pendulous. Ovary i-celled; ovules 2 to 5, pendulous. Cotyledons not spirally convolute. Sepals valvate, leathery. Sepals imbricated, or united and falling ofif like a cap. Ovules I in each cavity of the ovary. Stamens 5; styles 2 to 5. Stamens 4; style i. ■* PAGE JuNco Family. 706 Papaya Famtly. 708 Cactus FAivmY. 711 Pomegranate Family. 712 White INIangrgve FjMvhly. 717 Mangrove Family. 714 Myrtle Family. 723 Ginseng Family. 733 Dogwood Family. 735 2. Petals more or less united into a gamopetalous corolla (essentially separate in the White Alder Family; wanting in many species of Fraxinus) . I. Ovary superior (except in the Huckleberry and Sweetleaf Families). *Stamens mostly free from the corolla, or merely joined to its base, as many as the corolla-lobes and alternate with them, or twice as many, or more. Ovary superior; fruit capsular or rarely drupaceous Corolla essentially polypetalous; ovary 3 -celled. Corolla gamopetalous (except in Elliotiia); ovary mostly 5 -celled. Ovary inferior; fruit fleshy, a berry or drupe. **Stamens borne on the corolla. fStamens opposite the corolla-lobes and of the same number, or twice as many, or more. Ovary i -celled. Fruit i-seeded; staminodes none. Fruit with several or many seeds; staminodes present Ovary 3- to several-celled. Stamens as many as the corolla-lobes. Stamens twice as many as the corolla-lobes. Styles and stigmas 2 to 8, separate; flowers imperfect. Styles united; flowers mostly perfect. Stamens in several series. White Alder Family. Heath Family. Huckleberry Family. Myrsine Fauhly. Theophrasta Family. Sapodilla Family. Ebony Family. 748 750 765 Sweetleaf Family. 767 770 772 78s 789 General Key to the Families Stamens in one series. ttStamens alternate with the corolla-lobes and as many in number or fewer (species of Fraxinus and Forestiera in the Olive Family have no corolla). Ovaries 2; stamens mostly joined only to the base of the corolla. Stamens fewer than the corolla -lobes, usually only 2, the corolla sometimes wanting; styles short or none. Stamens as many as the corolla-lobes; styles and stigmas united. Ovary i, compound; stamens mostly joined to the corolla-tube at or above the middle. Fruit drupaceous, or of 4 nutlets or achenes; seeds usually solitary. Corolla regular; stamens 5; styles separate or united by pairs. Corolla irregular; stamens 4; styles distinct. Fruit a berry or capsule; seeds numerous. Corolla regular; stamens 5. Corolla irregular; fertile stamens 4, or fewer. Seeds not winged; placentae axile. Seeds broadly winged; placentae parietal. 2. Ovar}' inferior. Leaves with stipules; foliage usually blackening in drying. Leaves without stipules, or with stipules adnate to the petiole; foliage usually not blackening in drying. Storax Family. PAGE 791 Olive Family. Dogbane Famly. Madder Family. Honeysuckle Family. 794 816 Ehretia Family. 818 Vervain Family. 824 Potato Family. 828 FiGWORT F.'VinLY. 830 Trumpet Creeper Family. 832 840 848 NORTH AMERICAN TREES NORTH AMERICAN TREES CLASS GYMNOSPERMiE NAKED-SEEDED PLANTS EED-B EARING plants (Spermatophyta) form the division of the vege- table world to which all trees except tree-ferns of tropical regions belong. This siibkingdom is composed of two classes: (i) Gymno- spermae, or naked-seeded plants, and (2) Angiospermaj, or covered- seeded plants. The Gymnospermge have their ovules borne on the face of a scale, and not enclosed in an ovary, and the ovules ripen into seeds which are not enclosed in a pericarp but are usually contained in a cone of one kind or another, the cones of pine-trees or fir-trees being famihar examples. All the Gymnospermas are woody plants, most of them trees, a few shrubs. The order Finales, comprising the Pine and the Yew famihes, is represented by many trees and shrubs of the north temperate zone, most of them evergreens. Fruit a cone of many or few scales, berry-like in Juniperns. Pine Family. Fruit, in our genera, a fleshy disk partly surrounding the bony seed, or the seed naked. Yew Family. THE PINE FAMILY PINACE^ LiNDLEY HIS family consists of about 25 genera with some 250 species of trees and shrubs widely distributed in temperate regions throughout the world; they are of especial economic value on account of their soft wood and furnish some of the most extensively used lumber. This is largely due to the structure of the wood, which differs markedly from that of the deciduous- leaved trees in being more uniform; there are fewer large pores and less conspicuous medullary rays. The resinous sap, which is present in all parts of these plants, collected from many species and by different methods, is the source of a variety of resins, turpen- tines, tars, and pitches; the last two are considerably altered products owing to the process of extraction by various forms of destructive distillation. Essential oils are also secured from a number of them, usually from the leaves and young twigs or cones, or in some instances from the wood. These are used in the arts and in medicine. The large seeds of some pines of the northern hemisphere and those of Araucaria imhricata Pavon, of South America, are nutritious and of con- siderable importance as food. The astringent barks of many different species are of great importance in tanning. The Pinaceas have either scaly or naked buds; their leaves are usually persistent, narrow or needle-hke, or flat or scale-like, alternate, whorled, opposite or clustered. The flowers are naked, there being no enclosing parts surrounding the ovules or pollen-sacs, which are borne on the faces of scales, and these are aggregated in catkin-Hke clusters, the pollen and ovules in separate catkins. The ovules develop into seeds between the scales. The pistillate catkins grow into various forms of dry or fleshy cones, constituting the fruit and from which the seeds are liberated by the spreading of the scales, except in the berry-hke fruits of the Junipers where these are united into a fleshy mass. The seeds are winged or wingless; the endo- sperm is fleshy, mealy, or starchy, often resinous; the embryo is straight; the cotyledons vary from 2 to 12, or more. The genera in our area are: Fruit dry, a simple cone. Scales of the cone numerous (or few in Larix); leaf-buds scaly. Cone-scales thick, woody; leaves needle-shaped, 2 to 5 in a sheath i. Finns. Cone-scales thin; leaves linear or filiform, fascicled or scattered. Leaves fascicled on very short branchlets, deciduous. 2. Larix. Leaves scattered, persistent. Leaves jointed to short persistent woody stalks or sterigmata. Leaves 4-sided. 3. Picea. 3 The Pines Leaves flat. Leaves not jointed to woody stalks. Cones pendulous, their scales persistent after maturing. Cones erect, their scales falling away from the axis. Scales of the cone few; leaf-buds naked (except in Taxodiuni, a species of Sequoia and some species of Juniperus). Cone-scales spiral, thick. Leaves persistent; cones oblong. Leaves deciduous; cones globose. Cone-scales opposite. Cones ovoid to oblong, their scales thin. Cone-scales 6; seed unequally winged. Cone-scales 8 to 12; seed equally winged. Cones globose, their scales thick. Cones large, maturing the second year; seed narrowly winged; twigs quadrangular. Cones small, maturing the first year; seed broadly winged; twigs flattened. Fruit fleshy, a modified cone, berry-like. 4. Tsuga. 5. Pseudotsiiga. 6. Abies. 7. Sequoia. 8. Taxodiuni. 9. Heyderia. 10. Thuja. 11. Cupressus. 12. ChamcEcyparis. 13. Juniperus. I. THE PINES GENUS PINUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US HIS genus consists of evergreen trees, a few of which are reduced to shrubs at high altitudes or high latitudes. They are apparently con- fined to the northern hemisphere and represented by nearly 100 species, of which fully one third are natives of North America. They are of great economical importance. The wood of some species, espe- cially that of the white pines, is valued on account of its evenness, softness, and the ease with which it can be worked ; the harder, resinous woods of the pitch pines or yellow pines are also used to a very large extent and are more durable in con- tact with the ground. The resinous juice is of great importance in the arts, being the source of the so-called oil or spirits of turpentine which is secured from the juice by distillation, the residue constituting commercial resin. Tar is produced by a more or less crude process of destructive distillation of pine wood, the residue being charcoal. Tar when subjected to distillation yields oil of tar and a thick residue called naval pitch; all these products are used to a greater or less extent in medicine; volatile oils are also obtained from various species of pine leaves, young shoots or young cones, and have some specific appHcation in medicine. The fiber from some of the long leaves of pines is sometimes extracted for special apphcations. The large seeds, especially notable in the group called nut pines, are very nutritious and are an important article of food, especially to the Indians of the southwestern United States and Mexico; also in southern Europe where the seed of the stone pine is of much importance. As ornamental trees the pines are too well known to require more than mention here. The Pines 5 This genus was probably more abundantly represented in former geologic times than now, as there are numerous representatives known in the fossil remains of the Cretaceous and Miocene formations. Amber is a fossil resin produced by some member of this genus, or of one closely alhed to it. The pines have two kinds of leaves, the primary, which soon disappear and are seldom seen except on seedhngs or on vigorous sprouts sometimes growing from stumps or injured trunks; they are deciduous, Hnear, more or less flat or sometimes scale-Hke. The secondary or ordinary foHage-leaves persist for at least two years in fascicles of 2 to 5 or 7, subtended by the bud-scales, and in many species portions of these are united to form a sheath around the base of the fascicle; rarely there is but one leaf; they are stiff-pointed, usually minutely toothed, semicircular or triangular in cross- section; they have stomata on i face or all, and i or 2 fibrovascular bundles. The flowers usually appear in spring, the staminate and pistillate ones mostly in separate clusters (monoecious) or rarely both kinds in the same cluster (androgynous), the staminate usually oval or cy- lindric, composed of many sessile, 2-celled anthers. The pistillate flowers are nearly terminal, or lateral, solitary, in pairs or often in clusters, erect or recurv-ed, sessile or stalked, consisting of many carpellary scales, accompanied by small bracts, spirally arranged and bearing at the base of their inner surface 2 naked inverted ovules. The fruit is a cone, maturing usually at the end of the second season, opening and shedding its seed at maturity, in some species persistent on the branches for many years. The cone-scales are elongated, and variously thickened and appendaged at the exposed apex. The seeds are borne in pairs at the base of the scales, often winged, their coating more or less crustaceous; cotyledons 3 to 15, rarely more. The name is the ancient name of a pine tree. The so-called Scotch pine, P. sylvestris L., of Europe, is the type species. A. Leaf-sheaths loose, falling away early. Cone-scales without spines. Wing of the seed large; White pines. Leaves slender, pale green, eastern tree. i. P. Strobus.- Leaves stiff, green; western trees. Cones 1.2 to 2.7 dm. long. 2. P. monticolar Cones 3 to 4.5 dm. long. 3. P. Lajnbertiana. Wing of the seed much shorter than the body. Leaves slender; cone-scales reflexed. 4. P. strobiformis. Leaves stiff; cone-scales not reflexed. Cone-scales brown, spreading, their tips merely pointed. 5. P. f!exilis.-~ Cone-scales purple, remaining closed, their tips triangular. 6. P. albicaulis.^ Wing of the round seed minute; Nut pines. Leaves slender; bark very scaly. 7. P. cembroides. Leaves stout; bark not scaly or but little so. Leaves usually in 4's, sometimes 3 or 5; tree of southern and Lower California. 8. P. quadrijolia. Leaves i to 3 in each fascicle. The Pines p. p. p. Cones 3 to 6 cm. long; leaves 2.5 to 6 cm. long. 9. P. Cones 2.5 to 4 cm. long; leaves 2 to 4 cm. long. 10. P. Cone-scales armed with slender spines. Spines of the cone-scales short. Cones ovoid; leaves in 3's, 6 to 10 cm. long. .:.— 11. Cones nearly cylindric; leaves in 5's, 2 to 4 cm. long. 12. Spines of the cone-scales long and slender, leaves in 5's. 13. B. Leaf-sheaths persistent, embracing the leaves at the base, a. Cones subtcrminal. Leaves in 5's (sometimes in 3's in No. 15); western trees. Leaves 2.2 to 3.3 dm. long; cones ovoid, i to 1.5 dm. long. 14. P. Leaves 1.2 to 1.8 dm. long; cones oval, 5 to 6 cm. long. 15. P. Leaves in 2's or 3's. Cone-scales unarmed; eastern tree. Cone-scales armed. Cones oval to oblong-oval; resin-ducts of the leaves near the surface; western trees. Spines of the cone-scales stout; cones 7 to 15 cm. long. Leaves 1.3 to 4 dm. long; cones 7.5 to 15 cm. long. 17. P. Leaves 0.7 to 1.5 dm. long; cones 11 cm. long or less. 18. P. Spines of the cone-scales slender; cones oblique, 2 to 5 cm. long. monophylla. edulis. chihualmana. Baljouriana. aristata. Torreyava. arizotiica. 16. P. resinosa.-^ ponderosa. scopulorum. contort a. - Murrayana. palustris. 22. P. rigida.-m scrotiua. ecliinata. P. Leaves dark green, 2.5 to 5 cm. long. 19. P. Leaves yellow-green, 5 to 7.3 cm. long. 20. P. Cones long-conic; resin-ducts of leaves away from the surface. 21. P. b. Cones lateral (or subterminal in /'. caribcca). 1. Leaves in 3's, or sometimes in 2's in P. ecliinata and P. caribcea. Eastern trees. Cones ovoid, globose, or broader than long. Leaves 12 cm. long or less; cone-scales with stiff prickles. Leaves 15 to 20 cm. long; cone-scales with small slender deciduous or obsolete prickles. 23. P. Cones conic or conic-cylindric. Leaves 13 cm. long or less; cones less than 7 cm. long. 24. P. Leaves 15 to 30 cm. long; cones i to 2.5 dm. long. Cone-scales with sharp recur\'ed spines; resin-ducts in leaf near the surface. 25. Cone-scales with short slender spines; resin-ducts in leaf not near the surface. 26. Western trees. Cone-scales with stout spines. Cones 1.5 to 3.5 dm. long; spines very stout. Leaves drooping; cones 1.5 to 2.5 dm. long, their spines upright or cur\ed outward. Leaves erect; cones 2.5 to 3.5 dm. long, their spines curved inward. Cones 7 to 13 cm. long; spines triangular. Cone-scales with minute incurved spines. 2. Leaves all in 2's. Eastern trees. Spines of the cone-scales short, deciduous, or obsolete. Cones ovoid to globose, straight; southern tree. 31. P. glabra. Teed a. caribwa. VvS"^^^ \ 27- p. Sabiutana. 28. p. Coiilteri. 29. p. attcnuata. 30- p. radiata. White Pine 7 Cones conic, much incurved; northern tree. ' Spines of the cone-scales well developed. Cones 4 to 7 cm. long. Twigs not glaucous; leaves slender, i mm. thick. Twigs glaucous; leaves stout, 1.5 to 2 mm. thick. Cones 10 to 13 cm. long, globose or depressed; scales with hooked spines. Western tree; cone-scales with short incurved spines. 32. P. Banksiami. > — 33. P. cldKsa. 34. /'. virginiana, 35. P. pungciis. 36. /'. Diiiiicata. I. WHITE PINE — Pinus Strobus Linnaus The White pine, or Weymouth pine, is the most valuable forest tree of eastern North America, and one of the most beautiful of conifers. It occurs from New- foundland to Ontario and Manitoba, south, near the Atlantic coast to east-central New Jersey, along the Alleghany INIountains to Georgia and eastern Tennessee, and to Illinois and Iowa. It prefers the moist loose soil of hillsides and mountain slopes, occasionally, however, growing in quite swampy situations. The tree attains a maximum height of about 80 meters, with a trunk sometimes 2 meters ( in diameter. Tlie bark of old trees is verv thick and fissured, that of voung trees much thinner, smooth, or nearly so, green or red- dish. The young twigs are somewhat vel- vety, but soon become smooth and brown. The buds are pointed and about i cm. long. The leaves are 5 in each sheath, very slender and flexible, pale green or bluish green, 7 to 12 cm. long; their sheaths are loose, composed of several nearly separate scales, and fall away soon after the leaves are grown. The staminate flowers are nu- merous, borne laterally on the lower part of shoots of the season, oblong, blunt, yellow, and about i cm. long, subtended by several scales. The pistillate flowers are stalked, usually several together at the ends of the shoots, and at flowering time in June are about 7 mm. long. The cones ripen in the summer of the second season, when their scales open and release the seeds; they are stalked, drooping, cylindric, pointed, resinous, 10 to 15 cm. long and about 2.5 cm. thick, their scales are sliglilly thickened and blunt at the apex, otherwise thin, without any spine or prickle; the seeds are about 2 cm. long, the terminal wing three or four times as long as the body. The cones usuallv fail from the tree during the winter after the seeds are released. Fig White PiiK 8 The PInej P"iG. 2. — While Pine in New York Botanical Garden. The lumber of the White pine is used in great quantities in almost all kinds of construction, and for woodenware, boxes, and matches. The wood is nearly- white, soft, easily worked, not ver}^ resinous, with a specific gravity of about 0.38. The commercial supply has been mucli reduced by extensive cutting of the forests, and many attempts are being made to grow the tree on a large scale. Its growth is quite rapid, and the tree is highly esteemed for lawn and park planting, but, Hke Sugar Pine most other conifers, it does not thrive in the smoky air of dense cities. The name Weymouth pine was given to the tree in England, because it was planted by Lord Weymouth in Wiltshire, early in the eighteenth centur}^; it is also called Soft pine and Northern pine. ^. WESTERN WHITE PINE — Pinus monticola Douglas This pine very closely resembles the eastern white pine, and was regarded as a variety of it by Nuttall, but its differences from that species appear to be constant. It reaches a maximum height of about 50 meters, with a trunk sometimes nearly 3 meters thick, and occurs from northern Montana to southern British Columbia, southward to the mountains of south-central Cahfomia. The thick bark of old trees is fissured into nearly square plates; that of young trees is gray, smooth, or nearly so. The young twigs are stout and brown-hair)-, becoming smooth and reddish. The leaves are 5 in each sheath, stout and stiff, bluish green, 10 cm. long or less, their sheaths loose, i to 2 cm. long, early falUng away. The staminate flowers are numerous, borne on the sides of shoots of the season, i cm. long or less; the pistillate flowers are terminal and stalked. The ripe cones are 1.2 to 2.7 dm. long, and 4 to 5 cm. thick, thus much larger than those of Pinus Strohus; they are pendulous, pointed, and their scales open to shed the seeds in the summer or autumn of the second sea- son; the cones fall away from the tree in the foUowinjr winter or spring; the scales, are slightly thickened near the tip, otherwise thin, sJiort-pointed, without any sp^nc or prickle; the seeds are about 2.5 cm. long, the thin wing Jiree or four times ,as long as the oblofig bo^y. T' .r tree is of slower growth than its eastern -rlative; its wood is nearly white, soft and easily worked, has a specific gravity of about 0.39 and is used in construction work. It is also known as Silver pine. Finger-cone pine. Mountain pine. Little Sugar pine and Soft pine. Fig. 3. — Western White Pine. 3. SUGAR PINE — Pinus Lambertiana Douglas This, the largest of all pines, inhabits mountain sides and canons, occurring from Oregon southward through California to central Lower California. Toward the northern limit of its range it sometimes attains a height of 70 meters or some- 10 The Pines what more, with a trunk up to 4 meters in diameter; trees of even larger dimensions than these are said to have existed at the time the species was discovered by Douglas in southern Oregon. The bark of old trees is fissured into long plates, brown to red-brown and 5 cm. thick or more; that of young trees is smooth, much thinner and gray. The stout young twigs are somewhat hairy, becoming smooth and brown. The leaves Fig. 4. — Sugar Pine. arc 5 in each cluster, stout, toothed, at least above the middle, dark green and about I dm. long; the sheath of the clusters falls away early. The oblong stami- nate flowers are blunt, numerous, i to 1.5 cm. long. The pistillate flowers are terminal, usually 2 or more together. The ripe cones are ven- large, 3 to 4.5 dm. long, pendulous, 7 to 9 cm. thick while the scales are closed, and shed their seeds in the autumn of the second season, falling away from the tree during the third Rocky Mountain White Pine ^.A II year; the cone-scales are about 5 cm. long, blunt, slightly thickened at the tip, but without any spine or prickle; the seeds are 12 to 15 mm. long, the blunt and rather broad wing somewhat longer than the body. The wood of the Sugar pine is largely used for shingles, barrels, utensils, and in construction. It is light brown, soft, easily worked, not very strong, with a specific gravity of about 0.37. The tree is also called Big pine. Shade pine and Great Sugar pine. 4. MEXICAN WHITE PINE — Pinus strobiformis Engelmann This tree inhabits canons and mountain sides in Arizona, New Mexico and Chihuahua, reaching a height of about 30 meters, with a trunk 6 dm. in thickness. Its branches are slender and somewhat drooping. The bark is thick, deeply fissured, brown to reddish brown. The young twigs are somewhat reddish hair}^, becoming smooth, and sometimes covered with a bloom. The leaves, are in clusters of 5, slender, but rather stiff, Hght green, very minutely toothed, 10 cm. long or less; their sheaths become 2 to 2.5 cm. long, and fall away early. The tree flowers in May or June; the oblong staminate flowers are 8 or 10 mm. long; the pistillate flowers are ter- minal, usually two or more together. The cones ripen during the summer of the second year, when they are oblong, pendulous, 1.2 to 2.3 dm. long, about 4 cm. thick; their scales are thin, about 3 cm. long, with blunt reflexed tips devoid of any spine or prickle; the seeds are oval, a little flattened, i to 1.5 cm, long, the thin blunt wing only about 3 mm. long. The wood is hard, strong, reddish white, with a specific gravity of about 0.49, and furnishes a valu- able timber, as yet little used. It is also called Arizona White pine. 2. 5 Fig. 5. Mexican White Pine. V 5. ROCKY MOUNTAIN WHITE PINE -Pinus flexilis James This Rocky Mountain tree is also known as Bull pine, Limber pine, White pine, and Rocky Mountain pine; it occurs at altitudes of from 1500 to 3600 meters from Alberta southward to western Texas and southeastern California, var}dng greatly in size, and in the shape and size of the cones. Its maximum height is 15 meters, with a trunk diameter up to 1.5 m. The tree of the south, having very long, more slender cones and sometimes minutely toothed leaves, is the Pinus 'flexilis megalocarpa of Sudworth. The trunk is stout; its branches are stout, persisting and spreading, forming 12 The Pines a conic head, but in old age it is more rounded in outline. The bark of old trees is 2.5 to 5 cm. thick, deeply fissured into broad ridges and square, dark brown to nearly black scaly plates; on younger stems it is simply scaly and lighter in color. The twigs are very tough and flexible, light orange-colored, softly hairy, soon becoming smooth and darker, sometimes purple and covered by loose, dr}'ish brown scales; the termi- nal buds are about 12 mm. long, twice the length of the lateral ones. The leaves are in fascicles of 5, without permanent sheaths, stout and stiff, about 5 cm., rarely 9 cm. long, and entire, or in a southern form, slightly toothed near the apex, marked on the upper faces with i to 4 rows of stomata and contain 2 Rocky Mountain White Pine. resin-ducts and a single fibrovascular bundle; they form tufts at the ends of the twigs and persist for about six years. The flowers appear late in June, the staminate in clusters at the end of the twigs; they are oval, about 12 mm. long, their anthers reddish. The pistillate flowers are in nearly terminal clusters of 2 or 3, nearly sessile, about 12 mm. long, bright reddish purple and subtended by persistent, dryish brown bracts. The cones, growing rapidly the second summer, have fully matured by SeptembePj^wften they are horizontal or slightly declined, stout-stalked,<^«va"l or nearly cylindric, 7.5 to 25 cm. long, about 4 cm. thick, fight brown, shedding the seeds and usually falling off before winter; their scales are thin, usually broad and rounded with a thickened darker knob, scarcely reflexed at the apex, the basal ones sterile, narrower and much reflexed, the unexposed portion dull reddish brown. Seeds oval, compressed, 8 to 12 mm. long, dark reddish brown and mottled, the margin narrow, the wing thin, dull, about 12 mm, wide, remaining attached to the cone-scale, the seed fall- ing away from it; cotyledons 6 to 9. The wood is soft, close-grained, pale yellow or reddish on exposure; its specific gravity is about 0.43 ; it is used in the southern part of its range for construction, but is not as good as that of Pinus Strohus, being ver>' knotty. l-IG. 6. 6. WHITE BARK PINE — Pinus albicaulis Engelmann A rather small tree of alpine habitat, occurring at altitudes of 1500 to 3600 meters, in the high mountains of British Columbia southward to the San Bernardino Mountains of southern Cafifomia, eastward to Montana and Wyoming. Its White Bark Pine 13 Fig. White Bark Pine. maximum height is 18 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.2 meters, but it is often reduced at the highest altitudes to a spreading shrub. The branches are stout and flexible, in regular whorls forming a compact cone; ^'cr^• old trees are often irregular and round-headed. The bark is about 12 mm. thick, narrowly fissured into light brown or whitish scales, which on faUing expose a reddish inner layer; on younger stems it is much thinner and almost white. The twigs are stout, smooth or nearly so, except for the persistent bud- scales, orange-colored or dark reddish brown. The branch-buds are broadly ovate, sharp-pointed and covered by loosely imbricated pale brown scales; they are 12 mm. long, or the lateral ones much smaller. The leaves are in fasci- cles of 5, the sheaths soon disappearing; they are dark green, stout and stiff, slightly curv^ed, 4 to 7.5 cm. long, sharply stiff-pointed and entire, marked with i to 3 rows of stomata on the upper faces and contain 2 resin passages and a single fibrovascular bundle; they are crowded at the ends of the otherwise naked branches and persist for five to eight years. The flowers open in July, the staminate, in short spike-like clusters surrounding the ends of the twigs, are oval, about 10 mm. long, their anthers scarlet. The pistillate flowers are oblong, about 8 mm. in diameter and sessile, clustered at the apex of the twigs, their scales bright scarlet. The young cones grow very slowly the first season, but more rapidly the second summer, becoming horizontal and mature by the end of September, oval or subglobose, 8 to 10 cm. long and pur- ple; they seldom open, but remain closed for some time, after which they break up; the ends of the much thickened scales gradually taper and contract on both sides into a sharp edge and tenninate in a stout, irregular, somewhat incurved darker tip. The seeds are oTate-subcyhndric, sharp-pointed, sometimes flat- tened on one side, 8 to 12 mm. long, dark brown and hard, the margin a narrow border; wing very thin, light colored and very narrow, remaining attached to the cone-scales when the seed is hberated ; cotyledons 7 to 9. The wood is soft, brittle, close-grained and light brown; its specific gravity is about 0.42. The seed is sweet and is a favorite food for the birds of the region, especially the crow, who tears the cones to pieces before they are cjuite ripe, to get at the young seeds; the Indians also gather them for food. This pine has received many names, among them White stem pine. Scrub pine, Pitch pine. White bark. Creeping pine, Alpine white pine, and Alpine ^vhite bark pine. 14 The Pines 7. MEXICAN NUT PINE — Pinus cembroides Zuccarini A low bushy tree of Arizona and adjacent Mexico, occurring on dry mountain ridges at an altitude of about 1900 meters. Its usual height is about 6 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 dm. It is reported to attain much greater dimensions in Mexico and is variously known as Mexican pinon or pinyon, Nut pine, Pinon and Stone pine; it is recorded as growing also in Lower California. The trunk is short, its bushy branches forming a broad round head. The bark is about 12 mm. thick, irregularly and remotely fissured into broad plates which are covered by thin, light reddish brown scales. The twigs are slender, dark yel- low, becoming black; they are covered with pale matted hairs. The large con- spicuous bud-scales soon disappear. The branch-buds are about 6 mm. long, tapering to a sharp point, the scales brown and shining, ovate, acute or long- tipped. Juvenile leaves of this and the other nut pines are produced for the first five years or more, often to the exclusion of all others; they are flat, linear- lan- ceolate, strongly keeled and glaucous, entire, 18 to 25 mm. long, the new ones shorter as the buds of the fascicled needle-shaped leaves develop in their axils. The older leaves are in fascicles of 2 or 3, with a deciduous sheath, dark green, slender, 2.5 to 5 cm. long, much curved, their tips elongated and thickened; they are marked by 4 to 6 rows of stomata on each ventral face and contain 2 dorsal resin-ducts and a single fibrovascular bundle; they are crowded at the ends of the branches and persist for three or four years. The staminate flowers are dense oblong or oval, 6 mm. long, the anthers yellow. The pistillate flowers arc lateral and erect on stout stalks, ob- long, about 3 mm. long, their scales thick and dark red. The cones become about 12 mm. long by the end of the first season, growing rapidly the second season, and by autumn have become subglobose, 3 to 5 cm. in diameter, short- stalked, fight reddish brown; the scales are concave, rounded or sharp at the apex, thickened and ridged with a darker central concave knob, that of the lower scales reflexed. The central scales only bear the seeds, the others are sterile and much smaller, those at the base remaining closed and are much reflexed. The seed is nearly cyfindric or slightly triangular, about 8 mm. long, compressed at the tapering apex, full and rounded at the base, dark brown in front, nearly bkick on the back; endosperm sweetish; wing light l)rown, very narrow, remain- ing attached to the cone-scales when the seed falls; cotyledons 9 to 15. Fig. 8. — Mexican Nut Pine. Parry's Nut Pine 15 The wood is soft, close-grained, and yellow; its specific gravity is about 0.65. Its seeds are used by the inhabitants of northern Mexico as food, either raw or roasted, the demand being sufficient to make their collection of commercial im- portance. 8. PARRY'S NUT PINE — Pinus quadrifolia Parlatore This, the rarest of our nut pines, enters our area in southern California, from Lower CaHfornia, where, in the mountains, it is very abundant. Its maximum height is 12 meters, with a trunk diameter of 4.5 dm. It is also known as Parr}''s piiion. Nut pine, Parry's pine, and Mexican pinon. The branches are stout and spreading, forming a dense, regular cone, the lower branches frequently touch- ing the ground ; very old trees are more rounded and often irregular. The bark is about 16 mm. thick, shallowly fissured into flat ridges with few close scales or none on the dark reddish brown surface. The twigs are stout, short and softly hairy, soon becoming hght reddish brown. The leaves are in fascicles of 4, sometimes 3 to 5, the sheaths soon falhng away; they are pale glaucous green, stout, 3.5 to 4.5 cm. long, often 3 mm. wide, the dorsal faces usually the broadest, the tips thickened and short-pointed, en- tire-margined, marked on the lower surface by 4 to 10 conspicuous rows of stomata and contain 2 large dorsal resin-ducts and a single fibrovascular bun- dle ; they are somewhat scattered on the twigs and persist more or less irregularly for three or four years. The staminate flowers are in spike-like clusters near the ends of the twigs; they are oval, about 5 mm. long; the involucre consists of four conspicuous, irregularly fringed bracts. The pistillate flowers are nearly terminal, usually soHtary or few-clustered, almost sessile, subglobose, about 5 mm. long, their scales broadly ovate, rounded and tipped with a short, broad point. The cones, when mature, are subglobose, 4 to 6 cm. long, brown and shining; the apex of the concave scales is thickened, rounded, keeled and provided with a ridged knob which is flattened or sunken in the middle and without any spine or bristle. The unexposed portion of the scales is red and dull; only a few of the central scales bear seeds, the others are sterile and smaller, those at the base remaining closed and much reflexed, forming a rather flat base to the cone. The seed is ovoid, 1.5 cm. long, narrowed and compressed at the apex, full and rounded Fig. 9. — Parry's Nut Pine. i6 The Pines at the base, dark reddish brown and shghtly mottled ; endosperm sweetish and resi- nous; wing thin, narrow, and pale brown, adhering to the cone-scale when the seed falls out; cotyledons about 8. The wood is soft, close-grained, yellow or pale brown; its specific gravity is about 0.57. The seed, Hke that of other nut pines, is of considerable value as food to the Indians and Mexicans. This tree is sometimes planted for ornament in Cahfomia. 9. ONE-LEAVED NUT PINE — Pinus monophylla Torrey and Fremont An inhabitant of dn', gravelly soils in the mountains of Utah, Nevada, Arizona, southern Cahfomia and adjacent Lower California, at elevations of 1500 to 2300 meters, seldom attaining its maximum height of 15 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 dm., its usual height being only about 7 m. The trunk is very short, often divided near the ground into several strong spread- ing branches; these are short and stout, forming a compact conic head, very old trees often hav- ing pendulous branches and are more round topped or irregular. The bark is about 18 mm. thick, deeply and irregu- larly fissured into nar- row flattish confluent ridges with close dark reddish brown scales. The twigs arc stout, light orange, finally be- coming dark brown. The branch-buds are ovoid, 6 mm. long, blunt, their scales light brown. The leaves are sohtary and round, rarely 2 or 3 in a sheathless fascicle, triangular, pale green and glaucous, round and stout, about 4 cm. long, recurved at the apex, spincscent with a long hard tip, marked with 18 to 20 rows of stomata and containing 2 or 3 resin-ducts and one fibro vascular bundle, they are rather scattered along the twigs and per- sist for four to six years. The flowers appear in May, the staminate densely clustered near the apex of the twigs, oval or oblong, about 6 mm. long; anthers dark red. The pistillate flowers are lateral, oval, about 6 mm. long, short, stout- stalked, their scales thick, rounded, and tipped with a small point. The cones mature the second autumn, when they are broadly oval, 4 to 6.5 cm. long and almost as thick, light reddish brown and shining; the scales are concave, thick One-leaved Nut Pine. Rocky Mountain Nut Pine 17 and four-angled, gradually narrowed into a knob which is flat or sunken at the apex and without either spine or bristle. Like the other nut pines the middle scales only bear seeds; these are oblong, 15 mm. long, rather sharp-pointed, full and rounded at the base, yellowish on the shghtly flattened upper side, dark red- dish brown on the rounded lower side ; endosperm resinous and oily ; wing narrow, adhering to the cone-scales when the seed falls; cotyledons 7 to 10. The wood is soft, brittle and weak, close-grained, yellow to light brown; its specific gravity is about 0.56. It is largely used for fuel and to supply charcoal to the smelters of the region. The seed is used as food by the Indians who gather the cones and expel the seeds from them by heat; they are used fresh or roasted and stored for future use, and are also made into meal. It is also called Single-leaf pine, Pinon nut pine, Nevada nut pine, Gray pine, and Fremont's nut pine. 10. ROCKY MOUNTAIN NUT PINE — Pinus eduHs Engelmann This is also called Pinon, Nut pine, Pinon pine, and New Mexican pinyon, and, like the other nut pines is a small tree of the drier mountain regions, at altitudes of 1800 to 2400 meters, forming forests with Juniper and one or more other pines in southwestern Wyoming, Colorado, eastern Utah, western Texas to Arizona, and adjacent Mexico. Its maximum height is 12 meters, with a trunk diameter of 7.5 dm., but it is usually much smaller. The trunk is short, often divided very nearly to the ground. The branches are horizontal at first, the tree becoming round topped. The bark is 12 to 18 mm. thick, irregularly fissured into connected ridges covered by close light brown or reddish yellow scales. The twigs are stout and covered by the closely imbricated scales of the branch-buds, which gradually disappear, the twigs becoming light gray or reddish brown. The leaves are in sheathless fascicles of 2 or 3, triangular or nearly round, dark green, stout, 1.8 to 4 cm. long, entire, marked with 5 to 15 rows of stomata, and contain 2 resin-ducts and a single fibrovascular bundle, the apex Pig. II. — Rocky Mountain Nut Pine. i8 The Pines sharp, calloused-tipped ; the leaves are rather thinly scattered along the twigs and persist for four to five or even nine years. The staminate flowers are oval, 6 mm. long, the anthers dark red; pistillate flowers are about the same length and oval, the scales somewhat thickened and rounded at the apex, sometimes with a minute tip. The cones, reaching maturity by the second autumn, are nearly globose, about 4 cm. long, very flat at the base, light brown and shining. The scales are comparatively few; the exposed portion is very thick, transversely ridged and narrowed into a four-sided knob with a large concave apex without any spine or bristle. The middle scales only are fertile and much the largest, the others re- main closed ; they are dull light red on the unexposed portions. The seed is ovoid, 12 mm. long, nearly cylindric and rounded at the base, yellowish above, dark red- dish brown below; the wing is about 3 mm. wide, Hght reddish brown and adheres to the cone-scales when the seed falls; endosperm sweet and resinous; cotyledons 7 to ID. The wood is soft, weak and brittle, close-grained and pale brown; its specific gravity is about 0.64. It is quite durable and is useful for fencing, fuel, and char- coal, and is sometimes sawed into boards. The seeds are very important as food for the Indians and Mexicans, reaching some commercial importance. The tree is doubtfully distinct as a species from Pinus monophylla. II. CHIHUAHUA PINE — Pinus chihuahuana Engelmann This pine barely enters our area in southern New Mexico and Arizona, being common southward in Mexico. It occurs at an altitude of 1800 to 2250 meters, where it forms the lower fringe of the pine forests. Its maximum height, in our area, is 15 meters, with a trunk diameter of 6 dm. It is character- istic by its sparse foliage and is also called Yellow pine and Chi- huahua top-cone pine. The branches are somewhat ascending, forming a narrow, round-topped conic tree. The bark sometimes becomes 4 cm. thick, is deeply fissured into broad flat ridges of a dark reddish to nearly black color and covered by close thin scales. The branch-buds are ovoid, sharp-pointed, some- times 16 mm. long, their scales light brown and fringed. The leaves are in fascicles of 3, their loose brown sheaths soon faUing away; they are pale, glaucous, green, slender, 6 to 10 cm. long, the apex sharp, little calloused; Fig. 12. — Chihuahua Pine. Foxtail Pine 19 they are sharply small-toothed, marked by 3 to 6 rows of conspicuous stomata on each face, and contain resin passages in the pulpy tissue and 2 fibrovascular bun- dles; they are thinly distributed along the twigs and persist for about four years. The flowers appear in July; the staminate in crowded clusters, are oval, about 6 mm. long, with yellow anthers. The pistillate flowers are nearly terminal, stout- stalked, oval, about 8 mm. long, their scales yellowish and long-pointed. The cones, which do not ripen until the end of the third autumn, are broadly ovoid, 4 1^0 ~5~cm. long, sharp-pointed, horizontal or somewhat ascending, short-stalked, brown and shining, their scales thin and fiat, about 8 mm. wide, very little thickened or keeled, and terminated by an oblong, paler knob, surmounted by a small, often deciduous spine; the lower scales are sterile and remain closed, the unexposed portion being purple; seeds oval, rounded at apex, pointed at the base, about 4 mm. long, dark brown, the wing thin, light brown, about 8 mm. long. The wood is soft, durable, brittle, close-grained and orange colored ; its specific gravity is about 0.54. 12. FOXTAIL PINE — Pinus Balfouriana A. Murray A tree of rocky slopes and ridges of the Mt. Shasta region of northern CaH- fomia to the southern Sierra Nevada, occurring at altitudes of from 1500 to about 3400 meters, where it is often reduced to a shrub. Its maximum height is 30 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.6 meters. The branches are short, stout, and outspreading in regular whorls, forming a narrow compact cone; on very old trees the branches frequently develop into ir- regular, often picturesque heads. The bark is about 18 mm. thick, deeply fis- sured into broad, connected, flat ridges, which are broken crosswise into thick, nearly square plates with a closely scaly, dark red-brown sur- face; young stems have a thinner, smoother, whitish bark. The leaves are in sheathless fascicles of 5, stout, stiff, recurved, 2 to 4 Fig. 13. — Foxtail Pine. cm. long, dark green and shining above, pale beneath, entire on the margin, the apex tipped by a rigid, sharp point ; they are marked by 2 rows of stomata on each ventral surface and contain 2 resin-ducts and a single fibrovascular bun- dle; they are crowded and pressed close to the twigs, which they cover thickly 20 The Pines for 4 to 6 dm. and persist for a number of years. The staminate flowers are in crowded, spike-like clusters, 12 mm. long; anthers reddish or orange. Pistillate flowers nearly terminal, oblong-oval, about 12 mm. long, their scales dark purple, ovate and sharp- pointed. The cones mature by the second autumn and are pen- dulous, nearly cyHndric, 7 to 12 cm. long, about 4 cm. in diameter and dark pur- ple; the scales are elongated and narrow, slightly concave, much thickened, rounded, transversely ridged, and terminated by an oblong, dark, concave knob, appendaged by a small deciduous spine. The seed is ovoid, full and rounded at the apex, tapering to the flattened base, about 8 mm. long, marked with dark purple; its wing narrowed upwards, somewhat obhque, 4 to 6 mm. wide; cotyle- dons about 5. The wood is soft, weak and brittle, close-grained and satiny; its specific gravity is about 0.54. The tree is reported to grow also in southern Oregon. 13. HICKORY PINE — Pinus aristata Engelmann This rather small tree of the mountains of Colorado to Nevada, Arizona and southeastern Cahfornia seldom forms forests alone, but is interspersed often with the Rocky Alountain white pine, and with Engelmann's spruce, at altitudes of 2400 to 3600 meters. Its maximum height is 15 meters, with a trunk diameter of 9 dm. At the higher altitudes it is often shrubby and much contorted. It is also called Foxtail pine and Bristle cone pine. The branches are stout, whorled, and very regular, forming a rather stiff cone- hke tree; in old age it becomes more or less contorted by the irregular development of some of its branches. The bark is 12 to 16 mm. thick, irregularly fissured into confluent, broad, flat ridges, their surface broken into small, close scales of a red- brown color; on young stems it is thinner, smooth, almost white, and filled with resin blisters which be- come enclosed in the thicker, older bark. The twigs are stout, orange- yellow and smooth, becoming dark brown or nearly black and rough- ened by the persistent remnants of the bud-scales. The branch-buds are broadly ovoid, sharp-pointed, 8 mm. long, or the lateral ones smaller, their scales pointed. The leaves are in fascicles of 5, their sheaths soon disappearing; they are dark green and shining, stout or slen- der and recun'ed, 2.5 to 4 cm. long, stiff, callouscd-tippcd, their lower faces marked with narrow rows of pale stomata, Fig. 14. — Hickorv Pine. Torrey's Pine 21 and contain i or 2 resin-ducts near the middle of the upper face and i fibrovascu- lar bundle; they are numerous and crowded towards the ends of the otherwise naked twigs and persist for ten to tweh'e years or longer. The flowers appear in June, the staminate in short, crowded clusters, oval, 12 mm. long, with dark orange- red anthers. The pistillate flowers are scaly-stalked, nearly terminal, solitary or in pairs, oblong-oval, 8 mm. long, their scales broadly ovate, dark purple and with long, slender tips. The cones are horizontal or somewhat pendent, ovoid, 6 to 10 cm. long, 4 cm. thick, dark purplish brown, nearly sessile, opening and dropping their seed in September and October; their scales are thin, their tips somewhat 4-sided, but slightly thickened and ridged, the central elevated knob terminated by a slender upcurved prickle often 18 mm. long, light reddish brown and ver}- brittle; the unexposed portion is dull red. The seed is nearly oval, 6 mm. long, flattened, light brown and mottled with black; wing light brown, oblong, oblique, about 8 mm. long and varying considerably in width; cotyledons 6 or 7. The w^ood is soft, weak, close-grained, and reddish; its specific gravity is about 0.56. It is sometimes used for mine timbers and for fuel. 14. TORREY'S PINE — Pinus Torreyana Parry This is the most local and probably the rarest of the pines of our region, being confined to an area of a very few square miles in San Diego county, California, and to a small grove on Santa Rosa Island. It attains a height of 18 meters, with a trunk diameter of 7.5 dm. It is also called Soledad pine, Del Mar pine, and Lone pine. The trunk is short with stout spreading and ascend- ing branches forming a nar- row round top; in very exposed positions near the ocean it is often contorted and sometimes almost pros- trate. The bark is about 2.5 cm. thick, irregularly and deeply fissured into broad, flat ridges, covered by large, close, thin, light reddish brown scales. The twigs are stout, often 2.5 cm. in diame- ter, Hght green, becoming light purple, with a bloom, and covered with large brown-fringed scales finally Fig. i: Torrev's Pine. 22 The Pines becoming almost black. The branch-buds are cylindric, abruptly taper-pointed, about 2.5 cm. long, or the lateral less than half this size. The leaves are in fascicles of 5, the large persistent sheath 2 to 4 cm. long; they are dark green, slender, 1.5 to 3 dm. long, sharp, thick-tipped, and minutely toothed near the apex, marked on all faces with many rows of stomata and containing 3 resin passages and 2 fibrovascular bundles. They grow in large tufts at the ends of the twigs and persist for several years. The flowers appear from Januar)^ to March, the staminate in short crowded head-like clusters, cyhndric, 2.5 to 4 cm. long, about 8 mm. thick, their anthers yellow; the pistillate flowers are nearly terminal, in pairs, stout-stalked, oblong-oval, 18 mm. long, about 12 mm. thick; scales broadly oval, gradually narrowed into a stout point. The young cones are ovoid, 6 to 7.5 cm. long, brown, with thick red-brown recurved scales, maturing the third autumn, when they are stout-stalked, spreading, broadly ovoid, i to 1.5 dm. long, dark brown, and soon discharge some of their seeds, but retaining many until they drop off the tree, a year later; the scales are thick, about 3 cm. wide, prominently 4- angled, and thickened into a central knob which is terminated by a stout angled straight or recurved spine. The seeds are oval, 18 to 25 mm. long, somewhat angular, dull brown, with lighter markings on the upper side; endosperm sweet and oily; the wing has a thickened rim almost encircling the seed, is dark brown, very broad at apex and extends about 10 mm. beyond the seed, from which it separates as readily as it does from the cone-scale; cotyledons 13 or 14. The wood is soft, weak, and brittle, close-grained and light red; its specific gravity is about 0.49. It is used for fuel; the seeds are also gathered and eaten by Indians, like those of the nut pines. 15. ARIZONA YELLOW PINE — Pinus arizonica Engelmann A tree of the higher mountain slopes of southern Arizona, and abundant in the mountains of northern Mexico ; its maximum height is 30 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.2 meters. Also called Arizona pine. The trunk is tall and thick. The branches are stout and spreading, often irregular, forming a narrow conic or irregular round-topped head. The bark is up to 5 cm. thick and fissured into large irregular plates with close light reddish brown scales; on younger stems it is much thinner. The twigs are stout, dark yellowish brown at first, often becoming lighter colored for a time but finally dark grayish brown and roughened by the persistent bases of the bud-scales. The branch-buds are about 10 mm. long, ovoid, sharp-pointed, and closely covered by dark brown, fringed scales. The leaves are in fascicles of 5 or sometimes 3, dark green, slender, stiff, 12 to 18 cm. long, with short sharp, thick tips and small teeth at least toward the apex, and contain 2 fibrovascular bundles; they are densely tufted near the end of the twigs and persist for about three years. The flowers appear in spring, the staminate in clusters near the tips of the twigs, oval, 18 to 25 mm. long, their anthers dark purple. The pistillate flowers are Red Pine 23 nearly terminal, usually in pairs, short-stalked, broadly oblong, about 8 mm, long, their scales dark purple, long-pointed, reflexed. The cones are horizontal, oval, 5 to 6 cm. long, bright red- brown and shining; scales somewhat concave, the apex transversely ridged and much thickened into a stout knob, armed by a short curved priclde, dull and red-brown on the upper and dark puiple or brown on the under side of the unexposed parts; seed about 3 mm. long, rounded below, sUghtly flattened toward the apex; wing many times longer than the seed, broadest near the middle, obhque, 4 to 6 mm. wide, thin, light brown. The wood is soft, weak, somewhat brittle and close- grained, Hght red or yellow- ish with very resinous bands and passages; its specific gravity is about 0.50. It is occasionally sawed into lumber, especially in Mexico. ^[/^p ^^^^^w ^p^ ^^^^ wMfli tS<^s
WjjM
2
^y-7^c?cf
sV
i
Fig. 16. — Arizona Yellow Pine.
16. RED PINE — Pinus resinosa Solander
Of the American pines this is the closest related to the common European or
Scotch pine, Pinus sylvestris L., so often seen in cultivation in the eastern United
States. It is a northern tree, occurring from Nova Scotia to Manitoba southward
to the mountains of northern Pennsylvania and central Minnesota, reaching a
maximum height of 45 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m.
The trunk is tall and straight, its branches stout, spreading, more or less pen-
dulous, forming a broad, irregular cone; when ver}' old the lower branches
have disappeared and some of the upper ones have enlarged, forming an irregular
round open head. The bark is often 3 cm. thick, sHghtly and shallowly fissured
into broad, flat ridges covered with loose, hght reddish scales. The twigs are
stout, smooth, except for the persistent bases of the bud-scales, purpHsh brown,
finally Hght reddish brown; the winter branch-buds arc ovoid, sharp-pointed,
about 18 mm. long, their scales loose, thin, pale brown, dry and fringed on the
margin. The lea,ves are in sheathed fascicles of 2, dark green and shining.
24
The Pines
Fig. 17. — Red Pine.
slender and flexible, 12.5 to 15 cm. long, minutely toothed, sharp, hard-tipped,
marked on the ventral faces by faint bands of small stomata and containing many
small resin-ducts beneath the epidermis and 2 fibrovascular bundles; they persist
for three to five years. The staminate
"" flowers appear in May, in dense spike-like
oblong clusters, 12 to 18 mm. long, the
anthers dark purple; the pistillate flowers
are terminal, 2 or 3 together, stout-stalked,
^subglobose, 6 mm. long, their scales scarlet,
broadly ovate, the apex reflexed. The cones
are horizontal, 5 to 7 cm. long, nearly sessile,
light brown and shining, soon shedding their
seeds, but the cones persist until the follow-
ing spring or summer; the unexposed por-
tion of the scales is dull purple; the ends
are transversely ridged, slightly thickened,
terminated by a spineless knob. The seed
is oval, compressed, 3 mm. long, dark brown
and mottled; the wing thin, bright brown,
about 18 mm. long, broadest near the base
and oblique; cotyledons 6 to 8.
The wood is hard, rather close-grained,
pale red with dark resin bands and passages; its specific gravity is about 0.48. It
is largely used for heavy construction, masts, and piles. The bark is rich in tannin
and is sometimes used for tanning. It is a handsome tree in cultivation, being
hardy and of very rapid growth, and is also known as Norway pine and Hard
pine. ,
^ f/e ^/6(ju
17. BULL PINE — Pinus ponderosa Lawson
A tree of the western mountains from Montana and British Columbia to
California, at and above an altitude of 600 meters, reaching a maximum height
of 70 meters, with a trunk diameter of 2.4 meters.
The trunk is straight and stout, its branches short and thick, much forked
and often pendulous, usually ascending at the tips, forming a regular narrow conic
tree; in poor soil the branches are stouter, forming a round-topped head. The
bark is 5 to 10 cm. thick, deeply furrowed and broken into large broad plates, light
reddish brown; on younger stems the ridges are more rounded and covered by
close, nearly black scales. The twigs are stout, orange-colored, becoming darker
to almost black, and roughened by the thick, persistent bases of the brown bud-
scales. The young growth is pungent and pecuharly aromatic. The terminal buds
are ovoid, 12 to 18 mm. long, sharp-pointed, almost twice the size of the lateral
ones. The Ipaves are in 2's or 3's in sheathed fascicles, 1.3 to 4 dm. long, small-
toothed toward the sharp, stiff apex, dark yellowish green, stomatifcrous on all
Bull Pine
25
3 faces, containing 2 to 5 resin-ducts and 2 fibrovascular bundles. They form
large tufts at the ends of the otherwise naked twigs and persist for about three
years. The staminate flowers are short, crowded, cyHndric and usually curved, from
4 to 5 cm. long, their anthers yellow. The pistillate flowers are almost terminal,
nearly globose, 8 mm. long, dark reddish, their scales oval and gradually narrowed
to slender elongated tips; the conspicuous bracts are orbicular and fringed. The
cones are fully grown by midsummer of the second season, when they are horizontal
or shghtly inclined, short-stalked or nearly sessile, oval, 7.5 to 15 cm. long, often
in clusters of 3 to 5, usually falling off early, and in doing so break away from their
base, leaving a few of the
lower scales attached to the
short persistent peduncle.
The scales are rather thin
and narrow, concave, usually
rounded and transversely
keeled, and terminated by a
raised knob and a straight
or recurved slender spine;
the exposed portion is light
reddish brown and shining,
otherwise they are dull red-
dish brown above, purphsh
beneath; seed ovoid, 6 mm.
long, compressed, sharp-
pointed, rounded at the base,
dark purphsh and mottled;
wing narrow, four times
longer than the body and 6
mm. wide ; cotyledons 6 to 9.
The wood is hard, strong,
but brittle, close-grained, hght reddish and very resinous in conspicuous bands;
its specific gravity is about 0.48. It is not durable in contact with the soil, but is
largely used for construction work, fencing, railroad ties, fuel, and lumber. The
fiber extracted from the leaves of the variety Benthamiana of southern Oregon
is used for medicated pillows and rugs; a volatile oil is also distilled from the
leaves and used medicinally. The soft sapwood was used by the Indians for food
in times of scarcity.
It is also called Yellow pine, Big pine, Longlcaf pine, Red pine. Pitch pine,
Heavy pine and Heavy wooded pine.
This species varies greatly and many varieties of it have been described. The
two following are the most distinct and may perhaps be deservant of specific rank:
Black Pine, Pinus Jcfjreyi A. Murray, also known as Jeffrey's pine, Truckee
pine, and Sapwood pme, occurs on dry volcanic mountains from southern Oregon
Fig. 18. — Bull Pine.
26
The Pines
through Cahfomia to Lower Cahfomia, often forming pure forests and reaching
a maximum height of 70 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.8 m.; southward it is
often reduced to a straggHng shrub. The leaves are 10 to 22 cm. long, stiffer and
more elastic than those of the Bull pine, very pungently aromatic and persist for
six to nine years. The cones are short-stalked, usually purpUsh, 12. 5 to 30 cm.
long, their scales terminated by a thick knob and a hooked prickle; seeds about
12 mm. long, their wings long and wide; cotyledons 7 to 11. The wood is coarser
and more resinous, hght yellow, its specific gravity is about 0.52; it is made into
lumber, and used for the manufacture of pitch. This tree, unhke its near rela-
tives, is said to do well in cultivation.
Arizona Broadleaf pine, Pinus Mayriana Sudworth, Pinus latijolia Sargent, also
called Mayr pine, occurs in the mountains of southern Arizona, and apparently in
New Mexico, becoming 18 meters tall, with stout, usually crooked branches and
dark brown deeply furrowed bark. The leaves are longer and broader than those
of the Bull pine and not so densely tufted, usually in sheathed clusters of
3, about 35 cm. long and 2 mm. wide. The cones are more obhque, their scales
terminated by a slender nipple-Uke knob and a slender prickle. The wood is soft
and brittle, light reddish to brown, less resinous, with a specific gravity of about
0.50.
* 1. LxK-v^ 01
t8. rock pine — Pinus scopulorum (Engelmann) Lemmon
Pinus ponderosa scopulorum Engelmann
^f the Rocky Mountains, from the Black hills of South Dakota to
Nebraska through Wyoming and Colorado, southeastern Utah to western Texas
and Arizona, reaching a height of 37.5 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 1.2 m., but usually
about two thirds these dimensions or less.
The branches are stout, forming an open
conic head, becoming in old age round-topped
and often picturesque. The bark is deeply fur-
rowed and nearly black or covered by brown-
red scaly plates. The twigs are rather stout, dull
brown to black, and much roughened by the
bases of the bud-scales. The leaves are in
sheathed fascicles of 2 or 3, hght green and
lather stout, 7.5 to 15 cm. long, stiff- pointed,
and persist for several years. The staminate
flowers are clustered, cyhndric, about 2.5 cm.
long. The cones are subterminal, nearly sessile,
Fig. 19. — Rock Pine. ovoid-conic when closed, ovoid when open, 5 to
ID cm. long, their scales wide and thin, with keeled tips, terminated by a low
knob and slender recurved prickle, light yellowish brown on the exposed rnrfaccs
reddish brown on the unexposed portion. The con* - m falling lea""'-^
Shore Pine
27
their basal scales attached to the persistent peduncle. Seed obovate, rounded,
about 6 mm. long, light brown and mottled; wing about 15 mm. long, broadest
at the apex, obhque and easily detached from the seed.
The wood is hard, brittle, coarse-grained and resinous, light brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.46.
It is also called Long-leaved pine. Bull pine. Yellow pine, Foothills pine, and
Rocky Mountain yellow^ pine, and is perhaps better regarded as an eastern form
of the preceding species.
19. SHORE PINE — Pinus contorta Loudon
The Shore pine occurs chiefly along the coast from Alaska to Mendocino county,
California, at the north in Sphagnum bogs, southward on sand dunes and in other
barren places. Its maximum height is 24 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m.;
usually, however, it is scarcely 7.5 m. tall with a trunk diameter of 4.5 dm., and
is often reduced to a shrub bearing cones when only a few dm. high.
The trunk is short, its branches rather stout, forming a compact round-topped
head, sometimes grotesquely irregular. The
bark is 2 cm. thick, irregularly and deeply
fissured in both directions into small, oblong
plates, thickly covered with close dark red-
dish brown scales of a purplish or sometimes
orange tinge ; on younger stems it is thinner,
smoother, and of various shades of red or
brown. The twigs are stout, smooth and
yellowish, gradually darkening through red-
brown to nearly black, and roughened by
the persistent bases of the bud-scales;
branch-buds ovoid, sharp-pointed, often 12
mm. long and dark brown. The leaves arc
in loose-sheathed fascicles of 2, dark green,
2.5 to 5 cm. long, slender, minutely sharp-
toothed and with short thick tips; they
are marked by 6 to 10 rows of deep stomata
on each face and contain 2 resin-ducts
^|nd 2 tibrovascular bundles; they persist for about six years. The staminate
blowers are short, crowded spike-like, oblong or broadly cylindric, 12 mm. long;
"their anthers are orange. The pistillate flowers are in terminal or subterminal
clusters or pairs, erect to nearly horizontal, on stout, scaly stalks, subcylindric,
about 5 mm. long, their scales long-tipped, orange-red. The young cones are erect
or spreading, oval, 12 to 18 mm. long and light red-brown; at maturity, the next
autumn, they are sohtary or in clusters, oval or subcylindric, 2 to 5 cm. long,
very oblicjue at the base, light yellowish brown and shining, usually opening and
Fig. 20. — Shore Pine.
28
The Pines
dropping their seed promptly, but sometimes remain closed on the branches for
many years, the seeds retaining their vitality; the scales are thin, concave, the
rounded apex ridged and shghtly thickened into a narrow, oblong dark knob,
temiinated by a long, slender, more or less recurved and often deciduous spine,
bright reddish purple on the unexposed surfaces; seed about 2 mm. long, dark
reddish brown with black markings; the wing thin, about 10 mm. long, widest at or
below the middle, oblicjue and tapering toward the apex and base, pale brown;
cotyledons 4 or 5.
The wood is hard, strong, but brittle, coarse-grained, light reddish brown with
conspicuous resin bands and small resin passages; its specific gravity is about
0.58. In Alaska the inner bark is baked and used for food by the Indians.
It is variously known as Twisted pine, Scrub pine, Bolander's pine, Henderson's
pine, and Tamarack.
20. LODGE POLE PIXE — Pinus Murrayana Balfour
A tree of the mountains, from the Yukon River south and eastward to Assini-
boia, Montana, and southward to southern California and southern Colorado.
It is the principal tree in the Yellowstone Park, forming the forests of the higher
mountains, where it makes the
timber Hne at an ahitude of about
3000 meters. Its maximum height
is 50 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 1.8 m.; usually it is of about
half these dimensions or less.
The tnmk is tall and slender,
the branches are short, forming a
tall, very slender conic tree hav-
ing the aspect of a Larch rather
than a Pine. The bark is 6 to 12
mm. thick, one of the thinnest of
all our pines, quite smooth and
orange-colored. The twigs are
rather stout, light brown, becom-
ing dark gray and very rough.
The leaves are in sheathed fasci-
cles of 2, stout and stiff, 5 to 7.3
cm. long and 2 mm. wide, finely
toothed near the stiff, sharp-
pointed apex, yellowish green,
Fig. 21. — Lodge Pole Pine.
marked with many stomata on all surfaces and persist for several years. The
staminate flowers are dense, spike-like, oblong or narrowly cylindric, about 10
mm. long with orange-colored anthers. The pistillate flowers are usually in nearly
Longleaf Pine
29
terminal pairs, long-stalked, globose, about to mm. long, their orange- red scales
long-tipped. The cones usually mature and shed their seed in' the autumn of the
second season; they are oblong when closed, nearly globose when open, 4 to s cm.
long, their thick scales terminated by an angular pyramidal knob with a deciduous
spine, bright yellowish brown on the exposed portion, purplish and brown on the
unexposed portions; seed obovate, about 2 mm. long, nearly black and roughened;
wing narrow, oblique, very thin, straw-colored, 1 to 1.5 cm. long.
The wood is soft, weak, close and straight-grained, light yellow or nearly
white, ^^ith very little resin, so as to resemble White pine or Spruce. It is easily
worked but not durable; its specific gravity is about 0.41. It is sawed into lumber
to a small extent and used in construction, for railroad ties and for fuel. The
inner bark and soft sap-wood is used by the Indians when other food is scarce;
they also use the inner bark in their basketry.
It is also called Prickly pine. White pine. Black pine. Spruce pine, Murray
pine, and Tamarack pine, and is closely related to Pinus contorta, some authors
regarding them as only forms of one species.
21. LONGLEAF PIXE — Pinus palustris Miller
This very valuable tree occurs in the sandy belt bordering our southeastern coast,
from southeastern Mrginia to Florida and along the Gulf coast to Louisiana and
Texas, extending- northward in Alabama to the foothills of the mountains where
it locally occurs at an altitude of 600 meters;
west of the Mississippi River it reaches the
northern boundary of Louisiana but avoids the
river valleys. Its maximum height is 40 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m.
The trunk is tall, straight, and somewhat ta-
pering; its few branches, confined to the top, are
more or less twisted, forming an open irregular
head, about one third the height of the tree.
The bark is about 2 cm. thick, more or less fis-
sured and broken into irregular scaly plates, their
surface covered with thin close paper\' scales of
a light yellowish brown color; that of the
branches is thin and scaly. The twigs are stout,
dark brown and roughened by the persistent
bases of the bud-scales. The branch-buds are yig. 22. — Longleaf Pine,
narrowly ovoid, about 3 cm. long and sharp-
pointed; their numerous scales are grayish white, their margins cut into numer-
ous long weak whitish threads. The leaves are in broad-sheathed fascicles of 3,
bright green, soft and flexible, 2 to 4 dm. long, about 1.5 mm. thick, minutely
toothed; they are sharp, stiff-tipped, and marked by many rows of deep stomata
30
The Pines
on all 3 faces, and contain from 3 to 5 resin-ducts in the inner pulp and 2 fibro-
vascular bundles. They are crowded in dense tufts at the very tips of the twigs,
more or less drooping, and persist for two years. The flowers appear in March,
the staminatc short, dense, narrowly cylindric, incurved, 5 to 6 cm. long; anthers
dark reddish purple. The pistillate flowers are nearly terminal, usually in pairs or
often several in a cluster, short scaly-stalked, oval, about 8 mm. long, the scales
dark purple, broadly ovate, tapering upward into slender tips, their bracts wider
than long. The cones, which mature the second autumn, are nearly sessile, hori-
zontal or pendent, cylindric or oblong when closed, oblong when open, 1.5 to 2.5
dm. long, often slightly curved, dull brown, shedding their seed on opening, and
persist for another season; their scales are thin and flat, blunt at the apex, con-
spicuously ridged, shghtly thickened and terminated by a flattened knob, and
armed by a small reflexed spine; the unexposed portion is dull purple below and
reddish brown and shining above; seeds somewhat angled, about 12 mm. long,
pale brown and prominently ridged; wing thin and brittle, 4.5 to 5 cm. long,
about I cm. wide, reddish brown and shining; cotyledons 7 to 10.
The wood is very hard, strong and tough, coarse-grained, light red or orange
colored, very resinous; its specific gravity is about 0.70. It is quite durable and
largely used for masts and other purposes requiring large strong timbers, also
for railroad ties, fencing, flooring, and interior finishing, fuel and charcoal.
The oleoresin is of vciy great importance, and is the basis of an extensive
industr}% most of the resin and oil of turpentine being products of this species;
it is also the principal source of the pine tar used in America.
It has received many names, as : Southern pine. Southern yellow pine, Southern
hard pine. Southern heart pine. Southern pitch pine. Yellow pine, Turpentine
pine, Rosemary pine. Heart pine. Pitch pine. Broom pine. Hard pine, Georgia
pine. Fat pine. Long-leaved yellow pine, Longlcaf pitch pine, Longstraw pine,
Georgia yellow pine, Georgia heart pine, Georgia longleaf pine, Georgia pitch
pine, Florida pine, Florida yellow pine, Florida longleaf pine, Texas yellow pine,
Texas longleaf pine.
22. PITCH PINE — Pinus rigida Miller
A widely distributed tree of eastern North America, growing in the poorest
soils from New Brunswick to Ontario and Ohio and southward to northern
Georgia and Alabama. Its maximum height is 25 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 9 dm., but it often bears fruit when only several meters high.
The tnmk is stout, the branches stiff, horizontal, and often in remote
whorls forming an open narrow cone. Very old trees have the branches more or
less contorted, often pendulous at the ends, forming an irregular round-topped,
often picturesque head. The bark is about 3 cm. thick, irregularly deeply broken
into broad flat confluent ridges which are covered with irregular, rather loose, red-
brown or pui])lish red scales. The twigs are smooth, light green soon becoming
Pond Pine
31
Pitch Pine.
yellow, finally dark grayish brown, and roughened by the persistent bases of the
bud-scales; branch-buds ovoid or ovoid-oblong, narrowed and sharp at the tip, the
scales loose, dark brown, and shining. Leaves in sheathed fascicles of 3, bright
green, rather stout and stiff, 6 to 12 cm. long, closely and sharply toothed and
tapering to a thick tip, the stomata sunken, in many rows on all 3 faces, contain-
ing 3 to 7 resin-ducts and 2 fibrovascular bun-
dles ; they are in rather spreading tufts and per-
sist for two or three years. The flowers appear
in the spring; the staminate, in short crowded
clusters, are cyhndric, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long, anthers
yellow. The pistillate flowers are lateral, more
or less clustered, short-stalked, subglobose, about
4 mm. long, the scales light green with a reddish
tint at the contracted, slightly spreading tip.
The cones, which reach maturity by the second
autumn, are nearly sessile, ovoid to globose, 4
to 7 cm. long, light brown, opening and shedding
their seed during the autumn and winter, usually
persisting on the branches for ten or more years.
The scales are thin and flat, prominently ridged
with a dark knob and armed with a stiff recurved
prickle on the exposed end, reddish on the unexposed surfaces; seed somewhat
angled, oblong, 4 to 6 mm. long; wing about 8 mm. long; cotyledons 4 to 6.
The wood is soft, weak, coarse-grained and resinous, bright brown or reddish
with broad resin bands; its specific gravity is about 0.51. It is quite durable;
sometimes sawn into lumber and also used for railroad ties, construction timbers,
fuel, and charcoal. It was formerly one of the chief sources of turpentine, but
has been superseded by the more productive Long-leaf pine. Its adaptabiHty to
poor soils and its rapid growth thereon make this a most valuable tree for the
reforesting of the poor, womout or neglected lands of mountain sides.
Shoots growing from cut stumps sometimes bear many primary leaves with
the secondary fascicled ones in their axils.
It is known by many names, such as Hard pine, Long-leaved pine, Longschat
pine. Yellow pine. Black pine. Black Norway pine. Rigid pine. Sap pine, and
Torch pine.
23. POND PINE — Pinus serotina Michaux
A tree of the sandy swamps of the coastal plain from Virginia to Florida, at-
taining a maximum height of 25 meters, with a trunk diameter of 9 dm.
The trunk is short, its branches stout, often more or less pendulous at the
ends, usually forming a round-topped tree. The bark is up to 18 mm. thick,
irregularly and shallowly fissured into small plates with thin, close, dark reddish
brown scales. The twigs are slender, glabrous, dark green, soon becoming dull
32
The Pines
dark yellow to nearly black, and roughened with the persistent bases of the bud-
scales; branch -buds broadly ovoid, 8 to 12 mm. long, tapering upward to a sharp
tip. The leaves jire in sheathed fascicles of 3, seldom in 4's, glaucous green, j-.-^
to 12.5 cm. long, closely and minutely toothed, the tip stiff; they have many rows
of deep stomata on all 3 faces
and contain 5 to 7 unequal resin-
ducts, some of which are in the
inner tissue, and 2 fibrovascular
bundles. They persist for three
or four years. The staminate
flowers are in crowded clusters,
oblong-cyhndric, 1.5 to 2 cm.
long, their anthers dark reddish-
yellow. The pistillate flowers
are lateral, in pairs or clusters,
short-stalked, ovoid-oblong, their
scales gradually tapering to a
slender tip. The cones are hori-
zontal or slightly drooping, ovoid
or globular-ovoid, 4 to 6 cm.
long, light yellowish brown, and
remain closed for several years
before dropping the seed, after which they still persist for two or three years
more; the scales are rounded at the apex and thickened by a dark oblong knob,
terminated by a slender, incurved, usually deciduous prickle; seed about 3 mm.
long, nearly black, often ridged and usually roughened; wing thin and very deli-
cate, striped and shining, narrowly oblong, about 18 mm. long, 3 to 5 mm. wide;
cotyledons 4 to 6.
The wood is soft, brittle, coarse-grained, dark orange-colored, ver}^ resinous;
its specific gravity is about 0.79; it is sometimes used for masts and for construc-
tion timbers, and occasionally sawed into lumber. The tree is locally tapped for
turpentine.
It is also known as Loblolly pine. Marsh pine. Bull pine. Black pine, Bastard
pine, Meadow pine, and Spruce pine.
Fig. 24.- — Pond Pine.
24. SHORT-LEAVED PINE — Pinus echinata Miller
Pinus mitis Michaux
This tree grows in poor sandy or clayey soil from southern New York and
New Jersey to Florida, westward to Illinois, Kansas, and northeastern Texas.
It is most abundant and of greatest development in the southwestern part of its
range, where it reaches a maximum height of 40 meters, with a trunk diameter of
1.5 m.
Short-leaved Pine
33
The trunk is tall and somewhat tapering, the branches rather slender, slightly
pendulous, forming a rounded or conic top. The bark is often 2.5 cm. thick,
coarsely fissured into large irregular plates with close reddish scales. The twigs
are stout, very brittle, pale green to violet with a bluish bloom, becoming dark
purplish red, finally darker and scaly. The branch-buds are ovoid, gradually nar-
rowed to a blunt tip, the scales lanceolate, pointed, and dark brown. The leaves
are in sheathed clusters of 2, and often in 3's, dark bluish green, soft and flexible,
7 to 13 cm. long, about 1.5 mm. thick, minutely and closely toothed, sharp-pointed,
with many rows of stomata on all faces, containing 2 to 6 resin-ducts and i fibro-
vascular bundle; they are in crowded clusters and persist for two or three or even
five years. The pale grayish green, lanceolate, and
long-pointed primary leaves are abundantly pro-
duced on sprouts from stumps or injured portions
of the tree. The flowers appear in April or May,
the staminate in short crowded clusters, oblong-
cylindric, about 18 mm. long, with light purplish
anthers. The pistillate flowers are in pairs or
clusters of 3 or 4, lateral, but often near the ends
of the branches, erect and stoutly stalked, oblong
or globose, about 8 mm. long, their scales ovate,
sharp-tipped, pink or pale red. The cones, ripen-
ing in the autumn of the second season, are short-
stalked and pendulous, usually in clusters, conic
when closed, ovoid when open, 5 to 6.5 cm. long,
dull brown, opening soon after reaching maturity
and persisting for several years. The scales are
rather thin and concave, rounded at the apex, transversely ridged, slightly thickened
and provided with a small oblong knob, armed with a short, straight or shghtly
recurved early deciduous bristle, their unexposed surfaces reddish and shining on
the upper side, dark purple and dull beneath; seed oblong-triangular, little flat-
tened, about 5 mm. long, somewhat ridged, pale brown and somewhat roughened;
its wing is thin and fragile, light reddish and shining, about 2 cm. long, obHque
and tapering each way from the middle.
The wood is hard, strong, coarse-grained, dark yellow or Hght brown and
resinous; its specific gravity is about 0.61. It furnishes the most desirable of the
yellow pine lumber of commerce, being less resinous and more easily worked
than that of other species, and is used for general construction and carpentr\^ and
in cabinet work.
This tree also is tapped for turpentine, especially in North Carolina. It is
of great value as a reforester, spreading rapidly over neglected lands, soon trans-
forming them into valuable forests. It is occasionally seen in cultivation and is
known under many common names, most of which have also been appHed to other
species of pine, as Yellow pine. Spruce pine. Bull pine, Shortschat pine, Pitch pine,
Fig. 25. — Short-leaved Pine
34
The Pines
Poor pine, Shortleaf yellow pine, Virginia yellow pine, North Carolina pine, North
Carolina yellow pine, Carolina pine. Slash pine, and Old Field pine.
25. LOBLOLLY PINE — Pinus Tseda Linnjeus
This rather rapid growing tree occurs from southern New Jersey to Florida,
westward to Louisiana and Texas, also up the Mississippi valley to Indian Terri-
tory and Arkansas, reaching a maximum height of about 50 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 1.5 m.
The trunk is straight and tapering; the branches are stout, horizontally spread-
ing, on the upper ascending, usually forming a round-headed tree. The bark is up
to 2.5 cm. thick, shallowly fissured into irregular, broad, low ridges, covered with
large thin close scales of a reddish brown color. The twigs are slender, smooth,
yellowish brown, glaucous and roughened by the persistent bases of the bud-
scales. The branch-buds are sharp or taper-pointed, their scales bright brown,
darker tipped and fringed. The ]ea:te&- are in sheathed fascicles of 3, pale
green or shghtly bluish, slender, stiff, sometimes twisted, 1.5 to 2.5 dm. long, closely
small-toothed, sharply stiff-pointed, marked by several lines of large stomata on
each of the 3 faces and containing 3 to 5 resin-ducts and 2 fibrovascular bun-
dles; they persist for about five years. The flowers appear in March; the stami-
nate are cyhndric in crowded clusters, curved,
1.5 to 3 cm. long; their anthers are yellow. The
pistillate -flt)wers are lateral, soHtar}% in pairs
or clusters of 3, oblong, 8 to 12 mm. long, their
scales yellow, ovate-lanceolate with long slender,
sometimes incurved, tips. The cones are nearly
sessile, narrowly conic when closed, cylindric or
conic-cylindric when open, 10 to 13 cm. long,hght
reddish brown, opening slowly and discharging
the seed during the autumn and winter, but per-
sisting on the branches for another season; their
scales are rather thin, shghtly concave, irregu-
larly rounded, ridged and provided with a knob
which is surmounted by the stout, straight, or
somewhat curved spine, reddish or purphsh on
Loblolly Pine. ^^^ unexposed surfaces. The seed is rhomboidal
or nearly triangular, 5 to 7 mm. long, dark brown and roughened, its wing broad,
thin and fragile, pale brown and shining, broadest toward the apex, or just above
the seed, 2 cm. long; cotyledons 6 or 7.
The wood is soft, rather weak and brittle, coarse-grained with conspicuous
resin bands and light brown; its specific gravity is about 0.64. It is extensively
made into lumber, also selected for ship timbers and masts; it constitutes much of
the yellow pine lumber of our northern markets. The tree is sometimes tapped
Fig. 26.
Slash Pine
35
for turpentine, but although very resinous its sap does not flow freely, as it thick-
ens and becomes hard too rapidly.
This tree is known under many common names, as Old field pine, Torch pine,
Shortleaf pine, Rosemar\^ pine. Slash pine, Black slash pine, Longschat pine,
Longshucks pine, Frankincense short leaf pine, Bull pine, \'irginia pine. Sap
pine, jSIeadow pine, Cornstalk pine. Black pine. Foxtail pine, Indian pine. Spruce
pine. Bastard pine. Yellow pine. Swamp pine, and Long straw pine.
26. SL/VSH PINE — Pinus caribsea ^lorelet
Piniis hetero pliylld^ (Elliott) Sudworth. Pinus Elliott ii Engelmann. Pinus bahamensis
Grisebach
This tree occurs in the coastal region from North Carolina to Florida and
westward to Louisiana; also in the western and northern Bahamas, and in west-
ern Cuba, reaching a maximum height of 35 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m.
Fig. 27. — Slash Pine, southern Florida.
The trunk is straight and somewhat tapering, usually free of branches for
over half its height. The branches are long, horizontal, forming a round-topped
or irregular head. The bark is usually about 3.5 cm. thick, shallowly fissured
36
The Pines
into broad, flat, irregular plates covered with thin, reddish brown scales; the inner
layers of the bark are yellowish brown. The twigs are stout, smooth, dark
yellow at first, becoming much darker and roughened by the persistent bases of
the bud-scales. Branch-buds are cyhndric, gradually narrowed to the apex, about
4 cm. long, the lateral ones much smaller, the scales shining brown and fringed
with long white hairs. The leaves
are in sheathed clusters of 2 or 3, the
2-leaved clusters often occurring on
}'oung plants ; they are dark green and
shining, stout, 1 7 to 30 cm. long, closely
small-toothed, tipped with a short
thickened point, marked by many hnes
of stomata on all faces, and contain
4 to 6 resin passages and 2 fibrovas-
cular bundles ; they are crowded at the
ends of the twigs and per-
sist for about two years.
The flowers appear in
January and February be-
fore the new leaves ap-
pear.
the staminate ones
Fig. 28. — Slash Pine.
cylindric, 1.5 to 2.5 cm.
long, usually incurved,
with dark puiple anthers.
The pistillate flowers are
nearly terminal, short-
stalked, oval, 12 mm.
long, the scales broadly
ovate and pink, the bracts large. The cones are narrowly conic when closed, cylin-
dric or conic-cylindric when open, 9 to 14 cm. long, dark brown and shining, dis-
charging the seed in October and persist until the following summer; their scales
are thin, nearly flat, rounded at the apex, ridged and thickened into a low knob
which is surmounted by a small spine, the latter incun^ed on basal scales, recur\'cd
on scales toward the apex of the cone ; the unexposed portion of the scales is dark,
dull purple beneath, dull red above. The seed is almost triangular, rounded on
the sides, 5 to 7 mm. long, dark gray, mottled and roughened; the wing thin,
fragile, dark brown and striped, 2 to 2.5 cm. long, with a blunt apex; cotyledons
6 to 9.
The wood is ver\' hard, strong and tough, coarse-grained and very resinous,
dark orange-colored; its specific gravity is about 0.75. It is quite durable and
scarcely inferior to that of the Longleaf pine and is used indiscriminately as such.
This tree is also tapped for tu:])enlinc and is said to yield a softer resin con-
taining more spirits than the Longleaf pine. It is a rai)id grower; the seed ger-
Digger Pine
37
minating very readily into vigorous young plants which soon take entire posses-
sion of the ground even when other species of pine are present. It is also con-
sidered the handsomest of the southeastern pines.
It is also called Swamp pine, Bastard pine, Meadow pine, Pitch pine. She pitch
pine. She pine, and Spruce pine.
27. DIGGER PINE
Pinus Sabiniana Douglas
This tree, also called Gray pine. Bull pine, Grayleaf pine, and Sabine's pine,
occurs locally in the foothill region of western Cahfornia, reaching an altitude of
1200 meters. It never forms forests, but grows singly or in small groups, attain-
ing a maximum height of 24 meters and a trunk diameter of 1.2 m.
The trunk is short, usually divided at 5 or 6 meters above the ground into
several stout spreading branches, which are again divided into very crooked
limbs, pendulous below, ascend-
ing above, forming an open,
round-headed tree, unlike any
other pine. The bark is about
5 cm. thick, deeply and irregu-
larly fissured into rounded con-
fluent ridges, covered with small
close scales of a dark red-brown
to nearly black color. The twigs
are rather stout, smooth, glau-
cous bluish, becoming brown
and finally nearly black, and
roughened by the persistent
bases of the scales. The
branch-buds are oblong-ovoid,
sharply pointed, about 2 cm.
long, their shining brown scales
slightly fringed. The leaves are
in sheathed fascicles of 3, pale
bluish green, slender, not stifi", 2
to 3 dm. long, 1.5 mm. thick,
sharply and rather coarsely
toothed toward the sharp, slen-
der apex, entire toward the base, the stomata in several rows on each face; they
contain 2 or 3 resin-ducts in the pulp and 2 fibrovascular bundles; they are rather
pendent, very sparse, and persist for three or four years. The staminate flowers
are oblong, about 2 cm. long, their anthers yellow. The pistillate flowers are
erect, oblong-obovoid, about 12 mm. long, dark purple and glaucous, their scales
ovate and terminated by slender, incurved tips. Cones are oblong-ovoid, flat or
Fig. 29.- — Digger Pine.
38
The Pines
Fig. 30. — Coulter's Pine.
Coulter's Pine 39
rounded at the base, pointed at the apex, 1.5 to 2.5 dm. long, i to 1.5 dm. thick,
of a light reddish brown color, losing their seed gradually and persisting on the
branches for several years; their scales are woody, sHghtly concave, 2.5 cm. wide,
rounded, transversely ridged, and contracted into a prominent, fiattish knob, re-
flexed below the middle and erect above the middle of the cone and armed with a
thick, sharp stout spine which is upright or curved outward. The seed is oblong,
18 mm. long, rounded at the base and apex, slightly flattened toward the apex,
dark brown to almost black with resinous and oily endosperm; the wing encirchng
the seed is much thickened on its inner margin, its apex broad and obhque, about
one half as long as the seed; it soon breaks away from both seed and scale;
cotyledons about 15.
The wood is soft, weak and brittle, close-grained, very resinous, light brown or
reddish; its specific gravity is about 0.48. It is not durable and very Httle used.
The seeds were an important food for the Indians, who used them as they
did those of nut pines. A volatile oil known as abietene is obtained by distilla-
tion of t|ie resinous sap.
28. COULTER'S PINE — Pinus Coulteri Lambert
This pine grows over much the same area as the Digger pine, but at higher
altitudes, occurring at from 900 to 1800 meters. It forms small groves or occurs
singly, on the dry gravelly soils of the coast range, from Mt. Diablo, Cahfomia,
southward, reaching a maximum height of 21 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.2
m. It is also known as Pitch pine. Big cone pine. Large cone pine, and Nut pine.
The branches are stout and irregular, usually drooping below, short and
ascending toward the top, forming an open, irregular, often very picturesque head.
The bark is up to 5 cm. thick, deeply fissured into broad, rounded confluent ridges,
covered by close thin scales of a dark brown to nearly black color; that of the
large branches smoother. The twigs are ver)' stout, often 2.5 cm. thick, dark yellow
brown at first, gradually becoming darker and finally nearly black, and roughened
by the persistent bases of the bud-scales. Branch-buds ovoid, sharp, often ab-
ruptly pointed, sometimes 4 cm. long, scales dark-tipped, dry and fringed on the
margin. Leaves in sheathed clusters of 3, dark bluish green, 1.5 to 3.5 dm.
long, often 3 mm. thick, stout and stiff, small-toothed above the middle, usually
entire below, long callous-tipped, marked by many rows of stomata on the faces
and containing 4 to 10 various sized resin-ducts and 2 fibrovascular bundles.
They persist for three or four years. The staminate flowers are in crowded
clusters, cyhndric, 4.5 cm. long, 8 mm. thick, somewhat curved, their anthers
yellow. Pistillate flowers stalked, ascending, oblong-oval, about 18 mm. long;
their scales ovate, dark red-brown, glaucous and contracted into long incurved
tips. The young cones are spreading or pendent, oblong, 5 cm. long and light
yellow by the first autumn, maturing the following autumn when they have be-
come short-stalked, pendent, ovoid, 2,5 to 3.5 dm. long, i to 1.25 dm. thick, Ught
40
The Pines
yellowish brown, partially opening and slowly shedding the seed during the fall
and winter and often remaining on the branches for another season. The scales
are thick and wide, rounded at the apex, thickened into an elongated and trans-
versely flattened knob, terminated by a strong, flattened, strongly upcurved spine
1.2 to 4 cm. long; the scales are dull dark purple on the unexposed faces. The
seed is oval, compressed, 12 mm. long, dark brown and ridged, encircled by a
wing with thickened inner margin, broadest near the obHque apex, nearly twice
longer than the seed, brown, shining, and striped by dark lines and separating
from both seed and cone-scales; cotyledons about 12.
The wood is soft, weak, brittle, coarse-grained, light red, with wide conspic-
uous resin bands and very large resin-ducts; its specific gravity is about 0.41. It
is sometimes used as fuel.
It is successfully grown in western Europe and is admired for its general
beauty and large cones.
29. KNOB CONE PINE — Pinus attenuata Lemmon
(V
V^^'^t'^ V^"^
A tree of dry mountain sides at altitudes of from 300 to 1500 meters from
Oregon to southern CaHfornia, remarkable for its growth in poor dry soils and
attaining a maximum height of 30
meters, with a trunk diameter of 7.5
dm.; often, however, it is but 6 me-
ters tall with a trunk diameter of 3
dm. and often fruiting when less
than 2 meters high.
The trunk is often forked above
the middle into 2 trunk-hke
branches; the branches are relatively
slender, in regular distant whorls,
horizontal, curving upward at the
tips and forming a broad-based
compact cone, becoming a narrow
and round-headed tree when old.
The bark is up to 12 mm. thick,
somewhat shallowly fissured into
irregular, loose, dark, sometimes
purphsh plates, but smooth, close,
and pale brown, on younger stems.
The twigs are slender, dark yellow-
brown and smooth, becoming dark with age and roughened by the persistent bases
of the bud-scales. Branch-buds are oblong-ovoid, sharp-pointed, 12 to 16 mm.
long, with brown-fringed scales. Leaves in sheathed clusters of 3, pal« green or
bluish green, 7.5 to 13 cm. long, slender, remotely toothed and sharp callous-tipped.
Fig.
31-
Knob Cone Pine.
Monterey Pine 41
with several rows of stomata on all 3 faces, containing 2 to 5 small resin passages
and 2 fibro vascular bundles; they are thinly distributed over the twigs and per-
sist for at least two years. The staminate flowers are cylindric in spike-like clus-
ters, 18 mm. long, their anthers brownish orange colored. The pistillate flowers
are in clusters of 2 to 4, oblong, 12 mm. in diameter, their scales ovate, broad,
with slender upcurved tips. The cones are short-stalked, strongly reflexed, elon-
gated-conic, ver\' obHque at the base, 7"-5 to 13 cm. long, light brown, remaining
closed and persist for many years before opening, often becoming imbedded in the
bark and usually all shedding their seed at one time, at the death of the tree.
The cone-scales are narrow, flat, enlarged into prominent, transversely ridged
knobs, armed with upcurved spines ; those toward the apex and on the lower side
of the cone are thinner and only slightly thickened, transversely ridged with a
small dark-colored knob and a small recurved spine or none. Seeds oblong-
oval, compressed, rather sharp-pointed, 6 mm. long and black, their wing 3 cm.
long, obHciue, broadest at the middle, gradually tapering toward each end, light
brown, shining and longitudinally striped; cotyledons 6 to 8.
The wood is soft, weak and brittle, coarse-grained, and light brown with
inconspicuous resin bands, but large conspicuous resin passages; its specific gravity
is about 0.35. It is sparingly used for cabinet work and for fuel.
The region in which the trees grow is periodically fire-swept, the trees being
killed, and the seeds of a lifetime's production having retained their vitality during
their long imprisonment in the cones are liberated and produce a dense growth
of vigorous seedlings which soon reclothe the region with a new forest covering.
It is variously known as the Prickly cone pine, Snow line pine, Sandy slope
pine, Narrow cone pine, Tuberculated cone pine.
30. JNIONTEREY PINE — Pinus radiata D. Don
Pinus calijornica Loiseleur
A coastal tree occurring on sand dunes and exposed sea cliffs extending xqty
little away from the sea in the vicinity of Monterey bay and on some of the islands
adjacent to the southern CaHfomia coast. Its maximum height is 30 meters, with
a trunk diameter of 1.8 m.
The branches are thick and spreading, forming a somewhat irregular round-
topped tree. The bark is up to 5 cm. thick, deeply furrowed into broad flat ridges
and broken into close dark reddish brown plates. The twigs are slender, yellow,
often glaucous, roughened by the persistent bases of the bud-scales, gradually be-
coming dark reddish brown. The branch-buds are ovoid, sharp-pointed, some-
times 12 mm. long, the scales bright brown and fringed. The leaves are in brown-
sheathed fascicles of 3 or sometimes 2, bright green, slender, i to 1.5 dm. long,
I mm. thick, minutely toothed, short callous-pointed, stomata on all 3 faces, usually
containing but i resin-duct in the pulp and 2 fibrovascular bundles; they are
densely set on the twigs and persist for about three years. The staminate flowers
42
The Pines
are in dense spike-like clusters, oblong, 12 mm. long, their anthers yellow. The
pistillate flowers are in lateral clusters, short-stalked, their scales ovate, dark pur-
ple, narrowed into a slender, incurved tip, the bracts broad and conspicuous.
The cpjnes mature in the autumn of the second
year, when they are short-stalked, reflexed,
oval, 7.5 to 12.5 cm. long, pointed at the apex,
very oblique at the base, deep bright brown and
shining, usually remaining closed and persist-
ent for many years. The scales are thin,
nearly flat, apex much thickened and rounded,
sHghtly ridged and terminated by a dark 4-
sided knob, armed with a short thickened in-
curved or straight spine; they are deep purple
on their unexposed surface. The seed is oval,
compressed, 6 mm. long, black and roughened ;
the wing thin, Hght brown and striped length-
.>vise, broadest above the middle, obHque, and
gradually tapering both ways, 2 cm. long and
8 mm. wide; cotyledons 5 to 7.
The wood is soft, weak and brittle, close-
grained, hght brown with many distinct resi-
nous bands; its specific gravity is about 0.46.
It is sometimes sawed into lumber but finds its greatest utihty as fuel.
This tree is more extensively planted for ornament in the West than any other
pine, also successfully used in the southeastern States and Mexico, Austraha, and
Europe.
It is also called Spreading cone pine, Nearly smooth cone pine. Remarkable
cone pine. Small-coned Monterey pine, and Two-leaved Insular pine.
Fig. 32. — Monterey Pine.
31. SPRUCE PINE — Pinus glabra Walter
A tree of our southeastern States, confined to the coastal plain from South
Carohna to middle Florida and Louisiana, occurring in river swamps and hum-
mocks, usually rare and local except in northwestern Florida where it is quite
common and reaches a maximum height of 40 meters, with a trunk diameter of
1.2 m.
The branches are horizontal, their divisions usually at right angles. The bark
is about 1.5 cm. thick, shallowly fissured into irregular confluent ridges with close
light reddish scales, or often nearly smooth. The twigs are slender, smooth, some-
what zigzag, Hght reddish, or purphsh brown, soon becoming reddish brown, a
httle roughened by the bases of the bud-scales; branch-buds ovoid, 6 mm. long,
sharp-pointed, their scales brown and margined by whitish matted hairs. The
leaves are in short-sheathed fascicles of 2, dark green, slender, 4 to 8 cm. long,
Gray Pine
43
about 1.5 mm, thick, soft and flexible, slightly toothed, taper- pointed by a sharp
thickened tip, with 2 or 3 resin-diicts, one of which is frequently found in
the inner tissue, and 2 fibrovascular bundles; they are crowded, and persist for
two or three years. The staminate flowers are in crowded clusters, cyhndric, about
12 mm. long, 3 mm.
thick, their anthers
yellow. The pistil-
late flowers are lat-
eral, at some distance
away from the end
of the twig, slender-
stalked, subglobose,
6 mm. long, their
scales broad, ovate,
their bracts elhptic.
The cones, maturing
the secSrrd autumn,
are short-stalked, re-
flexed, single or in
clusters of 2 or 3,
conic when closed,
ovoid when open, 3.5
to 5 cm. long, red- Fig. 33. -Spruce Pine.
dish brown and somewhat shining, opening and shedding the seed soon after
ripening, and persist on the branches for two or three years; scales thin, shghtly
concave, rounded, only slightly thickened and scarcely ridged, the dull knob small
and terminated by a small usually deciduous prickle; they are dull purple on the
unexposed surfaces. The seed is nearly triangular, 4 mm. long, its sides rounded,
dark gray and slightly roughened and mottled; the wing is thin and delicate, 1.5
cm. long, 6 mm. wide, dark brown and shining, broadest about the middle; coty-
ledons 5 or 6.
The wood is soft, weak, and brittle, very close-grained, light brown with few
and small resin bands; its specific gravity is about 0.39. It is not durable and
but little used, being seldom cut for lumber but to some extent for fuel. The
tree is also known as Cedar pine, Poor pine and Walter's pine.
32. GRAY PINE — Pinus Banksiana Lambert
Pinus sylvestris divaricata Aiton. Pinus divaricata (Aiton) Gordon
A northern tree, ranging from Nova Scotia to the Northwest Territon' and
south to Maine, northern New York and the southern shores of the great lakes
to central Minnesota, reaching in its greatest perfection, west of Lake Winnipeg,
44
The Pines
a height of 30 meters, with a trunk diameter of i m.; usually, however, it is but
12 to 20 m. tall, and at its northern limit often a mere shrub.
The trunk is straight, the branches long, slender, spreading, forming a sym-
metrical open tree, or, when crowded, often free of branches for one third its
length. The bark is thin, fissured into irregular confluent rounded ridges with
thick close scales of a dark brown or reddish color. Twigs rather slender and
flexible, yellowish green and smooth, becoming dark purplish brown and roughened
by the dark, persistent bases of the bud-scales. The leaves are in sheathed fasci-
cles of 2, dark green, about 3 cm. long, 1.5 mm. thick, stout and stiff, somewhat
curved, convex on the back and nearly flat on the inner surface, minutely toothed
and abruptly narrowed into a stout tip, marked by many lines of deep sto-
mata and containing i or 2, sometimes more,
resin-ducts in the pulp, and 2 fibrovascular
bundles. They are rather loosely scattered along
the twigs and persist for two or three years.
The staminate flowers are in spike-Hke clusters,
oblong, about 10 mm. long; anthers yellow.
The pistillate flowers, usually in pairs or some-
times more in a cluster, are short-stalked, sub-
globose, their scales oval, narrowed into incurved
tips and dark purple. The cones are sessile,
upright, oblong-conic, much incurved, seldom
recun-ed, oblique at base, 3 to 5 cm. long, dark
yellow brown and shining, remain closed for
several years, and open very irregularly and per-
sist for ten to fifteen years. The scales are thin
and stiff, rounded, scarcely ridged, and termi-
nated by a dull, slightly raised knob provided with a raised point instead of a spine
or prickle; they are dull purple or red oi\ the unexposed portion. The seed is
obHquely triangular, flattened, with rounded sides, about 5 mm. long, roughish
and nearly black; the wing is pale and shining, about 10 mm. long and broadest
at the middle, oblique at the apex; cotyledons 4 or 5.
The wood is soft, weak, close-grained, usually pale brown or light yellow, with
wide and distinct resin bands; its specific gravity is about 0.48. It is used for
fuel at the North, but seldom sawed into lumber, and in the Northwest is also
used for railroad ties and fencing.
It is also known as Labrador pine. Jack pine, Scrub pine. Black pine, Black
Jack pine, Canada horn cone. Check pine. Sir Joseph Bank's pine, and erro-
neously as Juniper and Cypress.
There is considerable superstition about this tree having evil effects both on
the soil and on persons coming in contact with it ; the tree grows rapidly and is well
adapted to lawn and park planting.
Fig. 34. — Gray Pine.
Sand Pine
45
^;^. SAND PINE — Pinus clausa Chapman
A tree of both coasts of Florida and the coast of southern Alabama, usually
on sand dunes, and reaching a maximum height of 24 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 7.5 dm.
The trunk is often clothed to the ground with spreading slender branches,
forming a dense, sometimes fiat-topped tree. The bark is about 10 mm. thick,
deeply but narrowly fissured into irregular, oblong plates with close light reddish
brown scales; on small stems it is thin, smooth, and gray. The twigs are slender,
tough and pliable, smooth and yellowish green, becoming reddish brown and
finally gray, and roughened by remnants of
the bud-scales. The branch-buds are ob-
long-cyHndric, about 6 mm. long, with a
rounded apex, the pointed brown scales
shining and margined with pale green hairs.
The leaves are in sheathed fascicles of 2,
deep green, 4 to 9 cm. long, .75 mm. thick,
very slender and flexible, minutely toothed,
sharply short callous-tipped, marked with
ID to 20 rows of stomata and containing
2 resin-ducts, one of which is in the pulpy
part of the leaf, and 2 fibrovascular bun-
dles; they are rather crowded and persist
for three or four years. The staminate
flowers are in elongated, crowded clusters,
cylindric, 10 mm. long; their anthers are
yellowish brown. The pistillate flowers are
lateral, short-stalked, subglobose or oval,
their scales ovate and long-pointed. The
cones, maturing the second autumn, are
short-stalked, usually clustered around the twig, conic when closed, ovoid when
open, 4.5 to 6 cm. long, mostly oblique at the base and dark reddish brown,
sometimes opening at maturity, but usually remaining closed for three or four
years, becoming light gray ; some remain closed and persist, becoming encased by
the bark or wood growing around them. Their^scales are concave, prominently
ridged, and thickened into a central knob whiih is armed by a short, straight
or curved, usually deciduous spine; the seed is nearly triangular, 5 mm. long, flat-
tened, black and slightly roughened; the wing thin and fragile, red-brown and
shining, about 1.5 cm. long, widest near the middle.
The wood is soft, weak, and brittle, light bro^\Tl or yellow, with broad, resin
bands and conspicuous resin-ducts; its specific gravity is about 0.56. It is some-
times used in ship-building for masts.
Fig. 35. — Sand Pine.
46
The Pines
The tree, on account of its rapid growth, is very valuable in regions of shifting
sand, as a binder of the soil.
It is also known as Old field pine, Spruce pine, Scrub pine, and Florida spruce
pine.
34. JERSEY PINE — Pinus virginiana IMiller
Pinus inops Alton
This tree grows in poor rocky or sandy soil from southern New York to In-
diana, southward to Georgia and Alabama, is very abundant in Maryland and
Virginia, but reaches its largest size, 36 meters tall, with trunk diameter of i m.,
in southern Indiana. Its usual height is about 12 meters.
The trunk is short, its branches long, spreading or pendulous, in remote whorls
forming a broad rather flat-topped conic tree.
The bark is up to 12 mm. thick, shallowly
fissured into flat plates with thin close dark
brown scales on its surface. The slender
twigs are tough and pHable, smooth, purple,
with a bluish bloom, finally becoming grayish
brown, and roughened by the thickened
bases of the bud-scales; branch-buds ovoid,
8 to 12 mm. long, sharp-pointed, their scales
dark brown with dryish margins. The leaves
are in sheathed fascicles of 2, deep green and
shining, 4 to 7 cm. long, i mm. thick, rather
stout, soft, flexible and more or less twisted,
finely toothed, sharply thick-tipped, marked
by many rows of small stomata, usually
Fig. 36. — Jersey Pine. containing 2 resin-ducts and 2 fibro vascu-
lar bundles; they are very fragrant, rather
closely dispersed on the twigs and persist for three or four years. The staminate
flowers are crowded, oblong, about 10 mm. long, their anthers yellow-brown.
The pistillate flowers are lateral, near the middle of young shoots, are long-
stalked, subglobose, their scales ovate, slender-tipped, pale green with a reddish
tinge. The cones are sessile, or nearly so, spreading, narrowly conic when closed,
ovoid when open, 4 to 7 cm. long, dark red-brown, opening in the autumn of the
second season and slowly dropping their seed, often persisting for three or four
years. The scales are thin, nearly flat, slightly thickened, conspicuously ridged
and raised into a small dark knob, armed with a persistent, slender curved spine;
they are dull red on the unexposed surfaces. The seed is obHquely oblong, about
5 mm. long, with rounded sides, slightly ridged and rough, pale brown, the wing
1.5 cm. long, broadest at the middle, dark brown, striped and shining; cotyle-
dons 5.
The wood is soft, weak, and brittle, close-grained, light orange-colored with
Table Mountain Pine
47
many wide resinous bands; its specific gravity is about 0.53. It is quite durable
and is used to some extent as lumber, and for pumps and water tubes. It is
extensively used for fuel.
It is hardy to a considerable distance northward of its range, and although a
rapid grower is not admired as an ornamental, other species being prefered. It
is, however, very valuable as a reforester, soon forming a rapid-growing covering
for worn-out and neglected lands.
It is also called by many other names, as Scrub pine. Short pine, Short-leaved
pine. Cedar pine, River pine. Nigger pine, New Jersey pine, Shortschat pine,
and Shortshucks.
35. TABLE MOUNTAIN PINE — Pinus pungens Michaux
A tree of the mountains, on dry, gravelly, or rocky slopes from New Jersey
and Pennsylvania to North Carolina and northern Georgia; its maximum height
is 18 meters with a trunk diameter of i m., often much smaller and frequently
fruiting when only several meters high. It is also called Southern mountain pine
and Prickly pine.
The trunk is short and stout, the horizontal branches short, the lowest pendu-
lous at the tips, the upper ascending, usually
forming a broad open tree, often irregular;
when crowded the branches are few near the
top, and form an irregular narrow round head.
The bark is about 2 cm. thick, fissured into
irregular plates with a loose, dark reddish
brown scaly surface. The twigs are stout,
smooth, and light orange at first, becoming
darker, somewhat purpHsh and finally dark
brown, and roughened by the dark, persistent
bases of the bud-scales. The branch-buds are
narrowly elliptic, about 12 mm. long, taper-
ing to a blunt point, the lateral ones much
smaller. The leaves are in sheathed fascicles
of 2, hght bluish green, 4 to 10 cm. long, 1.5
mm. thick, stiff and somewh^ twisted, finely
toothed, sharp callous-pointed, marked by
many rows of stomata, and contain 2 to 5 resin-ducts of various sizes in the pulp
and 2 fibrovascular bundles; they are crowded at the ends of the twigs and per-
sist for two or three years. The staminate flowers are in long, loose spike-hke
clusters, oblong, i to 1.5 cm. long, their anthers yellow. The pistillate flowers are
lateral, somewhat clustered, stout-stalked, subglobose to ovoid, the scales ovate,
narrowed into stiff, long, slender tips, the bracts large, nearly round. The cones
are spreading, usually in clusters of 3, sometimes 5 or more, ovoid when closed,
Fig. 37. — Table Mountain Pine.
tOXl^ ^'
48
The Pines
globose-ovoid when open, 8 to 12 cm. long, oblique, light browTi and shining,
opening when ripe and gradually dropping the seed or remaining closed for several
years, usually persisting on the branches for from fifteen to twenty-five years.
The scales are thin and woody, their exposed portion much thickened, conspicu-
ously ridged, thick-knobbed and armed with a stout spine, which is upcurved
above and recun^ed below the middle of the cone; they are dark purpUsh or red-
dish on the unexposed surfaces. The seeds are nearly triangular, 6 to 7 mm.
long, rounded on the sides, Ught brown and roughened, their wing thin, fragile,
pale and shining, often streaked with red, about 2 cm. long, broadest below the
middle, obhque and gradually rounded at the apex.
The wood is soft, weak, and brittle, very coarse-grained, resin bands con-
spicuous and passages large; its specific gravity is about 0.44. It is extensively
used for fuel and also made into charcoal.
36. PRICKLE CONE PINE— Pinus muricata D. Don
A tree of coastal Cahfomia occurring in isolated stations from Mendocino
county southward into Lower Cahfomia, reaching its greatest development of
27 meters tall and a trunk diameter of 9 dm.
f»
fj.]4^ //'/^^ sciks,
Fig. 38. — Prickle-Cone Pine.
The branches are stout, horizontal, forming a regular conic tree when young;
older trees are dense and round-topped. The bark is up to 1.5 dm. thick, deeply
furrowed into long elongated, rounded ridges which are roughened by close, dark
The Larches 49
purplish or purplish brown scales. The twigs are stout, smooth, dark yellowish
green becoming yellow-brown and finally purpHsh brown, and roughened by the
persistent bases of the bud-scales. Branch-buds are ovoid, about 8 mm. long,
sharp- pointed, their scales pale reddish brown with a margin of pale matted hairs.
TheJe-Tves are in sheathed fascicles of 2, i to 1.5 dm. long, nearly 2 mm. thick,
stiff, minutely toothed, sharply thick-tipped and marked by many rows of sto-
mata; they contain 2 to 9 resin-ducts and 2 librovascular bundles. They are in
crowded tufts and persist for two or more years. The staminate flowers are in
long spike-Uke clusters intermingled with the large scales of the branch-buds, oval,
6 mm. long, their anthers dark orange-colored. The pistillate flowers are lateral,
in whorls, stout-stalked, about 8 mm. long, their scales ovate, narrowed into long,
slender, spreading tips, the bracts large and nearly orbicular. Cones are erect at
first, maturing the second autumn, when they are sessile and clustered in 3's or
5's, pendulous, ovoid-oblong, 5 to 8.5 cm. long, very obhque, light bright brown
and shining, often remaining closed for a number of years before opening and
dropping their seed, and usually persisting indefinitely; the scales are much
thickened and flattened on the exposed portions; the knob below the apex is flat-
tened and armed with a stout stiff flattened spine. The seed is somewhat triangu-
lar, 5 mm. long, roughened and nearly black, the wing about 2 cm. long, broadest
near the middle; cotyledons 4 or 5.
The wood is very hard and strong, rather coarse-grained, Hght brown with
little resin. Its specific gravity is about 0.49. It is sparingly sawed into lumber.
It is said to be a very desirable pine for planting in the Pacific States and is
known by many names, as: CaHfomia swamp pine, Prickly cone pine, Obispo
pine, Dwarf marine pine. Bishop's pine, and Anthony's pine.
II. THE LARCHES
GENUS LARIX ADANSON
HIS genus is composed of about eight species of conic trees, which,
hke most of the north temperate conifers, are reduced to mere shrubs
at high altitudes and latitudes. They are confined to the cooler por-
tions of the northern hemisphere, three species inhabiting North Amer-
ica, two occurring in Europe, and four or five in Asia.
Aside from their use as lumber, they produce no important economic products,
except that the oleoresin from the European larch, Larix Larix (L.) Karsten,
the type of the genus, is used medicinally under the name Venice turpentine.
The trunks are straight, rather slender, and covered by thick, rough, scaly or
furrowed bark. The branches are remote and slender, usually horizontal, some-
times ascending; the branchlets are slender, elongated, and usually pendulous;
they are roughened by short, scaly, bud-like branches. The buds are small,
nearly globose, covered by many broad shining brown scales, some of which
^o The Larches
persist for a time, leaving, when falling, a ring-like scar at the base of the newly
formed twig. The leaves are deciduous, usually turning yellow before dropping,
and are borne on short lateral branchlets, many crowded into sheathless fascicles,
narrow, hnear, triangular or rarely 4-sided, rounded above, keeled and stomata-
bearing beneath, and contain 2 resin-ducts close to the epidermis. The flowers
are monoecious, appearing with the leaves. The staminate inflorescence is borne
on short leafless lateral branchlets, globose to oblong, sessile or short-stalked, and
consists of many spirally arranged short-stalked 2-celled subglobose anthers,
opening crosswise or diagonally. The pistillate inflorescence is lateral, on leafy
branchlets of a previous season, its base surrounded by the inner scales of the bud,
subglobose and nearly sessile, composed of few or many spiral, nearly orbicular
thin scales, having two collateral, inverted ovules at the inner base. The bracts
are paper-hke, long-tipped, longer than the scales, and scarlet. The cones are
erect, rather small, subglobose to oblong-cylindric, short-stalked, composed of
persistent, thickish, suborbicular to oblong-ovate, concave, woody scales, which
are more or less irregularly toothed and often striate lengthwise, gradually becoming
smaller and sterile toward each end of the cone; the bracts are longer or shorter
than the scales, the lower usually persistent on the stalk of the cone. The two
seeds at the base of each fertile scale are nearly triangular, rounded on the sides,
crustaceous, light brown, somewhat shining; the endosperm is copious and fleshy,
the wing oblong, longer than the seed; cotyledons usually 6.
The name apphed to these trees by Adanson is the classical one for the old
world Larch. The North American species are:
Eastern tree; cones i to 2 cm. long, the scales exceeding the bracts. i. L. laricina.
Western trees; cones 2.5 to 5 cm. long, the scales shorter than the bracts.
Leaves 3-angled; twigs pubescent or at length smooth. 2. L. occidentalis.
Leaves 4-angled; twigs woolly. 3- L. Lyallii.
I. TAMARACK — Larix laricina (Du Roi) Koch
Piniis laricina Du Roi. Finns pendida Aiton. Larix americana Michaux
The American Larch, also called Hackmatack, Black larch, and Red larch,
occurs from Newfoundland and Labrador to Alaska, northward reduced to the
height of 2.5 meters or less, but retaining an arborescent form, and ranges south-
ward to southern New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota; it grows
mainly in swamps and on banks of lakes and streams, attaining a maximum height
of 35 meters with a trunk diameter of one meter.
Its branches are slender and horizontal, forming a slender conic tree. In
the open it eventually develops long, irregular upper branches, making a broad
irregularly rounded head. The bark is 1.5 to 2 cm. thick, peeUng off into thin,
closely adhering irregular scales of a red-brown color; the younger bark is thin-
ner, smoother, and bluish gray. The twigs are slender, smooth, frequently
covered with a bloom, becoming dark dull brown with age. The winter buds
Western Larch
51
are globose, dark red, and shining. The leaves are pale green, filiform, triangu-
lar, rounded above, keeled below, i to 2.5 cm. long, numerous in each cluster,
temiinating branchlets about 4 mm. long; they fall off in the autumn. The
staminate flowers are sessile, subglobose, and
light yellow; the pistillate flowers are borne on
the lateral branchlets of the previous year, are
short-stalked, oblong, and reddish. The cones,
which are borne on short, stout branchlets, are
ovoid, blunt, 12 to 20 mm. long, hght brown,
shedding their seed during the autumn and
early winter, and fall off the next spring and
summer; the scales are nearly orbicular, sHghtly
longer than wide, concave, sHghtly irregularly
toothed or entire ; those near the middle of the
cone are the largest, those towards each end
smaller; the bracts are about half the length
of the scales and abruptly tipped; the brown
seed is about 3 mm. long, one third the length
of its wing.
The wood is hard, strong, compact but
coarse-grained, Ught brown, and durable; its specific gravity is about 0.62. It is
largely used in ship-building; also for telegraph poles and railroad ties. The bark
and the resinous exudation therefrom are reputed to be of some medicinal value.
As an ornamental tree it is the most desirable of the Larches for planting in
the northern States, growing very rapidly and retaining its symmetry of form
longer than any other.
The Alaska larch, Larix alaskensis W. F. Wight, ver}^ recently described,
is said to differ from the Tamarack by shorter leaves, relatively longer cone-
scales, and bracts not abruptly tipped.
Fig. 39. — Tamarack.
2. WESTERN LARCH — Larix occidentalis Nuttall
This, the largesi known species of its genus, is also called Red American larch.
Great Western larch, and Western tamarack. It occurs only in the valleys of the
Columbia River and its tributaries, where it is scattered through the great mixed
forests for which this region is famous, growing on mountain sides up to 2100
meters, but reaches its greatest development of 75 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 2 meters in the river or creek valleys in northern Montana and Idaho.
The branches are elongated, mainly horizontal, and rather distant, forming an
open cone. The lower branches die and fall off before the tree attains a great age,
exposing a ver}^ high, straight-tapering trunk, naked for three fourths or more of
its height, with a short narrow head on which there are so few of the short nar-
row leaves that it seems remarkable how the tree thrives with so small an amount
52
The Larches
of leaf-surface. The branchlets are relatively short. The bark is very thick on
old trees, often 12 to 15 cm., fissured into large irregular elongated scaly plates
of a dark red-brown color; on young trees it is relatively thinner and scaly. The
twigs are stout, with soft pale hairs, orange to brown, becoming smooth and
darker brown. The winter buds are globose, 3 to 4 mm. thick, and covered with
hairy brown scales. The slender leaves are 3 to 4 cm. long, about 0.5 mm. thick,
triangular, convex on the back, keeled below, and stiffly sharp-pointed, rather
pale green, turning yellow before falHng in the autumn. The staminate flowers
are oblong, short-stalked, and pale yellow. The pistillate flowers are oblong, sessile
or nearly so, less than i cm. long. The short-stalked cones are 3 to 4 cm. long,
about 2 cm. thick, oblong-ovoid, reddish brown, composed of thin, loose, widely
spreading scales placed nearly at right angles to the axis when mature; they are
entire or slightly irregularly toothed on the sometimes slightly reflexed margins,
hairy on the lower haK of the under side, almost orbicular, 2 cm. in diameter,
Fig. 40. — Western Larch.
and half the length of the bracts; these are oblong, abruptly contracted into the
tip, which is about 2.5 cm. long, projecting far beyond the scales. The seed is
pale brown, 5 mm. long, scarcely half the length of its pale, thin wing.
The wood is very hard, strong, close-grained, durable, bright dark orange to
brown; its specific gravity is about 0.74, the third heaviest wood of our coniferous
trees; it takes a fine polish and is largely used in the manufactuA' of furniture,
also extensively for railroad ties and fence posts. A sweetish substance resemb-
ling dextrine is exuded when this tree is wounded, and used by the Indians as food.
This, by far the grandest of the Larches, seems not to have been cultivated in
Europe.^ It is said not to thrive in the eastern United States unless grafted upon
the roots of some other member of the genus.
Woolly Larch
53
3. WOOLLY LARCH— Larix Lyallii Parlatore
This tree, also called Lyall'? larch, Mountain larch, Larch, and Tamarack, is
an alpine species, growing only near the timber-Hne of mountains between the
altitudes of 1350 and 2400 meters, being known from Montana, Oregon and Wash-
ington to Alberta and southern British Columbia; its maximum height is 25 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 1.2 meters.
Fig. 41. — Woolly Larch.
The branches are usually very irregularly divided, in rather remote whorls,
elongated, pendulous or the upper ascending, forming a very irregular head.
The bark on old trees is 1.5 to 2 cm. thick, shallowly fissured into irregular plates
composed of loose dark red scales; on younger trees it is thin, smooth, somewhat
shining, and yellowish gray. The stout twigs are thickly coated with browTi hairs,
becoming smooth and nearly black after several years and armed with stout blunt
branchlets 1.5 to 2 cm. long. The winter buds are characterized by the white
matted hairy margins of their scales. The four-sided leaves are slender, needle-
like, rather sharp-pointed, 2.5 to 4 cm. long, and light green. The staminate
flowers are oblong, short-stalked, and pale yellow. The pistillate flowers are
ovoid-oblong to ovoid, yellowish green tinged with purple. The cones are short- j
stalked, oblong, 3.5 to 4.5 cm. long, 2 cm. thick, somewhat pointed at the apex,'
and fall off during the first winter; their numerous scales are thin, oblong to
obovate, reddish or sometimes green, their margins toothed, and more or less
fringed with hairs; when mature the scales spread widely from the stout hairy
axis; the bracts are large and much exserted beyond the scales, long, slender-
tipped and purpHsh. The seed, which is shed during the first autumn, is ob-
liquely oblong, 3 mm. long, half the length of its shining Hght reddish wing.
The wood is hard, coarse-grained, and red-brown; its specific gravity is about
0.70. It is not as yet an article of commerce.
54 The Spruces
III. THE SPRUCES
GENUS PICEA LINK
OXTAINING about i8 or 20 species of tall conic trees, the genus
Picea is confined to the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere; in
America they range northward in the mountains from the CaroHnas
and New Mexico to Canada, where they extend across the continent
and north to the Arctic Ocean. They are usually trees of considerable stature,
except where reduced by altitude or latitude.
The trunks are straight, gradually tapering to the top, often quite thick and
enlarged at the base, and have scaly, seldom deeply channeled bark. The
branches are in whorls at regular inters^als, slender, horizontal, or sometimes
drooping; the branchlets are pendulous. The winter buds are covered by many
scales, the outer ones being the thickest, and persist for a time as a ring around the
base of the newly formed twig, leaving, when falling, a ring-hke scar. The leaves
are linear, 4- sided, and bear stomata on all sides; or they are sometimes flattish
and have stomata on the upper side only ; they are spirally arranged on the branch-
lets, pointing in all directions, seldom appearing 2-ranked, sometimes incurved,
usually pointed, and contain i or 2 resin-ducts close to the lower epidermis
and are jointed to narrow cyhndric persistent woody stalks called sterigmata,
from which they fall in the course of seven to ten years or upon drying. The
flowers are monoecious, appearing early in the spring from buds of the previous
year. The staminate inflorescence is axillary, surrounded by enlarged bud-scales,
stout, stalked, and erect, sometimes nodding on long stalks, yellow or scarlet; the
numerous spirally disposed anthers open lengthwise. The pistillate inflorescence
is terminal, oblong to cylindric, erect on short stalks, and pale yellow to scarlet.
The cones are ovoid to oblong, pendulous, stalkless or short-stalked, maturing the
first season, falling ofT during the following winter or remaining for many years;
their persistent scales are obovate, or rhomboidal, entire or variously toothed,
much longer than the bracts, gradually diminishing in size, and sterile toward
each end of the cone. The two seeds at the base of eacl^Jertile scale are
obliquely ovoid or oblong, usually pointed at the Vjase, crustaceous, and of
various shades of brown, the wing large; cotyledons 4 to 15.
The spruces are among the most valuable timber-producing trees of the northern
hemisphere. The resinous exudations of some of the species are used as are the
"turpentines" from allied genera. They are abundantly represented by fossil
leaves in the Miocene epoch of Europe. Picea is the old classic name of the Spruce,
the type species being the Norway spruce, Picea Abies (L.) Karsten, of Europe.
Leaves 4-sided.
: Eastern and northern trees; cone-scales ver}' obtuse.
Twigs and sterigmata smooth, often glaucous; cones oblong-cylindric. i. P. canadensis.
Twigs hair)'; cones ovoid to oval.
White Spruce
55
Leaves not glaucous; cones early falling.
Leaves glaucous; cones long persisting.
■ Western trees.
Cone-scales ven,' blunt; cones 2 to 4.5 cm. long; twigs smooth.
Cone-scales rhomboid, more or less acute; cones 5 to 10 cm. long.
Twigs hairy; leaves not stiflf.
Twigs smooth; leaves stiff.
Leaves flattened.
Twigs hairy; leaves blunt-pointed.
Twigs smooth; leaves sharp-pointed.
2.
P.
ruhens.
3-
P.
Mariana.'--'
4-
P.
albertiana.
5-
P.
Engelmannii.
6.
P.
pungens.
7-
P.
Breu'eriana.
8.
P.
sitchensisi
u.
I. WHITE SPRUCE — Picea canadensis (Miller) B. S. P.
Abies canadensis Miller. Picea alba (Aiton) Link
Also called Single spruce, Skunk spruce, Cat spruce, Double spruce, and
locally known as Spruce and Pine, this extends across the entire northern portion
of the continent, if the western tree is, as sup-
posed to be, identical with the eastern, from New-
foundland and Labrador to Alaska; eastwardly
its southern limits are in South Dakota, penin-
sular jMichigan to northern New York, reaching
the Atlantic coast in southern Maine. It attains
its greatest development in northern British
America, a maximum height of about 35 meters
with a trunk diameter of i meter. In its
eastern range, however, it seldom reaches half
these dimensions. It prefers moist hillsides or
the borders of rivers or swamps.
The branches are long, stout, and upwardly
curved, their branchlets stout, stiff, and pendu-
lous. The bark is 6 to 12 mm. thick and
broken into irregular scaly plates which sepa-
rate easily and are light brownish gray. The twigs are nearly smooth, grayi.sh
green becoming orange-brown and finally dark grayish brown. The winter buds
are broadly ovoid and blunt, from 3 to 6 mm. long, their scales hght brown and
fringed. The leaves, which sometimes have a pronounced polecat odor, are
4-sided, i to 2 cm. long, sharply stiff-pointed, light bluish green or grayish at
first, becoming pale blue or blue green with age and marked by several rows of
stomata on each surface ; they are crowded toward the upper side of the twigs by a
twist of the under ones, incurved and point toward the end of the twig, those of the
fertile branchlets being about half the length of the others. The staminalc flowers
are oblong-cyHndric, 1.5 to 2 cm. long, reddish, becoming yellow, and borne on
long slender stalks. The pistillate flowers are of similar shape, a httle longer,
pale reddish or yellowish green and sessile. The cones are nearl)' sessile, oblong-
FlG. 42. — White Spruce.
56
The Spruces
cylindric, 5 to 7 cm, long, i to 2 cm. thick, narrowed toward each end, bluntly
pointed, pale green to crimson, becoming pale brown or dark brown and shining;
they fall off soon after shedding their seed in the autumn or early winter; their
scales are almost orbicular or shghtly longer than broad, thin and flexible, notched,
blunt, rounded or bluntly pointed at the apex, the margins usually entire; the
seed is about 3 mm. long, pale brown, its wing obliquely rounded.
The wood is soft, weak, straight-grained, hght yellow and satiny; its specific
gravity is about 0.40. It is the principal soft wood timber of eastern Canada and
is used extensively in general carpentering and in the manufacture of paper pulp.
The northwestern Indians are supposed to use the roots in their basketry. The
resinous exudation furnishes some of the spruce gum of commerce.
As an ornamental tree it has few superiors among our native evergreens for
cold northern sections, but in the United States, except north of central New
England, it does not thrive well in cultivation.
2. RED SPRUCE — Picea rubens Sargent
Abies rubra Poiret. Pinus rubra Lambert. Picea rubra (Poiret) Dietrich
Variously called Black spruce. Double spruce, Blue spruce, Spruce, He balsam
and Spruce pine, some of which perhaps arc more appropriate to the Swamp
spruce, this occurs from Prince Edward
Island to northern New York, south-
ward to Cape Cod, continuing further
south in the highlands and mountains
to North CaroUna, but it is not known
to occur west of the Alleghany Moun-
tains. Its maximum height of 35 me-
ters with a trunk diameter of one meter
is attained in the highlands of New York
and New England.
The branches are slender and spread-
ing, forming a conic tree with branches
to the ground, when in the open; in the
thick woods, however, it is usually devoid
of branches for much of its length and
at higher altitudes it is frequently re-
duced to a straggling shrub. The bark
is 7 to 15 mm. thick, much fissured and
broken into irregular, close scales of a
red-brown color. The stout twigs and persistent leaf-stalks are covered with pale
hairs, hght yellow, becoming dark brown with darker hairs, and finally nearly
black. The winter buds are o^^oid, sharp-pointed, their scales close, light red-
brown and sharply pointed. The 4-sided linear leaves are about 16 mm. long,
Fig. 43. — Red Spruce.
Swamp Spruce
57
scarcely i mm. wide, rounded, sharp or thickly taper-pointed, incurved, somewhat
crowded and pointing outward in all directions from the twig, very shining, dark
green, the upper sides bearing several rows of stomata on each side of the rounded
midrib; the lower sides marked with fewer stomata. The staminate flowers are
oval, nearly sessile, 13 mm, long and reddish. The pistillate flowers are oblong-
cylindric, about 12 mm. long. The ovoid to oblong cones are 3 to 5 cm, long,
narrowed toward the base and apex, short-stalked, purplish green, red-brown when
mature, and usually fall off during the first winter or early summer. The scales
are broadly obovate, rounded and entire or nearly so on the thin flexible margin,
red-brown and shining. The dark brown seeds are 3 mm. long with a broad
wing 6 to 8 mm. long.
The wood is soft, weak, close-grained, not durable, pale reddish yellow, and its
specific gravity is about 0.45. It is used largely in general carpentrj^, in the
manufacture of paper pulp, and for musical instruments. Its resinous exudation
suppHes much of the "spruce gum," and an infusion of the young twigs and
leaves forms the basis of the old-time spruce beer.
Owing to the confusion of this and the closely related and less desirable Swamp
spruce, Picea Mariana, this tree has not been brought into cultivation as exten-
sively as it deserves to be, as it is one of the most desirable of the Spruces for
ornament in North America and Europe, its chief drawback being its slow growth.
3. SWAMP SPRUCE— Picea Mariana (Miller) B. S. P.
Ahies Mariana Miller. Picea brevijolia Peck. Picea nigra (Aiton) Link
This spruce, which is also called the Black spruce and frequently receives the
many other names applied to our Red spruce by
those who do not differentiate the two species, is
an inhabitant of Sphagnum bogs or their borders,
except in the north, where it also occurs on moun-
tain tops and slopes, often reduced to a shrub,
and in valleys. It is known from Labrador across
the continent to Alaska south to New York, and
in the mountains into Pennsylvania, and to Wis-
consin and Saskatchewan, attaining in its greatest
development a height of 30 meters with a trunk
diameter of 9 dm.
The branches are relatively short and slender,
usually pendulous, the ends often turning upward,
forming an open irregular conic tree, with branches
close tQ the ground when growing in the open.
The bark is 6 to 13 mm. thick, fissured into irregu-
lar, thin, close brownish scales. The twigs are slender, covered with bro\A'n hairs,
light bro'SMi becoming smooth and darker with age. The winter buds are ovoid,
Fig. 44. — Swanip Spruce.
58
The Spruces
sharply pointed, about 3 mm. long, their closely fitting light red-brown scales mi-
nutely hair\'. The 4-sided leaves are from 0.5 to 1.5 cm. long, somewhat nar-
rowed toward the blunt tip, slightly incurved, standing outward in all directions
from the branches; they are Hght bluish or glaucous green, Hghter on the upper
surface with many stomata, shining beneath. The staminate flowers are oblong or
cylindric and reddish. The cones are ovoid, 2 to 3 cm. long, pointed at the end,
rounded or narrowed at the base into a short, bent stalk, w^hich is covered with
persistent bracts; they are dull purpUsh brown when mature and often become
nearly globular when the scales expand, remaining on the tree for many years ;
their scales are nearly orbicular, stiff, rounded, irregularly notched or entire; the
seed is oblong, about 3 mm. long, dark brown, its wing pale brown and shining.
The wood is soft, weak, coarse-grained, yellowish white with a specific gravity
of about 0.52. It is seldom sawed into lumber except in the region of its greatest
development, Manitoba, where it is utiHzed as the Red spruce is eastward. In
cultivation it has proven a failure on account of losing its lower branches and
otherwise becoming unsightly. Forms of this tree with large cones sometimes
very closely resemble the preceding species.
SOUTHERN SPRUCE — Picea australis Small
Picea alba Chapman, not Link
This occurs on summits and rocky slopes of mountains in Virginia and North Carolina. To
determine whether it is really a distinct species requires further investigation, as it is imperfectly
known. It differs from the Red spruce in its more slender, less hairy twigs with smoother ster-
igmata, more slender, acute light green leaves and much smaller cones, which are said to fall
off directly after shedding their seed. From the Swamp spruce it differs in its habitat, its bright
green foliage and brighter, early deciduous cones.
This spruce attains a maximum height of 40 meters and a trunk diameter of 1.5 meters.
Its bark is comparatively smooth. The leaves are slender, usually straight, 8 to 14 mm. long,
less than i mm. thick and sharp-pointed. The oval or ovoid cones are bright green when young,
2.5 cm. long, red-brown at maturity.
4. WESTERN WHITE SPRUCE -Picea albertiana Stewardsoii Brown
This recently described species
ranges from Wyoming and ]Mon-
tana north and westward into
British Columbia, sometimes at-
taining a height of about 25 me-
ters with a trunk diameter of i
m., though often smaller.
The branches are short and
stout. The twigs are rather slen-
der, smooth, and light yellow,
becoming darker with age. The
Fig. 45. — Western White Spruce. leaves are slender, sharp -pointed,
Engelmann's Spruce
59
bluish green, and marked with numerous stomata on all surfaces; they are
crowded on the upper sides of the twigs and become darker in age. The stami-
nate flowers are oblong-cyhndric, about 12 mm. long, short-stalked and yellowish.
The pistillate flowers are similar in outline, but larger, and nearly sessile. The
cones, which are early deciduous, are ovoid, 2 to 4.5 cm. long and brown, their
scales obovate, rounded and entire or shghtly wrinkled on the margins; bracts 2
mm. long or less, with angled, acute erose tips; seeds about 3 mm. long, the wing
obovate, hght brown, shining.
This species has been confused with Picea canadensis, which has smaller
sterigmata and longer and narrower cones.
5. ENGELMANN'S SPRUCE — Picea Engelmanni (Parry) Engelmann
Abies Engelmanni Parry. Picea Columbiana Lemmon
Engelmann's spruce ranges from British Columbia to Oregon, east to Alberta,
and south through the Rocky Mountains to northern New Mexico and Arizona,
sometimes forming great forests and attaining a maximum height of about 45
meters with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m.
The branches are slender and spreading in close whorls, forming a compact
narrow cone; on old forest trees
the branches disappear for a con-
siderable height, leaving a short
narrow dense conic head. The
bark is up to 15 mm. thick and
deeply furrowed, red-brown to
purplish brown. The twigs are
rather stout, somewhat hairy,
greenish yellow, gradually becom-
ing dark yellow-brown. The win-
ter buds are conic, rather blunt,
W covered by pale brown thin-edged
^ scales. The leaves, which emit a
polecat-like odor when bruised,
are 2 to 2.5 cm. long, slender,
soft, and flexible, sharply thick-
tipped, marked with several rows
of stomata on each face, pale
bluish green when young, darker
when old. They are nearly ^ ^
Fig. 40. — Engelmann s Spruce.
Straight and spread m all direc-
tions, those on fertile twigs often shorter, stouter, and incurved. The staminate
flowers are oblong- cylindric, 15 mm. long, short-stalked and purplish; the pistil-
late flowers are nearly the same shape and size as the staminate, sessile or nearly
6o
The Spruces
so, light red. The cones, which are abundantly produced, are elliptical, ^ to 7 cm.
long, light green with a reddish tinge when young, light brown and shining when
ripe, falHng off soon after the seeds have dropped out; their scales are subrhomboid,
thin and firm, somewhat concave, usually broadest near the middle and irregularly
toothed at the apex; the bracts are truncate or pointed, 4 to 6 mm. long. Seed
blunt and thickened at the base, about 3 mm. long, its wing wedge-shaped, twice
as long as the seed, obhque and light brown.
The wood is soft, rather weak, close-grained, pale yellowish brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.34. It takes a fine polish and is used in general carpentry, for
fuel, and charcoal. The bark is rich in tannin and is used to some extent in tan-
ning leather.
As an ornamental, this tree is very desirable and stands the cHmate of the
northeastern States very well, but is a very slow grower.
It is also called White spruce, Mountain spruce, Arizona spruce. Balsam, and
White pine.
6. BLUE SPRUCE — Picea pungens Engelmann
Picea Parryana (Andre) Sargent. Abies Menziesii Parryana Andre
Also called Colorado blue spruce. Parry's spruce, Prickly spruce. White spruce.
Silver spruce, and locally Spruce or Balsam, this occurs in New Mexico, Colorado,
eastern Utah and Wyoming,
at elevations of from 1800 to
3000 meters; it attains a
maximum height of 45 me-
ters with a trunk diameter of
9 dm.
The branches are stout,
stiff, horizontal, rather far
apart and in whorls, gradu-
ally shorter toward the top,
forming a loose, symmetri-
cal cone-shaped tree. The
branchlets are stiff, some-
what erect with age, the trees
often becoming irregular in
outline by the elongation of
some of the upper branches
and the dying off of the lower ones. The trunk also is frequently forked into two
or more secondary stems. The bark is 2 to 4 cm. thick, deeply fissured into
broad, rounded ridges composed of close scales of a gray or brown- red color; the
younger bark is Hghter in color Tnd not fissured. The stout, stiff twigs are smooth,
green, and covered with a slighi 'loom, becoming orange-brown and -finally gray
Fig. 47. — Blue Spruce.
Weeping Spruce 6i
or brown with age. The stout winter buds arc mostly blunt-pointed, 8 to 15 mm.
long, covered with thin brown scales. The leaves are stout, stiff, 4-sided, 1.5 to 3
cm. long, sharply thick-pointed, bluish green or bluish white, changing to dark,
blue green with age ; they are provided with several rows of stomata on every side,
those on the upper sides being the most conspicuous; the leaves point forward
and outward from all sides of the twigs and are strongly incurved, those of the
fertile branchlets being much the shortest. The staminate flowers are oblong-
ovoid and reddish yellow; the pistillate flowers nearly cylindric and light green.
The cones are oblong-cyhndric, somewhat narrowed toward each end, 5 to 10
cm. long, 2.5 to 4 cm. thick, reddish green, becoming red-brown and shining,
usually persisting until the second winter. The scales are flattish, rhombic, blunt,
and irregular at the narrowed apex. The seeds are 3 mm. long, scarcely half the
length of their rounded, wedge-shaped wing.
The wood of the Blue spruce is soft, weak, close-grained, hght brown to nearly
white and satiny; its specific gravity is about 0.37. Its use is purely local.
This most variable yet beautiful spruce is admired for its abundance of bluish
leaves and its rapid growth. It thrives well in cultivation over a greater part of
the central and eastern United States, also in Europe; unfortunately it loses
much of its beauty and grows slowly and unsatisfactorily after reaching a height
of 12 meters or more.
7. WEEPING SPRUCE — Picea Breweriana Watson
This beautiful tree is also called Brewer's spruce. It is very rare and local,
being known only from the mountains on either side of the Cahfomia-Oregon
State Hne, having for its center the Siskiyou mountains, on the dr}dsh sides of
which it occurs at an altitude of 1200 to 2250 meters, attaining a maximum height
of 36 meters, with a trunk diameter of 9 dm. exclusive of the usually swollen base.
The branches are crowded, horizontal, or pendulous below, somewhat ascending
and shorter near the top; the lateral branchlets are very slender and pendulous,
and, as it seldom grows in crowded positions, is clothed to the ground. The
bark is 1.5 to 2 cm. thick, fissured into long, thin, closely scaly plates of a reddish
brown color. The twigs are finely hairy, reddish brown, becoming smooth and
dark grayish brown with age. The winter buds are conic, 6 to 7 mm. long,
and half as thick, their scales thin and hght brown. The leaves are hnear, flat-
tish, 2 to 3 cm. long, about 1.5 mm. wide, narrowed and blunt at the end, straight
or nearly so; the upper surface is marked by a prominent midrib and several rows
of stomata, the lower surface is slightly ridged, dark green and shining. The
staminate flowers are oblong, about 2 cm. long, and reddish pur])le. The pistil-
late flowers are oblong-cyhndric, 2.5 cm. long and over one third as thick. The
oblong cones are 6 to 12 cm. long, 2 to 3 cm. thick, narrowed toward both
ends, rather sharply pointed, obhquely rounded at the base, at first purple,
orange-brown and dull when ripe, opening late in the autumn and persist until
62
The Spruces
Fig. 48. — Weeping Spruce.
from its forest home to gardens close by, it has refused to thrive.
the second winter when the scales
are strongly reflexed. The bracts
are small and inconspicuous.
The dark brown seed is rounded
at the base, 3 mm, long, one
fourth the length of the broad
rounded wing.
The wood is soft, close-
grained, and compact, light
brown and shining and the
heaviest of the spruces, its spe-
cific gravity being about 0.51;
its rarity and inaccessibihty have
prevented any economical appli-
cation.
The rarest and probably
most beautiful of the American
spruces, with its long, gracefully
weeping branches, has so far re-
sisted all known attempts toward
its cultivation, and, except for
small specimens transplanted
8. TIDELAND SPRUCE — Picea sitchensis (Bongard) Carriere
Pinus sitchensis Bongard
This, the tallest of our spruces, is also called Sitka spruce, Menzies' spruce.
Western spruce, and Great tideland spruce. It occurs in swampy or moist land
from Kadiak Island, Alaska, southward to Mendocino county, California, and is
essentially a seaboard tree, but ascends the coastal mountains to an altitude of
1000 meters where it is greatly reduced in stature; in the north it is a low shrub.
Its maximum height of 90 meters with a trunk diameter of 4.5 meters is attained
in the great forests of the rich river valleys of Oregon and Washington.
Its trunk is much enlarged and buttressed at the base. The branches of un-
crowded old trees are nearly horizontal, and often very long; on young trees they
are more upright and closely set, forming an open cone with a narrow top. In
the denser forests the trunks are bare for over half their length. The bark is i
to 2 cm. thick and broken into large, thin, irregular, rounded loose scales of a
dark reddish color; on young trees the bark is usually brighter red. The stout,
stiff twigs are smooth, hght green, becoming yellowish and finally dark brown with
age. The winter buds are conic or ovoid, about i cm. long, sharp-pointed, their
ovate scales brown and shining. The leaves, which radiate outwardly in all direc-
The Hemlocks
63
tions from the stem, are stiff, straight, or but Httlc incurved, hnear, 1.5 to 2 cm.
long, I to 1.5 mm. wide, flat, with an abruptly thick tip; their upper surface is
whitish with several rows of stomata on each side of the shght ridge, the under
side is somewhat rounded or keeled, green and shining. On vigorous, sterile
branchlets the leaves are larger
and much whiter. The stami-
nate flowers, which are ver}-
abundant at the end of the
smaller branchlets, are oblong-
cylindric, 2.5 cm. long, darkish
red and subtended by an ample
involucre of enlarged bud-
scales. The pistillate flowers,
produced at the ends of the
stiff, terminal branchlets, are
oblong, obtuse, 2.5 cm. long.
The cones are pendent, oblong-
cylindric, 5.5 to 10 cm. long, 2.5
to 4 cm. thick, at first yellowish,
at maturity yellow to red-brown,
shining ; they fall off during the
first winter; their oblong scales
are thin, stiff, rounded, and
slightly toothed. The bracts,
which are half the length of the
Fig. 49. — Tideland Spruce.
scales, are stiff, lanceolate, and slightly toothed. The seeds are pale red-brown,
about 2 mm. long, their oblong wing being about 12 mm. in length.
The wood is soft, straight-grained, light reddish brown; its specific gravity is
about 0.42. It is the principal lumber of Alaska and is extensively used in Wash-
ington for general carpentering, boat building, and paper pulp.
This is one of the handsomest of spruces and thrives well in Europe, but in the
eastern United States it is unable to withstand the extreme and frequent changes
of the weather.
IV. THE HEMLOCKS
GENUS TSUGA [ENDLICHER] CARRIERE
^lOHT species of Hemlocks are known, tall, straight trees, which occur,
like the alhed genera, onlv in the cooler portions of tlie northern hem-
isphere, but are absent in Europe. North America has four, and
Asia the same number. The type is the Japanese 7\suga.
Their leaves are linear, flat (or angular in one species), blunt-pointed or notched,
narrowed abruptly at the base, entire or minutely spiny-toothed, appearing two-
64
The Hemlocks
ranked, except in one species, stomatiferous on the under side only, except in one
species, and contain a single resin-duct near the epidermis of the under side; they
are articulated to short, persistent woody stalks, from which they separate on
dr}-ing, but in li^ persist for several years. The flowers, which are monoecious,
appear in early spring from buds formed the previous season. The staminate
are axillary, subglwjosc, and short-stalked; the many short-stalked anthers are
two-celled, nearly globular, opening crosswise, the connective projecting above
Fig. 50. — Canadian Hemlock, New York Botanical Garden.
the sacs into a short pointed tip. The pistillate flowers are terminal, short-
stalked, oblong; the broad scales bear two ovules at the base; their bracts are
inconspicuous. The cones, ripening the first season, arc usually pendulous, ovoid
to oblong, blunt-dinted, consisting of persistent loosely overlapping, concave, thin,
woody scales, which are somewhat smaller and sterile toward the ends of the cone;
the bracts are much shorter than the scales; the seed is ovate-oblong, flattened,
amply winged, crustaceous, with fleshy endosperm and 3 to 6 cotyledons.
Canadian Hemlock
65
The name is Japanese, Tsuga being the name for two of their most impor-
tant timber trees.
The astringent bark of all the species is extensively used in tanning.
Cones ovoid to oval; leaves blunt or notched, flat.
Eastern trees; cones stalked.
Northern tree; cone-scales nearly round, appressed. i. T. canadensis.
Southern tree; cone-scales oblong, longer than wide, spreading. 2. T. caroliniana.
Western tree; cones sessile. 3. T. hetcrophylla.
Cones cylindric to oblong-cylindric; leaves keeled above; western tree. 4. T. Mertensiana. .
I. CANADIAN HEMLOCK — Tsuga canadensis (Linnaeus) Carriere
Pinus canadensis Linnaeus
This well-known tree, also called Hemlock spruce, New England hemlock,
Spruce, and Spruce pine, occurs from
Nova Scotia to Alabama, and west to
Minnesota ; south of New Jersey, however,
it is found mostly in the mountains; at
the north it forms extensive pure forests,
reaching its maximum height of 31 me-
ters, with a trunk diameter of 12 dm.
The branches are long and slender,
horizontal, or drooping below, ascending
above, forming a dense beautiful conic
tree. The bark is 0.5 to 2 cm. thick,
furrowed into flat, connected plates, cov-
ered by rounded scales, grayish brown
to purplish red. The slender twigs are
hairy and yellowish brown, becoming
smooth and gray-brown or purplish red.
The winter buds are rather blunt-pointed
and light brown. The leaves are linear,
6 to 14 mm. long, rounded or sometimes
notched at the end, entire or somewhat toothed and revolute toward the apex,
yellowish green when young, dark green, shining and furrowed above, whitish and
stomatiferous beneath; they persist for about three years. The staminate flowers
are globular, 2 mm. long and yellowish. The pistillate flowers are oblong, 5 mm.
long, and pale green. The cones are short-stalked, ovoid, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long,
rather blunt-pointed, red-brown, maturing in the autumn and shedding their seed
during the first winter, faUing off during the next season; the scales are nearly or-
bicular, their tips brownish, spreading but little on shedding the seeds, which
are oblong, about 4 mm. long, and have several resin cells; the wings are
about 8 mm. long, obliquely oblong, blunt.
Fig. 51. — Canadian Hemlock.
66
The Hemlocks
The wood is soft, brittle, and weak, coarse-grained, not durable, light reddish
brown; its specific gravity is about 0.42. It is extensively used in carpentr)^
especially for frame-work in the regions of its greatest abundance. The bark is
largely used in tanning leather, being the most important substance so used in
North America. It is also occasionally employed in medicine for its astringent
properties. An oleoresin obtained from the wood and bark is called Canada
pitch, and the volatile oil distilled from the leaves is used as a curative agent.
As an ornamental tree the Canadian hemlock has long been a favorite in the
northern States and Canada. The principal objection to it is its slow growth.
2. CAROLINA HEMLOCK — Tsuga caroliniana Engelmann
This Hemlock, also called Crag hemlock, Southern hemlock, and Hemlock,
is a rather local tree, being found on the rocky slopes and stream banks of the
Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, the
Carolinas, and northeastern Georgia. It
is rarely abundant, but grows among the
Canadian hemlock, White pine, and vari- .
ous deciduous trees. It reaches a maxi-
mum height of 25 meters, with a trunk
diameter of i meter.
The branches are stout, relatively
short, the lower pendulous, forming a
compact cone; the bark is 2 to 2.5 cm.
thick, fissured into broad, flat, obHquely
confluent ridges and broken into thin
close scales of a red-brown color; the
slender twigs are orange-brown, and
covered with short dark hairs, becoming
smooth and dull brown with age. The
winter buds are blunt, dark red-brown,
their scales somewhat hairy. The leaves
are linear, 1.5 to 2 cm. long, i mm. wide,
rounded or notched at the end, grooved, dark green and shining above, light
green, with numerous stomata, and revolute-margined beneath; they persist for
about five years. The staminate flowers are ovoid, 3 mm. long, of a purplish
color. The pistillate flowers are also purpHsh. The cones are oblong, 3 to 3.5
cm. long, short-stalked and dull brown when ripe; the scales are oblong, 2 cm.
long, half as wide, thin, concave, rounded at the apex, abruptly narrowed at the
base, shghtly grooved and minutely hairy on the outer surface, finally spreading
widely from the axis of the cone ; the bracts are small, rounded or truncate at the
apex, wedge-shaped at the base; the ovoid seed is 4 mm. long and covered by
resin cells ; the wing is about four times the length of the seed.
Fig. 52. — Carolina Hemlock.
Western Hemlock
67
The wood is rather soft, brittle, weak, coarse-grained, and light brown; its
specific gravity is about 0.43. It is not an article of commerce.
It thrives well in cultivation, and is, perhaps, even more beautiful than our
northern Hemlock.
3. WESTERN HEMLOCK — Tsuga heterophylla (Rafinesque) Sargent
Abies heterophylla Rafinesque. Tsuga Mertensiana Engelmann, not Carriere
This, the largest of its genus, is also variously called Western spruce, Western
hemlock spruce. Prince Albert spruce, Alaska pine, and Hemlock. It is abundant
in southern Alaska, southward to Mendocino county, California, extending east-
ward into Montana and
Idaho. It grows in
rich, moist soil near the
coast, and along streams
up to an altitude of
1900 meters, reaching
its maximum height of
60 meters and a trunk
diameter of 3 m. in the
fertile valleys nearest
the coast.
The slender
branches are short and
pendulous, forming a
narrow cone. The bark
of old trees is 3 to 4
cm. thick, deeply fur-
rowed into obHque ridges and breaking into thick irregular scales of a dark red-
brown color; the younger bark is quite smooth, shallowly fissured into flat plates
of a dark orange-brown color. The slender twigs are long-hairy, pale brown, be-
coming dark red-brown and thinly scaly with age. The winter buds are ovoid
and light brown. The leaves are linear, flat, i to 2 cm. long, about i mm. wide,
entire or minutely spiny-toothed toward the blunt apex, entire and tapering ab-
ruptly to the slender woody leaf-stalk; they are dark green, shining, and deeply
grooved on the upper side, pale green and marked by rows of white stomata
beneath. The staminate flowers are oblong, about 5 mm. long, and yellow. The
pistillate flowers are terminal, oblong-cylindric, about 10 mm. long, and purple.
The sessile cones are oblong to oval, 2.5 to 3 cm. long, 10 to 15 mm. thick, taper-
ing both ways from the middle, light red-brown when mature, the scales thin,
slightly ridged and hairy on the outer side, longer than broad, sometimes narrowed
at about the middle or below; the bracts are rounded, abruptly pointed and pur-
FiG. 53. — Western Hemlock.
68
The Hemlocks
plish; the seeds are about 3 mm. long and provided with a few oil glands; the
broad based wing is two or three times the length of the seed.
The wood is rather hard, tough, close-grained, and pale yellowish brown; its
specific gravity is about 0.51. It is the best of the American hemlocks, takes a
good polish, and is becoming more extensively used in carpentr}-. The bark is
rich in tannin, and in the Northwest furnishes the best tanning material. The
inner bark is also used by the Indians as a food; collected in the spring, they
beat it into a pulp, then bake it into hard cakes which are kept for winter use.
Although this magnificent tree has thrived well in Europe, it has failed in the
northeastern United States, probably due to the severe and frequent changes of
temperature in the winter.
4. MOUNTAIN HEMLOCK — Tsuga Mertensiana (Bongard) Carriere
Pinus Mertensiana Bongard. Tsuga Pattoniana (A. Murray) Senelacuze
Also called Black hemlock, Patton's hemlock, Alpine spruce. Weeping spruce,
and Patton's spruce, occurs at high altitudes of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade
Mountains, from northern California and Nevada northward to southern Alaska;
eastward it is found in
Idaho and Montana. Its
maximum height is 30 me-
ters, with a trunk diameter
of 3 meters, but above tim-
ber line on the higher
mountains it becomes a
straggling shrub.
The branches are slen-
der, cun-ed, and pendent,
the branchlets drooping,
their tips often curved up-
ward, forming an open
conic tree. The bark of
old trees is 2.5 to 4 cm.
thick, deeply fissured, with
rounded ridges, which are
obliquely connected and
Fig. 54. — Mountain Hemlock.
broken into close scales of a red to purplish brown color. The twigs are thin
and flexible or short and stiff, dependent upon whether it has grown in moist rich,
or dry sterile situations, ver}^ hair)-, bright red-brown, becoming roughened and
gray-brown with age. The winter buds arc less than 5 mm. long, sharp-pointed
and brown. The linear leaves are 12 to 20 mm. long, i mm. or less wide, scat-
tered, and spreading in all directions, entire, blunt-pointed, narrowed toward the
base, light blue-green and with stomata on both sides, convex above, rounded and
The False Hemlocks 69
somewhat striate below; they are more or less curved, usually crowded on the short
lateral branchlets, and persist for three to four years. The staminate flowers are
globose-oblong, 5 mm. long, borne in the axils of the leaves of short branchlets,
on very slender drooping stalks, and bluish in color. The pistillate flowers are
erect, cyhndric, 6 mm. long, purplish or yellowish green. The cones are cylindric-
oblong, 3 to 7 cm. long, 2 to 2.5 cm. thick, narrowed toward both ends, but mostly
so toward the blunt apex, erect and purple at first, but usually pendent at maturity
and dull brown ; they are the largest cones of the genus ; the numerous scales are
very thin, 10 to 12 mm. long, usually as broad, gradually narrowed from below the
apex into a wedge-shaped base, rounded at the somewhat thickened, irregularly
eroded apex, striate and slightly rough hairy on the outer side; the bracts are one
fourth the size of the scales or less, rounded and short-pointed, wedge-shaped
toward the base. The seeds are about 5 mm. long, light brown, with one or two
large resin cells on the inner surface, the wing about three times as long, blunt
at the apex.
The wood is soft, close-grained, rather weak, pale red-brown; its specific gravity
is about 0.44. It is but little used. The bark, hke that of other hemlocks, is rich
in tannin and is used to some extent in tanning leather.
Unlike any other Tsuga the leaves of this species are scattered, stomatiferous
on both sides, and the resin-ducts are well within the pulpy portion of the lower
side. On these differences Lemmon has suggested its separation into a genus,
which he has named Hesperopeuce.
Hooker's Hemlock, T. Hookeriana {k. Murray) Carriere, a smaller, more slen-
der, short-branched tree of alpine regions, with smaller cones with less spreading
and less striated scales, is not regarded as specifically distinct.
V. THE FALSE HEMLOCKS
GENUS PSEUDOTSUGA CARRIERE
■SEUDOTSUGx\ comprises three known species, two from western
North America, one from Japan. The type species is the North
American P. mucronata.
They are large conic trees with long whorled branches, usually
drooping branchlets and rough furrowed bark. The scales of the winter buds
persist for a time as a ring about the base of the newly formed twigs, and when
falling off leave a circular scar around the twig. The leaves are flat, crowded,
appearing as if 2-ranked by a twist of their stalk, but are in reahty spirally ar-
ranged and somewhat incur\^ed ; the upper surface is rather deeply grooved longi-
tudinally, and the lower side has several rows of stomata on each side of the
midrib; a cross-section displays two lateral resin-ducts immediately under the
epidermis of the under side. The leaves are attached to the twigs by a persistent
woody leaf-stalk, which is usually of the same color as the twig, and from which
70
The False Hemlocks
the leaves fall away after six or eight years. The flowers appear in early spring
from buds formed the previous season, usually erect and surrounded by the thin,
large, shining, usually straw-colored bud-scales. The staminate flowers are in the
axils of the leaves mostly toward the ends of the twigs, oblong-cyHndric, sessile
or nearly so, and consist of many spirally arranged, short-stalked roundish anthers
which open obhquely, the connective terminating in a short tip. The pistillate
flowers are either terminal or sometimes also axillar}-, oblong, short-stalked, and
composed of many ovate blunt, thin, overlapping scales each bearing two ovules,
and the much longer, 2-lobed, sharp-pointed, irregularly toothed or cut bracts,
whose midrib projects into a long, slender point. The cones, which mature the
first season, are ovoid-oblong, sharply pointed at the end, and rounded at the
sHghtly narrowed base; they are drooping, on short, stout stalks, which are sur-
rounded by short linear sharp-pointed bracts; the persistent rounded scales are
concave and stiff, becoming smaller and sterile toward each end of the cone, and
when ripe and dry stand out at a wide angle to the axis; the bracts, which
extend beyond the scales, are two-lobed, and rather stiff, their long midrib pro-
truding into a long, stiff, sharp tip. Seeds, two in the depression at the base of
the scales, oblong-triangular; the papery wing is rather dark colored and soon
breaks away from the seed; cotyledons 6 to 12.
The name, Pseudotsuga, appHed to this genus, is a unique combination of
Greek and Japanese, signifying False Hemlock.
Cones 5 to 10 cm. long; bracts much exserted. i. P. miicronata.
Cones 10 to 17 cm. long; bracts little exserted. 2. P. macrocarpa.
I. DOUGLAS SPRUCE — Pseudotsuga mucronata (Rafinesque) Sudworth
Abies mucronata Rafinesque. Finns taxijolia Lambert, not Salisbury
Pseudotsuga taxifolia (Lambert) Britten. Pseudotsuga Douglasii (Lindley) Carriere
The Douglas spruce, also called Red fir, Douglas fir. Yellow fir. Spruce, Fir,
Oregon pine, Red pine, Puget Sound pine, and Douglas tree, is the most abundant
as well as the most widely distributed tree of western North America, occurring
from British Columbia southward to the mountains of Arizona and into Mexico,
eastwardly to Alberta, Colorado, and Texas at elevations up to 2700 meters.
Its area of greatest abundance and dimensions is near the coast at low altitudes
in Oregon and Washington, where it forms pure forests of great extent and reaches
its maximum height of 90 meters, with a trunk diameter of 4.5 meters. At very
high elevations it is sometimes reduced to a straggling shrub.
The branches are crowded, slender, and provided with long, lateral branchlets,
pendulous below but erect above, forming a narrow cone from near the ground;
in forests its trunk is often branchless for one half of its height or more, leaving
a relatively small, narrow head. The bark of old trees is 2.5 to 3 dm. thick, deeply
fissured into large, wide, rounded ridges, which are covered with irregular flat
Douglas Spruce
71
red-brown scales. In dry regions the bark frequently becomes spongy and of a
grayish color; on young trees it is thin, rather smooth except for some resin blis-
ters, and dark gray. The twigs are slender, slightly hair)-, orange-yellow, and
shining, becoming smooth, red-brown, or dark gray. The winter buds are ovoid,
sharp-pointed, about 10 mm. long, the scales ovate. The leaves are linear, 2 to
3 cm. long, about 2 mm. wide, nearly straight, bluntly pointed, seldom incurved,
light yellow at first, becoming yellowish green or sometimes bluish green; on vig-
orous shoots they are somewhat larger, slender, and sharply thick-tipped. The
staminate flowers are about 2 cm. long, oblong, orange to red, subtended by an
involucre of large, thin,
paper}^ scales. The
pistillate flowers are
red to purplish, 2 to 3
cm. long, about 1 2 mm.
thick. The pendent
cones are oblong-ovoid,
5 to 10 cm. long, on
stout short stalks, pur-
pHsh at first, yellow-
brown when mature,
falling off soon after
having shed their seeds.
The scales are some-
what concave, rounded
at the apex, nearly or-
bicular, shghtly irregu-
larly toothed, about 2
cm. long, somewhat
less in width; the
bracts are 2.5 to 3.5 Fig. 55- -Douglas Spruce.
cm. long, 5 to 7 mm. wide, inversely arrow-shaped and reflexed. The nearly tri-
angular seed is 5 to 7 mm. long, red-brown and shining above, pale and dull
beneath; the dark brown wing, nearly twice as long as the seed, is broadest at or
below the middle, obhquely roundeefclfet the apex, and soon breaks away from the
seed.
The wood varies greatly; it is hard, hght red, and coarse-grained, or yellowish
and finer grained; its specific gravity is about 0.51. It is the most valuable of the
western timber trees, being used for heavy construction purposes which require
large timbers, also for ship-building and railroad ties. It is also largely exported.
The bark is used for tanning leather.
As an ornamental tree it has long been known and grown in Europe, but was
unsuccessful in eastern America until it was discovered that plants raised from
seed obtained in Colorado were hardy in the Eastern States, those from the Pacific
72
The False Hemlocks
slope not being so. It now promises to be one of the most desirable coniferous
trees for parks, where it sometimes bears fruit when scarcely 2 meters tall.
2. BIG CONE SPRUCE — Pseudotsuga macrocarpa (Torrey) Mayr
Abies Doiiglasii macrocarpa Torrey
This tree, which is also called Big-cone Douglas spruce, California hemlock,
and Hemlock, is of very local occurrence, being known only from dry mountains
in southern CaHfomia, where it grows near the banks of streams and on rocky
slopes, at elevations of from 900 to 1800 meters. It is an abundant tree of this
Fig. 56. — Big Cone Spruce.
thinly forested region, reaching a maximum height of 30 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 1.2 meters.
The lower branches are relatively long, far apart, drooping below, with stout,
or slender branchlets; the upper branches are short and ascending, forming an
open conic head. The bark is 7 to 15 cm. thick, deeply furrowed into broad
The Firs 73
rounded obliquely connected ridges covered with thick closely adherent scales of
a dark red-brown color. The slender twigs are red-brown, slightly hairy, becoming
smooth, lighter-brown, and finally gray or brown. The winter buds are ovoid,
sharp-pointed, 5 to 7 mm. long, and covered by brown shining scales. The leaves
are 2 to 3 cm. long, about 2 mm. wide, slender, thick-tipped, appear 2 -ranked by
the twisting of the stalk, and incun^ed, dark blue-gray. The staminate flowers
are 2 to 2.5 cm. long, light yellow, and partly enclosed in a scaly involucre. The
pistillate flowers are ovoid-oblong, 2.5 cm. long, 1.5 cm. thick, greenish or green-
ish red. The ovoid cyhndric cones are abundantly produced near the top of the
tree, and remain on the branches for about a year after shedding their seed ; they
are short-stalked, 10 to 16 cm. long, about one half as thick; their orbicular con-
cave scales, 5 cm. broad, are thick, woody, broader than long, rounded at the top,
wedge-shaped toward the base, eroded on the margin, shghtly hairy and striate on
the exposed surface; the bracts, which are from i to 2 cm. longer than the scales,
jire widest above, and terminated by a central prolonged tip, and two shorter,
somewhat spreading, lateral lobes. The seed is triangular-obovate, 10 to 15 mm.
long, about 9 mm. wide, nearly black and shining above, dull and light brown
beneath, its wing broadest near the middle, shghtly longer than the body, and
obUquely rounded at the end.
The wood is hard, strong, close-grained, brown and durable; its specific gravity
is about 0.45 ; it is sometimes sawed into lumber, but its principal use is for fuel.
VI. THE FIRS
GENUS ABIES [TOURNEFORT] MILLER
HIS genus includes about 25 species of very symmetrical conic trees,
some of immense stature, some, however, reduced to mere shrubs at
great altitudes or in the high latitudes. They are confined to cold
and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, occurring in greatest
variety in western North America. In addition to the ten species here described,
one, Abies religiosa Lindl., occurs in the mountains from Mexico to Guatemala.
Our species are all trees with bHster-hke excrescences on the bark, which,
when punctured, exude a viscid oleoresin.
The winter buds are enclosed in imbricated scales, some of which persist at
the base of the newly formed twigs for some considerable time, leaving, when
faUing, a circular scar surrounding the twig. The leaves are evergreen, sessije.
persistent for five to ten years, leaving a round scar when falUng. They are
spirally arranged, but by a twist of the base they appear as if 2-ranked. They
are flat, or in some species 4-sided, the margins often thickened and strongly
revolute; the apex is notched, rounded or pointed; the upper surface is usually
flattened or grooved, dark green and shining, and in some species has stomata;
the lower surface is usually marked by a row of stomata on each side of the midrib.
On old and fertile branches the leaves are usually shorter, thicker, and sharper
74
The Firs
pointed, more upright, incurved, and crowded than on sterile lower branches. In
cross- sections the leaves show two resin-ducts, close to the epidermis on the under
side in some species, in others well within the pulpy tissue of the leaf.
The monoecious flowers, appearing in the spring, are produced in the axils of
the leaves of the last season's growth. The staminate flowers are short-stalked,
pendulous, oval, ovoid, or cyhndric, subtended by an involucre of small scale-
like bracts which often persist for some time; the subglobose anthers open crosswise,
the connective terminating in a short blunt apex. The pistillate flowers are lateral,
short-stalked, and erect, with two ovules at the base of the scales, which are
shorter than the papery bracts. The erect cones are cyhndric to ovoid, frequently
covered by globules of a resinous exudation, ripening at the end of the first season,
their scales falhng away from the persistent stout scarred axis. The densely over-
lapping scales are thin, curved inward at the usually rounded apex and gradually
narrowed to the base, those near each end of the cone sterile. The papery bracts
are longer or shorter than the scales and of characteristic outHne. The two seeds
at the base of the scales are ovoid or oblong, usually acute at the base, somewhat
flattened and provided with an ample obhque, papery wing; the embryo, with 4
to 10 cotyledons, is surrounded by fleshy endosperm.
The name apphed to this genus is the ancient Latin name of the Fir, Abies
Picea (L.) Lindley, the old world Fir, which is the type of the genus. Ten species
are known to occur in North America:
Eastern trees.
Bracts serrulate, mucronate, shorter than or but little exceeding the cone-
scales; leaves mostly obtuse; northern tree.
Bracts aristate, reflexed, much longer than the cone-scales; leaves mostly
emarginate; southern tree.
Western trees.
Bracts without elongated linear tips.
Bracts shorter than the cone-scales or exceeding them but little.
Leaves flat; cones 0.5 to 1.5 dm. long.
Leaves blue-green, glaucous at least when young.
Resin-ducts within the pulp of the leaf.
Resin-ducts immediately under the epidermis of the leaf.
Leaves silvery-white beneath, dark green above; resin-ducts im-
mediately under the epidermis.
Bracts obcordate, abruptly short-tipped; leaves notched.
Bracts rhomboid to obovate, gradually long-tipped.
Leaves mostly 4-sided; cones 1.5 to 2.8 dm. long.
Bracts much longer than the cone-scales, long-tipped, some of the
leaves 4-sided.
Tips of the bracts much smaller than the scales.
Tips of the bracts covering the cone-scales.
Bracts with elongated, narrowly linear flattened tips, two to three times as
long as the cone-scales; California tree.
I. A. balsamea.
2. A. Fraseri.
3. A. lasiocarpa.
4. A. concolor.
5. A. grandis.
6. A. amabilis.
7. A. magnifica.
8. A. shaslensis.
9. A. nobilis.
10. A. veniista.
Balsam Fir
75
I. BALSAM FIR — Abies balsamea (Linnaeus) Miller
Pinus balsamea Linnaeus
The Balsam fir, also called Balm of Gilead fir, Balsam, Blister pine. Fir pine,
Silver pine. Fir tree. Single spruce, Sapin, and "Cho-koh-tung," meaning "blisters,"
by the Indians, occurs from Labrador, west to Alberta and southward to the moun-
tains of Virginia and to Minnesota, being most abundant in the regions about
the Great Lakes, occurring southward only in the mountains. It grows in swamps
or on their borders, usually with spruce and hemlock, occasionally, however, form-
ing forests by itself and reaching a maximum height of 30 meters, with a trunk
diameter of i meter, but in high altitudes and latitudes it is reduced to a very
small tree or a spreading shrub.
The long slender branches, spreading horizontally and sometimes drooping,
are in considerably separated whorls, forming a broad symmetrical open conic
tree when grown in the open. The bark on large old trees is about 12 mm.
thick, smooth, grayish, and marked by numerous swellings that contain an oleo-
resin, commonly called Canada Balsam.
The slender twigs are finely hairy, yel-
lowish green, changing through yellow-
ish brown to purpHsh black,, becoming
smooth with age. The leaves, which
become fragrant in drying, are 10 to 22
mm. long, nearly 2 mm. wide, narrowly
linear, dark green and shining above,
pale green, or when young frequently
nearly white and marked by the promi-
nent midrib beneath; on young branch-
lets they spread outwardly, appearing
2-ranked and are pointed at the apex;
on upper fruiting branchlets they are
somewhat crowded, curved, nearly erect,
and bluntly pointed. The staminate
flowers are cyHndric, about 6 mm. long,
quite yellow. The pistillate flowers are
oblong-cylindric, 2 cm. long, and purple.
The cyHndric cone, tapering slightly toward the blunt apex, is 5 to 10 cm. long,
slightly covered with short hairs; its fan-shaped scales are about 2 cm. long,
sHghtly narrower, twice the length of the obovate bracts, which are finely toothed,
notched, and bristle-pointed. The seed is about 6 mm. long, the light browTi shin-
ing v/ing being twice as long.
The wood is very soft, coarse-grained, light brown; its specific gravity is about
0.38. It is not durable, and is but seldom sawed into lumber, which is used mostly
for crates and boxes. The oleoresin which collects in the vesicles of the bark is
Fig. 57. — Balsam Fir.
76
The Firs
gathered in Canada and Maine, by puncturing the bark with a tube, through
which the balsam flows into a vessel to which it is attached. It is a greenish yel-
low, transparent, viscid hquid of an aromatic terebinthinate odor and a bitter, some-
what acrid taste, slowly drj-ing upon exposure into a transparent mass. It is used
as an external appHcation to cuts and bruises, and by microscopists in mounting
various objects for examination.
As an ornamental tree the Balsam fir has been superseded by the more desirable
firs from western America and Asia. It grows rather rapidly.
2. ERASER'S BALSAM FIR — Abies Fraseri (Pursh) Lindley
Pinus Fraseri Pursh
This southern fir, also called She balsam Fir, Balsam fir, Silver fir, Hcahng
balsam. Double spruce, Double fir balsam, Mountain balsam, and Lashhorn,
occurs in the higher mountains of Virginia and West Virginia to North Carolina
and Termessee, where it sometimes forms forests, and reaches its maximum
height of 25 meters, with a trunk diameter of 7.5 dm.
The branches, spreading regularly in whorls, form a fine symmetrical cone
until the lower branches decay with age
and fall off. The bark is about i cm.
thick, and smooth, at first, becoming
roughened by close papery scales of a
red-brown color, changing to gray, and
roughened by conspicuous balsam "bhs-
ters." The twigs are rather stout, hairy
and yellowish brown, becoming smooth
and darker with age. The winter buds
are about 5 mm. long, blunt and cov-
ered with resin. The leaves are flattish,
narrowly hnear, 1.2 to 2.5 cm. long,
nearly 2 mm. wide, and rather thick,
somewhat keeled on the lower side,
dark green and shining above, white be-
neath, especially when young; on lower
sterile branchlets they are straight,
spreading outwardly at right angles; on
fertile and upper branchlets they are
usually crowded, curved, and almost erect, obtuse or sharp-pointed. The stami-
nate flowers are 5.5 to 8 mm. long, almost sessile, and reddish. The pistillate
flowers are oblong-oval, light greenish yellow. The erect cones are 5 to 8 cm. long,
oblong-cylindric to ovoid-cyHndric, rounded at each end, purpHsh when young;
the fan-shaped scales, about 1.5 cm. long, 2 cm. broad, are compactly arranged,
becoming dark purple with age; the papery bracts are elongated, longer than the
Fig. 58. — Fraser's Balsam Fir.
White Fir
n
scales and rcflexcd over them, yellowish, small- toothed, slightly rounded, and
softly bristle-pointed. The seed is about 5 mm. long, its paper)-, obhquely wedge-
shaped wing about twice as long.
The wood is soft, weak, coarse-grained, pale brown; its specific gravity is about
0.35. It is probably never put upon the lumber market, although it is sometimes
used for building purposes on the mountains where it grows.
As an ornamental tree its inferior hardiness and general resemblance to the
previously described species make it superfluous. Indeed, much of the stock
sent out by nurser}^men under this name is really nothing but the Balsam fir.
3. WHITE FIR — Abies lasiocarpa (Hooker) Nuttall
Pinus lasiocarpa Hooker. .4/)/^^ siibalpina Engelmann
This Fir, variously called White balsam fir, Oregon balsam fir, Alpine fir,
Downy cone fir. Mountain balsam, and Pumpkin tree, has probably a greater
range than any other American Fir, occurring from Alaska to Washington, Ari-
zona, eastward to Alberta, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and southern Colorado.
Fig. 59. — White Fir.
At elevations of 1200 to 1800 meters it reaches its maximum height of 30 meters,
with a tmnk diameter of 9 dm. At the higher elevations of about 3000 meters it
is sometimes reduced to a mere shrub.
The branches are short, densely crowded, the lower droo])ing and sometimes ,
persist almost to the base, forming a narrowly conic sharp-topped tree, narrower
yS The Firs
than the other Firs. The bark is 2 to 4 cm. thick, shallowly fissured and broken
into irregular close, light red-brown to nearly white scales; the younger bark is
thinner, smoother, and gray or nearly white. The twigs are stout, rough, hair}-,
orange-brown, becoming smooth and Hght gray to nearly white. The winter buds
are subglobose, about 10 mm. long, covered by pointed brown scales, and are
resinous. The leaves are crowded, becoming erect by the twisted base, narrowly
linear, 2.5 to 5 cm. long, rather thick, bluish-green, shining, becoming darker with
age, blunt or notched at the apex, grooved on the upper side; a cross-section shows
two resin-ducts well within the pulpy part of the leaf; the leaves on the lower and
sterile shoots are thin, closely appressed, and sometimes stiff-pointed; those on
upper fertile branches are somewhat thicker, usually sharply thick-pointed, and
scarcelv half the length of the lower. The staminate flowers are cyHndric, 15 to
20 mm. long, 5 to 7 mm. thick, of a bluish color, the pistillate flowers being 2 to
2.5 cm. long, I cm. thick, and dark purple. The cones are oblong-cylindric, taper-
ing slightly toward each end from the middle, rounded or flattened at the apex,
6 to 10 cm. long, dark purple and slightly haiiy; the scales, which vary greatly in
outline, are usually fan-shaped, slightly longer than broad, 2 cm. long, about three
times the length of the bracts, which are oblong-ovate, irregularly toothed, rounded,
dark brown and abruptly long-tipped. The seed is about 8 mm. long; its wing,
which is nearly as long as the scale, is bluish at first, changing to brown.
The wood is soft, w^eak, not durable, whitish to pale brown; its specific gravity
is about 0.34. It is \er\ little used as a commercial lumber.
Its slow growth makes it rather undesirable for ornamental planting, although
its narrow form adds a pleasing variety to plantations of coniferous trees.
The oleoresin is collected and used in the West like the Canada Balsam.
4. SILVER FIR — Abies concolor Lindley and Gordon
This Fir, also called White balsam, Colorado white balsam, Colorado white
fir, and Balsam fir, occurs from the mountains of Oregon to southern California
and Lower California and eastward to \\ yoming, New Mexico and northern
Mexico, at elevations of from 1200 to 3300 meters, sometimes forming almost
exclusive forests and reaching a maximum height of 75 meters, with a trunk diame-
ter of 2 meters, though in its eastward range it seldom exceeds half this size.
The bark of ver}^ old trees is often 15 cm. thick and deeply furrowed into broad
rounded ridges and broken into angular scaly plates of a reddish brown to light
gray color; that on younger trees is quite smooth except for many " balsam blisters,"
which yield, when punctured, an abundance of oleoresin. The twigs are smooth,
shining, and dark orange, becoming gray or brown with age. The winter buds
are nearly globular, 7 to 12 mm. long, covered with blunt yellowish scales, and ver\'
resinous. The leaves are flat, linear, 3 to 6 cm. long, pale bluish green, often with
a bloom when young, dull green with age, slightly channeled above, rounded or
slightly notched at the apex on the lower branches, shorter, thicker, erect and
Great Silver Fir
79
curved on the upper fertile branches; a cross-section of the leaf shows two resin-
ducts at the epidermis of the under side. The staminate flowers are oblong-
cylindric, lo to 15 mm. long, the pistillate rather narrowly cyhndric, 3 to 4 cm.
long. The oblong cones are a little narrowed toward each end, rounded or some-
what sunken at the apex, 7 to 15 cm. long, slightly hairy, yellow or green to pur-
ple, their fan-shaped scales usually 3.5 to 4 cm. wide, and three fourths as long;
the papery bracts, which are scarcely half the length of the scales, are spatulate,
toothed, notched, and bristle-pointed. The dull brown seed is about 8 mm. long,
the broad, shining, Hght purpHsh or brown wing scarcely twice their length.
Fig. 60. — Silver Fir.
The wood is very soft, of medium strength, coarse-grained; its specific gravity
is about 0.36. It is inodorous, on which account it is largely used in the manu-
facture of tubs for butter.
Its adaptability to various conditions of soil makes this one of the most satis-
factory American coniferous trees for ornamental planting.
Low's fir, Abies Lowiana A. Murray, which occurs in the region of Mt. Shasta
and southward in California, is considered by some a distinct species; its leaves are
darker green and the cones chestnut brown.
5. GREAT SILVER FIR — Abies grandis Lindley
This tree, which reaches a maximum height of 90 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 1.5 meters, is also called Yellow fir, Oregon fir. Western white fir. Grand fir.
8o
The Firs
WTiite fir, and Silver fir. It attains its greatest dimensions in the rich bottom
lands of the valleys of the northwest coast in British Columbia, Washington, and
Oregon, and extends southward into California and eastward into Idaho and
Montana, where it reaches an altitude of 2100 meters.
The lower branches are drooping. The bark of old trees is often 5 cm. thick,
fissured into low ridges, and covered with thick dark brown scales ; that of younger
trees is much thinner, quite smooth except for the resin "bhsters," and pale gray-
ish. The twigs are rather slender, covered with short hairs, yellowish green chang-
ing to red-brown with age. The winter buds are globose, 7 mm. long, and
resinous. The flat linear leaves are shining dark green and distinctly grooved on
the upper side, silvery
white beneath, from 2.5
to 5 cm. long, deeply
notched and appearing
2-ranked on the sterile
branchlets, shorter,
scarcely notched or
bluntly pointed, more or
less erect and crowded on
the fruiting branchlets.
The staminate flowers
are oblong, 2 cm. long,
and bright yellow, the
pistillate flowers being
narrowly cylindric, 2.5
to 3 cm. long, and pale
yellow to green. The
cyhndric cones are 5 to
10 cm. long, rounded and
often sunken at the top,
bright green and slightly
hair}^; the scales are
broadly fan-shaped,
about 3 cm. wide and
not quite as long, about twice the length of the bracts, which have an obcordate,
irregularly toothed and short-pointed apex. The pale brown seeds are about 7
mm. long, half the length of the broad shining wing.
The wood is soft, coarse-grained, not durable; its specific gravity is about
0.35. In Oregon and Washington it is used in carpentry, cooperage, and for paper
pulp.
Its growth is said to be the most rapid of the American coniferous trees when
in the proper soil and supply of moisture, which, however, is hard to secure in
America in any other than its native regions.
Fig. 61. — Great Silver Fir.
Red Silver Fir
8i
6. RED SILVER FIR — Abies amabilis (Loudon) Forbes
Picea amabilis Loudon
This magnificent tree, being all that its name impHes, is also called Amabilis
fir, Lovely fir, Lovely red fir. Red fir, and by lumbermen erroneously Larch. It
occurs from the Columbia River in Oregon northward into British Columbia.
Fig. 62. — Red Silver Fir.
Its greatest size is attained in the Olympic Mountains of Washington, its maxi-
mum height being about 75 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.75 meters. In the
dense foi8»ts which this tree frequently forms the trunk is naked for about two
thirds its height, but in the open it is often furnished all over with short, some-
what drooping branches and branchlets.
The bark of old trees is about 5 cm. thick, irregularly fissured into broad
ridges of scaly plates, red-gray to brown ; on younger trees the bark is thin, pale
or nearly white, and smooth except for the large resin "blisters." The stout twigs,
covered with short hairs, are yellowish brown, becoming purplish to red. The
winter buds are nearly globular, about 6 mm. thick, covered by close shining scales
82
The Firs
and resin. The leaves are flat, shining, dark green and deeply furrowed on the
upper side, white, with the midrib prominent beneath; their margins are strongly
revolute; those on sterile branches are 2 to 3.5 cm. long, blunt, rounded, or some-
times notched at the apex, and more or less crowded, those on the fertile branches
being about half as long and sharply thick-pointed. The staminate flowers are
oblong-cylindric, 12 to 20 mm. long, slender-stalked, and bright red, the pistillate
flowers being rather narrowdy cylindric, 3 to 4 cm. long, and dark purphsh. The
oblong cones are somewhat narrowed toward each end, rounded and often
indented at the apex, 9 to 15 cm. long, slightly hair}^, and dark purple; the fan-
shaped scales are 3 to 3.5 cm wide, not quite as long; the bracts, which are
scarcely half the length of the scales, are reddish, obovate, sHghtly toothed toward
the slender-tipped apex. The yellowish brown seed, about 12 mm. long, is scarcely
half the length of the shining yellowish, obHquely wedge-shaped wing.
The wood is rather hard, of medium strength, close-grained, pale brown; its
specific gravity is about 0.42. It is sparingly used in carpentry in its native region
under the name of "larch."
This magnificent fir has unfortunately not taken kindly to cultivation either
in America or Europe, so that it will probably never exhibit that grandeur in our
parks which it shows in its native mountains.
CALIFORNIA RED FIR -Abies
magnifica A. Murray
This magnificent tree, also called the Great
red fir, Magnificent fir, Red fir, and Red bark
fir, occurs in the mountains of northern Cali-
fornia, Oregon and Nevada, at elevations of
about 1500 meters. It is one of the largest fir
trees, attaining a maximum height of 90 me-
ters, with a trunk diameter of 3.6 meters.
The branches are rather stout, in irregular
whorls, the lowest drooping, the upper some-
what ascending; their lateral branchlets are
relatively remote; w'hen forest
grown it is often devoid of
branches for half its height.
The bark is i to 1.5 dm. thick,
deeply furrowed into blunt
ridges with red-brown scales;
the inner bark is bright red.
On young trees or branches the
bark is quite thin, smooth, and
Fig. 63. — California Red Fir.
grayish.
The stout twigs are
Noble Fir 83
yellowish green, slightly hairy, becoming smooth, reddish brown, and when older,
gray. The winter buds are ovoid, sharp-pointed, 10 mm. long, their scales light
brown. The leaves are mostly 4-sided, narrowly linear, rounded or bluntly pointed,
2 to 4 cm. long, pale green, with a bloom the first season, becoming'~bli^e-green
with age; they vary greatly in size, shape, and position, and are said to persist
for ten years. The staminate flowers are cyhndric, 12 to 20 mm. long, of a deep
purplish color, the pistillate being oblong, 3 to 4 cm. long, and reddish brown.
The cones are the largest of the genus,, oblong-cyhndric, narrowed toward the
base and the rounded flat or indented apex, 15 to 25 cm. long, short-hairy, pur-
phsh or yellowish; the scales are stalked, about 4 cm. wide and somewhat longer
than wide, gradually narrowed to the heart-shaped base; the bracts are one third
shorter than the scales, oblong or spatulate, sharp tipped, shghtly toothed above
the middle. The seed is dark brown, 15 to 18 mm. long, with a shining broadly
wedge-shaped wing.
The wood is soft, wxak, quite durable, reddish brown and shining; its specific
gravity is about 0.47. It is much used in CaHfomia for construction and for fuel.
This tree, truly magnificent at any stage of its long fife, thrives in England
and France, but it does not do well in the eastern United States.
8. SHASTA FIR — Abies shastensis Lemmon
Also called Shasta red fir, this occurs in the mountains of southern Oregon and northern
California, especially on Mt. Shasta, where it forms exclusive forests at an altitude of 1800 to
2400 meters. It has been considered by some as a variety of the California red fir, which it
resembles in foliage. The cones resemble those of the Noble fir, but it grows at higher alti-
tudes and is smaller, its maximum height being 60 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.2 meters.
The bark is very rough and almost black. The mostly 4-sided leaves are about 2 cm. long,
nearly 2 mm. thick, usually erect, incurved, and light green. The oblong cones are 13 to 15 cm.
long, rounded at both ends, and purple, their scales 3.5 cm. wide, about the same length,
broadly rounded and revolute at the apex, abruptly contracted just above the middle, also near
the base into a long stalk; the bracts are spatulate, irregularly toothed, and abruptly taper-
pointed; the tip is almost 10 mm. wide and projects about the same distance beyond the scales,
over which it is usually reflexed and of a bright yellow color. The seed is nearly oval, about 15
mm. long; its wing is obliquely obovate in outline, straight on one side, about 25 mm. long and
15 mm. broad.
The wood is soft, not strong, close-grained, reddish brown, its specific gravity about 0.41.
9. NOBLE FIR — Abies nobilis Lindley
This tree, also called Red fir, Noble red fir, Feather cone fir, Bracted fir, and
erroneously Larch by lumbermen, grows in northern California, Oregon and Wash-
ington, where it inhabits mountains at elevations of from 750 to 1500 meters,
sometimes forming the bulk of the forest and attaining the height of 90 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 3 meters.
The main branches are short, stiff, and rather far apart ; the smaller branches
are also remote, forming a rather open, conic tree. The bark, which is from 3 to
84
The Firs
5 cm. thick, is deeply furrowed into broad ridges, which are broken into closely
adherent reddish brown scales; that of younger trees is much thinner, smooth, and
paler. The slender twigs are covered with short hairs, hght red-brown, gradually
becoming smooth and darker with age. The ovoid winter buds are 6 mm. long,
resinous, and covered by sharp-pointed brown scales. The leaves are 2.5 to 4 cm.
long, light green ; those on the lower branches are spreading, somewhat flattened,
Fig. 64. — Noble Fir.
deeply grooved on the upper surface, keeled beneath, rounded or notched at the
apex; those on the upper fertile branches are erect, incurv-ed, and crowded, thick,
nearly 4-sided, and sharp-pointed. The staminate flowers are cyhndric, 1.5 to
2.5 cm. long, of a reddish or purple color, the pistillate flowers also cyhndric, 2.5
to 4 cm. long. The cones are cylindric-oblong, somewhat narrowed at the base
and the apex, 10 to 15 cm. long, finely hairy, purphsh or brown and character-
ized by the projecting recurved tips of the bracts; the fan-shaped scales are about
3.5 cm. wide, and about as long; the papery bracts about 4 cm. long, with fringed
margins and long tapering point, project beyond and are reflexed over the cone-
scales so as to almost cover them. The brown seed, about i cm. long, is provided
with a very broad wing.
Bristle Cone Fir
85
The wood is hard, strong, rather close-grained and Hght brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.45. It is sometimes sawed into lumber, and under the name of
"larch" is used to a small extent in construction and for boxes.
This tree grows well in England, producing its cones in great abundance; it
also sometimes thrives in the middle Atlantic States, but is not hardy northward.
10. BRISTLE CONE FIR — Abies venusta (Douglas) Koch
Pinus venusta Douglas. Pimis bracteata D. Don. Abies bracteata Nuttall
This, the most pecuHar, as well as the rarest of the North American Fir trees,
is also called Santa Lucia fir, Silver fir, and Fringed spruce. It seems to be re-
stricted to Monterey county, California, where it occurs but sparingly on the
rocky slopes and in canons of the Santa Lucia Mountains at elevations of 450 to
1500 meters, attaining
a maximum height of
45 meters, with a
trunk diameter of 9
dm.
The branches are
rather stout, far apart,
and somewhat droop-
ing, their branchlets
crooked and rather
remote, forming an
open conic tree con-
tracted above into a
narrow head, unHke
any others of its ge-
nus. The bark is ir-
regularly fissured and
broken into closely ad-
hering scales of a red-
brown color and often
marked by the re-
mains of old resin "blisters," which are quite abundant on the thinner younger
bark. The stout twigs are smooth, light red-brown, and covered with a bloom.
The ovoid winter buds are 2.5 cm. long, 5 to 8 mm. thick, sharp-pointed, and loosely
covered by large pale-brown papery scales, the innermost ones persisting for some
time at the base of the newly formed twig. The stiff leaves, which usually spread
outwardly, are flat, linear, narrowed above, 4 to 6 cm. long, 2.5 to 3 mm. wide,
long taper-pointed, narrowed to a disk-like base, marked by a central groove, yel-
lowish green and shining on the upper side, silvery white beneath; those on older
fertile branchlets have strongly recurved margins; on falhng they leave an oval scar
Fig. 65. — Bristle Cone Fir.
86 The Sequoias
on the twig. The flowers appear in May. The staminate flowers are cylindric, 2
to 3 cm. long, yellowish to red. The pistillate flowers are oblong-cylindric, 3 to 4
cm. long, and yellowish green. The cones, which are borne on stout scaly stalks
about 10 mm. high, are ovoid to ovoid-cylindric, 8 to 10 cm. long, blunt at the
apex, smooth, and purplish brown; their scales are about 2 cm. wide, and nearly
as long, irregularly eroded, rounded or bluntly pointed at the apex, rounded on
the sides to a heart-shaped base and stalked; the body of the yellowish bract is
somewhat shorter than the scale, inverted spear-shaped, terminated by a long flat
stiff tip 3 to 4 cm. long, erect and closely pressed to the cone in its upper half,
but more or less reflexed in the lower portion. The brown oblong seed, 10 mm,
long, is almost as long as its thin shining red-brown obovate wing.
The wood is of medium hardness, coarse-grained, light yellow-brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.67. It is not an article of commerce.
The cultivation of this most beautiful and curious fir tree has not succeeded
in the eastern United States, but it is said to do well in Europe.
VII. THE SEQUOIAS
GENUS SEQUOIA ENDLICHER
^T present this genus is represented by two hving species of gigantic
evergreen trees, confined to Cahfomia and southern Oregon, although
fossils referred to the genus have been found within the Arctic circle,
in Europe, and over much of North America.
The resinous leaves are linear and spreading or with some appressed ones on
some twigs, or both kinds on the same twig, in the one species; ovate, ovate-
lanceolate and appressed to the twigs, or their tips spreading, in the other. The
flowers are monoecious, very small and solitar}', appearing in early spring or late
winter from buds the previous season. The staminate flowers are terminal, or
in the axils the upper leaves, ovoid or oblong, stalked, their stalks bearing many
overlapping scale-like bracts; the stamens are arranged around a short axis, their
filaments short, the connective ovate and sharply pointed, with 2 to 5 globular
anthers on its inner surface. The pistillate flowers are terminal, oblong, consist-
ing of many spirally arranged ovate, keeled, sharp-pointed scales, under which are
5 to 7 ovules. The cones are ovoid or broadly oblong, drooping, ripening and
shedding the seed the first or second season, but persisting on the tree for some
time; the scales are hard and woody, contracted or stalk-like at the base, enlarged
transversely at the apex, which is depressed in the middle and often provided with
a short central tip; the seeds are 5 to 7 under each scale, oblong or ovoid, com-
pressed, broadly thin-winged; embryo straight; endosperm fleshy; cotyledons 4 to 6.
The name is in commemoration of Sequoyah, a talented half-breed Cherokee
Indian, also called George Guess (i 770-1843), who devised the first Indian
(Cherokee) alphabet, the Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens (Lambert) Endlicher,
being the type of the genus :
Big Tree
Leaves awl -shaped and appressed; cones 5 to 8 cm. long.
Leaves mostly flat and spreading; cones 2.5 to 4 cm. long.
87
1. S. Washingtoniana.
2. 5. sempervirens.
I. BIG TREE — Sequoia Washingtoniana (Winslow) Sudworth
Taxodimn Washingtonianum Winslow. Wellingtonia gigantea Lindley
Sequoia gigantea Decaisne, not Endlicher. Sequoia Wellingtonia Seemann
This enormous tree is also called Sequoia, Giant sequoia, and Mammoth tree,
and is noteworthy for its size, massive trunk, and great age. It is confined to a
narrow belt about 250 miles long, along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains in California, at altitudes of from 1500 to 2500 meters, its northern Hmit
Fig. 66. — Big Tree.
being in Placer county, where only a few old trees occur; southward, to Tulare
county, however, trees of all ages and sizes occur, from seedHngs up to the ancient
monarch 5000 years old and nearly 100 meters tall, with a trunk over 10 meters
in diameter.
The trunk is swollen and often buttressed at the base, above which it is con-
siderably ridged and gradually tapering. The branches of young trees are crowded
from the ground up, slender and pendulous below ; toward the top they are more
upright, forming a stiff, narrow conic tree. On very large, old trees the branches
have disappeared for 30 meters or more, above which they are irregular and more
or less contorted,, forming a rounded, often picturesque head. The bark of old
trees is frequently 6 dm. thick, divided into broad plates often 1.5 m. wide, the sur-
88 The Sequoias
face covered with loose fibrous scales, light brownish red, often purphsh on the
outer surface; the bark of younger trees is very much thinner. The twigs are
stout, pendulous, the lateral ones much branched and flattened, densely clustered ;
they are dark bluish green; after the leaves fall they become somewhat scaly and
brownish red or purphsh. The leaves are lanceolate or ovate, 3 to 6 mm. long,
appressed-decurrent at the base, spreading at the sharp-pointed apex, concave
within, convex and ridged on the outer side ; on vigorous shoots they are more awl-
shaped, and often 12 mm. long. The staminate flowers are numerous and cover
the entire surroundings with their profuse yellowish pollen; they are about 6 mm.
long, and composed of 20 to 25 stamens. The pistillate flowers are oblong,
about 8 mm. long, consisting of 25 to 40 yellow keeled scales, each bearing 3 to 7
ovules. The cone is broadly oblong, 5 to 8 cm. long, 3.5 to 6 cm. wide, reddish
brown, opening but httle and changing very little in shape after shedding the seed;
the scales, 15 to 20 mm. long, are quite thick and woody, somewhat expanded
at the apex, deeply impressed and often provided with a minute reflexed bristle.
Seeds 3 to 7 under each scale, linear- lanceolate, 3 to 6 mm. long, flattened, Ught
brown, and surrounded by wings sHghtly broader than the body and notched at
the apex.
The wood is soft, weak and brittle, coarse-grained and bright red ; its specific
gravity is about 0.29. It is very durable, and is made into boards, shingles, and
fencing.
It is frequently cultivated in Europe, but while it grows very rapidly for a time,
it gives no promise of ever attaining the great size and age for which it is famous
in its home. In the eastern United States it is very unsatisfactory in cultivation,
cHmatic conditions being unsuited to its growth.
2. REDWOOD — Sequoia sempervirens (Lambert) Endlicher
Taxodium sempervirens Lambert. Sequoia gigantea Endlicher
This gigantic tree is also called Sequoia, Coast redwood, and California red-
wood, and occurs only in the coast region from southwestern Oregon to San Luis
Obispo county, California, probably never more than 25 miles from the coast and
not at greater elevations than about 1000 meters. Its maximum height is about
105 meters, with a trunk diameter of over 8 meters.
The trunk is much buttressed and swollen at the base, tapering upward, some-
what fluted, and usually devoid of branches for 20 meters or more. The branches
of younger trees are slender, curved downward below, but erect toward the top,
forming a slender open cone. The lower branches disappear before the tree reaches
full size, and the upper ones become stouter, forming a small irregular compact
head very much out of proportion to the tree's general massiveness. The bark is
1.5 to 3 dm. thick, the ridges often 6 to 9 dm. broad; it separates on the surface
into elongated narrow fibrous strips of a dark brown color, and often is broken
crosswise, exposing the lighter brownish red inner layers. The twigs are slender,
Redwood
89
widely spreading, light green, soon becoming dark green, and after the leaves
have fallen, brownish red and covered with thin scaly paper-like bark. The buds
are about 3 mm. long, and scaly. The leaves are linear, 6 to 20 mm. long, some-
what curved, 2-ranked, spreading at wide angles to the twigs by a twist of the
base, sharply stiff -pointed, decurrent at the tapering base, somewhat revolute on the
margin, dark green and
shining above, glaucous,
and with a prominent
midrib beneath; on young
twigs they are often many-
ranked and appressed or
ascending, somewhat
scale-Hke, often only about
6 mm. long. The stami-
nate flowers are ovoid, 3.5
mm. long, blunt, short-
stalked, composed of
about 12 stamens, their
connectives ovate, blunt
or pointed; the pistillate
flowers are oblong, about
8 mm. long, consisting of
15 to 25 ovate-orbicular,
curved, and pointed scales
concealing about 6 ovules.
The cones are oblong, 2.5
to 4 cm. long, reddish
brown, their scales open- ^^^- ^7- - R^^wood.
ing widely when shedding the seed, about 20 in number, obpyramidal, enlarged
above into an oblong disk 3 by 8 mm. across, grooved, with no bristle-like tip;
seeds 3 to 5 under each scale, oblong-lanceolate, about 1.5 mm. long, Hght brown,
the wings about as broad as the body.
The wood is soft, brittle, rather weak, close-grained, and light red; its specific
gravity is about 0.42. It is easy to spht and work, takes a fine polish, and is largely
sawed into lumber for general purposes and used in the eastern United States as
well as all over the West, and much exported ; also made into shingles, veneering,
telegraph poles, railroad ties, tanks, and barrels. The bark is used to stuff furni-
ture, and for articles such as pin cushions, and the burl turned into dishes.
Although largely lumbered this tree rapidly renews itself by the numerous vig-
orous sprouts that spring up from the stumps, and there appears to be no immediate
danger of its extermination, though it is ver)' desirable that large areas should be
preserved for the pubUc use.
This, one of the most magnificent North American coniferous trees, will not
90 The Bald Cypresses
exhibit its beauty in cultivation in the eastern States, as it does not thrive when
grown out of its fog-ladened native region ; it grows to great perfection in Europe.
VIII. THE BALD CYPRESSES
GENUS TAXODIUM L. C. RICHARD
[]NLY 3 species are known, somewhat resinous, deciduous-leaved trees of
temperate and warm regions, now confined to the eastern United
States and Mexico, but represented by fossil forms in the arctic regions
of Europe and North America.
They have alternate, spirally arranged leaves, which often appear as if 2-ranked.
All the leaves and some of the lateral twigs are deciduous in the autumn. The
leaf-buds are minute, scaly. The flowers are monoecious, opening in the spring
before the leaves appear, from buds formed the previous autumn, or sometimes
they open in the autumn. The staminate, which are very profusely borne in
terminal, long, pendulous panicled spikes, are globose, subtended by numerous
imbricated scales, above which the stamens are raised on a short stalk; the fila-
ments are very short, the large yellow connectives broadly ovate, and on them
several globose anther-cells are borne. The pistillate flowers are in small terminal
clusters, borne near the ends of the twigs of the previous season, sub-globose, com-
posed of crowded, thick ovate scales, each conceaHng 2 ovules. The fruit is a
globose or short-oblong cone, ripening the first season, but persisting for a short
time after shedding the seed, composed of several short-stalked, thick, woody,
shield-Hke scales, each with a triangular scar; seeds 2 under each scale, erect,
sharply but unequally triangular, leathery, shining, and irregularly 3-winged; coty-
ledons 6 to 9.
These trees have the pecuharity of forming upright projections from the roots
when growing in water; these are called cypress knees. The name is Greek, in
allusion to the yew-Hke leaves of the type species, T. distichum (L.) L, C. Richard.
One species, Taxodium mucronatum Tenore, the Mexican Bald Cypress, occurs
in northeastern Mexico near our southern boundary.
Leaves 2-ranked, widely spreading; twigs elongated; bark thin, rather
smooth. 1. T. distichum.
Leaves closely appressed; twigs appressed, bark thick, deeply furrowed. 2. T. ascendens.
I. BALD CYPRESS — Taxodium distichum (Linnaeus) L. C. Richard
Cupressus disticha Linnaeus
This large tree of our southern States is also called Black cypress, Red cypress.
White cypress, and Deciduous cypress. It is confined to the coastal region from
southern Delaware to Florida, westward, near the Gulf, to Texas, and up the
Mississippi valley to Missouri and Indiana, often forming great forests in swamps
Pond Cypress
91
and along rivers and streams. Its maximum height is about 50 meters, with a
trunk diameter of 4 m. above the enlarged, often hollow, base.
The trunk is prominently fluted below and tapers to the top; the bark is
about 2.5 cm, thick, rather smooth and brownish red. The branches are short,
rather slender, widely spreading and forked,
forming a conic tree; the lower branches dis-
appear from old trees, or some become elon-
gated and drooping or wide-spreading, forming
a grotesque, irregular head often 30 meters
across, or in the crowded forest the top is ex-
ceedingly narrow. The twigs are slender, pale
green, becoming Hght reddish brown and some-
what shining, and finally darker and covered
with scaly bark. The leaves are thin and flat,
mostly 2-ranked, linear, i to 2 cm. long, often
curved, sharp-pointed, sessile, light yellowish
green on both sides or slightly whitish beneath ;
they turn brown in the fall and, with the lat-
eral twigs, fall off. The staminate flowers are
in drooping panicles i to 1.5 dm. long, i to 2
mm. in diameter and purplish. The pistillate flowers in the axils of the leaves,
are globose, 3 mm. in diameter. The cones, usually in pairs at the ends of the
branches, are globose, about 2.5 cm. in diameter, wrinkled, the scales closely
fitting together by their edges. The seed is 8 to 10 mm. long.
The wood is soft, rather weak, close, and straight-grained, variable in color
from light to dark brown; its specific gravity is about 0.45. It is very durable and
easy to work, being largely used in general carpentry, and is the most desirable
wood for greenhouse or conservatory construction. Lumbermen recognize a
"white" and "black" cypress lumber; the latter is said to be the most durable
and hardest; it is taken from the base of the tree. A resin obtained, especially
from the cones, is used in the South as a heahng application to wounds.
This tree has been in cultivation for a long time, especially in Europe, where
specimens reputed to be 150 years old occur. It is hardy as far north as Massa-
chusetts, but is not seen in cultivation as often as it de&erves to be.
Fig. 68. — Bald Cypress'. _
■■<*»■
2. POND Cy PRESS — Taxodium ascendens Brongniart
Cupressus distkha imbricaria Nuttall. Glyptostrobns pendidus Endlicher
Taxodium imbricarum (Nuttall) Harper
This tree, which is considered by some to be only a variety of the former species,
is rather smaller. Its enlarged base is more conic, and it grows mostly in ponds
in the pine lands from Dismal swamp, Virginia, to Florida and Alabama, usually
over clay. Its maximum height is 25 meters, with a trunk diameter of i m.
92
Incense Cedar
The trunk is enlarged at the base to two or three times its normal diameter,
above which it is shallowly
fluted and tapering. The
bark is 5 cm. thick, deeply
furrowed into coarse
ridges which are some-
what scaly, fibrous, and
Hght brown. The twigs
are slender, usually nearly
erect, light green, becom-
ing reddish brown and
shining; the lateral twigs
are often 15 to 18 cm.
The leaves are
long
closely appressed, awl-
shaped, 5 to 10 mm. long,
long-pointed, keeled
above, concave beneath,
somewhat spreading at
the apex. The flowers
and fruit are very similar
to those of the foregoing
species.
The wood of the Pond
cypress is said to be
heavier and stronger than
that of the Bald cypress. It has been in cultivation for many years, especially
in Europe, where it has passed as a native of Asia under the name of Glyptostrohus
pendulus EndHcher.
Young shoots from the base of the tree often bear the linear spreading leaves
of Taxodium distichum, indicating their ancestral affinity.
Fig. 69. — Pond Cypress.
IX. INCENSE CEDAR
GENUS HEYDERIA K. KOCH
SPECIES Heyderia decurrens (TORREY) K. KOCH
Libocebrus decurrens Torrey
MAGNIFICENT evergreen tree occurring in a variety of soils and
situations, from Oregon southward through CaHfomia, east into
Nevada, and beyond our area into Lower California, usually at alti-
tudes of from 900 to 1800 meters. It attains a maximum height of
45 meters, with a trunk diameter of 2.4 m.
Incense Cedar
93
The trunk is tall and straight, broadly and irregularly lobed at the base, from
which it gradually tapers. The branches are slender, somewhat pendulous below,
but erect toward the top, forming a narrow, open head. Very old trees are more
or less irregularly outhned, owing to the abnormal development of some of the
branches. The bark is about 2 cm. thick, irregularly furrowed into close, scaly
ridges of a bright red-brown color. The twigs are rather stout, somewhat flattened,
yellowish green, soon becoming round, brown, or purplish brown, and marked
with circular scars; the lateral twigs are flattened, and fall off after two or three
years. The leaves are in whorls of 4, scale-Uke, oblong or obovate, decurrent,
and closely joined to the twigs except at the thickened sharp-pointed apex; the
lateral ones are glandular and keeled, the inner are much compressed and almost
covered by the lateral;
on the leading twigs
they are about i cm.
long, those on the
smaller twigs only about
one third as long. The
flowers, appearing about
the end of January, are
monoecious, the two
kinds occurring at the
tips of short, lateral
twigs, but on different
branchlets, the stami-
nate in great profusion,
often giving the tree a
golden aspect; they are
nearly sessile, ovoid, 5
mm. long, consisting of
12 to 15 stamens with
Fig. 70. — Incense Cedar.
short, stout filaments and broad yellow connectives. The pistiUate flowers are
subglobose to oblong, about 3 mm. long, subtended by several pairs of broadly
ovate acute scales, which remain at the base of the fmit, which ripens and drops
its seed in the autumn of the same season but persists until the next spring.'
The cones are drooping, oblong, 18 to 25 mm. long, somewhat obHque at the base,
light reddish brown, composed of 3 pairs of opposite scales, the lower ovate, acute,
recurved, and about one third the length of the entire cone; the second or inner
scales are ovate-oblong, woody, shghtly convex, nearly as long as the entire cone
and about 8 mm. wide, spreading from the flat, woody axis formed by the fusion
of the upper scales. The seeds, of which there are 2 under each of the middle
scales, are oblong- lanceolate, 8 to 12 mm. long, with membranaceous, light brown,
oblique wings; there are only 2 cotyledons and the endosperm ^s fleshy.
The wood of the Incense cedar is soft, weak, close-grained, and light reddish
94
The Arbor-Vitaes
brown; its specific gravity is about 0.40. It is very durable and is used for fencing,
general carpentr}% furniture, laths, and shingles.
The genus is composed of this species and one of China. It is named in
honor of Edward Heyder, a German botanist and horticulturist. This tree is also
called Bastard cedar, Cahfomia post cedar. White cedar, Red cedar. Cedar, Post
cedar, and Juniper. The genus Libocedrus, to which it has been referred, is ChiUan
and Australasian.
X. THE ARBOR-VITiES
GENUS THUJA [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
HIS genus includes 4 known species of aromatic sHghtly resinous ever-
green trees or shrubs of northern North America and northeastern
Asia, and is represented in Greenland and Europe by several fossil
forms. The wood is of considerable value as furnishing very desir-
able lumber and the bark is valued as a tanning material. The leaves and twigs
possess stimulant properties, due in part to a volatile oil. But they are best known
as ornamental trees.
They have opposite, scale-hke, imbricated leaves, which are 4-ranked, sharp-
pointed, and awl-shaped on the larger twigs, blunt on the younger, more or less
keeled on the back. The flowers are monoecious, appearing in early spring, small
and soUtary, terminal, from buds formed the previous season, the two kinds usually
on different twigs. The staminate flowers are ovoid or globose, 4 to 6 mm.
long, the stamens alternately opposite, their filaments short, with peltate connec-
tives, the anthers 2-valved, opening lengthwise. The pistillate flowers are ovoid
or oblong, composed of 8 to 12 opposite scales bearing 2 ovules or rarely more.
The fruit is a small cone which ripens the first autumn; it is erect or nearly so,
ovoid to oblong, pale brown ; the few scales are thin, not shining, slightly thick-
ened near the apex; the middle ones are the largest and are fertile, bearing 2 seeds
or rarely more, which are erect, more or less woody, oblong, flattened, sharp-
pointed, Hght brown with lighter colored broad lateral wings, not joined at the
apex, but blunt-pointed.
The name is the ancient one for some evergreen tree; Thuja occidentalis is
the type species:
Eastern tree; wood yellow-brown; cone-scales minutely tipped. i. T. occidentalis.
Western tree; wood reddish-brown; cone-scales bristle-tipped. 2. T. plicata.
I. AMERICAN ARBOR-VIT.E — Thuja occidentalis Linnaeus
The American arbor-vitse, or White Cedar, as it is also called, is a moisture-
loving tree, occurring in swamps and low, wet forests to the exclusion of other
trees, also along rocky streams, from New Brunswick to Manitoba, southward to
New Jersey and Mirmesota, extending, in the Alleghanies, to North Carolina and
American Arbor-Vitae
95
Teijnessee. Its maximum height is 22 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.6 meters.
Sometimes, however, it is only a shrub.
The trunk is often fluted and much buttressed at the base, and frequently
divided into several smaller upright trunks. The branches are horizontal, short,
more or less curved upward toward the ends, forming a dense, narrow, cone-
shaped tree. The bark is about 6 mm. thick, shallowly fissured into long, narrow
ridges, which peel off into long fibrous persistent shreds of a Hght yellowish or
reddish brown color. The twigs are flattened, somewhat 4-sided, sometimes zig-
zag, light yellowish green, changing to hght reddish brown, and finally darker
brown, and become round and marked by the scars of the fallen lateral twigs,
which are pendulous and fall away after having become about i dm, long. The
leaves are yellowish green, scale-hke, ovate to lanceolate, 6 mm. long, sharply
pointed at the apex, and glandular on the back, on the larger twigs; on the lateral
twigs they are much smaller, scarcely glandular, the lateral rows much keeled, the
others flattened, giving the twigs a very flat appearance. The flowers, appearing
from April to June, are about 1.5 mm. long,
and pinkish. The cones ripen in the au-
tumn, and shed their seed, but persist dur-
ing the winter; they are oblong, 8 to 12 mm.
long. The scales are leathery, oblong,
blunt-pointed, or minutely tipped, the inner
having 2 seeds, the outer often but i seed
or none. The seeds are oblong, about 6
nmi. long; their wings about as wide as the
body, appearing notched at the apex.
The wood is soft, brittle, rather coarse-
grained, hght yellowish brown, and fra-
grant; its specific gravity is about 0.32. It
is very durable, and is largely used at the
North for railroad ties, fence-posts, and
shingles. The sapwood is easily separated
into thin strips, which are used by the
Indians in their basketry, and is also made into brooms ; preparations of the green
twigs are used in medicine.
As an ornamental plant it is well known in northern North America and in
Europe, especially used for hedges and cemetery ornamentation, and having been
long in cultivation, a great many forms have been developed that are now known
under many different names.
Fig. 71. — American Arbor-Vitae.
96
The Arbor-Vitaes
2. CANOE CEDAR — Thuja plicata D. Don
Thuja gigantea Nuttall
A noble tree of the moist bottom lands or stream-banks of the Northwest,
where it grows in small groves or as individual specimens, not forming extensive
forests by itself. Sometimes on dryish mountain sides, where it ascends to an alti-
tude of 1800 meters, it is reduced to a shrub. It is known from Alaska to central
California, eastward to the western slope of the Rocky Mountains of Idaho and
Montana. Its maximum height is 75 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.8 m.
above the broad buttressed base.
The trunk is tall, straight, and slender, with immense buttresses sometimes
5 m. across, above which it tapers gradually. The branches are mostly short,
horizontal, with drooping ends, often clothing the trunk from base to apex, form-
ing a dense, narrowly conic tree. The bark is 12 to 18 mm. thick, irregularly
and shallowly fissured into broad, rounded ridges, and separates into long, nar-
row, fibrous shreds of a bright brownish red color. The twigs are 4-sided, much
flattened, sometimes zigzag, light
yellowish green at first, becoming
reddish brown, and finally often
purplish and shining. Most of the
lateral twigs fall off after becoming
two or three years old. The leaves
are bright green and shining, ovate,
about 6 mm. long, long-pointed,
and glandular on the back, those
on the lateral twigs half as long,
ovate, short-pointed, and scarcely
glandular. The flowers are brown-
ish and about 2 mm. long. The
cones, which ripen in early autumn,
are near the ends of the branches,
in small clusters, 12 to 18 mm.
long; their scales are leathery,
thick-tipped, often with a stout,
short bristle. The seeds are borne
under several of the central scales.
Fig. 72. — Canoe Cedar.
2 or sometimes 3 under each; they are about 6 mm. long; their wings project
beyond the apex of the seed, and are divergent at the apex.
The wood of the Canoe cedar is soft, rather weak, brittle, and coarse-grained,
red-brown, with a specific gravity of about 0.38. It is very durable, and is used
for general building purposes, fence-posts, furniture, in cooperage, and for tele-
graph poles. The northwestern Indians used it for their dug-out canoes and
totem poles; they also make the inner bark into ropes, blankets, and thatch. As
The Cypresses 97
an ornament it is well known in Europe and in the eastern States. A dwarf form
is also known in cultivation. It is also called Pacific arbor-vita;, Arbor- vitae, Lobb's
Arbor-vitae, Pacific red cedar, Red cedar. Gigantic red cedar. Gigantic cedar,
Western cedar, and Shinglewood.
XI. THE CYPRESSES
GENUS CUPRESSUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
UPRESSUS comprises about 12 species of scaly- leaved evergreen trees
or shrubs with naked buds, natives of western North America, Mexico,
southern Europe, and Asia.
They have opposite, paired leaves, taper-pointed, blunt or rarely
rounded at the apex, the tips spreading or appressed ; they are rounded and some-
times glandular on the back, turn brown and become thick before falling; on vig-
orous twigs and young plants they are longer, narrower, and sometimes spreading.
Their monoecious flowers are borne at the ends of the twigs, the two kinds being on
different branchlets; the staminate flowers are generally oblong, composed of many
yellow opposite stamens, their filaments short, the connectives mostly broader than
long, anther-cells 2 to 6, nearly globular; the pistillate flowers are ovoid to nearly
globular, with 5 to 10 opposite scales bearing many ovules. Cones globose, ripen-
ing and shedding the seed the second year, after which they remain on the branches
for some time; they are composed of a few thickened scales which are abruptly
enlarged and flattened at the apex, with a thickened pyramidal projection; the
seeds are numerous, erect, borne under the cone scales; they are thick, sharply
angular, somew^hat flattened, their wings thin; cotyledons 2 to 4.
These trees are very resinous, and some species furnish close, durable, fragrant
woods. As ornamental trees or shrubs they are frequently planted, especially, in
warm regions; the old world Cypress, Cupressus sempervirens Linneeus, is the type
of the genus. The generic name is Greek.
In our area they are confined to the states of California and Arizona. One
species occurs in Lower California and two or three others in Mexico.
m
Leaves dark green, not glaucous, or but slightly so.
Leaves glandless or but obscurely glandular.
Fruit 2.5 to 3.5 cm long. i. C. macrocarpa.
Fruit 1.5 to 2 cm. long.
Twigs slender; seed light brown. 2. C. Goveniana
Twigs stout; seed black. 3. C. Pygmaa.
Leaves with a distinct gland on the back. 4- C. Macnabiana.
Leaves pale, glaucous, not glandular or obscurely so. 5. C. arizonica.
98
The Cypresses
I. MONTEREY CYPRESS — Cupressus macrocarpa Hartweg
Cupressus Hartwegi Carriere
This very local tree is confined to a narrow strip of coast land, only several
miles long, near Monterey bay, California, where it thrives under the most severe
exposure and attains a maximum height of 21 meters, with a trunk diameter of
about 2 meters.
The trunk is short. The branches of young trees are. slender and quite erect,
forming a compact conic tree; on old trees they are often much contorted, form-
ing broad, picturesque, flat-topped heads. The bark is 18 to 25 mm. thick,
irregularly divided into more or less connected broad and low ridges, which
readily split up into close long nar-
row scales. The younger bark is
dark reddish brown, but on old
trunks it is grayish white. The twigs
are stout, becoming reddish brown
and scaly after the leaves fall from
them. The leaves are dark green,
broadly ovate, 2 mm. long, closely
appressed, or somewhat spreading at
the pointed apex, thickened, slightly
glandular-pitted and longitudinally
furrowed on the back; on young,
spreading twigs they are needle-
shaped, stiff, about 10 mm. long.
The flowers, opening in February or
March, are very numerous and yel-
low, the staminate oblong, 4-sided, 3
mm. long, composed of 6 to 8 sta-
mens, the connective nearly round,
with 4 to 6 pollen sacs. The pistillate
flowers are oblong, 3 mm. long, their
Fig. 73. - Monterey Cypress. g^^j^g g^arp and spreading. The
cones are in clusters, short-stalked, nearly globular or a httle longer than thick, 2.5
to 3.5 cm. long, hght brown, composed of 8 to 12 scales with short thick central
projections; seeds crowded under the fertile scales, each of which bears about 20;
they are angular, bright brown, about 3 mm. long.
The wood is hard and strong, but rather brittle, close-grained, Hght brown,
or yellowish brown, with a satiny luster; its specific gravity is about 0.63.
It takes a fine poHsh and is very durable.
This tree is much planted, for ornament, in the West, stands chpping well,
thus making a very desirable hedge and wind-break; it is also popular in the
southern States, and is well known in Europe.
Gowen Cypress
99
2. GOWEN CYPRESS — Cupressus Goveniana Gordon
This handsome tree occurs sparingly in western Cahfornia from Mendocino
county southward to San Diego county, often reaching an altitude of 900 meters
in mountain canons. It is very variable, from a vigorous tree 15 meters high,
with a trunk diameter of 6 dm., to a small shrub. It is also called Mountain
cypress and North coast cypress.
The trunk is short and much branched. The branches are slender, the lower
spreading, forming an open head. The bark is 6 to 12 mm. thick, irregularly
broken into nearly flat, low^ ridges, which split up into persistent oblong, dark red-
dish brown scales; the inner bark
is much hghter in color. The
twigs are slender, smooth, orange
brown, becoming reddish brown
or often purpHsh, but finally
grayish. The leaves are dark
green, ovate, 1.5 to 3 mm. long,
sharp or rounded, closely ap-
pressed, faintly glandular pitted
or glandless. On young, vigor-
ous plants or on strong shoots the
leaves are more spreading, needle-
Hke, and twice as long. The
flowers, which open in early
spring, are yellow, the staminate
oblong, 4-sided, 3 or 4 mm. long,
composed of 6 to 8 stamens, their
connectives peltate and somewhat
broader than long; the pistillate
flowers are 3 mm. long, their
scales sharp-pointed and somewhat spreading. The cones are nearly globular or
short-oblong, 1.5 to 2 cm. in diameter, reddish brown or purpHsh, and shining,
composed of 6 to 8 scales with blunt or sometimes sharp-pointed low and broad
central projections. The seeds, usually about 20 on each fertile scale, are Hght
brown and shining, irregularly 4-angled, and about 3 mm. long.
The wood is soft, brittle, and weak, close-grained and Hght brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.47.
It is seldom cuhivated in America, but in Europe is known in several garden
forms.
Fig. 74. — Gowen Cypress.
100
The Cypresses
3. MENDOCINO CYPRESS — Cupressus pygmaea (Lemmon) Sargent
Cupressiis Goveniana pygmcca Lemmon
This very local tree is known only in a small sandy, fire-swept barren near
the coast of Mendocino county, CaHfomia, where it occurs in very crowded
thickets as a shrub, fruiting when scarcely i meter tall, but in protected places
and the margins of ravines it becomes a tree 9 meters high, with a trunk diameter
of 3 dm.
The trunk is short ; the branches are rather stout and upright. The bark is
about 6 mm. thick, shallowly fissured into fiat ridges, separating on the surface
into long, narrow scales. The twigs are
ascending, comparatively stout, bright
reddish brown, becoming purpHsh, and
finally reddish brown. The leaves are
dark green, ovate, sharp-pointed, 1.5 to
3 mm. long, appressed, spreading at the
sharp-pointed apex, thickened and with-
out glands on the back; on young or
vigorous twigs they are taper-pointed.
The staminate flowers are sHghtly
4-angled, the stamens with broad peltate
connectives. The pistillate flowers are
composed of 6 to 10 spreading ovate-
oblong scales. The cone is usually ses-
sile, globose-oblong, 12 to 20 mm. long,
dull grayish brown, composed of 6 to 10
Fig. 75. — Mendocino Cypress. gcales, their nearly flat tops with a small
projection; seeds black, compressed, about 3 mm. long.
The wood is soft, coarse-grained, and brown.
4. MACNAB CYPRESS — Cupressus Macnabiana A. Murray
Cupressus Nabiana Masters
This, one of the most local CaHfomia trees, is known only from dry hills and
mountain slopes in the northern part of that state. Its maximum height is 9
meters, with a trunk diameter of 4 dm.; often, however, it is a many stemmed
shrub, about 3 meters tall.
The trunk is short, the branches more or less crooked, forming an irregular
tree. The bark is thin and somewhat regularly broken into broad, fiat, connected
ridges of a dark reddish brown color, the surface separating into long, thin, per-
sistent scales. The twigs are slender, smooth, Hght purplish red, becoming dark
brown. The leaves are dark green, ovate, about 1.5 mm. long, tightly appressed,
rounded or sharp-pointed at the apex, convex and glandular on the back : on vig-
Arizona Cypress
lOI
Fig. 76. — Macnab Cypress.
orous twigs they are long-pointed and more spreading. The flowers open in the
early spring; the staminate are
oblong-cyHndric, blunt, and about
2.5 mm. long, composed of about
12 stamens, their connectives
broader than long, and peltate.
The pistillate flowers are nearly
globular, 1.5 mm. long, their
scales ovate. The cones are
short-oblong or nearly globular,
18 to 25 mm. long, nearly ses-
sile or short-stalked, dark brown,
usually somewhat glaucous, com-
posed of 6 or 8 scales, the lower
ones having thin, prominent
projections. The seeds are flat-
tened, scarcely 1.5 mm. long,
dark brown, narrowly winged.
The wood is soft, close-grained, and brown; its specific gravity is about 0.56.
The tree is sparingly cultivated in European gardens; it is also called Fragrant
cypress, Shasta cypress, Macnab's cy-
press, Cahfomia mountain cypress,
White cedar, and Cypress.
5. ARIZONA CYPRESS
Cupressiis arizonica Greene
Cupressus guadaliipensis Sargent, not
S. Watson
This tree occurs in the mountains
of Arizona, and in adjacent Mexico,
usually at altitudes of from 1500 to
2400 meters. Its maximum height is
about 21 meters, with a trunk diame-
ter of 1.2 meters. It is also called
Red-barked cypress, and Arizona red-
barked cypress, and is readily dis-
tinguishable from the other American
cypresses by its pale green foHagc.
The branches are horizontal, form-
ing narrowlv conic or sometimes broad
heads. The old bark is thin, dark red
or brown, separating into long shreds
Fig. '^7. — Arizona Cypress.
102 The Ground Cypresses
which persist for many years; that of younger stems separates into irregular scales,
which expose the bright reddish inner layers on falling. The twigs are stout, be-
coming smooth, Ught reddish brown, and somewhat glaucous. The leaves are pale
green and glaucous, ovate, about 3 mm. long, tightly appressed, or sHghtly spread-
ing at the sharp-pointed apex, thickened, and usually without glands, sometimes
faintly glandular on the back. The staminate flowers are oblong, about 5 mm.
long, blunt at the apex; the 6 or 8 stamens have broad yellow connectives. The
stout-stalked cones are subglobose, about 2 cm. long, reddish brown, densely glau-
cous, composed of 6 to 8 scales tipped with stout, often incur\'ed, projections; the
seeds are oblong to nearly triangular, 1.5 to 3 mm. long, brown, narrowly winged.
The wood is soft, close-grained, grayish, with yellow streaks; its specific gravity
is about 0.48. It is used locally for fuel and in construction.
Cupressus guadalupensis S. Watson, with which this tree has been confused,
inhabits Lower California.
XII. THE GROUND CYPRESSES
CHAMiECYPARIS SPACH
HAMi^^CYPARIS consists of about 6 species of evergreen trees or
shrubs now growing along the eastern and western coasts of North
America, in Japan and Formosa, but fossil representatives are reported
from Greenland and southern Europe.
The leaves are in opposite pairs, scale-hke, ovate, taper-pointed, the tips
spreading, or appressed; on sterile branches and on young plants they are longer,
linear- lanceolate, and spreading. The flowers are monoecious, small, and borne
at the ends of the twigs, the two kinds on different branchlets. The staminate
flowers are oblong, consisting of numerous stamens, their filaments stout, with
connectives that are broader than long, usually covering 2 nearly globular
anther-cells; the pistillate flowers are oblong, consisting of about 6 opposite,
peltate, fertile scales bearing 2 to 5 erect ovules, and one or more pairs of sterile
scales at the base and apex. The fruit is a small globose cone, ripening the first
season and remaining on the branches for some time, formed only of the enlarged
ovule-bearing scales of the pistillate flower; the scales are abruptly enlarged, and
rounded, flattened or depressed at the apex, and marked by a short, central pointed
projection. Seeds i to 5 under each cone-scale, ovate to ovate-oblong, the outer
coating papery, the inner hard; they have two broad wings and 2 cotyledons.
The great variety of plume-like evergreens cultivated under the name of
Retinospora are of this genus and belong to the Japanese species ohtusa and pisijera.
The name is Greek, meaning ground cypress, the type species being C. thyoides.
Eastern swamp tree; twigs slender, flattened. i. C. thyoides.
Western trees.
Twigs stout, scarcely flattened; leaves glandless or obscurely glandular. 2. C. nootkatensis.
Twigs slender, flattened; leaves distinctly glandular. 3. C. Lawsoniana.
White Cedar
103
I. WHITE CEDAR — Chamaecypaxis thyoides (Linnaeus) B. S. P.
Ciipressiis thyoides Linnaeus. ChamcBcyparis splmroidea Spach
Probably the most beautiful of our eastern cone-bearing trees, this occurs in
swamps and \ery wet woods from southern Maine near the Atlantic and Gulf
coasts to western Mississippi, often standing in i meter of water, sometimes forming
pure forests. Its maximum height is 24 meters, with a trunk diameter of about
1.2 meters. It is also called Swamp cedar and Juniper.
Fig. 78. — White Cedar, southern New Jersey.
The trunk is tall and straight; the slender horizontally spreading branches
form a narrowly conic tree. The bark is about 2 cm. thick, irregularly furrowed
into narrow flatfish, ridges which separate into long reddish brown, fibrous scales.
The twigs are flattish, light green, becoming round, reddish brown, and finally
dark brown. The leaves are bluish green, dull, scale-Hke, ovate, i to 2 mm. long,
4-ranked, imbricated, sharp-pointed, keeled, closely appressed, except on young or
vigorous twigs, where they are awl-shaped with spreading tips; they bear a small
but distinct gland on the back; they turn reddish brown after two years, but re-
main on the branchlets for several years longer; those of seedlings are linear,
sharply pointed, spreading, 5 or 6 mm. long. The flowers appear in March or
April; the staminate are oblong, 2 to 3 mm. long, their 10 to 12 stamens with
broad ovate connectives; the pistillate flowers are about 2 mm. in diameter, of a
reddish color and have about 6 sharp-pointed ovate spreading fertile scales each
104
The Ground Cypresses
usually bearing 2 ovules. The cones arc
globose, 5 to 7 mm. in diameter, sessile or
nearly so, bluish purple and ver}' glaucous
when young, turning red-brown; the scales
are flattish or somewhat sunken at the top
and bear a short conic tip. Seeds i or 2
under each fertile scale, ovate, pointed at the
apex, obtuse at the base, about 2 mm. long,
compressed, their wings as broad as the seed-
body or narrower.
The wood is soft, rather weak, close-
grained, hght reddish brown, becoming darker
with age; its specific gravity is about 0.33. It
is very durable, easily worked, and is much
used in cooperage and general carpentn.-, for
boats, shingles, posts and railroad ties. This
durable and valuable wood is dug out of swamps, especially in southern New
Jersey.
Fig. 79. — White Cedar.
2. SITKA CYPRESS — Chamaec3T)aris nootkatensis (Lambert) Spach
Cupressus nootkatensis Lambert
A tall slender tree occurring from Alaska southward through British Co-
lumbia and Washington
to Oregon. At the north
it occurs at sea level,
southward it is found at
higher elevations up to
1200 meters, where it is
often reduced to shrub-
by forms. Its maximum
height is 36 meters, with
a trunk diameter of 1.8
m.
The tiTink is tall and
straight, its branches
spreading, forming a
narrowly conic tree.
The bark is 1 2 to 18 mm.
thick, irregularly fur-
rowed into brownish
Fig. 80. — Sitka Cypress.
gray ridges, their surface separating into thin scales, and exposing a bright brown-
Port Orford Cedar
105
ish inner bark. The twigs are rather stout, nearly round, slightly flattened, hght
yellow or reddish, becoming red-brown after the leaves fall, and finally grayish.
The leaves are dull bluish green, ovate, 3 mm. long, long-pointed, without glands
or faintly glandular-pitted on the back, closely appressed, except on young or vig-
orous twigs, where they are larger, spreading, and more pointed; they dry after
about two years, but remain upon the branches for another year. The flowers,
which open in early spring, or at high altitudes in summer, are at the ends of
small twigs; the staminate are oblong, about 5 mm. long, composed of 8 to 10 sta-
mens, with hght yellow, broadly ovate connectives; the pistillate flowers are of a
light reddish color, 1.5 mm. long, composed of ovate sharp-pointed scales, the fer-
tile scales with 2 to 4 ovules. The cone, which ripens in early autumn is sub-
globose, about 12 mm. in diameter, dark red-brown, glaucous, and consists of 4 to
6 scales, each tipped with a stout conic projection and bearing 2 to 4 seeds; these
are ovate, 6 mm. long, sharp-pointed, somewhat flattened, of a reddish brown
color, the wings lighter colored, sometimes twice as wide as the body.
The wood is hard, rather brittle, very close-grained, yellow, satiny, and aro-
matic; the specific gravity is about 0.48. It is very durable, easy to work, and is
used in boat-building, cabinet work, and has been exported to Asia for use
instead of satinwood.
It is much cultivated in Europe and to some extent in the United States;
a number of horticultural varieties are now known. In cultivation it is fre-
quently known under the name Thujopsis borealis Carriere. Yellow cypress.
Yellow cedar, Nootka cypress, Nootka sound cypress, Alaska ground cypress, and
Alaska cypress are common names for this tree.
3. PORT ORFORD CEDAR — Chamsecyparis Lawsoniana (A. Murray)
Parlatore
Cupressus Lawsoniana A. Murray
This, the tallest of the Ground cypresses, is an inhabitant of sandy ridges
on the coast, and of mountain sides from sea level to an altitude of 1500 meters
in southwestern Oregon and northern Cahfomia. Its maximum height is 60 me-
ters, with a trunk diameter of 3.6 m. above the abruptly enlarged base. It is also
called Oregon cedar. White cedar, Lawson's cypress, and Ginger pine.
The trunk is much swollen at the base, but narrower immediately above it,
tall and straight. The branches are horizontal, or somewhat drooping, forming
a narrow, conic head. The bark of old trees is up to 2.5 dm. thick, one-third
less thick on smaller stems, furrowed into rounded ridges, the surface separating
into small, irregular scales of a reddish brown color; on very young trees and
branches it is thin and nearly smooth. The twigs are slender, flattened, and pale
green, becoming round and reddish or brown. The leaves are light green, ovate,
appressed, 1.5 mm. long, sharp-pointed, with a distinct gland on the back; on
young or vigorous twigs they are several times larger, often spreading at the apex
io6
The Junipers
and long- pointed; they turn red-brown and become dry after about three years.
The flowers open in spring; the staminate are oblong, with about 12 stamens, their
broad connectives red; the pistillate flowers are darker in color and composed of
several ovate spreading, pointed scales each bearing about four ovules. The cones,
which ripen in the first
autumn, are abundantly pro-
duced on the upper twigs;
they are globose, about 10
mm. in diameter, reddish
brown, more or less glau-
cous, composed of 8 or 10
scales with a ridged flattish
or sunken apex tipped with
a short sharp conic projec-
tion; the seeds, of which
there are 2 to 4 under each
scale, are ovate, 3 mm. long,
slightly flattened, sharp-
^.^ pointed, light brown, and
^*^^ broadly winged.
f.^i'f^V I^W '^^^ wood is hard and
*4 %^ \ strong, clear-grained, resi-
nous and satiny, pale yellow
to nearly white; its specific
gravity is about 0.46; it is very durable, easily worked, and takes a good polish,
and is largely used for interior finish of buildings and ships, also for fences, rail-
road ties, posts, and matches. The resin is strongly diuretic and is also used as
an insecticide.
As an ornamental plant it is well known on the Pacific slope, and in Europe,
but it does not thrive well in the eastern States.
Fig. 81. — Port Orford Cedar.
XIII. THE JUNIPERS
GENUS JUNIPERUS (TOURNEFORT) LINN^US
UNIPERS are mostly scaly-leaved, evergreen trees or shrubs of the
northern hemisphere, throughout which they are widely distributed
from the arctic circle southward to the West Indies, the Canary
islands, and the mountains of northern Africa, China and Japan.
About 40 species are known, of which 12 arborescent and about 4 shrubby species
occur in our area. They are of economic importance on account of the soft aro-
matic wood, which is greatly valued, especially in the manufacture of lead-pencils.
The bark is rich in tannic acid and is used in tanning leather. The volatile oil,
The Junipers 107
distilled from the fruit of some species, known as oil of juniper berries, is aromatic,
stimulant and diuretic, while spirits distilled with or through the berries of the
common Juniper constitutes the gin of commerce. The berries are also used in
medicine; a tar is made by the destructive distillation of the wood of Juniperus
Oxycedrus Linnaeus, of Europe, known in the drug trade as oil of cade. The
fleshy fruit of Juniperus drupacea Labillardiere, of Greece and Syria, is succulent
and edible. Some of the species and many of their horticultural varieties and
forms are much esteemed for decorative planting.
They have opposite or verticillate, sessile, awl-shaped, or scale-hke leaves,
usually of two kinds; the leaf- buds are scaly or naked. The flowers are dioecious
or monoecious, very small, terminal or axillary, globose to oblong. The staminate
ones are composed of a slender axis with several opposite or temate stamens
with short filaments; their connectives are entire or slightly toothed, yellow, ovate
or broader than long, bearing from 2 to 6 oblong, 2-valved anther-cells opening
lengthwise. The pistillate flowers are composed of a few mostly opposite ovate,
fleshy scales, each bearing i or rarely 2 erect ovules, subtended by many scale-
like bracts which persist at the base of the usually globular fruit. The fruit is
a short stalked cone, berr)'-like in many species, formed by the fusion of the
scales of the pistillate flower, requiring one, two, or three years to mature; it is
black, blue, or reddish in color, often with a bluish bloom, smooth, or roughened
by the projecting tips of the scales. The flesh is juicy, resinous and glandular,
or in some species sweet, and nearly dry; seeds solitary to several, ovoid, sharp
or blunt-pointed, round or angled, often grooved lengthwise, wingless, smooth or
rough; endosperm fleshy; embr}^o straight; cotyledons 2 to 6.
The name is the ancient name of the Juniper, the type species being Juniperus
communis Linnaeus.
Flowers axillary; leaves narrowly linear-lanceolate and prickle-pointed.
[True Juniperus.^ i. /. communis.
Flowers terminal; leaves of two kinds, scale-like and awl-shaped. [Genus
Sabina.]
Fruit reddish brown, at least when old, dry, and fibrous.
Seeds solitary or few; cotyledons 4 to 6.
Leaves glandular.
Seed 6 to 8 mm. long, not grooved or but little; California tree. 2. /. calijornica.
Seed 4 to 6 mm. long, much grooved; Texas tree. 3. J. Pinchoti.
Leaves not glandular. 4. /. utahensis.
Seeds 4 to 12; cotyledons 2; southwestern trees.
Bark thin, separating into papery scales; leaves acute or acumi-
nate. 5. /. faccida.
Bark 2 to 10 cm. thick, separating into thick plates; leaves minutely
pointed. 6. /. pachyphlaa.
Fruit blue, juicy, resinous.
Leaves denticulate; western trees.
Twigs stout; leaves in 3's, glandular on the back. ..^^ 7. /. occidentalis.
Twigs slender; leaves mostly in 2's, usually glandless.
io8
The Junipers
Leaves light green, about 3 mm. long, acute or acuminate
Leaves dark green, about 1.5 mm. long, obtuse or acutish.
Leaves entire.
Eastern trees; fruit maturing the first season.
Fruit 5 to 6 mm. long; branches not pendulous, or slightly so.
Fruit 3 to 4 mm. long; branches pendulous.
Western tree; fruit maturing the second season.
8. /. monosperma.
9. /. niexicana.
10. /. virginiana.
11. /. barhadensis.
12. /. scopulorum.
I.
COMMON JUNIPER — Juniperus communis L
innaeus
Often a low shrub, the Common juniper sometimes becomes a tree 9 meters
high with a trunk diameter of 3 dm. Its range is from Greenland and Labrador
to Alaska, south to Pennsylvania, Nebraska and New Mexico ; also in Europe and
Asia; it is also called Dwarf juniper. It has escaped from cultivation in Georgia.
The trunk is usually excentric and irregularly ridged. The branches are
slender, nearly erect, forming a narrowly conic tree. The bark is about 1.5 mm.
thick, spHtting into persistent scales of a reddish brown color. The twigs are
slender, 3-angled, smooth, and reddish yellow. The buds are ovoid and scaly.
The leaves, which persist for many years, are in whorls of 3, widely spreading,
narrowly linear-lanceolate, i to 2 cm. long, tapering to a very sharp-pointed apex,
widest near or at the sessile base, sHghtly concave, white-glaucous and with
many stomata above, keeled, dark green and
shining beneath, becoming brownish in winter.
The flowers are axillary, dioecious, or monoe-
cious, solitary, appearing in spring from buds
formed the previous season. The staminate
are sessile, narrowly ovoid, 4 to 5 mm. long,
consisting of several whorls of 3 stamens each,
their connectives broadly ovate, sharp-pointed,
with 3 or sometimes 4 anther-sacs at the base.
The pistillate flowers consist of 3 minute scales
each bearing a single ovule, and subtended by
several sterile scales in whorls of 3. The fruit,
which requires 3 seasons to ripen, consists of
the 3 upper scales of the flower united about
the ovules; it is sub-globose, 6 to 8 mm. in
diameter, blue or nearly black, with a bloom,
short-stalked, and unless devoured by birds often remains upon the twigs for
several years. The seed is ovoid, 3 mm. thick, flattened and 3-angled, sharp-
pointed, brown, and roughened by deep resin glands.
The wood of the Common juniper is hard, close-grained, light brown; its
specific gravity is about 0.67. It is very durable, receives a fine polish, and is used
in Europe for stakes, cups and walking sticks, and is also important for fuel.
It has been cultivated for centuries in European gardens, and stands the most severe
Fig. 82. — Common Juniper.
California Juniper
09
clipping and was a great favorite for hedges, especially when topiary gardening
was in vogue. A great many varieties are now in cultivation.
The Low Juniper, Junipents sibirica Burgsdorf, is a low shrub, with stems
radiating from a central root, sometimes appearing hke a gigantic bird's-nest,
with stouter and often shorter leaves which are sometimes curved; it grows on
hills in the northern parts of the north temperate zone, occurring in the United
States as far south as New York, ]\Iichigan, and Utah; it is doubtfully distinct
as a species, however, from Juniperus communis.
2. CALIFORNIA JUNIPER — Juniperus californica Carriere
This cone-shaped tree occurs on dry mountain slopes and high plains of the
coast ranges and along the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Cahfornia into Lower
CaHfomia, at altitudes
of 900 to 1200 meters.
It is also called White
cedar, Sweet- berried
cedar, and Sweet-fruited
juniper, and reaches a
maximum height of 12
meters with a trunk di-
ameter of 6 dm., al-
though frequently only
a shmb.
The trunk is straight,
ridged and more or less
irregular. The
branches are stout,
erect, or irregularly as-
cending. The bark is
thin and peels off into
long, gray shreds, which
persist on the trunk for
a long time; the inner
bark is reddish brown.
The twigs are stout, yel-
lowish green, becoming
Fig. 83. — California Juniper.
red and finally light gray, after the leaves have fallen from them. The scale-like
leaves are mostly 3 in each whorl, yellowish green, tightly appressed, ovate to
oblong-ovate, about 2 mm. long; they are convex, and distinctly glandular pitted
on the back, bluntly pointed at the thickened apex and slightly fringed on the
margin; on young plants or on vigorous twigs they are 2 or 3 times as long, linear
or awl-shaped, sharply pointed, and whitish above. The flowers open in late
no
The Junipers
winter or early spring. The staminatc arc 3 to 6 mm. long, consisting of 18 to
24 stamens, usually in whorls of 3; their connectives are broader than long and
denticulate. The j)istillate flowers consist of several sessile ovaries subtended by
about 6 spreading sharp-pointed scales. The fruit, which matures in the autumn
of the second year after fertilization, is globular or oblong, 12 to 20 mm. long,
almost smooth, reddish brown, with a glaucous bloom; its flesh is lirm, dry, and
sweet. Seeds i or sometimes 2, ovoid, rather large, sharp-pointed, angled, and
somewhat flattened on the inner side when there are 2 in a fruit; they are light
brown, and shining above, yellow and dull toward the base.
■ The wood of the California juniper is soft, close-grained, and light reddish
brown; its specific gravity is about 0.63. It is ver)' durable and is used for fencing
and for fuel. The fruit is used by the Indians of its region as food, either fresh, or
dried and ground into meal and baked.
3. PIXCHOT'S JUNIPER — Juniperus Pinchoti Sudworth
This very recently described Juniper occurs in thin, dr}- soil of flat grassy bot-
toms in the Paloduro Canon of Briscoe, Randal, and Armstrong counties, Texas,
where it attains a height of 6 meters with
a trunk diameter of 1.25 dm.
The trunk is ver\^ short; usually there
are several trunks from an old fire-killed
stump. The bark is thin, shallowly fissured
into narrow, confluent, persistent scales of
an ashy gray color; the inner bark is dull
brown. The twigs are rather slender, yel-
lowish brown, finally gray and somewhat
scaly. The leaves are yellowish green,
usually in 3's, but often in 2's, closely
appressed, about 2 mm. long, sharply stiff-
pointed, entire on the margin, thickened,
keeled, and with a conspicuous depressed
gland on the back; on young or veiy vigor-
ous twigs they are spreading at the very
sharp-pointed apex, linear- lanceolate, 6 to 12
mm. long, and glandular on the back. The
fruit, ripening probably in the second sea-
son, is globose or slightly oblong, about 8
mm. long, nearly smooth, distinctly red or
copper-colored with little or no bloom; its
flesh is thick, dry, and sweetish, seeds i or
2, broadly ovoid, 4 or 5 mm. long, grooved,
brown and shining toward the sharp-pointed apex.
Pinchot's Juniper.
Utah Juniper
III
The wood is rather soft, close-grained, Hght brown with a shght tinge of red.
It is only moderately durable in contact with the soil and is used locally for fence-
posts and for fuel. Its habit of throwing up vigorous sprouts from the stumps
after being repeatedly killed to the ground by fire should make it very valuable
in the forestry operations of desert regions. Where it grows it is associated with
the One-seeded juniper, which, however, is confined to the sides of the canons,
and not subjected to fires, which it could not withstand. The species is related
to Junipcriis gigantea K. Koch, of Mexico.
4. UTAH JUNIPER — Juniperus utahensis (Engelmann) Lemmon
Jimiperus calijornica utahensis Lemmon
A tree or shrub of the Great Desert region,where it is often the most abun-
dant arborescent plant, at an altitude of about 1500 meters, becoming larger but
more scattered on the dr}% mountain sides up to 2400 meters; it extends from
Wyoming and eastern Utah to Nevada, southeastern Cahfomia, western Colorado
and northern New Mexico, attaining a maximum height of 6 meters with a trunk
diameter of about 6 dm. It is also called Desert juniper.
The short trunk is more or less excentric and often irregularly furrowed into
rounded lobes. The numerous
crooked branches are erect or as-
cending, forming an open head.
The bark is about 6 mm. thick, pale
gray to nearly white, splitting into
thin, persistent scales. The twigs
are slender, at first yellowish green,
becoming, after the leaves fall off,
light red and scaly. The leaves,
persisting for many years, are pale
green or yellowish green, rounded
and without glands on the back ; on
young plants and on vigorous twigs
they are needle-shaped and sharp-
pointed. The staminate flowers
consist of 18 to 24 stamens, ar-
ranged in opposite pairs or in 3's;
their connectives are broad and
minutely toothed. The pistillate
flowers consist of several thick,
spreading, sharp-pointed fertile
scales. The fruit is bluish at first, but reddish brown and glaucous when ripe; at
the end of the second season it is globose or oblong, 6 to 12 mm. long, the short
tips of its component scales often distinct; its flesh is quite sweet, dr\% and
Fig. 85. — Utah Juniper.
112
The Junipers
fibrous; seeds i or rarely 2, ovoid, 3 mm. long, sharp-pointed, compressed toward
the apex, sharply angled; cotyledons 4 to 6.
The wood is soft, close-grained, and hght brown; its specific gravity is about
It furnishes the chief supply of fuel to many of the mines and ranchmen
o.
DD-
of its region, where it is also used for posts; its fruit is used by Indians for
food.
The recently described Juniperus Knightil Nelson, of the red desert lands of
southwestern Wyoming, must, in our judgment, be referred to this species.
5. DROOPING JUNIPER — Juniperus flaccida Schlechtendal
This Juniper occurs on the mountains of eastern Mexico at altitudes of from
1800 to 2400 meters and grows in the United States only on some of the moun-
tains of southwestern Texas. It attains a height of about 9 meters, but is often
only a shrub.
The trunk is upright; its branches are long, slender, and spreading. The twigs
are slender and pendulous, light green at first, becoming light brown and covered
with loose, papery bark.
The leaves are opposite,
appressed, or sHghtly
spreading, ovate to
ovate-lanceolate, glan-
dular-pitted, about 4
mm. long, sharply taper-
pointed, slightly toothed
on the margin, becom-
ing brownish red before
faUing off; on young
plants or vigorous twigs
they are broadly lanceo-
late, often ID mm. long,
with a long-pointed
apex. The staminate
flowers are oblong, 4-
sided, consisting of 16
to .20 opposite stamens
with ovate, pointed con-
nectives bearing several
anther-sacs. The pistil-
late flowers consist of
few thickened, sharp-
pointed, spreading scales bearing several ovules. The fruit is globular or some-
what longer than thick, 12 to 16 mm. in diameter, reddish brown, more or less
Fig. 86. — Drooping Juniper.
Thick-BaiiCed Juniper
113
glaucous, somewhat roughened by the persistent tips of the scales; the flesh is dry
and non-resinous; seeds 4 to 12, some of them often imperfect; cotyledons 2.
Not hardy at the north, this tree grows well in the Mediterranean region.
6. THICK-BARKED JUNIPER — Juniperus pachyphlsea Torrey
Growing in the arid regions of southwestern Texas, New Mexico, Arizona,
and southward into Mexico up to at least 2000 meters, this juniper attains a
maximum height of 18 meters with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m., and is also known
as Checkered-barked juniper, AUigator juniper. Oak-barked juniper, Oak-barked
cedar. Thick-barked cedar, and Mountain cedar.
The trunk is short, its branches long, stout, and spreading, forming a loosely
conic tree, or sometimes a dense round
head. The bark is 2 cm. to nearly
I dm. thick, deeply divided into thick
scaly 4-sided plates of a dark reddish
brown color. The twigs are slender,
usually Hght red and scaly after the
leaves have fallen off. The leaves are
appressed in opposite pairs, bluish
green, ovate, about 2 mm. long, blunt-
ish-pointed at the apex, minutely
toothed on the margin; on young
plants and vigorous twigs they are
larger, lanceolate, and long-tipped.
The flowers open in late winter or
spring; the staminate are oblong,
about 3 mm. long, composed of 10 or
12 stamens with light yellow ovate,
short-pointed connectives. The pistil-
late flowers have few, spreading, ovate,
and taper-pointed scales. The fruit ripens in the autumn of the second year,
is globular or oblong, about 12 mm. long, usually dark reddish brown, and distinctly
glaucous and roughened by the projecting tips of the scales, sometimes open at
the apex and exposing the seed. The flesh is dr}% sweet and mealy; seeds
generally 4, ovoid, sharp-pointed, light brown, strongly ridged; cotyledons 2.
The wood is soft, weak, and brittle, close-grained, light red; its specific gravity
is about 0.58.
The fruit is used for food by the Indians. The tree is unUke any other Juni-
per in its pecuHar thick bark which has given it its botanical name and most
of its local names. It would be a desirable acquisition to parks and gardens if
it would grow in regions other than those in which it is wild.
Fig. 87. — Thick-barked Juniper.
114
The Jur ipers
7. WESTERN JUNIPER — Juniperus occidentaUs Hooker
Juniperiis excelsa Pursh, not Bieberstein. Juniperus andina Nuttall
A tree or shrub, often prostrate, of the mountains of Washington and Idaho,
south to the .San Bernardino Mountains of Cahfomia, mostly at altitudes of from
1800 to 3000 meters, reaching a maximum height of about 18 meters with a
trunk diameter of 9 dm.; low forms sometimes have trunks of much greater
diameter, however. It is also called Western red cedar. Western yellow cedar,
Cedar, and Juniper.
The trunk varies from tall and straight to thick and stunted. The branches
of stunted trees are very large and
usually widely spreading, forming
a round or flat head. The bark is
about I cm. thick, light brownish
red, shallowly fissured into wide
ridges, their surface broken into
shining scales. The twigs are stout,
becoming red-brown after the
leaves have falleti; their bark is
very thin. The leaves are light
green, w^horled in 3's, closely ap-
pressed, ovate, 2 mm. long, sharp
or taper-pointed, shghtly toothed on
the margin, distinctly glandular on
the back. The staminate flowers
are stalked, oblong, blunt, 3 mm.
long, consisting of 12 to 18 stamens
with broad connectives. The pistil-
late flowers consist of about 8
spreading ovate, sharp-pointed scales, surrounding several ovaries and subtended
by several smaller but similar sterile scales. The fruit is globose or somewhat
longer than thick, 6 to 8 mm. long, dark blue with a bloom and nearly or
quite smooth; its flesh is dry and resinous. The seeds, usually 2 or 3 in
number, are ovoid, about 3 mm. long, sharp-pointed, usually somewhat grooved
on the back, brown and shining above; cotyledons 2.
The wood is soft, close-grained, and light red-brown; its specific gravity is
about 0.58. It is very durable and is used for railroad ties, fence-posts, and is
sparingly sawed into lumber, especially in Oregon.
The Indians use its fruit, hke that of other western Junipers, for food.
Fig. 88. — Western Juniper.
One-Seeded Juniper
ii5
8. ONE-SEEDED JUNIPER — Juniperus monosperma (Engelmann) Sargent
Juniperus occidentalis monosperma Engelmann
A tree or shrub of the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, from Colorado
to Texas and westward to Utah, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona, at altitudes
of 1800 to 2000 meters and reaching a maximum height of 15 meters, with a trunk
diameter up to about 9 dm. It is also called the Naked-seeded juniper.
The trunk is usually short, often irregularly fluted. The branches are stout,
spreading or ascending.
The bark is irregularly di-
vided into confluent ridges
and splits into long, thin,
somewhat fibrous scales,
light gray externally and
red-brown intemallv. The
twigs are slender, and after
the leaves have fallen are
covered by a thin and
loosely scaly, reddish brown
bark. The leaves are gray-
ish green, usually in pairs,
seldom in 3's, often some-
what spreading at the apex,
mostly ovate, 3 mm. long,
sharp-pointed, thickened,
rounded, and faintly if at
all glandular on the back;
on young, vigorous twigs
they are longer and nar-
rower, sharply stiff-pointed and somewhat glandular, up to 12 mm. long. The
tree flowers in March or April. The staminate flowers are oblong, consisting of
8 to 12 stamens, with broad rounded connectives; the pistillate have a few spread-
ing scales. The fruit is somewhat roughened by the tips of the scales, 5 to 7 mm.
long, usually dark blue, glaucous, its flesh sweet and resinous. The seeds are
usually solitar)% rarely 2 or 3, broadly ovoid, angular, sHghtly grooved and ridged,
light brown and shining at the blunt apex; cotyledons 2.
The wood is rather hard, close-grained, and Hght reddish brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.71. It is very durable, is extensively used for fences and is the
principal fuel of an extensive region.
The fruit, Hke that of other western Junipers, is used as food by the Indians,
who grind the dried fruit into meal and bake it. They also make use of the
fibrous inner bark for clothing, sleeping mats, and sails.
This plant has been cultivated and is hardy in New England.
Fig. 89. — One-seeded Juniper.
ii6
The Junipers
9. ROCK CEDAR — Juniperus mexicana Sprengel
Cupressus sabinoides H. B. & K. Juniperus sabinoides Nees, not Grisebach
This tree often forms forests and dense brakes in the limestone hills of cen-
tral and western Texas and extends south-
ward to central Mexico. Its maximum
height is about 30 meters with a trunk diame-
ter of 3 dm. or more. It is also called Juni-
per cedar, Mountain cedar, Cedar, Mountain
juniper, and Juniper.
The trunk is usually short, sometimes tall.
The branches are spreading, forming a conic
tree or one with a broad, round top. The
bark is 6 to 12 mm. thick, separating into
narrow, somewhat fibrous scales of a reddish
brown color. The slender twigs are sharply
4-sided, becoming round and light reddish
brown or gray and nearly smooth after the
leaves have fallen off. The leaves are oppo-
site, closely appressed, ovate, 1.5 mm. long,
blunt or sharp-pointed, slightly toothed on
the margin, usually glandless on the back;
on young plants and vigorous twigs they are
6 to 12 mm. long, stiff and long- pointed. The
flowers appear in January or February, the
staminate short-stalked and consist of 12 to
18 stamens, their connectives being ovate,
blunt, or slightly pointed. The pistillate flowers have thick, ovate, sharp-pointed,
spreading scales. The fruit is nearly globular, 6 to 8 mm. thick, dark blue and
glaucous; the tips of the flower scales are prominent on the young fruit, but the
mature fruit is very nearly or quite smooth, the flesh thin, sweet, and resinous;
seeds i or rarely 2, ovoid, about 6 mm. long, flattened on the inner face when
there are 2 in the fruit, sharp-pointed, prominently ridged, dark brown and shin-
ing; cotyledons 2.
The wood is hard, weak, close-grained, and brown; its specific gravity is about
0.59. It is extensively used for general construction, fencing, sills, telegraph
poles, railroad ties, and is the chief fuel of the region in which it grows.
Fig. 90. — Rock Cedar.
10. NORTHERN RED CEDAR — Juniperus virginiana Linnaeus
This well-known eastern tree is probably the largest of the American junipers,
reaching a maximum height of 30 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m., usually
having about half these dimensions and is sometimes a low shrub. It grows in
Northern Red Cedar
117
Fig. 91. — Northern Red Cedar in New York Botanical Garden.
ii8
The Junipers
poor or rocky soil from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to western Ontario and
South Dakota, southward to northern Florida, Alabama, and eastern Texas. It
is variously known as Red cedar, Red juniper. Savin, Cedar, and Juniper bush.
The trunk is tall and straight, usually ridged, often considerably expanded
at the base, and sometimes excentric. The
branches are slender, more or less spreading
below and ascending or erect above, forming a
dense, narrow conic tree, or, when older, some-
times becoming broader and irregularly dome-
shaped. The bark is 3 to 6 mm. thick, slightly
fissured into long, narrow persistent shreds of a
grayish or reddish brown color. The twigs are
slender, 4-angled, becoming round and dark red-
dish brown or gray after the leaves have fallen.
The leaves are dark bluish green, sometimes
glaucous, 4- ranked, closely appressed, ovate, en-
tire, 1.5 to 2 mm. long, sharp-pointed, rounded,
and usually without a gland on the back; they
become yellowish and after three or four years
brown and dry before falling off; on young
plants and vigorous twigs they are linear-lanceolate, i cm. long or more, and sharp-
pointed. The flowers are usually dioecious; very seldom both kinds of flowers are
found on the same tree; they appear in early spring. The staminate, which are ver}'
profusely produced, are short-stalked and consist of 8 to 12 stamens with very broad,
rounded, entire connectives. The pistillate flowers have a few spreading sharp-
pointed scales. The fruit ripens the first autumn, is nearly globular when ripe,
5 to 8 mm. thick, the flesh thin, juicy, sweetish, and resinous; seeds i or 2,
rarely m.ore, ovoid, 3 to 4 mm. long, nearly round, sharp-pointed, sometimes
grooved, smooth and shining near the light brown apex; cotyledons 2.
The wood is soft, close-grained, weak, red with a whitish sapwood; its specific
gravity is about 0.48. It is aromatic and highly prized for cloth chests and other
furniture, various utensils, and used to some extent for pencil wood. Its dura-
bihty makes it valuable for fence-posts and rustic work. The fruit and leaves
have some medicinal value; a volatile oil is distilled from both leaves and wood.
Having been cultivated for a long time in parks and gardens, many varieties
or forms ha\-e been selected which are highly prized by landscape gardeners.
Fig. 92. — Northern Red Cedar.
II. SOUTHERN RED CEDAR — Juniperus barbadensis Linnc-eus
A tree of the coastal region of southern Georgia and Florida and of the West
Indies. It is indigenous in river-swamps in Florida, but has become naturalized
as far west as Louisiana. In the island of Jamaica it inhabits mountain slopes
and it grows also on Antigua and Santo Domingo. Its maximum height is 15
Rocky Mountain Red Cedar
119
meters with a trunk diameter of 6 dm. ; also called Southern juniper and by many
of the names apphed to the northern species.
The tmnk is similar to that of the Northern red cedar. The branches how-
ever, are more slender, ascending and spreading, or the lower ones drooping,
forming a broad irregular open head. The bark separates into long, thin shreddy
scales of a brownish or grayish
color. The twigs are very
slender, 4-angled, drooping,
becoming, after the leaves
fall, reddish brown or gray.
The leaves are hght green,
opposite, closely appressed,
ovate, sharp-pointed, entire
on the margin, distinctly glan-
dular on the back. The
flowers are dioecious, opening
in February or March, the
staminate 3 to 6 mm. long,
composed of about 12 sta-
mens. The pistillate flowers
are ovoid, 4 to 5 mm. long,
composed of a few sharp-
pointed scales, which become
blunt in fruit. The fruit is
nearly globular, about 4 mm.
Fig. 93. — Southern Red Cedar.
in diameter, dark blue, smooth or shghtly marked by the blunt points of the
scales. Seeds i or 2, ovoid, pointed, ridged, 3 mm. long.
The wood is soft, weak, close-grained, and red; its specific gravity is about
0.49. It is fragrant, very straight-grained, and was, until recently, almost exclu-
sively used by lead-pencil manufacturers but has now become very expensive.
The tree is very generally cultivated in the south for ornament and shade, being
one of the most beautiful Junipers and the most extensively planted coniferous
tree in the south; doubtless many of the garden varieties attributed to the
Northern red cedar are forms of this species.
12. ROCKY MOUNTAIN RED CEDAR — Juniperus scopulorum Sargent
A tree of the Rocky mountain region, from Alberta and British Columbia to
western Texas and Arizona, usually at elevations of 1500 meters or more at the
south, but descending to sea level at the north. Its maximum height is 12 meters
with a trunk diameter of 9 dm.
The trunk is mostly short, usually divided near the base into several secondar}^
ones. The branches are stout, spreading and ascending, the tree being usually
120
The Junipers
round-topped, but when perfectly developed the lower branches become some-
what pendulous. The bark is shallowly spHt into narrow, flat ridges, covered with
long somewhat fibrous scales of a reddish brown or reddish gray color. The
twigs are slender, 4-sided, becoming round, the smooth bark becoming scaly after
the leaves fall away. The leaves are opposite, varying from dark green to pale
green and glaucous, closely appressed, sharp or taper-pointed, entire on the mar-
gin, rounded and faintly or distinctly glandular on the back. The staminate
flowers are oblong, about 2 mm. long, consisting of 8 to 10 stamens, with entire
connectives broader than long. The pistillate flowers have few sharp or taper-
pointed, widely-spreading
scales. The fruit ripens in
the autumn of the second
season, is globose, 6 to 8
mm. in diameter, smooth
or sHghtly marked by the
tips of the scales, bright
blue with a whitish bloom;
the flesh is sweet and resi-
nous; seeds one or mostly 2,
ovoid, about 4 mm. long,
sharp-pointed, conspicu-
ously angled, brown and
shining. The wood is
similar to that of the
Northern red cedar, but
much less valuable.
The Shrubby red ce-
dar, J uni perils proslrata
Aiton, is a depressed shrub
Fig. 94. -Rocky Mountain Red Cedar. ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^.^^ ^ ^^^^^
high with foliage much hke that of the Northern red cedar, from which it can
readily be distinguished, however, by its light blue fruit, 8 to 10 mm. in diame-
ter, borne on recurved branchlets 4 to 6 mm. long. It grows on banks from
Nova Scotia to northern New York, Montana and British Columbia, and has
been confused with the European Juniperus Sabina Linnaeus.
The Bermuda red cedar, Juniperus hermudiana Linnaeus, is a characteristic
tree of the Bermuda islands and is endemic there. It grows on hillsides and
along the borders of marshes and attains a great size when very old. It has
shreddy bark, dark red wood, widely-spreading branches, and the trunk is
sometimes 2 meters in diameter. The contrast between its dark green fohage
and the whitewashed houses of Bermuda is very striking. Its leaves are
4-ranked, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, pointed, grooved on the back, about,
3 mm. long and closely appressed, forming a sharply 4-angled twig; they are
Rocky Mountain Red Cedar 121
long-persistent on the twigs and when old and dry arc somewhat spreading.
The tree flowers from December to March. Its fruit is nearly globular, dark
blue with a bloom, and about 8 mm, in diameter.
The Bahama red cedar, Juniperus lucayana Britton, inhabits the northern
Bahama islands, though httle is now left of it on account of the use of its wood
for lead pencils and formerly in construction. It is not a very large tree, seldom
over 10 or 12 meters high, and has very slender twigs and branches which are
ascending or the lower drooping. It is most nearly related to Juniperus barba-
densis Linnaeus, from which it differs in its depressed-globose and somewhat
laterally flattened fruit; its leaves are 4- ranked, and only about 1.5 mm, long
on old twigs, but on young plants and often on the lower parts of older twigs
they are needle-shaped, very sharply pointed and often i cm, in length. It is
probable that this is also the Red cedar of eastern Cuba, but fruit from trees
growing there has not yet been obtained.
The recently described Juniperus megalocarpa Sudworth, from New Mexico,
has large brown non-resinous fruit about 1,5 cm. in diameter, covered with a
blue bloom, enclosing one or two nearly orbicular somewhat flattened seeds about
8 mm. in diameter. It attains a height of 16 meters with a trunk over a meter
in diameter. Its leaves are in 3's, glandular pitted on the back, yellowish green
and appressed. The species is apparently most nearly related to Juniperus call-
jornica Carriere, but has more slender twigs.
THE YEW FAMILY
TAXACE/E Lindley
HIS family consists of about lo genera, comprising some 75 species of
slow-growing, slightly resinous and aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs,
widely distributed, but most numerous in the southern hemisphere,
and also represented by many fossil forms from Greenland southward.
They are of little economic value, except that the wood of some is very durable
and that of the European yew was highly prized for making bows by the ancients,
and it is also used by modem archers. The fleshy covering of the seed of some is
quite palatable, although an unfounded superstition would have them deadly
poison. As ornaments they have long held a special place in landscape gardening.
The bark and leaves of some have had medicinal repute, but their therapeutic
value is too little to make them useful in modem practice.
The Taxaceae have persistent, stiff, simple, and entire spirally arranged leaves,
which usually spread so to make them appear as if 2-ranked or opposite. The
flowers are monoecious or dioecious, axillary or terminal, devoid of any perianth;
the staminate consist of various-shaped scales protecting and supporting the pollen-
sacs which open lengthwise. The pistillate flowers consist of a usually soHtary
ovule, naked or sheltered by imbricated bracts. The fruit is drupe-hke, erect,
nearly enclosed in an accrescent gelatine-Uke aril, or naked; seed bony or woody,
its endosperm fleshy or mealy, sometimes channeled; cotyledons 2. The North
American genera are:
Fruit surrounded by an aril-like cup; endosperm even; pollen-sacs
6 to 8. I. Taxus.
Fruit naked, drupe-like; endosperm channeled; pollen-sacs 4. 2. Tuniion.
I. THE YEWS
GENUS TAXUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
HIS genus contains about 6 species of trees or shmbs of the northern
hemisphere, never attaining any great height and of no special value,
except for ornament. The wood is strong and elastic; that of the Old
world yew, Taxus haccata Linnaeus, is prized for furniture. The
fleshy covering of the seed is sweet and edible. The bark and leaves have been
employed in medicine, the former also in dyeing.
They have persistent, Hnear, flat leaves, sometimes a little curved. The
usually dioecious flowers appear in early spring from buds formed the previous
season; the staminate short-stalked and nearly globular, subtended by an imbri-
122
Western Yew
123
cated scaly involucre ; they have from 4 to 8 yellow stamens, their filaments short
and stout; pollen-sacs 4 to 6, depressed and angular, opening underneath. The
pistillate iiowers are sessile, consisting of a solitary ovule partly surrounded by
a low disk, and subtended by several imbricated scales; the disk enlarges greatly
and becomes a persistent fleshy scarlet cup in fruit. The fruit ripens and falls
off in the autumn; the seed, which is nut-like, is immersed in but free from the
thick red gelatine-like cup-shaped disk; it is ovoid-oblong, sometimes slightly
3-ridged, narrowed and sharp-pointed at the apex, its base marked by an oval or
triangular depression; the endosperm is abundant and fleshy, not channeled;
cotyledons 2.
The narne is the Greek for Yew, probably in allusion to its use for making
bows. Taxus haccata Linnaeus, of Europe, is the type of the genus.
The genus is represented in America by 4 Hving species, a low shrub of the
northeastern States, Taxus canadensis Marshall, called the American yew or
Ground hemlock; T. globosa Schlechtendal in Mexico; and the two following:
Western tree; leaves 12 to 15 mm. long, yellow-green.
Florida tree; leaves 20 to 25 mm. long, dark green.
1. T. brevi folia.
2. T. floridana.
I. WESTERN YEW — Taxus brevifolia Nuttall
This beautiful evergreen tree or shrub occurs along streams and on slopes
usually singly or few together, in the
shade of the tall coniferous trees of the
region, from British Columbia south to
central California, and extends east-
ward to the Rocky Mountains, in Mon-
tana and Idaho, reaching altitudes of
2400 meters. Its maximum height of
24 meters and trunk diameter of 1.2
meters is attained in Oregon. It is
also known as Pacific yew. Mountain
mahogany, and Yew.
The trunk is tall and straight but
often very irregular and ridged. The
branches are horizontal or somewhat
drooping, long and slender, forming a
broad, conic tree. The bark is about
6 mm. thick, flaky, dark reddish pur-
ple, the inner layers being much brighter ^ig. 95 . - Western Yew.
in color. The twigs are slender, green
at first, becoming bright brownish red with age. The buds are 1.5 to 3 mm.
long, their scales imbricated, yellowish. The leaves persist for four or five years,
are linear, flat, straight or sHghtly curved, 12 to 15 mm. long, sharp-pointed.
124
The Yews
entire on the margin and tapering to the short, yellowish leaf-stalk; they are thick
and leather)^ dark yellowish green and shining above, paler, with a prominent yel-
lowish midrib, beneath. The flowers are bright yellow, the scales subtending
the staminate ovate, those of the pistillate flowers broader. The cup surround-
ing the fleshy seed is globose, 8 to 12 mm. long and brownish red.
The wood is hard, brittle, but strong and elastic, close-grained, bright light
red; its specific gravity is about 0.64. It is very durable, and takes a fine polish
and is used for fence-posts, fancy cabinet work, bows, canoe paddles, and by the
Indians for spear-handles, and many other useful purposes.
It is planted to some extent on the Pacific slope and in Europe for ornament,
but does not thrive in the eastern States.
2. FLORIDA YEW — Taxus floridana Nuttall
A much smaller tree, often a shrub, 'occurring with Torreya on river banks, in
a limited area of Gadsden county, Florida, where it is also called Yew and Savin,
and attains a maximum height of 7.5 meters with a trunk diameter of 3 dm.
Pig. 96. — Florida Yew.
The trunk is short. The branches are stout and spreading, nearly horizontal.
The bark is about 3 mm. thick, smooth and close, except on very old trees, when
it sometimes separates irregularly into thin flat scales of a dark purplish brown
color. The twigs are slender, yellowish green, becoming dull brown or reddish.
The buds are about 4 mm. long; their imbricated scales are light yellow. The
The Torreyas 125
leaves are flat, linear, i to 2 cm. long, 1.5 to 2 mm. wide, straight or slightly
curved, bristle-pointed, entire and revolutc on the margin, tapering to the short,
twisted leaf-stalk; they are dark green and shining above, pale, often glaucous
beneath; the midrib is prominent on both sides. The flowers appear in March
and April and are bright yellow; both staminate and pistillate are subtended by
ovate scales. The fruit, which is quite scarce, ripening in October, is 6 to 10 mm.
long; the aril-hke cup is bright red and sweet; the seed is ovoid, 5 to 7 mm.
long, narrowed to a sharp point at the apex and obscurely wrinkled.
The wood is hard, close-grained, dark reddish brown, the sap wood thin and
white; its specific gravity is about 0.63.
As a shrub it greatly resembles the American yew, Taxiis canadensis Marshall,
of the north ; it is not known to have been cultivated.
Both this species and the Western yew have been regarded by German
authors as varieties of the European Taxus haccata Linnaeus, but they are quite
distinct from it.
II. THE TORREYAS
GENUS TUMION RAFINESQUE
Torreya Arnott, not Rafinesque
SMALL genus represented by 4 hving species, one each in Florida,
Cahfomia, Japan, and China, and by fossil remains in the arctic
regions, and northern Europe.
They have spreading, apparently 2-ranked, linear, flat leaves.
The flowers are dioecious, appearing in early spring in the axils of leaves, on twigs
of the previous season. The staminate flowers, often crowded, are produced
from yellowish scaly buds; they are ovoid or oblong, about 6 mm. long, consisting
of 6 or 8 whorls of 4 stamens each and subtended by several ovate overlapping
bracts; the stamens have short, flattish stalks, supporting 4 anther-cells. The
pistillate flowers are solitary, erect, and sessile, surrounded by the bud-scales,
consisting of an ovule surrounded by a thin, fleshy layer. The fruit is ovoid or
obovoid, drupe-like, separating, when ripe, from the basal scales, and consists of a
thin outer resinous, leathery covering close to the thick hard woody coat of the
ovoid or oblong, sharp-pointed seed ; endosperm irregularly channeled and white.
The fruit of the Japanese species, Tiimion nuciferiim (Linnaeus) Greene, is
used as food, and an oil expressed from it is used in cooking. These trees
sprout profusely from the stumps and roots when cut. The name is Greek, and
was an ancient name of the Yew. The Chinese species, Tumion grande (Gordon)
Greene, has leaves less sharply pointed than the others. T. taxijolium is the type
of the genus.
Leaves pale beneath, foetid; fruit purple; Florida tree. i. T. taxijolium.
Leaves green beneath, aromatic; fruit purplish green; California tree. 2. T. calijornicum.
126
The Torreyas
I. FLORIDA TORRE YA — Tumion taxifolium (Arnott) Greene
Torreya taxijolia Arnott
This medium-sized, ill-scented, but beautiful tree, is confined to a narrow
region bordering on the Appalachicola river in Gadsden county, Florida, occurring
in Hmestone soil and in river-swamps, attaining a maximum height of i8 m.
with a trunk diameter of 9 dm. It is also called Torrey tree. Stinking cedar,
Stinking savin, Foetid yew, and Savin.
The trunk is short; the branches are in whorls, spreading and somewhat
drooping, forming an
open broad conic tree.
The bark is about 12
mm. thick, broadly but
shallowlv fissured into
low irregular ridges,
which are covered with
close thin scales, brown
externally, yellowish in-
ternally. The twigs are
round, slender, sHghtly
hairy, bright green, grad-
ually becoming dark yel-
lowish red. The winter
buds are ovoid, about 6
mm. long, pointed, their
scales ovate, thickish,
sharp-pointed and shin-
ing. The leaves are
linear, nearly straight,
1.5 to 4.5 cm. long, some-
what narrowed at the
hard sharp-pointed apex,
rounded and short-
stalked at the base, en-
tire and slightly revolute on the margin, dark green and shining above, pale and
faintly longitudinally grooved beneath. The staminate flowers are sub-globose,
about 6 mm. long, their scales thick and stiff, keeled on the back, the lower
pointed; the anthers are light yellow. The pistillate flower is broadly ovoid, 3
mm. long, narrowed at the apex, its ovule covered by a purple, pulpy coating and
subtended by ovate or rounded scales. The fmit, which is rather sparingly pro-
duced, ripens in summer, but persists until late autumn; it is globose-oblong or
somewhat ovoid, 3 to 4 cm. long; the seed is Ught reddish brown.
The wood is hard, strong, but rather brittle, close-grained, light yellow, and
Fig. 97. — Florida Torreya.
California Nutmeg
127
satiny; its specific gravity is about 0.51. It is very durable in contact with the
soil and is locally used for fence-posts; when cut down the stumps sprout freely,
thereby preventing, in a measure, its extermination. It is partly hardy in the mid-
dle and eastern States, but does not develop the beauty attained in its native
haunts. It is most desirable that the small area in Florida inhabited by this
tree and by the Florida yew, should become a reservation.
2. CALIFORNIA NUTMEG — Tumion californicum (Torrey) Greene
Torreya californica Torrey
This tree is much larger than the Florida Torreya and has a more agreeable
odor; it does not form forests, but occurs sparingly over a wide area in north-cen-
tral Cahfomia, especially along mountain streams, both in the coast ranges, and on
the western side of the Sierra
Nevada, from Butte county
to Tulare county, at elevations
of from 900 to 1500 meters,
reaching a maximum height of
30 meters with a trunk diame-
ter of 1.2 meters in the north-
em part of its range. It is
also called Cahfornia Torreya,
Cahfomia false nutmeg. Coast
nutmeg. Yew, and Stinking ce-
dar.
The branches are in whorls,
slender, spreading, or slightly
drooping, forming a magnifi-
cent conic or round-topped tree.
The bark is about i cm. thick,
deeply and broadly furrowed
into somewhat irregular ridges,
covered with long rather loose
1 1 ^ T . 1 , Fig. q8. — California Nutmeg,
scaly plates, brownish or yel-
low-brown. The twigs are slender, hght green, soon becoming darker and finally
red-brown; buds ovoid, 6 mm. long, sharp-pointed, their scales thick, ovate,
sharp-pointed, reddish. The leaves are hnear, straight or shghtly cur^-ed, 3 to 7
cm. long, tapering toward the sharp-pointed apex, abruptly narrowed at the base,
entire and revolute on the margin, thick and firm, bright dark green and shin-
ing above, paler and with 2 longitudinal grooves beneath. The staminate flowers
are obovoid, about 8 mm. long, their scales thin, broadly ovate. The pistillate
flowers are nearly 6 mm. long, their scales oblong-ovate and blunt. The fruit is
ovoid or oblong-ovoid, 2.5 cm. long, hght green, with purphsh streaks or blotches.
128 The Torreyas
its flesh gelatinous; seed-coats thin, the inner irregularly impressed into the endo-
sperm, giving it the appearance of a nutmeg, whence the common name.
The wood is soft, rather weak, close-grained and satiny, light yellow; its specific
gravity is about 0.48. It is sometimes used as fence-posts, for which its durabihty
makes it very desirable.
Podocarpus, another genus of the Yew Family, is represented by several
species in the mountains of the West Indies.
The Ginko, Ginkgo biloba Linnaeus, that peculiar tree with deciduous, fan-shaped leaves,
coming to us from Japan and sometimes called Salisbiiria adiantijolia, was formerly placed
in this family, but on account of important differences it is now considered the type of a distinct
family. It is one of the most striking and curious as well as most successful of shade trees,
thriving almost all over the United States and is remarkably free from insect or fungus affections.
Its large oily fleshy-covered fruit, however, is very disagreeably odorous and its dropping in great
numbers on sidewalks has caused some painful accidents to persons stepping upon them. It has
not become naturalized. It is commonly called Maidenhair tree, from the similarity of its leaves
in shape to the leaflets of some Maidenhair ferns.
CLASS ANGIOSPERMiE
COVERED-SEEDED PLANTS
HE Angiospermae include all plants in which the ovule or ovules are
contained in a closed ovary, which is surmounted by a stigma or
stigmas, either with or without the intervention of a style. The
pollen grains from the anthers fall upon the stigmatic surfaces, or are
brought to them in one way or another and send out deUcately fiHform tubes of
microscopic thickness, which grow through the style or ovary until they reach the
ovules and fertihze them, enabling them to ripen into seeds. The ripened ovary,
containing the seed or seeds, forms the fruit, which is very various in form and
structure. By far the greater number of trees belong to this class.
The class Angiospermae is formed of two sub-classes: (i) Monocotyledones,
in which the embryonic plant within the seed has but a single leaf; the foHage
leaves are mostly parallel- veined, and the parts of the flowers are mostly in 3's or
6's; (2) Dicotylcdones, in which the embr}^o has two seed-leaves, the foHage-leaves
are mostly pinnately or palmately veined, and the floral parts in 4's, 5's, or multi-
ples of these numbers.
120
Subclass Monocotyledones
HIS subclass of plants is characterized by the simpUcity of its stem
structure, the fibro-vascular bundles being arranged in a single column
without pith or medullary rays, consequently there are neither radiat-
ing nor concentric markings in the wood. The outer portion is with-
out true bark, being of the same structure as the inner, except that it is more
compact and harder, the woody bundles being closer together with less cellular
tissue intervening. The stems are usually not enlarged by growth near the cir-
cumference, as there is no cambium; on this account they are also called Endogens
or inside growers.
The leaves, with few exceptions, are parallel- veined, there being few connect-
ing or reticulating veins; the leaves are also usually alternate and without stipules,
and, with the exception of the palms, are mostly simple.
The seed, however, affords the most striking characteristic of this subclass, in
that its embryo has but one cotyledon (seed-leaf), hence the name Monocotyle-
dones.
Most of the plants of this subclass are herbaceous ; the greater number of aqua-
tic flowering plants belong here, also the Grasses, Sedges, Lihes, Bananas, and
Yams; the woody plants of this group are mostly members of the Smilax family,
cHmbers often called Greenbriers, the roots of some species constituting the well-
known drug called Sarsaparilla ; of the Dracaena family, and the Palms, the two
latter groups being represented in our flora by some 20 arborescent species.
Leaves pinnately or palmately compound; ovule i in each cavity of the ovary.
Palm Family.
Leaves simple, elongated; ovules many in each cavity of the ovary.
Dracaena Family.
130
THE PALM FAMILY
ARECACE^ Reichenbach
ONSISTING of some 130 genera with about 1000 species of woody
plants, most of which are tall, upright trees, some have long, creeping
stems at or near the surface of the soil, others have very short, upright
stems or heads, and a few, like the genus Calamus, are chmbers.
They are indigenous to the warmer portions of both hemispheres, but fossil rem-
nants have been found as far north as Greenland.
They are of considerable economic value and serve a wide range of utilities.
The wood, although ver)' inferior to that of most other trees, is largely used in the
tropics for general construction. The fruits of many kinds are edible and used as
food, especially the Date palm, PJumix dactylifera, of northern Africa, and the
Coconut. Fixed oils of great value for food and many other purposes are ex-
pressed from the fruit of some; most important of these, aside from Coconut oil,
being Palm oil, derived from EIcfIs guineensis Jacquin, of western Africa. A wax
called Camauba wax is the exudation of the leaves of Copernicia cerijera (Arrado)
Martius, of South America. The sap of several, especially the Sugar palm, Arenga
saccharifem Labillardiere, and the Coconut palm, yields much sugar; the juices
are also fermented into a variety of alcoholic beverages and into vinegar. Sago
is obtained from the soft inner portion of the stem of the Sago palm, Metroxylon
Sagu Rottboell, of the East Indies. The large hard bony seed of Phytelephas
macrocarpa Ruiz and Pavon, of South America, known as vegetable ivor}', is made
into many very useful small articles, such as buttons. Rattan is the flexible stem
of various species of Calamus from the East Indies ; the fruits of some species also
exude a red, resin-Hke balsam, known as Dragon's blood in the drug trade. That
all-important, oriental masticatory. Betel nut, is the seed of Areca Catechu. The
leaves of numerous kinds of palms are used for thatching the houses of the tropics,
and are also separated into narrow strips and woven into hats, matting, ropes, and
other useful articles.
The palms have ample, alternate leaves, derived from a single bud at the end
of the stem; these are usually cleft, divided or parted, either palmately or pin-
nately, often with prickly or filamentiferous margins; petiole-bases imbricated
and often prickly. The flowers, usually in more or less compound axillaiy clus-
ters, are perfect or polygamous, the 2-ranked perianth consisting of a 3-lobed or
3-parted calyx, the corolla equally parted or lobed; stamens usually 6, sometimes
9 to 12, their filaments dilated or united at the base, their anthers introrse; the
pistil consists of 3 carpels, united or distinct; ovules soUtar}^ in each carpel. The
131
132
The Thatch Palms
fruit is usually a drupe, or sometimes berry-like with a hard usually homy endo-
sperm, often hollow and rarely channeled; embryo near the surface.
In addition to the following arborescent genera, RhapidophyUum is repre-
sented in our area by the shrubby R. Hystrix (Fraser) H. Wendland, the Blue
palmetto, or Needle palm of the southeastern states.
Leaves nearly orbicular, palmately cleft.
Calyx and corolla united into a 6-lobed or truncate perianth.
Endosperm of seed smooth; fruit white or nearly white when ripe
Endosperm channeled; fruit black when ripe.
Calyx and corolla distinct, not united.
Petioles unarmed.
Petioles armed.
Filaments separate, slender; Californian.
Filaments triangular, united into a cup; Floridian.
Seed oblong; low palm usually with underground stem.
Seed depressed-globose; slender erect palm.
Leaves longer than wide, pinnately parted.
Endosperm of seed not enclosing a watery fluid; stamens exserted.
Fruit oblong, sessile.
Fruit 2-lobed or 3-lobed, stalked.
Endosperm bony, hollow, enclosing a watery fluid; stamens included.
1. Thrinax.
2. Coccothrinax.
3. Sabal.
4. Neowashingtonia.
5. Serenoa.
6. Paurotis.
7. Roystonca.
8. Psendo phoenix.
9. Cocos.
I. THE THATCH PALMS
GENUS THRINAX SWARTZ
IX or 8 species of Thatch palms are known, natives of Florida, the
West Indies, and Central America. They have slender trunks and
round, palmately cleft leaves, with smooth stalks, the leaf- segments
2-cleft, the hgule at the base of the leaf-blade hard, short, usually
pointed, the base of the leaf-stalk expanded into a broad, fibrous sheath.
The flowers are in stalked, drooping, or spreading panicles, subtended by
several leathery, tube-hke spathes, and are vety numerous, small, perfect, and
either distinctly stalked or nearly sessile; the calyx and corolla are united into a
6-lobed perianth; the 6 stamens are borne on the base of the perianth and have
either subulate or nearly triangular filaments; the i -celled ovary tapers into a
rather slender style, tipped by a flat or concave stigma, which is oblique in some
species. The fmits are small globose drupes, white or greenish white when ripe,
the thin flesh enclosing the hard smooth brown seed.
Thrinax (name from the Greek) has as its type species, Thrinax parviflora
Swartz, of Jamaica; two species inhabit southern Florida.
Flowers nearly sessile; filaments triangular, united below.
Flowers distinctly stalked; filaments subulate, scarcely united below.
1. T. microcarpa.
2. T. floridana.
Large-Fruited Thatch Palm
U3
I. SMALL-FRUITED THATCH PALM — Thrinax microcarpa Sargent
Thrinax keyensis Sargent
Thrinax ponceana O. F. Cook. Thrinax bahamensis O. F. Cook
This palm occurs in southern Florida, throughout the Bahamas, and in
Porto Rico, growing on limestone rocks, preferably where there is no loose
soil at all, but sometimes in sand, and attains a maximum height of lo or 12
meters, with a trunk up to 2.5 dm. in diameter; it is usually much smaller, how-
ever, and is often seen fruiting when only 2 or 3 meters high.
The leaf -blades are 1.5 meters in
diameter, or less, sometimes a trifle
longer than wide, and they are deeply
cleft into many narrow segments;
they are light green and somewhat
shining on the upper surface, and
bluish green to silvery-white on the
under side, and when young, white-
woolly; the leaf-stalks are usually as
long as the blades, or longer, slen-
der, I to 2.5 cm. wide; the ligule is
blunt-pointed. The panicles of very
small, white flowers are borne among
the leaves and are usually as long as
the leaves, or longer; the flowers are
borne on very short, disk-Hke pedi-
cles on the ultimate slender, smooth branchlets of the panicel, the perianth-seg-
ments 2 to 3 mm. long, the filaments nearly triangular. The white or greenish
white drupes vary from 4 to 6 mm. in diameter.
The leaves are used in the West Indies for thatching and for hat-making.
The tree is planted in southern Florida for ornament. Its wood is soft and spongy,
the hard rind 12 mm. thick or less, the specific gravity about 0.60; it is used for
piles and wharfs.
Fig. 99. — Small-fruited Thatch Palm.
2. LARGE-FRUITED THATCH PALM - Thrinax floridana Sargent
This palm inhabits southern Florida, growing on limestone rocks and in sand,
and also occurs on Cat Cay, Bahamas, just across the Gulf Stream from Cape
Florida. A similar, if not identical species, grows in Cuba. It is closely re-
lated to the Jamaican T. parviflora Swartz.
The trunk attains a maximum height of about 10 meters, with a diameter of
about 1.5 dm. The leaves are 1.5 meters in diameter or less, silvery white beneath
when young, but becoming pale green when mature, deeply cleft into many long-
134
Silver Thatch Palm
to 9
Fig.
mm. in
lOO.
Large-fruited Thatch Palm.
diameter, the seed brown and shining, the basal cavit}' large.
pointed segments 2.5 cm. wide
or less, which have a promi-
nent yellowish midrib and
thickened margins, and are
2-cleft at the end; their orange-
colored ligules are i to 2 cm.
long, and pointed; the leaf-
stalks are about as long as the
blades, broadened at the base
to 5 to 7 cm. wide. The pani-
cle of small white flowers is
often I meter long, its branches
yellowish green; the flowers
are distinctly stalked, the stalks
about 3 mm. long, slender; the
fruits are spherical, white, 6
II. SILVER THATCH PALM
GENUS COCCOTHRINAX SARGENT
Species Coccothrinax argentea (Loddiges) Sargent
Thrinax argentea Loddiges. Thrinax parviflora Garberi Chapman
Coccothrinax Garberi Sargent. Coccothrinax jucunda Sargent
HE genus Coccothrinax (Greek, berry thrinax, referring to the fruit,
which outwardly resembles a
berr}-) includes several species,
natives of southern Florida and
the West Indies. It is distinguished readily
from Thrinax by this pulpy fruit, which is
black when ripe, and by the seed, which has
several channels on its surface; the flowers
are ver}- similar to those of Thrinax.
Coccothrinax argentea, sometimes called
Silver-top or Bay-top palmetto, attains a
height of 10 meters, with a trunk 1.5 to 2
dm. in diameter; it is usually much smaller,
however, and sometimes makes hardly any
trunk at all, the leaves seeming to rise in a
tuft from the ground. The leaves are nearly
orbicular, 2 to 7 dm. broad, sometimes a ht-
tle longer than broad, palmately cleft to be- fjg. ioi. — SUver Thatch Palm.
Silver Thatch Palm
135
yond the middle into numerous narrowly lanceolate acuminate segments; they are
yellow-green and shining on the upper side, silvery-while beneath, at Ifast when
young; their stalks are slender and about as long as the blades, expanded below
into fibrous sheaths which remain attached to the trunk after the leaves have
fallen away; the kirge panicles of flowers are short-stalked and borne among the
leaves, usually shorter than the leaf-stalks, their branches more or less flattened,
their spathes membranous; the flower-stalks are from i to 3 mm. long, consid-
erably thickened in fruit. The small white flowers are perfect, with a cup-
shaped, 6-lobed perianth, usually 9 stamens with subulate filaments, and a i -celled
ovsLvy. The fruit is black, globose, 12 mm. in diameter, or less; the nearly globu-
lar seed is brownish.
It is also known as Brittle thatch; its wood is soft with a thin, hard rind.
Its leaves are extensively used in the Bahamas, being spht into narrow bands
and these woven into baskets, ropes and mats, the fiber being strong and durable.
Fig. 102. — Silver Thatch, Culcbra, Porto Rico.
136
The Palmetto
III. THE PALMETTO
GENUS SAEAL ADANSON
Species Sabal Palmetto (Walter) Rocmer and Schultes
Corypha Palmetto Walter. Chanucrops Palmetto Michaux
Inodes Palmetto O. F. Cook. Inodes Schwarzil O. F. Cook
[ABAL consists of five or more closely related species, natives of the
southern United States, Bermuda, the West Indies, Mexico, and
northern South America; they are readily known bv the fiber-Hke
threads which separate and droop from the margins of the leaf-seg-
ments, the leaves being palmately cleft with a short leaf-axis, which gradually
tapers into the blade, and by the clusters of round, black globose fruits.
Sabal Palmetto grows in dry or wet situations from eastern North Carolina to
Florida, throughout the Bahamas and on
Cuba; its habitat varies, indeed, from
sand-dunes to swamps, sometimes even in
flowing water, but it is largest and most
abundant on river-banks. The tmnk
attains a maximum height of about 20
meters with a diameter up to 7 decime-
ters, but it often flowers freelv in southern
Florida when not more than 4 meters
high. The leaves are 2.5 meters broad, or
less, often rather wider than long, their
numerous narrow segments 2-cleft at the
apex and more or less drooping, rather
dull green; the leaf-stalks are stout, often
as long as the blades, concave on the upper
side, with sharp edges. The numerous
small, perfect, nearly stalkless flowers are
spicate on the ultimate divisions of the spreading or drooping panicles, w^hich are
borne among the leaves and either shorter or longer than them; the main branches
of the panicles are subtended by tubular bracts and flattened ; the cup-shaped calyx
is unequally 3-lobed, its lobes obtuse, about i mm. long; the 3 nearly white petals
are oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 5 to 6 mm. long, slightly united at the base; the
6 stamens are about as long as the petals and united by the broadened bases of
the subulate filaments; the ovary is 3-celled, the style 3-angled, the stigma trun-
cate. The fruits are small, round black drupes, 6 to 12 mm. in diameter, with
thin, sweetish pulp enclosing the depressed-globose brown smooth hard shining seed.
The wood of the Palmetto is soft and spongy; it is largely used for piles and
other construction under water and made into canes. The terminal buds of the
tree are boiled and eaten like cabbage, and the common name Cabbage palmetto
Fig. 103. — Palmetto.
The Palmetto
^^1
^u
\ \ \ \ '^ '< v^v^AlnHw
HrM^H^f
-^^^^^I^^K^^H^B
^^fi
^^^EN^Y^i|^«^ iv iH^Cwd^Hi^S
<._
1
--''''
HPi
H
Ik
J
;^F^^
vn
Hi
Fig. 104. — Palmetto, Charleston, South Carolina.
is applied to it in the south; the leaves are largely used in making hats, baskets,
and mats, and are also employed for thatching. This palm is much planted for
ornament within the regions of its natural growth. It is calhd Pond thatch and
Pond top in the Bahamas; it exudes a resin when wounded.
The type of the genus Sabal is S. glabra (jMiller) Sargent, a species with a hori-
zontal underground stem growing from South Carolina to Florida and Louisiana.
S. Etonia Swingle, of Florida, also has a subterranean stem. A Palmetto occurs
in southern Texas, about the mouth of the Rio Grande, which is supposed to be
specifically distinct from S. Palmetto of the Atlantic coast and has been named
Inodes texana by Mr. O. F. Cook, and has been erroneously called Sabal mcxicana;
its fruit is described as often 2-lo})ed or ^dobed, a character rarcl}- seen in .S. Pal-
metto, and it is also larger than that usually produced by the eastern tree, but the
fruit of 5. Palmetto varies greatly in size. The trees of Cuba and Porto Rico,
138 Desert Palm
which have been supposed to be different from S. Palmetto, resemble it very closely;
Sahal Blackburn iana, Glazebrook, endemic in Bermuda, and other species of
Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica are clearly different, however.
IV. DESERT PALM
GENUS NEOWASHINGTONIA SUDWORTH
Species Neowashingtonia robusta (W'endland) Britton
Washingtonia robusta W'endland
Neowashingtonia flamcntosa Sudworth, not Washingtonia filamentosa \\'endland
HREE species of Desert Palms of this genus are known, natives of
southern California, Lower CaHfomia, and western Sonora. They
are closely related to each other but appear to be different. They
have palmately cleft leaves, the margins of the leaf-segments sepa-
rating into drooping fibers, as in the Palmetto, which they were first taken to be
and which they resemble, but their leaf-stalks are armed with stout short spine-
like teeth. The genus is named in honor of George Washington, and was first
called Washingtonia, but inasmuch as other plants had previously been described
under this name, it has been modified into Neowashingtonia; the type of the genus
is N eowashingtonia 'filamentosa, from noithein Lower California, a species which
does not stand cultivation as well as the one here described.
N eowashingtonia robusta occurs in moist oases and canons in the desert regions
of southern California, occasionally forming large groves; its reddish brown trunk
sometimes becomes a meter in diameter and 25 meters high. The dark green
leaves are 2 meters in diameter or less, deeply cleft into numerous linear-lanceolate
segments, which are again cleft at the apex; their marginal fibers are usually nu-
merous; the leaf-stalk is as long as the blade or shorter, heavily armed with stout,
straight, and cur\^ed teeth sometimes 2 cm. long, and its base is much broadened;
when wilting the leaves hang down and remain thus attached to the plant for a
long period and in large numbers, giving it a curious and characteristic aspect.
The large stalked panicles of flowers are axillar\' to the upper leaves and often
3 or 4 meters long; the fragrant flowers are perfect, borne on short, stout stalks;
the tubular calyx is slightly lobed, the corolla funnelfoiTn, its tube about as long
as the 3 lanceolate lobes; the 6 stamens have separate filaments borne on the
corolla-tube; the ovar}' is 3-celled and 3-lobed, surmounted by 3 slender
styles. The edible fruit is a nearly spherical black drupe about 8 mm. long, with
thin, sweetish flesh enclosing the ovoid seed, which has a nearly flat base.
This elegant palm is much planted for ornament in California and Florida
and has been introduced into southern Europe; it grows rapidly and its large leaves
afford much shade. Its wood is soft and spongy, with a specific gravity of about
0.50. The tree is also called Fan-leaf palm, Washington palm, California fan-palm,
and Wild date.
Desert Palm
139
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rj
-' *
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u.
0
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-4->
3
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tn
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Ph
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140
Saw Palmetto
V. SAW PALMETTO
GENUS SERENOA HOOKER
Species Serenoa serrulata (Michaux) Hooker
Chanucyops scrridata ^Nlichaux
ERENOA, named in honor of Sereno Watson, long curator of the Gray-
Herbarium of Harvard University, contains only one species, a char-
acteristic little palm which inhabits dry soil from North Carolina to
Florida and Texas, extending northward into Arkansas. It only
becomes a tree in its extreme southern range in peninsular Florida, sometimes
attaining there a height of 6 meters, its trunk erect or inclined; great areas of
Fig. 106. — Saw Palmetto, southern Florida.
pine-lands are covered with it further north, where its stems are almost invariably
underground, often 3 or 4 meters long, and send up the tuft of leaves from the
end.
The leaves are deeply palmately cleft into numerous segments i to 2 cm. wide,
which are again 2-cleft; they vary from 3 to 7 dm. broad; the ligule is small and
thin, the leaf-stalk usually longer than the blade, convex on one side and nearly
fiat on the other, 1.5 cm. wide or less, its margins armed witli numerous short,
Saw Cabbage Palm 141
spine-like teeth placed close together, and it expands below into a fibrous sheath.
The panicles are axillary, shorter than the leaves, its numerous branches angled
and velvety; the white stalkless flowers are very numerous and fragrant; the calyx
is 3-Iobcd, cup-like, and about i mm. long; the oblong petals are concave,
2-keeIed on the inner side, and slightly united at the base, 3 or 4 mm. long; the 6
stamens are rather shorter than the petals, their tilaments slender; the ovary is
composed of 3 carpels, separate at the base but united above. The fruit is an
oblong smooth black drupe, 15 to 18 mm. long, containing a smooth oblong,
shining seed enclosed in a fibrous layer.
The wood is rather hard for a palm, red-brown, and rich in tannin, which is
extracted in the form of a thick licjuid and shipped to northern tanneries; a coarse
fiber is also extracted from the trunk. The fruit is valued as a fattening food for
domestic animals and a ffuid extract made from it is used for medicinal purposes;
the leafy tops are cut off and shipped north during winter for decoration.
VI. SAW CABBAGE PALM
GENUS PAUROTIS O. F. COOK
Species Paurotis Wrightii (Grisebach and Wendland) Britten
Copcrnicid Wrightii Grisebach and Wendland, 1866
Serenoa arborescens Sargent, 1899. Paurotis androsana O. F. Cook, 1902
AUROTIS is a monotypic genus, inhabiting swamps and hammocks
along the Chokoloskee River southwestern Florida, Andros island,
Bahamas, where it is called Spanish-top, and is frequent in Cuba.
This palm has a slender, erect, or inclined trunk up to 15 meters
high and 1.5 dm. thick, and often grows in clumps. The light green leaves
are very deeply palmately cleft into numerous Hnear segments, which are i to
2 cm. wide, each segment again cleft one third its length, or less; the dark brown
leaf-stalks are about as long as the blades, concave on the upper side, their margins
armed with stout cuived spine-Hke teeth; the leaf-sheaths are fibrous and per-
sistent, clothing the trunk for some distance below the living foliage. The small,
perfect flowers are stalkless and very numerous in flat-stalked, elongated panicles
borne among the leaves, and these are subtended by several hnear brown-edged
spathes; the branchlets of the panicle are usually hairy; the calyx is minute and
3-lobed, the corolla deeply 3-parted, yellowish green, its segments oblong-ovate,
acute, about i mm. long; the 6 stamens have nearly triangular filaments and are
a trifle shorter than the corolla. The fruits are black globose drupes about 8 mm.
in diameter, the subglobose brown seed somewhat flattened at the base.
The generic name is Greek. The leaves are bright white beneath when
young, and are used for making hats on Andros island.
142
Saw Cabbage Palm
Fig. 107. — Saw Cabbage Palm, Cuba.
Royal Palm 143
VII. ROYAL PALM
GENUS ROYSTONEA O. F. COOK
Species Roystonea regia (Huml)oldt, Bonpland and Kunth) O. F. Cook
Oreodoxa regia Humboldt, Bonpland and Kunth
OYAL palms are among the most characteristic trees of Cuba and
Porto Rico, and ver}^ abundant on those islands. The tree of Porto
Rico differs ver\^ slightly from that of Cuba and has been described
by Mr. O. F. Cook as a distinct species {Roystonea horinquena) but
the differences are so insignificant as to make their specific distinction doubtful.
The trees also grow in southern Florida, near Miami, and on both the eastern
and western sides of the Everglades, and IMr. Cook has proposed that these be
known as Roystonea iioridana, but they do not differ in the least from the Cuban
generic type, Roystonea regia, the " Palma real." The generic name is in honor
of General Roy Stone of the United States army.
The tnmk sometimes reaches a height of 30 meters, perhaps even more, but
usually does not exceed 20 or 25 meters with a diameter of 6 dm. or less; it is
strictly erect, gray in color, tapering slightly upward from the rather abruptly
enlarged base or often somewhat bulging at or about the middle. The numerous
pinnate leaves are 3 to 5 meters long, with many Hnear-Ianceolate, long-pointed
segments 9 to 10 dm. long, those near the base of the leaf the largest, sometimes
4 cm. wide; these are dark green and somewhat drooping; the leaf-stalks are convex
beneath, nearly flat on the upper side, and expand at the base into long broad
bright green sheaths, each of which leaves a ring-Hke scar on the trimk as it falls
away. The monoecious flowers are in large nodding stalked panicles at the bases
of the leaf-sheaths; the branches of the panicle are somewhat angled; the flowers are
stalkless on the slender ultimate appressed branches of the panicle; the staminate
ones have a ver\' small calyx with 3 ovate lobes, much shorter than the 3 leathery
white petals, which are about 6 mm. long, and from 6 to 12 stamens, with slender
filaments; the pistillate flowers are smaller than the staminate ones, their 3 petals
united to the middle, and have 6 short sterile stamens, an oblique, nearly round
ovar}', and a 3-lobed stigma, which becomes nearly basal on the ripening fruit.
The fruit is blue, sessile, oblong, about 12 mm. long and 8 mm. thick, the exocarp
thin, covering a fibrous brown layer which encloses the oblong brown seed; the
sharply 3-lobed calyx is persistent at the base of the fruit.
The Royal palm is one of the most elegant of all palms, and is much planted
for ornament in the tropics; in Cuba, where it forms forests, sometimes nearly to
the exclusion of other trees, its wood is used for ah sorts of construction, its leaves
for thatching, and its fruit for hog- food ; canes are made from the hard rind of the
trunk, which encloses the much softer light brown wood of its interior. The
broad leaf-sheath is used by the Cubans to encase tobacco for shipment from the
plantations, also for the sides and partitions of their huts, which sometimes are
144
Royal Palm
covered bv clapboards made of sections of the hard outer rind of the trunk, the
specific gravity of which is about 0.80; that of the soft inner wood is about 0.21.
Fig. 108. — Royal Palm, Cuba.
Hog Cabbage Palm
145
VIII. HOG CABBAGE PALM
GENUS PSEUDOPHCENIX WENDLAND
Species Pseudophoenix Sargenti Wcndland
Cydospathe Northropi O. F. Cook
HIS palm grows abundantly on many of the Bahama islands, inter-
mixed with hardwood-trees and shrubs in the coppices, and also
occurs on Elliott's Key and Key Largo, southern Florida. The
genus Pseudophoenix (Greek, false Phoenix), is monotypic, only this
one species being known, which is also known as Sargent's palm.
Fig. 109. — Hog Cabbage Palm, Whale Cay, Bahamas.
The tnmk is sometimes 8 meters high, usually lower, and from 1.5 to 3 dm.
in diameter; it usually bulges somewhat above the base and the ring-hke scars of
faUen leaf-bases are prominent and close together. The leaves are often 1.5 to
2 meters long, spreading or the youngest erect, pinnate with very numerous irreg-
ularly clustered firm leaflets, which are linear-lanceolate, gradually long-pointed,
0.8 to 2.5 cm. wide, dark green on the upper side, pale green on the lower, and
those at or about the middle of the leaf are the longest ; the leaf-stalk is ver\' stout,
much shorter than the pinnate part, expanded at the base into a broad sheath,
convex and glaucous on the under side, concave or nearly flat on the upper; the
14-6 Coconut
leaf-axis is also convex beneath, ridged above, tapering gradually into a slender
tip. The axillary drooping inflorescence is a much-branched panicle, shorter
than the leaves, its stalk and zigzag branches stiff and flattened; the flowers are
numerous; the lower part of the inflorescence bears one or two rings or collars
and is subtended by several thick stiff partly hollow narrow spathes, which are
verv sharp-edged and brown scaly on the edges. The small calyx has 3 sharp
lobes; there are 3 yellowish oblong, bluntish, spreading, persistent petals, and six
stamens. The young fruit is globose-ovoid, blunt, about 3 mm. long, borne on
a stalk 3 to 4 mm. long, which is jointed at the base; the mature fruit is 2-lobed,
or more commonly 3-lobcd, rather fleshy, scarlet, 2.5 to 3 cm. broad, and about
twice as broad as long.
The wood is very soft and is used as food for hogs in the Bahama islands;
the terminal bud is boiled and eaten by the negroes. The most abundant growth
of this palm known to us is on Whale Cay, one of the Berry islands, north of New
Providence, where it covers hillsides and on Little San Salvador. The tree is
considerably planted for ornament in southern Florida and on the Bahamas.
IX. COCONUT
GENUS COCOS LINN^US
Species Cocos nucifera Linnjcus
HIS, the most useful of all palms, is distributed throughout the tropical
regions of both the New World and the Old, growing best in sandy
soil along or near the seacoasts. Its original home is not known,
but inasmuch as the thirty or forty other species of the genus are
natives of tropical America, it is probably of American origin. The tree is spon-
taneous in all the West Indian islands and in southern Florida.
The trunk becomes 30 meters tall under favorable conditions, with a diameter
up to 6 or 7 dm., usually much enlarged at the base; it is normally erect, but is
often seen variously bent by hurricane winds; the bright green, pinnately divided
leaves are from 3 to 6 meters in length, and from 0.8 to 1.5 meters broad, the nu-
merous linear- lanceolate segments 3.5 to 5 cm. wide, with prominent mid-veins; the
leaf-stalk is very stout, much shorter than the blade; the leaf-axis is convex on
the under side, ridged on the upper, the leaf-sheath very broad and clasping. The
panicles of flowers are borne among the leaves on stout stalks, at length drooping
from the weight of the heavy fruit, and are from i to 2 meters long; the yellowish
white flowers are monoecious, the staminate ones borne toward the end of the
panicle are about i cm. long, the pistillate larger, and borne mostly on the basal
branches of the panicle; the staminate ones have 3 small acute sepals, 3 oblong
acute petals, 6 stamens with flliform filaments and a rudimentary ovary or none;
the pistillate flowers are ovoid, with 3 leathery, erect sepals, 3 leathery petals
shorter than the sepals, and a 3-celled ovary narrowed into a short style, the stigma
Coconut
147
subulate. The fruit is large, smooth, 3-angled, often 3 dm. long, with a thick,
fibrous husk enclosing the oblong bony hollow nut, which has 3 orifices near the
end and is lined with the sweet white endosperm and filled with a sweet limpid
juice, much prized as a dehcious drink.
This palm is the most important member of its family, at least from an econom-
ical standpoint, its useful applications being remarkably numerous. The ripe
fruit is the popular coconut of commerce, used as a staple food in all the tropics
and as a delicacy in temperate regions, to which the preserved dried flesh in the
form of desiccated coconut is also sent and consumed in large quantities as a basis
Fig. no. — Coconut, Key West, Florida.
for various confections. The "milk" of the ripe fruit is very nutritious as well
as delicious, while the water}' contents of the younger fruit is one of the most
wholesome and delicious drinks obtainable in the tropics. The dried flesh, freed
of the hard covering, is a staple commercial product under the name of copra,
from which a thick bland oil is expressed. In the tropics coconut oil is an impor-
tant article of food, it is also the base for fine soaps; the residuum, after the oil is
expressed, is a valuable food for cattle. The fibrous husk, under the name of
coir fiber, obtained from the unripe fruit, is the basis of an important industry-
which furnishes a very important coarse fiber, largely used in the manufacture of
148 Coconut
mats and ropes. The sweet sap, which flows freely from the young inflorescence
when wounded, is collected and evaporated into a crude sugar for local consump-
tion, especially in the East Indian islands. The wood is used locally in construc-
tion work and also made into canes and other trinkets. The hard bony shell of
the fruit is made into various utensils for local use. Writing-pens, brooms, and
other useful objects are made out of the stiff, fibrovascular tissue of the leaf-stalk.
The leaves are also used for thatching. A beautiful transparent resin exudes
from the trunk, or the husk of the fruit, when wounded.
THE DRACi^NA FAMILY
DRACENACE.E Link
HIS family consists of lo or 12 genera, with about 115 species of shrubbv
or tree-like plants, with a woody stem sometimes sparingly branched,
occurring in the warmer regions of both hemispheres. They have
little economic value; some of the Yuccas yield an inferior fiber and
edible fruits of very poor cjuality, and the roots of some are also used as soap.
The Dragon tree, Draccpua Draco, of the Canary islands, a large and peculiar
tree, is said to have been of great importance to the ancient Egyptians, as the red
resinous exudation is supposed to have been used by them in the process of mum-
mifvins; their dead; under the name of Dragon's blood it was used medicinallv
in the form of plasters and other applications. The Dragon's blood of the present
time, however, is derived from some East Indian palms. Many species of Draccrna
arc great favorites in our conservatories, on account of their beautiful and often
gorgeously colored foliage.
The DracanacecB have very numerous alternate, long, narrow, firm, stiff leaves,
often with thread-like filaments on the margin, sometimes finely toothed. The
flowers are in racemes or panicles, on terminal scapes or scape-like stems; their
perianth, consisting of 6 c^uite similar divisions, is usually white; stamens 6, their
filaments distinct, but sometimes partially joined to the perianth; anthers 2-celled.
The pistil consists of 3 united carpels; the ovar}^ is superior, i- to 3-celled; ovules
2 to many in each cavity; styles united, sometimes very short or obsolete, usually
evident on the fruit, which is a dehiscent capsule, or indehiscent and berr\'-like.
Our arborescent genera are :
&^
Divisions of the perianth distinct or but very slightly united at the base;
stamens slightly attached to the base of perianth.
Perianth-segments thickened, mostly inflexed; style wanting. i. CUstoyucca.
Perianth-segments thin and petaloid, spreading at night; style present. 2. Yucca.
Divisions of the perianth united into a short tube at the base; stamens inserted
on its throat. 3. Samucla.
140
1^0
Joshua Tree
I. JOSHUA TREE
GENUS CLISTOYUCCA [ENGELMANN] TRELEASE
Species Clistoyucca arborescens (Torrey) Trelease
Yucca Draconis arborescens Torrey
Yucca brevijoUd Engclmann, not Schott. Yucca arborescens Trelease
HIS interesting tree occurs in the Mojave desert region of southern
California, eastward into Arizona and southwestern Utah, attaining a
height of 12 meters, with a trunk diameter of 9 dm., and is also known
as Joshu yucca, Tree yucca. Yucca cactus, and The Joshua.
The trunk is thickened near the ground, contracted just above, and with the
exception of ver}- old trees is densely clothed
to the base by the persistent dead leaves.
The rind at the base of the tmnk is 2.5 to 4
cm. thick, deeply fissured into narrow thick
elongated plates of a grayish color. The
branches usually appear after the plant has
first flowered, and fork repeatedly after
further flowering, forming a broad open head.
The leaves are densely clustered at the ends
of the branches, light green, somewhat glau-
cous, 1.25 to 3 dm. long, 6 to 12 mm. wide,
abiTjptly narrowed just above the shining
red-brown base, concave above, flattened
toward the base, the tij) dark reddish brown,
stiff, tapering and sharp, the margin thin,
Mllowish, finely toothed. The flowers ap-
pear in spring from a large hair}- ovoid
bud, in hairy densely flowered sessile panicles
about 4 dm. long; the upper bracts arc
white and dryish; the flowers are erect,
globose or oblong, 2.5 to 5 cm. long, greenish
white and unpleasantly odorous; the perianth-segments are keeled on the back,
thickened above the middle, the tip inflexed and much thickened ; those of the outer
series are broader and thicker than those of the inner, oblanceolate to lanceolate;
stamens about one half the length of the perianth, tlieir filaments nearly free,
thickened, and usually curved outwardly above; anthers arrow-shaped; ovar\' sessile,
ovoid, tapering upward into the 6-lobed stigma. The fruit is somewhat drooping
when ripe, oblong or ovoid-oblong, 5 to 10 cm. long, somewhat 3-lobed, and
sharp-pointed; it is light brown or yellow-brown, indehiscent, <\rx, its spongy wall
about I cm. thick, enclosing the many black seeds; these are roundish-triangular,
10 to 12 mm. long, 1.5 mm. thick, with a narrow margin.
Fig. 111. — Joshua Tree.
The Yuccas 151
The wood is soft, vcn- porous, light brown or nearly white; its specific gravity
is about 0.37. It has been used for paper pulp, but is undesirable for lumber
and worked with great difficult}-; it is also cut into strips and used for packing
purposes. The Indians grind the seed into meal and bake it.
The genus contains but one species; the name is Greek, signifying hidden
Yucca, referring to the nearly closed flowers.
II. THE YUCCAS
YUCCA [DILLENIUS] LINN^US
HIS genus consists of about 28 species of pecuhar plants var}ang from
a low, almost stemless form, like the Beargrass or Adam's needle,
Yucca plamentosa, to tall, single-shafted trees fully 15 meters high.
Their branches, if any, are sparingly produced. The long, narrow
sword-like leaves radiate in all directions, the dead ones remaining attached to
the stem or branches for many years. They occur in the temperate portions of
North America from Mar\dand to South Dakota, south and westward to Florida,
Mexico and Central America ; also in the West Indies. They are commonly called
Spanish bayonet or Spanish dagger and many of the species are planted for
ornament, their large clustered flowers being very conspicuous.
The leaves are alternate, hnear-lanceolate, firm, usually thickened toward the
base and concave above the middle. The flowers are in large, many-flowered
terminal racemes or panicles, more or less odorous, nearly white, and drooping;
the perianth is subglobose or bell-shaped, its divisions distinct or but very sHghtly
united at the base; stamens 6, hypogynous, in 2 series, their filaments free, enlarged
above and curved outward, shorter than the perianth; anthers short, arrow-shaped,
2-celled; the ovary is usually sessile, smooth, and green, 3-celled or imperfectly
6-celled, rarely but i -celled; style oblong or swollen; stigma unequally 6-lobcd;
ovules numerous in each cell. The fruit is a dehiscent capsule, or indehiscent and
berry-like; the seeds are numerous, more or less triangular, flattish, and usually
black.
These plants are of no important economic use. The soft spongy wood has
been made into paper pulp and is also used to some extent for construction. The
fleshy fruits of many species are edible and are also fermented into an alco-
holic beverage. The leaf fibers are used in the manufacture of baskets and mats,
while the extracted fiber of- the leaves is also used, but only to a limited extent.
The inflorescence of some of the species is gathered by the Mexicans and used as
fodder for domestic animals.
The generic name is adopted from the Carib name of one of the species, the
type being Yucca aloijolia Linna?us.
Of probably 18 species occurring in our area the following are arborescent:
152
The Yuccas
Fruit dehiscent; southwestern tree.
Fruit indehiscent.
Seeds thin, flat, narrowly margined; fruit soon becoming dry; south-
eastern tree.
Seeds thick or quite marginless; fruit drooping, fleshy, edible.
Ovary stalked; fruit coreless, the pulp purple; leaf margin horny,
sharply toothed; southeastern tree.
Ovary not stalked; core of fruit papery, the pulp greenish or yellowish
white; leaves concave, more or less filiferous.
Leaf margins slightly toothed; tree of Texas and Mexico.
Leaf margins not toothed.
Leaf margin thin and flexible, the threads very firm; peduncle
hairy.
Leaf margin thick and stiff, the threads coarse; peduncle not hairy.
Style elongated; Texas.
Style short; Arizona.
1. Y. elala.
2. y. gloriosa.
3. Y. aloijoUa.
4. Y. Treculeana.
5. r. ScJwltii.
6. Y. Torrcyi.
7. Y. mohavensis.
I. SOUTHERN YUCCA — Yucca elata Engelmann
Yucca radiosa (Engelmanii'l Trelease. Yucca augustijolia radiosa Engelmann
Yucca cflustricta Baker, also Sargent, not Buckley
A simple or sparingly branched tree of the high, dry plains of southwestern
Texas to southern Arizona and adja-
cent Mexico. Its maximum height
is 7 meters. It is also called Spanish
bayonet and Spanish dagger.
The trunk is usually simple and
covered nearly to the ground by the
persistent dead leaves. The rind,
which is sometimes exposed at the
very base of the trunk, is about 6
mm. thick and broken into thin ir-
regular scales of a dark brown color.
The leaves are yellowish green, rather
stiff and diverging, linear, 5 to 7.5
dm. long; the clasping base is 3 to 6
cm. wide, thin, whitish, and is ab-
ru})tly narrowed to the gradually
tapering blade, which is about 7 mm.
broad at the middle, thin and flat
above, slightly rounded beneath, stiff,
brownish tipped, the margins entire,
thin, and white, splitting into very
The flowers, opening from May to July, are in branched
Fig. 112. — Southern Yucca
long slender threads.
panicles 1.2 to 1.8 meters long, the smooth stalks of which are about the same
Spanish Bayonet
153
length; the bracts are thin and white, the flowers are stalked, drooping, their
perianth bell-shaped, 8 to 12 cm. broad, thin and white; the segments are but
slightly united at the base, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, narrowed into a bluntish tip
and hairy at the apex, the outer series merely sharp-pointed and about half the
width of the inner ones; the stamens are about as long as the pistil; the ovary is
sessile, greenish, abruptly narrowed into an oblong white style about 8 mm. long
terminated by the white-lobed stigma. The fmit is short-stalked and erect, ob-
long, 3.5 to 5 cm. long, about three fourths as thick, smooth, rarely if at all con-
stricted, blunt at the base, tipped with the short style, shghtly 3-lobed with convex
ridges. The outer covering is thin, light brown, and woody; seeds numerous,
often semicircular, 12 to 16 mm. long, thin and smooth with a brittle margin.
When mature, the fruit sphts into three 2-toothed carpels, releasing the seeds.
The wood is very porous, brown or yellowish; its specific gravity is about 0.45.
The young inflorescence is collected just before opening, and eaten by the
Mexicans and Indians.
2. SPANISH BAYONET — Yucca gloriosa Linnffius
An inhabitant of the coastal region from North Carolina to northeastern Florida,
rarely met in a wild state but frequently
cultivated in the south for ornament,
where it has become spontaneous, espe-
cially in some of the Gulf States, reach-
ing a maximum height of 5 meters, with
a tnmk diameter of 1.5 dm.; usually,
however, it is much smaller and at times
quite stemless. It is also known as
Spanish dagger.
The trunk is stout, usually simple,
rarely branched; branches, when pres-
ent, very short and bearing relatively few
leaves. The rind at the base of the
trunk is thick, rather smooth, and light
gray. The leaves are dull green, often
somewhat glaucous when young, nearly
linear, 3 to 5 dm. long; their broad base
is rounded to the narrow blade, which
is usually widest near the middle, dull
green, rarely glaucous, stiff and dark
reddish at the apex, with a few teeth or
a few short fibers on the brownish margin. The flowers usually appear in autumn,
rarely as early as July; they are usually in long-stalked, upright panicles 6 to 12
dm. long, sometimes 4 dm. thick, the lanceolate bracts white, sharp-pointed, i to
Fig. 113. — Spanish Bayonet.
154
The Yuccas
lo cm. long; the flowers are long-stalked, spreading or pendulous, their perianth
8 to lo cm. broad, the segments lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, sharp-pointed,
4 to 5 cm. long, slightly united at base, creamy white with more or less violet
and purple on the outer surface; stamens about as long as the ovary, their fila-
ments rather slender, only slightly bent outward and a little hairy ; anthers notched
at the apex; ovary sessile or very nearly so, greenish, narrowed upward into the
oblong sometimes 3-lobed style. The fruit is an indehiscent leatheiy capsule,
nodding, nearly oblong or obo void-oblong, 5 to 6 cm. long, 2.5 cm, thick, usually
constricted near the middle, prominently 6-ridged, its base rounded, and the apex
sharp-pointed. The seeds are black and shining, rounded-triangular, 6 to 7 mm.
long, 1.5 mm. thick.
The Spanish bayonet is largely cultivated in warm-temperate and tropical
America, and in southern Europe, where several garden varieties are grown.
3. SPANISH DAGGER— Yucca aloifoUa Linnaeus
Limited in the wild state in our area to sandy soils from North Carolina to
southern Florida and westward to eastern Louisiana, especially abundant on the
™g-_^ sand dunes and islands of the coast,
IBIl / this also occurs in Bermuda, the West
Indies, and eastern Mexico, attaining
lira ,'ffi\\\\\' A Ml
HM\\\M m a height of 9 meters, with a trunk di-
ameter of 1.5 dm.
The trunk is usually slightly swol-
len at the base, erect or incHning,
slender, often simple, commonly
sparingly branched and frequently
suckering from the base. The rind,
sometimes exposed near the ground,
is thick, rough, and brown, other-
wise the trunk is covered with leaf-
scars or closely appressed deflexed
dead leaves which persist for many
years; near the top the living
leaves radiate in all directions. The
branches are short, erect, and seldom
exceed three in number. The leaves
Fig. 114. -Spanish Dagger. ^^^ numerous, dark green, smooth,
narrowly hncar-oblong, 3 to 9 dm. long, flat, rather thick and stiff, the broad
base light colored and abruptly contracted to the narrow blade, which is widest
near the middle, a little concave above, tipped with a stiff, sharp, brown point
and margined with small, thick teeth. The flowers appear from June to Decem-
ber in conic panicles 3 to 9 dm. long, compact and close to the leaves; the bracts
Texan Bayonet
155
are thick, and smooth, the pedicels stout, 2.5 to 5 cm. long; the flowers open
widely at night; they are 7.5 to 10 cm. across; the perianth is creamy white, often
tinged with green or purple, its segments 4 to 6 cm. long, oblong to elliptic, the
outer sharp-pointed. The fruit is a short-stalked, drooping, pulpy capsule, nar-
rowly oblong, 7 to 10 cm. long, somewhat 6-sided, rounded at the base, narrowed
and beaked at the apex, with a fleshy, deep purple pulp which is bitterish but
sweet, and is eaten by the negroes at the south, who call them "Bananas." The
seeds are rounded or oval, often sharp-pointed, about 6 mm. long, 1.5 mm. thick,
black and shining.
The Spanish dagger is much planted for hedges surrounding tropical gardens;
it is often seen in consers^atories and is known in several cultivated varieties.
4. TEXAN BAYONET — Yucca Treculeana Carriere
Occurs from south-central Texas to northeastern Mexico, scattered, or in large
groves, reaching a height of 9 meters, with a trunk diameter of 6 dm., but sometimes
much smaller and forms very dense thickets. It is also called Spanish dagger.
The trunk is simple or few-branched, the branches being short, stout, and
spreading. The rind at the base of the trunks of old trees is about 8 mm. thick,
fissured into thick, angular plates and
covered with small close scales of a
dark reddish brown color. The leaves,
which persist for many years, are
numerous, bluish green, lanceolate, 9
to 12.5 dm. long, roughish, thick and
stiff, somewhat narrowed above the
broad clasping, dark red, shining base,
widest near the middle, very concave
above, armed at the apex with a short,
sharp, dark brown spine; the margin
is pale, thickened, and soon separates
into fine dark-colored fibers. The
flowers appear from March to May in
short-stalked glabrous bracted pani-
cles 6 to 12 dm. long; the lowest
bracts are very large. The flowers are
pendent on short, slender pedicels,
nearly globular, 5 to 10 cm. broad, white or purphsh, the perianth-segments free
to the base, thin, ovate-lanceolate, 3 to 5 cm. long, sharp or taper-pointed; the
stamens are about as long as the ovary, their filaments hairy, bent outwardly at
the top; ovary 3-lobed, tapering to the sessile, deeply lobed stigma. The fruit,
ripening in summer, is a stalked and drooping berry-like indehiscent capsule, ob-
long, slightly 6-sided, grooved or 3-lobed, 7.5 to 10 cm. long, rounded at the base
Fig. 115. — Texan Bayonet.
156
The Yuccas
with but little of the perianth bases remaining, narrowed at the apex into a short
tip, reddish brown; flesh juicy, bitterish sweet, and of a rather pleasant flavor,
with a thick, paper)- inner layer surrounding the seeds; these are rounded triangu-
lar, about 7 mm. long, about one third as thick, and marginless or slightly mar-
gined.
The wood is soft, porous, and Hght brown; it is seldom used. The fruit is used
as food by the Mexicans, who also utilize the rootstock as a soap.
5. SCHOTT'S YUCCA— Yucca SchottiiEngelmann
Yucca macrocarpa Engelmann
This rarely attains its maximum height of 6 meters and is found in southern
Arizona, especially near Benson and
Nogales, and grows also in adja-
cent Mexico.
The trunk is usually unbranched
and densely clothed with leaves or
leaf fragments; branches, if any,
few, short, and erect. The rind,
sometimes exposed at the base of the
trunk, is about 10 mm, thick and
roughened by leaf scars. The leaves
are thin but stiff, narrowly hnear-
oblong, 7 to 9 dm. long, and 2 to 4
cm. wide, smooth and bluish green ;
the upper portion is concave, the apex
stiffly shai-p-pointed, margins brown,
with very few fine threads. The large
subglobose flowers, appearing in late
summer, are in dense, very hairy or
seldom nearly smooth panicles, on short stalks. The fruit is oblong and relatively
large, up to i dm. long, black, with thin, edible flesh, when ripe; seeds large, angu-
ular, obovate, about 9 mm. long.
Fig.
SchoU's Yucca.
SHORT-LEAVED YUCCA — Yucca brevifolia Schott
This species occurs in the canons and hills of the upper Santa Cruz valley, especially in the
vicinity of Nogales, Arizona, usually in clusters, and occasionally tree-like and 2 meters tall.
The leaves are smooth, light green, stiffly diverging, 3 to 7.5 dm. long, 6 to 25 mm. wide,
thick, somewhat curved; the apex is sharp and stiff-pointed, the margin splitting into numerous
thread-like fibers. The flowers are in smooth, rather loose panicles on short stalks, relatively
small, with a tapering style. The fruit is berry -like, rather large, its seeds 9 to 12 mm. in diameter.
Mohave Yucca
157
6. TORREY'S YUCCA - Yucca Torreyi Shafer
Yucca macrocarpa Coville
Yucca baccata macrocarpa Torrey, not Yucca macrocarpa Engelmann
A much-branched tree of the desert reigon from western Texas westward
through New Mexico into eastern Arizona, and southward in Chihuahua.
The leaves are yellowish green, 0.5 to i meter long, 4 cm. wide, gradually nar-
rowed above the dark
shining base, widest near
the middle, rough be-
neath, sometimes so
above, the apex armed
with a stout, long, dark-
colored spine, the mar-
gin thickened and freely
separating into coarse
grayish threads. The
flowers appear in March
and April in dense, ses-
sile, or nearly sessile,
smooth panicles, the
bracts often brownish;
perianth 4 cm. long, the
segments acute, the
outer similar to the
inner; stamens shorter
than the style, which is
Fig. 117. — Torrey's Yucca.
somewhat elongated. The fruit is oblong, 7.5 to 10 cm. long, about haK as thick,
rounded at the base, contracted into a stout projection at the apex; its flesh is
sweet and juicy; seeds thin and flat, 6 to 8 mm. long, with a narrow rim.
7. MOHAVE YUCCA — Yucca mohavensis Sargent
This tree, Hke the other arborescent Yuccas, is also called Spanish dagger or
Spanish bayonet. In general appearance it is similar to the foregoing species, but
its range is very different, occurring in the Mohave desert, in the region from south-
em Nevada and western Arizona into southern California south of Monterey; also
in adjacent Lower California. Its maximum height is 4.5 meters with a trunk
diameter of 2 dm.; but it often remains low and quite trunkless.
The trunk is usually simple, rarely having several stout spreading branches.
The rind, sometimes exposed at the base of the trunk, is dark brown and roughish.
The leaves, which often cover the trunk to the ground, are light green, smooth,
158
The Yuccas
linear-oblong, from 4.5 to 8 dm. long; the base, which is sometimes i dm. wide,
is thickened, dark red, shining, and abruptly contracted into the blade, which
gradually widens to about the middle, where it is about 4 cm. wide and concave,
the margins almost touching near the dark-colored, stout, stiff, sharp-pointed
apex; the margins are entire,
Hght brown before separating
into many, smooth, long, gray,
thick threads. The flowers,
appearing from March to May,
are in smooth or roughish red-
dish panicles, which are 3 to
4.5 dm. long and sessile or
nearly so ; the bracts are green
or white; the flowers are erect
at first but finally droop, 2.5 to
4 cm. long, their perianth-di-
visions spreading and slightly
united at the base, thickened,
somewhat concave and hairy
at the apex, the outer series
thickened, keeled, narrowed
at the base and often pur-
plish tinged; the stamens are
as long as the pistil, their fila-
ments somewhat hair}^; ovary sessile, somewhat 3-lobed, about i cm. long, nar-
rowed above the very short, 3-grooved style. The fruit is drooping, indehiscent
and fleshy, yellowish, becoming purpHsh and finally black, 7.5 to 10 cm. long,
nearly one half as thick, more or less constricted above the middle, rounded at
the base, abruptly narrowed at the apex into a stout tip, the flesh sweetish and
juicy; the seeds are 8 mm. wide, 3 mm. thick, with a narrow border to the rim.
The wood is soft, porous, and light brown; its specific gravity is about 0.27.
It is used only by the Indians, who also employ the leaf fibers in their basketry,
and for making cordage.
Except by its shorter style, this species differs little from Torrey's Yucca.
Fig. 118. — Mohave Yucca.
Sierra Blanca Yucca
159
III. SIERRA BLANCA YUCCA
GENUS SAMUELA TRELEASE
Species Samuela Faxoniana Trelease
Yiccca macrocarpa Sargent, not Engelmann
Yucca Faxoniana Sargent
]NOWN only from the vicinity of Sierra Blanca in western Texas, this
Yucca-like plant probably extends into adjacent Mexico. Its maxi-
mum height is about 12 meters, with a trunk diameter of 6 dm.
The trunk is usually simple, seldom having a few short branches.
The young plants are densely covered with numerous erect or radiating living
leaves; later the base is covered by a
thatch-like covering of reflexed dead
leaves; on old trees the rind is exposed
at the base. The rind is about 8 mm,
thick, dark reddish brown, and scaly.
The leaves are dark green and smooth,
linear-oblong, i to 1.25 m. long, stiff and
firm, abRiptly narrowed just above the
thickened, shining red clasping base
which is often 1.5 dm. broad, widest at
or above the middle and sHghtly con-
cave toward the apex, which is armed
with a very sharp, dark tip; the margin
separates into grayish threads, which,
with the exception of a few coarse fibers
near the apex, eventually peel back-
ward and form a persistent tangled
Fig. 119. — Sierra Blanca Yucca.
mass at the base of the leaf. The flowers, which appear in spring, are in short-
stalked, broadly conic loosely-branched panicles with persistent white bracts; they
are drooping on long stalks, 5 to 10 cm. across; the perianth is funnelform, of
6 parts, which are broadly lanceolate, sharp-pointed, and cur\Td inwardly at the
apex, united at the base into a tube about 8 mm. long, those of the outer series
narrower; stamens 6, their filaments shorter than the ovary, club-shaped, hair}',
and curved outward; anthers arrow-shaped and horizontal; ovary sessile, narrowly
oblong, ridged, yellowish, longer than and narrowed into the slender, grooved style;
stigma irregularly 6-lobed. The fruit, which ripens in early summer, is indehiscent,
2.5 to 7.5 cm. long, fleshy, pendent, oblong-ovoid, scarcely angled, beaked at the
apex, dark yellow and shining, becoming black, the flesh dr\'ish, bitter and sweet;
seeds rounded triangular, flat but thick, about 6 mm. long and half as thick, not
margined.
i6o Sierra Blanca Yucca
The wood of the Sierra Blanca ^-ucca is hght and porous. The fibrous leaves
and the fibers taken from them are used by the Indians like those of the Yuccas.
The genus, of which this species is the type, consists of 2 known species, the
other being Mexican. Its name is in honor of Samuel Farlow Trelease, son of
the author of the genus.
Subclass Dicotyledones
'Lx\NTS of this subclass have a more complex stem structure than the
Monocotyledones, their fibrovascular system being arranged in con-
centric layers, which are divided into wedge-shaped segments by
cellular tissue, called medullar)^ rays, radiating from a central column
of similar material, called the pith. The growth of these stems takes place in the
cambium, a zone of soft tissue between the wood and bark, by which the stem is
enlarged, the annual suspension of growth caused by a decrease of temperature
or lack of moisture, producing the concentric bands usually called annual rings,
which in our climate can generally be depended upon as representing one year's
growth. They are often called Exogens or outside growers.
The leaves are netted- veined. They often have stipules and are frequently
compound, and their position upon the stem may be alternate, opposite, or verti-
cillate. The flowers are various in structure and often more complex than those
of most ISIonocotyledones. The embr\'o has 2 seed-leaves.
This subclass contains by far the greater number of our deciduous-leaved
trees, and all of the so-called hard woods are derived from them; it is composed
of two series of plants, (i) Choripetalae, in which the corolla of the flower is either
wanting, or the petals are separate from each other, and (2) Gamopetalas, in which
the petals are more or less united, forming a saucer-shaped, um-shapcd, bell-
shaped, or more or less tubular corolla; an interesting exception to this structure
is found in the Ashes (Fraxinus) trees of the Olive Family, in many of which the
flowers have no corolla, but other points of structure cause them to be grouped
as Gamopetalae.
161
THE BEEFWOOD FAMILY
CASUARINACEiE Lindley
HIS family consists of but one known genus, of which there are prob-
ably 25 species of trees or shrubs, inhabitants of the tropics, being
especially abundant in the AustraHan region. They are of no special
economic value, except for their wood, and the bark, which is some-
times used for tanning.
The Casuarinaceae have mere scales in lieu of leaves; these are very small,
appressed, or recurved w^hen old, in whorls at the nodes; sometimes they are united
into a sheath, the midrib decurrent on the twigs. The flowers are monoecious.
The staminate flowers, in cyhndric slender terminal spikes, are subtended by
imbricated bracts, often with a 2-parted perianth; stamen only i, the anther large
and opening lengthwise. The pistillate flowers are in dense, cone-like clusters, the
perianth wanting; ovar}^ i -celled; style forked, the 2 branches slender; ovules i or
2 in a cell. The fruit is a cone-Hke aggregation of accrescent scales, each subtend-
ing a soHtary seed with a membranous coat; the embryo is straight, with 2 fiat
cotyledons, endosperm none.
One species has become naturahzed in the extreme southern portion of our
area.
BEEFWOOD
GENUS CASUARINA FORSTER
Species Casuarina equisetifolia Forster
HIS pecuHar tropical tree has become naturahzed in southern penin-
sular Florida, and the Keys, and is widely distributed throughout the
West Indies and other tropical regions; it is indigenous in tropical Asia
and Australasia. Its maximum height, in Florida, is about 20 meters,
with a trunk diameter of i m. It is reported to attain a height of 45 meters in the
Polynesian region, and is variously known as Ironwood, Polynesian ironwood, She
oak, and Swamp oak. It is the type of the genus.
The branches are long, slender, and wand-hke, the upper erect. The bark is
dark brown and slightly furrowed. The twigs are numerous, slender, drooping,
angular, and jointed, somewhat resembling the stem of a Horsetail (Equiseliim).
The leaves are appressed and scale-like, recurv^ed on the older branchlets, 6 to 8
in a whorl at each node and i to 3 mm. long. The flowers are ver}' small, the
162
Beefwood
163
Fig. 120. — Beefwood in Florida.
164
Beefwood
staminate in terminal slender cylindric spikes i to 4 cm. long, the bracts closely
imbricated, the anthers exserted; the pistillate flowers are lateral in dense, sub-
globose spikes, on short branches, i to 2 cm. long. The cone-like fruit is globular
or oblong, i to 2 cm. in diameter, yellowish brown, the scales corky. The fruit is
flattish, broadly winged at the top, oval in outline, about 5 mm. long; the wing is
very thin and membranous, prominently i -nerved, pointed at the apex.
Fig. 121.
Beefwood.
Beefwood is very hard, strong, close-grained, flesh-colored at first, but turns
brown with age; its specific gravity is about 0.93. It is greatly valued for fuel,
for which purpose it is largely planted along sandy seashores, where it thrives
best. It is also used as a shade tree.
The generic name is derived from the zoological name of the Cassowary, on
account of the resemblance of the branchlets of some of these trees to the feathers
of that bird.
THE WILLOW FAMILY
SALICACE.E Lindley
WO genera only form this family, including probably 250 species of
trees or shrubs of temperate and cold regions, principally of the
northern hemisphere, reaching into the arctic regions and to ver}^
high altitudes.
Economically the family produces httle of importance; the weak soft wood is
a favorite source of fine charcoal. The twigs of some of the tougher willows are
largely used for baskets and wickerware; the bark of most of them contains a
bitter principle, and is sometimes used medicinally; the astringent bark of some
is used to a small extent in tanning. The willows are sparingly planted for shade,
but more often along water courses for the protection of their banks. The poplars
are much planted for shade trees, mainly on account of their rapid growth, and the
wood of several species is largely used in the manufacture of paper pulp.
The Salicacea have deciduous, alternate, simple leaves with or without stipules.
The flowers are dioecious, in bracted catkins, each flower being sohtar}' in the axil
of a bract; the perianth is represented by a cup-shaped disk or a gland. The
staminate flowers consist of i or more stamens, their filaments free or united;
anthers 2-celled, the sacs opening lengthwise. The pistillate flowers consist of a
one-celled ovary subtended by a small disk and composed of 2 or rarely 4 united
carpels; stigmas 2 to 4, more or less united, rarely raised on a short style; the
ovules are numerous. The fruit is a dehiscent capsule enclosing numerous seeds,
each seed being provided with a dense tuft of hairs at the apex; these are long,
silky, and usually white.
The genera are:
-Bracts of the flowers more or less cut and fringed; disk cup-shaped; winter buds
with several scales i. Popitlus.
Bracts of the flowers entire; disk of i or 2 glands; winter buds with but i scale 2. Salix.
I. THE POPLARS
GENUS POPULUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN.EUS
"OPULUS, the ancient name of the European poplars, was accepted by
Linnaeus as the name of the genus which they constitute. Some 27
species of these trees exist, inhabiting the north temperate and subarctic
zones. One species occurs only in mountainous regions of southern
Lower California, and this is the only American member of the genus known,
165
i66
The Poplars
additional to those here described. Populus alba Linnaeus, of Europe and Asia,
is the type species of the genus.
The Poplars are mostly trees of very rapid growth, with straight-grained,
easily splitting wood. The bark contains some tannin. The young branches are
round or angled, marked by the large leaf scars; the buds are usually resinous,
covered with several scales, the lower scales opposite, the upper overlapping.
The leaves are alternate and stalked, involute in the bud, entire-margined or
variously toothed; their stipules usually fall away as soon as the leaves begin to
unfold. The veiy small, imperfect flowers are borne in long, drooping catkins,
which appear in early spring from scaly buds separate from the leaf-buds, before
the leaves unfold, the staminate catkins on one tree, pistillate on another,
though very rarely both pistillate and staminate occur on the same tree;
each scale of the catkin subtends a single flower and is variously cut-lobed
or fringed ; -these scales fall away very early, leaving the cup-shaped, obHque
disk supporting the flower; the staminate flowers have several or many stamens
with smooth, separate filaments and short, red or purple anthers; the pistillate
flowers have a single one-celled ovary containing many ovules, a very short style,
and 2, 3, or 4 stigmas, which are dilated or slender and variously lobed
or parted. The fruit is a capsule which, when ripe, splits into as many recurved
valves as there were stigmas, releasing the very small seeds, which are provided
with a tuft of copious soft white hairs; these are widely disseminated by the wind
and have given the trees the popular name, Cottonwoods.
Petioles round or channeled, scarcely or not at all flattened laterally.
Leaves densely and persistently white-tomentose beneath, lobed or
coarsely toothed; introduced European tree.
Leaves glabrous or nearly so, vv^hen mature, crenate or crenulate;
native trees.
Foliage densely tomentose when young; capsules long-pedicelled.
Foliage not tomentose; fruits short-pedicelled.
Leaves broadly ovate, truncate, or cordate at the base, the petioles
and nerves usually pubescent or ciliate.
Ovary tomentose; western tree.
Ovary glabrous; northern tree.
Leaves ovate to lanceolate, acute or obtuse at the base (cordate
in No. 8); petioles glabrous.
Petioles fully one half as long as the blades.
Leaves green on both sides, abruptly acuminate.
Leaves pale or brownish beneath, acute or acuminate.
Petioles one third as long as the blades or less.
Leaves not cordate.
Leaves cordate.
Petioles strongly flattened laterally.
Leaves broadly deltoid, abruptly acuminate; stigma-lobes dilated.
Bract at the base of the pistillate flower large, dilated.
Pedicels as long as the fruits or longer.
Pedicels shorter than the fruits, often very short.
I. P. alba.
2. P. heterophylla.
3. P. trichocarpa.
4. P. candicans.
5. P. acuminata.
6. P. balsamijera. -^
7. P. angustijolia.
8. P. Tweedyi.
9. P. Wislizeni.
Abele
167
Californian tree; leaves short-acuminate, truncate or reniform
at base.
Southwestern tree; leaves mostly long-acuminate, more or less
broadly wedge-shaped at base.
Bract at the base of the pistillate flower small, apprcssed.
Young leaves pubescent; fruits nearly sessile; European intro-
duced trees.
Branches spreading.
Branches erect.
Leaves glabrous; capsules slender-pedicelled; native trees.
Leaves crenulate; pedicels as long as capsules or longer;
eastern tree.
Leaves coarsely crenate; pedicels shorter than capsules; western
tree.
Leaves broadly ovate to suborbicular; stigma-lobes filiform.
Leaves coarsely sinuate-dentate.
Leaves crenulate-denticulate to entire-margined.
Petioles mostly longer than the blades; leaves mostly glandless.
Petioles about as long as the blades; leaves thick, 2 -glandular on
the under side at the base of the blade.
10.
II.
P. Fremonti.
P. mexicana.
12.
P. nigra.
13-
P. italica.
14.
P. deltoidesM
15-
P. Sargenlii.
16.
P. grqndidcntata
17-
P. tremuloidesy
18.
P. cercidiphylla.
I. ABELE — Populus alba Linnaeus
This tree, known also as White poplar and Silver-leaf poplar, from the white-
velvety under surfaces of its leaves, is a
native of Europe and Asia, but has been
much planted in eastern North America,
and, as it suckers very freely, has passed
in many locaHties beyond the limits of cul-
tivation, in yards and along roads, from
New Brunswick to Ontario and Virginia.
It sometimes becomes 30 meters high, with
a trunk a meter or more in diameter.
The bark is light gray and nearly smooth,
or much roughened, with brown blotches,
dark brown and rough or fissured toward
the base of old trunks. The young twigs
are purplish and white-downy, becoming
smooth and gray. The buds are 5 to 6
mm. long, downy, ovoid, pointed. The
young leaves are very densely white-vel-
vety, their upper surfaces becoming dark green and smooth; when mature they
are 6 to 10 cm. long, lobed or irregularly coarsely toothed, broadly ovate to nearly
orbicular in outline, pointed, firm in texture, the base rounded or somewhat heart-
shaped, the lower surface becoming smooth or remaining more or less velvety; the
roundish leaf-stalks are shorter than the blades. The flowers appear before the
Fig. 122. — Abcle.
i68
The Poplars
leaves in March, April, or May. The staminate catkins are about 5 cm. long,
the pistillate longer, at least in fruit.
The Abele tree is of rapid growth. The wood is light, soft, and weak, difficult
to split and to ignite, and is used in Europe for rollers, packing-cases, and floor-
ing; in ancient times it was used for shields, for which it was wtU adapted,
yielding under a blow without splitting.
2. SWAMP POPLAR — Populus heterophylla Linnjeus
The Swamp poplar, or Downy poplar, inhabits wet, rich soil, and occurs from
Connecticut to New Jersey, south to Georgia, westward to Missouri, Arkansas,
and Louisiana. In the southwestern parts of its range it is sometimes about 30
meters high and has a trunk a meter in diameter.
The thick bark is brown and fissured, or broken into loose, long, and narrow
plates. The stout young twigs are velvety, becoming gray to reddish brown, and
somewhat shining. The slightly resinous leaf-
buds are ovoid, pointed, and about 6 mm. long.
The long-stalked leaves are 12 to 15 cm. long,
or those of young shoots much larger; they are
broadly ovate, firm in texture, very velvety when
young, blunt or bluntish, finely toothed, rounded
to heart-shaped at the base, when mature dark
green, dull and smooth, or a little cottony on
the upper side, smooth or nearly so beneath;
those of young shoots are sometimes persistently
velvety; the narrow stipules are 3 cm. long or
less. The tree flowers, according to latitude,
in March, April, or May, before the leaves un-
fold. The staminate catkins are stout, stalked,
densely many-flowered, 2.5 cm. thick or less,
and 7 to 10 cm. long, their scales cut into nu-
merous filiform lobes, the stamens 20 or fewer. The smooth pistillate catkins are
several-flowered racemes, 5 cm. long or more, elongating in fruit to several times
that length, the flower-stalks also elongating, often becoming 1.5 cm. long; the
stigma- lobes are short and much dilated. The capsule is ovoid, pointed, 8 to 12
mm. long.
The tree is also known as Black poplar, Black cottonwood, and Swamp cotton-
wood. Its wood is soft and brown, with a specific gravity of about 0.41, and is
locally used for construction, though not of much value.
Fig. 123. — Swamp Poplar.
3. BALSAM COTTONWOOD — Populus trichocarpa Torrey and Gray
The tallest of all poplars, this tree occurs mainly along streams from southern
Alaska to southern California, perhaps extending eastward to Montana, attaining
Balm of Gilead
169
a maximum height of between 60 and 70 meters, with a trunk 2.5 meters in diam-
eter or more.
The thick bark is hght gray and deeply fissured on old trunks. The stout
young twigs are round or somewhat angled, and finely hairy, becoming orange to
gray, and shining. The resinous buds are orange-brown, ovoid, pointed, about
2 cm. long, often curved. The leaves are broadly ovate to ovate-oblong, pointed,
rather thick, 8 to 12 cm. long, rounded, shghtly heart-shaped or somewhat narrowed
at the base and finely toothed with blunt teeth ; when young they are more or less
hairy, especially on the upper side, when mature dark green, smooth and shining
above, light green or alnjost white
and smooth except on the veins of
the under side, which are usually a
little hair}-; the round leaf-stalks
vary from 2 to 6 cm. long; the stip-
ules are narrow and i to 2 cm. long.
The tree flowers, according to lati-
tude, from February to April; the cat-
kins are stalked, their scales cut into
many filiform lobes, the staminate
ones 8 cm. long or less; there are 40
stamens or more in each staminate
flower; the pistillate catkins are
usually rather densely flowered, the
flowers sessile or nearly so, with
nearly sessile, much dilated stigmas
and an ovoid hair}- ovar)'. The ripe
capsules are nearly globular, about 8
mm. thick, and usually very hair}-,
whence the specific name trichocarpa,
but they sometimes become nearly
smooth; they are stalkless or very
1 ,, 1 Fig. 124.
short-stalked.
The tree grows rapidly and its wood is used for barrels, tubs, bowls, and
other wooden- ware; it is brown, soft, and weak, with a specific gravity of about 0.38.
Balsam Cottonwood.
4. BALM OF GILEAD — Populus candicans Alton
The Balm of Gilead poplar is found from Newfoundland to New Jersey and
Virginia, westward to Michigan, South Dakota, Alberta, and Alaska; in the east
it occurs mainly as an escape from cultivation, having been extensively planted
for shade and ornament, and the source of these planted trees is not definitely
known. Evidence that it is wild in Michigan has been adduced, and it is probably
indigenous fArther to the northwest. It sometimes reaches a height of 30 meters,
lyo
The Poplars
with a trunk 2 meters thick. The tree has often been regarded as a variety of the
Balsam poplar, P. halsamijera Linnaeus.
The old bark is thick, gray, and ridged. The young twigs are stout, round,
sho^htly hair\', becoming smooth and shining. The buds are sticky, resinous,
narrow, pointed, 2.5 cm. long or less. The leaves are broadly ovate, pointed,
heart-shaped, or trun-
cate at the base, 6 to 1 5
cm. long, 3 to 12 cm.
wide, dark green above,
pale green beneath,
bluntly and rather
evenly toothed, quite
hairy when young, the
upper surface smooth at
maturity, the under side
usually more or less
hairy on the veins; the
leaf-stalks are round
and hairy or hairy-
fringed. The tree
flowers in April or ]\Iay ;
the catkins are 12 cm.
long, or less, their scales
cut into many narrow
sharp lobes, the stami-
nate ones densely
flowered. The ripe pis-
tillate catkins are often
Fig. 125. — Balm of Gilead.
15 cm. long; the capsules are short-stalked, narrowly ovoid, pointed, smooth, 6
to 8 mm. long.
It is a fast-growing tree, the lower branches widely spreading, and it is desirable
for planting where rapid effect is wanted. Its wood closely resembles that of the
Balsam poplar, but is slightly heavier, its specific gravity being about 0.39. The
western form has been described by Dode as a distinct species, P. hastata.
5. RYDBERG'S COTTONWOOD - Populus acuminata Rydberg
Populus coloradensis Dode
This species has been confused with the Narrow-leaved cotton wood, which it
somewhat resembles. It inhabits the borders of streams and lakes from South
Dakota to Assiniboia, western Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada, attain-
ing a maximum height of about 20 meters and a trunk diameter of about 4.5
meters. The lower branches spread widely, the upper are nearly erect.
Balsam Poplar
171
The old bark is thick, brown, and strongly ridged, that of young stems pale
gray or nearly white, and smooth or nearly
so. The young twigs are slender, smooth,
brown, and round or somewhat angled. The
buds arc brown and ven^ resinous, pointed,
about I cm. long. The leaves are rhombic-
lanceolate, 5 to 15 cm. long, rather abmptly
long-pointed, nearly equally bluntly toothed,
except near the base and apex, smooth on
both sides, bright green and somewhat shin-
ing on the upper side, paler green on the
lower, the base usually wedge-shaped, but
sometimes rounded; they are drooping or
spreading, with round, slender stalks fully
one half as long as the blades; the small
stipules are ovate. The catkins appear in
April or May, and when in flower are about
3 cm. long, their scales sharply cut into
numerous fiUform lobes; there are 15 or 20 stamens in each staminate flower; the
pistillate flowers are stalked, the smooth ovary surmounted by the irregularly
lobed stigmas. The pistillate catkins become 10 to 15 cm. long in fruit, with
ovoid, bluntish capsules 6 to 8 mm. long, borne on slender stalks 3 to 5 mm. long.
The w^ood closely resembles that of the Narrow-leaved Cottonwood, P. angust-
ifolia James. The tree has been much planted for shade and ornament in and
about cities and towns within its range.
Fig. 126. — Rydberg's Cottonwood.
6. BALSAM POPLAR — Populus balsamifera Linnaeus
The Balsam poplar, or Tacamahac, inhabits
either moist or dry soil, but prefers river and
lake shores and the edges of swamps, sometimes
reaching a height of 30 meters or more, with a
tRmk 2 to 2.3 meters in diameter. It is dis-
tributed from Newfoundland to Hudson Bay
and Alaska, south to Maine, Vermont, western
New York, Michigan, South Dakota, Wyo-
ming, and Oregon.
The bark of old trunks is up to 2.5 cm.
thick, reddish gray and ridged, that of young
stems thinner and hght brown or gray. The
young twigs are round, stout, somewhat hair}-,
becoming smooth, reddish brown and shining,
— Balsam Poplar. finally gray. The very resinous buds are 2.5
1/2
The Poplars
cm. long or less, sharp-pointed and shining. The young leaves are sparingly and
finely hairy, becoming smooth, firm in texture, dark green and shining on the
upper side, pale green or brownish and finely netted-veined on the under surface;
they vary from ovate to ovate-lanceolate, and from 7 to 12 cm. long; the margins
are finely toothed, the apex pointed, often long-pointed, the base rounded, narrowed
or somewhat wedge-shaped, or some leaves occasionally subcordate; the round leaf-
stalks are 2 to 9 cm. long, the stipules small, white, and thin. The flowers ap-
pear in April or May. The catkins are 10 cm. long or less, their scales cut into a
fringe of filiform lobes; the stamens are 30 or fewer, the staminate catkins densely
flowered; the pistillate catkins are loosely flowered, the stigma-lobes much dilated
and the ovary smooth. The ripe capsules are ovoid, pointed, very short-stalked,
about 8 mm. long.
The wood, which is fight brown, soft, and weak, with a specific gravity of about
0.36, is used for pails, boxes, and paper-pulp. The tree is not much planted
south of its natural range, as it does not well endure hot summers.
7. NARROW-LEAVED COTTONWOOD — Populus angustifoUa James
This poplar occurs along streams from South Dakota to Assiniboia and the
Yukon Territor}% south to Nebraska, New Mexico, Chihuahua, Utah, and Nevada,
sometimes attaining a height of 20 meters, with a trunk 4 to 5 dm. thick. Its
branches are nearly upright.
The bark is thick, fight green, that at the bases of old trunks somewhat darker
in color, rough or fissured. The round young
twigs are yellowish green and smooth, becom-
ing orange to gray. The sticky resinous buds
are ovoid, pointed, brown, the terminal ones 1.5
cm. long or less. The leaves vary from lan-
ceolate to ovate; they are pointed or bluntish,
very finely and bluntly toothed, firm in texture,
narrowed, wedge-shaped or rounded at the
base, bright green on the upper side, paler
green beneath, 5 to 12 cm. long, smooth or
very nearly so on both sides when mature; they
are sfightly hairv^ on the under side when un-
folding; the round leaf-stalks are one third the
length of the blades or less; the stipules are thin
and white, about 2 cm. long. The tree flowers
Narrow-leaved Cottonwood. • » -i ti ,r 1 ^ ■ ^
m April or May; the catkms are 2 to 6 cm.
long, densely flowered, their scales deeply cut into fifiform lobes; the stigma-lobes
are widely dilated, the ovoid smooth ovary somewhat 2-lobed. The ripe pistillate
catkins are 7 to 10 cm, long, the ovoid blunt-pointed capsules very short-stalked
and about 5 mm. long.
Wisilizenus' Cottonwood
^n
The tree is much planted along roads and streets in the West, and grows
rapidly. Its wood is Hght brown, weak and soft, with a specific gravity of about
0.39, and is of httle value. The species has often been regarded as a variety of
the Balsam poplar and is said to hybridize with it where the two grow together.
8. TWEEDY'S COTTONWOOD — Populus Tweedyi Britton, new species
Tweedy'S cottonwood is known only from
river-bottoms in southern Wyoming.
The young twigs are brownish, somewhat
angled, smooth, becoming orange, and finally
nearly white. The mature leaves are smooth,
thin, firm in texture, broadly ovate or some
of them nearly orbicular, very finely toothed,
pointed or blunt, rather dark green on the
upper side, paler green on the lower, distinctly
heart-shaped at the base, or some of them
rounded, 3 to 7 cm. long, 2.5 to 4 cm. wide;
the stout leaf-stalks are about one fourth as
long as the blades. The fruiting pistillate cat-
kins are rather dense, 6 cm. long or less; the
capsules are ovoid, finely and densely papillose,
4 mm. long, their stalks only i mm. long.
The type specimen was collected by Mr.
Frank Tweedy of the United States Geologi-
cal Sun^ey, at Encampment, Carbon county,
Wyoming, June 20, 1901 (no. 4567).
Fig. 129. — Tweedy 's Cottonwood.
9. WISLIZENUS' COTTONWOOD— Populus Wislizeni (S.Watson) Sargent
Populus Fremontii Wislizeni S. Watson
This poplar inhabits the banks of rivers and streams from southern Colorado
to western Texas, New Mexico, and adjacent Mexico, perhaps extending into
southeastern Utah. It becomes at least 15 meters high, the lower branches spread-
ing.
The young shoots are brow-nish, smooth, becoming orange and fmally gray.
The buds are ovoid, pointed, brown, shining, and about 1.5 cm. long, their scales
a little hair}-. The leaves are broadly triangular, often longer than wide, firm in
texture, coarsely and irregularly bluntly toothed, except near the tip, sharp-pointed,
smooth, Ught green on both sides, 5 to 10 cm. long, nearly truncate or somewhat
kidney-shaped at the base, finely netted-veined ; their stalks are flattened sideways
and about as long as the blades; the stipules are ovate, thin, and pointed. The
174
The Poplars
Fig. 130. — Wislizenus' Cottonwood.
catkins appear in March or
April and when in flower
are 10 cm. long or less, their
scales fringed with filiform
lobes; the pistillate flowers
are slender-stalked with an
ovoid blunt ovary, the stalks
becoming i cm. long in
fruit or more, and nearly
as long as the ovoid-pyrami-
dal pointed papillose cap-
sule. The wood is very
similar to that of Fremont's
Cottonwood, but somewhat
lighter in weight, its spe-
cific gravity being about 0.46,
10. FREMONT'S COTTONWOOD — Populus Fremontu S. Watson
Fremont's cottonwood inhabits valleys in California from the upper Sacramento
to the southern part of the State, Lower Cahfomia, and into western Nevada.
It is often a very large tree, occasionally 35 meters high, with a trunk up to 2
meters thick; its branches spread widely and droop at the ends.
The bark of young trees is light gray and smooth, that of old trunks much
thicker, dark brown, and
ridged. The young twigs are
gray-brown, sometimes finely
hairy, becoming orange and
smooth. The buds are ovoid,
pointed, the terminal ones
about I cm. long. The leaves
are broadly triangular, ab-
ruptly short-pointed, commonly
wider than long, coarsely and
bluntly toothed, except near the
tip, rather thin, 5 to 8 cm. long,
the base truncate, or somewhat
heart-shaped or kidney-shaped;
when unfolding they are finely
hair>S but at maturity are Fig. 131. -Fremont's Cottonwood,
usually smooth, bright green
and somewhat shining on the upper surface; the leaf-stalks are about as long as
the blades, slender, and flattened laterally. The tree flowers in February or
Mexican Cottonwood
^1S
March, the catkins then being about 5 cm. long, the staminatc ones densely
flowered; the scales are fringed with filiform lobes; the stalks of the pistillate
flowers are very short, the disks dilated and rather large, the ovary smooth. In
ripening the pistillate catkins elongate to 10 cm. or more, the ovoid bluntish
capsules become 8 to 12 mm. long and much longer than their stalks.
The wood is soft, light brown, and weak, with a specific gravity of about 0.48.
II. MEXICAN COTTONWOOD — Populus mexicana WesmcTi
The Mexican cotton wood has been confused with Fremont's cotton wood, to
which it is very closely related. It inhabits the banks of streams and rivers in
northern Mexico, extending northward into New Mexico and Arizona; it is not
known to occur in CaHfornia.
The tree is round-topped, with
spreading branches, and reaches
' a maximum height of 25 meters
or more, with a trunk some-
times 1.5 meters in diameter.
The bark is light gray, that
of old trunks thick and ridged,
at least near the base, that of
young trees much thinner and
smooth. The young twigs are
greenish gray, hairy, soon be-
coming smooth and pale orange
to orange-brown. The buds
are orange-brown, finely hairy,
6 to 10 mm. long, pointed. The
leaves are broadly rhombic-
ovate to nearly triangular-ovate,
the base broadly wedge-shaped
or truncate, the apex usually
long-pointed; they are coarsely
and bluntly toothed, firm in
Fig. 132. — Mexican Cottomvood.
texture, quite hairy when unfolding but smooth when mature, the upper side light
green and shining; the leaf-stalks are only a little flattened sideways, and as long
as the blades, or shorter. The ovate hairy stipules are pointed and about 7 mm.
long. The tree flowers in February' or March, with catkins about 6 cm. long;
the staminate catkins are densely flowered and over i cm. thick; the pistillate
flowers are short-stalked, the blunt ovar}^ subtended by a cup-shaped disk 6 to 8
mm. wide. The ripe pistillate catkins are 10 cm. long or more, the stalks of the
flowers elongating to 4 or 5 mm., the capsule ovoid, blunt, about 8 mm. long.
The tree has been much planted in cities and towns within its range.
176
The Poplars
12. BLACK POPLAR — Populus nigra Linnaeus
This European poplar has been found in the valleys of the Hudson and Dela-
ware rivers, doubtless spread from trees planted many years ago. The tree of the
Hudson valley was supposed by F. A. Michaux to be distinct from the European
black poplar, and was described by him under the name P. hudsonica. Little is
known of it in either valley at the present time. The Black poplar is widely dis-
tributed in Europe, becoming 30 meters high, with a trunk over one meter thick;
the branches spread widely and the tree is round-topped.
Its bark is ashy gray, or that of old trunks darker, thick, rough, and furrowed.
The young, round shoots and the leaves are
at first somewhat hairy, but become smooth
or nearly so, the twigs turning orange to
gray. The buds are ovoid, pointed, glutinous,
and about 8 mm. long. The leaves are
broadly triangular-ovate, firm in texture,
sharp-pointed, bluntly toothed, except near
the base and apex, 5 to 10 cm. long, the base
broadly wedge-shaped or truncate; they are
rather light green on both sides, the upper
surface shining; the leaf-stalks are flattened
sideways and are as long as the blades or
shorter. The catkins appear in March or
April, are hairy, and about 5 cm. long when
in flower, their scales long-fringed ; the stami-
nate ones are red. Bv the time that the
oblong, very blunt capsules have ripened, the
pistillate catkins have elongated to 10 or 12 cm., the stalks of the capsules re-
maining very short. The disk of the pistillate flowers is very small.
The wood is yellowish, soft, and weak, with a specific gravity of about 0.45;
it is used in Europe for boxes and woodenware. The tree grows rapidly and
requires plenty of room for its full development.
Fig. 133. — Black Poplar.
13. LOMBARDY POPLAR — Populus italica Moench
Populus dilatata Aiton
While scarcely to be regarded as an element in the wild arborescent flora of
North America, the Lombardy poplar has been so much planted for ornament
and as a curiosity that it is as familiar in many places as any native species, and
it occasionally spreads by sending up shoots from its roots. It is widely distrib-
uted in Europe, but it is not definitely known to be native there, even in northern
Italy, and may have been introduced from Asia at a very remote period. The
tree is often regarded as a variety of the Black poplar, and it has been supposed
Carolina Poplar lyy
to have originated in some way from that species. Specimens 50 meters high
have been known in France. The branches are all characteristically upright.
The bark of old trees is gray to
brown and deeply furrowed. The
young twigs are oHve-green, becoming
gray, the buds pointed and 6 to 8 mm.
long. The leaves are triangular-
ovate to rhombic, toothed nearly all
around, smooth on both sides, and 4
to 10 cm. long when mature, rather
thin, bright green above, paler beneath,
pointed or long-pointed, the base
broadly wedge-shaped to truncate; the
slender leaf-stalks are as long as the
blades or somewhat shorter, and flat-
tened sideways. The catkins resemble
those of ""the Black poplar, but the
staminate ones are more slender. The
capsules are very short-stalked.
Fig. 134. — Lombardy Poplar.
The tree is of rapid growth but of short duration, individuals over fifty years
old being usually very ragged. Its wood is described as similar to that of the
Black poplar but of inferior quahty.
14. CAROLINA POPLAR — Populus deltoides Marshall
This Cottonwood of eastern North America,
also called Necklace poplar, on account of its
long necklace-Hke ripe fruiting catkins, in-
habits moist soil, especially the banks of
streams and lakes, from Quebec westward to
Manitoba, south to Florida and Tennessee; it
is not, however, common near the Atlantic
coast. The tree attains a maximum height
of about 45 meters, with a trunk diameter of
2 meters or more; its hmbs are large, thick,
and spreading, the diameter of old individu-
als being often as great as their height.
The bark is gray or gray-green, that of
young trees thin and smooth, that of old ones
thick and fissured, with rounded ridges. The
young twigs are rather stout, smooth, yellow-
ish green and shining, becoming gray. The
pomted ovoid buds are somewhat resinous, the terminal ones about i cm. long.
Fig. 135. — Carolina Poplar.
178
The Poplars
The leaves are broadly triangular-ovate, rather finely and bluntly toothed, pointed,
sometimes long-pointed, lo to 17 cm. long, firm in texture, the base truncate,
slightly heart-shaped or rarely broadly wedge-shaped; when ver}^ young they are
somewhat hairy, but soon become smooth on both sides, bright green and shining
above, paler beneath ; the leaf-stalks are laterally flattened and about as long as
the blades; the narrow stipules are i to 2.5 cm. long. The catkins are short-
stalked, and at flowering time in April or May are 7 to 12 cm. long, their scales
fringed by numerous fihform lobes, the staminate ones densely flowered and 10 to
12 mm. thick; the pistillate flowers are short-stalked, the disk small and appressed
to the ovar)% which is surmounted by 3 or 4 large lobcd stigmas. In ripening
the pistillate catkins elongate greatly, becoming 15 to 25 cm. long; the capsules
are ovoid, pointed, 8 to 10 mm. long, and about as long as their stalks.
The tree grows with great rapidity, young plants often increasing in height as
much as 4 meters during a season. The wood is soft, weak, and brown, with a
specific gravity of about 0.39; it is used for boxes and for paper-pulp. M. Dode,
a French dendrologist, has expressed the view that the Carolina poplar can be di-
vided into several species.
15. WESTERN COTTONWOOD - Populus Sargentii Dode
Popidus deltoides occidentalis Rydberg
This species is very closely related to Populus deltoides Marshall, of which it
has been regarded as a variety. It is a ver\' large tree, with spreading branches,
and inhabits river bottoms
from Saskatchewan and Al-
berta to South Dakota, Ne-
braska, Kansas, Colorado, and
New Mexico.
The bark is gray, that of
old trees thick. The young
twigs are smooth, greenish, be-
coming Ught yellow and shin-
ing. The buds are glutinous,
pointed, the terminal ones i
cm. long or more. The leaves
are smooth on both sides
when mature, broadly triangu-
lar, commonly wider than
long, rather long- pointed,
coarsely and bluntly toothed,
except at the apex and base, 10 cm. long or less, the base usually more or less
kidney-shaped, var^'ing to truncate; there are sometimes 2 very small glands at
the base of the blade on the upper surface; the leaf-stalks are much flattened side-
FiG. 136. — Western Cottonwood.
American Aspen
179
ways and about as long as the blades. At flowering time in March or April the
catkins are 5 to 8 cm. long, and not very dense; the pistillate flowers are short-
stalked, the disk small, the usually 3 stigmas much dilated. In ripening, the pis-
tillate catkins become 12 cm. long or more, the papillose capsules i to 1.5 cm.
long, and longer than their stalks.
The tree is much planted for shade and ornament; its wood much resembles
that of its eastern relative, but is hghter, its specific gravity being about 0.34.
16. LARGE-TOOTHED ASPEN — Populus grandidentata Michaux
A forest tree, attaining a maximum height of about 25 meters, with a trunk
sometimes 6 to 7 meters thick. It prefers rich soil, and ranges from Nova Scotia
to Delaware, in and along the mountains
south to North Carolina, westward to Ontario,
Minnesota, IlUnois, and Tennessee.
The bark is thin, smooth, and light greenish
brown, except at and near the bases of old
tnmks where it is much thicker, fissured and
dark brown. The stout young twigs are quite
velvety, becoming smooth, reddish brown, and
shining. The buds are finely hairy, 5 or 6
mm. long, and pointed. The leaves are ovate,
6 to 12 cm. long, or those of young trees very
much larger (sometimes 3 dm. long); when
young they are densely white-velvety on the
under side, becoming smooth or nearly so
when old, or those of young shoots persistently
velvety beneath; they are pointed at the apex, '^'^'' ^rge- 00 e spen.
and rounded or narrowed at the bage, rarely somewhat heart-shaped, coafsely and
irregularly toothed, or those of young shoots finely toothed; the upper surface is
dark green and dull; the leaf-stalks are laterally flattened, 2.5 to 7 cm. long, the
stipules linear, 2 cm. long or less. The catkins appear in March or April, and
are 10 cm. long or less at flowering time, the pistillate ones much elongated in
fruit; the scales are long-hair}', irregularly lobed above the middle; the staminate
flowers have 6 to 12 stamens; the stigma-lobes of the pistillate flowers are linear.
The ripe capsule is conic, about 6 mm. long and papillose.
The foliage turns bright yellow in autumn. The wood is weak and soft, is
largely used for paper-pulp, and to a small extent for woodenware; it is light brown
with a specific gravity of about 0.46.
17. AMERICAN ASPEN — Populus tremuloides Michaux
The American aspen is widely distributed, ranging from Newfoundland across
British America to Alaska, south to southern New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky,
i8o
The Poplars
Missouri, Nebraska, in the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico, and Chihuahua,
and in the Sierra Nevada to middle Cahfomia; it is reported to extend into Lower
Cahfomia. The tree prefers sandy, gravelly,
or rocky soil, and attains a maximum height
of about 35 meters, with a trunk up to i me-
ter in diameter.
Its branching is usually irregular, and the
branches sometimes droop at the ends; forms
are occasionally seen in which the branches
are decidedly pendulous. The bark, except
near the bases of old trees, where it is thick,
fissured, and nearly black, is rather thin,
nearly smooth and pale yellowish green or
yellowish brown. The young twigs are
greenish and loosely hairy, soon becoming
smooth, reddish brown and shining. The
Fig. 138. — American Aspen.
buds are ovoid, pointed, a little sticky, about
7 mm. long, their scales shining. When
young the leaves are hairy-fringed, but quite smooth when mature, thin, dark
green and somewhat shining on the upper side, pale green on the lower; they are
ovate to nearly orbicular, finely and quite regularly toothed, with low, blunt teeth,
rather abruptly short-pointed, rounded or somewhat heart-shaped at the base, 2
to 6 cm. long and about as wide as long, or those of young plants much larger;
they quiver on their slender flat yellowish stalks in the hghtest breeze; the stip-
ules are narrow and nearly white. The catkins are 6 cm. long or less at flower-
ing time, or the pistillate ones longer; their scales are deeply 3-lobed or 5-lobed
and fringed with long hairs; there are 6 to 12 stamens in the staminate flowers; the
stigma-lobes of the pistillate flowers are linear. The conic capsules are pointed
and 5 to 6 mm. long.
The American aspen is one of the first trees to reforest denuded slopes in the
north, its numerous seeds being widely spread by the wind and it grows rapidly.
The leaves turn yellow in the autumn and contribute much to the coloration of
the woods. Its wood is soft, weak, and soon decays; it is used in great quantities
for paper-pulp, is light brown in color, with a specific gravity of about 0.40. The
name tremuloides is with reference to the similarity of this tree to the European
aspen, Populus tremula Linnaeus.
18. CERCIS-LEAVED ASPEN — Populus cercidiphyUa Britton, new species
This name is proposed for a tree, observed by Dr. C. C. Curtis in the Upper
Hoback basin, Wyoming, in August, 1900, which has foliage so different from
the American aspen that we think it must represent a distinct species.
The twigs are smooth, the young shoots brown, becoming gray; tae resinous
The Willows
i8i
shining winter buds are oblong, blunt,
about 3 mm. long. The rcniform-
orbicular leaves are 3.5 cm. wide or
less, rather firm in texture, smooth,
rounded, or some of them very blunt-
pointed, slightly heart-shaped at the
base, their margins entire, or incon-
spicuously undulate, the upper sur-
face dull green, the under side pale;
the lowest pair of veins are nearly as
strong as the mid vein; the shghtly
flattened, rather stout yellowish leaf-
stalks are 1.5 to 2 cm. long, and a
little shorter than the blades, or about
as long. At the base of the leaf-
blade, on the under side, are two
brownish, oblong concave glands,
about 1.5 mm. long.
Fig. 139. — Cercis-leaved Aspen
II. THE WILLOWS
GENUS SALIX [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
ILLOWS comprise about 200 species of trees or shrubs principally of
the north temperate and arctic zones, very few occurring in the south-
em hemisphere. Numerous fossil species have also been described.
Aside from their value as shade trees and ornamentals and the pro-
tection of the banks of streams, they are not so important economically now, as
in former times, when their flexible twigs and bark were more largely used as a
coarse fiber and their herbage as fodder. They are still very important in bas-
ketry; the bark is used in tanning and very sparingly in medicine; the wood is used
to some extent in Europe but ver}^ httle in this countr}', except for fuel and for
charcoal, which is preferred for medicinal use and is also used as black crayon
by artists.
They have soft, brittle, usually light-colored wood, single-scaled buds, which
are mostly lateral. The leaves are usually narrow and short-stalked, persistent
in a few species, their stipules often very large and broad. The flowers are dioe-
cious, in cylindric catkins with entire bracts, the staminatc usually dense, erect,
spreading or drooping, the flowers with i to 10, usually 2 stamens, their filaments
usually distinct. The pistillate catkins are erect or spreading; the ovary sessile
or very short-stalked; style short or thread-Hke; stigmas 2, entire or 2-partcd.
The fruit is a dr}' capsule, usually 2-valved; seeds very small and numerous, nar-
rowed at each end and surrounded by a dense tuft of hairs.
l82
The Willows
The name is the ancient name of the willow, the type species being the White
willow of Europe, Salix alba Linnaeus.
In addition to the arborescent species there are about loo kinds of shrubs
known from our area. Willows hybridize very freely, and many natural crosses
between species have been noted.
A. Capsule glabrous, at least when mature (except in 5. sessilifolia).
a. Stamens 3 to ii (sometimes only 2 in S. jragilis).
Pedicels of capsules slender, three to five times as long as the gland
(short in S. Toiimeyi); native trees.
Stipules and petioles without glands.
Leaves green beneath.
Bark of the twigs green to brown.
Ovary glabrous; stamens 3 to 7; bracts of catkins ovate
to oblong; eastern tree. i. 5. nigra.
Ovary and young capsule more or less pubescent;
stamens 5 to 11; bracts of catkins mostly obovate;
California tree. 2. 5.
Bark of the twigs yellow to yellow-green; southwestern
tree. 3. 5.
Leaves glaucous or pale beneath.
Pedicels filiform, often nearly as long as the capsules or
longer.
Bracts of catkins entire-margined; eastern tree. 4. 5.
Bracts of catkins dentate; California tree. ' 5. S.
Pedicels distinctly shorter than the capsule, often very short.
Leaves narrowly lanceolate; capsules almost sessile. 6. 6'.
Leaves broadly lanceolate; capsules distinctly stalked. 7. 5.
Stipules and usually also the petioles with glands.
Leaves ovate-lanceolate; glands of stipules and petioles usually
stalked; eastern tree or shrub. 8. S. lucida.
Leaves lanceolate; glands sessile; western trees or shrubs.
Leaves green on both sides. 9. 5.
Leaves white-glaucous beneath. 10. 5.
Pedicels of capsules short, only about twice as long as the gland;
introduced European tree.
b. Stamens 2 only.
Filaments hairy toward the base; bracts of the catkins deciduous.
Pedicels of the capsules less than i mm. long; large trees intro-
duced from Europe.
Branches not drooping; leaves lanceolate. 12. S.
Branches drooping; leaves linear-lanceolate. 13. S.
Pedicels of the capsules i to 3 mm. long; native trees or shrubs.
Capsule glabrous when mature.
Leaves sharply serrulate, glabrous or slightly hair}' when
mature; eastern tree or shrub.
Leaves entire, or minutely and distantly serrulate, silky-
canescent; western tree or shrub. 15. S.
Capsule densely white-silky, even when mature. 16. 5.
Filaments glabrous; bracts of pistillate catkins persistent.
vail j cola.
Wrightii.
longipcs.
lavigata.
Toiimeyi.
amygdaloides.
lasiandra.
Lyallii.
II. 5. jragilis.
alba,
babylonica.
14. 5. interior.
exigna.
sessilifolia.
Black Willow
183
Leaves lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate or oblanceolate, three
times or more as long as wide.
Leaves slightly serrate, green on both sides; northwestern
tree.
Leaves whitish or canescent beneath.
Leaves acute; filaments distinct; tree of the Central
States.
Leaves acuminate; filaments united below; tree of Cali-
fornia and Arizona.
Leaves obovate to elliptic-obovate or ovate-oval, less than three
times as long as wide.
Twigs glabrous, or merely puberulent when very young;
eastern tree or shrub.
Twigs villous-pubescent or tomentose; western trees or shrubs
Style three to five times longer than the stigmas; Alaskan
tree.
Style as long or twice as long as the stigmas; northwestern
tree.
B. Capsule pubescent, silky or tomentose (nearly glabrous in Texan
specimens of Salix taxijolia).
a. Filaments distinct.
Leaves linear-lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate.
Leaves dark green above, 7 to 15 cm. long; silvery-white
beneath; style long; European introduced tree.
Leaves not dark green above, only i to 4 mm. long; style short
or none; southwestern and Mexican tree.
Leaves lanceolate to oblong, oblanceolate or obovate.
Stamen only i; pedicels of capsules very short; far western tree
with leaves satiny beneath.
Stamens 2; leaves not satiny, but often pubescent or tomen-
tose beneath.
Capsule distinctly pedicelled; leaves not white-felty beneath.
Bracts of the catkins yellow.
Style none, or very short; northern tree or shrub.
Style slender, distinct; California tree or shrub.
Bracts of the catkins black or brown.
Leaves distinctly toothed; eastern tree or shrub.
Leaves nearly or quite entire; western tree or shrub.
Capsule ver)'^ short-pedicelled; leaves densely white-felty
beneath; Alaskan tree.
b. Filaments united; ovary and stigmas sessile; European introduced
tree.
17. 6". M ackenzieana.
19.
S. missouriensis.
S. lasiolepis.
20. 5. balsamijera.
21.
22.
S. amplijolia.
S. Hookeriana.
23-
24.
S. viminalis.
S. taxijolia.
25. 5". sitchensis.
26.
5. Bebbiana.
27.
S. Bakeri.
28.
S. discolor.
29.
S. Scoiileriana
30-
S. alaxejisis.
31-
S. purpurea.
I. BLACK WILLOW - Salix nigra Marshall
Salix marginata Wimmer
The Black willow is the largest native species of eastern North America, some-
times attaining a height of 40 meters, with a trunk a meter in diameter in the
central States, usually much smaller, however, and commonly 10 to 20 meters
high, with the trunk not over s dm. thick; the trunks are often two to five together
1 84
The Willows
from the same roots, and are seldom strictly erect. The tree grows in wet soil
from New Brunswick to western Ontario and North Dakota, south to Florida and
Texas.
The branching is very irregular. The bark is rough, thick, nearly black,
whence the common name, and flakes off in narrow strips; the slender, smooth, or
somewhat hair}^ young twigs are green to greenish brown, soon becoming darker;
the winter buds are pointed and 2 to 3 mm.
in length. The narrowly lanceolate leaves are
'often somewhat scythe-shaped, finely toothed,
long-pointed, 6 to 15 cm. long, 4 to 16 mm.
wide, bright green and smooth on the upper
side, a little lighter green and often hairy be-
neath, at least on the veins; their stalks are
slender, often hairy, 4 to 8 mm. long, the
stipules cordate or reniform, often large, those
of leaves of young shoots sometimes 16 mm.
broad and persistent until summer, but usually
much smaller and fall away early. The cat-
kins are borne on short, leafy branches of the
season, appearing from March to May, accord-
ing to latitude, and are 4 to 8 cm. long; their
bracts are ovate or oblong, blunt or acutish,
finely and densely hairy; the staminate flowers have from 3 to -7 stamens with fila-
ments hairy toward the base; the pistillate flowers have an ovoid stalked smooth
ovary; the notched stigmas nearly sessile. The pistillate catkins are from 5 to 10
cm. long and about i cm. thick in fruit; the capsules are smooth, ovoid-conic, 3 to
4.5 mm. long, borne on slender stalks i to 2 mm. long, several times as long as the
gland.
The wood is light red-brown, soft and weak, the sapwood much lighter in color
than the heart; its specific gravity is about 0.44; it is seldom used except for fuel.
The tree grows rapidly in wet soil, and is useful for screen-planting along swamps
or streams. The bark is used as a tonic in domestic medicine.
140. — Black Willow.
2. .DUDLEY'S WILLOW — Salix vallicola (Dudley) Britten
Salix nigra vallicola Dudley
This tree inhabits river-banks in southern California and appears to be spe-
cifically distinct both from the eastern Black willow and from Wright's willow
of the southwestern States, while closely related to both. It reaches a height of
from 8 to 12 meters.
Its bark is dark-colored and rough, the young twigs yellowish green and slightly
hairy, becoming smooth and purplish or gray. The leaves are narrowly lanceolate,
pointed or long-pointed at the apex, narrowed at the base, finely toothed with
Wright's Willow
185
glandular-tipped teeth, somewhat hairy on
both sides when unfolding, soon becoming
smooth and about the same shade of green
above and beneath; they are from 5 to 12
cm. long, from 7 to 12 mm. wide, and their
hairy stalks are 4 to 6 mm. long; their
stipules are 10 mm. long or less, lanceo-
late, glandular-toothed, and fall away early
in the season. The catkins are 2.5 to 5
cm. long, borne at the ends of short, leafy
branches of the season, and flower as the
leaves unfold in March or April; their axes
are very hairy, and their almost woolly scales
are obovate or rounded; the staminate
flowers have from 5 to 11 stamens with
separate filaments hairy toward the base; ^^°- 141. -Dudley's Willow,
the pistillate flowers have a stalked ovary with a very short style and lobed stig-
mas. The capsule is ovoid, smooth, 4 or 5 mm. long, 1.5 to 2 times as long as
its stalk.
This is the largest species of willow native in southern California.
3. WRIGHT'S WILLOW— SaUx WrigMii Andersson
Ftg. 142. — Wright's Willow.
Wright's willow occurs
abundantly in wet soil, es-
pecially along rivers and
streams, from Texas to south-
em Arizona and through ad-
jacent Mexico. The tree
closely resembles the Black
willow in botanical charac-
ters, and has been regarded
by many authors as a variety
of that species, and it has also
been mistaken, at least in
part, for the Cuban Salix oc-
cidentalis Koch.
The bark is rough and
flaky; the young twigs are
smooth or slightly hairy, and
yellow to yellow-green, be-
coming brown, and this yellow
tint of the branchlets seems
1 86
The Willows
to be the most reliable feature to distinguish the tree from the Black willow. The
leaves are narrowly lanceolate, finely toothed, bright green above, rather paler on
the under side than those of Salix nigra Alarshall, 5 to 1 2 cm. long, their slender
stalks 5 to 10 mm. long, their stipules small and early deciduous. The catkins
appear in early spring on short, leafy twigs of the season, are 5 to 7 cm. long, and
densely many-flowered, their bracts blunt and very hairy; the staminate flowers
have from 3 to 5 stamens with filaments hairy toward the base; the pistillate flowers
have a smooth, conic-ovoid ovary with nearly sessile notched stigmas. In fruit
the pistillate catkins become 8 cm. long or less, the capsule about 5 mm. long,
its slender stalk less than half as long and several times longer than the gland.
4. WARD'S WILLOW — Salix longipes Andersson
Salix Wardi Bebb
Ward's willow is a small tree, or often a mere shrub, occurring on gravelly
river-shores and river bottoms, from Maryland to Kentucky and Missouri, south
to Florida, Texas, New Mexico, and apparently into Chihuahua; it attains a
maximum height of about 10 meters, with a trunk 2 dm. in diameter, and was
formerly regarded as a variety of Salix nigra Marshall.
Its bark is thick, brown, rough, broken into angular plates; the young twigs
are more or less densely hair}%or quite smooth,
reddish brown, becoming gray to brown; the
winter buds are brown, pointed, shining, about
2 mm. long. The leaves are lanceolate to ob-
long-lanceolate, some of them occasionally
oblanceolate, 6 to 1 7 cm. long, i to 3 cm. wide,
finely or rather distantly toothed, var}ang to
almost entire-margined ; they are bright green
and smooth on the upper side, pale and glau-
cous and often quite hair)^ on the under side;
their slender, hairy, or smooth stalks are 8
to 15 mm. long, their stipules early decidu-
ous, or sometimes remaining until summer.
The catkins are on short, leafy branchlcts of
the season, flowering at the northern range of
the species in April or early May, in Florida
in December or January; they are 5 to 10 cm. long, wath blunt, entire-margined,
hairy bracts; there are from 3 to 7 stamens in the staminate flowers, their fila-
ments hairy toward the base; the pistillate flowers have a smooth, long-stalked
ovoid ovar}^ with nearly sessile notched stigmas. The capsules are ovoid-conic,
5 to 6 mm. long, smooth, their slender stalks often as long as the capsule.
The w^ood of Ward's w^illow is rather dark brown, weak and soft, the sap-wood
nearly white.
Ward's Willow.
Tourney's Willow
187
5. CALIFORNIA BLACK WILLOW - Salix l^vigata Bebb
Salix congesta (Bebb) Howell. Salix Icevigaia congesia Bebb
This tree grows along streams and lakes from southern Oregon throughout Cali-
fornia, extending eastward into Nevada and Utah. It sometimes becomes 15 or 16
meters high, with a trunk up to 6 dm. thick, but is commonly considerably smaller.
The dark brown bark is thick and irregularly fissured; the young twigs are
orange-brown and vary from smooth to densely velvety-hairy; the winter buds
are ovoid, about 3 mm. long. The
leaves vary greatly in form from nar-
rowly lanceolate to oblong, oblanceolate
or even obovate, and from finely and
closely toothed to entire-margined, from
long-pointed to obtuse, and from 6 to
20 cm. long, the largest being found on
strong, sterile shoots, as in other wil-
lows; they are dark green, smooth, and
shining on the upper side, pale or
sometimes nearly white, and either
smooth or hairy, on the under surface;
their stalks are short, rarely more than
6 or 8 mm. long, and their ovate stip-
ules are usually small, and fall away
soon after they appear. The catkins,
which are borne on short, leafy branch-
lets of the season, flower from March
to May, according to latitude, are
from 5 to ID cm. long, their axes and
the toothed bracts very hair}'; the
staminate flowers usually have 5 sta-
mens with filaments hairy toward the base, and the pistillate flowers have a smooth,
ovoid-conic stalked ovary, the notched stigmas about as long as the short style.
In fruit the pistillate catkins sometimes elongate considerably, but they are often
short, sometimes not more than 4 cm. long; the smooth, ovoid-conic capsules are
4 to 6 mm. long, their slender stalks as long, or much shorter.
The wood is soft, weak, brittle, light reddish brown, the sapwood nearly white;
its specific gravity is about 0.49.
Fig. 144. — California Black Willow.
6. TOUAIEY'S WILLOW — Salix Toumeyi Britton, new species
Salix Humboldtiana Sargent, not Humboldt, Bonpland and Kunth
Toumey's willow inhabits the shores of streams in canons of the mountains
of southern Arizona, and has been confused with Humboldt's willow, a native of
i88
The Willows
southern Mexico. It is a small, slender, beautiful tree, lo to 12 meters high, with
a trunk up to 4 dm. thick, the slender branches somewhat drooping.
Its bark is brown, thick, and irregularly fissured; the young twigs are smooth,
shining, yellow-brown, becoming darker. The
leaves are lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, long-
pointed, smooth on both sides, even when
young, firm in texture and persistent on the
branches until late in the autumn or into the
winter; they are 12 cm. long or less, i to 2 cm.
wide, finely toothed, bright green and shining
on the upper side, bright white beneath; their
stalks are 6 to 12 mm. long; the ovate stip-
ules fall away early, or those on strong shoots
persist until summer. The catkins appear in
February or March on twigs of the preceding
season, subtended at the base by two or more
small leaves; they are small, nearly stalkless,
only 2 to 3 cm. long, and their obovate blunt
bracts are hairy; the staminate flowers have 3
or 4 stamens with filaments a little hairy at the
Fig. 145. -Tourney's Willow. ^^^^^ ^^le pistillate ones have a short-stalked
smooth ovoid ovary and almost sessile stigmas. The fruiting catkins are com-
pact, 2.5 cm. long or less, nearly i cm. thick, the very short-stalked ovoid yel-
lowish capsules 3 to 4 mm. long.
7. PEACH-LEAVED WILLOW — Salix amygdaloides Andersson
This species inhabits river-shores and similar situations from Quebec through
Ontario to Manitoba and British Columbia,
extending south to New York, Ohio, lUinois,
Missouri, Texas, New Mexico, and Oregon,
being most abundant in the Rocky mountain
region.
The tree attains a maximum height of
about 20 meters, with a trunk up to 6 dm. in
diameter; it is usually much smaller, how-
ever; it has been regarded by some authors as
a variety of the Black willow. Its bark is
thick, brown, and irregularly fissured; the
slender smooth young twigs are orange-
brown, becoming darker brown; the winter
buds are ovoid, pointed, shining, about 3
mm. long. The leaves are rather broadly Ian- yig. 146. — Peach-leaved w iUow.
Shining Willow
189
ceolate, scmctimes ovate-lanceolate, 6 to 12 cm. long, i to 3 cm. wide, long-
pointed, fiLely toothed, bright green and somewhat shining on the upper side, pale
or glaucous beneath, rather thin, deciduous in early autumn; their stalks are slen-
der, 6 to 15 mm. long, their stipules usually small and falling away early, those
of leaves o* strong shoots sometimes large, reniform, 10 to 15 mm. wide. The
catkins appi;ar on short, leafy branches of the season early in the spring, and are
from 3 to 8 cm. long; the staminate flowers have 3 to 9 stamens with filaments
somewhat hairy toward the base; the pistillate ones have a smooth-stalked, ob-
long-ovoid oviry, a short style and notched stigmas. The fruiting catkins elon-
gate to 6 to 10 cm.; the ovoid-conic capsules are 5 to 6 mm. long, their slender
stalks one half to two thirds as long.
The wood is soft and weak, light brown, the sapwood nearly white; its specific
gravity is about 0.45; it is used in the Northwest for clapboards and for charcoal.
The tree is also called Almond leaf willow.
8. SHINING WILLOW — SaUx lucida Muhlenberg
A strikingly lustrous-leaved willow, growing in wet soil, especially in and along
swamps, from Newfoundland to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, westward to Atha-
basca, Kentucky, and Nebraska. It is often a shrub, but sometimes forms a tree
8 meters tall, with a trunk diameter of 2 dm.
The bark is smooth, or nearly so, brown or
reddish brown; the young twigs are orange-
brown, at first often hair}% soon becoming
smooth and shining; the winter buds are
smooth, pointed, 4 to 6 mm. long. The lan-
ceolate or ovate-lanceolate leaves are pointed,
often very long- pointed, 7 to 15 cm. long, 1.5
to 4 cm. wide, finely toothed, the teeth mostly
glandular, the upper surface smooth, dark
green, brightly shining, the under side at first
usually hairy, but becoming smooth and paler
green than the upper; the leaf- stalks are
more or less hairy, 6 to 12 mm. long, usually
glandular toward the base of the blade with
stalked glands; the stipules are glandular- Fic. 147. - Shining Wiilovv.
toothed, broad, sometimes 7 mm. wdde, and fall away early or remain until summer.
The catkins, which vsiry from 2 to 6 cm. in length, appear in May on short, leafy
branchlets of the season, their axes hain,-, their bracts blunt, sometimes toothed,
usually somewhat hairy; there are usually 5 stamens in the staminate flowers, with
filaments shghtly hair>' toward the base, and the pistillate flowers have a narrowly
ovoid ovar}^ with nearly sessile notched stigmas. The fruiting catkins are 6 cm.
long or less, the narrowly ovoid capsules smooth, much longer than their stalks.
IQO
The Willows
The Shining willow grows rapidly in wet places and is very desirable for orna-
mental planting in such situations.
9. WESTERN BLACK WILLOW — Salix lasiandra Ben ham
Salix pentandra caudata Nuttall. Salix Fendleriana Andersson
This is the largest of the West American willows, sometimes attaining a height
of 20 meters or more, with a tmnl. a meter in
diameter, though it is usually muct smaller, and
sometimes shrubby. It grows ulong streams
and lakes from British Columbii to southern
California, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and
New Mexico.
The rough and thick fissured bark is dark
brown; the young twigs are usually hairy, yel-
lowish or reddish brown, becoming darker brown
or purpHsh; the winter buds are ovoid, pointed,
5 to 6 mm. long. The leaves var}^ from lan-
ceolate to oblong-lanceolate, or sometimes widest
a Httle above the middle, and from 7 to 15 cm.
long by I to 2.5 cm. in width; they are pointed
at the apex, often long-pointed, sometimes
slightly scythe-shaped, mostly narrowed at the
base, finely glandular- toothed, dark green and
shining on the upper side, paler green beneath,
hairy when unfolding but smooth on both sides
when fully grown, or rarely remaining some-
what hairy on the under side; their stalks are 12 mm. long or less, smooth or
hairy and usually bear one or more sessile glands at the base of the blade; the
stipules are glandular-toothed, and usually fall away early. The catkins appear
in May or June on short leafy branchlcts of the season ; they are from 3 to 6 cm.
long, their bracts obovate or oblanceolate, hairy toward the base, glandular-
toothed, at least toward the apex; there are from 5 to 9 stamens in the staminate
flowers; the ovar}' in the pistillate flowers is narrowly ovoid-conic, with nearly
sessile notched stigmas. The fruiting catkins are 4.5 to 6 cm. long, the smooth,
ovoid-conic capsule 5 to 6 mm. long, its stalk 1.5 to 2 mm. long.
The wood is soft and weak, light brown, its specific gravity about 0.46; it
is used to some extent for veneering and for charcoal; also for baskets and for
fuel.
Fig. 148. — Western Black Willow.
Crack Willow
191
10. LYALL'S WILLOW — Salix Lyallii (Sargent) Heller
Salix lasiandra Lyallii Sargent
Lyall's willow is closely related botanically to Salix lasiandra Bentham, just
described, but it is maintained, by observers
who have studied it in its native regions, to
be readily distinguishable from that species.
It grows along streams and lakes from the
Yukon Territory to British Columbia, Mon-
tana, and Oregon, perhaps extending also into
CaHfomia.
The differences relied upon to separate
this tree from Salix lasiandra Bentham are
its larger leaves, sometimes 20 cm. long and
4 cm. wide, mostly rounded or somewhat
heart-shaped at the base, and bright white
or very pale green on the under side, form-
ing strikingly conspicuous foliage; the leaf-
stalks are also rather longer and more
glandular, and the fruiting catkins larger,
sometimes 7.5 cm. long; the bracts of the
catkins are less glandular, sometimes quite
entire-margined.
Its wood is very similar to that of the
Western black willow.
Fig. 149. — Lyall's Willow.
II. CRACK WILLOW — Salix fragilis Linnsus
Fig. 150. — Crack Willow.
This European species has been planted
for ornament and distributed along streams
by its brittle twigs v/hich strike root readily,
and has become naturahzed in eastern
North America from Newfoundland to
Pennsylvania. It is a tall slender tree,
sometimes 25 meters high, with a trunk up
to 2 meters in diameter, though these di-
mensions are perhaps not reached by any
individual outside of Europe. The name
Crack willow is in allusion to the brittle-
based twigs which are easily broken away,
the rupture accompanied by a cracking
sound.
The bark is rough and gray-brown,
192
The Willows
thick; the young twigs are finely hairy, reddish or yellowish to brown, angular,
becoming smooth and shining brown; the winter buds are 4 to 6 mm. long and
smooth; the leaves are lanceolate, long-pointed, 8 to 15 cm. long, finely toothed,
at least the lower teeth glandular; the blades are dark green on the upper side,
pale green or whitish beneath, smooth on both surfaces, except when very young,
when they are finely silky; their stalks are 6 to 16 mm. long, and usually bear
one or more glands near the base of the blade; the stipules are glandular-toothed
and usually fall away while the leaves are unfolding. The catkins appear in April
or May on short leafy branches, and are from 2 to 7 cm. long, their axes hairy,
their bracts blunt, a little hairy; the staminate flowers have a very short-stalked,
smooth, narrowly ovoid ovary, the stigmas about as long as the very short style.
In fruit the pistillate catkins elongate to 1 2 cm. or less ; the capsules are narrowly
ovoid, short-stalked, 4 to 5 mm. long.
The tree is also known as Redwood willow and Stag's-head willow; its wood is
salmon red, and used in Scotland for small boats.
12. WHITE WILLOW — Salix alba Linnaeus
Salix vitellina Linnaeus
The White willow, or Huntingdon willow, has long been naturalized in eastern
North America, introduced from Europe as a shade and ornamental tree, and it
now appears in many places as much at home as if it were indigenous, from Nova
Scotia and Ontario to North Carolina and Iowa, and occurs as far west as Idaho.
It grows largest in wet soil, though it does very well on uplands, and reaches a
maximum height of about 30 meters, with a trunk sometimes 2.5 meters thick.
The bark is gray to brown, rough and thick; the young twigs are yellowish
green and finely hairy, becoming brown and
smooth or nearly so by the end of their first
season; the winter buds are narrowly ovoid
smooth, bluntish, 5 or 6 mm. long. The
lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate leaves are 5 to
13 cm. long, 8 to 16 mm. wide, finely glandu-
lar-toothed, usually long-pointed at the apex
and narrowed at the base, silky-hairy on both
sides at least when young, bright green on the
upper side, much paler or whitish beneath;
their stalks are 4 to 8 mm. long, sometimes
bearing a gland or two near the base of the
blade; the ovate-lanceolate stipules fall away
soon after the leaves unfold. The catkins
„„ . „,.„ appear in April or May on short leafy branch-
FiG. 151. — White Willow. 11 ^1
lets, and are 3 to 6 cm. long, their bracts de-
ciduous; the staminate flowers (staminate trees are very rare in North America)
Sandbar Willow
193
have two stamens; in the pistillate flowers there is a narrowly ovoid smooth ovary
with nearly sessile stigmas. The fruiting catkins are 5 to 7 cm. long, the smooth,
nearly stalkless capsules ovoid-conic, 3 to 4 mm. long.
Its wood is preferred in England for cricket balls.
The Blue willow, Salix ccenilea J. E. Smith, also European, has been consid-
erably planted for ornament, and is reported as locally established in the eastern
States, but scarcely naturalized; it has bluish green leaves, nearly white on the
under side.
13. WEEPING WILLOW— Salix babylonica Linn ;cus
The Weeping willow, so called from its drooping branches, is of Asiatic origin,
but has been widely planted for ornament and for shade in Europe and North and
South America; it has been distributed along streams and in valleys by means of
its twigs, which take root readily in wet soil; it is now naturahzed to a greater or
less extent locally from Massachusetts to Michigan and Virginia. The tree some-
times becomes 20 meters high, with a trunk up to nearly 2 meters in diameter.
The bark is gray and rough, the young twigs slender, green to brown, smooth,
characteristically drooping; the winter buds are
sharp-pointed, light brown, 4 to 6 mm. long;
the leaves are linear or linear- lanceolate, long-
pointed, finely toothed, somewhat silky-hair)^
when unfolding, soon smooth on both sides,
6 to 18 cm. long, 5 to 12 mm. wide, rather
bright green on the upper side, pale green be-
neath; their stalks are 6 to 12 mm. long, often
hairy, sometimes glandular toward the base of
the blade; the small stipules usually fall away
early in the season. The catkins are borne on
short, leafy branches of the season, flowering in
April or May; they are small, 5 cm. long 01
less, slender, with ovate-lanceolate, slightly
hairy bracts; there are 2 stamens in the stam-
inate flowers (staminate trees are apparently
unknown in North America); the ovary and smooth capsule arc ovoid-conic, very
short-stalked, the stigmas longer than the very short style.
The Ring willow, occasionally planted, is a form of this species with curled
leaves.
14. SANDBAR WILLOW -Salix interior Rowlee
Salix fliiviatilis Sargent, nut Nuttall. Salix loiigi/olia ^luhlcnberg, nut Lamarck
This is a river-valley species, preferring sandy soil, ranging from Quebec to
Athabasca, south to \'irginia, Kentucky, Nebraska, and Texas; over most of its
Fig. i:
Weeping Willow.
194
The Willows
Slender Willow
195
range it is a mere shrub, 5 meters high or less, or a very small tree, but westward
it sometimes becomes a tree up to 20 meters high, with a trunk 6 dm. thick. Salix
fiuvialilis Nuttall, to which this plant has been referred by some authors, described
originally from Oregon or Washington, appears
to be distinct from it, and is not known to us
to become a tree.
Its bark is brown, rather thin, nearly smooth;
the slender young twigs are either smooth or
finely hair)^, reddish or purplish, becoming
brown; the winter buds are ovoid, pointed,
smooth, 3 or 4 mm. long. The Hnear-lanceo-
late or slightly oblanceolate leaves, often some-
what scythe-shaped, are 5 to 15 cm. long, 4 to
10 mm. wide, usually spinulose-toothed, pointed
at both ends, usually smooth on both sides
and bright green when old, but when young
quite silvery-silky; their stalks are short, 6 mm.
long or less, their stipules lanceolate to ovate,
small, early falhng. The stalked catkins, which
arc from 2 to 5 cm. long, appear on leafy branchlets in April or May, their hairy
bracts oblong to obovate, blunt, hairy, mostly entire-margined; the staminate
fliowers have 2 stamens with filaments somewhat hairy toward the base ; the pistil-
late flowers have a narrowly oblong, usually hairy ovary, the lobed stigmas nearly
sessile. The ripe fruiting catkins are 6 cm. long or less, the smooth ovoid-conic
capsule very' short-stalked, about 6 mm. long.
The wood is of Httle value, except for fuel or charcoal; it is soft, weak, fight
brown, and has a specific gravity of about 0.49, the sap wood nearly white. Seed-
ling plants of this species sometimes have laciniate leaves.
Fig. 154. — Sandbar Willow.
Fig. 155. — Slender Willow.
15. SLENDER WILLOW —
Salix exigua Nuttall
Salix fliiviatilis exigua Sargent. Salix
liUcosericea Rydberg
The Slender willow inhabits river-
shores and the borders of lakes from
Wyoming to Athabasca, British Co-
lumbia, Colorado, Nebraska, Texas,
and southern Cafifomia, thus ex-
tending over nearly the whole of the
western United States and of south-
western British America. It is
closely related to Salix interior
196
The Willows
Rowlee, of the eastern part of the country, and takes its place in the West. While
usually a mere shrub not over 2 meters high, it occasionally forms a tree in the
Southwest, reaching a height of 7 meters or more.
It differs from the Sandbar willow in usually having smaller leaves with much
less prominent teeth, often, indeed, nearly entire-margined, and the silky hairs
which cover them and the twigs in the young stages are usually retained much later
in the season, sometimes until the leaves are quite mature. The catkins, flowers,
and capsules are very similar indeed to those of its eastern relative.
16. SILVER-LEAVED WILLOW — Salix sessiUfolia Nuttall
Salix argophylla Nuttall. Salix fluviatilis argophylla Sargent
This is another close relative of the Sandbar willow and of the Slender willow;
it inhabits much the same range as the latter, being known along rivers and streams
from Montana to Washington, Colo-
rado, New Mexico, and Cahfomia.
Like the two related species it is
usually shrubby, but it occasionally
becomes a small tree, up to 10 m.
high, with a trunk 3 dm. thick.
It differs from both in having
leaves silverj^-silky on both sides,
even when mature; otherwise they
are Hke those of the Slender willow,
being often entire-margined or nearly
so, and the capsules are silky, even
when ripe; there appear to be inter-
mediate forms, which have only
slightly silky capsules, however,
which may connect the two. The
Cahfomian Salix Hindsiana Ben-
FiG. 156. — Silver-leaved Willow.
tham is doubtfully distinct from it.
The wood is soft and weak, reddish, with a specific gravity of 0.44, and is used
in the Northwest for basketry.
17. MACKENZIE'S WILLOW — Salix Mackenzieana Barrett
Salix cordata Mackenzieana Hooker
Mackenzie's willow occurs on the shores of lakes and streams from Manitoba
to Idaho and Cahfomia. It is a small tree, becoming as much as 9 meters high,
often shrubby, howe\'er, and of close affinity to the widely distributed shrub Salix
cordata Muhlenberg.
Its bark is brown, nearly smooth, the young twigs smooth or very nearly so,
Missouri Willow
197
reddish or purplish, the winter buds flattened, pointed, smooth, about 3 mm. long.
The leaves vary from lanceolate to oblanreolate, and from 5 to 10 cm. long by
I to 2.5 cm. wide; they are finely bluntly toothed
or almost or quite entire-margined, pointed or
long-pointed at the apex, usually narrowed at the
base, dark green on the upper surface, pale green
beneath, smooth on both sides when old, but
more or less hairy when young; their slender
stalks are 8 to 12 mm. long; their stipules kidney-
shaped, 2 to 5 mm. broad, usually remaining un-
til the leaves fall in the autumn. The catkins,
which appear from April to early June, according
to latitude, are at the ends of short leafy branches
of the season, 4 to 6 cm. long, their persistent
bracts obovate, acutish, hairy toward the base;
the staminate flowers have 2 stamens with smooth
filaments, and the ovary in the pistillate flowers
is ovoid, long-stalked, smooth, the short style
about as long as the notched stigmas. The fruit-
ing catkins are 7.5 cm. long or less, the ovoid beaked smooth capsules 5 to 7 mm.
long, their fihform stalks 3 to 4 mm. long.
Mackenzie's willow is ornamental and well worthy of planting in wet grounds.
Salix cordata, the Heart-leaved willow, a shrub, widely distributed from New
Brunswick to British Columbia, Virginia, Missouri, and CaHfomia, has leaves
mostly heart-shaped or rounded at the base, very variable in width, and smaller,
shorter-stalked capsules.
Fig. 157. — Mackenzie's Willow.
18. MISSOURI WILLOW — Salix missouriensis Bebb
Salix cordata vcstita Andersson
The Missouri willow is known in the valleys of the Missouri and Mississippi
rivers and of tributar)' streams, from Kentucky, IlHnois, and Missouri to Iowa
and Nebraska. It becomes 17 or 18 meters high, with a trunk up to 4.5 dm.
thick.
The bark is gray, thin, and scaly, the young twigs green to greenish brown,
densely velvety-hair)', becoming brown and smooth; the winter buds arc densely
hair)', somewhat flattened, pointed, ver\' large, sometimes 2 cm. long. The leaves
are lanceolate, varying to somewhat oblanceolate, pointed, often long-pointed at
the apex, blunt or somewhat heart-shaped or narrowed at the base, 15 cm. long
or less, I to 3 cm. wide, rather finely toothed, hair\' on both sides when young,
but when mature dark green on the upper surface, very pale green or whitish,
more or less hairy, and rather prominently netted-veined beneath; their stalks are
stout, hair}-, 8 to 15 mm. long, their stipules obhquely ovate, toothed, netted-
198
The Willows
veined, 6 to 12 mm. long, remaining until the fall
of the leaves or earHer deciduous. The catkins
are borne at the ends of very short, few-leaved
branchlets and flower in March or April before
the leaves unfold, or at the time they are unfold-
ing; they are from 2 to 5 cm. long, their bracts
blunt, hairy, persistent in the pistillate ones; the
staminate flowers have two smooth stamens,
the pistiflate a smooth, slender-stalked o\'a.Ty, the
notched stigmas about as long as the short style.
In fruit, the pistillate catkins become 6 to 10 cm.
long, the smooth, narrowly ovoid-conic capsules
6 to 8 mm. long, their filiform stalks 3 to 6 mm.
long.
Fig. 158. — Missouri Willow. -pj^g ^q^j Js j^ore durable, and therefore more
valuable than that of most other willows, and is used for posts; it is soft, weak,
reddish brown, the sapwood much lighter in color than the heart.
19. CALIFORNIA WHITE WILLOW — Salix lasiolepis Bentham
Salix Bigelovii Torrey
Inhabiting banks of rivers, streams, and lakes, the California white willow
ranges nearly throughout that State, extending into Nevada and Arizona, and
perhaps northward into southern Oregon. It is
often a shrub, but sometimes forms a tree up to
15 or 16 meters in height in southern Cahfomia.
Its bark is brown, rather thin, more or less
fissured ; the young twigs at first velvety and yel-
low or reddish, becoming smooth and dark
brown or reddish brown; the winter buds are
smooth or a little hairy, flattened, pointed, 5 to
7 mm. long. The leaves are mostly oblanceo-
late, var}'ing to oblong-lanceolate, 6 to 10 cm.
long, I to 2 cm. wide, or those of young shoots
sometimes larger; they are pointed or bluntish
at the apex, narrowed or rounded at the base,
hairy on both sides when young, but smooth
and dark green on the upper surface when ma-
ture, the under side pale green or whitish and ^^" ^^'^'
more or less hair}', rather prominently netted- veined; their stalks are 5 to 12 mm.
long, the stipules ovate, hair}', usually very small and falhng away soon after the
leaves unfold, rarely larger and persistent. The catkins are 3 to 4 cm. long, and
flower in February or March before the leaves unfold, their bracts brown, hairy,
California White Willow.
Balsam Willow
199
persistent at the base of the stalk of the capsules; the 2 stamens of the staminate
flowers have smooth filaments united toward the base; the ovary in the pistillate
flowers is narrowly ovoid-conic, smooth, rather short-stalked, the very short style
about as long as the stigmas. The fruiting catkins are about 5 cm, long, the
smooth, narrowly ovoid capsules about 5 mm. long.
The wood is soft and weak, light brown, with a specific gravity of about 0.56,
and is used for fuel and basketry. The tree is known also as Bigelow's willow
and as Western yellow willow.
20. BALSAM WILLOW — Salix balsamifera (Hooker) Barrett
Salix cordata balsamifera Hooker. Salix pyrijolia Andersson
The Balsam willow, so called from the balsamic odor of its foliage, is widely
distributed as a shrub, usually not over 3 meters high, from Newfoundland to
Manitoba, Athabasca, New York, and Min-
nesota, reaching high altitudes in the moun-
tains of New England, and has only been
obsen^ed to become a tree in Maine, attaining
there a height of about 8 meters, with a trunk
up to 3 or 4 dm. in diameter.
Its bark is described as gray and nearly
smooth; the very young twigs are puberulent,
soon becoming smooth, purpHsh or brown,
and shining; the winter buds are flattened,
pointed, smooth, shining red or purple, 4 to 6
mm. long. The thin leaves, which var}^ from
ovate to elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, or some-
times shghtly obovate, are a httle hairy when
unfolding, soon becoming smooth on both
sides, 5 to 10 cm. long, 2 to 4 cm. wide,
pointed or some of them blunt at the apex,
rounded or somewhat heart-shaped at the base, dark green on the upper side, pale
and prominently netted-veined beneath, finely glandular-toothed; their slender
stalks are 6 to 15 mm. long, finely hairy when young, becoming smooth and yel-
low; the stipules are usually very small and fall away when the leaves unfold, or
perhaps sometimes not developed at all, but they are occasionally larger on leaves
of strong shoots. The catkins are from 3 to 4 cm. long, flowering when the leaves
unfold in May or June, borne on short, few-leaved branchlets of the season, their
bracts pink and long-hair)-, persistent; the staminate flowers have 2 stamens with
smooth filaments; the pistillate ones have a long-stalked, smooth ovar)^ the
notched stigmas nearly sessile. In fruit the pistillate catkins become from 5 to
7.5 cm. long, the narrowly ovoid-conic smooth capsules 4 or 5 mm. long, their
stalks usually more than one half as long.
Fig. 160. — Balsam Willow.
200
The Willows
21. LARGE-LEAVED ALASKAN WILLOW - Salix amplifolia Coville
This species is known only from Alaska, where it inhabits coastal sand-dunes;
it forms either a shrub or a small tree, the largest
individuals recorded being about 8 meters high,
with trunks about 3 dm, in diameter.
The young twigs are stout, densely hairy, and
remain more or less hairy for two or three years,
becoming purple. The leaves are oval to obovate,
8 cm. long or less, 4 to 6 cm. wide, blunt or short-
pointed at the apex, mostly rounded at the base,
finely toothed or entire-margined, white silky-hairy
on both sides when young, but becoming nearly or
c|uite smooth when very old; they have short hairy
stalks I cm. long or less. The catkins appear on
short, leafy branches of the season; they are 4 to
6 cm. long, 1.5 cm. thick, and flower in June, de-
veloping with the leaves; their bracts are dark
brown and persistent; the staminate flowers have
two stamens with smooth filaments, and the pistil-
late ones have a hairy-stalked, smooth, narrow ovary, a very slender style 2 to 4
mm. long, the deeply 2-lobed stigmas about i mm. long. The fruiting catkins be-
come 2 cm. thick and about 8 cm. long, the smooth, narrowly ovoid capsules 8 to
9 mm. long.
Fig. 161
Large-leaved Alaskan
Willow.
22. HOOKER'S WILLOW — Salix Hookeriana Barrett
Hooker's willow inhabits sand-dunes along
the coast from British Columbia to Oregon,
sometimes growing almost within the influence
of salt water. While often a shrub, it some-
times forms a tree up to 16 meters high, with
a trunk 3 dm. thick or more.
The thin, brown bark is slightly fissured,
the young twigs densely velvety-hairy, and re-
main more or less so during parts of two sea-
sons, becoming purple-brown and smooth; the
winter buds are hairy, pointed, about 5 mm.
long. The leaves are obovate to oblong-obo-
vate, bluntly finely toothed or entire-mar-
gined, blunt or short-pointed at the apex,
narrowed at the base, usually 5 to 8 cm. long
and 2 to 4.5 cm. wide, but those of strong
shoots sometimes 15 cm. long; they are very hairy when young, and more or less
Fig. 162.
Hooker's Willow.
Osier Willow
201
hairy when mature, the upper side bright green, the under surface pale green or
whitish; their densely hairy stalks are i cm. long or less, sometimes becoming less
hairy when old; the stipules are small and fall away early. The catkins appear
on twigs of the previous season, are 2.5 to 4 cm. long, with hairy persistent bracts,
and flower before the leaves unfold in April or May; the staminate flowers have
2 stamens with smooth filaments; the pistillate flowers have a slender-stalked, nar-
rowly ovoid-conic, smooth ovary and a slender style longer than the stigmas. The
capsules are smooth, stalked, about 5 mm. long.
Its wood is soft, light brown, with a specific gravity of about 0.53.
22. OSIER WILLOW — Salix viminalis LinnoLus
■3
This small tree, native of Europe and Asia, has been planted in the eastern
United States for use in wickerware and for ornament, and has escaped from
cultivation and locally estabHshed itself from Newfoundland to Pennsylvania.
While often a shrub with long upright branches, it occasionally assumes arbores-
cent form, becoming 6 or 7 meters high, with a trunk 1.5 dm. thick.
The bark is brown and nearly smooth, the branches long and wand -like, the
young twigs round, finely puberulent, becom-
ing smooth and yellow-green; the winter buds
are puberulent, pointed, 4 or 5 mm. long.
The narrowly hnear- lanceolate leaves are 7 to
15 cm. long, 4 to 16 mm. wide, long-pointed
at the apex, narrowed at the base, entire-
margined, dark, dull green and smooth on the
upper side, densely and persistently silvery-
silky on the under surface; their stalks are
finely hairy, i cm. long or less, their stipules
narrowly lanceolate, early falling. The cat-
kins are nearly or quite stalklcss on twigs of
the preceding season, 3 or 4 cm. long, and
flower before the leaves unfold in April or
May; their bracts are dark-colored at the
apex and silky-hairy; the staminate flowers
have 2 stamens, the pistillate ones a very
short-stalked woolly ovary, a slender style usually as long as the notched stigmas.
The ripe fmiting catkins are 6 cm. long or less, about i cm. thick, the ver)' short-
stalked capsules densely silky-hair}', narrowly conic, 4 to 5 mm. long.
This willow is considered the most valuable species for baskctr}-, and is exten-
sively cultivated for that purpose in Europe and to some extent in the United
States.
Fig. 163. — Osier Willow.
202
The Willows
24. YEW-LEAVED WILLOW — Salix taxifolia Humboldt, Bonpland and
Kunth
This interesting species, vety different in aspect and in foliage from other
willows, grows along streams in southern Arizona and Texas, south through
Mexico to Guatemala, and is reported to occur in Lower California. It is a tree
18 meters high or less, with a trunk up to 4 or 5 dm. in diameter.
The thick bark is gray and much fissured, the young twigs densely and finely
hairy, becoming smooth and purphsh; the
winter buds are pointed, finely hair}% about
3 mm. long. The leaves are much smaller
than those of any other Korth American tree
willow, being only 3 cm. long or less, and 2
to 3 mm. wide; they are linear, pointed at
both ends, entire-margined or with a few low
teeth, whitish-hairy on both sides when young,
becoming dull and rather dark green and
smooth or nearly so on the upper side when
mature, but remaining more or less hairy be-
neath; their stalks are very short, not over 2
mm. long, and the ovate or ovate-lanceolate
hairy pointed stipules are about as long as
the leaf-stalks and either .fall away early or
remain until the leaves are fully grown. The catkins are borne at the ends of
short branches, are i to 1.5 cm. long, and flower in Arizona in May, in southern
Mexico in January, their oblong-pointed hairy bracts early falhng; the staminate
flowers have 2 stamens with filaments hairy toward the base; in the pistillate
flowers the ovary is hairy, the lobed stigmas longer than the very short style.
The fruiting catkins become i to 2 cm. long, the usually densely hairy capsules
ovoid-conic, 5 to 6 mm. long.
The tree was first known to Europeans in Mexican gardens. Trees in the
Limpia Canon, Texas, have much less hairy capsules than those in central and
southern Mexico.
Fig. 164. — Yew-leaved Willow.
25. SATIN WILLOW — Salix sitchensis Sanson
This showy species inhabits moist or wet soil from Alaska to southern Cali-
fornia, most abundant near the coast; while usually a shrub it sometimes forms a
tree, attaining a maximum recorded height of about 13 meters in Oregon, with a
trunk 3 or 4 dm. thick. It is also called Silky willow, Sitka willow, and Silver
willow.
Its bark is thin, brown, nearly smooth or somewhat scaly; the young twigs are
densely hairy, orange-colored, becoming smooth, and red to brown, the winter buds
hairy, pointed, 5 to 7 mm. long. The leaves are obovate or oblanceolate, mostly
Bebb's Willow
203
quite entire-margined, pointed or Ijlunt at the apex, narrowed at the base, 4 to
12 cm. long, 2 to 5 cm. wide, hairy on both sides when ver}^ young, persistently
satiny or silvery-hairy on the
under side but dark green and
nearly smooth on the upper sur-
face when mature; their hairy
stalks are i cm. long or less,
their stipules broad, glandular-
toothed, white-hair}', at least be-
neath, early faUing away. The
catkins are borne on short, few-
leaved branches of the season
and flower while the leaves are
unfolding, from March to June
according to latitude; they are
from 3 to 6 cm. long, with yel-
lowish hair}^ bracts; the staminate
flowers have only one stamen, its
filament smooth (2 stamens with
Fig. 165. — Satin Willow.
partly united filaments are recorded as rarely observ^ed) ; the pistillate flowers have
a hsi'iry ovoid ovary with a very short stalk, the slender style two or three times as
long as the stigmas. In fruit the pistillate catkins become 8 cm. long or less, the
woolly or hairy capsules 5 to 6 mm. long.
The wood of the Satin willow is light red, soft and weak, with a specific gravity
of 0.51. The satiny under surfaces of its leaves make it a strikingly beautiful plant.
26. BEBB'S WILLOW — Salix Bebbiana Sargent
Salix rostrata Richardson, not Thuillier
Bebb's willow, named in honor of the late M. S. Bebb, a diligent student of
willows, grows in various situations, preferring wet soil, from Anticosti to Hudson
bay and Alaska, south to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Nebraska, New
Mexico, and Oregon, being one of the most widely distributed species. It is a
shrub or small tree, occasionally 8 meters high, with a trunk 2 dm. thick or less.
The thin reddish green bark is scaly, the young twigs ver\' hair\', becoming
smooth and purplish or brown, the winter buds narrow, bluntish, puberulent,
about 5 mm. long. The leaves are eUiptic to oblong-lanceolate, or sometimes
broadest a Httle above the middle, 2.5 to 7 cm. long, 2.5 cm. wide or less, spar-
ingly toothed or entire-margined, pointed at the apex or some of them blunt, nar-
rowed or rounded at the base, pale green, rather prominently netted-veined and
hair\^ on the under side, dull green and smooth or merely puberulent above,
sometimes nearly smooth on both sides when very old; their stalks are from 4
to 12 mm. long, and usually hairy, their stipules half heart-shaped, pointed,
204
The Willows
Fig. 1 66. — Bcbb's Willow.
glandular-toothed, sometimes i cm. long
or more, and usually fall away early. The
catkins are 2 to 3 cm. long, borne on very
short few-leaved branchlets, and flower
while the leaves are unfolding or before,
in April or May; their bracts are blunt,
hair}% yellow, with pink tips, those of the
pistillate catkins persistent; the staminate
flowers have 2 stamens with smooth fila-
ments; in the pistillate flowers the hairy
ova.ry is stalked, the notched stigmas ses-
sile on its apex. The fruiting pistillate
catkins become 5 cm. long or less, the
narrowly ovoid-conic beaked capsules 6 or
7 mm. long, their filiform stalks usually
about one half as long.
27. BAKER'S WILLOW — Salix Bakeri von Seamen
This recently described Cahfornian species grows along streams in the west-
central parts of the State and has been
confused with Salix lasiolepis Bentham,
which it much resembles, but its capsules
are hairy toward the top; it attains a
height of 10 meters or more, and is re-
ported to extend northward into Oregon,
and there to become twice that height.
The young twigs are finely puberulent,
soon becoming smooth and dark brown;
the winter buds are ovoid, puberulent,
pointed, about 4 mm. long. The leaves
are oblanceolate, or some of them oblong-
lanceolate, 4 to 7 cm. long, I to 1.5 cm. wide,
pointed at both ends or some of them blunt
at the apex, smooth, bright green and some-
what shining on the upper side, pale, hairy,
and rather prominently veined beneath, the
margins entire or with a few low teeth ; the
puberulent leaf-stalks are i cm. long or
less, the stipules small, obHquely oblong,
hairy beneath, sometimes persistent. The catkins appear before the leaves on twigs
of the preceding season, and flower in March or April; they are very short-stalked,
with a few small leaves at the base, 2 to 4 cm. long, about i cm. thick, their
Fig. 167. — Baker's Willow.
Scouler's Willow
205
very hairy bracts obovate, brown, blunt, persistent; there are 2 stamens with
smooth, separate filaments in the staminate flowers, and the pistillate ones have
a narrowly ovoid ovar}^ which is loosely hairy, at least toward the top, the style
longer than the notched stigmas. The fruiting catkins become 6 cm. long or less,
the somewhat hairy capsules 4 or 5 mm. long, their stalks about 1.5 mm. long.
28. GLAUCOUS WILLOW -Salix discolor Muhlenberg
Known also as Pussy willow. Silver willow, and Swamp willow, this shrub or
small tree inhabits swamps, stream-banks, and moist hillsides from Nova Scotia
to Delaware, Ontario, Manitoba, and Missouri. It seldom becomes a tree, usually
being a shrub not over 5 meters high, but trees up to 8 meters high have been
observed with trunks up to 3 dm. in diameter.
Its bark is reddish brown, thin, somewhat scaly. The young twigs arc some-
what hairy, purple, soon becoming smooth, the
winter buds purpHsh and shining. The leaves
are oblong to oblong- lanceolate or obovate-
oblong, 12 cm. long or less, 1.4 to 4 cm. wide,
more or less hairy on the under side when
young, smooth on both sides when mature,
dark green above, whitish or glaucous beneath,
pointed at both ends, the margin toothed or
nearly entire; their stalks are 6 to 24 mm.
long, their stipules obliquely lanceolate or half
heart-shaped, and usually fall away before
midsummer. The catkins are borne on the
sides of twigs of the previous season and
flower in March or April, long before the leaves
unfold; they are densely flowered, 4 to 5 cm.
long, their bracts brown-tipped and long-silky; ^^«- '^^- - Glaucous Willow,
the staminate flowers have 2 stamens with separate filaments; the pistillate flowers
have a stalked oblong-conic hairy ovary, a short style and undivided stigmas.
The narrowly ovoid-conic capsules are 5 to 8 mm. long, and quite hair}'.
While naturally preferring wet soil, this willow grows wxll when planted on
upland, and well-developed bushes are handsome and interesting.
Salix eriocephala Michaux, a closely related shrub, has the young branches
densely hair)'^, and thicker leaves with prominently toothed margins.
29. SCOULER'S WILLOW— Salix Scouleriana Barrett
Salix flavescens Nuttall, not Host. Salix brachystachys Bentham. Salix Nnttallii Sargent
Scouler's willow inhabits moist soil from the valley of the Yukon River to British
Columbia, southern CaHfomia, Colorado, and New Mexico, reaching under
206
The Willows
favorable conditions near the Pacific coast a height of 20 meters or more, with
a trunk up to 7 dm. in diameter; at higher altitudes and in its eastern range it is
much smaller, however, and on the mountains is a mere shrub, 4 meters high or less.
Its dark brown bark is thin and rough. The young shoots are pubescent or
puberulent, yellowish to orange,
becoming dark brown and
smooth, the winter buds 5 to 7
mm. long, pointed, quite densely
hairy or sometimes smooth or
nearly so. The leaves are ob-
lanceolate to obovate, 10 cm. long
or less, pointed at the apex, nar-
rowed toward the somewhat
wedge-shaped base, entire-mar-
gined or sparingly crenate; they
are hairy on both sides when
young, often densely hairy on the
under side, but when mature the
upper surface is dark green,
smooth and somewhat shining,
the under side much paler, per-
manently hairy or nearly or quite smooth; their stalks are finely hairy, 6 to 12
mm. long, their stipules small, often glandular-toothed and usually fall away soon
after they appear in the spring. The catkins flower at the time of unfolding of
the leaves from March to May, according to latitude and altitude; they are nearly
cyHndric, 2.5 to 4 cm. long, their scales whitish hairy, pointed, brownish, those
of the pistillate catkins persistent; the staminate flowers have 2 separate smooth
filaments, the pistillate ones have a pointed densely hairy stalked ovary with a
short style, which ripens into a narrowly ovoid-conic beaked capsule about 8 mm.
long.
The tree is planted for ornament on the Pacific coast. Its wood is soft and
light, reddish brown, with a specific gravity of about 0.50, and is used for fuel,
charcoal, and tool-handles.
Fig. 169. — Scouler's Willow.
30. FELT-LEAF WILLOW — Salix alaxensis (Andersson) Coville
Salix speciosa Hooker and Arnott, not Host. Salix speciosa alaxensis Andersson
The Felt-leaf willow, so called from the felty white covering of its under leaf-
surfaces, grows only in Alaska and eastern Siberia and is largest and most abundant
near the coasts, attaining a maximum height of about 10 meters, with a tnmk up
to 1.5 dm. in diameter or more. It is often shrubby, however, sometimes flowering
when not over a meter high.
The young twigs are ver}' densely white-hairy, stout, becoming smooth or nearly
Purple Willow 207
so, and purplish after the first season. The leaves are elliptic-lanceolate to some-
what obovate, 10 cm. long or less, 2 to 4 cm. wide, pointed at both ends or bluntish
at the apex, when young
hairy on both sides, and es-
pecially so beneath, and mi-
nutely glandular-toothed,
when mature entire-mar-
gined, smooth and light
green on the upper side, per-
sistently white-felty beneath;
the stout, hairy leaf-stalks
are 1.5 cm. long or less, the
narrowly lanceolate hairy
stipules I to 2 cm. long.
The catkins appear in May
or June and flower before
the leaves unfold or while
they are unfolding; they are
nearly stalkless, 2 to 7 cm.
long, their bracts long-haiiy,
ovate, blunt; there are 2 sta-
mens in the staminate flowers with separate filaments; the pistillate flowers have
a narrowly ovoid-conic woolly short-stalked ovary and a fihform style much longer
than the stigmas. The capsules are w^oolly, very short-stalked, about 6 mm. long.
Salix longistylis Rydberg, of the Yukon Territory, differs from this species in
having the twigs devoid of hairs; it is not known to grow more than 4 meters high.
171. — Purple Willow.
31. PURPLE WILLOW —
Salix purpurea Linnaeus
The Purple willow is native in Europe;
it has been introduced into eastern North
'//]/ America for ornament and for osiers, and
has locally escaped from cultivation in the
'A/^ eastern and middle States and perhaps in
^^ Ontario. While usuallv a shrub, it occa-
sionally forms a small tree up to 4 meters
high. It is also called Bitter willow, Rose
willow, and Whipcord willow.
Its twigs are purple, slender, and flcxu-
ous. The leaves are oblanceolate, pointed
at the apex, narrowed at the base, toothed,
4 to 7 cm. long, 10 mm. wide or less, rather
2o8 The Willows
dark dull green on the upper side, pale green or whitish beneath, smooth on both
surfaces; their stalks are about 6 mm. long, smooth, not glandular, their stipules
very small, and fall away early. The catkins are borne on twigs of the preceding
season, and flower in April or May before the leaves unfold; they are nearly or
quite stalkless and from 2 to 5 cm. long, their bracts blunt, purple, hairy, and
persistent ; the staminate flowers have two hairy stamens, their filaments and some-
times also the anthers united. The capsules are hairy, stalkless, and the stigmas
sessile.
THE BAYBERRY FAMILY
MYRICACE.E Dumont
HIS family consists of 2 genera, with about 35 species of shrubs or
small trees of wide geographic distribution in warm and temperate
regions. They are of no special economic value; the bark of some
has been used for dyestuffs and in medicine, and the juicy fruit of
several Asiatic species is eaten in China and Japan.
The Myricaceae have alternate, evergreen or deciduous, leather}^, resinous-
punctate, aromatic leaves, without stipules. The flowers are dioecious, sometimes
monoecious, in catkins developed at the axils of the leaves of the previous season,
from buds formed during the summer and expanding in early spring. The stami-
nate flowers are in elongated, soUtary, fasciculate or paniculate catkins, the flowers
consisting of 2 to 8 stamens borne on the thickened base of a scale, their filaments
slender, short, somewhat united at the base; anthers ovate, erect, 2-celled, hair}-,
opening lengthwise; the ovary is rudimentary. The pistillate catkins are short,
ovoid, or globose; the flowers are single or in pairs at the base of the scales, con-
sisting of 2 united carpels forming a sessile i -celled ovary, at the axil of a scale,
subtended by 2 small bracts and surrounded by 2 to 8 short or long bractlets;
the style is short, divided into 2 thread-Uke stigmas; ovules solitary, erect. The
fruit is globose, drupe-like, often surrounded by a waxy excretion; the nut is hard,
thick- walled, the seed erect, embryo central, and straight; endosperm none.
The genus Comptonia, with one species, C. peregrina (Linnaeus) Coulter, a low,
aromatic shmb of eastern North America, known as the Sweet fern, and the genus
Myrica Linnaeus, of which M. Gale is the type, and of which seven species
occur in North America, constitute the family. Myrica is the ancient name of a
shrub, probably not a member of this family.
A wax formerly much used for candle-making and in domestic medicine is
obtained by boiling the fruits of M. cerijera Linnaeus and of the shrubby
M. carolinensis Miller, in water.
Our arborescent species of Myrica are:
Flowers dioecious; southeastern trees.
Leaves oblong-spatulate, usually serrate, yellow-green, glandular beneath, i. M. cerifera.
Leaves oblong-obovate, entire, dark green, punctate beneath. 2. M. inodora.
Flowers monoecious; Pacific coast tree. 3- M. calijornica.
209
210
The Bayberry Family
I. WAX MYRTLE — Myrica cerifera Linnaeus
A small aromatic evergreen tree or shrub inhabiting sandy soils from Delaware
to Florida and through the Gulf States to Texas and Arkansas, occurring mostly
near the coast ; also in the West Indies and Bermuda. It is also called Bayberry,
Waxberry, Candleberr}', Myrtletree, and Puckerbush, and attains a maximum
height of 12 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 dm.
The slender branches are usually nearly erect; as a shrub it often forms ex-
tensive thickets. The bark is about 6
mm. thick, smooth, and gray. The twigs
are slender, rusty-hairy, and glandular,
becoming smooth, shining, red or gray-
brown, and dark brown when old, the leaf
buds pointed, 3 mm. long. The leaves are
thick, firm, and fragrant, oblanceolate or
oblong-spatulate, 5 to 10 cm. long, more or
less pointed at the apex, wedge-shaped
and tapering at the base, sparingly toothed
or sometimes entire, resinous, yellowish
green, smooth, with a prominent midrib
above, paler, with dark yellow glands and
more or less short-hairy beneath; the
leaf-stalk is slender, 5 to 15 mm. long.
The flowers, which are dioecious, appear
Fig. 172. Wax Myrtle. jj^ early spring. The staminate catkins
are about 1.5 cm. long, with ovate or kidney-shaped, sharp-pointed, and fringed
scales; the stamens have filaments united for about half their length; anthers ob-
long, notched above. The pistillate catkins are about half the length of the stam-
inate; the ovary is surmounted by two slender styles projecting beyond the scales
and stigmatic on their inner faces. The fruit ripens in autumn in short spikes,
sometimes densely clustered around the twigs, to which they remain attached until
spring; the drupe is globose, 2 to 3 mm. in diameter, thickly covered with bluish
white wax, enclosing the small bony nut; seed oblong, small, and pale brown.
The wood of the Wax myrtle is soft, brittle, close-grained, dark brown. Its
specific gravity is about 0.56. It is probably used only for fuel. The leaves
mostly persist during the winter; those of young plants are sometimes very coarsely
and sharply toothed.
2. ODORLESS MYRTLE— Myrica inodora Bartram
Occasionally a tree, but usually a low, odorless evergreen shrub, inhabiting
pine-land ponds, and swamps near the coast, in northwestern Florida, Alabama, and
Mississippi, apparently extremely local. It attains a height of 6 meters, with a
trunk diameter of about 9 cm.
California Bayberry
211
The trunk is straight and slender, with upright branches. The bark is thin,
close, smooth, and almost white. The
twigs are stout, densely hairy when
young, becoming smooth or nearly so
and bright brown. The leaf-buds are
ovoid, about 5 mm. long, sharp-pointed.
The leaves are leathery, closely and
finely punctate, oblong-obovate, eUip-
tic-obovate or spatulate, 4 to 8 cm.
long, blunt at the apex, narrowed at
the base, usually quite entire, sel-
dom sparingly toothed at the upper
end, dark green and very glossy above,
dull green with a prominent midrib
beneath; the very short leaf-stalk is
slightly margined. The flowers are
dioecious, opening from March to
May; staminate catkins stout, i to
1.5 cm. long, their scales orbicular or
ovate, nearly as broad as long, hairy
fringed, the filaments short, united at
,, , ,1 1, 1. 1,1 Fig. 173. — Odorless Myrtle,
the base; anthers oblong, shghtly '^ •'
notched, yellow^, and slightly projecting beyond the scales. The pistillate catkins
are slender and elongated; scales loosely imbricated, orbicular-ovate, broader than
long, each usually bearing two flowers; ovary ovoid, hairy, the styles 2, bright
red, spreading and projecting beyond the scales; the rachis continues to lengthen
after flowering, sometimes becoming 5 cm. long. The fruit, which is not abun-
dantly produced, is globose, 5 to 7 mm. in diameter, often soHtar)', its waxy
coating thin; shell of the nut thick and bony; seed oblong or oblong-obovoid,
sharp-pointed, 3 mm. long, and yellowish brown.
3. CALIFORNIA BAYBERRY— Myrica calif ornica Chamisso
This evergreen tree, also called Cahfornia wax myrtle, Cahfomia myrtle, Wax
myrtle. Myrtle, and Bayberty, occurs on the Pacific coast from Los Angeles, Cah-
fomia, northward to Washington, growing in sand-dunes along sah marshes, or
on hillsides, attaining its largest dimensions, 12 meters high, with a trunk diameter
of 4 dm., in Cahfornia. It is usually smaller and often a mere shrub.
The branches are short and ascending, forming a rather compact tree. The
bark is about 2 mm. thick, smooth and close, dark gray or gray-brown, and red-
dish within. The twigs are stout, hairy, and dark green, becoming rather smooth,
red-brown, and finally hght gray. The leaves are thin in texture, oblanceolate or
oblong- lanceolate, 5 to 10 cm. long, sharp-pointed, wedge-shaped at the base,
212
The Bayberry Family
thick, revolute, and sharply toothed on the margins, except toward the base, very
glandular when unfolding, soon becoming dark green and shining above, yellowish
green, smooth or nearly so, with small black glands and prominent midrib be-
neath; the leaf-stalk is usually less than i cm. long. The flowers are monoecious,
both kinds appearing on the same
twigs and frequently in the same
catkins, from April to June, accord-
ing to latitude. The staminate cat-
kins are often 2.5 cm. long; their
scales are ovate, sharp-pointed, hairy,
with a pair of small bractlets at the
base; stamens about 16, their fila-
ments united below ; anthers oblong,
sHghtly notched and projecting be-
yond the scales. The pistillate cat-
kins are above the staminate ones,
with often a few catkins bearing
both kinds of flowers occurring be-
tween them; the ovary is ovoid,
narrowed into 2 slender, red, ex-
serted styles, stigmatic on their inner
faces. The fruit ripens from August
to October in short, crowded, spike-
like clusters, falhng off during the
winter. It is globose, 5 mm. in di-
FiG. 174. — California Bayberry. , , ., "
ameter, purple, its waxy covermg
thin; seed brown.
The wood of the California bayberry is very hard, brittle but strong, close-
grained, grayish or reddish brown; its specific gravity is about 0.67. It is used for
cabinet work and in turnery. The bark and leaves are locally used in domestic
medicine.
It is sometimes planted in California in parks and gardens.
THE CORKWOOD FAMILY
LEITNERIACE.E Drude
HE family consists of but a single genus, with one known species, a
small tree or shrub of the south central United States. It is of
no economic value.
The Leitneriaceae have alternate, somewhat leathery, deciduous
leaves, without stipules. The flowers are dioecious, borne in catkins, which appear
before the leaves from buds formed the previous season. The staminate catkins
have taper-pointed concave imbricated bracts, on a stout, hairy rachis; the flowers
have no perianth; the 3 to 12 stamens are borne upon a curved receptacle, their
filaments slender or awl-shaped and incurved, the anthers oblong, notched at the
apex, and face inward. The pistillate flowers are in shorter, more slender catkins,
their bracts less taper-pointed ; a rudimentary perianth of minute glandular scales
surrounds the ovary, which is composed of a single carpel, ovoid, hairy, and
i-celled, terminated by an obhque elongated flattened style, stigmatic on the
outer surface; ovule solitary. The fruit is a cluster of compressed drupes, sub-
tended by the scarcely altered bracts. The embryo has 2 oblong cotyledons
slightly cordate at the base; endosperm fleshy.
CORKWOOD
GENUS LEITNERIA CHAPMAN
Species Leitneria floridana Chapman
PECULIAR small tree or shrub, confined to swamps in southern
Missouri, Florida, and Texas, spreading widely by thick, stolon-like
branches just beneath the surface of very wet soil. It attains a height
of 7 meters, with a trunk diameter of 14 cm.
The trunk is straight and slender, much enlarged near the base, from which it
gradually tapers upward. The branches are spreading, forming a rather open
tree. The thin bark is 1.5 mm. thick, gray to brown, shghtly fissured and some-
what ridged. The twigs are stout, round and pithy, bright green or reddish,
densely hairy, becoming smooth after the first year, red-brown and marked with
triangular leaf-scars; the terminal buds are conic, 3 mm. long, their several scales
oblong, imbricated, densely hairy; the lateral buds are smaller. The leaves are
thick and firm, narrowly eUiptic, oblong or cUiptic-lanceolate, rarely oval, i to
2 dm. long, sharp-pointed or the lower blunt, gradually narrowed at the base,
213
214
Corkwood
entire and revolute on the margin, bright green, shining, and smooth, except
along the prominent veins, above, pale, hairy, and prominently reticulated beneath;
the leaf-stalk is stout, grooved, and hairy, 4 to 6 cm. long. The staminate catkins
are cylindric, 3 to 4 cm. long; the bracts broadly ovate, 4 to 5 mm. long, taper-
pointed, bright brown, the anthers light yellow. The pistillate catkins are
smaller, their bracts ovate, sharp-pointed; ovary hairy; stigma somewhat leaf-
like. Drupes elliptic, about 2 cm, long, somewhat compressed on one side, rounded
Fig. 175. — Corkwood.
on the other, pointed at the apex, bright brown and wrinkled; flesh thick and dry,
closely united with the brown, rough nut ; seed completely fiUing the cavity, com-
pressed, rounded at each end, thick-edged and marked by a conspicuous black
spot.
Corkwood is soft, close-grained, pale yellow, without heart- wood; its specific
gravity is about 0.21. It is the lightest wood in our area except the Papaya, and
is used locally for the floats of fishing nets.
The name is in honor of Dr. Edward F, Leitner, a German physician and
naturalist, who was lost in Florida during the Seminole war of 1838.
WALNUT FAMILY
JUGLANDACEiE Lindley
'BOUT 6 genera compose this family, including some 35 species of
trees or shrubs mostly of the warmer portions of the north temperate
zone; they are of much economic importance, as the fruit of the ma-
jority of them contains a large nutritious, oily seed used for food and
from which a fixed oil is also expressed and used as food and for mechanical pur-
poses. The bark and husks of some of the walnuts are used as dyestuffs and in
medicine as astringents and cathartics; their wood is much esteemed for cabinet
work. The fruits of the hickories are also much used for food and their wood is
valued on account of its strength and flexibility. Many fossils referable to this
family have been found in North America, over 30 species of fossil Juglans and
about 10 of Hicoria having been described.
The Juglandaceae have alternate, pinnately compound leaves, without stipules.
The flowers are monoecious; the staminate are borne in lateral, long drooping
catkins and consist of an irregular, 2- to 6-lobed perianth, which is sometimes
united to a bract or may be entirely wanting ; stamens 3 to many in several series,
inserted upon the perianth, if present; their filaments are distinct; anthers erect,
2-celled, opening lengthwise; rarely a rudimentary ovary is present. The pistil-
late flowers are terminal, solitary or in clusters, and consist of an incompletely
2- to 4-celled ovary, subtended by an involucre of more or less united bracts and
2 lateral bractlets; style terminal, short; stigmas 2, long, stigmatic on the inner
side or sometimes plumose; ovules soHtar)'. Fruit in the North American genera
drupe-like, the dry, hard, or fibrous husk dehiscent or indehiscent, enclosing a
crustaceous or bony, smooth, or sculptured nut; the seed is large, oily, 2- to 4-lobed
with a papery coat; endosperm none; embr}^'o large; cotyledons fleshy and wrinkled.
Husk indehiscent; nut sculptured; staminate catkins solitary, thick, sessile or but
short-stalked. i. Juglans.
Husk splitting into several segments; nut not sculptured; staminate catkins in 3's,
slender, long-stalked. 2. Hicoria.
215
2l6
The Walnuts
I. THE WALNUTS
GENUS JUGLANS [TOURNEFORT] LINNAEUS
HIS genus consists of about lo species of trees of the north temperate
zone, about 3 in the Andean region and 2 in the West Indies. They
are of considerable economic value; the aromatic bark of some is
medicinal, the husks and bark are also astringent and some are used
as dyes and tans. The wood is probably the most highly priced of American
timbers, being in great demand for furniture and gunstocks. The fruit is very
rich in oil, which is largely expressed and used for food and in painting; for this
purpose the fruit of the European walnut, Juglans regia, is the best on account
of its sweetness and dehcate flavor; it is largely cultivated in several improved
forms in all the warmer countries of Europe, in our southern States, and espe-
cially in CaHfomia.
They have deciduous, alternate, odd- pinnate compound leaves, with sessile
or but shghtly stalked leaflets; the pith of the twigs is in plates separated by large
air-cells. The flowers are very small, the staminate in drooping cylindric
catkins, solitary on the twigs of the previous season; the perianth is 3- to 6-lobed;
stamens 8 to 40, in 2 series or more, their anthers smooth, 2-celled and terminated
by a large broad connective. The pistillate flowers are solitary or in spike- like
clusters at the end of the new growth; their perianth is 4-lobed and adnate to the
incompletely 2- to 4-celled ovary; style very short or absent; stigmas spreading and
plumose. The fruit, which ripens the first season, is globose or oblong-cyUndric,
sometimes obscurely angled ; its husk is fibrous, sometimes somewhat fleshy, inde-
hiscent; the nut is deeply sculptured or grooved, thick- walled, imperfectly 2- to 4-
celled and separates ultimately into 2 valves; seed large, oily, and 2-lobed.
The name is a contraction of the Latin Jovis glans, the nut of Jupiter, the
type being the European J. regia Linnaeus.
Our species are:
Fruits usually racemed, viscid; nut 4-ribbed.
Fruits usually i to 3 together; nut not 4-ribbed.
Nut irregularly ridged, 3 to 4.5 cm. in diameter; eastern tree.
Nut grooved, not irregularly ridged, western trees.
Nut less than 2 cm. in diameter, plainly grooved; Texas
Nut 2 to 3 cm. in diameter
Nut very inconspicuously grooved; California
Nut distinctly grooved; New Mexico and Arizona.
I. /. cinerea.
2. /. nigra.
3. /. rupestris
4. /. calijornica.
5. /. major.
I. BUTTERNUT - Juglans cinerea Linnaeus.
A common tree in rich alluvial soils near the banks of streams and on
wooded hillsides from New Brunswick to Ontario, and North Dakota, southward
to Delaware, in the mountains to Georgia and Alabama, and to Arkansas. It
Butternut
217
attains a maximum height of 30 meters, with a trunk diameter of i m. It is also
known as White wakiut and Walnut.
The trunk is usually divided at or below the middle into outspreading branches,
forming a broad round-topped tree. The bark
is 18 to 25 mm. thick, deeply furrowed into flat
ridges, which are divided into close plates of a
brown color; that of younger stems is smooth and
grayish. The twigs are stout, pithy, rusty brown-
hairy, gradually becoming smooth, green or yel-
lowish brown, somewhat shining and marked by
large leaf-scars. The terminal winter buds are
12 to 18 mm. long, obliquely flattened above,
blunt, and covered by hairy scales; the lateral
buds are much smaller. The leaves are 3 to 6
dm. long, including the hairy leaf-stalk. There
are 11 to 17 leaflets; these are short-stalked, lan-
ceolate to oblong, 6 to 12 cm. long, the central
pairs somewhat the longest, sharp or taper-
pointed, unequally rounded at the base, sharply
toothed on the margin; the terminal leaflet is Fig. 176. — Butternut.
often long-stalked; they are thin, yellowish green, and wrinkled, viscid-hairy at first
but becoming quite smooth above, paler and softly hairy, with prominent hghter
colored venation beneath. The flowers appear when the leaves are partly grown,
the staminate in cylindric catkins 6 to 15 cm. long, their bracts brownish
hairy on the outer surface; perianth 6 mm. long, mostly 5-lobed; stamens 8 to 12,
their anthers dark brown. The pistillate flowers are several together in spicate
clusters, narrowed beneath the calyx, about 8 mm. long; stigmas 12 mm. long,
slender, bright red. The fruits ripen several together; they are oblong- cylindric,
8 to 12 cm. long, 2- or 4- ridged, pointed at the apex, rounded at the base, very viscid,
with rusty brown hairs. The husk is thin and dryish; nut ovoid-oblong, ab-
ruptly taper-pointed, rounded at the base, broadly 2-ridged, with two less prom-
inent ridges between, longitudinally deeply and irregularly sculptured, light brown,
2-celled at the base, i -celled above, the cavity extending into the tapering apex;
its wall is hard, about 6 mm. thick, with internal cavities; seed sweet, edible; coty-
ledons oblong, sharply ridged on the outer side, somewhat grooved on the inner.
The wood is soft, weak, rather close-grained, and light brown; its specific gravity
is about 0.41. It is much used for furniture and in cabinet-work. The inner bark,
which is white, becoming yellow and finally brown on dr\'ing, is cathartic and
much employed by some physicians. The sap produces a good sugar. The
fresh bark and husks yield a yellow dye. The nut is largely used in some
sections while fresh but becomes rancid quickly.
It is a handsome shade tree and would be a great favorite if it leaved out
earlier and retained its foliage longer in the autumn.
2l8
The Walnuts
2. THE BLACK WALNUT — Juglans nigra Linn^us
This grand tree occurs in rich soil, particularly in the bottom lands of river
valleys from western Massachusetts to southern Ontario and Minnesota, south-
ward to Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and
Texas, reaching a maximum height of 50
meters, with a trunk diameter of 2.5 m. It is
also called Walnut tree and Walnut.
The trunk is tall and straight. The
branches are stout and ascendingorspreading,
forming a round-topped tree. The bark is 5
to 7 cm. thick, deeply furrowed into nar-
row blunt ridges, which split into thick, close
scales of a dark brown color; that of younger
stems is smooth, somewhat scaly, brown
outside, dark gray underneath the scales.
The twigs are stout, pithy, densely covered
with brownish hairs, gradually becoming
nearly smooth, dull light brown, and marked
by conspicuous yellowish lenticels and large
angular leaf scars. The terminal buds are
ovoid, slightly flattened, 8 mm. long, obliquely
Fig. 177. — Black Walnut. rounded at the apex, and covered by ovate
hairy scales. The axillary buds are small and blunt. The leaves are 3 to 6 dm.
long, including the stout, hairy leaf-stalk. There are 13 to 23 leaflets; the
terminal leaflet is often wanting. The leaflets are ovate or ovate- lanceolate, sharply
or taper pointed, rounded or somewhat heart-shaped at the unequal base, sharply
small-toothed on the margin, sessile or nearly so, thin, bright green, smooth and
faintly shining above, paler and softly hairy beneath. The staminate catkins are
5 to 10 cm. long, their bracts somewhat triangular, usually brown-hairy; perianth
rounded, 6-lobed, the lobes irregularly orbicular, concave, hairy on the outer sur-
face; stamens 20 to 30 in several series; anthers nearly sessile, purpHsh. The pistil-
late flowers are in 2-to 5-flowered spikes, ovoid, 6 mm. long, gradually narrowed
upward; stigmas spreading, 12 to 18 mm. long, yellowish green tinged with red.
The fruit is solitary or rarely in pairs, globular to oblong or somewhat pear-shaped,
5 to 8 cm. in diameter, rounded at both ends, yellowish green and roughish, with
a rather thick husk; the nut is globose to ovoid, shghtly flattened, sometimes
broader than long, 2-celled above, 4-celled below the middle, the surface sculp-
tured into thick, irregular ridges, dark brown; the wall is hard, about 5 mm.
thick with irregular cavities ; the seed is light brown, grooved and concave on the
back, deeply lobed at each end.
The wood is hard, strong, rather coarse-grained, dark brown and satiny;
y
Texan Walnut
219
its specific gravity is about 0.61. It is vcrv (J'-rable, easily worked, takes a fine
polish, and is a very beautiful wood, 1. ght for furniture, cabinet and
inside work, and gunstocks, and is the most valuable wood of the North American
forests. The nuts are used for food to a considerable extent.
Fig. 178.
Black Walnut, Xew Dorp, X. V.
A handsome tree for shade or ornament, often planted, but disappointing on
account of the short duration of its foliage. It is now planted for lumber.
Trees intermediate between the Butternut and the Black walnut, with elon-
gated fruit, possibly natural hybrids, occur in the Delaware valley, and trees
apparently crosses of the Black walnut with the European walnut occur in various
places in the eastern States.
3. TEXAN WALNUT — Jugli"" . rupestris Engelmann
An inhabitant of the limestone regions of western Te.xas, where it occurs as a
tree with a maximum height of 9 meters, but is often only a large shrub.
Its branches are mostly upright, forming a stitT, narrow tree. The bark is
about 8 mm. thick, furrowed and broken into close plates; on young stems it is
quite smooth and yellowish white. The twigs are slender, brown, finely densely
hairy, becoming smooth, nearly white, and marked with small triangular leaf
scars. The terminal winter buds are about 8 mm. long, verv hairv. The leaves
220
The Walnuts
are 1.5 to 4 dm. long, including the slender pale hair)- leaf-stalk, composed of 13
to 23 usually short-stalked leaflets; these are lanceolate, curved, tapering to an
elongated apex, oblique, rounded or tapering at the base, sharply toothed on the
margin, the central pairs about one third
longer than the others; they are reddish
tinged and hairy when unfolding, becom-
ing yellowish green and smooth above,
sometimes hairy beneath, especially along
the stout midrib. The staminate catkins
are rather slender, nearly smooth, 5 to
10 cm. long, their bracts ovate- lanceolate,
sharp-pointed, nearly smooth; perianth
3- to 5-lobed, nearly orbicular, Hght yel-
low-green, smooth or nearly so, short-
stalked; stamens about 20, nearly sessile,
their anthers dark. Pistillate inflores-
cence a terminal spike, the flowers nar-
rowed at base and apex, finely haiiy,
about 3 mm. long; stigmas 8 mm. long,
spreading, tinged with red. The fruit is
globose, about 18 mm. in diameter, its
Fig. 179. — Texan Walnut.
husk finely hairy; nut globose, usually flattened at the base, dark brown, ridged
with deep, seldom forking grooves, 4-celled at the base, 2-celled above, its walls
vciy thick and compact; seeds small and sweet.
The wood is hard, weak, close-grained, dark brown; its specific gravity is
about 0.70. It is not of economic importance.
This interesting little walnut has been grown in parks and gardens, and is
hardy as far north as Massachusetts.
4. CALIFORNIA WALNUT — Juglans califomica S. Watson
This walnut occurs along river valleys and stream banks in western California,
extending from Los Angeles county northward to Napa county. It is a very
beautiful tree, attaining a height of 18 meters, with a trunk diameter of 0.5 meter;
sometimes, however, it is reduced to a shrub.
The branches arc stout, spreading, and often somewhat drooping, usually form-
ing a round-topped tree. The bark is 8 to 12 mm. thick, deeply fissured into
long, rough, wide ridges and broken into close, dark brown to black scales; that
of the branches is smoother and nearlv white. The twigs are rather stout, and
densely hairy when young, soon becoming nearly smooth, reddish, and finally
paler or nearly white; the rounded-triangular leaf scars are quite prominent.
The leaves are 1.3 to 2.5 dm. long, including the slender, slightly hair}- leaf-stalk,'
composed of 9 to 17 leaflets; these are oblong- lanceolate, more or less obhciue and
Arizona Walnut
221
curved, sessile, the middle pairs slightly longest, blunt or sharp-pointed, rounded
or slightly heart-shaped at the base, or the terminal leaflet usually tapering at
the base, sharply saw-toothed on the margin, brownish green and scurfy when
unfolding, becoming membranous, light
green and smooth above, paler and
somewhat hairy at the junction of the
principal veins beneath. The stami-
nate flowers, opening from March to
May, are in slender loose hairy catkins
5 to 7 cm. long; the bracts are brown-
ish hairy on the outer surface; the peri-
anth, also hair}', is 5- or 6-lobed; stamens
30 to 40; anthers short, yellow, the
connective, prominently notched. The
pistillate flowers are terminal, spicate,
few together, ovoid, about 3 mm. long;
the stigmas are recurved, 12 mm. long
and yellow. The fruit is globose, 2 to
3.5 cm. in diameter with thin, brown
husk, finely hairy on the surface. The
nut is almost globular, without ridges,
slightly compressed, usually flattened
at the base; the walls are thin, light
brown, with few shallow grooves; kernel sweet and remaining so for some time
before becoming rancid.
The wood is hard, rather coarse-grained, dark brown, sometimes beautifully
mottled ; its specific gravity is about 0.63 ; it is used for fine cabinet work. The
tree is often planted in the Pacific States for shade and as a stock upon which to
graft the finer varieties of the European walnut; a hybrid with the latter has also
been obtained by cross-poUination.
Fig. 180. — California Walnut.
5. ARIZONA WALNUT — Juglans major (Torrey) Heller
Juglans rupestris major Torrey
This tree is larger in all its parts than the Texan walnut and grows further
westward in New Mexico and Arizona, also in adjacent Mexico, occurring in
canons and on the mountains south as far as Durango. It attains a maximum
height of 15 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m.
The trunk is rather short, soon dividing into stout, outspreading or pendulous
branches. The bark is about 2 cm. thick, deeply furrowed into ridges which break
into irregular, close, thin scales of a dark grayish color; that of younger stems is
smoother, gray to nearly white. The twigs are stout and i)ithy, covered with
brownish hairs, becoming nearly smooth, white, and bearing large triangular
222
The Hickories
leaf scars. The leaves are up to 4 dm. long, including the stout, brownish hairy
leaf-stalk, consisting of 9 to 19 short-stalked, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate leaf-
lets, 6 to 1 2 cm. long, or the lower ovate, broadest near the rounded base, long
taper-pointed, and coarsely toothed on the margin, yellowish hairy when unfold-
ing, becoming yellowish green and smooth, or hair)' along the prominent, stout,
yellow midrib beneath. The staminate catkins are slender, somewhat hair}', 5
to 10 cm. long, the bracts ovate-lanceolate, sharp-pointed, and yellowish woolly,
the perianth nearly orbicular, 3- to 5-lobed,
short-stalked, nearly smooth; stamens about
20, their anthers yellow, nearly sessile, with
slightly lobed connectives. The pistillate
flowers are 3 to 6 mm. long, coated with
brown woolly hairs; the bracts of the involu-
cre are irregularly toothed, rather shorter
than the sepals. The fruit is globose, rarely
oblong, about 4 cm. in diameter, its husk
brownish hairy; nut globose, without ridges,
sometimes slightly compressed, longitudinally
grooved, with shallow grooves, 4-celled at the
base, 2-celled at the apex, brown to nearly
black, the wall thin and containing many
cavities; seed large and sweet.
The wood is hard, rather weak, coarse-
grained, rich dark brown, and satiny; its specific gravity is about 0.67.
This tree is distinguished from the Texan walnut by its larger, broader, and
more coarsely toothed leaves, larger fruit, with a thinner walled, less grooved nut.
The recently described Juglans elceopyren Dodc, from the Santa Catalina
Mountains, Arizona, differs from this species by its longer, sharp-pointed nuts,
but considering the known variability in shape of the nuts of other walnuts and
hickories, it cannot be certainly held to be distinct, at least until more is known
of it.
Fig. 181. — Arizona Walnut.
which
largely
and is
II. THE HICKORIES
GENUS mCORIA RAFINESQUE
Carya Nuttall
ICKORIES are confined to eastern North America where 14 species
are known, and one inhabits Mexico. Many fossil species have been
described from Europe, Greenland, and western North America.
They have an aromatic watery sap, soHd pith, and XQxy tough wood,
is highly valued on account of its strength, elasticity, and hghtness, being
used for ax and other handles, the spokes of buggy and wagon wheels,
one of the very best woods for fuel and for the curing of meat. The nuts
The Hickories
223
of some have a sweet, oily kernel, which was of great importance to the North
American Indians who used it for food and for oil; they are of increasing im-
portance as food at the present time.
The Hickories have alternate, deciduous, odd-pinnate leaves, the leaflets usually
membranous. The flowers are monoecious, the staminate in slender, drooping
catkins borne in clusters, usually of 3, near the base of the young shoot of the
season after the leaves have unfolded; their perianth is 3-lobed or sometimes 2-
lobed, subtended by an almost free bract, which is longer than the lobes of the
perianth; stamens 3 to 10 in several series; filaments short; anthers 2-celled and
hairy, each notched at the tip, the sacs opening lengthwise, the connective in-
conspicuous. The pistillate flowers are in spike-hke clusters of 2 to 6 at the end
of the season's twigs, their i-lobed perianth adnate to the ovary. The ovary is
inferior, i-celled; stigmas 2, sessile, spreading. The fruit ripens the first season,
is globose, ovoid, or cylindric; the husk becomes dry, hard, and woody, 4-valved,
splitting, in most species, to at least the middle, its angles sometimes winged ; nut
thick-walled, smooth, mostly compressed, usually 2-celled above, and 4-celled be-
low the middle; seed sweet or bitter, without endosperm, 2-lobed, the lobes vari-
ously grooved, its coat thin and papery, of two layers, the outer browTi.
The generic name is adapted from the North American Indian name, and is
ten years older than Carya Nuttall. Juglans alba Linnaeus is the type species.
Cotyledons of the seed entire, or merely notched at the apex; nuts
round or slightly flattened; bud-scales valvate.
Leaflets 5-9; shell of the nut very thick. i.
Leaflets 9-15; nuts with very thin shells.
Nut round; seed sweet. 2.
Nut somewhat flattened; seed bitter. 3.
Cotyledons deeply 2-lobed; nuts compressed.
Bud-scales valvate; lateral leaflets usually curved.
Leaflets 9-13, glabrous; nuts corrugated. 4.
Leaflets 5-9, pubescent beneath; nuts smooth. 5.
Bud-scales imbricated; lateral leaflets not curved.
Bract much longer than the lateral lobes of the staminate calyx;
husk of the fruit freely splitting to the base.
Bark close, rough; foliage scurfy or pubescent.
Rachis of the leaves and the staminate aments scurfy, at
least when young. 6.
Rachis and staminate aments densely hirsute. 7.
Bark shaggy, separating in plates; foliage glabrous or pubescent.
Leaflets 7-9; nuts pointed at both ends. 8.
Leaflets 3-5; nuts usuafly rounded or notched at the base.
Leaflets oval to oblong-lanceolate, puberulent. 9.
Leaflets lanceolate, glabrous or glaucous beneath. 10.
Bract about as long as the lateral lobes of the staminate calyx
(except in H. borealis and sometimes in H. glabra); husk
of fruit not freely splitting to base.
H. myristiccBJormis.
H. Pecan.
H. texana.
H. aqtiatica.
H. cordiformis.
H. pallida.
H. alba.
H. laciniosa.£>^
H. ovata.
H. caroUnx-
septenlriotialis.
224
The Hickories
Bark shagg>', at least when old; fruit subglobose to oblong.
Fruit little flattened; bract of staminate calyx short.
Fruit much flattened; bract of staminate calyx long.
Bark close, not shaggy; fruit more or less obovoid.
Foliage glabrous or little pubescent; bract of staminate
calyx sometimes elongated; anther-sacs acute.
Foliage pubescent or scurfy; bract of staminate calyx short,
blunt; anther-sacs obtuse.
11. H. microcarpa.
12. H. boreal is.
13. H. glabra. -^
14. H. villosa.
I. NUTMEG HICKORY — Hicoria myristicaeformis (F. A. Michaux) Britton
Juglans myristicccformis F. A. Michaux. Carya myristiccEformis Nuttall
This Hickory grows in rich soil on the borders of streams and swamps, occur-
ring from South Carolina to Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas, and
adjacent Mexico. Its maximum height is 35 meters, with a trunk diameter of i
m.; it is called Bitter walnut in Louisiana.
The trunk is tall and straight, the branches mostly stout, somewhat spreading.
The bark is 12 to 18 mm. thick, shal-
lowly fissured into irregular, close,
dark reddish brown scales. The twigs
are slender, covered with brownish or
yellowish scales, hairy, soon becoming
smooth, light brown or gray and finally
dark brown, with triangular leaf scars.
The terminal bud is broadly ovoid, 3
to 6 mm. long, rather blunt, covered
by scurfy, thick scales; the axillary
buds are much smaller and pointed.
The leaves are i to 3 dm. long, with
slender, slightly grooved scurfy leaf-
stalks. The leaflets, 5 to 9 in num-
ber, are thin, firm, short-stalked, or
nearly sessile, obovate to ovate-lan-
ceolate, 5 to 12 cm. long, slightly
curved, unequally tapering or some-
what rounded at the base, sharp or
Nutmeg Hickory. taper-pointed, rather coarsely toothed
on the margin; the terminal leaflet is symmetrical and tapers into a winged stalk;
they are dull green and shining on the upper surface, paler and with more or
less hairy and scurfy midribs beneath. The staminate catkins are 6 to 10 cm.
long on a short peduncle; the bracts of the flowers are ovate, sharp-pointed, twice
as long as the ovate rounded lobes of the perianth; stamens 6; anthers oblong,
notched at the top. The pistillate flowers arc oblong, scurfy hairy. The fruit is
nearly cylindric or elliptic-obovoid, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long, prominently 4-ridged;
Fig. 182.
Pecan
225
husk very thin, about i mm. thick, yellowish scurfy, splitting to near the base into
4 valves; nut pointed at each end, smooth, scarcely if at all grooved, brown; the
shell is very dark, 3 mm. thick or more, 2-cellcd at the base by a very thick par-
tition; seed small and sweet, the cotyledons nearly entire.
The wood is hard, tough, and ver>' strong, close-grained, light brown; its
specific gravity is about 0.80. It is used for fuel and for other purposes in
which hickory is desirable. .
The leaves of this tree are the most lustrous of the Hickories. It should be a
most desirable tree for parks and lawns in the southern States, in which, however,
it is very seldom seen at the present time.
2. PECAN — Hicoria Pecan (Marshall) Britten
Juglans Pecan Marshall. Carya olivajormis Nuttall. Carya Pecan C. K. Schneider
A very handsome tree, the largest of Hickories, native of rich, moist soils of
river valleys from Indiana to Iowa, Missouri and Kansas south to Alabama and
Texas, attaining in its greatest development in
Texas a height of about 50 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 2 m.
The trunk is large, straight and tall. The
branches are stout, short and Httle spreading, in
the forest forming an oblong or inverted cone-
shaped head; in the open the lower branches are
spreading, the tree becoming round-topped. The
bark is 2.5 to 4 cm. thick, deeply but narrowdy
furrowed into irregular, rough, angular, light red-
dish brown ridges. The twigs are stout, pale
and loosely hairy, soon becoming smooth, reddish
brown, and bearing large oblong 3-lobed leaf scars.
The terminal winter buds are about 1 2 mm. long,
sharp-pointed, covered by narrow, haivy scales,
which do not increase ver\' much in size as the
bud expands; the lateral buds are small, yellowish hairy, two together, borne one
above the other, the upper one the larger. The leaves are 3 to 5 dm. long,
including the slender, flatfish, slightly grooved, more or less hairy leaf-stalk. Leaf-
lets 9 to 15, the smaller near the base, thin but firm in texture, on short, stout
stalks; they are ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 8 to 15 cm. long, somewhat cur\-ed,
unequally rounded or wedge-shaped at the base, long taper-pointed at the apex,
coarsely toothed; the terminal leaflet is equally wedge-shaped at the base and
often stalked; they are dark green, smooth or nearly so above, pale and prominently
yellowish veined beneath. The staminate catkins are 12 to 15 cm. long, slightly
hair}^, sessile or nearly so, near the ends of the twigs of the previous season; the
perianth is light green, hain,', the lateral lobes are broadly ovate, sharp-pointed.
Fig. 183. — Pecan.
226
The Hickories
the bract narrower; stamens 6, their anthers nearly sessile and yellow. The pistil-
late flowers are oblong, somewhat 4-angled, yellowish scurfy. The fruit is clus-
tered, oblong to oblong-cylindric, 3.5 to 6 cm. long, 4-angled, the husk thin, about
1.5 mm. thick, 4-valved, dark brown, yellowish hairy, splitting nearly to the base
when ripe; the nut is ovoid to cyHndric, round or but slightly angular, sharp-
pointed, rounded at the base, often stalked, red-brown, thin-shelled, 2-celled by
the thin astringent partition at the base; seed deHciously sweet, grooved, reddish
brown.
The wood is hard, rather brittle, rather weak, close-grained, light reddish
brown; its specific gravity is about 0.72. It is the least valued of hickory woods,
but Hke all of them is very desirable for fuel.
The tree is hardy as far north as Philadelphia. It is frequently planted in the
south for ornament or shade, for which it is very desirable; also for its fruit. It is
cultivated in a variety of forms, selected for the size of the nut, sweetness of its
kernel, and thinness of the shell. The fruit is collected in large quantities and
sold in all the markets of the north.
Natural hybrids of this with Hicoria cordijormis, H. alba and H. laciniosa have
been reported from several stations.
3. TEXAN PECAN — Hicoria texana (Le Conte) Britten
Hickorea texana Le Conte. Carya texana C. de Candolle
This is a tree of low grounds and river swamps, closely related to the ordinary
Pecan, known only from Texas,
where it reaches a maximum height
of about 30 meters with a trunk di-
ameter of 9 dm. though usually
much smaller and sometimes bushy.
The branches are somewhat
spreading, forming a rounded tree.
The bark is 12 to 18 mm. thick, ir-
regularly fissured into close plates of
a reddish brown color. The twigs
are slender, pale hairy, becoming
smooth, light brown and finally gray-
ish brown. The terminal buds are
oblong, sharply or taper-pointed,
sHghtly compressed, 6 mm. long, and
yellowish hairy; the lateral buds are
much smaller, borne one above the
other. The leaves are 2 to 4 dm.
Fig. 184. -Texan Pecan. ^^^^^ ^^iQ leaf-stalk slender, 2.5 to 4
cm. long, shghtly flattened and grooved, thickly hairy at first, less hairy when old.
Water Hickory
227
Leaflets 7 to 13, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 8 to 15 cm. long, curved, unequally
rounded at the nearly sessile base, taper-pointed, shallowly sharp-toothed on the
margin, the terminal leaflet symmetrical, gradually tapering to its stalk; they are
hairy at first, becoming thin and firm, dark green and nearly smooth above, pale
yellowish green and minutely hairy beneath. The staminate catkins are slender,
5 to 1 1 cm. long, nearly sessile, yellowish and hair}^ ; the lobes of the perianth are
ovate, sharp-pointed; stamens 6, their anthers notched and hairy. The pistillate
flowers are oblong, somewhat 4-angled and hairy. The fruit is in small clusters,
oblong or oblong-ovoid, 3.5 to 5 cm. long, compressed, pointed at each end, dark
brown, somewhat hairy; its husk is slightly 4- winged at the base, spHtting into 4
valves. The nut is oblong-ovoid, a little flattened, pointed at each end, light red-
brown, wrinkled, its shell thin, seed bitter and astringent, flattened, grooved and
bright brown.
The wood is tough and strong, close-grained, light bro\vn. The seed is bitter
and inedible, so much so, it is said, that even hogs will not eat it. It is also called
Thickbark hickory. The foliage of this tree is scarcely to be distinguished from
that of the Pecan.
4. WATER HICKORY — Hicoria aquatica (F. A. Michaux) Britten
Juglans aquatica F. A. Michaux. Carya aquatica Nuttall
A species of river swamps and very wet woods from Virginia to Illinois south-
ward to Florida and Texas, attaining in its greatest
development in the lower Mississippi valley, a
height of 30 meters with a trunk diameter of
nearly i meter. It is also called the Bitter pecan,
Swamp hickor}^, and Water bittemut.
The branches are mostly upright, forming a
narrow tree. The bark is about 18 mm. thick,
splitting into long, loose flakes of a light reddish
brown color. The twigs are slender, somewhat
glandular and hair)', soon becoming smooth or
nearly so, reddish brown and finally dark gray,
bearing pale lenticels and small leaf scars. The
terminal bud is 3 to 6 mm. long, the scales val-
vate, covered with pale scattered hairs, or smooth
with age; the lateral buds are about half as large.
The leaves, are 2 to 3 dm. long, with from 7 to 13
leaflets, the leaf-stalk slender, rounded, dark red and slightly hair}'; the leaflets
are 7 to 13 cm. long, the lowest little if any shorter than the upper pairs; they
are lanceolate, nearly symmetrical, tapering at the usually sessile base, long-pointed
at the apex, coarsely toothed on the margin, pale and whitish hair}' when unfold-
ing, thin and membranous, dark green and rather shining above, brownish, some-
FiG. 185. — Water Hickory.
228
The Hickories
what shining, and hain- along the veins beneath. The staminate catkins are in
clusters of 3, stout-stalked, hairy, 7 to 10 cm. long, the bracts linear, about as long
as the lobes of the perianth; stamens 6, their anthers oblong, shghtly notched, light
yellow. The pistillate flowers are oblong, 4-angled, glandular and hairy. The
fruit is clustered, oblong, 2 to 3.5 cm. long, compressed, dark brown, its husk
ver\^ thin, tardily 4-valved to about the middle; nut oblong, flattened, 4-angled,
pointed and corrugated, reddish brown, the wall and partition thin; the seed is
oblong, 2-lobed above the middle, irregularly grooved and very bitter.
The wood is strong, rather soft and brittle, close-grained, dark brown; its
specific gravity is about 0.74. It is little used except for fuel.
The Water hickory has not been successfully cultivated for ornament.
5. BITTER NUT — Hicoria cordiformis (Wangenheim) Britton
Juglans alba minima Marshall. Juglans cordiformis Wangenheim. Carya amara
Nuttall. Hicoria minima Britton. Carya cordiformis K. Koch
V
The Bitter nut occurs in swamps and on hillsides from Quebec to Minnesota
southward to Florida and Texas, attaining a maximum height of 30 meters, with a
trunk diameter of i m. It is also called Bittemut hickor}% Bitter pignut, Bitter
hickory, Bitter walnut, Pig walnut, and White hickor}\
The trunk is slender, tall and straight, its branches rather stout and some-
times widely spreading. The bark is 8 to 18 mm. thick, shallowly fissured into
flat ridges of a light reddish brown color.
The twigs are slender, bright green and some-
what hairy, soon becoming smooth or nearly
so, reddish or yellowish brown and shining,
finally gray and bearing many pale lenticels
and leaf scars; the terminal buds are ovoid, 8
to 15 mm. long, flattened, obliquely blunt-
pointed and protected by 4 valvate, yellowish,
hairy, glandular scales; the lateral buds are
much smaller and compressed, somewhat angu-
lar, sessile or stalked. The leaves are 1.5 to 3
dm. long, the leaf-stalk slender, slightly
grooved, and hair\'; the leaflets, the smallest
of which are at the base, are 5 to 9 in number,
lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, shghtly curved
but quite equal at the rounded or tapering sessile
base, long taper-pointed, and margined with
coarse, thick-pointed teeth ; the terminal leaflet is sometimes stalked ; they are yel-
lowish green or reddish and glandular when unfolding, becoming thin but firm,
yellowish green and smooth above, pale hair}^ and often glandular with prominent
venation beneath. The staminate catkins are in stalked clusters of 3; they are
Fig. 186. — Bitter Nut.
Pale Hickory
229
7.5 to 10 cm. long; bract ovate, pointed, twice the length of the lobes of the
perianth, which are almost equal; stamens 4, their anthers ovate, deeply notched
at the top and yellow. The pistillate flowers are blunt, 4-angled, about 12 mm.
long, curved, scurfy hairy. The fruit is subglobose, 2 to 3.5 cm. long, narrowly
4- winged for about half its length, with yellowish and scurfy hairs; its husk is
about 3 mm. thick, tardily and irregularly 4-valved; nut ovoid or oblong, slightly
flattened, short-pointed, smooth, grayish, the shell thin; seed ver}^ bitter, deeply
2-lobed, reddish brown.
The wood is hard, close-grained, strong and tough, dark brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.75. It is largely used for fuel, hoops, tool handles and other
purposes.
This is a handsome tree and probably the most rapid growing of the hickories,
holding its foliage long after that of the others has fallen, and deserves wider use
in ornamental planting.
6. PALE HICKORY — Hicoria palUda Ashe
Hicoria villosa pallida Ashe
This tree occurs in dry soils from southern Virginia and Tennessee south to
Florida and Alabama, reaching a height
of about 30 meters, with a trunk diame-
ter of I m.
The trunk and its branches resemble
the Pignut. The bark is deeply fur-
rowed into rough ridges of a gray color.
The twigs are purple-brown. The ter-
minal bud is ovoid, 5 to 7 mm. long,
dark brown and hair}^ with 5 to 9 scales,
the lateral buds being ver}- small. The
leaves are scurfy hairy, 1.5 to 2.5
dm. long, the leaf-stalk slender, hairy,
at least when young. Leaflets 7 to 9,
lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, shghtly
curved, 5 to 15 cm. long, the lower pair
much the smallest, long taper-pointed
at the apex, rounded and unequal at
the sessile base, closely toothed on the
margin; the terminal leaflet is about
Fig. 187. — Pale Hickon\
the same size as the upper pair, tapering to a short, shghtly winged stalk ; they are
silvery scaly beneath, becoming firm, smooth or nearly so wiien mature, dark green
above, paler, often yellowish with prominent yellow veins beneath. The stami-
nate catkins are in stalked clusters of 3, 8 to 20 cm. long and slender, the bract
of the perianth hnear, considerably longer than the rounded lateral lobes.
230
The Hickories
The pistillate flowers are densely brown-hair}^ The fruit is subglobose or obovoid
to pear-shaped, rusty brown and slightly winged, the husk rather thin, sphtting
rather tardily into 4 valves; nut white or nearly so, laterally flattened, 4-celled
at the base, its shell moderately thin; seed sweet and edible.
The species has been confused with Hicoria villosa, which it much resembles.
7. MOCKER NUT — Hicoria alba (Linnaeus) Britton
Juglans alba Linnaeus. Jitglans tomentosa Poiret. Carya tomentosa Nuttall
This handsome forest tree occurs in rich woods from Massachusetts and Ontario
to Nebraska, southward to Florida and Texas, having its greatest development in
numbers and size in the central states. Its maximum height is about 30
meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m. It is also known as Mocker nut
hickory, Butternut, White heart hickory. Black
hickory nut. Big bud. Red hickory. White hickory,
Big hickory nut, Hognut, Common hickory, and
Bull nut.
The trunk is tall and straight in the forest, but
in the open it is often widely branched or forked.
The branches are stiff, upright, spreading, or often
drooping, forming, when not crowded, a nearly
cylindric tree. The bark is 12 to 20 Vmm,
thick, irregularly furrowed into broad, close, flat,
more or less scaly ridges of a dark or light
gray color. The twigs are stout, somewhat an-
gular and thickly covered with pale hairs, be-
coming round, nearly smooth, red-brown and
finally dark gray, and bearing large lenticels and
leaf scars. The terminal bud is ovoid, 12 to 25
mm. long, covered with imbricated scales, which are thick and coated with long
whitish hairs; the inner scales grow to about 3.5 cm. long, are silky hairy, often
red on the inner surface and fall off after the flowers appear. The leaves are
very fragrant, 2 to 3 dm. long, their leaf-stalk hairy, flattened and grooved, en-
larged at the base; the 5 to 9 leaflets are oblanccolate to oblong- lanceolate, 7 to 9
cm. long, the upper pair the largest and broadest above the middle, 8 to 20 cm. long;
they are tapering or rounded at the nearly equal, sessile base, taper-pointed,
coarsely or finely toothed on the margin; the terminal leaflet is broadest above
the middle and tapers to its shghtly winged stalk, which is 6 to 12 mm. long;
they are light green, softly hair)' when unfolding, becoming firm, dark yellow-green
and somewhat shining above, pale, often yellowish or brownish, softly hairy along
the stout, yellow midrib beneath. The staminate catkins are in stalked clusters
of 3, loosely hairy, 10 to 15 cm. long; bract 3 or 4 times longer than the ovate,
blunt lobes of the perianth; stamens 4, their anthers nearly sessile, oblong, notched,
Fig. 188. — Mocker Nut.
Big Shellbark
231
light red and hairy. The pistillate flowers are clustered 2 to 5 together, somewhat
constricted toward the top, pale hairy; their stigmas are dark red. The fruit is
globose or globose-obovoid, 4 to 9 cm. long, dark reddish hairy or nearly smooth;
husk thick, readily sphtting to near the base; the nut smooth, slightly flattened,
4-angled, pointed at the top, rounded at the base and reddish brown, the shell and
partitions thick and hard; seed sweet, relatively small, deeply lobed, brown and
shining.
The wood is very hard, strong, tough and clastic, close-grained, and dark
brown; its specific gravity is about 0.82. It is used as is the wood of other species,
all of which are indiscriminately called hickory in the lumber trade.
A handsome tree, which retains its fohage longer in the autumn than most
other hickories.
8. BIG SHELLBARK — Hicoria laciniosa (F. A. Michaux) Sargent
Juglans laciniosa F. A. Michaux. Carya sulcata Nuttal], not Juglans sulcata Willdenow
This tree grows mainly in rich lands that are more or less subject to overflow
along rivers from New York to Iowa and Nebraska, southward to Tennessee and
Arkansas. It is rare near the Atlantic coast, but very plentiful in the central
States. Its maximum height is about 40 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m. It is also known
as the Big shagbark, Thick shellbark, Kingnut,
and Gloucester broad nut.
The trunk is straight and rather slender. The
branches are mostly short and spreading, forming
a narrow cylindric tree. The bark is gray, 2.5 to
4 cm. thick, freely splitting into long and narrow
plates, which hang on for many years; the bark of
the branches is smoother and lighter. The twigs
are stout, angular, hairy, becoming round, nearly
smooth, and yellowish, by which feature it is easily
distinguished from all other hickories. The termi-
nal buds are ovoid, bluntish, often 2.5 cm. long
and tw^o thirds as thick, covered by many imbri-
cated scales, the outer scales dark brown, long- Fig. 189. - Big Shellbark.
pointed and slightly hairy; the inner scales are densely coated with yellow hairs;
some of them continue to grow after the expansion of the bud, becoming 5 to 7
cm. long, obovate, reflexed, light green or red or yellow, smooth and shining on
the inner surface, silky and somewhat resinous on the outer surface, and fall oflf
with the staminate catkins. The leaves are 2.5 to 5.5 dm. long, the leaf-stalk
stout, smooth or hair}-, flattish, grooved, abuptly thickened at the base, often re-
maining on the branches long after the leaflets have fallen. The leaflets, usually
7 to 9, rarely but 5, are obovate, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, the upper broadest
232 The Hickories
above the middle and considerabl}^ longer than the lowest, wedge-shaped or rounded
at the nearly equal, sessile base, sharp or taper-pointed, finely toothed with thick-
tipped teeth ; the terminal leaflet is often about twice the size of the lower leaflets,
broadest above, and gradually tapering to a stout stalk often 2,5 cm. long; they are
hairy beneath when unfolding, becoming thick and firrri, rather dark green and
somewhat shining above, pale green or brownish and softly hairy beneath, espe-
cially along the prominent yellowish midrib and larger veins. The staminate cat-
kins are in stalked clusters of 3, each 1.25 to 2 dm. long; the bracts smooth or
nearly so, twice as long as the broad and rounded lobes of the perianth; anthers
notched and hairy. The pistillate flowers are in spikes of 2 to 5, oblong-ovoid,
slightly angled, densely hair}'; stigma light green. The fruit is broadly oblong
or oblong-obovoid, usually depressed at the top, 5 to 8 cm. long, smooth or downy,
yellowish or brownish; its husk is hard, often 8 mm. thick, splitting readily to the
base; the nut is broadly oblong, somewhat flattened, pointed at each end, yel-
lowish white, 4- ridged and angular, its shell very thick and hard; seed sweet, deeply
lobed, light brown and shining.
The wood is hard, tough and strong, close-grained, elastic and dark
brown; its specific gravity is about 0.81. It is used in the manufacture of wheels,
tool handles, and for the other purposes in which the wood of other hickories
is used, not being distinguished from them commercially.
The fruit is also marketed as are Shellbark hickory nuts, especially in the
cities of the West.
A supposed hybrid of this with the Pecan is reported from several stations at
which both species are naturally associated.
9. SHELLBARK — Hicoria ovata (Miller) Britton
Juglans ovata Miller. Carya alba Nuttall, not Juglans alba LinnEeus
This well-known tree is an inhabitant of rich, moist soil mostly in valley or
hillside woods from Quebec to Minnesota and Kansas, south to Florida and Texas,
frequent in the interior, but not common along the coast south of New Jersey.
Its maximum height is 40 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 meters. It is also
called Shellbark tree, Upland hickory, White hickory. Red heart hickory. Hickory,
White walnut, Shagbark walnut. Sweet walnut, and Walnut.
The trunk is straight and slender, when crowded usually bearing branches only
above; in the open the branches sometimes persist nearly to the ground, the shape
of the perfect tree being oblong- cylindric or somewhat wider near the top than
at the middle. The bark is i to 2.5 cm. thick, light gray and broken into thick,
flat flakes often 3 dm. long, free at the ends but closely attached between them;
that of younger stems is smooth and light gray. The twigs are stout, slightly
angular, and covered with brown scurfy and glandular hairs, soon becoming round,
smooth, and shining, or nearly smooth, reddish brown to light gray and bear-
ing many broad leaf scars. The terminal bud is broadly ovoid, bluntish, 12 to
Shellbark
^ZZ
Fig. 190. — Shellbark, New York Botanical Garden.
234
The Hickories
i8 mm. long; the scales are imbricated, and hair\', the outer broadly ovate,
sharp-pointed, dark brown and hair}-; the inner scales grow as the bud opens, be-
coming conspicuously enlarged, yellowish green or reddish, reflexed, 7 cm. long,
usually persisting until the staminate catkins fall. The leaves are 2 to 3.5 dm.
long, the leaf-stalk stout, slightly grooved, much thickened at the base, smooth
or hairy. The s or rarely 7 leaflets are obovate to oblong-lanceolate, 10 to 15
cm. long, the lowest pair shorter and broader at the base, usually straight, equal
at the tapering or rounded base, taper- pointed, margined with small, thick-tipped
teeth; the terminal leaflet is broadest above the middle, tapering to a slightly
winged slender stalk 4 to 10 mm. long; they are thin and firm, yellowish green
and smooth above, smooth and shining or slightly
hair}' beneath. The staminate catkins are in
stalked clusters of 3, slender, hght green, glan-
dular and hair}-, i to 1.5 dm. long, the flowers
opening w-hen the leaves are nearly completely
unfolded, their linear-lanceolate bracts elongated
and much longer than the lobes of the perianth,
which are ovate; stamens 4, nearly sessile, their
anthers slightly spreading, lobed at the apex, yel-
low and somewhat hairy; the pistillate flowers
are in spikes of 2 to 5, rusty- woolly; stigma pale
green. The fruit ripens in September and Oc-
tober, usually in pairs or solitar}', subglobose, 3
to 5 cm. long, depressed, the top bearing
the withered remnants of the stigma, dark red-
FiG. 191. — Shell bark. ^^jgj-j j^j-own, smooth or slightly hair}-; husk varia-
ble, often 8 mm. thick, 4-valved, spHtting to the base; nut oblong, subglobose or
obovoid, ver}' variable in size and shape, somewhat flattened, pointed and slightly
wrinkled and angular, white, the shell and partitions relatively thin; seed sweet,
deeply 2-lobed, irregularly ridged, Hght brown, somewhat shining.
The wood is hard, strong, tough and elastic, close-grained and light brown;
its specific gravity is about 0.84. It is largely used in the manufacture of vehi-
cles, agricultural implements, ax handles, baskets and hoops, and for fuel.
The common commercial hickory nut which is gathered in large quantities for
food is produced by this species. A form with a very thin shell, known as Hale's
paper shell hickor}^, is being planted in many places for its fruit.
10. SOUTHERN SHELLBARK — Hicoria carolinae-septentrionalis Ashe
Carya carolince-septentrionalis C. K. Schneider
An inhabitant of valleys, or seldom on diy hills, from Delaware to Kentucky,
south to Georgia and Alabama, attaining a maximum height of 40 meters, with
a trunk diameter of 1.2 m.
Small Fruited Hickory
^3>S
The branches are short and stout, forming a narrow cylindric tree. The gray
bark is 6 to 20 mm. thick, separating into persistent strap-like plates often 3 dm.
long. The twigs are very slender, smooth, glaucous, and purphsh brown. The
terminal buds are ovoid-lanceolate, 6 mm. long, tapering into a blunt point, their
scales imbricated, light brown and shining; the inner scales grow to a length of
5 cm., are taper-pointed, and yellow; the
lateral buds are oblong, blunt, and very
small. The leaves are i to 2 dm. long;
the leaf-stalk is slender, rounded, and
nearly smooth, the leaflets 3 or 5, lanceo-
late, sometimes very narrow, 6 to 15 cm.
long, somewhat curved, gradually nar-
rowed or rounded at the unequal, sessile
base; they are long taper-pointed, coarsely
toothed and hairy-fringed on the margin,
thin and firm, dark green above, yel-
lowish green and shining beneath. The
upper leaflets are sometimes twice as long
as the lower; the terminal leaflet is short-
stalked; the leaves become characteris-
tically dull yellow or dull brown in early
autumn. The staminate catkins are in
short-stalked clusters of 3, loosely flow-
ered; bract nearly smooth, much' longer F^«- 192- -Southern Shdibark.
than the lobes of the perianth; stamens 4. The pistillate flowers are mostly 2
together, oblong, yellowish hairy. The fruit is subglobose, 1.5 to 3 cm. in di-
ameter, reddish brown; the husk is relatively thick, spHtting completely into 4
valves; nut flattened, 4- angled, ovoid, pointed at the end and nearly white, or
brownish; shell thin; seed large and sweet.
The wood is hard, tough and strong, close-grained and light reddish brown.
This tree has long been confused with the Shcllbark hickory from which it
difi'crs in its thin twigs, smaller buds, and narrower leaflets.
II. SMALL FRUITED HICKORY — Hicoria microcarpa (NuttaU) Britton
Juglans squamosa microcarpa Barton. Carya microcarpa Nuttall
Hicoria glabra odorata Sargent
This Hickorj' occurs in rich woods from Massachusetts to Michigan, southward
to Missouri and Georgia. It is also known as Small pignut hickor}-, Little pignut
hickory. Little shagbark, and Balsam hickor\'.
The tmnk and branches are similar to those of the Pignut hickorj'. The bark
is close and furrowed on young trees, but on old trunks it is shaggy, in thin plates.
The twigs are rather slender, long hairy at first, becoming quite smooth, except
236
The Hickories
for a few light-colored warts, dark brown or gray. The terminal bud is ovoid,
blunt, about 15 mm. long, its scales 6 to 8, imbricated, the outer reddish brown and
leather)', the inner hairy and continue to grow
when the leaf expands, becoming 2.5 to 3.5 cm. in
length. The leaves are 2 to 3 dm. long; leaf-
stalk stout and channeled; leaflets 5 to 7, oval, ob-
long or ovate, 6 to 14 cm. long, narrowed or rounded
at the unequal, sessile base, sharp or taper-
pointed, coarsely but shallowly toothed on the
margin; thick and firm at maturity, hght green
and shining above; the upper pairs are much
the largest; the terminal one is broadest above
the middle, narrowly tapering at the short-stalked
base. The staminate catkins are in stalked clus-
ters of 3, smooth or nearly so, the bract of the
perianth slightly if any longer than the rounded
lateral lobes, which are fringed with hairs. The
pistillate flowers are angular and covered with
scurfy hairs. The fruit is subglobose, 2 to 2.5 cm. in d'ampter, light brown,
densely scaly and slightly winged; husk thin, tardily spHttin> ou». ua t way to the
base; nut buff-colored, slightly flattened, sharp-pointed, soiaetimes sdghtly angu-
lar; shell rather thin; seeds small and sweet.
Its wood is similar to that of the Shellbark hickory, and makes excellent fuel.
Small-fruited Hickorv.
12. NORTHERN HICKORY - Hicoria borealis Ashe
A small tree of dryish hillsides, growing
with the Small-fruited hickory in the vicinity
of Detroit, Michigan, and probably in adjacent
Ontario.
The trunk and branches much resemble
the Small-fruited hickory. The bark is deeply
furrowed into narrow ridges, which become
loose and shaggy with age. The twigs are
slender, smooth, and bright brownish red; the
terminal bud is ovoid-lanceolate, covered by
8 to 10 imbricated scales, the inner ones
being lighter colored and silky. The leaves
are 2 to 2.5 dm. long; the leaf-stalk is stout,
grooved, thickened at the base, and shghtly
hairy; leaflets 5, sometimes but 3, lanceolate, 9
to 1 5 cm. long, or the lowest somewhat smaller,
slightly curved, tapering on one side, rounded
Fig. 194. — Northern Hickory.
Pignut Hickory
^11
on the other at the nearly or quite sessile base, narrowed to the sharp-pointed
apex, finely toothed on the margin; the terminal leaflet is rather long-stalked;
they are thin and densely scurfy beneath when unfolding, becoming thick and
firm, dark green above, paler with a few resinous globules beneath. The stami-
nate catkins are numerous in slender stalked clusters of 3; the lobes of the peri-
anth are rounded, much shorter than the narrow bract. The fruit is ovoid, much
flattened, 1.5 cm. long or more, light brown and scurfy, terminated by the per-
sistent remnants of the style, and slightly winged; the husk is ver}' thin and
leathery, rough, spHtting with difiiculty or not at all, scarcely angular; nut com-
pressed, nearly white; seed large and sweet.
This hickory has been found in only a limited area and is as yet little
known.
13. PIGNUT HICKORY — Hicoria glabra (Miller) Britton
Jiiglans glabra Miller. Carya porcina Nuttall
A tree of drier ground than that in which most other hickories grow, occurring
from Maine to Minnesota and Kansas south to Florida and Texas. Its maximum
height is 35 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m. It is also called Pignut,
Bittemut, Black hickory. Brown hickory. Broom hickory. Hardshell, Switch bud
hickory, and White hickory.
The trunk is slender, branched above. The branches are short, spreading,
or the lower often drooping, perfect trees being oblong in shape. The bark is
rough, 12 to 20 mm. thick, shallowy fissured
into broad close scaly ridges. The twigs are
slender, shghtly angular, light green, often covered
by soft yellowish hairs, soon becoming smooth
or nearly so, fight reddish brown and marked by
many lenticels and small leaf scars, finally dark
brown. The terminal buds are about 6 mm.
long, elfipsoid, sharp or blunt, two or three times
larger than the lateral ones and covered by
imbricated, sharp-pointed, brown, shining scales;
the inner scales are covered with thick, silky
hairs, and often grow to 5 to 7 cm. long, be-
coming more or less curled and reflexed. The
leaves are 1.5 to 3 dm. long; the leaf-stalk is
slender, smooth, or slightly hairy, somewhat
grooved and enlarged at the base; leaflets 3 to
7, rarely 9, oblong or oblong- lanceolate, 7 to 15 cm. long, the upper largest,
rounded or narrowed at the base, which is sessile or nearly so; they are taper-
pointed, and sharp-toothed; the terminal leaflet is the broadest and tapers from
above the middle to the slender leaf- stalk, which is about 12 mm. long; they are
brownish green, hairy, and glandular when unfolding, becoming thick and firm,
Fig. 195. — Pignut Hickory.
238
The Hickories
yellowish green and smooth above, paler, often yellowish brown, and smooth
except for a few tufts of hairs at the junction of the principal veins beneath.
The staminate catkins are 6 to lo cm. long, in short-stalked clusters of 3; their
sharp-pointed bracts are smooth, equalling or a httle longer than the lateral
lobes of the perianth, which are ovate and rounded; stamens 4, their anthers
nearly sessile, ovate, notched, hairy above the middle. The pistillate flowers are
in spikes of 2 to 5, 6 mm. long, 4-angled and nearly smooth. The fruit is sub-
globose to obovoid or pear-shaped, 3.5 to 5 cm. long, often depressed at the top,
reddish brown, nearly smooth; its husk is rather thin, tardily separating into valves
after falling from the tree; the nut is ellipsoid to nearly globular, very slightly
4-angled, rounded at each end, sometimes compressed; shell thick; the seed is
small, deeply divided and grooved, bitter and astringent.
The wood is hard, tough and strong, elastic and close-grained; its specific
gravity is about 0.82. It is used like the Shellbark hickor\% from which it is not
distinguished in the lumber trade. Pioneer brooms were made by spHtting small
saplings into thin strips.
This tree varies greatly. A form with larger hairy leaves and larger fruit, oc-
curs from Virginia to Georgia and is known as Hicoria glabra hirsuta Ashe; it may
be a distinct species.
14. WOOLLY PIGNUT — Hicoria villosa (Sargent) Ashe
Hicoria glabra villosa Sargent. Carya villosa C. K. Schneider
This tree grows in open, low sandy or rocky woods in Missouri and Arkansas,
reaching a maximum height of 15 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 6 dm. It is also
called the Scurfy hickory and doubtless re-
ceives some of the names applied to the
Pignut, with which it is usually confounded.
The trunk and branches resemble the
Pignut. The bark is 12 to 20 mm. thick,
deeply furrowed into broad, irregularly con-
fluent ridges of a dark brown color. The
twigs are slender, covered with pale hairs,
and silvery resin-glands, becoming smooth,
bright purplish brown, and marked by few
lenticels and roundish leaf scars, finally dark
brown; the terminal buds are ovoid, sharp-
pointed, 3 to 6 mm. long, their scales im-
bricated, bearing many yellow resinous
glands; the lateral buds are very small.
Fig. 196. — Woolly Pignut. rr^i 1 . j i ^u i f
The leaves are i to 3 dm. long, the leaf-
stalk slender, brownish hain,', becoming nearly smooth by autumn; leaflets varying
Woolly Pignut 239
from 5 to 9, usually 7, oblong to oblong-oval or oblanccolatc, 8 to 12 cm. long,
nearly straight, tapering to the unequal base, sessile or nearly so, taper-pointed,
coarsely toothed from base to apex, hair}- beneath and bearing some round resin
glands, becoming dark green and smooth above, paler or light yellow, with a
stout, hair}- midrib beneath; the upper leaflets are about twice as large as the
lowest. The staminate catkins are in stalked clusters of 3, glandular and scurfy,
from 5 to 10 cm. long. The pistillate flowers are oblong, 4-ribbed, yellowish
hair}-. The fruit is subglobose to pear-shaped 2 to 4.5 cm. long, 4-winged,
dotted with resinous globules, and yellowish scurfy; husk thin, sphtting to near
the base; nut bro\\-nish, slightly angled and flattened, narrowed at both ends,
thick shelled, the seed small and sweet.
The wood is hard, rather brittle but tough, close-grained, reddi-h brown.
It is used for the same purposes as that of the other hickories.
THE BIRCH FAMILY
BETULACE.E Agardh
'^b'-
IX genera compose this family, including about 80 species of trees and
shrubs, mostly indigenous to the cooler portions of the northern
hemisphere, where they are of considerable economic importance.
The wood of several species of Alders is highly prized by gunpowder
manufacturers, as the source of very superior charcoal; their bark is also valued
in tarming and to some extent as an astringent medicine. The fruits of most of
the species of Corylus, variously known as Filberts or Hazelnuts, are important as
food. Some of the Birches, especially Betula lenta yield an aromatic volatile
oil of importance in medicine and as a flavoring agent. The bark of Betula
papyrijera was of considerable importance in former times as a material for
canoe-building.
' The Betulaceae have alternate deciduous simple leaves, with usually decid-
uous stipules. The small flowers are monoecious; the staminate in long, usually
drooping catkins, solitary or in clusters of 2 or more, in the axils of numerous
bracts, with or without a perianth, stamens 2 to 10, their filaments separate, anthers
2-celled, the sacs sometimes distinct on a 2-forked filament. The pistillate inflo-
rescence is of spike-like or capitate catkins, the flowers with or without a perianth;
perianth, if present, adnate to the i- or 2-celled ovary; style 2-cleft or divided;
ovules I or 2 in each cell, pendulous. The fruits are mostly small, i -celled,
i-seeded nuts or samaras, subtended by usually enlarged bracts, forming a
cone-Uke structure called a strobile; seed coat membranous; endosperm none;
cotyledons fleshy.
Our genera are:
Staminate flowers solitary in the axil of each bract, without a perianth; pistillate
flowers with a perianth.
Staminate flowers without bractlets; pistillate flowers numerous, spicate; nut
small, subtended by a large bract.
Fruit-bracts flat, leaf-like, 3-lobed. i. Carpinus.
Fruit-bracts closed, membranous. 2. Ostrya.
Staminate flowers with bractlets; pistillate flowers few, in heads; nut large, in
a leaf-like involucre. 3. Corylus.
Staminate flowers 2 or more in the axil of each bract, with a perianth; pistillate
flowers without a perianth.
Stamens 2; bracts of the ripe fruit membranous and deciduous with the
nut. 4. Betula.
Stamens 4, sometimes 3 to 6; bracts of the ripe fruit woody and persistent after
the nut has fallen out. 5. Alnus.
240
American Hornbeam
241
I. AMERICAN HORNBEAM
GENUS CARPmUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
Species Carpinus caroUniana Walter
^ARPINUS is the ancient name of the European hornbeam, Carpinus
Betulus of Linnagus, the type of the genus. About 12 species are
known, most of them natives of northern and central Asia, C. caro-
Uniana being the only one indigenous in America. This tree occurs
in moist woodlands, especially along streams and swamps, from Nova Scotia to
Florida, extending westward to Ontario, Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas; it
also exists in mountainous parts of Cen-
tral America and southern ISIexico, but it
is possible that this is, however, a differ-
ent species. The American hornbeam is
usually low, with a rounded top, occa-
sionally becoming about 12 meters high,
with a trunk 6 dm. thick, and is some-
times reduced to shrubby forms. It is
also called Blue beech and W^ater beech,
its smooth, gray bark resembling that of
Fagiis.
The trunk is characteristically obtusely
ridged or fluted; the bark thin, smooth
grayish brown, and \cvy close. The ver}-
slender young twigs are silky-hairy and
green, becoming smooth, reddish or
orange, shining and ultimately gray-
brown and dull. The buds are pointed,
their scales finely hair}\ The leaves are ovate-oblong, pointed, often long-pointed,
sharply doubly toothed, somewhat unequal-sided, 6 to 10 cm. long, with nerves
sunken in the upper surface and prominent on the lower; when young they are
silky-hair}', when mature smooth and dull bluish green on the upper side, yel-
low green and hair}' along the veins beneath; the slender leaf-stalks are hair}- and
about 9 mm. long, the stipules hairy, ovate, and pointed. The ver}' small stami-
nate and pistillate flowers are borne in separate catkins on the same tree, and
open from March to May. The staminate catkins are ver}' densely flowered, nar-
rowly cylindric, and droop at or near the ends of short branches of the preced-
ing season; they are stalklcss and 2 or 3 cm. in length; each of the flowers
consists of several stamens, which are attached to the base of an ovate scale; the
filaments of the stamens are short and two-forked, each fork bearing an anther-
sac which has a tuft of hairs at its tip. The pistillate catkins are at the ends of
shoots of the season and are looselv several-flowered; there are two flowers at the
Fig. 197. — American Hornbeam.
242
The Hop Hornbeams
base of each scale, subtended by a bract and veiy minute bractlets; the calyx is
toothed, crowning the 2-cellod ovar)', which is surmounted by 2 elongated, nar-
row stigmas. The scales fall away early, and the fruiting catkins are composed
of the persistent bracts which become very much enlarged, about 2.5 cm. long,
leaf-hke, and 3-lobed, the middle lobe much longer than the lateral ones and
toothed on one edge, all three strongly veined; the nut is ovoid, somewhat flat-
tened, ribbed, and about 4 mm. long.
v\ J^^-feT
.:^
^N>^,.^
^^^
'W
J^ -' i ' "►•^^ j(v.\ /}^ - Tfl j/ >^ —-.■/' A.'-
fc'^
wfi^ ,"'
■^Z^MBf^K^ A^ ^^eJ ' /* ^'^rT^a^SS^^'*^^
^^.
V^^^^l]
If^^'i^^^g^jF^ ^ "^^^ ^^<^-^ - .
fc
IBp^P^^^^^^^W
^^4^—
iaMBlfePi^^^ '!-'-.''^''^fcfe.a;
<'i&i9ki'i^^^'^--^:^aK^^M
Fig. 198. — American Hornbeam, New York Botanical Garden.
The tree is of slow growth but very ornamental; its leaves turn orange and
scarlet in the autumn. The wood is dense, hard, and very difficult to work, so
that its uses are of httle importance; it is light brown, and has a specific gravity of
about 0.73.
n. THE HOP HORNBEAMS
GENUS OSTRYA [MICHELI] SCOPOLI
STRYA is the ancient appellation of the European hop hornbeam
Ostrya Ostrya (Linnaeus) AlacMillan. Six species are known, the
three here described, one in Mexico, the typical European one,
which extends into western Asia, the sixth a native of Japan. They
are all small trees, with hard wood and scalv bark.
Ironwood
243
The leaves are alternate, ovate, obovate, or oblong- lanceolate, toothed, stalked
and stipulate, the stipules falling away soon after they unfold. The very small,
imperfect staminate and pistillate flowers are borne in separate catkins on the
same tree (monoecious), and open with or before the leaves. The staminate ones
are in dense narrow drooping catkins, like those of the Hornbeams, consisting
only of several stamens, each stamen 2-forked. The pistillate flowers are in
short, erect catkins, 2 together on the base of each scale, each subtended and
enclosed by a tubular hairy bract; there is a minute, toothed calyx crowning the
ovar)', a short style and 2 long narrow stigmas. In ripening the tubular bract
becomes greatly enlarged, nerved, and bladder-Hke, loosely enclosing the ovoid,
somewhat flattened nut, the mature catkins resembhng hops, whence the common
name.
The North American species may be distinguished as follows:
Leaves long-pointed, 6 to 15 cm. long; fruit of many hollow bracts; eastern
tree. i. O. virginiana.
Leaves blunt or short-pointed, 5 cm. long or less; fruit of few^ hollow^ bracts;
Arizona tree. 2. O. Knowltoni.
I. IRONWOOD — Ostrya virginiana (Miller) Willdenow
Carpiniis virginiana Miller
The Ironwood, or American hop hornbeam, occurs mostly in dry woods,
ranging from Cape Breton island to northern Florida, west to Ontario, Minnesota,
South Dakota, Kansas, and Texas; it is not
common near the Atlantic coast south of New
York. It attains a maximum height of about
20 meters, with a trunk up to 6 dm. thick.
The bark is thin, light brown, and flakes
off in small plates. The branches are slender,
the lower ones widely spreading, perfect speci-
mens of the tree being round-topped and often
as broad as high. The young twigs are green
and hairy, becoming smooth, brown, and shin-
ing. The pointed buds are about 6 mm. long,
their scales ovate and finely hair}% The leaves
vary from ovate to ovate-oblong or oblong-
lanceolate, and from 6 to 15 cm. in length;
they are thin and tough, sharply doubly-
toothed, usually long-pointed, smooth and dull
green on the upper surface, beneath pale green, somewhat hair\' on the veins and
with Lufts of hairs in their axils; the leaf-stalks are 2 to 8 mm. long, the narrow
con ave stipules about i cm. long and hair}\ The tree flowers in April or May,
Fig. 199. — Ironwood.
244
The Hop Hornbeams
or, at its northern range, in early June. The clustered staminate catkins are 3 to
8 cm. long, their scales triangular-ovate and long-pointed. The ripe pistillate
hop-like catkins (strobiles) are oblong, 7 cm. long or less, stalked, the bladder-like
bracts 12 to 16 mm. long, pointed, hair\', long-hairy near the base, finely ncttcd-
veined ; the nut is 5 to 8 mm. long.
The tree is of rather rapid growth and well adapted to lawn and park planting.
The wood is very strong and tough, close-grained, hard, light reddish brown,
with a specific gravity of about 0.83; it is used for tool-handles, mallets, levers,
and fence-posts.
2. KNOWLTON'S HOP HORNBEAM - Ostrya Knowltoni Coville
This is one of the most locally distributed of all trees, being only known to
occur in the Grand canon of the Colorado River in Arizona, where it is plentiful
at a few places. Trees 10 meters high have been observed with trunks about
4.5 dm. in diameter near the base; the main
trunk is usually very short and divides a little
above the ground into several stout, nearly up-
right branches, the smaller branches being very
irregular and drooping.
The outer bark is gray and peels off into
long thin plates, the inner bark orange-brown.
The young twigs are green and verj^ hairy, be-
coming smooth, brown, and ultimately light
gray. The leaves are small, 5 cm. long or less,
ovate to oval or obovate, blunt or short-pointed,
sharply doubly toothed, rounded or slightly
heart-shaped at the base, finely hairy on both
sides, rather dark green above, paler beneath;
the very hairy leaf-stalks are 2 to 6 mm. long.
The flowers appear in May. The staminate
catkins are 2 to 3 cm. long, their scales broadly
ovate and rather abruptly pointed. The ripe pistillate catkins are about 3 cm.
long, stalked, with fewer bladder- like bracts than those of the eastern tree; the
nut is about 6 mm. long.
The wood is hard, close-grained, and light reddish brown.
Bailey's Hop hornbeam {Ostrya Baileyi Rose) recently described from the
Guadalupe Mountains, Texas, differs in the more glandular petioles and darker
brown twigs. It is only known from meager specimens, and its fruit is as yet
und escribed.
Fig. 200. — Knowlton's Hop Hornbeam.
California Hazelnut
245
III. CALIFORNIA HAZELNUT
GENUS CORYLUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
Species Corylus calif ornica (A. do Candolle) Rose
Coryliis rostrata var. calijornica A. de Candolle
HIS is an under shrub or small tree of wooded hillsides, from middle
California northward through Oregon to Washington, attaining a
height of 12 meters, with a trunk diameter of 2.5 dm.
The twigs are slender and round, with long, often glandular hairs,
but become nearly smooth with age and red-brown or dark gray. The buds are
small, blunt, and covered with densely hair\' scales. The leaves are alternate,
firm, broadly ovate to nearly orbicular, 2.5 to 7 cm. long, sharp or slightly taper-
pointed, heart-shaped or rounded at the base, incised and toothed or doubly
toothed on the margin, dark green, rough, and somewhat hairy above, paler and
softly hairy beneath, the venation prominent on both surfaces; leaf-stalk slender,
very hair}% 6 to 8 mm. long. The flowers are monoecious, the staminate on twigs
of the previous season in cyUndric drooping very hairy-sca],ed catkins, 3 to 4 cm.
long; the 4 to 8 stamens are inserted on
a hairy receptacle wdth 2 bracts, the fila-
ments short, 2-forked, each with a hair\'-
tipped anther-sac. The pistillate flowers
are borne on short branchlets of the sea-
son's growth, in short, erect clusters, each
bract protecting an incompletely 2-celled
ovar}' joined to the calyx; the 2 styles
are short, erect, supporting a slender
stigma; the 2 bractlets unite and grow
into a short, tubular beaked, bristly in-
volucre enclosing the fruit, which is an
ovoid nut, about 1.5 cm. in diameter, with
a thick, hard bony dark brown shell, en-
closing a sweet oily edible seed. It dif-
ers from the Beaked hazelnut, Corylus
rostrata Aiton, a common northern shrub,
which at the north extends almost across
the continent, in its shorter beak, more
prominently ribbed and much less bristly
involucre, and blunter leaves, which like the twigs are much more hair}-.
The wood of the CaHfomia hazelnut is hard, close-grained, and brown; it takes
a fine pohsh and is used on the Pacific slope for shoe-pegs, basketr}', and barrel
hoops; coarse brooms were made of the branches by the pioneers. The nut is
gathered for food as are other hazelnuts.
Fig. 201. — California Hazelnut.
246
The Birches
The genus comprises about 7 species, mostly shrubs, indigenous to the northern
hemisphere; two of them are well-known shrubs of the north and eastern United
States. The popular Filbert of commerce is the nut of the European Hazelnut,
Corylus Avellana Linnaeus, the type of the genus, and cultivated in a number of
improved varieties; over a dozen fossil species of the genus have been described.
The name is Greek in reference to the helmet-like involucre surrounding the nut.
IV. THE BIRCHES
GENUS BETULA [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
BOUT 35 species of birches are known, some 25 of them trees, the others
shrubs. They are widely distributed throughout the north temperate
and subarctic zones, some of the shrubby kinds extending as far north-
ward as any woody plants. In North America, besides the fifteen trees
here described, there are four or five kinds of shrubs. Betula is the ancient Latin
name; B. alba Linnaeus, the European White birch, is the type of the genus.
The bark and wood contain an aromatic volatile oil. The wood is close-
grained, hard, and tough, that of all the birch trees being good fuel. The leaves
are variously toothed, rarely lobed or incised, and are stalked, pinnately veined,
and stipulate, the small stipules falling away as the leaves unfold in spring. The
minute monoecious flowers are in dense catkins, opening in very early spring, before
or as the leaves unfold. The staminate catkins at flowering time are long and
drooping, the pistillate ones shorter, upright or spreading. The staminate flowers
are borne at the bases of the scales of the catkin and consist of a 4 -toothed or
2-toothed calyx and 2 stamens with short, 2-forked anthers, each fork bearing
an anther-sac. The pistillate flowers are usually 2 or 3 together at the base of
each scale of the catkin; they consist only of a 2-celled ovary, surmounted by 2
long styles stigmatic near the tip. The ripe pistillate catkins (strobiles) consist of
the leathery 3-lobed scales, bearing the minute flat membranous- winged nuts, and
these fall away together from the slender axis.
Fruiting catkins slender-stalked.
Bark of the trunk chalky white (rarely darker in B. papyrijera).
Leaves deltoid or rhombic.
Leaves long-acuminate; eastern trees.
Leaves bright green, shining, irregularly toothed.
Leaves dull blue-green, regularly toothed.
Leaves short-acuminate; northwestern tree.
Leaves ovate; strobile-scales not hairy-fringed.
Leaves rounded or narrowed at the base.
Leaves cordate at the base.
Bark of the trunk brown to red-brown or green-brown.
Leaves ovate to ovate-orbicular; western trees.
Tall trees with incised-serrate leaves.
Leaves rounded at the base, finely serrate.
1. B. populijolia.
2. B. coeriilea.
3. B. alaskana.
4. B. papyrijera.
5. B. cordijolia.
6. B. occidentalis.
Gray Birch
247
Leaves cuneate at the base, coarsely serrate.
Small trees or shrubs with serrate leaves.
Lateral lobes of the strobile-scales ascending or erect, shorter
than the middle one.
Lateral lobes of the strobile-scales spreading, as long as the
middle one or a little longer.
Strobiles over i cm. thick; lateral lobes of their scales
pointed.
Strobiles narrowly cylindric, less than i cm. thick; lateral
lobes of their scales rounded.
Leaves rhombic to rhombic-ovate, acute at both ends or broadly
cuneate at the base.
Leaves gray-tomentulose beneath; strobile-scales lobed at the
ape.x; nut ovate-orbicular, 3 to 4 mm. long, much wider than
its wings.
Leaves green and glandular beneath; strobile-scales lobed nearly
to the middle; nut 1.5 to 2 mm. long, about as wide as its
wings or narrower.
Fruiting catkins sessile or very short-stalked at the ends of short
branches; eastern trees.
Fruiting scales 4 to 5 mm. long; leaves mostly cordate.
Fruiting scales glabrous; bark dark brown, close.
Fruiting scales ciliate; bark rough or peeling, gray to yellow-
brown.
Fruiting scales 8 to 10 mm. long, hairy, ciliate; bark yellow-gray;
leaves rarelv cordate.
7. B. kenaica.
8. B. jonlinalis.
9. B. utahensis.
10. B. Pi peri.
11. B. nigra.
12. B. Sandbergi.
13. B. lenla.
14. B. alleghanensis.
15. B. liitea.
I. GRAY BIRCH — Betula populifolia Marshall
A slender tree, usually growing in clusters in moist soil, along streams or
swamps, but also occurring on upland hillsides.
It extends from Prince Edward island to Dela-
ware, westward to western New^ York, eastern
Pennsylvania, and, according to a specimen
collected by Dr. Short, also to Kentucky; it is
most abundant near the coast. It attains a
ma.ximum height of about 14 meters, with a
tRmk diameter of 4 to 5 dm. When growing
along the borders of woods the trunk bends
awav from the neighboring trees; it is ven^
flexible and is often bent to the ground by snow.
The tree is also known as American while birch,
and Old field birch.
The outer bark is chalky white, the trunks
being thus xqts conspicuous in winter land-
scapes; it does not peel off readily; the inner Fig. 202. -Gray Birch,
bark is orange- vcllow and about 6 mm. thick on old trunks. The voung twigs are
248
The Birches
green and warty-glandular, becoming smooth and yellowish to reddish brown.
The buds are ovoid, 4 mm. long. The leaves are triangular-ovate to rhombic-
ovate, hain^, at least on tlic veins of the lower surface when young, nearly or quite
smooth when fully grown, irregularly and often doubly toothed, and taper into a
long toothed tip; they are blunt or truncate at the base, bright green and shining
above, pale green beneath, and vary from 3 to 7 cm. in length; the very slender
Fig. 203. — Gray Birch, Van Cortlandt Park, N. Y. City.
leaf-stalks are 1.5 to 3 cm. long, . stipules ovate and pointed. The leaves quiver
in a light breeze, like those of Asp. ■. The tree flowers in April or May. The
staminate catkins are 5 to 10 cm. long, usually solitary, rarely two together. The
ripe pistillate catkins (strobiles) arc cylindric, 1.5 to 3.6 cm. long, on stalks about i
cm. long; their scales are finely hairy, 2 to 4 mm. long, the lateral lobes larger than
the middle one; the nut is oval, about 2.5 mm. long, and narrower than its wings.
The wood is light brown, soft and weak, with a specific gravity of about 0.58;
Alaska Birch
249
it is used for barrel-hoops, shoe-pegs, largely for spools, and somewhat for paper-
pulp. The tree grows fast but is short-Uved.
2. BLUE BIRCH — Betula coerulea W. H. Blanchard
This recently described species is very closely related to the Gray birch, and is
reported from moist mountain sides at altitudes of about 550 meters in Vermont
and Maine, and probably occurs in simi-
lar situations throughout the north-
eastern portion of our area. It reaches
a height of 20 meters, with a trunk di-
ameter of 4.5 dm. in its large-leaved
form, or about half these dimensions in
the smaller-leaved form.
The rather small branches are nearly
upright at first, but become spreading.
The bark is about 6 mm. thick, its outer
layer somewhat shining, white with a
reddish tinge, the inner bark yellowish.
The twigs are slender, slightly long-hairy
and purplish at first, becoming reddish
brown and quite smooth, except for nu-
merous pale lenticels. The leaves are
ovate, 5 to 7 or 9 cm. long, sharply and
quite regularly -toothed toward the long,
taper-pointed apex, quite entire near the
rounded or wedge-shaped, sometimes un-
equal base, pale glandular at first, soon
Fig. 204. — Blue Birch.
becoming smooth and dull bluish green above, pale yellowish green and slightly
hairy along the principal veins beneath; the leaf-stalk is slender, 2 to 3 cm. long,
often reddish. The staminate catkins, sometimes in pairs, are cylindric, 3 to 5 cm.
long or longer. The fruiting catkins are drooping, slender, cylindric, 2 to 3 cm.
long, slightly tapering at the blunt apex, their stalks about i cm. long. The nut
is oval, its wing much broader than the body.
The large form with leaves more rounded at the base, thicker fruiting catkins,
and generally larger in all its parts, has been called Betula ccerulea-grandis by
Blanchard, and B. coerulea var. Blanchardi by Sargent.
3. ALASKA BIRCH — Betula alaskana Sargent
The Alaska birch, abundant in the interior of Alaska and the Yukon Territory,
extends southward to the Saskatchewan valley and eastward to the Mackenzie
River and perhaps to Quebec. It is said to occur also on the Alaskan coast.
250
The Birches
It is reported to grow to a height of about 26 meters, with a trunk 3 or 4 dm. thick,
but it is usually much smaller. It inhabits mountain sides and river banks.
The bark of the trimk is white or whitish, that of the branches pale reddish
brown. When young the twigs are densely
resinous-glandular, becoming smooth and
red-brown. The buds are ovoid, blunt,
about 6 mm. long, their scales sometimes
fringed with white hairs. The leaves are
triangular-ovate, sharp-pointed, irregularly
sharply toothed, 4 to 8 cm. long, and usually
nearly as wide as long, firm in texture,
smooth when old, somewhat hairy when
young; they are dark green and dull on the
upper surface, hght green on the lower; the
slender leaf-stalks are 1.5 to 3 cm. long, the
stipules oblong. The staminate catkins are
borne 2 or more together, and have ovate
pointed scales. The ripe pistillate catkins
are cylindric, about 3 cm. long, i to 1.3 cm.
thick; their scales have hairy-fringed edges,
the lateral lobes wider but scarcely longer
than the pointed middle one ; the nut is oval,
about 2 mm. long, its wings rather broader than the body.
It has been proposed to unite this species with the Betula pendiila Roth, of
northern Europe and Asia, but the foHage of the two seems abundantly distinct.
It has formerly been erroneously considered as identical with the Betula alba ver-
rucosa var. resinijera of northeastern Asia, and the name B. resinijera Britton
has been proposed for it.
Fig. 205. — Alaska Birch.
4. PAPER BIRCH — Betula papyrifera Marshall
The Paper birch, or Canoe birch, grows mostly in forests, and ranges from
Newfoundland to Alaska, south to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nebraska,
Colorado, and Washington, thus extending nearly or quite across the continent;
its leaf-form is somewhat variable, and it has been held by various authors as
identical with the White birch of Europe {Betula alba L.), but an examination of
the two trees growing side by side will at once demonstrate that, while similar,
they are different. It attains a maximum height of about 25 meters, with a trunk
diameter of about 7 dm. B. Andrewsii A. Nelson, is probably not distinct.
The bark is usually bright white outside, orange oryellow within, quite thick, and
peels off readily in thin layers; at the bases of old trees it is often black and rather
deeply fissured, and there are often black bands higher up on the trunks. The
young green twigs are a little viscid and quite hairy; they become smooth and
Heart-Leaved Paper Birch
251
red-brown, and, after several years' growth, bright white like the trunk. The
buds are ovoid, pointed, about 7 mm. long, some-
what hairy and resinous. The leaves are ovate,
3 to II cm. long, sharply irregularly toothed,
rather firm in texture, hair}' when young, and
hairy in the axils of the veins beneath even when
old, the upper surface dark green and dull, the
under side light green; they are either rounded
or narrowed at the base; the leaf-stalks are 1.5
to 3 cm. long, the stipules ovate, pointed, and
hairy- fringed. The flowers open with or before
the leaves in April or May. The staminate cat-
kins are borne 2 or 3 together and vary from 5
to 10 cm. long, their scales triangular-ovate and
finely hairy. The ripe pistillate catkins are
cylindric, 2 to 5 cm. long, with stalks i to 2
cm. long; their scales are 4 to 6 mm. long,
smooth or finely hairy, their lateral lobes shorter than or as long as the middle one ;
the oblong or oval nut is somewhat narrower than its wings.
The wood is fight brown, strong and tough, with a specific gravity of about
0.60; it is largely used for spools, and also for shoe-pegs and paper-pulp; it was
utifized for a variety of purposes by the northern Indians, who also employed the
bark extensivel} for canoes, baskets, and cups, and for sheathing wigwams. The
tree is of rap'd growth but does not yield readily to cultivation much to the south
of its area d. natural distribution.
Fig. 206. — Paper Birch.
5. HEART-LEAVED PAPER
BIRCH
Fig. 267. — Heart-leaved Paper Birch.
Betula cordifolia Regel
This tree closely resembles the widely
distributed Paper birch, except in the
form of its leaves. It is smaller than that
species, perhaps reaching a maximum
height of not more than 14 meters, with a
trunk 2 dm. thick. It occurs in the north-
em and mountainous parts of North
America, extending from Newfoundland
to British Columbia, Maine, northern New
York, Iowa, Idaho, and Washington.
The outer bark is bright white, the in-
ner orange-yellow; it peels readily. The
young twigs are green and sometimes
glandular, becoming brown. The leaves
252
The Birches
are broadly ovate, rather long-pointed, heart-shaped at the base, 5 to 9 cm. long,
sharply toothed, the upper surface dark green and smooth, the lower pale green
and hairy in the axils of the veins. The ripe pistillate catkins are cyhndric, 2 to
4 cm. long, their scales smooth; the oblong nut is narrower than its wings.
The tree may be only a form of Betula papyrijera Marshall, with heart-shaped
leaves, and it has been considered as a variety of that species. On mountain sum-
mits in New England and New York it is reduced to a mere shrub not over one
meter high.
6. WESTERN BIRCH — Betula occidentaUs Hooker
This is the largest American birch, and one of the largest of all deciduous-
leaved trees, attaining a maximum height of about 40 meters, with a trunk diameter
of a meter or more. It occurs in British Co-
lumbia and Washington, extending eastward
to Montana, inhabiting moist soil.
The outer bark is yellowish brown and
shining, peeling off readily; the inner bark is
bright orange-yellow. The young twigs are
brownish, loosely hairy with long hairs, glan-
dular, becoming smooth, orange-brown and
shining. The pointed buds are about 6 mm.
long. The leaves are ovate, she rply and rather
coarsely toothed, commonly dovbly toothed,
pointed, thin, 10 cm. long or 'ess, usually
rounded or somewhat heart-shaped at the
base, glandular, and furnished with long
whitish hairs along the veins when young,
and with tufts of hairs in the axils of the
veins beneath when old; the stout leaf-stalks
are i to 2 cm. long; the stipules are oblong and about 2 cm. long. The tree
flowers in May. The staminate catkins are 7 to 10 cm. long, their scales hairy-
fringed. The ripe pistillate catkins are oblong-cylindric, 3 to 4 cm. long, stalked,
their finely hairy scales fringed on the edges, the middle lobe narrower and some-
what longer than the lateral ones; the nut is oval and narrower than its wings.
Fig. 208. — Western Birch.
7. KENAI BIRCH — Betula kenaica Evans
This tree, named from specimens collected on the Kenai peninsula, inhabits
only the coast of Alaska; it is there known also as Red birch and Black birch;
it attains a height of about 13 meters, with a trunk up to 5 dm. thick.
The thin bark peels off readily in layers; it is dark brown on large trunks, grayish
or reddish on young trees and on the branches of old ones; the young twigs are
Western Red Birch
253
glandular, reddish brown, shining, becoming gray-brown; the winter buds are
ovoid, pointed, 5 or 6 mm. long.
The leaves are ovate, mostly broadly
ovate, 6 cm. long or less, and often
nearly as wide as long, a little hairy
when very young, smooth when old ;
the upper surface dark green, not
shining, the under side paler green;
they are pointed at the apex, obtuse
or nearly truncate at the base,
sharply and rather coarsely irregu-
larly toothed, their slender stalks
1.5 to 2.5 cm. long. The stami-
nate catkins are borne 2 or 3 to-
gether; they are about 2.5 cm. long,
their scales ovate and pointed; the
pistillate catkins are glandular-
stalked and shorter, in fruit becom-
ing about 2 cm. long and 5 mm. in
diameter, their scales about 3 mm.
long, hairy-margined, the middle
tooth pointed, rather narrower than
Fig. 209. — Kenai Birch.
the lateral ones but about as long; the thin oblong nut is about 2 mm. long and
about as wide as its membranous wing.
8. WESTERN RED BIRCH -
Betula fontinalis Sargent
This birch is a tree sometimes 14 me-
ters high, with a trunk 4 to 5 dm. in
diameter, and grows principally along
rivers, especially in canons, ranging from
British Columbia to Saskatchewan, south
to Cahfomia, Utah, New Mexico, western
Nebraska, and South Dakota. It often
forms very dense thickets, growing as a
shrub, and flowering when only a few
meters high. The species was formerly
confused with Betitla occidentalis Hooker,
and it has recently been argued that it
„ is identical with B. micro phylla Bungc,
Fig. 210. — Western Red Birch. ., .,.,^ . -V,.
of the Altai Mountams m Russia.
The bark is smooth, dark bronze in color, shining, and about 7 mm. thick.
254
The Birches
The branches are slender and usually droop; the young twigs are resinous-
glandular, orange-brown, becoming red-brown and shining. The buds are about
6 mm. long and resinous. The leaves are ovate, usually broadly so, 2 to 5 cm. long,
pointed or bluntish, sharply and sometimes doubly toothed, the base var}'ing
from wedge shaped to rounded ; they are hairy beneath along the veins when young,
nearly smooth when old, dark green and dull on the upper side, yellow-green be-
neath; the leaf-stalks are 7 to 15 mm. long, the stipules ovate, i cm. long or less.
The tree flowers in April or ]May. The staminate catkins are 6 cm. long or less.
The ripe pistillate catkins are cylindric, stalked, 2 to 3 cm. long, i cm. thick or
less, their scales hair}'-fringed with ascending or erect lateral lobes mostly much
shorter than the middle one; the nut is oval and narrower than its wings.
9. UTAH BIRCH— Betula utahensis Britton
The distribution of this birch is, so far as
is known, only in the vicinity of Salt Lake
City, Utah.
The young twigs are densely resinous,
glandular, greenish brown, becoming bright
brown and shining. The young leaves are
hairy on both sides, the old ones smooth,
except for a few hairs on the veins beneath;
they are ovate to ovate-orbicular, sharply
toothed with abruptly tipped teeth, pointed, 5
cm. long or less, and sometimes as wide as
long, narrowed or truncate at the base, the
upper surface dull green, the under side paler.
The tree flowers in April and has clustered
staminate catkins 5 cm. long or longer. The
ripe pistillate catkins are cylindric, stout, 3 or
4 cm. long, more than i cm. thick, and are
borne on stalks about 6 mm. long; their scales
are nearly as wide as long, finely hairy and
hair}^-f ringed, the lateral lobes obliquely ovate,
widely spreading, and about as long as the triangular- lanceolate middle one; the
nut is obovate, 2 mm. long, narrower than its wings.
Fig. 211.
Utah Birch.
10. PIPER'S BIRCH — Betula Piperi Britton
This species inhabits wet soil in eastern Washington and adjacent Idaho.
It attains a height of 15 meters and is a slender tree with drooping branches.
The bark is dark bronze in color, thin, and does not peel off readily. The
young twigs are very slender, green and glandular, becoming brown or gray-
River Birch
255
brown. The leaves are ovate, thin, sharply ir-
regularly toothed, pointed, 5 cm. long or less,
bluntly to narrowly wedge-shaped at the base,
long-hairy when young, when mature rather dark
green, smooth and somewhat shining on the
upper surface, pale green and sparingly hairy on
the under side; the ver\' slender leaf-stalks are
smooth or nearly so, i to 2 cm. long, the thin ovate
stipules about 5 mm. long. The flowers open in
May. The staminate catkins are 6 to 8 cm. long,
the ripe pistillate catkins are narrowly cylindric, 3
to 5 cm. long, about 8 mm. thick, borne on stalks
about 7 mm. long; their scales are about 6 mm.
long, longer than wide, 3-lobed at the top, finely
hairy and hairy-fringed, the lateral lobes spread-
ing, rounded, a little shorter than the narrower
middle one, the stalk-like part below the lobes
wedge-shaped; the nut is 1.5 to 2 mm." long, obo-
vate to oblong and wider than its wings.
Fig. 212. — Piper's Birch.
II. RIVER BIRCH — Betula nigra Linnsus
The River birch, or Red birch, grows naturally in moist soil in river valleys
and along the borders of ponds and swamps, from southern New Hampshire and
Massachusetts to Florida, extending westward
to Ilhnois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas,
and Texas, thus having a more southern range
than any other American species. It reaches
a maximum height of about 30 meters and a
trunk diameter of 1.5 to 2 meters.
The bark is reddish brown and thick; near
the bases of old trees it is ridged and scaly,
but higher up, and on young trees, it is red-
brown to green-brown or gray, and peels off
freely in thin layers. The young twigs are
greenish and densely velvety, becoming smooth
and red-brown. The buds are pointed, hair}-,
and about 6 mm. long. The leaves are rhom-
bic-ovate, irregularly and often doubly toothed
or somewhat lobed, 3 to 8 cm. long, pointed,
tough, the base var}'ing from narrowl}' to broadly
wedge-shaped or even truncate; they are long-hairy when young, when mature
dark green, smooth, and shining on the upper side, pale and velvety or sometimes
Fig. 213. — River Birch.
rather firm in texture and
256
The Birches
nearly smooth on the under side, except the hairy veins; the hairy leaf-stalks are
1.5 cm. long or less, the stipules ovate. The flowers expand in April or May.
The catkins of staminate flowers are 6 to 9 cm. long, mostly in 2's or 3's, their
scales ovate and blunt. The ripe pistillate catkins are oblong-cyhndric, stalked,
2 to 5 cm. long, about i cm. thick, their scales velvety, hairy-fringed, with 3
nearly equal bluntish lobes, or the middle lobe a little longer than the lateral
ones; the nut is broadly ovate or oval, 2.5 to 4 mm. long, wider than its wings.
The tree grows rapidly in good soil and is well adapted to park and lawn
planting. The wood is Hght brown, hard and strong, with a specific gravity of
0.58, and is largely used for furniture, ox-yokes, woodenware, and for fuel.
12. SANDBERG'S BIRCH — Betula Sandbergi Britten
This tree, or shrub, inhabits swamps in Henne-
pin county, Minnesota, and has been confused with
Betula nigra L. It occurs also in Saskatchewan.
The young twigs are loosely hairy and green,
becoming brown. The leaves are rhombic-ovate,
pointed, rather evenly toothed, firm, dark green,
dull, and finely but strongly netted-veined on the
upper side, Hght green, very glandular and slightly
hairy on the veins of the under surface, 6 cm. long
or less, the base wedge-shaped; when young they
are very glandular on both sides; the slender smooth
leaf-stalks are 1.5 cm. long or less. The flowers
open when the leaves are partially grown. The
staminate catkins (Saskatchewan specimens) are 6
cm. long or longer. The ripe pistillate catkins are
slender-stalked, cyHndric, 2 to 2.5 cm. long, about
6 mm. in diameter, blunt, their scales about 4 mm.
Fig. 214. — Sandberg's Birch. long, hairy, 3-lobed at the top, the middle lobe a
little longer than the blunt ascending lateral ones, the base wedge-shaped ; the nut
is broadly oval to somewhat obovate, 1.5 mm. long, nearly as wide as its wings.
13. CHERRY BIRCH — Betula lenta Linnaeus
The Cherry birch, or Black birch, is an upland forest tree, which reaches a
maximum height of about 25 meters, with a trunk diameter of nearly two meters.
It grows from Newfoundland to northern Florida, west to Ontario, Illinois, and
Tennessee. It often inhabits rocky woodlands, its roots embracing large boulders
or parts of ledges. It is also called Sweet birch and Mahogany birch.
The bark of young and middle-aged trunks is smooth, close, dark brown and
shining, resembhng that of a cherry tree, whence the common name; that of old
Southern Yellow Birch
257
trunks becomes deeply fissured and broken into plates. The branches, at first,
are nearly erect, but the lower ones of older trees widely spreading. The young
twigs are green and loosely hairy, becoming smooth, shining, and reddish brown.
The buds are about 7 mm. long, pointed and shining. The young leaves are silky-
hairy, the old ones hairy only along the veins
on the under side; they are ovate or oblong-
ovate, thin, pointed, sometimes rather long-
pointed, 6 to 12 cm. long, finely and sharply
toothed, often doubly toothed, usually cordate
but sometimes rounded at the base, bright
green and somewhat shining above, pale green
beneath, the veins prominent on the under side
but inconspicuous on the upper; the leaf-
stalks are 6 to 12 mm. long, the stipules ovate,
pointed, hairy-fringed. The tree flowers in
April or May. The staminate catkins are
borne several together and are 6 to 10 cm.
long. The ripe pistillate catkins are broadly
oblong, blunt, not stalked, 2 to 3 cm. long,
., . 1 1 iU u 4- Fig. 21^. — Cherry Birch.
their scales 4 or 5 mm. long, smooth, about ^
equally 3-lobed above the middle ; the nut is oblong to obovate and rather broader
than its wings.
The wood is largely used for furniture and makes excellent fuel; it is locally
used for boat-building; it is hard, strong, dark brown, with a specific gravity of
about 0.76. The wood and bark yield birch oil by distillation, which is nearly
identical with oil of wintergreen, used for flavoring, and in medicine as a stim-
ulant. Birch-beer is the fermented sap. The tree grows rapidly, flourishing best
when associated with other species.
14. SOUTHERN YELLOW BIRCH — Betula aUeghanensis Britton
This tree resembles the Cherry birch and the Yellow birch and has been con-
fused with both of them. It attains about the same size as the former, but is smaller
than the Yellow birch, and occurs in woodlands from Massachusetts to Quebec
and northern Michigan, south to southern New York, Pennsylvania, and south-
ward in the mountains to Georgia.
Its bark is either close and furrowed or peels off in thin yellowish gray layers.
The young twigs are long-hairy and green, becoming brown and shining, ultimately
gray and shghtly aromatic. The buds are smooth, their scales shghtly hairy-
fringed. The leaves are ovate or ovate-oblong, usually long- pointed, 12 cm. long
or less, sharply and rather coarsely toothed, mostly cordate but sometimes
rounded at the base, long-hairy when young, when mature dark green, smooth, and
dull above, yellow-green and more or less hairy on the veins beneath. The hairy
258
The Birches
leaf-stalks are i to 1.5 cm. long. The flowers
open in May. The clustered staminate cat-
kins are 6 cm. long or longer, their scales
broadly ovate and bluntish. The ripe pistillate
catkins are oblong-cylindric, 2 to 3 cm. long,
ver}^ short-stalked or stalkless, their scales 4 to
6 mm. long, more or less hair}% nearly or quite
as wide as long, 3-lobed above the middle, the
wedge-shaped part below the lobes very short,
the edges sparingly long-hairy; the nut is nar-
rowly obovate or oblong, 2 to 3 mm. long. It
is also called Gray birch and Water birch.
15. YELLOW BIRCH — Betula lutea
F. A. Michaux
Fig. 216. — Southern Yellow Birch.
The Yellow birch, also called Gray birch,
is a forest tree, ranging from Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. It is a very large tree, reaching a maximum height
of about 30 meters, with a trunk i to 1.5 meters in diameter.
The bark of young and middle-aged trunks is usually silvery gray or yellow-
ish, and is either close and furrowed or peels off freely in very thin layers; on old
trunks, especially near their bases, it is rough, reddish brown, fissured, and often
1.5 cm. thick; trees of the same size standing side
by side often exhibit the bark either close or
peeHng, so that the age or size of the trunk is not
absolutely correlated with the character of the
bark. The young twigs are long-hairy and green,
becoming brown or orange-brown, smooth and
shining, finally silvery-gray. The pointed buds
are about 6 mm. long and somewhat hairy. The
leaves are ovate or oblong-ovate, pointed, often
long-pointed, sharply simply or doubly toothed,
7 to 12 cm. long, rounded, somewhat narrowed
or rarely cordate at the base; they are long-hairy
when young, dark green and smooth on the upper
surface, paler green and hairy on the lower, at
least on the veins, when old ; the hairy leaf-stalks
are 2 cm. long or less, the pointed ovate stipules
about I cm. long. The tree flowers in April or May as the leaves unfold. The
clustered staminate catkins are 6 to 9 cm. long. The ripe pistillate catkins are
oblong, blunt, very short-stalked, or stalkless, their scales 8 to 10 mm. long, longer
than wide, hairy and hairy -fringed, about equally 3-lobed to or above the mid-
FiG. 217. — Yellow Birch.
The Alders 259
die, die lateral lobes ascending, the stalk-like part below the lobes linear-wedge-
shaped; the nut is oblong, acute at both ends, 3 to 4 mm. long, rather wider than
its wings.
The tree grows rapidly and is a striking element in the northern forests, its
silvery gray or yellowish bark being quite different from any other. The hard,
strong wood is extensively used for furniture, boxes, tools, hubs, and for fuel; it
has a specific gravity of about 0.65 and takes a good poHsh.
V. THE ALDERS
GENUS ALNUS [TOURNEFORT] HILL
J|BOUT 25 species of Alders are known, distributed nearly throughout
the north temperate zone, extending in America south through Central
and South America, along the Andes, to BoHvia. The generic name
is of Celtic origin, in allusion to the growth of these shrubs and trees
along streams, and was adopted later from earlier authors. Other American
species than those here described are A. jorullensis H. B. K., A. acuminata
H. B. K., and A. arguta H. B. K., and other species in Mexico, A. acuminata H.
B. K. extending to Peru and BoHvia. A. jerruginea H. B. K. occurs in Colombia.
We have also several shrubs. The genus is not represented in the West Indies.
The wood of Alders is soft and weak, the sap watery and the bark astringent,
being used to some extent for tanning. The leaf -buds are naked, small, usually
red, the blades of the leaves being enclosed in their stipules in the bud ; the stipules
fall away when the leaves unfold. The leaves are variously toothed or lobed,
pinnately veined, with the veins usually prominent on the under side. The
flowers are very small, monoecious (dioecious bushes of A. serrulata Willdcnow
have been observed), apetalous, densely clustered in catkins, the staminate catkins
long and drooping, the pistillate short and erect; the flowers expand either in ver}'
early spring before or with the leaves, or in a few species in late summer or autumn,
long after the leaves are fully grown. The staminate flowers are borne several
together (commonly 3) in the axil of each scale of the catkin; the calyx is usually
4-parted and there are from i to 4 stamens with short filaments. The pistillate
flowers are 2 or 3 together in the axil of each scale of the catkin ; they have no
perianth, but are subtended by 2 to 4 minute bractlets; the ovary is sessile and
2-cclled, each cell containing one suspended ovule; there are 2 slender styles,
which at the time of pollination project beyond the scales of the catkin. The
ripe pistillate catkins are oblong to ovoid; they remain on the plant for several
months, their scales becoming hard and woody, closely appressed to each other
at first, spreading when old and dry, lobed or crenate at the broadened apex.
The fruit is a minute nut with sharp margined or winged edges and contains a
single seed which has no endosperm.
The European Bctula Alnus Linnaeus is the type of the genus.
26o
The Alders
Trees or shrubs flowering in early spring.
Nut bordered by a broad membranous wing on each margin.
Nut acutely margined or narrowly winged.
Foliage not glutinous when mature; native species.
Leaves prevailingly obovate; eastern shrub or small tree.
Leaves ovate, oval or ovate-lanceolate; seldom obovate.
Leaves mostly brown-pubescent beneath, at least upon the veins;
Pacific coast tree; stamens 4; staminate catkins i to 1.5 dm.
long-
Leaves green beneath.
Leaves smooth or somewhat hairy beneath; western trees
and shrubs.
Leaves obtuse, rounded or cordate at the base, doubly
serrate or somewhat lobed; stamens 4; staminate catkins
3 to 6 cm. long.
Leaves mostly narrowed, cuneate or acute at the base,
serrate, not lobed; stamens i to 3, usually 2.
Leaves ovate to oval, obtuse or acute; Pacific coast
tree.
Leaves oblong to oblong-lanceolate, acute or acumi-
nate; southwestern tree.
Leaves densely hairy on the veins beneath; eastern shrub or
small tree.
Foliage glutinous; introduced European tree.
Autumn-flowering; eastern tree.
I. A. fruticosa.
2. A. serrulata.
3. A. rubra.
4. A. tenui folia.
5. A. rhombi folia.
6. A. oblongifolia.
7. A. noveboracensis.
8. A. rotund if olia.
9. A. maritima.
Fig. 218. — Northern Alder.
I. NORTHERN ALDER -
Alnus fruticosa Ruprecht
This tree has long been confused
with the shrubby Green alder, Alnus
Alnohetula (Ehrhart) K. Koch, of
northern Europe and northeastern
North America, with which it agrees
in having the nut bordered by broad
membranous wings, but it forms a
tree up to 12 meters in height or
more, with a trunk at least 2 dm. in
diameter.
It occurs in eastern Siberia,
Alaska, and the Yukon Territory.
The American tree has been separa-
ted from the Asiatic one by Professor
Sargent under the ndjne Alnus sitchen-
sis, but our studies indicate that the
two are not specifically different.
Smooth Alder
261
The thin bark is gray and nearly smooth outside, red within. The young
twigs are slender, glandular, and minutely hsiiry, becoming brown and shining.
The leaves are ovate, rather thin, 6 to 10 cm. long, short-pointed or bluntish, finely
and somewhat irregularly toothed but not lobed, bright green, smooth, and with
impressed veins on the upper side, paler green and hairy in the axils of the
prominent veins beneath ; the leaf-stalks are i to 2 cm. long. The oblong fruit-
ing catkins are about 1.5 cm. long. The nut is about 2 mm. long, bordered on
each side by a thin wing about i mm. wide.
Alnus sinuata (Rcgel) R}-dberg, a shrub of the northern Rocky Mountains
and the Northwest, has sinuately lobed or incised leaves, which are also more
coarsely toothed; it may sometimes form a tree.
2. SMOOTH ALDER — Alnus serrulata Willdenow
Betula Almis rugosa Du Roi. Alntis rugosa K. Koch
Usually a shrub not over 6 meters high, forming thickets along water and on
moist hillsides, this alder in the South sometimes forms single trunks 13 meters
high and 1.5 dm, thick. It ranges from Maine
to Florida, ]\Iinnesota, Arkansas, and Texas.
Trees 8 meters high have been observed on
Staten island, New York.
The thin bark is smooth or nearly so, and
dark brown. The young twigs are more or less
hair}% but soon become smooth and brown.
The buds are about 5 mm. long. The leaves
arc prevaihngly obovate, but sometimes oval,
blunt or rounded at the apex, usually nar-
rowed, though sometimes rounded at the base,
sharply and finely toothed, 7 to 13 cm. long
and rather thin; when mature they are smooth
and dark green on the upper surface, a little
hghter green beneath and usually hairy along
the veins; the leaf -stalks are i to 2.5 cm. in
length, and the oval stipules fall away early. The staminatc catkins unfold in early
spring, before the leaves at the north, with or after the leaves in the south, and
are 5 to 10 cm. in length. The ripe pistillate catkins are 1.5 to 2 cm. long; the
nut is ovate and sharply margined but not winged.
The wood is soft, close-grained, and light brown; its specific gravity is about
0.47. It is used as fuel and for charcoal. The leaves arc glutinous when young.
Fig. J19. — Smooth Alder.
262
The Alders
3. OREGON ALDER
Alnus rubra Bongard
Alnus oregona Nuttall
The Oregon alder is a tall forest tree, attaining a maximum height of about
28 meters and a trunk diameter of a meter or more. It inhabits the vicinity of
the Pacific coast, extending from CaHfornia to Alaska, preferring moist soil.
The bark is nearly smooth, light gray or whitish. The young twigs are finely
velvety and green, becoming smooth, reddish, and gray. The somewhat hairy
buds are 6 to 8 mm. long. The leaves are ovate or oval, pointed or bluntish,
rather firm in texture, prominently straight-
veined, usually from 6 to 12 cm. long, but
sometimes larger, coarsely toothed with the
teeth again dentate ; when fully grown they
are smooth and dark green on the upper
surface, brown-hairy, particularly along the
orange-colored veins beneath, but some-
times only slightly so; the leaf-stalks are
stout, orange yellow, i to 2 cm. long; the
small ovate pointed stipules fall early in the
season. The catkins of staminate flowers
are i to 1.5 dm. long at the time of flower-
ing in early spring, before the leaves unfold ;
the calyx of the staminate flower is 4-lobed
and there are 4 stamens with anthers about
as long as the filaments. The ripe pistillate
catkins are 2.5 cm. long or less, their scales
thickened at the apex. The nut is 2.5 mm. long, bordered by a thin wing of only
about one third its width.
The wood is weak, brittle, Hght reddish brown, and takes a good polish; the
specific gravity is about 0.48; it is used in large amounts on the Pacific coast for
furniture, and in Alaska is made into canoes by the Indians.
Fig. 220. — Oregon Alder.
4. THIN-LEAVED ALDER — Alnus tenuifolia Nuttall
While usually a shrub, this species sometimes becomes a tree 8 to 10 meters
high, with a trunk about 2 dm. thick. It occurs along streams and lakes from the
Yukon Territory' and British Columbia south through the Rocky mountain region
to Colorado and New Mexico, and along the Sierra Nevadas to Lower CaHfornia.
Its thin, reddish brown bark is finely scaly when old. The twigs are at first
finely brown-velvety, but soon become smooth and light brown. The buds are
red, minutely hair\', and 6 to 8 mm. long. The leaves are ovate or oval, often
broadly so, rather thin, pointed or bluntish, coarsely doubly toothed or shallowly
Rhombic-Leaved Alder
263
lobed with the lobes toothed, 5
to 10 cm. long, mostly rounded
or somewhat heart-shaped at
the base; the upper surface is
bright green and smooth, the
lower light green and either
smooth or hairy, at least along
the veins, which are quite promi-
nent; the leaf-stalks vary from i
to 2.5 cm. in length; and the
thin ovate stipules, which fall
away while the leaves are un-
folding, are about i cm. long.
The catkins of staminate flowers
are 2.5 to 4.5 cm. long; each
flower has 4 stamens with iila-
ments about as long as the ca-
lyx. The ripe pistillate catkins
are oblong, i to 2 cm. long, their
scales thickened and lobed at
the top; the round-obovate nut
is about 2.5 mm. long and narrowly winged
Fig. 221. — Thin-leaved Alder.
5. RHOMBIC-LEAVED ALDER — Alnus rhombifoUa Nuttall
This tree is one of the largest North
American alders, attaining a height of 25
meters or more and a trunk diameter of
about I meter; it ranges from Washington
and Idaho, through Oregon to San Ber-
nardino county California, occurring most
abundantly in river valleys.
The dark brown bark is thick, somewhat
fissured and scaly. The young twigs are
green and hairy, but early become reddish
and smooth, and finally brown. The buds
are narrow, hair}% bluntish, and about i
cm. long. The leaves are mostly oval,
sometimes broadly so, sometimes ovate,
blunt or pointed, thickish, irregularly finely
toothed, usually narrowed or wedge-shaped
at the base, 5 to 12 cm. long, the stalk i to
2 cm. long; they are hairy on both sides when young, and when mature are rather
222
Rhombic-leaved Alder.
264
The Alders
dark green and either smooth or quite hairy on the upper side, paler and more
or less hairy beneath ; the ovate caducous stipules are about 7 mm. long. The tree
flowers in December or Januar}'; the staminate catkins are then bright yellow and
1.5 dm. long or less, each flower usually having 2 stamens, rarely i, or 3. The
ripe pistillate catkins are oblong, 1.5 to 2 cm. long, their scales a Httle thickened
and somewhat lobed at the apex; the nut is oval, about 2.5 mm. long, narrowly
margined.
The weak and brittle wood is of Httle value; it is light brown with a specific
gravity of about 0.40.
6. OBLONG-LEAVED ALDER— Alnus oblongifolia Torrey
An inhabitant of canons, the Oblong-leaved alder is a tree 10 meters high or
less, with a trunk 1.5 to 2.5 dm, in thickness; it occurs in Arizona, New Mexico,
and northern Mexico. By some authors
it has been supposed to be identical with
A. acuminata H. B. K., of Peru and
Bolivia, which extends northward along
the Andes, reaching southern Mexico,
and has ovate leaves.
The bark of the Oblong-leaved alder
is thin and light brown. The young
twigs are slightly hairy, but soon become
smooth, shining, and red to gray. The
buds are pointed, smooth, and 10 to 15
mm. long. The leaves are oblong or ob-
long-lanceolate, or some of them ovate-
oblong, pointed or blunt, rather firm in
texture, and 5 to 10 cm. long when fully
grown, irregularly sharply toothed, nar-
rowed or wedge-shaped at the base; the
upper surface is smooth and rather dark
green, the lower somewhat lighter green and hairy, at least along the veins; the
leaf-stalks are hairy, yellow, i to 2 cm. long; the small stipules are ovate-lanceo-
late. The staminate catkins are 9 cm. long or less; the flowers open in December
or January; there are usually 2 stamens, considerably longer than the calyx, or
sometimes 3. The ripe pistillate catkins are oblong, i to 1.5 cm. long, with rather
thin scales; the nut is about 2 mm. long and narrowly margined.
Fig. 223. — Oblong-leaved Alder.
7. NEW YORK ALDER — Alnus noveboracensis Britton
The New York alder inhabits wet woodlands and thickets near the coast in
southeastern New York, and probably occurs also both north and south of that
European Alder
265
New York Alder.
region; it is a shrub or small tree, when first discovered supposed to be the
same as the well-known European Alnus incana, but subsequent slurly has
shown it to be quite different from
that species; the largest individual
tree obscr\'ed was about 8 meters
high, with a trunk 1.5 dm. thick.
The bark is brown, smooth or
nearly so, the young twigs slender,
densely brownish-hairy, becoming
smooth and gray-brown the second
season. The leaves are rather thin
in texture, oblong to obovate, acute
at both ends or bluntish at the apex,
8 to 12 cm. long, 6 cm. wide or less,
sharply irregularly toothed, densely
hair}' on the prominent veins beneath,
otherwise smooth or nearly so, dark
green on the upper surface, pale green
on the lower; the leaf- stalks are about
I cm. long and very hairy. The fruit-
ing catkins are numerous, oblong,
short-stalked, 1.5 cm. long, their scales triangular- wedge-shaped, 3 to 4 mm. long,
toothed at the summit, the nut oval, half longer than wide, narrowly margined.
8. EUROPEAN ALDER— Alnus
rotundifolia Miller
Betula Alnus glutinosa Linnaeus
Alnus glutinosa Gsertner
This European tree has escaped from
cultivation and become established in New
Jersey, southern New York, eastern ]\Ias-
sachusetts, and near Chicago; it reaches,
in Europe, a height of 25 meters, with a
trunk nearly a meter in diameter.
Its bark is dark brown, rather thin, and
nearly smooth. The young twigs are loosely
hairy, soon becoming smooth. The buds
are smooth, glutinous, narrow, blunt, 8 to
10 mm. long. The leaves are broadly oval
to orbicular or obovate, thick, dark green,
22s. — European Alder. , ,, , , , i , i i
dull, often blunt at both ends, but com-
monly more or less narrowed at the base, toothed or doubly toothed, glutinous,
266
The Alders
at least when young; they are smooth on the upper surface and hair\^ on the veins
on the under side, 5 to 13 cm. long; the leaf-stalks are i to 2.5 cm. long; the
staminate catkins are 10 cm. long or less, flowering early in the spring before the
leaves unfold; the ripe pistillate catkins are ovoid-oblong, i to 2 cm. long; the nut
is wingless.
Fig. 226. — European Alder, near Kgbertville, Staten Island.
The wood is soft and light brown, with a specific gravity of about 0.55, and is
used in Europe for woodenware, cooperage, and charcoal. The bark is also
used as a tan and dve.
9. SEASIDE ALDER — Alnus maritima (Marshall) Muhlenberg
Bctida-Ahuis iiiaritiiiia Marshall
This interesting tree occurs along ponds and streams, mostly within tidal influ-
ence, in Mar\'land and Delaware, and grows also along the Red River in the Indian
Territory ; it is curiously absent, so far as is known, in tlie whole intervening territoiy.
It attains a maximum height of about to meters, with a trunk 10 to 13 cm. thick.
Seaside Alder
267
The thin, smooth bark is light brown, the young twigs green and hair}', be-
coming smooth, reddish brown or gray. The buds arc pointed and somewhat
hairy. The leaves are mostly obovate, varying to oblong, and either blunt or
pointed; they are wedge-shaped or narrowed at the base, finely toothed, 5 to 10 cm.
long, firm in texture, dark green and shining above, paler, dull, and finely hairy
beneath; the yellowish leaf-stalks are i to 2 cm. long, the oblong stipules very
Fig. 227. — Seaside Alder.
small. The staminate catkins are clustered, dense, 6 cm. long or less; their flowers
open in August or September. The ripe pistillate catkins are oval to ovoid,
2 cm. long or less, attaining their full growth in July or August of the year following
the fertihzation of their flowers; their scales are sHghtly thickened and somewhat
lobed at the apex; the nut is obovate, 3 rrim. long, margined but not winged.,
The wood is light brown with a specific gravity of 0.50.
THE BEECH FAMILY
FAGACE.^ Drude
HIS family consists of 6 genera including nearly 400 species of trees
or shrubs of wide distribution in nearly all regions of the globe. It
is of great economic importance as containing, with the exception,
perhaps, of the Pine family, the most valuable timber trees. Formerly
they were more important than now as a source of food; the European chestnut,
however, still holds a prominent place as such in some portions of southern
Europe. As a source of tanning material this family is of considerable importance.
The FagacecB have alternate, pinnately veined, mostly deciduous leaves, with
or without stipules. The flowers are small, monoecious, the staminate usually
in elongated catkins or in round heads, their perianth 4-lobed or more; stamens
4 to 8, their filaments free, slender, and distinct; anthers adnate, 2-celled, introrse
and opening lengthwise. The pistillate flowers are variously disposed, soHtary,
or several together, sometimes borne at the base of the staminate catkins; they
are subtended by an involucre of more or less united, imbricated bracts, which
become thickened and partly or entirely enclose the fruit; the perianth is urn-
shaped or oblong, 4- to 8-lobed; the ovary, which is joined to the perianth, is 3- to
7-celled, with I or 2 ovules in each cell, only one of which matures; the styles are
of the same number as there are cells of the ovary, hnear, stigmatic on the top
or sides. The fruit is a i -seeded nut with a leathery or bony covering included
in or seated on the enlarged scaly or spiny involucre; the seed fills the cavity of
the nut, its coat thin and papery, and it has no endosperm; the cotyledons are
large and fleshy.
Of the 6 genera, 5 are represented in our arborescent flora; the other one,
Nothofagus, is confined to the southern hemisphere.
Staminate catkins globose; nut triangular.
Staminate catkins slender, elongated.
Nut enclosed in a prickly bur.
Fruit maturing the first season; ovary 6-celled; leaves deciduous.
Fruit not maturing until the second season; ovary 3-celled; leaves persistent.
Nut seated in an open scaly cup.
Staminate catkins erect; pistillate flowers in clusters of 2 to 5.
Staminate catkins drooping; pistillate flowers solitary.
Fagus.
2. Castanea. '
3. Caslanopsis.
4. Pasania.
5. Qucrcus. ■>
268
American Beech
269
I. AMERICAN BEECH
GENUS FAGUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
Species Fagus grandifolia Ehrhart
Fagus jerriigiuea Alton. Fagus amerkana Sweet
^MAGNIFICENT tree, inhabiting rich soils, frequently forming
almost pure forests, ranging from Nova Scotia to Ontario, Wisconsin,
Florida and Texas; its maximum height is about 40 meters, with a
trunk diameter of 1.5 m.
The trunks, when crowded in the forest, are tall and slender, but w^hen growing
in the open they are short and low-branched, the branches widely spreading, or
drooping. The wide-spreading roots grow close to the surface of the ground and
produce many young trees, often surrounding the main one with a dense thicket.
The bark is about i cm. thick, very close, quite smooth, and light gray. The
twigs are slender, sometimes zigzag, green
and hair\', soon becoming smooth, dark yel-
low, with lighter yellow lenticels, and pass
through various shades of red and brown
to gray. The winter buds are often 2.5
cm. long, taper-pointed, and covered with
bright brown scales. The leaves are veiy
silky when unfolding, becoming stiff and
leather}-, ovate, oval or oblong-ovate, 5 to
14 cm. long, usually short taper-pointed,
gradually narrowed and wedge-shaped or
rounded, or somewhat heart-shaped at the
base, sharply toothed on the margin, light
green, becoming dull blue-green above,
yellowish green, shining and prominently
nerved beneath; leaf-stalk grooved and
slender, 1.5 to 2 cm. long; stipules thin, red- ^^^- 228. — American Beech,
dish, often 2 cm. long, soon falling off. The foliage turns bright yellow before
falling in the autumn. The flow-ers appear when the leaves are partly unfolded,
the staminate in globose drooping catkins on hair\' stalks 2 to 4 cm. long, with 2
awl-shaped deciduous bracts near the middle; the perianth is somewhat bell-
shaped, 4- to 8-lobed, the lobes ovate to oblong, blunt, 3 to 4 mm. long, hairy
outside; stamens 8 to 10, their filaments thread-hke, nearly twice the length of the
perianth; anthers light green. The pistillate flowers are usually 2 together on
club-shaped, woolly stalks 12 to 14 mm. long, in the axils of the unfolding
upper leaves and surrounded by an involucre of accrescent scales, which are
whitish hairy and tinged with red; the hain,' perianth is 4- or 5-lobed, the lobes
linear-lanceolate, and sharp-pointed. The ovar}- is inferior, 3-cellcd; styles 3,
270
American Beech
strongly reflexed, stigmatic on their inner faces; ovules 2 in each cell. In fruit
the involucre is ovoid, 1.5 to 2 cm. long, leathery, brown-hair\' with soft spreading
or recur\'ed spines, borne on a stout, club-shaped stalk 10 to 20 mm. long. The
nut is I to 1.5 cm. long, 3-anglcd and narrowly 3-winged, finely hairy, light brown
and shining, ripening in late summer, the kernel sweet and edible. The in-
volucres remain on the tree long after the nut has fallen out.
Fig. 229. — American Beech, W'oodlawn, New York.
The wood is hard, strong, tough, ver}^ close-grained, dark or light red-brown;
its specific gravity is about 0.67. It is used in the manufacture of furniture, plane-
stocks and other tools, and for fuel. It is a favorite for smoking meats and is much
used in the manufacture of creosote and other chemical products of destructive
distillation. The kernel is sweet and is largely gathered in Canada and sold in
the northern cities; southward, however, the tree produces its fruit but sparingly.
The genus contains about 5 species, confined to the northern hemisphere.
The Chestnuts 271
The name is the old classic one of the European beech, Fagus sylvatica, the
type of the genus, which has darker foliage and is frequently planted in our area,
especially the very dark-leaved form known as the Copper beech. A very pic-
turesque weeping form is also a great favorite with lovers of beautiful trees. In
Europe the fruit is largely used as food for swine, and the sweet, bland, fixed oil
expressed from it is used as food. Fossil remains representing species in this
genus have been found in Alaska, Colorado, and California.
II. THE CHESTNUTS
GENUS CASTANEA [TOURNEFORT] ADANSON
ASTANEA comprises about 5 species of trees or shrubs of the north
temperate zone, none, however in western North America; they are
noted for their large, sweet nuts.
They have alternate, stiff, membranous, sharp-toothed, straight-
veined leaves and caducous stipules. The flowers are strong-scented, appearing
after the leaves have fully unfolded. The staminate are in erect or ascending
deciduous catkins in the axils of the lower leaves; the flowers are in clusters of 3
to 7, stalked in the axils of small ovate bracts, some of them being subtended
by two smaller bractlets;- the perianth is bell-shaped, deeply 6-lobed, the lobes
ovate and rounded; stamens 10 to 20, their filaments thread-like and white, the
anthers ovoid or globose, yellow, long-exserted and introrse. The pistillate
flowers are at the base of the upper catkins in clusters of 2 to 5, mostly 3, enclosed
in a green, sessile or almost sessile involucre of thick, imbricated, oblong, sharp-
pointed, more or less hairy scales; the perianth is urn-shaped, 6-toothed, the
staminodes shorter than the teeth; ovary inferior, elongated, imperfectly 6-celled;
styles 6, spreading, linear, white, hair}% stigmatic at the apex and projecting
much beyond the involucre; ovules 2 in each cell. The fruit ripens in the
autumn of the first season, composed of the much enlarged, spiny, i- to 4-valved
involucre, completely enclosing the i to 3 nuts, or seldom more, which are leathery
coated, ovate, pointed, more or less compressed or flattened when crowded; they
have a large basal scar and are tipped with the withered style; seed usually only
one, completely filling the cavity, without endosperm; the cotyledons are thick,
fleshy, sweet and mealy.
The genus was founded on the Old World chestnut, Castanea Castanea (Lin-,
naeus) Karsten, which is cultivated in several improved varieties and its nuts are a
very important source of food in some sections of southern Europe and western
Asia, where they are dried and ground into meal; they are much larger than the Ameri-
can nut, but less sweet. It is sometimes cultivated in this countr}'. The-
name is the classic name of the Old World tree and is supposed to be derived from
a city of that name in Thessaly. Fossil remains referable to this genus have been
found in the Arctic regions of both hemispheres and in western North America.
2/2
The Chestnuts
In addition to the two arborescent species, a low shrub, Castanea nana
Muhlenberg, also called Chinquapin, occurs in sandy barrens of the Gulf States;
it has underground stems, but may not be distinct from C. pumila.
Our arborescent species are:
Leaves densely tomentose beneath; small tree or shrub.
Leaves smooth on both sides; large forest tree.
1. C. pumila.
2. C. deniaia.
I. CHINQUAPIN — Castanea pumila (Linnieus) Miller
Fagus pumila Linnaeus
This small tree, or more often a shrub, of dry, sandy soils, from New Jersey
to Indiana and southward to Florida, Missouri and Texas, reaches its greatest
development in Arkansas, where it attains a
maximum height of about i6 meters, with a
trunk diameter of i m.
The trunk is usually short. The branches are
slender and spreading, forming a roundish tree.
The bark is about i6 mm, thick, somewhat fur-
rowed and broken into loose plates of a Hght
brown color. The twigs are slender, pale woolly
at first, soon becoming smoothish, red-brown, and
finally darker brown and bearing many small
lenticels; buds axillary, ovoid 4 mm. long and
covered with scurfy red scales; there are no
terminal buds. The leaves are thick and firm,
oblong or obovate, sharp-pointed or rounded at
the apex, gradually narrowed toward the often
unequal, rounded or cuneate base, sharply toothed
on the margin, reddish tinged when unfolding, becoming yellowish green,
smooth and shining above, pale, finely hairy, and prominently straight-veined be-
neath. The leaf-stalk is stout, flattened above, hairy, 6 to 12 mm. long; the yel-
lowish green stipules are smooth and soon fall away. The flowers appear in May
or June, the staminate catkins more or less spreading, 10 to 20 cm. long, with a
stout hairy axis; the upper catkins are from 5 to 15 cm. long, bearing the pistillate
flowers at the base, which are usually scattered, sometimes crowded; the in-
volucre is sessile or nearly so, one-flowered, seldom 2-flowered, glandular and
whitish hairy. The fruit ripens from August to October, is subglobose, 3 to 4
cm. in diameter, densely covered with stiff spines and usually containing only one
nut, seldom 2; the inner surface of the bur is softly silky; the nut is ovoid to
ovoid-cylindric, rounded at the base, tapering to the sharp-pointed more or less
hairy apex, bright brown and shining, i to 2 cm. long, thin -shelled ; the seed is very
sweet.
The wood is hard, strong, coarse-grained, and brown; its specific gravity is
Fig. 230. — Chinquapin.
Chestnut
273
about 0.59. It is very durable in the soil and is esteemed for fence-posts and rail-
road ties. The fruit is collected and sold in the markets of the south and west,
but seldom reaches those of the northeast. It is a beautiful small tree and deserves
more frequent planting in parks.
A remarkable specimen from Eagle Rock, Missouri has large leaves as
coarsely toothed as those of the Chestnut.
2. CHESTNUT — Castanea dentata (Marshall) Borckhausen
Fagns Castanea dentata Marshall. Castanea vesca americana Michaux
This stately tree is frequent throughout eastern North America from
Maine to Ontario and Michigan, southward to Delaware and thence along the
mountains to northern Alabama and Mississippi, and to Indiana and Arkansas.
It is tall and slender in the forests, but broad and spreading, with somewhat
drooping branches, forming a round top often 30 meters across when growing
in the open. Its maximum height is about 30 meters, with a trunk diameter of
4 meters.
The bark is from 2.5 to 5 cm. thick, deeply and narrowly furrowed into nearly
flat somewhat obhque ridges and divided into
small, irregular, close scales of a dark brown
color. The twigs are slender, round, shghtly
hairy, becoming smooth, and change through va-
rious shades of yellow and reddish to dark brown.
There is no terminal bud ; the winter buds are
all lateral, ovoid, sharp-pointed, 6 mm. long,
their thin scales bright brown. The leaves are
thin, narrowly elHptic, elhptic-lanceolate or ob-
long-lanceolate, I to 3 dm. long, taper-pointed,
gradually narrowed to the wedge-shaped base,
coarsely and sharply toothed on the margin,
smooth on both sides, dull yellowish green and
shining above, paler and prominently veined be-
neath; the leaf-stalk is yellow, stout and angular,
I to 2 cm. long; the stipules ovate-lanceolate, 12
mm. long, soon faUing off. In autumn the foh-
age turns bright yellow. The flowers appear in June or July after the leaves are
quite fully expanded; they are strong scented, in numerous upright or spreading
catkins, the staminate 1.5 to 3 dm. long, the flower-clusters crowded on a stout,
green axis. The upper catkins are slender, 5 to 12 cm. long; their upper stami-
nate flowers are smaller than those of the lower catkins and soon fall away from
the persistent axis, toward the base of which are borne the 2 or 3 stalked
globular involucres, 8 mm. in diameter, armed with crowded stiff spines, and
enclosing 2 or 3 pistillate flowers. The fruit ripens in September and October;
274 Golden-Leaf Chinquapin
the burs are yellowish green, globular, 5 to 7 cm. in diameter and very densely
covered with numerous stiff spines; internally they are coated with soft, silky,
brownish hairs and enclose 2 or 3, rarely 5 nuts, or only i; the nuts are ovoid, 2
to 2.5 cm. long, usually flattened on one side, bright brown, broadly scarred at
the base and finely hairy at the apex; seed sweet and delicious. The burs open
spontaneously on the tree after several severe frosts, when the nuts are shaken
out by the lightest breeze ; they are largely gathered from native trees in the moun-
tainous districts and shipped to the cities, where they are eagerly consumed, usually
after roasting. The nuts vary greatly in size and quality on different trees.
The wood is soft, weak, very coarse-grained, yellowish brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.45. It is very durable in the soil, sphts easily, and is much used
for fencing and for building. It is also rich in tannic acid and has been used in
tanner)'. The leaves are an imaginary specific for whooping cough.
Its rapid growth and fine form make of it a very desirable tree, while its valuable
fruit should obtain for it more scientific cultivation. It is unfortunately subject
to a destructive fungus disease, which rapidly kills branches and young trees,
pursuing its ravages under the bark.
A tree on which the involucres and burs are suppressed grows in Greene
county. New York, where it is widely known as the Burless chestnut. A tree
in the New York Botanical Garden has many of the flowers transformed into
small leaves.
III. GOLDEN-LEAF CHINQUAPIN
GENUS CASTANOPSIS [D. DON] SPACH
Species Castanopsis chrysophylla (Hooker) A. de Candolle
Castanea chrysophylla Hooker
[ILSO called Golden-leaved chestnut, this is a beautiful evergreen tree
of the Pacific slope from the Columbia River southward to the San
Jacinto Mountains; in the coastal valleys of northern CaHfomia it
attains a height of 45 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 m.
The trunk is straight and often fluted, often without branches for half its
length. The branches are short and spreading, forming a compact round or
conic tree. The bark is about 4 cm. thick, deeply fissured into blunt, broad
ridges which are covered with rather thick dark red-brown scales; internally it is
bright red. The twigs are slender, stiff, bright yellow and scurfy, finally becoming
nearly smooth, dark red-brown and bearing small Icnticels and scars of the bud-
scales. The buds are 6 mm. long, usually crowded near the ends of the twigs,
ovoid to nearly globular, covered by many broad bro\\Ti scales. The leaves are
thick and leathery, 5 to 15 cm. long, lanceolate or oblong, gradually taper- pointed,
wedge-shaped at the base, entire, somewhat thickened and revolute on the margin,
thin and hairy when unfolding, becoming dark green, smooth and shining, golden-
Golden-Leaf Chinquapin
275
hairy beneath; the stout leaf-stalk is grooved, and from 5 lo 10 mm. long. The
leaves turn yellow at the end of their second year, and gradually fall off; the
stipules are brown and fall very early. The flowers are monoecious, appearing
during the summer, a few continuing to unfold for several months afterward. The
staminate are in erect or spreading elongated catkins with a stout scurfy axis,
about 7 cm. long, clustered at the ends of the branchlcts and composed of
3-fiowered clusters in the axils of ovate sharp-pointed scales; the perianth is bell-
shaped, deeply 5-lobcd or 6-lobed; stamens 10 to 12, their filaments thread-hke,
elongated; anthers oblong, 2-celled, opening lengthwise; ovar>' rudimentary and
Fig. 232. — Golden-leaf Chinquapin.
hairy. The pistillate flowers are in clusters of 2 or 3, or solitar}^ at the base of
some of the lower catkins, enclosed in an involucre of scales; the globose-oblong
perianth is 6-lobed; abortive stamens as many as the perianth lobes and opposite
them; ovary inferior, sessile, conic, hair)-; stigmas sUghtly spreading. The fruit,
ripening in the autumn of the second season, is globose, 2.5 to 4 cm. in diameter,
sessile, sohtary or clustered, covered by long, slender, stiflf, sharp spines, dehiscent
into 4 irregular valves, coated with long hairs on the inside and containing i nut
or sometimes 2, the nuts ovoid, bluntly 3-anglcd, with a large basal scar,
pale hairy near the apex, otherwise brown and shining; the shell is thick with a
thin papery inner coat; the seed fills the cavity, and is sweet and edible.
The wood is soft, close-grained, weak, light reddish brown; its specific gravity
is about 0.56. On account of its lack of strength it is seldom used except for fuel.
276
Tan Bark Oak
The bark is very rich in tannin and is one of the principal tan barks of the Pacific
States.
The genus contains about 25 species, mostly natives of southeastern Asia and
the Malay region. Castanopsis sempervirens (Kellogg) Dudley, a shrub of higher
altitudes in California and Nevada, was long confused with this tree, which
often assumes shrubby forms. The generic name is Greek, in allusion to the
resemblance to the Chestnut, the type species being C. armata (D. Don) Spach,
of Asia.
IV. TAN BARK OAK
GENUS PASANIA [MIQUEL] ORSTED
Species Pasania densiflora (Hooker and Arnott) Orsted
Querciis densiflora Hooker and Arnott
[|LSO called Chestnut oak, this is one of the most stately broad-leaved
trees of the Pacific States and occurs from southern Oregon southward
along the Coast mountains to Santa Barbara county, CaHfomia, attain-
ing in its greatest dimensions a height of 30 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 1.8 m. Its leaves are evergreen.
The trunk is tall and straight with a narrow head when growing in the
forest; in the open it is shorter and much branched, the outspreading branches
forming a broad round-topped tree. The bark is 2 to 3.5 cm. thick, deeply
and narrowly fissured into broad ridges^
which are much broken into angular scaly
plates of a bright reddish brown color.
The twigs are short, yellowish hairy the
first season, becoming smooth, glaucous^
and dark red-brown; the buds are ovoid,
6 to 8 mm. long, sharp-pointed, and cov-
ered by woolly, ovate scales and surrounded
by awl-shaped stipules. The leaves, which
persist for 3 or 4 years, are leathery, ob-
long or oblong-obovate, 7 to 12 cm. long,
blunt or sharp-pointed, rounded, taper-
ing, or often somewhat heart-shaped at the
base, sharply toothed, re volute on the mar-
gin, densely yellow hairy and glandular at
first, becoming pale green, smooth and shin-
ing, but often remaining more or less rusty
hairy for some time and with prominent
midrib above, pale or nearly white, nearly smooth and conspicuously veined
beneath. The leaf-stalk is short, stiff and hairy, about 1.5 cm. long; stipules vari-
ous, oblong to linear-lanceolate, caducous or the late ones persistent for several
Fig. 233. — Tan Bark Oak.
The Oaks 277
months. The flowers appear during the spring and sometimes sparingly during
the rest of the year, in the axils of leaves of the season or of the previous year,
in erect, hairy catkins 7 to 10 cm. long; the staminate catkins consist of
crowded, 3-flowered clusters, with ovate hairy bracts, the hairy perianth has 5
sharp, triangular lobes; stamens 10, their filaments elongated and slender; anthers
small, notched; the abortive ovary is small and hairy. The pistillate flowers are
borne near the base of the upper catkins, soHtary in the axils of sharp, hairy
bracts; the perianth is 6-lobed, hairy; ovary ovoid, hairy, incompletely 3-celled;
styles 3, elongated and sHghtly spreading, Hght green; there is a staminode at the
base of each lobe of the perianth with a slender red exserted filament and an
abortive anther. The fruit ripens during the second season, borne on stout
hairy peduncles 12 to 18 mm. long, soHtary or two together; the nut is ovoid,
sharp-pointed, 1.5 to 3 cm. long, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. in diameter, scurfy when young,
smooth and brown when ripe; shell hard, hairy within, enclosing the thick, red-
brown seed; cotyledons hght yellow and bitter; involucre saucer-shaped, shal-
low, brown hairy within, bearing many hnear, spreading or recurved hght brown
hairy scales, the fruit much resembling that of the eastern Bur oak.
The wood is hard, strong, close-grained, brittle, Ught reddish brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.68. It is Kttle used except as fuel, for which it is highly valued.
The bark is rich in tannin and preferred to all other Pacific slope oaks. The
tree sprouts readily from stumps and thus renews itself like the Chestnut tree of
the eastern States. It is of much interest as combining many of the characters
of both chestnuts and oaks.
Pasania consists of about 100 species of trees and shrubs, mostly of the
Malay region and southern Asia. A shrubby species, with smaller entire leaves,
occurs in the higher mountainous regions of California adjacent to the range
of the Tan bark oak, with which it was formerly confused. The generic name
is adapted from the Javanese name for one of the species, the type being P.
spicata (Smith) Orsted.
V. THE OAKS
GENUS QUERCUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN.EUS
UERCUS comprises about 250 species of trees or shrubs of the northern
hemisphere, reaching to or somewhat beyond the equator in the high
mountains of Central and South America, its center of distribution
being the mountains of Central America and Mexico; there are very
few species in Europe. Numerous fossil forms of the genus have been found
in both hemispheres.
Economically these trees are of great value as furnishing some of the most
important and most generally used hard wood timber. The barks of many are
rich in tannin and of great importance in tanning, as are also the galls caused
2/8 The Oaks
by insect punctures on some species, the best containing from 60 to 70 per cent,
of tannic acid. These galls and some of the barks are valued as astringents in
medicine. The thick corky bark, especially of Q. Suher Linnaeus, and of Q.
occidentalis J. Gay, both natives of southern Europe, is valued as the material
from which corks and many other useful articles are manufactured. The nuts of
many species have been used from time to time as food for man and are still so
used in some districts, especially in the mountains of Mexico; roasted they also
form a substitute for coffee. The Old World species, Q. Robur Linnseus, in
its several forms, is extensively used in Europe as an ornamental shade tree, and
is planted to some extent in this country'.
They have alternate, simple, deciduous or persistent leaves, which are pin-
nately lobed, variously toothed or entire, often bristle-tipped. The stipules usually
fall off early. The flowers are monoecious, the staminate numerous, usually in
clustered slender drooping catkins, their calyx bell-shaped, 4- to 7-lobed, subtended
by caducous bracts; stamens 6 to 12, usually exserted; filaments thread-Hke;
anthers usually oblong and smooth, sometimes hairy ; rarely there is a rudimentary
ovary. The pistillate flowers are sohtary or in small clusters; calyx urn-shaped,
joined to the usually 3-celled ovary and subtended by a many-bracted involucre;
ovules 2 in each cavity, usually only one maturing; styles usually 3, stigmatic
tipped. The fruit, called acorn, consists of an indchiscent, i-celled, usually
i-seeded, leathery, ovoid, oblong or subglobose nut, more or less embraced by a
cup consisting of the enlarged involucre of imbricated and somewhat enlarged
bracts; cotyledons half round, occasionally united. The fmits of many of the
species require two years to mature.
The name is the old classic name of the oak, probably of Celtic origin and
signifying beautiful tree, the type species being the European Quercus Robur
Linnaeus.
In addition to the arborescent species, there are a considerable number of
shrubs, especially in the region of the Rocky Mountains and beyond.
A. Leaves or their lobes mostly bristle-tipped; styles elongated; shell of
nut mostly pubescent inside,
a. Fruit maturing the second season.
* Leaves deciduous.
t Leaves pinnatifid or pinnately lobed, or, if entire, obovate or
spatulate.
§ Leaves pinnatifid or pinnately lobed, usually deeply so.
"Leaves green on both sides.
Cup saucer-shaped, much broader than high.
Cup 16 to 30 mm. broad; leaves dull, not shining. i. Q. rubra.
Cup 8 to 16 mm. broad; leaves shining above.
Nut little, if at all, longer than thick.
Petioles 2 cm. long or more; leaves 5- to 9-lobed. 2. Q. palustris.
Petioles less than 2 cm. long; leaves 3- to 5-lobed. 3. Q. georgiana.
Nut ovoid, considerably longer than thick.- 4. Q. Schneckii.
Cup top-shaj)ed to hemispheric or deeper.
The Oaks
279
Inner scales of cup inflexcd; southern tree.
Inner scales of cup not inflcxed.
Inner bark of tree bright orange; leaves mostly
hairy, at least on the veins.
Inner bark gray to reddish or yellow; leaves green
beneath.
Leaves dull, not shining, paler beneath; northern
tree.
Leaves shining above.
Cup 10 to 15 mm. broad.
Cup top-shaped; nut ellipsoid to subglobose;
northern tree.
Cup hemispheric; nut oblong; Texan tree.
Cup 15 to 25 mm. broad.
Cup much wider than high; eastern tree.
Cup about as wide as high; western tree.
°° Leaves white-tomentulose or gray-tomentulose beneath;
eastern trees.
Large trees; leaf-lobes mostly long, lanceolate.
Leaves rounded or obtuse at base, 3- to 7-lobed.
Leaves cuneate, acute or truncate at the base; 5- to
13-lobed.
Small tree or shrub; leaf-lobes triangular, short.
§§ Leaves 3- to 5-lobed above the middle or entire, obovate or
spatulate in outline.
Cup hemispheric; leaves obovate, brown hairy beneath.
Cup saucer-shaped; leaves spatulate to obovate, smooth.
Cup shallow; nut over 10 mm. long; leaves thick.
Cup deep; nut less than 10 mm. long; leaves thin,
tt Leaves entire or rarely with a few teeth toward the apex, linear
to elliptic or oblanceolate; Willow oaks.
Leaves smooth beneath.
Cup very flat.
Leaves sharp-pointed, linear-oblong to narrowly elliptic.
Leaves blunt, oblong to cuneate-oblong.
Cup with a narrow base, saucer-shaped; leaves shining
above.
Leaves hairy beneath.
Leaves brown hairy beneath; cup mostly hemispheric.
Leaves gray-hairy beneath; cup saucer-shaped.
** Leaves persistent.
Leaves densely white downy beneath; southwestern tree.
Leaves green beneath, smooth when mature.
Nut long, narrowly ovoid; cup deep; California tree.
Nut short, ovoid; cup shallow; southeastern tree,
b. Fruit maturing the first season; leaves persistent; leaves oval to orbic-
ular, convex; California tree.
B. Leaves lobed or entire, rarely bristle tipped; styles very short or none;
shell of nut mostly smooth inside; White oaks.
a. Fruit maturing the second season; leaves persistent.
5. Q. Calesbcet.
6. Q. velulina.
Q. borealis.
8. Q. ellipsoidalis.
9. Q. texana.
10. Q. coccinea.
11. Q. Kelloggii.
12. Q. triloba.
13. Q. pagodcpjolia.
14. Q. ilicijolia.
15. Q. marylandica.
16. Q. nigra.
17. Q. microcarya.
18.
Q. Phellos.
19.
Q. hybrida.
20.
Q. laurijolia.
21.
Q. imhricaria
22.
Q. cinerea.
23-
Q. hypoleuca.
24.
Q. Wislizeni.
25-
Q. myriijolia.
26.
Q. agrijolia.
28
o
The Oaks
28.
.29.
34-
35-
Nut small, smooth inside, leaves abruptly short -acuminate; south-
western tree.
Nut large, silky inside; leaves acuminate to obtuse; California trees.
Leaves pale and smooth beneath, at least when old; cup thick.
Leaves stellate hairy, at least on the veins beneath; cup thin,
b. Fruit maturing the first season.
* Leaves persistent, mostly evergreen.
Southeastern trees.
Leaves not reticulate-veined.
Leaves reticulate-veined.
Western and southwestern trees.
Leaves coarsely reticulate-veined and hairy beneath.
Leaves oblong to oblbng-obovate, acute; cup hemispheric.
Leaves obovate, mostly blunt; cup saucer-shaped.
Leaves not coarsely reticulate-veined beneath, sometimes
finely reticulated.
Leaves dark green above.
Leaves spinulose-toothed to entire, cordate or rounded at
base; Texas to Arizona.
Leaves not spinulose, but sinuate-lobed, rarely entire,
narrowed at base; Texan tree.
Leaves light green or blue-green.
Cup-scales, at least the lower, corky-thickened on the
back.
Leaves sinuately 5- to 7-lobed; Arizona tree.
Leaves entire, wavy or toothed.
Leaves hairy beneath even when old.
Leaves smooth beneath when old. '
Nut 10 to 15 mm. long; Texas to Arizona.
Nut 18 to 25 mm. long; southern California.
Cup-scales thin, scarcely thickened on the back; Arizona
tree.
** Leaves deciduous.
Leaves blue-green; California tree.
Leaves yellow-green to dark green,
t Leaves entire, wavy or lobed only near the apex.
Cup saucer-shaped.
Leaves hairy beneath; cup thin.
Leaves smooth; cup thick.
Cup hemispheric.
Leaves coarsely lobed toward the apex, smooth when
mature.
Leaves irregularly lobed or angulate, persistently pubes-
cent beneath,
tt Leaves coarsely toothed or lobed nearly all around.
Leaves crenate or shallovvly lobed; Chestnut oaks; eastern trees.
Acorns sessile or nearly so.
Low tree or usually a shrub; leaves obovate. 46.
Tall trees.
Leaves oblong to lanceolate or some of them
obovate; bark close. 47.
27. Q. Wilcoxii.
Q. chrysolepis.
Q. tomentella.
30-
Q. virginiana
31-
Q. geminata.
32-
Q. arizonica.
32>-
Q. reticulata.
Q. Emoryi.
Q. breviloba.
36.
Q. pauciloba.
37-
Q. undulata.
38.
Q. ohlongijolia.
39-
Q. Engelmanni.
40.
Q. Toumeyi.
41.
Q. Douglasii.
42.
43-
44.
45-
Q. Durandii.
Q. Laceyi.
Q. aiistrina.
Q. Chapmani.
Q. prinoides.
Q. Muhlenhergii.
Red Oak
281
Leaves obovate; bark flaky.
Acorns manifestly stalked (short -stalked in no. 50).
Peduncles shorter than the petioles or about as long.
Bark close, deeply furrowed; leaves gray tomentose
beneath.
Bark flaky.
Leaves smooth; Texan tree.
Leaves densely hairy beneath.
Peduncles much longer than the petioles.
Leaves deeply lobed.
Leaves hairy, at least on the veins beneath, even when old
Upper scales of the cup awned, forming a fringe around
the rim of cup.
Upper scales of the cup not awned.
Acorn mostly broader than high; nut mostly immersed
in the cup; leaves lyrate, usually white-tomentu-
lose beneath.
Acorn longer than broad; nut not more than half
immersed in cup.
Western trees.
Large trees of the Pacific states.
Nut conic and acute; cup-scales thickened.
Mainland tree; leaves deeply lobed; cup
shallow.
Island tree; leaves not deeply lobed; cup
deep.
Nut ovoid or obovoid-oblong; cup-scales thin.
Small trees or shrubs of the Rocky mountain
region.
Mature leaves velvety beneath.
Cup-scales thin.
Cup-scales corky-thickened.
Mature leaves not velvety beneath, thin.
Eastern trees.
Leaves with rounded upper lobes; cup 11 to 14
mm. broad; southern tree or shrub.
Leaves with truncate or emarginate upper lobes;
cup 15 to 20 mm. broad; eastern tree.
Leaves smooth and pale beneath when old; cup shallow.
48. Q. Alexanderi.
49. Q. Prinus.
SO-
Q. Brayi.
51-
Q. Michauxii.
52.
Q. bicolor. '-
53. Q. macrocarpa. '^
54. Q. lyrata.
55. Q. lohata.
56. Q. MacDonaldi.
57. Q. Garryana.'^
58. Q. siibmollis.
59. Q. utahensis.
60. Q. leptophylla.
61. Q. MargareUa.
62.
63-
Q. stellata.
Q. alba.
I . RED OAK — Quercus rubra Linnaeus
This well-known tree extends from Nova Scotia to Minnesota and Kansas,
southward to Florida and Kansas, reaching its greatest development in the region
between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River. Its maximum height is 50 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m. It is also called Yellow oak. Black oak. Leopard
oak, and Spanish oak.
The branches are stout and somewhat spreading, forming a narrow, round-
topped head, or in the open they are widely spreading and form a broad, round
282
The Oaks
Fig. 234. — Red Oak.
tree. The bark is up to 4 cm. thick, shallowly furrowed into low rounded
ridges sHghtly broken into close plates, dark
reddish brown; on younger trunks and on
branches it is smooth and gray to brown. The
twigs are slender, Ught green and shining, be-
coming dark green or reddish, and finally dark
brown. The winter buds are ovoid, 6 mm.
long, narrowed upward to a sharp point and
Hght brown. The leaves are oval, ovate or
obovate in outline, 10 to 20 cm. long, the 5 to 7
lobes ascending, entire or with a few bristle-
tipped teeth, their sinuses rounded and ex-
tending about half-way to the midrib, base
wedge-shaped or obtuse. They are thin but
firm, dull green, Httle shining, with prominent
yellow, or often red midrib above, pale and
smooth, except for tufts of hairs in the axils of
the veins, and with a yellow midrib beneath,
turning dull yellow or hght brown and fall
off early in autumn. The leaf-stalk is 3 to 5
cm. long, usually red or yellow. The flowers appear when the leaves are about
half unfolded, the staminate in clustered slender hairy catkins about i dm. long,
scattered on short pedicels; the calyx is deeply lobed, with 4 or 5 rounded lobes;
the stamens 4 or 5, exserted, their anthers large, oblong, notched, and smooth.
The pistillate flowers are few together on short smooth stalks; involucre-scales
ovate, mostly blunt, reddish brown; floral bracts longer than the scales of the
involucre; calyx- lobes lanceolate, sharp-pointed; styles 3, spreading, light green.
The fruit ripens in the autumn of the second season, one or two together, on
stalks about 6 mm. long; its nut is ovoid, 2.5 to 3 cm. long, flat at the base, tipped
at apex, the interior of the shell velvety; cup flat, saucer-shaped, 2.5 to 3.5 cm.
across, hairy within, hght reddish brown outside, embracing about one fifth of the
nut, the scales closely imbricated, shghtly hairy.
The wood is hard, strong, coarse-grained, light reddish brown; its specific gra-vity
is about 0.66. It checks much in drj-ing and is used in construction work, for fur-
niture, and in general carpentry.
A handsome tree and greatly admired in Europe. It is a rapid grower and
deserves to be more widely planted for shade than it has been.
Quercus rubra runcinaia A. de Candolle, from near St. Louis, Missouri, is sup-
posed to be a hybrid of this and the Spanish oak, Q. triloba Michaux; it possesses
features of both. Another supposed hybrid, also from Missouri, may be a cross
with the Shingle oak, Q. imbricaria Michaux, as it possesses characters found in
both species.
Pin Oak
283
2. PIN OAK ^ Quercus palustris Du Roi
This handsome tree occurs in wet river-bottom lands or on the borders of
swamps in rich soil from Massachusetts to ^Michigan and Missouri, southward to
Its maximum height is about 40
Fig. 235
Virginia, Tennessee, and Indian Territor}^
meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m. It
is also called Swamp Spanish oak. Water
oak, and Water Spanish oak.
The trunk is tall and straight, its
lower branches small, tough, and drooping,
the others are mostly spreading and longer,
forming, when not crowded, a symmetrical
conic tree, which in old age becomes
more round and irregular. The bark is
about 2.5 cm. thick, nearly smooth or cov-
ered with small close scales of a dark gray
color; on the branches it is smoother, light
brown and shining, or often reddish. The
twigs are slender, at first dark red and
short whitish hairy, soon becoming smooth,
green and shining, finally dark grayish
brown. The winter buds are ovoid, 3. mm. long, sharp pointed, their scales light
brown. The leaves are broadly oval to ovate or oblong in outline, 6 to 15 cm.
long, their 5 to 9 lobes oblong, lanceolate or triangular, usually with long bristle-
tipped teeth, the sinuses usually wide, deep, and rounded, the base wedge-shaped
or broadly tapering; they are thin and firm, dark green and shining above, pale
and smooth except for tufts of hairs in the axils of the prominent venation beneath,
turning a beautiful scarlet in the autumn before falhng. The leaf-stalk is 2 to 5
cm. long, slender, nearly round, and yellow. The flowers appear in May when the
leaves are about one third unfolded ; the staminate in slender, hair}^ catkins, 3 to 5
cm. long; the calyx is minutely hairy, its 4 or 5 lobes oblong, obtuse; stamens 4
or 5, exserted, their anthers oblong, slightly notched, smooth and yellow. The
pistillate flowers are on short, hair}- peduncles, their involucre scales ovate, woolly;
styles spreading or recurved, and light red. The fruit, ripening in the autumn of
the second year, is sessile or very short-stalked, sohtan- or in clusters; nut hemis-
pheric when young, becoming subglobose, 10 to 15 mm. long, light brown, often
striped; shell thin, pale and brownish velvety inside; cup saucer-shaped, 12 to 15
mm. across, embracing ver>' httle of the nut, dark reddish brown and haiiy on
inner surface, Hght reddish brown and shining on outer surface, the scales with
rounded apex and dark margins.
The wood is hard, strong, coarse-grained, and light brown; its specific gravity
is about 0.69. It checks and warps badly; it is used in construction work and
for shingles.
284
The Oaks
The Pin oak grows rapidly, is easily transplanted, and is one of the most de-
sirable oaks for shade on streets or in parks. An interesting form of this tree
with narrowly obovate leaves occurs on the Palisades of New Jersey.
Fig. 236. — Pin Oaks, New York Botanical Garden.
Georgia Oak
285
3. GEORGIA OAK — Quercus georgiana M. A. Curtis
A small tree, but more often a bushy shrub, of very local occurrence, being
known only from Stone Mountain and a few similar granite uplifts in the same
section of the state for which it is named. Its maximum height is 9 meters, with
a trunk diameter of 3 dm.
The bark is rough, thin, covered with small, light brown scales. The twigs are
slender, smooth, and dark green, becoming reddish and finally dark brown or gray.
The winter buds are
ovoid, sharp or blunt-
pointed, about 3 mm.
long. The leaves are
obovate or oblong in out-
line, 8 to 10 cm, long,
the 3 to 5, rarely 7, lobes
are triangular or ovate
and bristle pointed ; their
sinuses are oblique, wide
or narrow, extending
about half-way to the
midrib; the base is grad-
ually wedge-shaped.
They are thin, bright
green and shining, with
a slender rounded yel-
low midrib above, paler, ^^^- ^37- - Georgia Oak.
somewhat shining, smooth or with a few hairs at the axils of the principal veins
beneath, fuming dull orange or scarlet in autumn; the leaf-stalk is slender,
grooved, somewhat hairy, and scarcely 2 cm. long. The flowers appear in April,
when the leaves are about one half unfolded, the staminate in clustered slender,
few-flowered catkins 5 to 7.5 cm. long; their hairy calyx has 4 or 5 ovate, rounded
lobes; stamens 4 or 5, somewhat exserted; anthers oblong, slightly notched, smooth
and yellow. The pistillate flowers are on short, slender, smooth stalks, their
involucral scales ovate; calyx-lobes sharp-pointed and slightly hairy; styles elon-
gated, red. The fruit, ripening in the autumn of the second year, is borne on
stout stalks about 5 mm. long, sohtary or in clusters of 2 or 3; nut ovoid to nearly
globose, 10 to 14 mm. long, reddish brown and shining; cup thin, saucer- shaped,
15 mm. wide or less, embracing ver\' little of the base of the nut, its scales blunt
and irregularly toothed.
Uncommon in cultivation, but hardy as far north as Massachusetts.
A supposed hybrid occurs on Stone Mountain, which is thought to be a cross
with Quercus niarylandica.
286
The Oaks
4. SCHNECK'S OAK — Quercus Schneckii Britton
Querais texana Sargent, not Buckley
This large tree, greatly resembling the Pin oak in general appearance, occurs
from North Carolina to Illinois, Iowa and southward to Florida and Texas. Its
maximum height is 65 meters, with a trunk diameter of 2.5 m.
The trunk is much buttressed, tall and straight. The branches are tough,
pendulous below, spreading above, the tree usually round-topped. The bark is
sparsely furrowed into broad ridges of a reddish
brown color, or on younger stems smooth and
gray. The twigs are stout and brittle, hairy at
first, soon becoming smooth, light green, orange
or reddish brown, and finally brown or gray.
The winter buds are ovoid or oblong, about 4
mm. long, pointed or rounded at the apex. The
leaves are ovate to obovate in outline, 6 to 20
cm. long, the 5 to 9 lobes oblong to triangular,
spreading or ascending, bristle-tipped, sometimes
toothed, their sinuses usually wide and rounded,
extended about half-way to the midrib or more;
they are tapering at the base, thin, bright dark
green and shining above, paler and smooth, ex-
cept for tufts of hairs at the axils of the princi-
pal veins, beneath. The leaf-stalk is slender, 2
to 5 cm. long. The flowers appear in the spring, the pistillate ones having rather
short, spreading, light red styles. The short-stalked fruit ripens in the autumn
of the second season; nut ovoid, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long, reddish brown, sometimes
striped with darker lines; cup embracing about one third of the nut, deeply sau-
cer-shaped, its scales light brown, blunt and woolly.
The wood is similar to that of the eastern Red oak and is used as such, being
considered by lumbermen as of better grade and more durable.
Fig. 238. — Schneck's Oak.
5. TURKEY OAK — Quercus Catesbaei Michaux
A small tree of dry sandy portions of the coastal plain from North Carolina
to Florida and eastern Louisiana; its maximum height is 20 meters, with a trunk
diameter of i m.
The branches are mostly rather stout, spreading, forming an irregular narrow
or more or less rounded tree. The bark is up to 2.5 cm. thick, deeply fissured
into irregular ridges and broken into small thick close plates, with a reddish inte-
rior, dark brown to nearly black externally. The twigs are stout, densely woolly
at first, soon becoming smooth and passing through various shades of red to brown.
The buds are ovoid, 12 mm. long, sharp-pointed and covered by light brown ap-
Turkey Oak
287
pressed-hairy scales. The leaves are obovate to ovate in outline, 8 to 20 cm. long;
the 3 to 5 lobes are oblong, ovate or narrowly lanceolate, bristle-tipped, sometimes
coarsely toothed, the sinuses rounded and deep, the base wedge-shaped. They are
thick and stiff, yellowish green and shining, with a broad, raised midrib above,
paler, shining and smooth, except for the tufts of hairs in the axils of the princi-
pal veins beneath, turning brown or dull yellow before falling in the autumn;
leaf-stalk stout, flattened and grooved, 0.5 to i cm. long. The flowers appear in
March or April with the leaves, the staminate in clustered slender hairy, simple
or branched catkins 10 to 12.5 cm. long; calyx with 4 or 5 sharp lobes; anthers
Fig. 239. — Turkey Oak.
oblong, pointed, and yellow. The pistillate flowers are on short, hairy stalks,
their involucral scales bright red and hairy, their styles elongated and dark red.
The fruit ripens in the autumn of the second year, usually solitary on a stout
stalk about 6 mm. long; nut ovoid to oblong, 2 to 2.5 cm. long, dull, white- woolly
at the apex; cup top-shaped, 1.5 to 2 cm. across, thin, light reddish brown, slightly
hairy on inner surface, embracing about one third of the nut, its upper scales thin,
ovate to oblong, blunt, hairy, inflexed over the edge of cup so as to form a rim or
border about 3 mm. wide.
The wood is hard, strong, rather coarse-grained, light reddish brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.73. It is extensively used for fuel but not known to be used for
other purposes.
This tree is valuable on account of its rapid growth in the sterile soils in which
288
The Oaks
it thrives, thus quickly yielding a supply of fuel. It is supposed to hybridize readily,
as trees have been found in Lee county, Florida, that are considered crosses of
this species with the High ground willow oak, Quercus cinerea Michaux, and the
oak from BlufTton, South CaroHna, described under the name of Q. sinuata (Lam-
bert) Walter, is now considered a cross with the Laurel oak, Q. laurifolia Michaux.
This tree is also known as the Scrub oak. Black jack, Barrenscrub oak. Forked
leaf oak, and Forked leaf jack oak.
6. BLACK OAK — Quercus velutina Lamarck
Quercus tinctoria Michaux
A tree of dr}' uplands from Maine to western Ontario, south to Florida and
Texas, reaching its greatest development of 50 meters tall, with a trunk diameter
of 1.5 m., in the central States,
The branches are ascending or spreading, the tree oblong in outline. The
bark is up to 4 cm. thick, rough and fissured
into rounded ridges and broken into thick
dark brown to nearly black close plates; on
younger stems it is smooth and dark brown;
internally it is deep orange-colored and tinges
the sahva yellow on chewing. The twigs are
stout and scurfy, becoming nearly smooth, red-
dish or reddish brown, ultimately dark brown.
The winter buds are ovoid, about 10 mm. long,
angular, narrowed upward to a blunt point
and woolly. The leaves are deep red and very
hairy when unfolding, becoming greenish white
at flowering time; they are oval to obovate in
outline, i to 3 dm. long; the 5 to 7, rarely 9,
lobes are broad, oblong to triangular, bristle-
pointed, usually bristle-toothed, the sinuses wide
and rounded, sometimes extending nearly to the midrib; the base is usually wedge-
shaped; they are thick, or almost leather}', dark green and shining, with a promi-
nent rounded midrib above, dull yellowish green or brownish with rusty hairs, or
sometimes smooth except for small tufts of bro\Mi hairs in the axils of the promi-
nent venation beneath, turning reddish yellow, or brown before falling late in
the autumn. The leaf-stalk is stout, flattened on the upper side, yellowish and
smooth, I to 6 cm. long. The flowers appear when the leaves are about one half
unfolded, the staminate in clusters of slender, woolly or hairy, many-flowered cat-
kins 10 to 15 cm. long, their calyx pale and hairy, its lobes ovate and sharp-
pointed; stamens 4, exserted; anthers ovate and sharp-pointed, yellow and hair}\
The pistillate flowers are on short, woolly stalks, their involucral scales ovate;
calyx-lobes longer than the involucre, sharp-pointed, and hairy; styles long, re-
FiG. 240. — Black Oak.
Black Oak
289
flexed, and light red. The fruit, ripening in the autumn of the second year, is
sessile or nearly so, commonly solitary; the nut is subglobose, oblong or ovoid,
1.5 to 2.5 cm. long, reddish brown, often faintly striped, sometimes coated with
reddish hairs, its shell thick; cup top-shaped or hemispheric, 2 to 2.5 cm. across,
Fig. 241. — Black Oak, Carnot, Pennsylvania.
dark reddish brown on inner surface, embracing about half of the nut, covered
with coarse, loose, thin, hght brown, ovate, sharp-pointed, hair)- scales.
The wood is strong, but not tough, coarse-grained, light reddish brown; its
specific gravity is about 0.70. The bark is used in tanning, also as a yellow dye,
and sparingly as an astringent medicine.
290
The Oaks
It is rarely planted for ornament, as the Scarlet oak and the Red oak, over
which it has no advantages, much excel it in beauty.
It is also called Yellow oak, Quercitron oak. Yellow-barked oak. Yellow bark,
Dyer's oak. Tan bark oak, and Spotted oak.
7. GRAY OAK — Quercus borealis F. A. Michaux
Quercus ambigua F. A. Michaux not H. 13. K.
A tree ver\' similar to the Red oak in foliage and general appearance, but with
acorns resembling those of the Scarlet oak. It occurs from Quebec and Ontario
southward to New York and Pennsylvania, and perhaps, in the mountains to North
Carolina, attaining a maximum height of 18 meters and a trunk diameter of 4.5
dm.
The twigs are rather slender, hairy at first, becoming smooth, reddish brown
or gravish brown. The winter
buds are narrowly ovoid, sharp-
pointed, brown and downy. The
leaves are ovate to obovate in
outhne; the 7 to 13 lobes are
wedge-shaped, usually with
several long bristle-tipped teeth,
the sinuses rather narrow, ex-
tending to a little beyond the
•middle and more or less rounded,
the leaf base broadly tapering
or obtuse; they are thin and
firm, deep green and dull, with
broad, yellowish midrib above,
paler and smooth except at the
axils of the veins beneath. The
leaf-stalk is slender, slightly
grooved, thickened at the base, 3
to 5 cm. long. The pistillate flowers are bright red with long spreading styles.
The acorns, ripening in the autumn of the second season, are solitary or 2 or 3
together; nut ovoid, about 2.5 cm. long; cup top-shaped or hemispheric, 1.5 to 2
cm. across, reddish brown and hairy inside, embracing one third to one half of the
nut, covered with broad, blunt, reddish, rather smooth scales.
The wood resembles that of the Red oak, and is used for the same purposes,
but it is said to be stronger and more durable.
The tree is supposed to occur further north than any other oak of our area,
and should prove to be very' desirable in the north for parks and shade.
Fig. 242. — Gray Oak.
Hill's Oak
291
8. HILL'S OAK — Quercus ellipsoidalis E. J. Hill
A tree of clay soils from northern Illinois and Michigan, westward to eastern
Iowa and southeastern Minnesota, apparently very local and related to the Black
oak, Q. veluiina Lamarck, and the Scarlet oak, Q. coccinea Muenchausen, of which
it has been considered a hybrid. Its maximum height is 21 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 1.2 m. It is also called Yellow oak and Black oak.
The branches are much divided, often drooping and usually long persistent on
the lower portion of the trunk, the tree oblong in outline. The bark is rather
thin, shallowly fissured into close narrow thin, dark brown plates, yellow internally;
on younger stems it is quite smooth, varying from gray to grayish brown. The twigs
Fig. 243. — Hill's Oak.
are slender, at first appressed-halry, soon becoming nearly smooth, light reddish
browTi, finally dark gray or brown. The winter buds are ovoid, 6 mm. long, sharp
or blunt-pointed, slightly angular, reddish brown and shining. The leaves are
oval, obovate to nearly orbicular in outline, 6 to 15 cm. long; the 5 or 7 lobes are
oblong lo triangular with bristle-pointed teeth; the sinuses are very deep, wide,
and rounded or obovate, the base is broadly wedge-shaped or blunt. They are
thin but firm in texture, bright green and shining above, with a prominent yel-
lowish rounded midrib and primar}' veins, paler, and smooth except for tufts
of hairs at the axils of the prominent venation beneath, turning yellowish or brown-
ish, often variegated with red and purple before falling in the autumn. The leaf-
stalk is slender, grooved, and usually smooth, 2.5 to 5 cm. long. The flowers
292
The Oaks
appear when the leaves are about one fourth unfolded, the staminate in shghtly
hairy catkins 5 to 8 cm. long, their calyx usually reddish and hairy; stamens
about as long as the calyx, their anthers oblong, notched at each end. The pis-
tillate flowers arc on short, stout, woolly, i- to 3-flowered peduncles; involucral
scales and the 4- to 7-lobed calyx hairy; styles 3, spreading or recurved and dark
colored. The fruit, ripening in the autumn of the second season, is sessile, soH-
tary or in pairs; nut cUipsoid or varying from cyhndric to globose-ovoid, 12 to
18 mm. long, brown, often striped and slightly hairy; shell thin, dark and velvety
inside; seed yellow and bitterish; cup top-shaped, 12 to 18 mm, across, narrowed
at the base, reddish brown inside, embracing one third to one half of nut; scales
ovate, blunt and imbricated.
Wood coarse-grained, resembling that of Q. velutina.
9. TEXAN OAK — Quercus texana Buckley
A small tree with spreading branches, in dry, rocky soil of southern and west-
ern Texas, where it is
called Red oak. Spotted
oak, and Spanish oak.
The bark is light brown
and scaly. The twigs are
slender, smooth, reddish or
grayish brown, the win-
ter buds elliptic, about 3
mm. long, blunt, dark
brown and smooth. The
leaves are oblong to obo-
vate in outhne, 5 to 10
cm. long, the 3 to 7 lobes
narrowly triangular to
ovate, the terminal one
the longest, sometimes
toothed, the lobes bristle-
pointed, the sinuses ob-
lique and broad; they are
deep green, smooth, some-
what shining above, yel-
lowish or brownish,
smooth or slightly hairy,
with prominent reddish venation beneath. The leaf-stalk is slender, i to 3 cm.
long, smooth and red. The flowers appear with the unfolding leaves, the stami-
nate in rather many-flowered clustered slender hairy catkins 4 to 6 cm. long. The
fruit ripens in the autumn of the second year, and is nearly sessile; nut oblong
Fig. 244. — Texan Oak.
Scarlet Oak
293
or ovoid -oblong, 12 to 14 mm. long, light brown; shell thin and downy inside;
cup hemispheric, 9 to 12 mm. across, brown and hairy inside, embracing about
one third of the nut, covered by ovate, blunt, hairy crisp-margined scales, the
upper smaller and forming a slight fringe around the rim of the cup.
The hard wood is close-grained, reddish brown; its specific gravity is about
0.91.
10. SCARLET OAK — Quercus coccinea Muenchausen
A tree preferring sandy, dry soil, from Maine to Minnesota, North Carolina
and Missouri, attaining a maximum height of 50 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 1.5 m. It is also called Red oak. Black oak, and Spanish oak.
The lower and middle branches are widely spreading, the upper ones ascend-
ing. The bark is about 2 cm. thick,
shallowly fissured into irregular ridges,
reddish internally, Hght brown and scaly
on the outside; on younger stems it is
smoother and brown. The twigs are
scurfy hairy, soon becoming hght green
and shining, red or orange and finally
dark brown. The winter buds are nar-
rowly ovoid, about 6 mm. long, brown
and somewhat hairy. The leaves are red
when unfolding, pale hairy above, woolly
beneath, becoming green and shining as
the flowers appear; they are oval, oblong
or obovate in outhne, i to 2 dm. long, the
5 to 7 lobes ascending or spreading,
slightly toothed and bristle-tipped, the
sinuses wide and rounded ; they are widely
tapering or rounded at the base, thin and
firm, deep bright green, smooth and very
shining, with a slender yellow midrib above, paler and somewhat shining, often
with tufts of rusty hairs at the axils of the larger veins beneath. They become
brilliantly scarlet in the autumn before falling; the leaf-stalk is slender and round,
2 to 6 cm. long. The flowers appear when the leaves have about one half un-
folded, the staminate in rather numerous, smooth, slender, many-flowered catkins
7.5 to ID cm. long, their calyx hairy, its 4 or 5 lobes ovate and sharp-pointed;
stamens usually 4, exserted; anthers ovate, sharp-pointed and hght yellow. The
pistillate flowers are on hairy peduncles up to 12 mm. long, bright red; styles
elongated, spreading or recurved. The fruit, ripening in the autumn of the second
season, is sohtary, or 2 together, sessile or nearly so; nut ovoid or oblong-ovoid,
from I to 2 cm. long, hght reddish brown, sometimes striped; shell thin, thickly
woolly inside; cup top-shaped, constricted at the base, 1.5 to 2 cm. across, thin
Fig. 245. — Scarlet Oak.
294
The Oaks
and embracing one third to one half of nut, the scales closely imbricated, sharp- i
pointed, brown and smooth or finely hairy.
The wood is hard, strong and coarse-grained, reddish brown; its specific gravity
is about 0.71; it is used for the same purposes as that of the Red oak, but is not
as valuable.
Its comparatively rapid growth, beautiful fohage, and brilliant autumnal color-
ation, which lasts longer than that of any of its competitors, make the Scarlet oak
one of the most desirable trees for street or park.
A supposed hybrid with the Bear oak, Q. ilicijolia Wangenheim, has been
found in Massachusetts.
II. CALIFORNIA BLACK OAK - Quercus KeUoggii Newberry
Quercus californica (Torrey) Cooper. Quercus tinctoria californica Torrey
A tree of the mountain ranges of California and southwestern Oregon, reach-
ing its maximum development of 30 meters tall and a trunk diameter of 1.8 m.,
at an altitude of about
1800 meters; at very
high altitudes it is re-
duced to a shrub. It is
also known as Kellogg's
oak. Mountain black
oak, and Black oak.
The stout branches
are widely spreading,
the tree becoming
round topped. The
bark is 4 cm. thick,
furrowed, the ridges
broken into irregular,
oblong scaly plates,
dark brown or black;
on younger stems it is
smooth and light
brown. The twigs are
hairy at first, becoming
smooth, light red or brown and finally darker red-brown. The winter buds are
ovoid, gradually tapering to a sharp point, 5 mm. long, brown, and somewhat
hairy. The leaves are oblong or obovate in outline, 7.5 to 15 cm. long, the
usually 7 lobes, wedge-shaped to broadly ovate, coarsely bristle-tipped, toothed or
sometimes entire, the middle pair of lobes much the largest, the sinuses oblique,
wide and usually rounded at the bottom, the base of the leaf obliquely wedge-
shaped or rounded ; they are thick, firm, dark yellowish green and shining, occa-
FiG. 246. — California Black Oak.
Spanish Oak
295
sionally with a few hairs above, paler, sometimes brownish, smooth or with a few
hairs beneath, turning yellow or brown before faUing in the autumn. The leaf-
stalk is slender, almost round, 2.5 to 5 cm. long and yellow. The flowers appear
in April and May when the leaves are half unfolded, the staminate in clustered
hair)' catkins 5 to 10 cm. long, their hairy calyx with 4 or 5 broadly ovate, sharp-
pointed lobes; stamens 4 or 5, exserted; anthers ovate, sharp-pointed, smooth.
The pistillate flowers are on short hairy stalks, their involucral scales pale
woolly, as are the sharp-pointed calyx-lobes; the styles are long, much recurved
and deep red. The fruit, ripening in the autumn of the second year, is usually
short-stalked, either soHtary or clustered; nut oblong to ovoid, 2.5 to 4 cm. long,
light brown, often with darker stripes; shell thin, woolly inside; cup about as
high as wide, deeper than that of any related species, 2 to 2.5 cm. across, hght
brown on inner surface, embracing one third to one half of the nut, the scales thin,
close, brown and shining, often forming a narrow fringe around the rim.
The wood is strong but brittle, coarse-grained and light reddish brown; its
specific gravity is about 0.64. It is used to some extent for interior finishing and
for furniture, especially in Oregon, but mostly for fuel. The astringent bark is
used to a Hmited extent in tanning.
12. SPANISH OAK — Quercus triloba Michaux
Quercus falcata Michaux. Quercus digitata (Marshall) Sudworth
Quercus nigra digitata Marshall
A tree of dry gravelly or sandy soils, from New Jersey to ^Missouri, Florida
and Texas, most abundant in the Gulf
States, where it reaches its maximum
height of about 30 meters, with a trunk di-
ameter of 1.5 m. It is sometimes called
Red oak and Spanish water oak.
The branches are stout and spread-
ing, usually forming a round-topped tree.
The bark is about 2 cm. thick, shallowly
furrowed, the ridges brown, scaly. The
twigs are stout, yellowish or brownish hair\%
becoming almost smooth, dark reddish
brown or gray. The winter buds are ovoid,
sharp-pointed, about 5 mm. long, light
browTi and hairy. The leaves are ovate to
obovate or oval in outline, 7.5 to 20 cm.
long, the 3 to 7 usually lanceolate lobes ig. 247. — . pams
bristle-tipped, as are the occasional teeth of the lobes, the terminal lobe often
much elongated, the base is rounded or narrowed; they are thin but firm, dark
green and shining above, densely woolly with grayish hairs and a prominent
296
The Oaks
hair}^ midrib beneath, becoming orange-brown or yellow before falling in the
autumn. The leaf-stalk is slender and hairy, i to 5 cm. long. The flowers ap-
pear from March to May, as the leaves unfold. The staminate flowers are in
clustered slender woolly catkins 7.5 to 12.5 cm. long, their calyx hairy, the 4 or
5 lobes ovate, blunt; stamens exserted, 4 or 5; anthers oblong, notched, smooth,
and yellow. The pistillate flowers are on stout hairy stalks, their involucral scales
brown woolly, the calyx-lobes sharp-pointed; styles elongated, nearly upright,
dark red. The fruit, ripening in the autumn of the second season, is short-stalked;
nut subglobose, i to 1.5 cm. long, yellowish brown; cup hemispheric or top-
shaped, 15 to 18 mm, across, reddish brown within, embracing about one fourth
of the nut, its scales thin, oblong, reddish and covered with pale hairs.
The wood is hard and strong, coarse-grained and Hght red ; its specific gravity
is about 0.69. It is not very durable and checks badly on drying, and is spar-
ingly used for construction purposes but quite extensively for fuel. The astrin-
gent bark is sometimes used in tanning and, hke the bark of most all oaks, is
sometimes used in domestic medicine.
Of very distinct appearance, it is quite desirable as a shade tree for park plant-
ing, wherever it has proven hardy ; it is considerably used in the streets and parks
of our southern States.
A supposed hybrid with the Black oak, Q. velutina Lamarck, is reported from
Tennessee and North CaroHna.
13. ELLIOTT'S OAK — Quercus pagodaefolia (Elliott) Ashe
Quercus jalcata pagodcBJolia Elliott
Fig. 248. — Elliott's Oak.
A tree of swamp borders
and along streams from Long
Island to southern IlHnois
and Missouri, southward to
northern Florida and Arkan-
sas, attaining a maximum
height of 32 meters, with a
trunk diameter of 1.5 m.
Also called Swamp Spanish
oak and Red oak.
The branches are large,
stout and widely spreading
or ascending, forming a
large, spreading, round tree
in the open ; in the forest the
branches are more slender
• and form a narrow head,
supported by a tall massive
Bear Oak
297
trunk. The bark is 2.5 cm. thick, with rather close plate-Hkc scales of a grayish
or gray-brown color. The twigs are slender, thickly velvety, becoming slightly
hairy and dark reddish brown. The buds are ovoid, 6 mm. long, often 4-anglcd,
reddish or brown. The leaves are ovate to oblong in outhne, 1.5 to 3 dm. long;
the 5 to II lobes are triangular- lanceolate or narrowly wedge-shaped, usually
spreading, sometimes toothed or lobed near the sharp-pointed apex, the sinuses
wide, deep and rounded at the bottom, the base gradually narrowed and wedge-
shaped, truncate or rounded. They are dark green and very shining above, pale
or silvery white and persistently woolly beneath, becoming bright red or yellow be-
fore falling in the autumn; the petiole is stout and hairy, 1.5 to 5 cm. long. The
flowers appear with the leaves, the staminate in slender hairy catkins, 5 to 7.5 cm.
long, their calyx hairy, its 4 or 5 lobes rounded and reddish; stamens 4 or 5, ex-
serted, their anthers notched and yellow. The pistillate flowers are solitary or 2
or 3 together on short hair}' stalks; involucral scales hairy; styles elongated, spread-
ing and dark red. The fruit, which ripens in the autumn of the second season, is
short-stalked or almost stalkless; nut subglobose, about i cm. long, hght yellowish
brown; shell thin, woolly inside; cup shallowly top-shaped, smooth on the inner
surface, embracing about one half of nut, its scales oblong, pale and hairy.
The wood is hard, strong and tough, rather close-grained, light reddish brown.
It is sawn into lumber and highly valued for construction.
This species is very similar indeed to forms of the Spanish oak.
14. BEAR OAK — Quercus ilicifolia Wangenheim
Quercus rubra nana Marshall. Quercus nana (Marshall) Sargent
Usually a shrub with irregular stems and very stiff branches, forming dense
thickets over wide areas of sterile lands from
Maine to Ohio, North CaroHna and Kentucky.
It occasionally becomes a tree, reaching its
greatest dimensions in New Jersey and Penn-
sylvania, a height of 7 meters, with a trunk di-
ameter of 2 dm.
As a tree the branches are much divided,
spreading, forming a round-topped head. The
bark is thin, smooth, except for small close thin
scales, and grayish brown. The twigs are
slender, quite hairy, becoming red, brown or
gray, and finally smooth or very nearly so. The
winter buds are ovoid, blunt, 3 mm. long, with
hairy brown scales. The leaves are obovate or
oval in outline, 5 to 12,5 cm. long, the 5 to 7
1 . , , , 1 • 1 • 1 Fig. 249. — Bear Oak.
snort, tnangular or ovate lobes bnstle-tipped
and sometimes toothed, their sinuses wide and shallow, the base broadly or nar-
298
The Oaks
rowly wedge-shaped; they are thick and firm, deep dark green and shining above,
pale gray and finely hairy with prominent midrib beneath, turning scarlet, yellow-
brown before falhng. The leaf-stalk is slender, almost round, smooth or hair)-, i
to 2.5 cm. long. The flowers appear in April and ISIay, when the leaves are about
one half unfolded, the staminate in clustered slender, hairy catkins 5 to 10 cm.
long; calyx 3 to 5-lobed, with ovate lobes; stamens 3 to 5, exserted; anthers ob-
long, sharp-pointed. The pistillate flowers are on stout, hairy stems, the calyx-
lobes red-woolly, ovate; styles rather short, spreading and dark red. The fruit
ripens in the autumn of the second season, usually 2 together, short-stalked or
nearly sessile; nut ovoid, globose or depressed globose, i to 1.5 cm. long, light
brown, striped and shining; shell thin, thickly woolly inside; cup saucer-shaped,
15 to 18 mm. across, light reddish brown on inner surface, thick and embracing
nearly half of the nut, its reddish bro^^^l ovate scales finely hairy.
It is also kno\\Ti as Barren oak, Dwarf black oak. Scrub oak, and Shrub oak.
On the Kittatinny Mountains of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the
thickets formed by this shrub are sometimes so dense and tangled as to be pene-
trated only with great difficulty.
15. BLACK JACK OAK — Quercus marilandica Muenchhausen
Querciis nigra Wangenheim, not Linnaeus. Quercus cuneata Wangenheim
A tree of sterile soils from Long island. New York, to Pennsylvania, Indiana
and eastern Nebraska, southward to Florida and Texas. Its maximum size, 20
meters, with a trunk diameter of i m., is
attained in Arkansas and Texas.
The lower stout branches are spreading,
the upper ascending, the tree being usually
compact and round-topped. The bark is up
to 4 cm. thick, deeply fissured into angular
plates often 7.5 cm. across and covered by ap-
pressed brown to nearly black scales. The
twigs are stout, woolly at first, becoming scurfy,
reddish brown and finally smooth or nearly so,
and dark brown or gray. The winter buds are
ovoid or oval, 6 mm. long, angular, sharp-
pointed, reddish brown and densely brown-
hairy. The leaves are broadly or narrowly
obovate, 7 to 18 cm. long, the lobes 3 or 5, the
terminal one often large and with bristle-tipped
teeth near the apex, sinuses usually very shallow and rounded, the base narrowly
rounded or heart-shaped ; they are thick, almost leather}-, deep green, smooth and
shining, with a broad midrib above, paler or yellowish brown, with brownish scurfy
hairs and prominent venation, or finally smooth beneath, turning brown or yel-
FiG. 250. — Black Jack Oak.
Water Oak
299
lowish before falling; their leaf-stalks are stout, grooved, 5 to 10 mm. long, smooth
or hairy, yellowish. The flowers appear from March to May, according to lati-
tude, when the leaves are half unfolded, the staminatc in clustered hairy catkins
5 to 10 cm. long, their calyx reddish and hairy, the 4 or 5 lobes ovate and rounded;
stamens usually 4, sHghtly exserted; anthers oblong, sharp-pointed, red. The pis-
tillate flowers are on short hairy stalks, their involucral scales brown-woolly, about
equaling the length of the sharp-pointed calyx-lobes; styles short, broad, shghtly
reflexed and red. The fruit, ripening in the autumn of the second year, is soli-
tary, or 2 together, short-stalked; nut subglobose or ovoid, i to 2 cm. long, light
brown, more or less woolly coated inside; cup depressed hemispheric, constricted
at the base, 12 to 20 mm. across, light brown on the inner surface, embracing
about one half of the nut and covered by large scales, the smaller upper scales
forming a loose rim around the top of the cup.
The wood is hard and strong, coarse-grained and dark brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.73. It checks badly and is seldom used except for fuel and
the production of charcoal.
This is a handsome tree and will add pleasing variety to any landscape into
which it may be introduced, though it is of very slow growth.'
Several supposed hybrids are recorded, Britton's Oak, Q. Brittoni Davis, of
Staten island. New York, is considered a cross with the Bear oak, Q. ilicijolia.
A cross with the Black oak, Q. velutina Lamarck, from the Indian Territory, has
also been reported.
It is also called Black Jack, Barren oak. Barrens oak, Iron oak. Jack oak, and
Scrub oak.
16. WATER OAK — Quercus nigra Linnaeus
Qiiercus aquatica Walter
A tree of wet sandy soils, by streams or
swamps, occurring from southern Delaware to
Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas, reach-
ing a maximum height of about 30 meters, with
a trunk diameter of i m.
The numerous branches are rather slender,
spreading or ascending, the outline of young
trees being nearly conic, the fully developed ones
round-topped. The bark is up to 18 mm. thick,
nearly smooth, with a scaly surface of a light
brown or reddish brown color. The twigs are
slender, smooth, reddish, becoming gray to brown.
The winter buds are ovoid, angular, sharp-
pointed, their brown hair}- scales shghtly fringed.
The leaves are mostly oblanceolate or spatulate,
5 to 15 cm. long, ver}' variable, entire, with a large terminal lobe, sometimes 3-
FiG. 2^1. — Water Oak.
300
The Oaks
lobed, or sometimes 5-lobed, the apex bristle- pointed, sharp or rounded, the base
narrowly wedge-shaped; they are thickish and firm, dull green and smooth on
both sides, or sometimes with tufts of brown hairs beneath, the rounded midrib
raised on the upper surface, the venation conspicuous; they usually persist into
the winter before falling; the leaf-stalk is stout, flattened and grooved, 2 to 7 mm.
long. The flowers appear from February to April, the staminate in clustered slen-
der-stemmed catkins 5 to 7.5 cm. long, their calyx hairy, its 4 or 5 lobes ovate
and blunt; stamens 4 or 5, slightly exserted, their anthers oblong, notched and
yellow. The pistillate flowers are on short hairy stalks, the hairy involucral scales
shorter than the calyx-lobes; styles short, reflexed, red. The fruit, ripening in
the autumn of the second season, is sessile or nearly so, mostly sohtary; hut sub-
globose, I to 1.3 cm. long, yellowish brown, hairy and striped; shell thick, hairy
inside; cup saucer-shaped or hemispheric, 12 to 15 mm. across, yellow and silky
inside, embracing one fourth to one third of the nut, covered with ovate sharp-
pointed close scales, which are reddish brown and hair}\
The wood is hard and strong, close-grained and light brown ; its specific gravity
is about 0.72. It is extensively used for fuel.
It is also called Spotted oak, Duck oak. Punk oak, and Possum oak.
17. SMALL FRUITED OAK — Quercus microcarpa Small
This shrub sometimes becomes a crooked branched tree 5 meters tall,
known only from the rocky soils of Little Stone ISIountain, Georgia.
It is
Fig. 252. — Small-fruited Oak.
The twigs are slender and quite smooth and dark brown. The winter buds
are ovoid, about 4 mm. long, slightly hairy and light brown. The leaves are
Willow Oak
301
spatulate-obovate, 5 to 10 cm. long, wavy or somewhat deeply lobed on the mar-
gin, rounded at the apex, bristle-tipped, wedge-shaped at the base. They are thin
and firm, grayish green, smooth and dull with yellowish midrib above, yellowish
green, smooth, with yellow venation beneath; the leaf-stalk is short and stout.
The fruit ripens in the autumn of the second season, and is sessile or nearly so;
nut globose-ovoid, about 8 mm. long, yellowish brown, hairy toward the apex; cup
deeply saucer-shaped, 5 to 7 mm. across, hght brown and hairy inside, embracing
about one third the nut and covered by relatively large thick scales.
18. WILLOW OAK — Quercus Phellos Linnasus
This oak prefers wet, sandy soil, and principally occurs along swamps and
streams, but sometimes on higher land, from Long island, New York, to Florida,
westward to Kentucky, Missouri and Texas. Its maximum height is 25 meters,
with a trunk diameter of i meter.
The branches are slender, spreading and ascending, forming a round-topped
tree when growing in the open. The bark is 12 to 18 mm. thick, reddish brown,
shallowly fissured into irregular small scaly
plates only on very large trunks, otherwise it is
smooth. The twigs are slender, reddish brown,
becoming dark gray or brown. The winter
buds are ovoid, sharp-pointed, 3 mm. long and
dark brown. The leaves are linear-oblong, nar-
rowly eUiptic, or sometimes lanceolate or ob-
lanceolate, 4 to 10 cm. long, entire, the margins
sometimes slightly wavy, sharp and bristle-
pointed at the apex, narrowed to a pointed
base. They are thick, almost leathery, smooth
and shining with yellow midrib above, usually
smooth or somewhat hairy beneath at the axils
of the prominent venation, especially when
young; they rarely persist all winter, usually
turning yellow and fall in late autumn. The
leaf-stalk is stout and grooved, 2 to 5 mm. long. The flowers appear shortly after
the leaves begin to unfold; the staminate catkins are slender, hair)', 2.5 to 4 cm. long,
their calyx hairy, yellow, 4- or 5-lobed; stamens 4 or 5; anthers oblong, sharp-
pointed, smooth, and yellow. The pistillate flowers are on smooth, slender stalks;
involucre pale hair}% shorter than the sharp-pointed calyx-lobes; styles reflexed,
light green. The fruit, ripening in the autumn of the second season, is usually soli-
tary, sessile or nearly so; nut subglobose, depressed or globose-ovoid, about i cm.
long, light yellowish brown with a pale hair}^ coating inside; cup saucer-shaped, i
to 1.5 cm. across, reddish brown and silky inside, embracing only the base of the
nut and covered with close thin hairy scales of a dark reddish brown color.
Fig. 253. — Willow Oak.
102
The Oaks
The wood is rather soft, strong, somewhat coarse-grained, and light brown;
its specific gravity is about 0.75. It is used to a small extent for general construc-
tion and in wagon making.
The Willow oak is extensively planted as a shade and street tree from Phila-
delphia southward, and is hardy in southern New England. It is also known as
the Peach oak. Water oak. Swamp oak, and Pin oak.
It hybridizes with several other oaks; the best known hybrid is Bartram's oak,
Q. heterophylla Michaux, a cross with the Red oak, Q. rubra Linnaeus, having
characters of both species; the obser\^ation of seedlings has demonstrated its origin;
it has been found from Staten island. New York, to North CaroHna. Rudkin's
oak, Q. Riidkini Britton, from New Jersey, is considered a hybrid with the Black
Jack, Q. marylandica Muenchausen, but it may, perhaps, be a distinct species.
From South Carolina a cross is reported with the Spanish oak, Q. triloba Michaux.
A probable hybrid with Q. ilicijolia Wangenheim has been found in New Jersey.
19. CHAPMAN'S WATER OAK — Quercus hybrida (Chapman) Small
Quercus aquatica hybrida Chapman
A tree of rocky or sandy shores from Georgia to Florida and Mississippi,
attaining a maximum height of
25 meters.
The bark is rough ; the twigs
are slender, smooth and ashy
gray; buds oval, light brown.
The leaves are oblong to wedge-
shaped, 6 to 12 cm. long, some-
times 3-lobed or notched at the
apex, otherwise entire on the
margin, gradually or abruptly
narrowed at the base. They are
deciduous, dark green and
smooth on both sides, the mid-
rib impressed above, prominent
and brownish beneath; the leaf-
stalk is very short, stout and
grooved. The fruit ripens the
Fig. 254. — Chapman's Water Oak. , ...
second season, and is quite ses-
sile; nut subglobose or ovoid-globose, 10 to 12 mm. long, hght brown; shell
thin; cup shallow, saucer shaped, 10 to 12 mm. across, thin, embracing only the
base of the nut and covered by close, blunt hairy scales with dry crisp margins.
Laurel Oak
303
20. LAUREL OAK — Quercus laurifolia Michaux
A tree of river shores and s\vamj)s on the coastal plain from Virginia to Florida
and Louisiana, attaining a maximum height of 30 meters, with a trunk diameter
of I m.
The branches are rather slender, spreading or ascending, forming a dense
round-topped tree. The bark of large trunks is up to 5 cm, thick, fissured into
flat nearly black ridges; on younger stems it is much thinner and nearly smooth
or covered by scales of a brown color. The twigs are slender, smooth and red-
dish, becoming brownish and finally dark gray. The winter buds are narrowly
ovoid or oval, pointed, slightly angled, 1.5 to 3
mm. long and bright red. The leaves are ob-
long to oval or obovate in outHne, 4 to 13 cm.
long, entire or rarely lobed, bristle-pointed,
narrowed at the base, the margin somewhat
thickened and revolute. They are firm in text-
ure, green and very shining above, with round,
prominent, raised, yellow midrib beneath, paler
at maturity, smooth and shining, falling off
irregularly during the winter; the leaf-stalk is
stout, grooved above, yellowish, i to 3 mm.
long. The flowers appear in March and April
when the leaves are about one third unfolded,
the staminate in clustered hairy catkins 5 to 8
cm. long, their calyx hairy on the outer sur-
face, deeply 4-lobed; stamens 4 or 5, exserted; ^^^' 255. — Laurel Oak.
anthers oblong, slightly notched and yellow. The pistillate flowers are on short
smooth stalks, the involucre brown and hairy, about as long as the pointed calyx-
lobes; styles recurved and red. The fruit, ripening in the autumn of the second
year, is sessile or nearly so, usually solitar}'; nut ovoid or globose-ovoid, i to 1.5
cm. long, hairy at apex, dark brown, sometimes striped with green; shell thin,
pale woolly inside; cup saucer-shaped, i to 1.5 cm. across, reddish brown and
silky inside, embracing one fourth to one third of the nut, covered with thin, blunt,
reddish brown scales.
The wood is hard, strong, coarse-grained and dark brown or reddish brown;
its specific gravity is about 0.77. It checks badly on drying and is seldom used
except for fuel.
Except for its wider leaves and deeper cup this oak much resembles Q.
Phellos. It is a handsome oak and is largely used as a shade or street tree in
the southern cities, for which it is well adapted.
It is also called Swamp laurel oak, Darlington's oak. Willow oak, and Water
oak.
304
The Oaks
21. SHINGLE OAK — Quercus imbricaria Michaux
A tree of rich woods from Pennsylvania to Michigan and Nebraska southward
to Georgia and Arkansas, attaining its largest dimensions, 30 meters high with a
tnmk diameter of 1.2 m., in the central States. It is also known as Laurel oak,
Jack oak, and Water oak.
The trunk is straight, often free of branches for half its height, with a round-
topped crown; when young the lower drooping or spreading branches often touch
the ground. The bark is up to 4 cm. thick,
shallowly and sparingly fissured into wide flat
ridges, covered with close light reddish brown
scales; that of younger stems is thinner, light
brown and shining. The twigs are dark green
and shining, becoming dark brown. The winter
buds are ovoid, acute, 3 mm. long, shghtly
angular, light brown and shining. The leaves
are oblong to lanceolate or oblanceolate, 6 to 20
cm. long, bristle-pointed, wedge-shaped or
rounded at the base, entire, wavy, or rarely
3-toothed near the apex; they are thin and
firm, dark green and very shining above, with
a conspicuous broad yellow midrib, pale green
or brownish and coated with soft hairs beneath,
becoming bright red before falling in late au-
tumn. The leaf-stalk is stout, flattened and grooved, 0.5 to 2 cm. long. The
flowers appear in April and May when the leaves are one third unfolded. The
staminate catkins are loosely hairy, 5 to 8 cm. long; calyx 4-lobed, hair}' and fight
yellow; stamens 4 or 5, exserted; anthers oblong, notched, smooth and yellow.
The pistillate flowers are on stout woolly stalks, their involucral scales as long as
the sharp haiiy calyx-lobes; styles rather short, reflexed and yellow. The fruit,
ripening in the autumn of the second season, is solitar}% or two together, on short
stalks; nut ovoid or subglobose, i to 1.5 cm. long, dark brown, its shell thin with
brownish hairs inside; cup nearly hemispheric to saucer- shaped, 1.5 to 2 cm.
across, brown and shining inside, embracing one third to one half the nut, covered
by ovate bluntish red-brown hairy scales.
The wood is hard, rather coarse-grained, light reddish brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.75. It checks badly on drying and is used in construction work,
and to a considerable extent for shingles, whence the common name.
This oak, distinct in its shining unlobed leaves, with deep red autumnal tints,
aff"ords opportunity to add pleasing variety to the shade-trees of our northern
parks; it is of rather rapid growth.
A number of hybrids are credited to this species. Lea's oak, Q. Leana Nuttall,
first seen near Cincinnati, Ohio, and reported from several other widely separated
Fig. 256.
Shingle Oak.
Upland Willow Oak
305
localities, is considered to be a cross with the Black oak, Q. vclutina Lamarck; a
cross with the Black jack oak, Q. marylandica Muenchauscn, and another with
the Pin oak, Q. pahistris DuRoi, have been reported from near St. Louis, Missouri.
22. UPLAND WILLOW OAK — Quercus cinerea Michaux
Quercus hrevijoUa (Lamarck) Sargent. Quercus Phellos brevifolia Lamarck
This tree of sandy uplands occurs from North Carolina to Florida and Texas,
mostly not far from the coast. It attains a maximum height of about 30 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 5 dm.
The branches are stout and stiff, forming a more or less irregular head or at
times a broad round tree. The bark
is up to 4 cm. thick, fissured into
small angular plates, covered with
brown to nearly black scales. The
twigs are stiff, woolly at first, soon
becoming smooth and dark reddish
brown. The winter buds are ovoid,
sharp-pointed, the scales brown. The
leaves are oblong, lanceolate or oblan-
ceolate, 5 to 1 2 cm. long, entire, wa\y-
margined or sometimes toothed or
Upland Willow Oak.
shallowly lobed, shghtly bristle-tipped
at the pointed or sometimes rounded
apex, narrowly w^dge-shaped or rarely
rounded at the base, somewhat thick-
ened on the margin. They are firm,
pale green and shining, with yellowish
midrib above, grayish woolly beneath,
often long persisting, falhng irregularly
during the winter. The leaf-stalk is
stout, grooved, 3 to 8 mm. long. The
flowers appear with the leaves, the staminate catkins woolly, 5 to 8 cm. long ; the
flower buds are bright red; the 4 or 5 calyx-lobes are ovate, sharp- pointed, red,
or yellow. The pistillate flowers are on short, stout, hair)^ stalks; involucral scales
and calyx- lobes about equal in length and hair)-; styles long, rcflexed and dark
red. The fruit, ripening in the autumn of the second year, is usually sessile and
often very abundant; nut oblong to subglobose, 1.5 cm. long, light brown and
striped, the apex hairy; cup saucer- shaped, i to 1.5 cm. across, reddish brown
with shining hairs inside, thin, embracing about one fourth of the nut and covered
by thin, ovate-lanceolate bluntish hairy scales, with reddish margins.
The wood is hard and strong, close-grained and hght reddish brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.64. It is used for fuel.
3o6
The Oaks
A hybrid with the Turkey oak, Q. Cateshcei Michaux, is reported from Florida,
and one with the Spanish oak Q. triloba Michaux, from South Carolina.
This tree is also known as High ground willow oak. Sand jack, Turkey oak,
Shin oak. Cinnamon oak, and Blue jack.
23. WHITE LEAF OAK — Quercus hypoleuca Engelmann
Usually a small tree, sometimes a shrub, occurring among coniferous trees in
the mountains of southern Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas and northern,
Mexico, attaining a maximum
height of 18 meters, with a
trunk diameter of 4 dm. It is
also called Mexican oak. White-
leaved oak, and Lance oak.
The branches are slender
and spreading, the tree mostly
round-topped. The bark is up
to 2.5 cm. thick, deeply fissured
into broad rough ridges, with a
thick scaly, nearly black sur-
face. The twigs are stout and
stiff, velvety at first, becoming
nearly smooth, reddish brown,
sometimes glaucous and finally
almost black. The .winter buds
are ovoid, blunt, 3 mm. long,
their scales brown and pale
margined. The leaves are lan-
ceolate, oblong- lanceolate or
elhptic, 5 to 10 cm. long, sharp, mostly bristle-pointed, narrowed and wedge-
shaped or rounded at the base, thickened and revolute on the entire, wavy or
shghtly toothed margin, the teeth often bristle-pointed; they are rather thick,
yellowish green and shining with a slender midrib above, strikingly white-woolly
and strongly veined beneath, turning yellow or brown, but persistent until after
the new leaves appear, when they gradually fall off. The leaf-stalks are stout,
flattened, much thickened at the base, 3 to 10 mm. long. The flowers appear from
March to May, the staminate in slender, hairy catkuis 7 to 12.5 cm. long, their
calyx reddish and hairy, the 4 or 5 lobes ovate and blunt; stamens 4, much ex-
serted; anthers ovate, sharp-pointed, smooth, yellow. The pistillate flowers are
sessile or nearly so, involucral scales and calyx- lobes softly hairy; styles recurved,
red. The fruit, ripening in the summer of the second season, is usually sohtary
and nearly sessile; nut ovoid, 15 to 18 mm. long, brown, hairy at the apex, its
shell thick, white-w^oolly inside; cup broadly top-shaped to hemispheric, 10 to 13
Fig. 258. — White-leaf Oak.
Highland Oak
307
mm. across, yellow and hairy inside, thick and embracing about one third of the
nut, covered by the thin, close brown white-hairy scales.
The wood is very hard and strong, close-grained and dark brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.80. The white under sides of the leaves make this oak a very
interesting and conspicuous tree.
24. HIGHLAND OAK — Quercus WisUzeni A. de Candolle
A tree of the Coast Mountains to the western slope of the Sierra Nevada extend-
ing from northern Cahfomia southward into Lower California. Its maximum
height is 24 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.8 m., but often shrubby, especially
toward the southern part of its range, and forming most of the oak chaparral.
It is also known as Live
oak. Highland live oak,
and WisHzenus' oak.
The trunk is usually
short. The branches are
stout and spreading, the
tree mostly round-topped.
The bark is up to 7.5 cm.
thick, deeply fissured into
wide rounded more or
less confluent ridges, cov-
ered with close dark
browTi or reddish brown
scales; on younger stems
it is much thinner, quite
smooth and lighter in
color. The twigs are
slender, stiff, more or less
hairy, becoming quite
Fig. 259. — Highland Oak.
smooth, light reddish or grayish brown, finally dark brown. The winter buds are
o^•oid or oval, sharp-pointed, 3 to 6 mm. long, and dark brown. The leaves are
oblong-lanceolate, lanceolate or oval, 2.5 to 4 cm. long, sharp or rounded, usually
bristle-tipped at the apex, rounded, subcordate or narrowed at the base, entire, or
toothed with bristle-tipped teeth; they are thick and leather}^ dark green, smooth
and shining, with a strong yellowish midrib above, bright ycllow-grccn beneath,
persistent until the second season, when they fall off gradually; leaf-stalk slender,
nearly round, more or less hair}', 3 to 18 mm. long. The flowers appear from
March to May with the leaves, the staminate in hairy catkins 7.5 to 10 cm. long;
their calyx is deeply 5-lobed; stamens 3 to 6, exserted, their anthers oblong, sharp-
pointed, smooth and yellow. The pistillate flowers are sessile or nearly so, hair}';
styles sometimes more than 3, slender and recurved. The fruit ripens in the
3o8
The Oaks
autumn of the second year, is sessile or nearly so; nut oblong-oval, i8 to 35 mm.
long, brown, often striped, the apex hairy; shell thin and hard, slightly hairy
within; cup top-shaped, deeply saucer-shaped, or sometimes higher than wide, 12
to 15 mm. across, greenish and hair}^ within, thick and embracing one third to one
half the nut, covered by thin, brown somewhat hairy scales.
The wood is very hard and strong, close-grained, hght reddish brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.78. It is used for fuel.
Abram's oak, Q. Morekus Kellogg, is supposed to be a hybrid with the Cah-
fornia black oak, Q. Kelloggii Newberry. Price's oak, Q. Pricei Sud worth
recently described, and perhaps distinct, has saucer-shaped acorn-cups.
25. MYRTLE OAK — Quercus myrtifolia Willdenow
Also called Scrub oak, this much branched evergreen shrub, rarely becomes a
tree 6 meters tall, with a trunk diameter of i dm., growing on dry sandy ridges
along the coast and adjacent islands from South Carolina to Florida and Louisiana.
The bark is sUghtly furrowed near the base, otherwise it is smooth and dark
brown. The twigs are slender, hairy
at first, but becoming smooth, hght
brown to dark gray. The winter
buds are ovoid or oval, narrowed
to a sharp point, the scales close and
brown. The leaves are obovate or
oval, 2 to 5 cm. long, blunt or bristle-
pointed, variously wedge-shaped,
rounded or sometimes heart-shaped
at the base, entire on young shoots,"
sometimes wavy or toothed on the
revolute margin. They are thick
and leathery, shining, dark green and
smooth with a yellowish midrib and
prominent venation above, yellowish
green or brownish, smooth or some-
what hairy, especially at the axils of
the principal veins beneath, persisting until the second season, when they gradually
fall off. The leaf-stalk is stout, hairy, and yellow, i to 3 mm. long. The flowers
appear in March or April. The staminate catkins are hairy, 2.5 to 4 cm. long,
their calyx hairy, the 5 lobes thin, ovate and sharp-pointed; stamens exserted;
anthers small, sharp-pointed, smooth and yellow. The pistillate flowers are ses-
sile or nearly so, single or two together; involucre woolly and reddish; styles long,
recun^ed. The fruit, usually ripening at the end of the second season, is sessile
or nearly so; nut ovoid or oblong-ovoid, i to 1.5 cm. long, dark brown and shining,
often striped, hairy at the apex; shell thin, woolly inside; cup saucer- shaped, 10 to
Fig. 260. — Mvrtle Oak.
California Live Oak
309
13 mm. across, light brown and hairy inside, thin and embracing about one fourth
of the nut, covered by ovate, brown hairy scales.
Like other shrubby oaks, this species forms dense thickets.
26. CALIFORNIA LIVE OAK — Quercus agrifoUa Nde
This usually evergreen tree occurs in western CaHfomia along the Coast Moun-
tains and on the coastal islands, extending into Lower California, reaching a maxi-
mum height of about 27 meters, with a trunk diameter of over 2 m., but usually
much smaller and on sand dunes reduced to a nearly prostrate shrub. It is also
called Evergreen oak, Coast live oak, and Live oak.
The trunk is short, usually dividing into several large widely spreading
branches, but sometimes tall with short spreading branches forming a narrow head.
The bark of old trunks is up to 7.5 cm. thick, furrowed into blunt ridges, with
small close dark brown scales ; that on younger stems
is thinner, nearly smooth, and hght brown or gray.
The twigs are slender, woolly at first, becoming smooth
only after about two years, when they are gray or red-
dish brown. The winter buds are ovoid or ovoid-
oblong, 1.5 to 5 mm. long,
brown, smooth or hairy. The
leaves are ovate, orbicular or
oblong, 4 to 10 cm. long,
rounded or pointed and bris-
tle-tipped at apex, rounded,
heart-shaped, or rarely nar-
rowed at the base; the thick
revolute margin is entire or
toothed with slender, stiff bris-
tle-pointed teeth; they are
nearly leather)' and convex, rather dark green, dull, slightly netted veined and
sometimes hair}" above, paler, somewhat shining, smooth or hair\-, with tufts of
hairs at the axils of the veins beneath, persisting until the new leaves have
formed or sometimes fall before the new leaves appear; the leaf-stalk is stout or
slender, smooth or hair}', i to 2 cm. long. The flowers appear in April or May,
sometimes also in the autumn, the staminate in slender hairy catkins 7.5 to 10 cm.
long; their calyx is deeply 5 to 7-lobed, the lobes sharp-pointed; stamens 6 to 10,
slightly exserted; anthers oblong, notched, smooth and yellow. The pistillate
flowers are sessile or nearly so, the reddish involucres woolly or rarely smooth;
styles spreading and bright red. The fruit, ripening in the autumn of the first
season, is sessile or nearly so, sohtary or few together; nut narrowly ovoid, 18 to
36 mm. long, gradually tapering to a sharp, hairy apex and bro\ATn, the shell thin
with a thick, woolly coating inside; cup top-shaped, about 1.5 cm. across, bright
Fig. 261. — California Live Oak.
3IO
The Oaks
brown and silky inside, embracing about one third of the nut, covered with thin
oblong-lanceolate blunt scales.
The wood is hard, close-grained and brittle, reddish brown; its specific gravity
is 0.82. It is seldom used except for fuel, for which, however, it is largely employed.
The fruit is used for food by the Indians of Lower California, by being ground
into meal, washed, and baked into cakes.
Quercus pumila Walter, the Running oak of the southeastern States, from North Carolina
to Florida, an evergreen shrub with long underground stems, thick narrow leaves, and small
acorns ripening the first season, is not known to ever form a tree.
27. WILCOX'S OAK — Quercus WUcoxii Rydberg
Rarely a tree 6 to 9 meters tall, this shrub occurs in the mountains of Utah,
Nevada, Arizona, and probably in New Mexico and adjacent Mexico; it is very
similar to the White Hve oak, Q. chrysolepis Liebmann, of Cahfomia.
The bark is dark gray or brownish. The
twigs are hairy, soon becoming smooth, gray or
brown. The buds are small, hairy and brown.
The leaves are ovate to broadly oval, i to 4 cm.
long, abruptly short taper-pointed, tapering at
the base to a stout petiole i to 4 mm. Ibng, entire
or with few bristle-tipped teeth on the revolute
margin, those of vigorous sterile shoots quite
different, broader or almost orbicular in outline,
with rounded or heart-shaped base and deeply
bristle-toothed margin; they are thick, firm and
leathery, yellowish hairy when young, pale yel-
lowish green, smooth and shining above, very
pale, almost white, dull and punctate beneath,
persisting until the new ones unfold. The fruit
is stalked; nut ovoid, about 5 mm. long, hght
brown and smooth inside; cup hemispheric, 10 to 14 mm. across, embracing about
one fourth of the nut and covered by sharp-pointed, slightly thickened, somewhat
hairy, ovate scales.
Fig. 262. — Wilcox's Oak.
28. WHITE LIVE OAK — Quercus chrysolepis Liebmann
This evergreen oak occurs from southern Oregon south along the mountains
to Lower California, reaching in its greatest development a height of 24 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 2.7 m., in the^ foothills of the Sierra Nevada in central
Cahfomia. At high altitudes it is sometimes reduced to a shrub.
The trunk is usually short, divided into large widely spreading or drooi)ing
branches often touching the ground and forming a very broad tree, usually round-
topped when not crowded. The bark is up to 4 cm. thick, smooth, except for some
Island Oak
3"
small, close reddish gray or brown scales. The twigs are stiff and slender, hairy
at first, becoming smooth or nearly so, and brown or light gray. The winter buds
are broadly ovoid to oval, sharp-pointed, about 3 mm. long and brown. The
leaves are oblong, elliptic to lanceolate, 2.5 to 10 cm. long, sharp and stiff-pointed,
heart-shaped, rounded or
wedge-shaped at the base; the
thick, revolute margin is usually
entire, sometimes toothed with
spine-tipped teeth; they are
thick and leathery, light yellow-
ish green and smooth, with a
sunken yellowish midrib above,
yellowish woolly or finally
whitish and smooth beneath;
they persist for three or four
years; the leaf-stalks are slen-
der, grooved, yellow, about i
cm. long. The flowers appear
in May and June, the staminate
in clustered slender, hairy catkins 5 to 10 cm. long, their hairy calyx 5 to 7-lobed,
often red tipped; stamens 6 to 8, exserted; anthers sharp-pointed, smooth and yel-
low. The pistillate flowers are sessile, solitary, or rarely spicate ; involucral scales
woolly; styles short, broad, spreading and light red. The fruit, ripening in the
autumn of the second season, is usually soHtary, short-stalked or sessile; nut oval
or ovoid, 12 to 50 mm. long, hght brown; shell thick and pale-hairy inside; cup
hemispheric, top-shaped or deeply saucer-shaped, 4 cm. wide or less, very thick,
brown within, its thick rim covered by short pointed very hairy scales.
The wood is hard, ver}^- tough and strong, close-grained, brownish; its specific
gravity is about 0.85. It is very hard to cut and work, but is used to a limited
extent for wagons and farm implements, pack saddles and tool handles.
It is also called Cahfomia Hve oak, Canyon Hve oak. Black live oak. Canyon
oak. Live oak. Iron oak. Hickory oak. Golden cup oak. Golden leaf oak, Val-
paraiso oak. Blue oak, and Maul oak.
Fig. 263. — White Live Oak.
29. ISLAND OAK — Quercus tomentella Engelmann
This very local tree is only known from the islands along the coast of southern
California, and on Guadeloupe island further south. It is known to reach a height
of 18 meters, with a trunk diameter of 6 dm.
The branches spread into a beautiful round-topped tree. The bark is thin
and broken into large close reddish brown scales. The twigs are rather slender,
quite densely stellate-hairy at first, finally becoming smooth or nearly so, and
light reddish brown or orange. The winter buds are ovoid, sharp or blunt-
312
The Oaks
pointed, about 5 mm. long and covered by hairy scales. The leaves are ovate to
oblong-lanceolate, rounded or wedge-shaped at the base, with thick-tipped teeth
or quite entire on the
strongly revolute margin.
They are thick and leath-
er}', dark green, smooth
and shining above, pale
and stellate-hair}', with a
stout midrib and prominent
venation beneath, persisting
for two or more years, the
leaf-stalk stout, flat, hairy
and about 12 mm. long.
The flowers appear from
April to June, the stami-
nate in hairy catkins 7 to
12 cm. long; the calyx is
hair}', 5 to 7-lobed, light
yellow; stamens 8 to 10, ex-
serted ; anthers oblong,
sharp-pointed, yellow.
The pistillate flowers are
nearly sessile or few together in spikes, their involucral scales and calyx hairy;
styles short, flat, spreading and red. The fruit, ripening at the end of the second
season, is nearly sessile or on short, stout stalks; nut ovoid-oval, 4 cm. long, its
shell thick, somewhat scurfy hairy inside; the cup is hemispheric, about 2 cm.
across, thin, Hght brown and hairy inside, thin-rimmed, embracing only about
one fourth of the nut, covered by ovate, sharp-pointed, brown and very hairy
scales.
The wood is hard, close-grained, yellowish brown; its specific gravity is about
0.72. It is used for fuel. The species is closely related to Q. chrysolepis.
Fig. 264. — Island Oak.
30. LIVE OAK — Quercus virginiana Miller
QiiercHS virens Aiton. Quercus Roljsii Small
This characteristic evergreen tree of low, sandy soil, mostly near the coast,
occurs from Virginia to Florida and westward into Texas, also in Mexico, and it
is abundant in western Cuba. It is a large and handsome wide-spreading round-
topped tree, having a maximum height of 30 meters, a trunk diameter of 2.5 m.,
and sometimes a spread of 45 m.
The trunk is much buttressed at the base, short, and usually divided into
several large outspreading branches, old trees almost globular in outline. The
bark is up to 2.5 cm. thick, sparingly furrowed, and broken up into small, close
Live Oak
313
Fig. 265. — Live Oak, Miami, Florida.
reddish brown or grayish scales. The twigs are slender, stiff, woolly at first, be-
coming smooth, gray or brown. The winter buds are globose or broadly ovoid,
1.5 mm. long, hght brown. The leaves are oblong, oval, or obovate, blunt or
slightly pointed, narrowly wedge-shaped, or sometimes rounded or shghtly heart-
shaped at the base, usually entire on the
more or less revolute margin, thick and
leathery, dark green and shining above,
pale, smooth or slightly hair}', but never
rugose, beneath; the midrib is narrow and
yellowish, the petiole stout, flattened and
grooved, from 5 to 10 mm. long; they per-
sist for about one year, turning yellow or
brown before falling. The flowers appear
in March or April, the staminatc in haiiy
catkins 5 to 7.5 cm. long, their calyx hght
yellow, divided into 5 to 7 ovate, blunt hairy
lobes; stamens little exserted; anthers ob-
long, notched, hair)- and yellow. The pistil-
late flowers are spicate on slender hair\'
peduncles 2.5 to 7.5 cm. long, their involu- fig. 266. — Live Oak.
SH
The Oaks
cral scales ovate; calyx- lobes hain'; styles short, broad, spreading, and light red.
The fruit ripens in the first season, solitary or in spike-like clusters of 2 to 5, on
short brown stalks; the nut is ovoid or oblong-ovoid, 2 to 2.5 cm. long, brown
and shining, its seed sweet and light yellow; cup hemispheric, often somewhat con-
stricted at the base, 1.5 to 2 cm. across, light yellow-brown and hairy inside, cm-
bracing about one third of the nut, covered with close, thin, brown, sharp-pointed,
densely hain,- scales.
The wood is hard, strong and tough, close-grained, and brown or yellow-brown
with a satiny surface; its specific gravity is about 0.95. It has been largely used
in ship l)uilding and in other structural work. The nuts were gathered and eaten
by the Indians, who roasted them for food and also expressed an oil from them.
These fruits are produced in great abundance and afford a valuable food for
swine.
This is one of the most rapid growing of the American oaks as well as the
grandest and most beautiful, and in the south it is one of the highly esteemed
shade trees. It often harbors quantities of air-plants.
31. TWIN LIVE OAK — Quercus geminata Small
Usually a shrub, this live oak rarely becomes a tree, with a maximum height of
12 meters and a trunk diameter of 6 dm.
It occurs in sandy scrub lands from
Georgia to Florida and Mississippi.
The trunk is seldom upright, but
usually ascending or bent. The bark is
pale gray. The twigs are rather stout,
yellowish downy, becoming quite smooth
and light brown, finally gray to nearly
black. The leaves are narrowly oblong,
clhptic or oblong-lanceolate, blunt or
pointed, usually gradually narrowed at
the base, strongly revolute on the mar-
gin. They are thin, tough and parch-
ment-Hke, wrinkled, reticulate, with the
principal veins impressed, and smooth
above, grayish and downy, with a promi-
nent yellow midrib beneath. They per-
sist for about a year^ the petiole is stout,
2 to 6 mm. long. The fruit ripens the
first year, usually in pairs, at the end of
a peduncle 4 cm. long or more; nut ovoid or narrowly ovoid, 10 to 17 mm. long,
with prominent, persistent styles, dark brown and shining; shell very thin; cup
top-shaped, ic to 12 mm. across, light brown and hairy inside, thin and embracing
Twin Live Oak.
Arizona White Oak
315
about one third of the nut, covered with woolly scales, which are slightly thickened
toward the base, thinner, and forming a sHght fringe around the rim of the
cup.
Quercus minima (Sargent) Small and Q. succulenta Small, of Florida, and Q.
fusiform is Small, of central Texas, are shrubby Live oaks not known to form trees.
32. ARIZONA WHITE OAK — Quercus arizonica Sargent
This is the most abundant White oak in southern New Mexico and Arizona,
and occurs in adjacent Mexico. It grows at altitudes of 1500 to 3000 meters, and
attains a maximum height of 18 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.2 m.
The branches are stout, spreading horizontally and more or less ascending,
forming a usually symmetrical round-topped tree. The bark is about 2.5 cm.
thick, deeply and narrowly fissured into wide ridges, which are broken into long
thick plates of a hght gray color; that of younger stems is much thinner, with
close thin scales. The twigs are stout, woolly at first, becoming less hairy, finally
smooth and reddish brown. The leaves are oblong to ovate or obovate, 2 to 8
cm. long, sharp or sHghtly rounded at
the apex, rounded or heart-shaped at
the base, entire or wavy, or sometimes'
spinose-toothed toward the apex, thick
and somewhat re volute on the margin;
they are thick, stiff, rather dark green
and smooth, or covered with stellate
hairs, and with a yellowish midrib above,
yellow-green or pale green and thickly
yellowish-hairy, with a broad thick yel-
low midrib and slender, coarsely netted
venation beneath, persistent until the
new leaves begin to unfold. The leaf-
stalk is stout, shghtly flattened, woolly,
4 to 8 mm. long. The flowers appear in
April or May, the staminate in slender
hsiiry catkins 4 to 5 cm. long, their calyx having 4 to 7 broad, sharp-pointed, yel-
low lobes; stamens exserted, their anthers oblong, notched, red or yellow. The
pistillate flowers are on short hairy stalks, their involucral scales broadly ovate,
hair}^; styles short and spreading. The fruit, ripening late in the autumn of the
first season, is sessile or short-stalked, soHtar}^ or 2 or 3 together; nut oblong or
oval, 2 to 2.5 cm. long, brown and shining, often striped, cup hemispheric, 12 to
15 mm. across, light brown and hairy inside, embracing about one fourth of the
nut, covered by close, ovate scales, which are densely coated with pale woolly
hairs, those toward the base of the cup thickened.
The wood is hard and strong, close-grained, dark brown to nearly black. It
Fig. 268. — Arizona White Oak.
3i6 The Oaks
is very heavy, its specific gravity being a trifle over i.oo. It checks badly on drying,
is very difficult to split and is utiUzed only as fuel.
^^. NET LEAF OAK — Quercus reticulata Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth
In Mexico this tree attains much greater dimensions than in our area, wherein
it occurs in the mountains of southern New Mexico and Arizona, seldom attaining
a height of 9 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 dm., but is usually a shrub.
The bark is about 6 mm. thick, close, thin, scaly, of various shades of brown.
The twigs are stout, densely hairy at first, becoming less so, orange colored, ulti-
mately hght brown. The winter buds are ovoid, 3 mm. long, reddish or brown.
The leaves are broadly obovate or
oblong-obovate, 3 to 12 cm. long,
blunt, rounded or sometimes sharp-
pointed at the apex, heart-shaped or
sometimes rounded at the narrowed
base, somewhat toothed above the
middle with sharp or bristle-tipped
teeth or entire, the margin shghtly
revolute; they are thick, firm, and
stiff, dark green with scattered hairs
but shining when old above, paler
and thickly hairy with stout midrib
and prominently reticulate venation
beneath, persistent until the new
leaves form; the petiole is stout, 5
to 10 mm. long. The flowers appear
from April to June, the staminate in
Fig. 269. — Net Leaf Oak. i ^ r r ^ • ^i • i ^
clusters of a tew hairy catkms about
3 cm. long; calyx 5- to 7-lobed, hairy and yellow; stamens exserted, their anthers
oblong, notched, smooth and yellow. The pistillate flowers are in spike-Hke clusters
on long stalks which, Uke the involucral scales, are woolly; styles short, spread-
ing, and dark red. The fruit is in spikes or only 2 together, rarely sohtar}^; nut
oblong, 12 to 15 mm. long, hairy at the apex; cup deeply saucer-shaped or hemis-
pheric, ID to 12 mm. across, dark brown and hairy inside, embracing one fourth to
one third of the nut, covered by ovate, bluntish, hairy scales.
The wood is hard, close-grained and brown; its specific gravity is about 0.95.
34. E:M0RY'S oak — Quercus Emoryi Torrey
An elegant tree of the mountains of southwestern Texas, New Mexico, Arizona,
and adjacent Mexico, attaining a maximum height of 21 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 1.5 m. in the canons, but on the higher mountain sides reduced to a
shrub. It is also called Black oak.
Emory's Oak
317
Fig. 270. — Emory's Oak,near Graham, Socorro Co., N. M.
The branches are stout, stiff, the lower somewhat pendulous, forming a broad
round tree. The bark is up to 5 cm. thick, deeply fissured into long thick })latcs,
covered with dark brown to black scales. The twigs are slender, stiff, and downy,
becoming brown and less haiiy, finally smooth and reddish brown or IjJack. The
buds are ovoid, sharp-pointed, about 6 mm. long, their scales brown with hair\-
tips. The leaves are oblong to lanceolate, 2.5 to 7 cm. long, sharp and bristle-
pointed, heart-shaped, or rarely rounded at the somewhat narrowed base, entire
or sparingly broadly toothed with bristle-tipped teeth on the revolute margin;
3i8
The Oaks
they are thick, stiff and leatheiy, dark green, ver}^ shining, smooth or sHghtly
hair}' with raised midrib above; paler, dull, smooth or hairy, at least along the
prominent midrib, and obscurely net-
veined beneath, persistent until spring
when the new leaves begin to unfold.
The leaf-stalk is stout and shghtlv
hair}% 2 to 5 mm. long. The stami-
nate flowers are in hairy catkins 5 to
7.5 cm. long; their calyx, which is 5-
to 7-lobed, is haiiT and hght yellow.
The pistillate flowers are sessile or on
stout hair)' stalks, the involucres also
haiiy; styles sHghtly spreading. The
fruit ripens from July to September of
the first season, is sessile or nearly so;
nut oblong or narrowly ovoid, 12 to 20
mm. long, dark brown when ripe, the
Fig. 271. — Emon-'s Oak.
apex hair\'; shell thin, white downy inside; cup hemispheric, 10 to 12 mm. across,
hair}- inside, embracing about one third of the nut, its scales ovate, pointed, light
bro\\'n and hair}'.
The wood is rather soft, strong but brittle, close-grained, dark brown; its
specific gravity is about 0.93. The sweet nuts are of commercial importance to
the Indians and Mexicans of our southern border, where they are sold for food
in the markets under the name of biotis.
35. TEXAN WHITE OAK — Quercus breviloba (Torrey) Sargent
Quercus ohtusijolia breviloba Torrey. Quercus Durandii Sargent, not Buckley
Usually a shrub, this oak sometimes
becomes a tree 9 meters tall, with a
trunk diameter of 4 dm. It grows in
hmestone soil in central and western
Texas and adjacent Mexico, and as a
shrub forms dense thickets. It is also
called White oak. Pin oak, and Shin
oak.
The trunk is usually divided very
near the base into several principal
branches. The bark is about 6 mm.
thick, grayish white or gray-brown,
separating into thin, loose elongated
scales. The twigs are slender, hain,', be-
coming smoother and gray. The buds fig. 272. — Texan White Oak.
MacDougal's Oak
319
are broadly ovoid, bluntish-pointcd, about 1.5 mm, long and bright brown. The
leaves are obovate or broadly oblanceolate, 4 to 12 cm. long, shallowly 3 to 7-
lobed, the apex blunt or notched, tapering or wedge-shaped at the base, rather
thin, dark green or bluish, shining, with raised pale narrow midrib above, densely
finely hairy and silvery gray beneath, persistent until just before the new leaves
unfold; the leaf-stalk is 4 to 10 mm. long. The flowers appear in March or April,
the staminate in short hairy catkins, their calyx hairy and yellow, its lobes short
and broad; stamens 5 to 7, exserted, their anthers broadly oblong, notched, smooth
and yellow. The pistillate flowers are on short woolly stalks, their involucral
scales hairy; styles short, spreading and dull red. The fruit is sessile or nearly
so; nut oblong, 10 to 15 mm. long; cup saucer-shaped, 10 to 15 mm. across, em-
bracing about one fourth to one third of the nut, the scales close.
The wood is hard and strong but brittle, close-grained and brown.
It has been confused with Durand's oak, from which it differs in its broader,
usually more lobed and longer persistent leaves, and in the deeper cup of the
acorn. The older binomial Quercus San Sabceana Buckley may be the proper
name for this tree.
36. MACDOUGAL'S OAK — Quercus pauciloba Rydberg
This little known species is reported only from central Arizona, where it grows
in rich soil along the banks of streams and attains a height of 5 meters.
It has hght gray bark, somewhat hairy, hght brown to gray twigs, and small
brown buds. The leaves are
oval, ovate or rarely obovate
in outline, 5 to 8 cm. long;
the 5 to 7 lobes are triangu-
lar-ovate, blunt or sometimes
bristle-pointed or slightly
toothed; the sinuses are
broad, rather deep, rounded
at the bottom; the base is
broad, rounded, or slightly
heart-shaped. They are firm,
pale, bluish green, dull, and
Fig. 273. — MacDougal's Oak.
fine hairy above, pale brownish, slightly hairy and finely reticulated beneath. The
fruit, ripening the first season, is stalked; nut ellipsoid or short-oblong, about 15
mm. long; cup hemispheric, 12 to 18 mm. across, embracing about one half of
the nut and covered by ovate tapering white-hairy corky scales.
320
The Oaks
37. SHIN OAK — Quercus undulata Torrey
Qitercus grisea Liebmann
This shrub occasionally becomes a small tree and is distributed from eastern
Colorado to western Texas, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona, extending south-
ward into Mexico. It is also called Scrub oak and Switch oak.
The bark is gray and flaky. The twigs are yellowish green and downy at
first, becoming brown or gray. The buds are small,
blunt and brown. The leaves are oval to oblong or
oblong-lanceolate, 2 to 5 cm. long, blunt or pointed,
entire or wavy, or toothed on the revolute margin.
They are persistent, pale bluish green, hairy at first,
becoming smooth and shining above, paler and mostly
densely dull yellowish downy beneath; the leaf-stalk
is about 5 mm. long. The tree flowers in Texas in
April; the staminate catkins are hairy, 3 to 4 cm. long,
the calyx-lobes oblong, the anthers short-oblong,
smooth, on fihform Aliments. The fruit ripens in the
first season; nut oblong, about 1.5 cm. long, blunt or
sharp-pointed; cup saucer-shaped to hemispheric, 12
mm. across, embracing one fourth to one third of the
nut and covered by ovate corky thickened scales.
Mohr's oak, Quercus Mohriana Buckley, usually
a shrub, of southwestern Texas and adjacent Mexico,
is sometimes arborescent and 4.5 meters tall. It dif-
fers from the above described species in its large, rela-
tively narrower leaves, which are light gray downy and not yellowish beneath.
The nut is relatively thicker and the cup more hemispheric.
Quercus pungens Liebmann, is a shrub with crisped spiny-toothed leaves rang-
ing from Colorado and western Texas to Arizona, Cahfornia, and northern
Mexico.
Quercus turhinella Greene, is a shrub ranging from New Mexico to Lower
California, with small acorns and small toothed or entire leaves, hairy beneath.
Fig. 274. — Shin Oak.
38. BLUE OAK — Quercus oblongifolia Torrey
A native of western Texas, southern New Mexico, Arizona, and adjacent Mexico,
attaining a maximum height of about 9 meters, with a trunk diameter of 6 dm.
It is often called White oak.
The branches are numerous, rather stout, spreading and ascending, often
forming a beautiful round-topped tree. The bark is up to 3 cm. thick, broken
into small close light gray scales. The twigs arc slender and stiff, slightly hairj^
Engelmann's Oak
321
becoming smooth, red-brown to light gray. The buds are oblong, blunt, brown,
hairy at first. The leaves are oblong to ovate or oblanceolate, 3 to 6 cm. long,
blunt at the apex, entire or seldom wavy or spiny-toothed on the revolute mar-
gin; they are firm, bright bluish and shining with prominently rounded midrib
above, pale and finely reticulate
veined beneath, persisting during
the winter and turning yellow before
falling at about the time the new
leaves unfold. The leaf-stalk is
stout, about 3 mm. long. The
flowers appear in March or April
with the unfolding leaves, the stami-
nate in few slender, woolly catkins
about 4 cm. long, their calyx of 4 or ^^^' ^'5"
5 sharp-pointed, yellow lobes; stamens exserted, their anthers oval, notched, smooth
and yellow. The pistillate flowers are sessile or on short hair}^ stalks; involucre
woolly; styles sHghtly spreading and light red. The fruit, ripening in the autumn
of the first season, is sessile; mit ellipsoid or somewhat ovoid, 12 to 15 mm. long,
brown and shining, its shell very thin; seed dark purple and very astringent; cup
hemispheric, i to 1.5 cm. across, embracing about one third of the nut, covered
by very hairy, corky-thickened, brownish margined scales.
The wood is hard, strong but brittle, very dark brown and heavy. It checks
badly on dr}ang, is hard to cut or spHt, and is only used for fuel.
Blue Oak.
39. ENGELMANN'S OAK — Quercus Engelmanni Greene
Fig. 276. — Engelmann's Oak,
This evergreen oak occurs over a
limited area of southwestern CaH-
fomia, from Kern county to San Diego
county, where it attains a maximum
height of 18 meters, with a trunk di-
ameter of 9 dm. It is also known as
Live oak and Evergreen white oak.
The branches are stout, the lower
horizontally spreading, forming a broad
tree. The bark is up to 5 cm, thick,
deeply but narrowly fissured into broad
ridges, with flaky close brownish gray
scales. The twigs are stout, stiff and
hair}', soon becoming quite smooth,
reddish brown and finally brown or
gray. The leaves are oblong to obovate,
322
The Oaks
2.5 to 7 cm. long, blunt and rounded, or seldom sharp-pointed at the apex, rounded
or heart-shaped at the base, entire, shghtly wavy, or rarely toothed on the mar-
gin; they are thick and firm, bluish green, smooth or slightly hairy, with a yel-
lowish midrib above, yellowish green, covered with brownish hairs, but becoming
smooth, with prominent venation beneath when old, persistent until the new
leaves appear; the leaf-stalk is slender, hair)-, 6 to 12 mm. long. The flowers
open in April or May in clustered numerous slender hairy catkins 5 to 7.5 cm,
long, their calyx sHghtly hairy and yellow; stamens exserted, their anthers oblong,
shghtly notched, smooth and yellow. The pistillate flowers are on slender stalks,
their involucral scales broad and hairy; styles short, broad and spreading. The
fruit, ripening the first season, is usually short-stalked; nut oblong or oval, 18 to
25 mm. long, dark brown and striped, soon becoming lighter colored; cup deeply
saucer-shaped or top-shaped, 12 to 18 mm. across, light brown and hair)^ inside,
embracing about one third of the nut, covered by ovate brownish pale woolly
scales, those at the base of the cup thickened.
The wood is hard, strong but brittle, close-grained, dark brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.94. It checks badly on drjang, and is probably used only for
fuel.
A probable hybrid with Q. dumosa is reported.
40. TOUMEY'S OAK — Quercus Toumeyi Sargent
This small-leaved, little known oak occurs, in so far as known, only in Ari-
zona, where it attains a height of 10 meters, with
a trunk diameter of 2 dm.
The short trunk forks into several widely-
spreading branches. The bark is 18 mm. thick,
deeply furrowed, dark reddish brown with thin
close scales. The twigs are slender, reddish and
hairy, becoming dark brown to nearly black.
The leaves are oblong, ovate-oblong to oval, 1.5
to 2 cm. long, sharp and bristle-pointed, rounded
or heart-shaped at the base, entire or sometimes
slightly bristle-toothed on the somewhat revolute
margin; they are firm, bluish green, smooth and
shining, with slender raised midrib above, short
hairy and finely reticulate-veined beneath, per-
sisting until the new leaves form; the leaf-stalk
is stout and woolly, about 2 mm. long. The
fruit is sessile, sohtary or two together, ripening
Fig. 277. -Tourney's Oak. -^^ ^^^j^ summer of the first year; nut narrowly
ovoid, 12 to 18 mm. long, bright brown and shining, the apex hairy; cup saucer-
shaped depressed -hemispheric, about 10 mm. across, bright brown and hsAxy in-
California Rock Oak
323
side, thin and embracing about one fourth of the nut, covered by thin, ovate,
imbricated hairy scaks not corky-thickened on the back.
The wood is hard, close-grained and hght brown.
41. CALIFORNIA ROCK OAK — Quercus Douglasii Hooker and Amott
A tree of dry hills and mountain sides of west central California, southward to
Kern county, attaining a maximum height of 36 meters, with a trunk diameter of
1.2 meters, but often reduced to a shrub in its southern range.
The branches are short and stout, the lower widely spreading, the tree usually
round-topped and broad. The bark is up to 2.5 cm. thick, pale gray or nearly
white, and somewhat scaly. The twigs are stout, very brittle, softly woolly during
the first season, becoming less hairy, gray or brown, finally smooth. The winter
buds are ovoid, blunt, 3 to 6 mm. long, reddish and hairy. The leaves are very
variable, oblong, oval or obovate,
5 to 12.5 cm. long, pointed or
rounded at the apex, narrowly or
broadly rounded, or heart-shaped
at the base; the 4 to 7 lobes are
broad or narrow, sharp-pointed,
bristle-tipped or rounded, the sin-
uses deep or shallow, acute or
rounded at the bottom; they are
sometimes entire except for a few
teeth toward the apex, thin, but
firm and stiff, bluish green with
scattered hairs and raised rounded
midrib above, paler or yellowish
green, softly hairy and more or less
conspicuously reticulate veined be-
neath. They fall in the late au-
tumn; the leaf-stalk is stout, grooved, 6 to 12 mm. long. The flowers appear
from February to May. The staminate catkins are hairy, about 3 cm. long; calyx
hair}', deeply lobed and yellowish green; stamens exserted, their anthers oblong,
notched, smooth and yellow. The pistillate flowers are solitary or several together;
involucre hair}'; styles short and spreading. The fruit is sessile or short-stalked,
often produced in great profusion; nut broadly oval to ovoid, 18 to 30 mm. long,
brown and shining; cup nearly hemispheric, light green and hair}' inside, embrac-
ing about one fourth of the nut, covered by small, hairy scales with sharp tips.
The wood is hard, strong but brittle, close-grained, dark brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.89; it checks badly and is httle used except for fuel.
This is one of the most beautiful of the CaHfomia oaks. It is also called
Mountain white oak. Rock oak. White oak. Hill oak, and Blue oak.
Fig. 278. — California Rock Oak.
324
The Oaks
Quercus alvardiana Eastwood, a recently described and little known small
tree or shrub of the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, Cahfornia, has very
long and slender acorns.
42. DURAND'S OAK — Quercus Durandii Buckley
A tree of dry but rich soil of river valleys from central Alabama to Texas,
reaching a maximum height of 16 meters, with a trunk diameter of i m.
The bark is about 2 cm. thick, sHghtly scaly and Hght gray. The twigs are
slender and woolly, becom-
ing less hairy and dark
gray. The winter buds are
small, oval and bright
brown. The abundant
leaves are narrowly oblong,
4 to 10 cm. long, entire or
but sHghtly 5-lobed toward
the blunt or somewhat
notched apex, broadly ta-
pering or wedge-shaped at
the base ; they are thick and
somewhat leathery, bright
green and shining above,
very pale and whitish hairy
beneath, turning pale yel-
low and fall in the autumn.
The leaf-stalk is stout, grooved, about 5 mm. long. The staminate flowers are
in short, hair}' catkins; calyx pale yellow with broad lobes; stamens 5 to 7, ex-
serted, their anthers large, broad, notched, smooth and yellow. The pistillate
flowers are on short, hairy stalks; scales hairy; styles short, spreading and red.
The fruit ripens at the end of the first season, and is nearly sessile ; nut ovoid or
somewhat depressed, about i cm. long; cup saucer-shaped, 10 to 12 mm. across,
rather thin, embracing only the base of nut, covered by thin, close, sharp-pointed,
whitish-woolly scales.
The wood is said to equal white oak and is used as such. Locally it is prized
for certain portions of cotton gins and is also used in the manufacture of wagon
wheels, hubs, spools, and split baskets.
It is a very beautiful tree and has been confused with the Texan white oak,
Q. breviloba (Torrey) Sargent, of central and western Texas.
Fig. 279. — Durand's Oak.
Southern Oak
325
Fig. 280. — Lacey's Oak.
43. LACEY'S OAK — Quercus Laceyi Small
A small tree with a maximum height of 6 meters but more often a shrub, of
limestone hills in south central Texas, where it is called Bastard oak and IMountain
oak.
The bark is brown, irregularly and deeply grooved. The twigs are slender,
somewhat hairy, the buds
small, blunt, their scales
thick, red and hairy-mar-
gined. The abundant leaves
are 4 to 8 cm. long, oblong,
with 3 to 5 shallow lobes, or
oblong-obovate and more
prominently 3-lobed near
the rounded or notched
apex; the base is narrow,
abruptly truncate or heart-
shaped; they are thick, al-
most leathery, ohve-green
with a waxy appearance
above, grayish and some-
what minutely scurfy with prominent yellowish venation beneath, persisting almost
until the new leaves form. The leaf-stalk is short, stout, grooved and hairy. The
fruit, ripening at the end of the first season, is sessile or nearly so; nut oblong to
oblong-ovoid, 1.5 to 2 cm. long, often depressed at the apex, its shell thin, brown
and smooth inside; cup shallow, sau-
cer-shaped, 12 to 17 mm. across,
light brown inside, rather thick, em-
bracing only the base of nut, covered
with stout, coarse, corky, brownish-
downy scales.
44. SOUTHERN OAK
Querciis austrina Small
A rough barked tree of river bor-
ders in Georgia and Alabama, reach-
ing a height of 15 meters, with a trunk
diameter of i m. It is also called
Pin oak and Bastard oak.
The twigs are smooth, reddish
and glaucous. The winter buds are
about 2 mm. long, dark brown, with hair\' pointed scales. The leaves are wedge-
FiG. 281. — Southern Oak.
326
The Oaks
shaped or oblong- wedge-shaped, 5 to 15 cm. long, bluntly 3- to 5-lobed above the
middle, the apex rounded, base tapering or narrowly rounded; they are Hght green
but dull with reddish brown midrib above, whitish woolly, soon becoming quite
smooth and somewhat glaucous with prominent brown venation beneath ; the leaf-
stalk is ver)' short and stout. The staminate catkins are 5 to 7 cm. long and very
slender; calyx hairy; stamens exserted, the anthers notched. The fruit ripens in
the autumn of the first season. The nut is 1.5 to 2 cm. long; cup hemispheric.
45. CHAPMAN'S OAK — Quercus Chapmani Sargent
Qnercus ohtusiloba parvifolia Chapman
Usually a shrub of sandy pinelands near the coast from South Carolina to
Florida; it is most abundant on the western coast of Florida, and sometimes
becomes a tree 10 meters tall, with a trunk diameter of 3 dm.
The branches are stout, the tree usually round-topped. The bark is about
5 mm. thick, broken into thin flattish
scales of a grayish black color. The
twigs are slender, densely covered
with yellowish hairs, soon becoming
nearly smooth and brown to gray.
The buds are ovoid, sharp or blunt-
pointed, brown, about 3 mm. long.
The leaves are obovate to oblong, 5
to 10 cm. long, blunt at the apex, nar-
rowed or wedge-shaped or broad and
rounded at the base; the somewhat
revolute margin is wavy or often shal-
lowly 3-lobed near the apex; they are
rather thick and nearly leathery, dark
green, smooth and shining above,
lighter green or whitish and persist-
ently hairy beneath, usually falling
off during the winter, sometimes per-
sisting until the new foliage forms. The leaf-stalk is very short. The flowers
appear when the leaves are about one third unfolded or later, the staminate in
hairy catkins 3 to 5 cm. long, their calyx hairy, the 5 lobes toothed ; stamens ex-
serted, their anthers broad, notched and hairy. The pistillate flowers are sessile
or nearly so; involucre and calyx densely woolly; styles short, stout and spread-
ing. The fruit, ripening the first season, is usually sessile, solitary or 2 together;
nut oblong or elHptic, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long, light brown, shghtly hairy near the
apex; cup depressed-hemispheric, 1.5 to 2 cm. across, light brown, slightly hairy
inside, embracing nearly one half of the nut and covered by thick hairy scales.
The wood is moderately hard, close-grained and yellowish brown.
Fig. 282. — Chapman's Oak.
Yellow Oak
327
46. CHINQUAPIN OAK — Quercus prinoides Willdenow
This spreading shrub is of wide distribution from Maine to Minnesota, North
Carohna, Alabama, and Texas; it sometimes becomes tree-hke and 5 meters tall,
with a trunk diameter of 1.25 dm. It is also called Scrub chestnut oak and Dwarf
chinquapin oak.
The light brown bark is scaly. The twigs are slender, dark reddish green and
scurfy, soon becoming smooth, passing through various shades of brown to dark
brown. The winter buds are ovoid to subglobose, usually blunt, about 3 mm.
long and brown. The leaves are obovate,
oblanceolate to obovafe'-o^long, 0.5 to 1.5 dm.
long, mostly sharp-pointed at the apex, nar-
rowed or rounded at the base, coarsely wavy
toothed ; they are thin and firm, dark yellow-
ish green, smooth and faintly shining above,
grayish and finely hairy beneath, the midrib
narrow and yellow; they turn bright scarlet
to yellow before falling in the autumn; the
leaf-stalk is stout, nearly smooth, flattened and
grooved, 5 to 15 mm. long. The flowers ap-
pear in May or June when the leaves are un-
folding, the staminate in hairy catkins 4 to 6
cm. long; calyx 4- to 9-lobed, yellowish green
and hairy; stamens much exserted, their
anthers notched, yellow and smooth. The
pistillate flowers are whitish hairy, the styles
very short and broad-spreading, hght red. The fruit, ripening in the autumn of
the first season, is produced in great abundance, sessile or nearly so ; nut oblong
to ovoid, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long, hairy near the apex, light brown and shining, its seed
sweet; cup hemispheric, 13 to 18 mm, across, thin and embracing nearly one half
of the nut, covered by ovate, sharp-pointed hoary scales.
The wood is too meager to be of economic value except for fuel.
As a shrub it affords variety to plantations by its abundant fruit and beautiful
autumnal coloration. The very recently described Q. prinoides rufescens Rehder,
a shrub ranging from Nantucket to New Jersey, is a form with some yellowish
hairs on twigs and leaves.
Fig. 283. — Chinquapin Oak.
47. YELLOW OAK — Quercus Muhlenbergii Engelmann
Quercus Priniis acuminata Michaux. Quercus acuminata Houba
This beautiful oak grows from Vermont to Minnesota, Florida and Texas,
usually in hmestone soils, reaching a maximum height of 48 meters, with a trunk
328
The Oaks
diameter of 2.5 m.; in its northeastern range it scarcely exceeds one third these
dimensions.
The trunk is tall and straight, often widely buttressed at the base. The branches
are relatively small, and the tree usually round-topped. The bark is up to 5 cm.
thick, close, rough, broken into gray or sometimes brownish scales. The twigs
are slender, reddish green and hair}', becoming smooth and passing through vari-
ous shades of brown to gray-brown. The buds are ovoid, sharp-pointed, 3 to 5
mm. long, covered with brown scales. The leaves are crowded toward the ends
of the branches, oblong, lanceolate or sometimes obovate, 0.5 to 2 dm. long,
usually taper-pointed, generally narrow and
wedge-shaped, or seldom slightly rounded or
heart-shaped at the base, coarsely toothed;
they are thick and rather firm, bright green,
smooth and shining, with impressed yellow-
ish midrib above, pale or often nearly white,
more or less hairy and conspicuously veined
beneath, turning orange and scarlet before
falling in the autumn; the leaf-stalk is slen-
der, round or slightly flattened, i to 3 cm.
long. The flowers appear with the leaves in
spring; the staminate catkins 7.5 to 10 cm.
long, their calyx-lobes fringed, yellowish; sta-
mens numerous, their anthers oblong, sHghtly
notched, smooth and yellow\ The pistillate
flowers are sessile, often spicate, thickly
covered with white downy hairs ; styles short,
broad, spreading and light red. The fruit, ripening in the first autumn, is sessile
or nearly so, soHtary or 2 together; nut ovoid, about 1.5 to 2 cm. long, brown;
seed sweet and edible; cup hemispheric, 13 to 18 mm. across, brown and hairy
inside rather thin, embracing about one half the nut, covered by scales with
thickened bases, and brownish tips often forming a fringe around the rim.
The wood is hard, very strong, close-grained ; its specific gravity is about 0.86.
It is rather difficult to season, but is used for fencing, railroad ties, and barrels.
This tree should be seen more frequently in parks and on lawns, to which
its handsome form and foliage would add additional beauty.
It is also called Yellow chestnut oak. Chinquapin scrub oak. Dwarf chestnut
oak. Scrub oak. White oak, Ro.ck oak, Pin oak and Narrow-leaved chestnut oak.
Fig. 284. — Yellow Oak.
48. ALEXANDER'S OAK — Quercus Alexanderi Britton
This relative of the Yellow oak has long been confused with that species,
which it resembles in general appearance but differs in its flaky bark and usually
broader leaves. It occurs in rich bottom lands and is known from Vermont to
Rock Chestnut Oak
329
Michigan and from Ohio and Indiana. Most of the common names of the Yel-
low oak are probably applied to this tree also.
The bark is flaky, scaly and gray. The smooth twigs are yellowish brown, be-
coming gray. The leaves are
obovate or oblong-obovate,
broadest above the middle, the
margin coarsely and bluntly or
sharply toothed, the apex taper-
pointed, the base tapering or
rounded ; they are thin but firm,
yellow-green and smooth above,
paler, smooth or shghtly hair}',
with straw-colored prominent
venation beneath, turning bright
yellow before falHng in the au-
tumn; the leaf-stalk is slender,
2 to 3 cm. long, thickened and
darkened at the base. The fruit ripens the first autumn, is sessile, or very short-
stalked; nut ovoid, 1.5 to 2 cm. long, light brown, hairy at the apex; cup deeply
saucer- shaped, 12 to 15 mm. across, light brown and roughish inside, thin, em-
bracing one third to one half the nut and covered wdth small, thick, grayish-hairy
scales.
The wood is similar to that of the Yellow oak and used indiscriminately as
such.
Fig. 285. — Alexander's Oak.
49. ROCK CHESTNUT OAK — Quercus Prinus Linnsus
A tree usually of sterile hillsides from Maine to Ontario, south to New Jersey,
Virginia, and in the mountains to Georgia,
Alabama and Tennessee, reaching a maxi-
mum height of 30 meters, with a trunk di-
ameter of 2 m.
The trunk is usually divided rather low
down into several principal branches, the tree,
when not crowded, sometimes broader than
high. The bark is up to 5 cm. thick, deeply
fissured into thick roughish ridges of a brown
to nearly black color; on younger stems it is
thinner, quite smooth, brownish and some-
what shining. The twigs arc stout, purphsh
green, usually smooth, passing through vari-
ous shades of brown to gray or dark brouTi.
Fig. 286. — Rock Chestnut Oak. The winter buds are ovoid, sharply taper-
330
The Oaks
pointed, 5 to 10 mm. long, and light brown. The leaves are oblong, oblong-lan-
ceolate, or obovate, 1.5 to 2 dm. long, sharp, sometimes taper-pointed, or rarely
rounded at the apex, variously wedge-shaped, rounded or heart-shaped at the
base, margined with coarse rounded teeth. They are thick, almost leathery, dark
green, smooth and slightly shining, with impressed yellowish midrib above, pale
grayish, finely ha.lry and prominently veined beneath, turning dull orange or yel-
low-brown before falHng in the autumn; the leaf-stalk is short and slender, i to
3 cm. long. The flowers appear in spring when the leaves are about one third
unfolded, the staminate in hairy catkins 5 to 7 cm. long; calyx pale yellow, deeply
7- to 9-lobed; stamens little exserted, their anthers broadly oblong, notched, smooth
and yellow. The pistillate flowers are few together on stout sHghtly hair\^ stalks;
involucre pale hair}^; styles very short, broad, spreading, and reddish. The fruit
is on stout short stalks, solitary or in pairs; nut ovoid or oblong-ovoid, 2.5 to 3.5
cm. long, light brown and shining; seed insipid but edible; cup hemispheric, 1.2 to
3.5 cm. across, light brown and hairy inside, thin, embracing about one third of
the nut, covered by rather small thin-tipped scales with thickened bases, smallest
near the rim.
The wood is hard, strong, tough, close-grained and dark brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.75. It cures with difficulty, is quite durable in the soil, and is
used for railroad ties, fencing, and for fuel. The bark is used in tanning, being
valued next to that of the White oak for this purpose.
It is also known as Chestnut oak, Rock oak, Tanbark oak. Swamp chestnut oak,
and Mountain oak.
50. BRAY'S OAK — Quercus Brayi Small
A rather large tree, occurring in canons of cen-
tral Texas, where it is called White oak and attains
a height of 20 meters.
The bark is pale and flakes ofif easily. The
leaves are cuneate-obovate, i to 2 dm. long, abruptly
taper-pointed, tapering at the base; the slightly revo-
lute margin is coarsely wavy-toothed nearly to the
base; they are thin, deep green, smooth with im-
pressed midrib above, somewhat paler beneath,
with prominent whitish midrib and relatively few
strong regular prominent lateral veins; they are
numerous and fall off at the end of the first season ;
leaf-stalk 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long, short, thickened at the
base. The fruit ripens at the end of the first sea-
son, and is short-stalked; nut oblong to ovoid, 2.5
to 3 cm. long, brown and smooth with a sweetish
seed; shell thin; cup hemispheric, 2 to 2.5 cm. across embracing about one third
of the nut, covered by numerous small ovate, somewhat warty scales.
Fig. 287. — Bray's Oak.
Cow Oak
331
51. COW OAK — Quercus Michauxii Nuttall
This magnificent tree inhabits moist soils along streams and swamp borders,
from Delaware to northern Florida, westward to Indiana, Missouri and Texas,
attaining a maximum height of 35 meters, with a trunk diameter of 2 m. It is
also known as Basket oak, Swamp oak, and Swamp chestnut oak.
The straight trunk is often free of branches for half its height. The branches
are stout and ascending, the crown of old trees usually round-topped. The bark
is up to 2.5 cm. thick, separating into very thin flaky plates of a nearly white or
reddish gray color. The
twigs are stout, dark green
and hairy, soon becoming
smooth, Hght reddish or
orange-brown, and finally
gray. The buds are ovoid
or oval, 6 mm. long, sharp-
pointed and dark red. The
leaves are obovate or broadly
oblong, ID to 20 cm. long,
sharp or short taper-pointed,
wedge-shaped or narrowly
rounded at the base, coarsely
round-toothed, shghtly shin-
ing with the midrib im-
pressed above, pale, densely
covered with short hairs and
prominently veined beneath, turning dark reddish before falHng in late autumn;
the leaf-stalk is stout, flattened, channelled, i to 3 cm. long. The flowers appear
when the leaves are about half unfolded in April or May, the staminate in slender,
hairy catkins 7.5 to 10 cm. long; calyx minutely hairy, yellow-green, 4- to 7-lobed;
stamens up to 7, their anthers broadly oblong, slightly notched, smooth, and yel-
low. The pistillate flowers are few or several, spicate, their involucres brownish
hairy; styles short, broad, spreading, and dark red. The fruit ripens the first
autumn, is solitary or 2 together on short stalks; nut oblong to ovoid, 3 to 3.5 cm.
long, bright brown, somewhat shining, its seed sweet and edible ; cup deeply sau-
cer-shaped, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. across, reddish brown and hairy inside, thick, embrac-
ing about one third of the nut, covered by large, broad, hair)% often thickened
scales forming a fringe around its rim.
The wood is very hard, strong and tough, close-grained, lightish brown; its
specific gravity is about 0.80. It is quite durable in contact with the soil and is
used to a large extent as White oak in the southeastern States for general con-
struction, agricultural implements, cooperage, and as it splits easily, it is much
Fig. 288. — Cow Oak.
33^
The Oaks
used to make split baskets, also for fencing and fuel. The sweet fruit is largely
eaten, by children, negroes, and various animals.
It is the handsomest of the Chestnut leaved oaks and deserves extensive plant-
ing as a very ornamental shade tree in moist situations southward.
A cross with the Bur oak, Q. macrocarpa Michaux, is reported from near Cov-
ington, Tennessee.
2.5 m
52. SWAMP WHITE OAK — Quercus bicolor WiUdenow
Quercus Primis platanoides Lambert. Quercus platanoides Sudworth
The Swamp oak, as it is also called, is a majestic tree of rich soils along streams
and swamps from Maine and Quebec to Michigan, southward to Georgia and
Arkansas, attaining a maximum height of 36 meters, with a trunk diameter of
It is occasionallv called Blue oak.
The trunk is tall and straight, more or less buttressed at the base. The lower
branches are stout, horizontal or often droop-
ing; the tree, when not crowded, sometimes
wider than high. The bark is up to 5 cm.
thick, deeply fissured into nearly flat, usually
confluent ridges, covered by close gray-brown
or red-brown scales; on younger stems it is
smooth, reddish to brown, and separates into
thin large plates which peel off much as in
the Sycamore tree. The twigs are stout, green,
shghtly hairy and shining, becoming smooth
or nearly so, and passing through various
shades of brown to dark brown or purplish,
often somewhat glaucous. The winter buds
are broadly ovoid to oval, blunt or sharp-
pointed, about 3 mm. long and brown. The
Fig. 289. -Swamp White Oak. j^^^.^g ^^^ obovate or oblong-obovate, 0.5 to
2 dm. long, pointed or rounded at the apex, narrowed and usually wedge-shaped
at the base, coarsely round-toothed, sometimes almost lobed; they are rather thick,
deep green and somewhat shining, with stout rounded pale midrib above, pale
or nearly white, downy and prominently veined beneath, turning dull yellowish or
orange-brown before falHng late in the autumn; the leaf-stalk is i to 3 cm. long,
stout, flattened and grooved. The flowers appear in April or May, the staminate
in. clustered numerous slender hairy catkins 5 to 7 cm. long; calyx yellowish green,
hairy, 5- to 9-pointed; stamens slightly exserted; anthers oblong, notched, smooth
and yellow. The pistillate flowers are in spikes on long white-woolly peduncles;
involucres thick, white and woolly; styles very short, broad and spreading, bright
red. The faiit ripens the first autumn, sohtary or 2 together on long slender
brown peduncles 2.5 to 10 cm. long; nut oblong or oblong-ovoid, 2 to 3 cm. long,
Swarpn White Oak
333
C
■JO
O
O
O
C
W
o
o
334
The Oaks
usually pale hairy at apex and light brown ; seed sweetish ; cup deeply saucer-
shaped to depressed hemispheric, 2 to 2.5 cm. across, light brown and haiiy in-
side, thici^, embracing about one third of the nut, covered with thick woolly, often
tuberculate scales, the upper ones thinner and narrower, sometimes forming a
fringe around the rim.
The wood is hard, tough and strong, close-grained, light brown; its specific
gra\ity is about 0.77. It is used as is White oak in construction, interior finishing,
cabinet work, carriage and other wheels, implements, railroad ties, cooperage,
fences, and for fuel. The tree thrives when planted in moist places.
q^. BUR OAK — Quercus macrocarpa Michaux
Although one of the largest of American oaks this grows as a shrub in its most
northwestern range; it inhabits rich bottom lands from Nova Scotia to Manitoba,
Wyoming, Georgia and Texas, attaining
a maximum height of 55 meters, with a
trunk diameter of 2.5 m.
The trunk is tall, often free of branches
in the forest for half its height. The
lower branches are large and widely spread-
ing; isolated trees are broad and round-
topped. The bark is up to 5 cm. thick,
deeply fissured into irregular plates of a
brown or reddish color. The twigs are
hairy, stout, soon becoming smooth, yellow-
ish and finally dark brown, with corky wings
often 4 cm. wide on some trees. The winter
buds are ovoid, sharp-pointed or blunt, 3 to
5 mm. long, red-brown and finely haiiy.
The leaves are obovate or spatulate in out-
line, I to 3 dm. long, the 5 to 7 lobes mostly diverging, the terminal lobe the
largest and coarsely toothed, the middle sinuses usually broad and deep; some-
times, however, the leaf is only coarsely round-toothed; the apex is rounded or
pointed, the base tapering; they are rather thin, dark green, smooth and shining
above, finely white or grayish hairy beneath, turning yellow or yellowish brown
before falling in the autumn; the leaf-stalk is thick, flattened and grooved, en-
larged at the base, and 8 to 25 mm. long. The flowers appear from March to
June, according to latitude. The staminate catkins are yellowish hair}^, i to 1.5
dm. long; calyx-lobes 4 to 6, irregularly toothed, yellow-green and hair}-; stamens
4 to 5, slightly exserted; anthers broadly oblong, notched and greenish yellow.
The pistillate flowers are sessile or stalked; involucral scales broadly ova*e,
woolly, often reddish; styles short, broad, spreading and light red. The fruit,
ripening in the autumn of the first season, is usually solitary and sessile, sometimes
Fig. 291. — Bur Oak.
Overcup Oak
335
stalked, or in clusters of 2 or 3, very variable as to size and shape; nut subglobose
or broadly oblong, 2 to 5 cm. long, hairy at the apex; cup deeply hemispheric or
subglobose, 2 to 5 cm. across, Hght brownish hair)^ inside, embracing one third to
one half of the nut, the large scales ovate, pointed, the basal ones thick and tuber-
culate, the upper ones taper-pointed or prolonged into thread-hke tips, often form-
ing a deep fringe around the rim.
The wood is hard, strong and tough, close-grained, light or dark brown; its
specific gravity is about 0.74. It is quite durable and is used in all kinds of
construction work, cabinet work, and for all purposes for which White oak is
used and from which it is not usually distinguished in commerce.
As a shade tree it is most useful as well as beautiful, as its resistance to smoke
is greater than most other oaks. Its large size, however, requires that it be given
ample space in which to develop.
It is also called Mossy cup oak, Overcup oak. Blue oak. Scrub oak, Overcup
white oak. Mossy cup white oak. Supposed hybrids with Q. Muhlenbergii have
been observed in Kansas and Missouri.
54. OVERCUP OAK — Quercus lyrata Walter
This beautiful oak is an inhabitant of river swamps or other wet soils that are
frequently overflowed, from Maryland to Missouri southward to Florida and
Texas, attaining a maximum height of 35 meters, with a trunk diameter of i m.
The trunk frequently divides into several principal branches or main stems,
but is often tall and erect with stout lower horizontal branches. The bark is up
to 2.5 cm. thick, fissured into thick plates which are thin-scaly and light or red-
dish gray. The twigs are slender, reddish green and hairy, becoming smooth,
orange or gray brown, finally pale gray or hght
brown. The winter buds are ovoid, blunt, 3
mm. long, brown and slightly hairy. The leaves
are obovate or spatulate in outline, 10 to 20 cm.
long, lyrately pinnatifid into 5 to 9 lobes; the
middle pair of sinuses are deep and broad at
the bottom; the lobes near the apex are much
longe# than those below; the apex is pointed,
the base usually wedge-shaped ; they are smooth,
green and shining above, pale, white hair)^ or
green beneath, with a stout yellowish midrib
and prominent venation, turning bright scarlet
or orange before falhng in the autumn ; the leaf-
stalk is stout, grooved, smooth or hair}^, 5 to 20
mm. long. The flowers appear with the leaves p-^^ 292. -Overcup Oak.
in March or April, the staminate catkins slender
and hair)', 10 to 15 cm. long; calyx- lobes sharp-pointed, hair\' and light yellow;
3?>^
The Oaks
stamens slightly exserted, their anthers ovate, sharp-pointed, smooth and yellow.
The pistillate flowers are hairy throughout; styles short, broad and spreading.
The fruit ripens the first autumn, usually on short stalks; nut ovoid and exserted,
or usually depressed globose and almost entirely enclosed in the cup, light brown
and somewhat hairy; cup hemispheric or depressed-globose, 2 to 4 cm. across,
bright reddish brown and hairy inside, covered with ovate pale-puberulent more
or less united scales, with sharp tips; at the base of the cup these are much
thickened, thinner and smaller toward the rim.
The wood is hard, strong and tough, close-grained, dark brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.83. It is very durable and is used for the same purposes as that
of the White oak from which it is not commercially differentiated.
It is also called Swamp overcup oak. Post oak, Swamp post oak. Swamp white
oak, and Water white oak.
55. CALIFORNIA WHITE OAK — Quercus lobata Nee
A characteristic tree, known only from California, where it occurs mainly
in valleys of the western part of the State, reaching a maximum height of 30
meters, with a trunk diameter up to 3 m.
The trunk is often short and divided low down into several large limbs, with
slender pendulous branches,
whence the common name
''Weeping oak," by which it is
widely known; sometimes it is
tall, however, with branches only
above. The bark of moderately
large trees is up to 4 cm. thick,
scaly, orange or brown; at the
base of the largest trees, how-
ever, it is often 15 cm. thick and
fissured into flat plates. The
twigs are slender, silky hairy at
first, becoming nearly smooth
and reddish brown. The buds
are ovoid, sharp-pointed, about
5 mm. long, yellowish brown.
The leaves vary in outline from
ovate to obovate, the 6 to 9 lobes
Fig. 293. — California White Oak.
vary much in shape, either notched or rounded at the apex, the sinuses deep and
usually narrow at the bottom, the apex usually rounded, the base wedge-shaped,
rounded or heart-shaped; they are thin and firm, dark green and sHghtly hairy
above, pale and hairy beneath, with a stout midrib and prominent venation,
falling off in the autumn; the leaf-stalk is broad, flattened and hairy, 6 to 12 mm.
MacDonald's Oak
m
long. The flowers appear from February to April, when the leaves are about one
half unfolded. The staminate catkins are hairy, 5 to 7.5 cm. long; calyx-lobes
6 to 8, sharp-pointed, hairy and pale yellow; stamens exsertcd, oblong, notched,
smooth and yellow. The pistillate flowers are usually solitary, stalkless; involucral
scales broad and woolly; styles short, broad and spreading. The fruit ripens the
first season, and is sessile or very nearly so; nut narrowly oblong-conic, rather
hairy, 3 to 5 cm. long, its seed sweetish; cup depressed -hemispheric or saucer-
shaped, 2 to 2.5 cm. across, pale hairy inside, embracing ver}' Httle of the nut,
covered with thick whitish-hairy scales, the uppermost thinner and more slender
tipped than the lower.
The wood is quite hard but brittle, close-grained and light brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.74. It is difflcult to season properly and is scarcely ever used
except for fuel. The nuts, which are usually abundant, are gathered and stored
for food by the Indians.
It is also known as Valley oak. White oak. Swamp oak, and Roble.
56. MACDONALD'S OAK — Quercus MacDonaldi Greene
A tree of the islands off the coast of southern California where it grows along
streams, reaching a height of 10.5 meters, with a trunk diameter of 4.5 dm. It is
also called Island oak.
The bark is close and gray. The branches are numerous, forming a compact
round head. The twigs are
slender, densely hairy at first
becoming nearly smooth. The
winter buds are about 3 mm.
long, oval and sharp-pointed.
The leaves are spatulate-oblong
or obovate, 5 to 7 cm. long; the
5 to 9 lobes are blunt or sharp-
pointed and bristle-tipped, the
lower portion narrow and en-
tire, the narrowed base unequal;
they are thick and firm, smooth
above, densely hairy at first be-
coming less so and prominently
reticulate beneath. The fruit
ripens the first season, and is
sessile; the nut is conic or ob- I'"^^- ^94. - MacDonal.l's Oak.
long-conic, 2 to 4 cm. long, sharp-pointed; cup deeply hemispheric, embracing
about one third of the nut and covered by thick tuberculate scales.
Quercus diimosa Nuttall, with which this species has been confused, is a
shrub with smaller leaves and acorns, widely distributed in Cahfornia.
338
The Oaks
57. PACIFIC POST OAK — Quercus Garryana Douglas
This oak occurs from Vancouver island and southwestern British Columbia to
central California, attaining a maximum height of 45 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 1.5 m.; on high mountains or in exposed situations it is reduced to a shrub.
The branches are stout, spreading and ascending, forming a broad compact
tree. The bark is up to 2 cm. thick, shallowly fissured into bluntish ridges
covered with brown, gray or
sometimes orange-brown
scales. The twigs are stout,
hairy, becoming smooth, red-
dish brown or gray. The
winter buds are ovoid,
sharp-pointed, about i cm.
long and very woolly. The
leaves are oblong-obovate in
outline, i to 1.5 dm. long,
the 7 to 9 lobes oblong, en-
tire or wavy, rounded or
pointed at the apex, the ter-
minal one often 3-lobed; the
base of the leaf is wedge-
shaped or rounded, the mar-
gin revolute ; they are thick,
quite leathery, dark green, smooth and shining above, light green or yellowish and
hairy beneath, with stout yellowish midrib and conspicuous venation, often turn-
ing scarlet before falhng in the autumn; the leaf-stalk is stout, hairy, flattened, 12
to 25 mm. long. The staminate flowers are in hairy catkins 4 to 5 cm. long;
calyx-lobes smooth and sharply toothed; anthers broadly oblong, notched, smooth
and yellow; the pistillate flowers are usually sessile, hairy; styles very short, broad
and spreading. The fruit ripens the first season, is sessile or nearly so ; nut oval
or somewhat obovoid, about 2.5 cm. long, its seed sweet; cup depressed-hemi-
spheric, 1.5 to 2 cm. across, light brown and hairy inside, covered with long-tipped,
thin or slightly thickened scales.
The wood is hard, strong and quite tough, close-grained, light yellowish brown;
its specific gravity is 0.74. It is the most valuable oak timber on the Pacific slope,
where it is used Hke the White oak of the eastern States. The nuts were used
as food by the Indians.
It is also called White oak, Oregon white oak, Oregon oak. Western white
oak. Mountain white oak.
Sadler's oak, Quercus Sadleriana R. Brown, is an interesting shrub of the
high mountains of northwestern CaHfornia and adjacent Oregon, with sharply
serrate leaves, unlike those of any other American species.
Fig. 295. — Pacific Post Oak.
Utah Oak
339
58. HAIRY-LEAVED OAK — Quercus submolUs Rydberg
This is a shrub or smaU tree of the mountains of Arizona, Nevada and New
Mexico.
The bark is hght gray and quite smooth. The twigs are hairy at first, becoming
much roughened by numerous lenticels, dark brown or gray and shining. The
buds are covered by thin, hght brown, hairy scales. The
leaves are narrowly obovate to oblong in outline, about
1 dm. long; the 5 to 9 lobes are usually entire, with a
rounded or pointed apex, the sinuses often extending
nearly to the midrib, narrow and rounded at the bot-
tom; the leaf base is broadly
wedge-shaped or truncate; they are
thick and firm, dark green, sparingly
hair}' or smooth, shining and with
conspicuous yellowish venation
above, yellowish green, downy, with
prominent venation beneath; petiole
8 to 20 mm. long. The hairy cat-
kins are 3 to 5 cm. long; the pistil-
FiG. 296. — Hairy-leaved Oak.
late flowers soHtary, sessile, the short
styles spreading. The fruit ripens the first season; nut oblong, 12 to 15 mm. long;
shell very thin, dark brown; cup depressed-hemispheric, about 15 mm. across,
embracing about one half the nut, covered with loose lanceolate, blunt, hair}',
rather thin, brown scales scarcely thickened on the back.
This species, and the two following, have been confused with the shrubby
Quercus Gambelii Nuttall, which is not known to us to form a tree. Several
other related shrubs from the Rocky mountain region have been described as
species.
'^" ^ 59. UTAH OAK
Quercus utahensis (A. de Candolle)
Rydberg
Quercus stcUaia utahensis A. de Candolle
This small tree of the mountains
of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, arid New
Mexico attains a maximum height of
about 10 meters, although usually a
shrub.
The bark is roughly furrowed.
The twigs are hairy at first, sparingly
roughened by lenticels, light brown becoming darker brown or dull gray. The
Fig. 297. — Utah Oak.
340
The Oaks
winter buds are brown, their scales thin and hairy. The leaves are broadly ob-
ovate in outline, 6 to lo cm. long, the 7 to 9 lobes oblong to obovate, seldom
lobed at the rounded apex, the sinuses deep and broad or narrow, slightly rounded
at the bottom, the leaf base rather broad and rounded; they are thick and firm,
dark green, shining and slightly hair\^ above, paler, brownish, softly downy, with
prominent venation beneath; the petiole is about i cm. long and slightly hairy.
The nearly sessile fruit ripens the first season; nut ovoid-oblong, 1.5 to 2 cm.
long, blunt-pointed, light brown; cup hemispheric, 12 to 15 mm. across, embrac-
ing about one half the nut, covered with ovate, corky-thickened, hairy scales.
60. COLORADO WHITE OAK — Quercus leptophylla Rydberg
This tree, known only from Colorado, grows along stream banks, especially in
canons. It is the largest oak of the State, reaching a height of 15 meters, with a
trunk diameter of about 7 dm.
The bark is furrowed, rough and gray. The twigs are shghtly hairy, purplish
or brown, becoming smooth and
gray. The leaves are broadly
obovate in outline, i to 1.5 dm.
long, the 5 to 9 lobes oblong
to triangular, rounded or ob-
liquely notched at the apex, the
sinuses broad, sometimes reach-
ing half-way to the midrib and
rounded at the bottom, the base
broad or cuneate-tapering; they
are very thin and firm, light
green, sparingly hairy at first,
soon becoming smooth and
slightly shining above, paler
and smooth except on the
prominent venation beneath;
the leaf-stalk is rather stout, about 1.5 cm. long. The fruit, ripening in the
autumn of the first season, is nearly sessile; nut broadly oblong, 12 to 15 mm.
long, blunt or depressed at the apex, embracing one half of the nut, covered by
ovate-lanceolate, shghtly thickened, blunt scales.
Fig. 298. — Colorado White Oak.
61. ASHE'S OAK — Quercus Margaretta Ashe
While usually a shrub, this sometimes becomes a tree 10 meters tall. It occurs
in pinelands or open woods from Virginia to Florida and Alabama and is a near
relative of the Post Oak.
The bark is ver}' rough, the twigs rather stout, smooth, shining and reddish
341
The leaves are
Post Oak
brown. Its winter buds are very small, broadly ovoid and blunt,
numerous, oval or obovate in
outline, 6 to 9 cm. long, 2-
lobed to 5-lobed mostly above
the middle, the sinuses rather
shallow and rounded at the
bottom, apex rounded or
notched, the base roundish or
tapering; they are light green,
smooth and shining with yel-
lowish impressed midrib
above, pale or glaucous, more
or less hair}^ on the promi-
nent veins beneath, the petiole
short and stout. The fruit
ripens the first season, is ses-
sile or nearly so; nut oblong
to ovoid-oblong, from 12 to 14 ^^^- ^99-
mm. long, its apex tipped and hairy; cup top-shaped or hemispheric, 11 to 14
mm. across, embracing over half of the nut and covered with sharp-pointed scales
which are much larger toward the base of the cup than at the rim.
Ashe's Oak.
62. POST OAK — Quercus stellata Wangenheim
Qiiercus minor Sargent. Quercus alba minor Marshall. Quercus obtusiloba Michaux
A tree of
Fig.
dry or rocky soils from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Mis-
souri, and Kansas, southward to Florida
and Texas, attaining a maximum height of
about 30 meters, with a trunk diameter of
1.5 m.
The branches are stout and spreading,
forming a close round-topped tree. The
bark is up to 3 cm. thick, deeply furrowed,
the flattish ridges covered with close gray or
brownish gray scales. The twigs are stout,
brownish- woolly, becoming smooth, gray, or
dark brown to almost black. The winter
buds are broadly ovoid. The leaves are
obovate in outhne, i to 2 dm. long, the
usually 5 lobes broad and spreading, the
middle pair of sinuses deep, wide and ob-
Post Oak. lique, rounded at the bottom, the lobes
?oo
342 The Oaks
rounded or notched at the apex, the base narrowed, wedge-shaped or rounded;
they are thick and firm, shining, with scattered hairs above, densely gray or yel-
lowish hairy beneath, the midrib broad, prominent beneath; the leaf-stalk is slightly
flattened, hairy, 12 to 20 mm. long. The flowers appear from March to May,
according to latitude, when the leaves are about one half unfolded, the stami-
nate catkins 7.5 to 10 cm. long and hairy; calyx usually 5-lobed, hairy and yel-
low; anthers broad, notched, hairy. The pistillate flowers are usually sessile,
hairy; styles very short, broad, spreading and bright red. The fruit is usually
sessile, sometimes short-stalked, often in pairs or clustered; nut ovoid, 1.5 to 2
cm. long, hairy at apex; cup hemispheric, narrowed at base, 1.5 to 2 cm. across,
pale, hairy within, thin and embracing one third to one half the nut, its scales thin,
rather flat, pale woolly.
The wood is hard, close-grained and brown, its specific gravity about 0.84.
It is quite durable in contact with the soil and is much used for railroad ties and
fencing, carriage work and cooperage.
This beautiful tree should be more often seen in our parks and pubhc grounds,
though it is of slow growth and demands a light soil.
It is also knowTi as Box w^hite oak. Iron oak, Overcup oak. White oak. Box
oak, and Brash oak.
Boynton's oak, Quercus Boyntoni Beadle, a shrub forming large clumps,
sometimes becomes tree-Hke, 5 meters tall, with a trunk diameter of i dm., and
grows in rocky soil in Georgia and Alabama. It differs from the Post oak in its
smaller stature, smaller, narrow, wedge-shaped leaves, the shallow lobes of which
are confined to the upper half of the leaf; the smaller fruit has a more top-shaped
cup.
63. WHITE OAK — Quercus alba Linnaeus
This majestic tree of rich woods from southern Maine to Ontario and Minne-
sota, southward to Florida and Texas, attains a maximum height of about 45
meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 m. It is sometimes called Stave oak on account
of the use of the wood in cooperage.
The branches are stout and spreading, the tree being broad, sometimes broader
than high, if growing in the open; in the forest the trunk is usually free of
branches for half of its height or more, the branches short, forming a narrow head.
The bark is up to 5 cm. thick, shallowly fissured into flat ridges, or on younger
stems broken into thin scales of a light gray or nearly white color. The twigs are
slender, light reddish green, and woolly, soon becoming reddish brown, smooth
and shining, and finally light gray. Winter buds blunt, about 2 mm. long, reddish
brown. The leaves are mostly obovate in outline, i to 2 dm. long, the 3 to 9
lobes ascending, the lobes blunt at the apex, entire or with i or 2 secondary lobes;
sinuses wide and rounded at the bottom, usually very deep; they are narrowly
wedge-shaped at the base, light red and ver}^ woolly when unfolding, becoming
thin and firm, bright green, shining or dull and smooth above, pale, glaucous
White Oak
343
and smooth beneath, the midrib stout and bright yellow, the venation prominent;
they turn deep red before falling in late autumn; the leaf-stalk is stout, flattened
and grooved above, i to 2 cm. long. The flowers appear when the leaves are
about one third unfolded, the staminate cat-
kins 5 to 7 cm. long; calyx bright yellow and
hair}'; stamens slightly exserted; anthers
broadly oblong and notched. The pistillate
flowers are short- or long-stalked; involu-
cral scales broadly ovate; calyx-lobes ovate,
sharp-pointed and hairy; styles very short,
spreading and red. The fruit ripens in the
early autumn of the first season, is sessile or
sometimes stalked, light brown and shining;
seed rather sweet; cup saucer-shaped or
shallowly hemispheric, 1.5 to 2 cm. across,
embracing one fourth to one third of the
nut, covered by thickened or tuberculate
woolly scales, those near the top of the cup
thinner.
The wood is hard, strong and tough, close-grained and light brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.75. It is one of the most important of American timbers, being
largely used in general construction, interior finishing and for furniture, cooper-
age, carriages and agricultural implements, railroad ties, split baskets, and is pre-
ferred over many other woods for fuel.
Probable hybrids have been attributed to this species with the Rock chestnut
oak, Q. Prinus Linnaeus, from three or four widely separated stations; with the
Bur oak, Q. macrocarpa Michaux, from Vermont and Ilhnois, with the Post oak,
Q. ^/f/Za/a Wangenheim, from the District of Columbia, Illinois, and Missouri, with
the Yellow chestnut oak, Q. Muhlenbergii Engelmann, in Missouri; with the
Cow oak, Q. Michauxii Nuttall, from North Carolina.
Fig. 301. — White Oak.
THE ELM FAMILY
ULMACEiE Mirbel
LMS arc closely related botanically to about fourteen other genera of
trees and shrubs, including in all about 140 species, which are widely
distributed in temperate and tropical regions. These agree in having
alternate stalked simple pinnately veined leaves, usually toothed and
sometimes 3-nerved at the base; the stipules are fugacious, that is, they fall away
while the leaves are unfolding, and are hence liable to be overlooked. The flowers
are small and incomplete, having no corolla, and they are either perfect or imper-
fect. The calyx is from 3-parted to 9-parted, the divisions or sepals often separate
to the base. In the trees here described there are as many stamens as there are
divisions of the calyx, and they are opposite them; the anthers spht lengthwise
to discharge the pollen. The ovary is i-celled or very rarely 2-celled, superior;
there is i pendulous ovule; there are 2 styles or 2 sessile stigmas. The fruit
varies greatly in the several genera, being either a samara (Ulmus), a small nut
(Planera), or a drupe (Celtis and Trema). The seed has little endosperm or
none. They are of little value except for their timber and as shade trees.
Our genera may be distinguished by the following characters:
Fruit dry, a samara or small nut.
Fruit a samara, winged all around.
Fruit a small nut, bearing soft tubercles.
Fruit fleshy, juicy; a drupe.
Drupes stalked, solitary in the leaf-axils.
Drupes cymosely clustered in the axils.
1. Ulmus.
2. Planera.
3. Celtis.
4. Trema.
1. THE ELMS
GENUS ULMUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
HE ancient Latin name of the elm was accepted by Linnaeus as the
botanical name of the genus. In America, besides the six species
here described, one occurs in southern Mexico and Central America,
and about ten others exist in Europe and Asia. Ulmus parvijolia
Jacquin, of China and Japan, is a shrub, but the other species are all trees. The
wood of the elms is hard and strong, and is of much importance commercially.
The trees are much planted for shade and ornament.
The leaves are two-ranked, straight-veined, toothed, and usually very unequal-
344
Cedar Elm
345
sided. The flowers are small, variously clustered, and almost always perfect,
though sometimes polygamous, vernal in most of the species and then appearing
before the leaves, autumnal in a few species and then appearing in the axils of
leaves of the season. The usually bell-shaped calyx is from 4-lobed to 9-lobed,
the lobes sometimes extending nearly to its base; it remains permanently attached
to the fruit; there is no corolla; the stamens are about as many as the calyx-lobes,
with filaments mostly longer than the calyx and short oval or oblong anthers;
the ovary is sessile or borne on a stipe, laterally flattened, and usually i-celled
(rarely 2-celled); there are 2 styles, stigmatic along the inner side; there is but
I ovule. The fruit is a samara, usually winged all around the seed-bearing
part, except at the apex, the wing flat and membranous.
The European species, Ulmus campestris Linnaeus, is the type of the genus;
it is much planted for ornament and shade.
Autumn-flowering; flowers in the axils of leaves of the season; southern trees,
their branches sometimes corky-winged.
Leaves obtuse, very rough above; samara-wing short-ciliate.
Leaves acute or acuminate, smooth or nearly so above; samara-wing long-
ciliate.
Spring-flowering; flowers appearing before the leaves.
At least some of the branches corky-winged; samara-faces pubescent.
Leaves 5 to 13 cm. long; flowers racemose; northern tree.
Leaves 2 to 10 cm. long; flowers fascicled; southern tree.
None of the branches corky-winged.
Leaves smooth or somewhat roughened above; samara-faces glabrous;
pedicel longer than the calyx.
Leaves very rough above; samara-faces pubescent over the seed, the
margins not ciliate; pedicel shorter than the calyx.
I.
U.
crassijolia.
2.
U.
serotina.
3-
u.
Thomasii.
4-
u.
data.
5-
u.
americana
6.
u.
julva.
I. CEDAR ELM — Ulmus crassifolia
Nuttall
Preferring moist soil, and most abun-
dant in river valleys, the Cedar elm occurs
from southern Arkansas to Mississippi,
Texas, and northern Mexico. It attains a
maximum height of about 30 meters and a
trunk diameter of about i meter; the
branches are usually drooping.
The thick brown bark is deeply fissured
and the flattened ridges are scaly. The
young twigs are reddish and finely velvety;
they sometimes develop thin corky wings,
occasionally i cm. wide. The leaves are
firm in texture, oblong to ovate, blunt, finely
Fig. 302. — Cedar Elm.
346
The Elms
and often doubly toothed, ver}' rough and dark green on the upper surface, and
hairy on the lower, small, 5 cm. long or less, with hairy stalks 2 to 4 mm. long;
the stipules are prominent on the young leaves, sometimes i cm. long, but fall
away early. The flowers appear in the autumn, in small short-stalked clusters
in the leaf-axils; the calyx is deeply cleft into narrow lobes, about as long as the
hairy ovary and somewhat shorter than the stamens. The samara is oval, 8 to
ID mm. long, whitish hair}- all over, especially on the edges.
The tree has been planted for shade in towns and cities within its range; its
wood is reddish brown, rather weak, with a specific gravity of about 0.70, and is
locally used for furniture and hubs.
2. RED ELM — Ulmus serotina Sargent
This tree is known to inhabit banks and bluffs only in parts of Tennessee,
Georgia, and Alabama, and is thus apparently one of the most restricted in geo-
graphic distribution, though its range is hkely enough to be extended when it
becomes better known. It some-
times attains a height of 16 me-
ters, with a trunk diameter of
about I meter; it was long sup-
posed, from the similarity of its
leaves, to be identical with the
more northern Cork elm U.
Thomasii Sargent.
The bark is thin and not
deeply fissured, fight brown and
scaly. The young twigs are
smooth or nearly so, and reddish
brown; they become grayish after
the first year's growth and usually
corky-winged. The leaves are
oblong to ovate or somewhat ob-
ovate, pointed, often long-pointed,
firm in texture but rather thin,
smooth or very nearly so, shining
and light green on the upper sur-
PiG. 303. — Red Elm. id.ce, hairy on the veins on the
under side, coarsely toothed, 5 to 10 cm. long, with stalks 7 mm. long or less, the
stipules about as long as the stalks and falling away when the blades are nearly
fully grown. The flowers are in small racemes in the axils of leaves of the sea-
son, appearing in the autumn; the calyx is cleft nearly to the base into blunt
spatulate lobes and is considerably shorter than the stamens. The samara is ob-
long to elfiptic, 10 to 12 mm. long, stalked, and fringed with long white hairs.
Winged Elm
347
The hard, heavy, strong wood is light reddish brown in color and is locally
used for furniture. The tree has been planted for shade in some southern cities.
3. CORK ELM — Ulmus Thomasi Sargent
Ulmus racemosa Thomas, not Borckhausen
The Cork elm, often called Rock elm, and sometimes Hickory elm, inhabits
hillsides and slopes, occurring from Quebec and Ontario to Michigan and Wis-
consin, south to Connecticut, northern New Jersey, Ohio, Missouri, and eastern
Nebraska. It attains a maximum height of about 35 meters, and the trunk is
occasionally at least i meter in thickness.
The bark is thick and deeply fissured, gray or gray-brown and scaly. The
young twigs are brownish and softly velvety, ^
becoming smooth after the first or second sea-
son, and usually developing two, three, or four
corky wings, which become about i cm. wide.
The oval to obovate leaves are short-pointed,
firm in texture, coarsely and usually doubly
toothed, 5 to 12 cm. long, the upper surface
smooth, shining and dark green at maturity,
with the veins impressed, the lower surface
finely hair}^, pale green, with the nerves promi-
nent; the large stipules fall away early; the leaf-
stalks are 4 to 10 mm. long. The flowers
appear before the leaves in early spring in
small smooth clusters, each borne on a very
slender, drooping stalk nearly i cm. long and
much longer than the calyx; the bell-shaped
calyx is lobed only to or above the middle, with blunt lobes; the stamens are a
little longer than the calyx, and the ovary is hair\\ The oval samaras are 12 to
20 mm. long, finely hairy all over, their short tips incun'ed.
The wood is used extensively for bridges, sills, agricultural implements, and
railroad ties, being very strong and durable ; it is light brown with a specific gravity
of 0.73. The tree is occasionally planted for shade or ornament. Though long
known as Ulmus racemosa Thomas, botanically, this name was earlier applied to
a different species, and has to yield to the one here adopted.
Fig. 304. — Cork Elm.
4. WINGED ELM — Ulmus alata Michaux
This southern tree attains a maximum height of about 20 meters, with a trunk
sometimes i meter in diameter. It ranges from Virginia westward through southern
Indiana and lUinois to Kansas, south to Florida and Texas, preferring dry soil.
348
The Elms
The name "winged" elm is with reference to the plentiful development of corky
wings on its branches; it is also commonly known as Wahoo,
The bark is thin, shallowly fissured, scaly
and light reddish brown. The young twigs
are ver}^ finely and sparingly hair\', or quite
smooth, and usually develop corky wings which
are long-persistent. The leaves are oblong
to oblong-ovate or oblong-lanceolate, sharp-
pointed, often curved, thick, rather coarsely
doubly toothed, and 8 cm. long or less; the
upper surface is dark green, dull and smooth
at maturity, the lower surface lighter green
and hairy, at least along the numerous promi-
nent veins; the leaf-stalks are seldom more
than 5 mm. long and the large thin stipules
fall away early. The tree blooms in earliest
spring before the leaves unfold; the drooping
flowers are in small, smooth clusters, with a
5-lobed calyx about one half the length of the
stamens, and a short hair\' ovar}^ The samaras are oblong or elHptic, hairy all
over, long-fringed on the edges, 6 to lo mm. long, the 2 long beaks shghtly in-
cur\'ed.
The wood is hard, light brown, difficult to work, and not strong; it has a lim-
ited use for tool-handles; the specific gravity is about 0.75. The tree is much
planted for shade and ornament in the southern States, but is not certainly hardy
much to the north of New York City.
Fig. 305. — Winged Elm.
5. WHITE ELM — Ulmus americana Linnaeus
Ulmus floridana Chapman
This, the largest of our elms, ranges from Newfoundland to Florida, westward
to Saskatchewan, South Dakota, western Kansas, and Texas. It reaches its
greatest development in moist soil, but grows well on hillsides and uplands. In
New England it sometimes attains a height of about 40 meters, with a buttressed
trunk occasionally 3.5 meters in diameter, but in the southern parts of its area it
is much smaller. The main branches are usually nearly upright. It is also
called Swamp elm and American elm.
The thick bark is fissured into flat ridges, gray and scaly. The young green
twigs are either smooth or quite hairy, soon become reddish brown, and do not
develop corky ridges. The oval to obovate leaves are abruptly pointed, 5 to 15
cm. long, sharply and usually doubly toothed, dark green and either smooth or
roughish on the upper surface, paler and hair\^ on the under side, at least along
the veins; the stipules, which are sometimes 2 cm. long, fall away much before the
White Elm
349
Fig. 306. — White Elm, New York Botanical Garden.
i
350
The Elms
leaves are fully grown; the leaf-stalks are 3 to lo mm. long. The clustered flowers
unfold long before the leaves in earliest
spring, or, in the southern States, in late
winter; they are borne on slender stalks; the
calyx is much shorter than the stamens, and
its lobes are short and hair}'-f ringed. The
samaras are oval to obovatc, the two tips
converging, overlapping, or erect, its reticu-
lated faces smooth, its edges fringed with
long hairs.
The White elm has been more extensively
planted for shade and ornament than any
other American species, but its use for these
purposes has been discouraged in recent
times by the ravages of the Elm Beetle, and
it is no longer so highly esteemed. The wood
is hard and strong, sphts only with difilicuhy,
Fig. 307. — White Elm. jg [jgi^^ brown, with a specific gravity of
about 0.65 ; it is largely used in ship-building, for flooring, and for hubs and barrels.
Trees occur in northern New Jersey with very rough bark deeply furrowed
and but little scaly.
6. SLIPPERY ELM— Ulmus fulva Michaux
The Slippery elm, so called from its mucilaginous inner bark, is also commonly
known as the Red elm, and sometimes as Moose elm. It has also been termed
Ulmus pubescens botanically, on account of
a tree described by Thomas Walter under
that name in 1788, fifteen years before the
name fulva was published by Michaux; it
is, however, uncertain just what species
Walter had in mind, as his description is
unsatisfactory. The tree inhabits hillsides
and banks of streams, preferring rocky soil,
and ranges from Quebec to Florida, west-
ward to North Dakota, Nebraska, and
Texas; it is uncommon near the coast south
of New York. It attains a maximum height
of about 25 meters and its trunk is occa-
sionally 6 dm. in thickness.
The rough, thick fissured bark is dark
reddish brown, its inner layers fragrant
and highly mucilaginous. The young twigs Fig. 308. — Slippery Elm.
Planer Tree
351
are rough-hairy and green, but soon become gray. or brown and are smooth or
nearly so after their first season. The leaves are ovate, oval, or sometimes obo-
vate, usually long-pointed, firm in texture, 7 to 18 cm. long, the upper surface
exceedingly rough-papillose and dark green, with the veins impressed, the under
side usually densely covered with whitish hairs; their edges are sharply and
usually coarsely doubly toothed; the stipules fall away soon after the leaves un-
fold; the leaf-stalks vary from 3 to 10 mm. in length. The flowers appear in
early spring before the leaves, in small, dense clusters ; the hairy calyx is lobed to
the middle or above, and is about two thirds as long as the stamens; its lobes
are blunt. The samaras are short-stalked, oval-orbicular, 12 to 18 mm. long,
hairy over the seed but otherwise smooth, sometimes shghtly notched, but not 2-
beaked as in our other Elms, bearing the 2 very small stigmas.
The wood is durable in the soil, and is used for sills, posts, and railway- ties;
also for implements, tools, and hubs; its specific gravity is about 0.70 and its color
is brown or reddish brown. The powdered inner bark is used for poultices.
II. PLANER TREE
GENUS PLANERA GMELIN
Species Planera aquatica (Walter) Gmelin
Anonymos aquatica Walter
HE Planer-tree, also called Water-elm, is the only representative of its
genus, and thus known sci-
entifically as a monotype. It
grows in swamps, ranging
from North Carolina to Florida, westward
to Kentucky, southern Illinois and Mis-
souri to Texas, and much resembles a
small-leaved Elm, but may be distin-
guished from JJlmus by its fruit, which is
a small nut covered with short soft pro-
jections, and by its monoecious or some-
times polygamous flowers, which appear
with the leaves in early spring. It is a
small tree, rarely becoming more than 12
meters high, and then having a trunk 5
or 6 dm. thick. The name Planera is in
honor of Johann Jacob Planer, 1743 to
1789, who was Professor of Botany in
Erfurt.
Fig. 309. — Planer Tree.
The thin brown bark falls away in large scales. The buds are ver}' small,
roundish, composed of many brown scales.
The young slender twigs are reddish
352 The Hackberries
brown, later becoming gray. The leaves vary from ovate to oblong-lanceolate and
from 2 to 6 cm. long; they are either blunt or pointed, toothed, except at the
rounded or somewhat heart-shaped base, thick, slightly hairy when young, glabrous,
and a little rough on both sides when mature, dark green above, paler beneath;
the leaf-stalks are 7 mm. long or less, and the red stipules fall while the leaves
are unfolding. The staminate flowers are nearly stalkless in clusters on twigs of
the preceding year, the pistillate and perfect ones borne 2 or 3 together in the
axils of young leaves of the season, and stalked; both kinds are very small. The
bell-shaped calyx is rather deeply 4-lobed or 5-lobed, the lobes blunt; there is no
corolla; in the staminate and perfect flowers there are as many stamens as there
are calyx-lobes, with long filaments and short ovate anthers; the ovary has a short
stipe, is i-celled, tubercled, and bears 2 styles, which are stigmatic on the upper
side. The fruit is a curious structure, oblong-ovoid, nut-Hke, covered with soft
processes, which grow out from the tubercles on the ovary; it is about 6 mm. long,
and about as long as its stalk, the calyx persistent at the base.
The wood is soft and light brown with a specific gravity of only 0.53. It is
of no economic value.
III. THE HACKBERRIES
GENUS CELTIS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
ELTIS is composed of about 60 species of trees and shrubs, widely
distributed in temperate and tropical regions of both the Old World
and the New. Besides the kinds here described, which are closely
interrelated, several occur in the West Indies and Central America;
Celtis jamaicensis Planchon is endemic in Jamaica; Celtis caiidata Planchon and
others in Mexico, and C. trinervia Lamarck in Cuba, Jamaica, and Santo Do-
mingo; the European and Asiatic Celtis australis Linnaeus is the type of the genus.
The genus Momisia, which includes several American species, two of which occur
as shrubs in the southern States, is here regarded as distinct from Celtis, and C.
monoica Hemsley, from Huasteca, Mexico, which has equilateral, regularly pin-
nately veined leaves, must also be excluded from Celtis when its fruit becomes
known.
The name Celtis was used by Pliny for an African lotus-tree, but was taken up
by Linnaeus, following Toumefort, for the trees with which it is associated in
modem times.
The bark of the Hackberries often developes numerous corky warts or ridges,
which are sometimes very conspicuous on old trees. The branching is irregularly
pinnate, at least in all the North American species, and the twigs are not armed
with thorns as they are in Momisia. The wood is tough and the sap watery.
The leaves are unequal- sided, often prominently so, and mostly unfold with the
flowers or a little before them in the spring; they are stalked, and provided with
Hackberry 353
vety thin stipules, which fall away early. The small greenish flowers are polyg-
amous or monoecious, borne in the axils of the leaves of the season, the staminate
ones clustered, the pistillate either solitary or several together; there is a 4-lobed
or sometimes 5-lobed calyx, but no corolla; as many stamens as there are calvx-
lobes, their filaments at first curved inward but spreading when the flower ex-
pands, those of the pistillate flowers much shorter than those of the staminate.
The sessile ovary is i-celled; the style is very short or altogether wanting, and there
are 2 recurved narrow stigmas. The fruit is a small smooth globular to oblong
drupe, its exocarp pulpy, the endocarp bony.
Trees of eastern, southern, and middle North America.
Leaves not gray-tomentulose beneath, glabrous, or more or less hairy.
Leaves thin, not strongly reticulate-veined beneath; eastern trees.
Pedicels long, mostly twice as long as the drupe or longer.
Leaves ovate to ovate-lanceolate; drupe 8 to lo mm. in diameter.
Leaves smooth or nearly so above.
Leaves acute or short-acuminate; drupe subglobose. i. C. occidentalis.
Leaves attenuate-acuminate; drupe oblong. 2. C. canina.
Leaves very rough above; drupe subglobose. 3. C. crassijolia.
Leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate; drupe 6 to 8 mm. in
diameter.
Leaves entire, or few-toothed near apex. 4. C. mississippiensis.
Leaves sharply serrate. 5. C. Smallii.
Pedicels short, less than twice as long as the drupe. 6. C. gcorgiana.
Leaves thick, coriaceous, strongly reticulate-veined beneath;
western tree, 7. C. reticulata.
Leaves densely gray-tomentulose beneath, cordate; Texan tree. 8. C. Helleri.
Northwestern tree; leaves ovate. 9. C. Douglasii.
I. HACKBERRY — Celtis occidentalis Linnaeus
The Hackberrv^ tree, also known as Sugarberry, inhabits dry hillsides and
ledges, ranging from Quebec to North Carolina, westward to Manitoba, Ne-
braska, and Oklahoma. It is usually a small tree, and in rocky places sometimes
only a shrub, but occasionally becomes 20 meters high, with a trunk diameter of
4 to 8 dm.
The bark is rough, often corky-ridged or warty, thick, gray-brown, and at
length scaly. The young branches are slender and vary from smooth to quite
hairy; they are light green at first but become red-brown. As with the elms the
buds are all axillaiy; they are finely hairy and about 6 mm^. long. The leaves are
thin, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, coarsely toothed to cjuite entire-margined, 5 to
10 cm. long, sharply pointed and on young shoots sometimes long-pointed and
much larger; the upper surface is smooth or Init little roughened, rather light
green and dull, the under side slightly paler and hairy; thf leaf-stalks \an- from
6 to 16 mm. long, and the linear stipules fall soon after the leaves begin to unfold
in the spring. The small green flowers appear with the leaves on shoots of the
354
The Hackberries
^-&^"
\t^^^— '
^^^M~7^^^ '
* ^^1 '\^-i--y?. . \.*\ 'r
■•^^A^^f^x^r,
"""^^^"'''^^^^'^'^kit'!^
W^^^
, , XA^y— ^ ■:\^^^l^
^«^-^
■^-,
1 's2'S<4^"nV — >vi ^XriL
"■^^^
^JjrO~'
'--
P:^
mk
^^^
■v '•iteirauvv
' wmm
■ *
K
: ^-mk
«^
i ^ . ■"
-^
Pi
Fig. 310. — Hackberry, Tottenville, Staten Island.
season; they are stalked and axillary, either solitary or several together; the stami-
natc ones usually have 5 stamens
a little longer than the calyx,
borne on the white-woolly recep-
tacle; the perfect flowers have a
white-woolly ovary and as many
stamens as there are sepals. The
fruit is globular or nearly so, red,
orange purple or nearly black,
smooth, 7 to 10 mm. in diameter,
borne on stalks usually longer
than those of the leaves; its stone
is pointed and oblong.
The wood is heavy, having a
specific gravity of over 0.70, and
has a hmited use for furniture
and fencing. The tree is of \cr}'
slow growth but is of great inter-
est. It is also known as False
or Bastard elm. Nettle-tree, Hog-
FiG. 311. — Hackberry, berry, and Dog-cherry.
Rough-Leaved Hackberry
355
2. DOG HACKBERRY — Celtis canina Rafinesque
This tree has a range similar to
that of the preceding species, but,
as it has not been closely studied,
the Hmits of its geographic distri-
bution are as yet undetermined.
It is known to occur from New
York to Illinois and South Dakota,
southward to Pennsylvania and
Missouri, preferring rich soil, grow-
ing in fields and meadows, and at-
tains much greater dimensions than
the rock-loving species, being some-
times at least 30 meters in height.
The young twigs are green and
either smooth or hairy. The leaves
are ovate-lanceolate or broadly lan-
ceolate, light green, often 12 cm.
long (8 to 16 cm.), coarsely toothed,
thin and drawn out into long slen- Fig. 312. — Dog Hackberry.
der tips; the upper surface is smooth, except when young, and the rather pale
under side is hairy, at least along the veins; the slender leaf-stalks are 2 cm. long
or less, and about one half as long as the
stalk of the fruit. The fruit is oblong,
about one half longer than thick, purple,
about I cm. long.
3. ROUGH-LEAVED HACK-
BERRY— Celtis crassifolia Lamarck
This is the largest and most elegant
species of the genus, sometimes attaining
a height of 40 meters and a trunk diame-
ter of nearly i meter. It prefers rich soil
and reaches its greatest development in
river valleys, though it sometimes grows in
dry or even rocky situations, when it is
small, or even shrub-like. It ranges from
Massachusetts (according to Emerson),
Fig. 313. — Rough-leaved Hackberry. _^ ^ • . o ^\ n-
New Jersey, Pennsylvania to South Caro-
b'na, westward to Indiana, South Dakota, Tennessee, Kansas, and Colorado.
When well developed the trunk is tall and straight, often without branches for
356
The Hackberries
15 meters or more; its bark is thick and usually corky- roughened or warty, though
sometimes smooth. The young twigs are hairy and green, but become smooth
and reddish brown. The leaves are ovate to ovate-lanceolate, pointed, coarsely
toothed, though sometimes with few teeth, often 15 cm. long, and rather thin; they
are dark green and rough, with papillae on the upper surface, which is covered
with short stifi hairs until the leaf is nearly or quite mature; the lower surface
is rough-hair}^, especially along the veins. The nearly black short-oblong or nearly
round fruit is about i cm. in diameter, its stalk longer than the leaf-stalk.
The wood is heavy, not very strong, light yellow; it has a limited use for furniture,
flooring, and fencing.
4. MISSISSIPPI HACKBERRY — Celtis mississippiensis Bosc
A tree which under favorable conditions attains a height of 30 meters, with a
trunk about i meter in thickness. It prefers the moist soil of river valleys and
banks, and ranges from Georgia and Florida westward to Tennessee, southern
lUinois, Missouri, Texas, and northeast-
em Mexico, and also occurs in Bermuda.
It is usually easily distinguished from
the others by its long usually quite en-
tire-margined leaves and small fruit.
The thick bark is light gray and warty,
with corky projections. The young
twigs are either smooth or somewhat
hair}', greenish, but soon become red-
brown and shining. The leaves are thin,
5 to 12 cm. long, lanceolate to ovate-lan-
ceolate, or some of them ovate, long-
pointed, slender-stalked, nearly equally
bright green on both surfaces, or some-
what paler beneath, rarely with a few
small sharp teeth; the narrow stipules
fall away while the leaves are unfolding;
Mississippi Hackberry. ^^^ petioles vary from 7 to 16 mm. long.
The fruit is ovoid-globose, orange or red, 4 to 7 mm. in diameter, its stalk longer
than the subtending leaf-stalk.
The wood is yellow and soft, has a specific gravity of about 0.50, and is largely
used for fencing and to some extent for furniture and flooring.
Berlandier's hackberry, Celtis Berlandieri Bosc, which occurs in the valley of
the Rio Grande in Texas and Mexico, has relatively shorter ovate leaves and
slightly larger fruit; it is not certainly distinct, however, from C. mississippiensis.
314
Georgia Hackberry
357
5. SMALL'S HACKBERRY - Celtis Smallii Beadle
The known range of this recently described tree is from North Carolina and
Tennessee to Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Texas. It has been confused with
the Mississippi hackberry, but appears to differ from that species by its sharply
toothed leaves; the two are, however, closely related. It prefers wet soil and
inhabits river shores and swamps in Georgia,
attaining a height of 25 meters, with a trunk
diameter of about 6 dm.
The young twigs are ver)' slender, smooth,
green, becoming purplish brown. The leaves
vary from lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate; they
are thin, delicately but rather conspicuously
veined, long- pointed, slender-stalked, some-
what hsLiry when young but nearly or quite
smooth when fully grown, 5 to 10 cm. long,
their edges sharply toothed; the upper sur-
face is somewhat darker green than the lower;
the leaf-stalks are 8 to 18 mm. long; the
stipules fall away after the leaves begin to
unfold. The sepals of the staminate flowers
are narrowly oblong and blunt. The nearly
globular fruit is 5 to 7 mm. in diameter, its slender stalk equalling or longer than
the subtending petiole.
Fig. 315. — Small's Hackberry.
6. GEORGIA HACKBERRY - Celtis georgiana Small
The Georgia hackberr}' in-
habits rocky or gravelly soil and
ranges from New Jersey to
Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, and
Alabama. It Is usually a mere
shrub, sometimes flowering when
2 meters high or less, but some-
times becomes a tree 6 to 10 me-
ters high.
The young twigs are hairy,
greenish, slender, becominp^
smooth and purple- brown,
leaves are smaller than t'
the other species, no*
5 or 6 cm. in lenr
Fig. 316. - Georgia Hackberry. rather thick who' "
358
The Hackberries
short-pointed or bluntish, toothed, or sometimes nearly or quite entire- margined,
the base usually more or less cordate; they are bright green and roughish on the
upper surface, lighter green and somewhat hairy beneath, at least on the veins; the
leaf-stalks are short, stout, hairy. The fruit varies in color from red-purple to
yellowish, is globular, 6 to 8 mm. in diameter and usually more than one half as
long as its usually short stalk, which equals or exceeds the subtending leaf-stalk
in length.
7. THICK-LEAVED HACKBERRY — Celtis reticulata Torrey
This is a small tree, perhaps never over 15 meters high, and grows in rocky or
gravelly soil, especially along rivers, from Kansas to Texas, Colorado, Nevada,
Arizona, and southern CaHfomia, and is
reported as extending into Lower Cali-
fornia.
The bluish-gray bark has many corky
warts or ridges, which are sometimes 3
cm. high. The young twigs vary from
quite hairy to nearly or quite smooth;
they are green at first, but early become
brown. The leaves are thick, strongly
netted- veined, with the veins impressed
on the upper surface and prominent on
the lower; they are 7 cm. long or less,
ovate, pointed, bright green, and either
very rough or nearly smooth above, pale
green and hairy on the underside; their
margins vary from nearly or quite entire
to strongly toothed ; the rather stout leaf-
stalks are from 4 to 10 mm. in length.
The fruit is red, globular, 8 to 12 mm. in diameter, its stalk usually much longer
than the subtending petiole of the leaf. It is also called Palo Blanco and simply
Hackberr\', in Texas. The wood is very similar to that of the eastern Hackberry,
but heavier; its specific gravity being about 0.72.
Fig. 317. — Thick-leaved Hackbeny.
8. HELLER'S HACKBERRY - Celtis Helleri Small
hackberr)' grows in dr^- soil in southern Texas, sometimes occurring
" tree with a maximum observed height of about 10 meters and a
■^.5 meters and has widely spreading branches.
^erous corky warts. The young twigs are slender and hairy,
"^rown. The leaves are rather fiiTn in texture, ovate to
nceolate, 4 to 9 cm. long, pointed or blunt, toothed, at
The Tremas
359
Fig. 318. — Heller's Hackberry.
least above the middle, mostly heart-
shaped at the base, dark green and very
rough on the upper surface, finely gray-
haiiy on the lower and rather strongly
netted-veined ; their stout stalks vary from
3 to 10 mm. in length. The fruit is nearly
globular, 7 to 10 mm. in diameter, light
brown and shining, its curved stalk i to
1.5 cm. long.
9. DOUGLAS' HACKBERRY
Celtis Douglasii Planchon
This tree inhabits river valleys in Idaho,
Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia,
south to Utah and Colorado, and much re-
sembles the Thick-leaved hackberry of the
southwest, with which it has been confused,
and it is also closely related to the eastern
Celtis occidentalis. It attains a height of
about 7 meters, but is usually lower, and
commonly a mere shrub.
The bark is bright brown and rough, the
young twigs hair}\ The leaves are ovate to
ovate-lanceolate, 10 cm. long or less, pointed,
often long-pointed, rough above, rather
strongly netted-veined beneath; their stalks
are hairy and short, usually not more than
6 mm. long. The flower-stalks are slen-
_,,-,,, der, equaUing or ^ or 4 times as long as the
Fig. 319. — Douglas Hackberry. 7 n o ^ -r o
leaf-Stalks, and loosely hair}^ The globular
fruit is about 8 mm. in diameter and black when ripe.
IV. THE TREMAS
GENUS TREMA LOUREIRO
HIS genus contains about 30 species of unarmed trees and shrubs,
natives of tropical regions. The one here described occurs only in
southern Florida, so far as is known. T. micrantha (Swartz) Blume,
is abundant on Porto Rico and other West Indian islands, and in Cen-
tral America; T. Lamarckiana (Roemer and Schultcs) Blume, occurs on the Ba-
hamas, Cuba, and Santo Domingo to Montserrat and Guadalouj)c; T. mollis
360 The Tremas
(VVallich) Blume, on Cuba, and there are several other tropical American species.
The type is Trema cannahina Loureiro, of Cochin-China.
The leaves are 3-nen'ed, short-stalked, equal-sided, or nearly so; their stipules
fall away early. The ver)- small green monoecious or polygamous flowers are
borne in dense axillar\' cymes; the calyx is 4-parted or 5-parted, the divisions of
the staminate calyx being valvate in the bud, those of the perfect flower somewhat
imbricated; there are 4 or 5 stamens; the ovary is sessile and surmounted by 2
stigmas. The fruit is a very small globular drupe.
I. FLORIDA TREMA — Trema floridana Britton
While usually a shrub, this plant sometimes forms a single trunk 10 meters
high and 10 to 15 cm. in diameter. It occurs along borders of woods and in
thickets in southern Florida. The bark is about 4 mm. thick, the surface broken
by shallow fissures into small oblong light brown plates. The twigs are round
Fig. 320. — Florida Trema.
and velvety. The leaves are ovate, ver}' finely toothed all around, 5 to 12 cm.
long, pointed, somewhat obHquely heart-shaped at the base, the upper surface very
rough and dark green, the under side densely and finely gray- velvety ; the leaf-
stalks are stout and 8 to 15 cm. long. The reddish fruit is about 1.5 mm. long.
The wood is light, soft, close-grained and light brown, the split surfaces
satiny.
THE MULBERRY FAMILY
HORACES Lindley
HIS family contains about 55 genera, comprising some 925 species of
trees or shrubs, many with milky sap, occurring in temperate and
tropical regions of both hemispheres; some of them are of consid-
erable economic importance, the Mulberries for their foliage as the
food of the silkworm, and on account of their edible fruit, the Fig for its valuable
fruit. The Bread-fruit, Artocarpus communis Forster, and other closely related
species, is of very great value in tropical countries, and of increasing importance
is the rubber obtained from several Asiatic species of Ficus, but more especially
from Castilla elastica Cervantes, and perhaps other species from Central America,
now being scientifically cultivated there, and in the West Indies.
The Moraceae have mostly alternate persistent or deciduous leaves with de-
ciduous stipules. The flowers are monoecious or dicecious, in usually axillary
elongated catkins, heads, or on the inside of a hollow receptacle, and with but one
series to the perianth, which is 3- to 5-lobed; the stamens equal in number the
perianth divisions and are inserted at their base, the filaments thread-like, in-
flexed in the bud; ovary i-or 2-celled, united with the 3 to 5 lobes of the accrescent
perianth, which become fleshy, enclose the nutlets, and at maturity form an ag-
gregate fleshy fruit; styles i or 2; ovules solitary, pendulous; endosperm fleshy or
none.
Our arborescent species belong to the following genera:
Flowers not in a receptacle; fruit a syncarp.
Flowers all in spike-like catkins; fruit elongated, edible. i. Morus.
Pistillate flowers in heads; fruit globose, not edible.
Branches armed; fruit 5 to 15 cm. in diameter; leaves entire. 2. Toxylon.
Branches unarmed; fruit 2 to 3 cm. in diameter; leaves various. 3. Papyrius.
Flowers inside of a hollow receptacle; fruit a syconium. 4. Ficus.
I. THE MULBERRIES
GENUS MORUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
BOUT 10 species of Mulberries are known, all trees or shrubs, natives
of eastern North America, Central America, South America, Europe,
but most abundant in Asia. They are well known for their edible
fleshy fruits and as the favorite trees upon which the silkworm feeds.
The tough bast of their bark is sometimes used for its strong coarse fiber. The
361
362 The Mulberries
bark and roots of some are ven,' yellow and are used as dyestuff, and the wood is
valuable as lumber.
They have a milky sap. The leaves are alternate, membranous, 3-nerved,
often deeply lobed, and deciduous. The flowers appear in early spring in the
axils of the lower leaves, on different branches (monoecious), or rarely on different
trees (dioecious). The staminate flowers are in elongated cylindric catkins, con-
sisting of numerous short-stalked flowers; the perianth is deeply parted into 4
ovate blunt lobes; the stamens, 3 or 4, inserted at the base of the perianth under
the rudimentary ovary; filaments thread-hke, incurved in the bud, straight and
exserted where the flower opens; anthers 2-celled, borne on a very broad con-
nective, and opening lengthwise. The pistillate flowers are in shorter, stouter,
dense catkins; the perianth is sessile, irregularly deeply 4-lobed, the lobes ovate or
obovate, the two outer much the largest, accrescent, and enclosing the ovary; the
ovar}' is sessile, i-celled, terminated by a ver}^ short style divided into 2 thread-
like hairy stigmas; ovule soHtary, suspended from the top of the cell. The fruit
is a juicy syncarp, an aggregation of crowded more or less united and compressed
drupelets, consisting of the thickened juicy perianth enclosing the nutlets, which
are tipped with the remnants of the stigmas.
Morus is the old classic name of the Mulberry tree, the type species being
Morus nigra Linnaeus.
Our species are:
Leaves glabrous beneath, or sparingly pubescent on the veins.
Leaves 6 to 20 cm. long, smoothish above; introduced Old World trees.
Fruit white or pinkish. i. M. alba.
Fruit black. 2. M. nigra.
Leaves 2 to 6 cm. long, scabrous above; southwestern tree. 3. M. niicrophylla.
Leaves softly pubescent beneath; fruit red or purplish; eastern tree. 4. M. rubra.
I. WHITE MULBERRY —Morus alba Linnsus
This rapidly growing tree is of Asiatic origin and has come to us from Europe,
where it is very generally naturahzcd. With us it is frequently naturahzed from
New England southward, and attains a maximum height of 12 meters, with a
trunk diameter of i m. It was originally introduced as food for silkworms in an
early attempt to establish silk-culture in this country.
The trunk is usually very short and low-branched; the bark is about 8 mm.
thick, broadly furrowed into Hght brown ridges. The twigs are round, slender,
hairy at first, becoming smooth, Hght grayish brown. The leaves are thin and
firm, ovate or ovate-oval, 6 to 15 cm. long, sharp or taper- pointed, rounded or
somewhat heart-shaped at the base, doubly toothed, sometimes lobed, slightly
hairy when unfolding, becoming smooth and Hght green above, paler and hairy
along the prominent venation beneath; the leaf-stalk is slender, somewhat hairy,
2 to 3 cm. long. The staminate catkins are slender, drooping, i to 2 cm. long, on
Black Mulberry
3^3
peduncles a little shorter; the pistillate
catkins somewhat oblong, 0.5 to 10 mm.
long. The fruit is subglobose to oval-
oblong, I to 2 cm. long, varying greatly
in size and quahty, usually longer than
its stalk, white or pinkish, sometimes
nearly dr)', and never as juicy as that of
the Black mulberry.
The wood is moderately hard, close-
grained, Hght yellowish brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.71. It is used for vari-
ous purposes in the Old World ; said to be
a favorite for wine casks in France. The
leaves are the chief food of the silkworm
and also used as fodder for goats and
sheep. The bast is used as a coarse fiber;
the root-bark as a vermifuge and as a
Fig . *? 2 1 .
dye. In Turkestan the dried fruit of this
species or a related one is ground into meal for food.
White Mulberry.
2. BLACK MULBERRY — Morus nigra Linnceus
This tree is supposed to have come originally from Persia, but has been kno^^'^l
in Europe for ages and is now widely naturalized there. In our area it has been
introduced on account of its pleasant black
fruit, and has become naturalized along
roadsides and waste places in the southern
States and also on the Pacific coast, at-
taining a maximum height of 20 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 6 dm.
The branches are numerous, slender
and spreading, forming a large round head ;
the bark is shghtly fissured, with many
irregular dark gray scales; the twigs are
round and slender, shghtly hair>^, becoming
smooth and brownish gray. The leaves
are thin and firm, ovate, 4 to 15 cm. long,
short taper-pointed, rounded or heart-
shaped at the base, sharply toothed on the
margin, sometimes 2- or 3-lobed, hair>^ at
first, becoming dark green and shining
Fig. 322. — Black Mulberry. above, paler, with prominent venation be-
neath; leaf-stalk somewhat hairy, slender, about one third the length of the blade.
3^4
The Mulberries
The staminate catkins are cylindric, i to 2 cm. long, on stalks 0.75 to 1.5 cm.
long, somewhat crowded. The pistillate catkins are oval, 5 to 8 mm. long, on
short thin hair>' stalks. The fruit ripens in June or July, is oblong, i to 2 cm.
long, black when fully ripe, with a deep red juice.
The wood is moderately hard, rather close-grained, yellowish brown. Its
specific gravity is about 0.65. It is used like the wood of the White mulberry.
The juice of the ripe fruit is official in several European pharmacopoeias, and
in the form of a syrup is popular as a mild laxative and as an adjuvant to nauseous
medicines.
The tree is very similar to the White mulberry in many respects, and hard to
distinguish from it except by the black fruit.
3. TEXAN MULBERRY — Morus microphylla Buckley
Moms celtidifolia Sargent, not Humboldt, Bonpland and Kunth
This small tree, or shrub, occurs in various situations near our Mexican boun-
dar\% from western Texas to eastern Arizona and in northern Mexico. Its maxi-
mum height is 10 meters, with a trunk diameter of 4 dm.
The bark is about 10 mm. thick, furrowed and covered with small close red-
dish gray scales, on young stems,
thinner and smooth. The twigs
are green and whitish hair)', soon
becoming nearly smooth, yellow-
ish brown, bearing large leaf scars.
The buds are ovoid, about 3 mm.
long, sharp-pointed and covered
by bright brown shining scales.
The leaves are thin and firm,
ovate, oval or suborbicular, 2 to 6
cm, long, taper- pointed, rounded
and slightly heart-shaped at the
base, margined by stout teeth,
sometimes 3-lobed, hair}- when un-
folding, becoming less so, deep
green and roughened above, pale,
rough and often hair}', especially
along the strong yellow midrib,
beneath; leaf-stalk slender, hairy,
Fig. 323. — Texan Mulberry.
from 0.5 to I cm. long. The flowers open from March to May, according to ahi-
tude, and are usually dioecious. The staminate catkins are oblong, 1.8 to 2.5 cm.
long, one third of which is stalk. The flowers are very numerous, short pedicelled ;
the perianth is dark green, hairy without, deeply 4-lobcd, the lobes rounded and
often red at the apex; the stamens have filiform filaments and yellow anthers;
Red Mullberry
365
there is a rudimentary ovar\\ The pistillate catkins are shorter, their flowers
sessile, dark green, deeply and unequally 4-parted; the lobes rounded and some-
what hair)'; ovary flattish, green and smooth; the short style is branched into 2
white stigmas. The fruit ripens in May and June, is oval-oblong, i to 1.5 cm.
long, deep purple or black, rather acid and not very palatable; the nutlets are
light brown.
The w^ood is hard, close-grained, elastic and light brown; its specific gravity
is about 0.77. The Indians of Texas are said to have made their bows of this
wood. This tree has been confused with the Mexican mulberry, Morus celtidi folia
H. B. K., which has larger, more elongated, taper-pointed and finely toothed leaves,
and from which it also differs by its small useless fruit.
4. RED MULBERRY —Morus rubra Linnaus
This, the largest of our Mulberry trees, occurs mostly in woods of river valleys
or on moist hillsides, from Massachusetts to Ontario, Michigan, and Nebraska,
southward to Florida and Texas, attaining its greatest height of about 20 meters,
and 2.5 meters in trunk diameter, in the central States; it grows also in Bermuda.
It is also called Black mulberry, and Virginia mulberry.
The trunk is stout and rather short, the lower branches are stout and spread-
ing, uncrowded trees becoming round-
topped; the bark is about 18 mm. thick,
fissured into long plates, the surface
broken into long close scales of a dark
reddish brown color; the twigs are slen-
der, dark green, with a reddish tinge,
with large raised leaf scars, eventually
becoming dark brown. The winter buds
are ovoid, 6 mm. long, blunt, covered
by shining scales. The leaves are thin,
or membranous, ovate, or ovate-orbicu-
lar, 10 to 20 cm. long, abruptly taper-
pointed, rounded or heart-shaped at the
base, singly or doubly toothed on the mar-
gin, or 3-lobed, yellowish green, sHghtly
hairy above, white-woolly beneath when
unfolding, becoming dark green, smooth
or nearly so above, pale, more or less
white-hair}^, especially about the yel-
lowish venation, or sometimes soft-hairy all over, beneath. The leaves turn bright
yellow before falHng in the early autumn; leaf-stalk stout, round, 1.5 to 3 cm.
long; stipules large, conspicuous, yellowish, falling away early. The flowers
appear with the leaves. The staminate catkins are slender, cylindric, 2.5 to 5
Fig. 324. — Red Mulberry.
366
Osage Orange
cm. long, about one third longer than the shghtly hairy peduncle; the deeply 4-
parted perianth is hairy on the outer surface; the anthers are light green. The
pistillate catkins are shorter stalked, spreading or pendulous, about half the length
of the staminate ones; the perianth is deeply divided into 4 lobes, the two outer
much larger than the inner, concave, rounded, and as long as the smooth, ovoid,
ova.ry, which they entirely enclose; the 2 long stigmas are white. The fruit ripens
in June and July, is cylindric, 3 to 6 cm. long, about i cm. thick, bright red,
becoming nearly black, sweet and juicy; the nutlets are ovoid, sharp-pointed, hght
brown and very small.
The wood is soft, weak but tough, coarse-grained and dark yellow; its specific
gravity is about 0.59. It is very durable and valued for posts and fencing and used
in cooperage, especially for chums and for shoe lasts.
A handsome, rapid-growing tree, deserving wide cultivation as a shade-tree,
sometimes planted for its fruit, which is valuable as food for poultry and swine.
II. OSAGE ORANGE
GENUS TOXYLON RAFINESQUE
Species Toxylon pomiferum Rafinesque
Madura aurantiaca Nuttall. M. pomifera Robinson
TREE with milky sap and ridged brown astringent bark, occurring in
the wild state only from Missouri
to Kansas and Texas, but much
planted elsewhere for hedges and
for ornament; it has become practically natu-
raHzed at many places in the eastern and mid-
dle States. It attains a maximum height of
about 20 meters, with a trunk 6 dm. in diame-
ter or more, and is the only species of its
genus. The name Toxylon signifies bow-
wood, the wood having formerly been used by
Indians for bows and other weapons, the bois
d'arc.
The young twigs are green and softly hair}^,
soon becoming smooth and brownish. The
buds are small and blunt, partly sunken in the
twigs. The leaves are finely hairy when
young, but smooth, dark green and shining
when old; they bear stout spines in the axils, sometimes 5 cm. long; the leaves are
alternate, stalked, pinnately veined, ovate-lanceolate to ovate-oblong, not toothed,
6 to 15 cm, long, pointed, the base rounded or somewhat cordate; they turn bright
yellow in autumn; the stipules fall away soon after the leaves begin to unfold.
Fig. 325. — Osage Orange.
Paper Mulberry
Z^l
The flowers, which appear in May or June, after the leaves, are dioecious, the
staminate ones on one tree, the pistillate on another. The staminatc ones are in
catkins i to 2.5 cm. long, and have a 4-parted calyx and 4 stamens. The pistil-
late flowers are in round, dense heads about 2.5 cm. in diameter, and have a 4-clcft
calyx enclosing the i-cellcd ovary, which is surmounted by a very long flhform
style. In ripening the heads of pistillate flowers become very fleshy, much en-
larged, forming an aggregate fruit (syncarp), which is yellowish green, 15 cm. in
diameter or less, its surface roughened.
The tree suckers freely from cut stumps and from its roots. Its wood is very
strong, hard, durable, orange-yellow, with a specific gravity of about 0.77. It is
valuable for posts, sills, paving, wheels, and for small articles of woodenware.
The bright yellow-barked root is said to furnish a yellow dye.
1
1
III. PAPER MULBERRY
GENUS PAPYRIUS LAMARCK
Species Papyrius papyrifera (Linnasus) Kuntze
Mams papyrifera Linnaeus. Broussonetia papyrifera Ventenat
OUR species of Papyrius are known, all natives of eastern Asia; one
of them, the Paper mulberry, the
type of the genus, has been much
planted for ornament, and has
spread from cultivation to roadsides and
waste places, suckering freely from its roots,
occurring thus in the United States from
New York to Florida and Missouri. .
It is a small tree, with milky sap, greenish
gray bark, and stout and densely hairy young
twigs. The leaves are alternate, long-stalked,
and vary much in outline from entire-mar-
gined to 3-lobcd or 5-lobed, sometimes with
a lobe on one side only, like those of Sassa-
fras; they are i to 2 dm. long, 3-nerved, thin,
the upper surface rough, the under side hairy.
The small dioecious flowers open in May or
June; the pistillate ones, composed of a tu-
bular calyx, a stalked ovary with a two-cleft style, are borne in dense, round heads
on one tree ; the staminate ones, composed of a 4-cleft calyx, 4 stamens, and a rudi-
mentary ovary, are borne in cyHndric catkins on another tree. The ripe heads of
pistillate flowers are from i to 2.5 cm. in diameter, the red individual drupes pro-
jf^cting beyond the calyx.
Fig. 326. — Paper Mulberry.
368 The Figs
The fibrous bark is of value in paper-making and is one of the sources of the
bark cloth or Tapa of the South Sea islanders. The wood is light in color and
weight, even-grained but soft.
The generic name refers to the use of its bark in paper making.
IV. THE FIGS
GENUS FICUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
ICUS is a ver}' large and complex genus, consisting of some 600 species
of trees, shnabs, or woody cHmbers, some of w^hich are parasites on other
trees. The sap is milk-hke. They are widely distributed throughout
the American tropics, from Florida to the Argentine Republic, but are
especially numerous in the islands of the Pacific and in southern Asia. Some fossil
species are recorded from the Cretaceous formations of Europe and from the Terti-
ary formations of North America.
They have thick leathery alternate, rarely opposite, deciduous or persistent,
variously margined leaves. The stipules are interpetiolar and early deciduous.
The flowers are monoecious, rarely dioecious, and borne on the inside of hollow
receptacles which are variously situated and subtended, but are usually borne in the
axils of leaves or leaf scars. Staminate and pistillate flowers are usually borne
in different receptacles, but sometimes together. The staminate flowers are nearly
sessile, their perianth 2- to 6-parted, sometimes wanting; stamens i or 2, rarely
3, the filaments erect, and united throughout their length when more than one;
anthers innate or adnate, ovate, broad, nearly round, 2-celled, opening lengthwise;
there is no trace of an ovary. The pistillate flowers have a narrower lobed perianth
or rarely none; the ovary is sessile, i-celled; the style is lateral, elongated, the
stigma various, club-shaped, cylindric, peltate, or 2-lobed; ovary solitary, sus-
pended or horizontal. The minute hard fruits are enclosed in the enlarged thick-
ened and succulent receptacle.
The genus is of much economic importance. Besides the common Fig there
are several others of great value. India rubber is produced from Ficus elastica
Roxburgh, a native of Assam, which is also a much prized shade tree in the tropics;
it is the well-known and popular India rubber plant of our consen^atories and
parlors. The Buddhists' sacred Peepul tree, Ficus religiosa Linnaeus, is also an
important and much valued shade tree, planted throughout tropical countries;
several other species are also important and popular tropical shade trees. The
name of the genus is the ancient classic name of the Fig tree, Ficus Carica Linnaeus,
which is the type species.
Our species are:
Leaves entire, smooth, evergreen; fruit small, globose, or obovoid, inedible.
Fruit sessile. i. F. aurea.
Fruit stalked. 2. F. hrevijolia.
Leaves lobed, rough and hairy; fruit large, pyriform, edible. 3. F. Carica.
Golden Fig
369
Fig. 327. — Golden Fig.
I. GOLDEN FIG — Ficus aurea Nuttall
This tree starts into life as a parasite; the seed germinating in the crevices of
the bark of other trees, produces
aerial roots which, when they
reach the ground, take root and
become trunks; often several of
these descend parallel, and sur-
rounding the trunk of their host,
finally come together and strangle
it. The branches also send down
roots, which, acting in the same
way, produce additional trunks,
and eventually form a compound
tree, often covering a large area.
Such a specimen near Miami is
said to have covered a quarter of
an acre of ground. This tree is
abundant in hammocks of penin-
sular Florida, the Keys, the Ba-
hamas, and grows also in Cuba,
often reaching a height of 20 me-
ters, with a trunk diameter of 12 dm.
The bark is about 12 mm. thick, gray or brown, smooth or scaly, and upon
peeling off exposes the nearly black inner layers. The twigs are stout, thick and
pithy, smooth, bright yellow, with pale lenticels, large leaf scars, and encircling
stipule scars. The leaves are persistent, thick and leathery, oblong, oval or elhptic,
3 to ID cm. long, sharp or short taper-pointed at the apex, entire on the margin,
yellowish green, smooth and shining, with indented midrib above, pale, smooth and
slightly shining, with yellow midrib, beneath. The leaf-stalk is short; the reddish
stipules enclose the young leaves, which in falling leave nearly round scars. The
receptacles are depressed-globose, sessile or nearly so subtended by several bracts,
sometimes in pairs, with a small lateral opening near the top; the reddish flowers
within it are separated by small scales, sessile or stalked. The perianth of the
staminate flowers is 2- or 3-lobed; the stamens have stout flattish filaments some-
what longer than the perianth; anthers oblong. The pistillate flowers have a 4- or
5-lobed perianth, the lobes narrower than those of the staminate flowers, the ovary
ovoid and sessile, with a slender style and 2-lobed stigmas. The fruit is obovoid,
about 1.5 cm. in diameter, yellow to bright red when ripe, the nutlets light brown,
the seed ovoid, rounded at each end.
The wood is soft, very weak, coarse-grained and hght brown; its specific gravity
is about 0,26. It is of no known economic value. The tree is sometimes planted
as a shade or street tree in the southern States.
370
The Figs
2. SHORT-LEAVED FIG — Ficus brevif oUa Nuttall
This evergreen tree is rather rare in our area, occurring but sparingly in ham-
mocks in peninsular Florida and the Keys, but is abundant in the Bahamas, and
grows also in Cuba. It attains a maximum height of 15 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 5 dm. Sometimes it is parasitic, Hke the foregoing tree, but usually
its entire later career is terrestrial. It is also known as the Wild fig.
The branches are stout and spreading, sometimes producing pendent, aerial
roots, the tree usually round-topped. The bark is about 10 mm. thick, smooth
and hght yellow-brown, sometimes sep-
arating in small scales and exposing the
reddish brown inner layers. The twigs
are round, rather stout and pithy,
shghtly hairy and reddish, becoming
smooth, yellow-browTi or red, and bear-
ing quite prominent large leaf scars,
and encircHng stipule scars. The leaves
are thin, leathery, ovate, oval or rarely
obovate, 3 to 10 cm. long, sharp or
taper-pointed or blunt at the apex,
rounded or heart-shaped at the base,
entire on the margin, deep green, smooth
and shining with shghtly impressed mid-
rib above, paler and smooth, with a
broad strong yellow midrib and promi-
nent venation beneath ; the leaf-stalk is
slender, grooved, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long; the
Fig. 328. — Short-leaved Fig.
stipules are of a reddish tinge and enclose the young leaves; the receptacles are
globose-obovoid, on stout stalks, 4 to 12 mm. long, subtended by deciduous bracts,
usually single, occasionally in pairs. The flowers are sessile or stalked, intermixed
with chaff-hke scales, and similar to those of the foregoing species, except that the
lobes of the perianth are broader in the pistillate flowers. The fruit is subglobose,
2 to 2.5 cm. in diameter, on stout stalks 0.5 to 2.5 cm. long, yellow at first, be-
coming bright red.
The wood is soft, close-grained, yellow or yellowish brown; its specific gravity
is about 0.56.
This species has been confused with the similar Ficus laevigata Vahl {F.
populnea Willdenow) of Porto Rico and the Windward islands.
3. COMMON FIG — Ficus Carica Linnaeus
This well-known shrub or small tree is probably a native of the Mediterranean
region, but it has been in cultivation from prehistoric times and has been so widely
Common Fig
371
grown for its fruit that its origin is quite uncertain. It has escaped to roadsides
and fields in the warmer portions of our area, where it has become well established
in some places. Its maximum height is about 9 meters.
The trunk is very short, the branches irregular, forming a roundish head.
The bark is close, rather smooth, reddish or pale gray. The twigs are stout, pithy,
hairy at first, becoming smooth, green or gray, and marked by leaf and stipule
scars. The leaves are thick, firm and leathery, suborbicular or oval in outhne,
5 to 15 cm. long, truncate or heart-shaped at the base, deeply 5-or 7-lobcd; the
lobes are broad or narrow, blunt at the apex and coarsely toothed or again lobed,
very rough, hairy and hght green above, pale and somewhat hairy beneath, the
venation prominent on both sides; leaf-stalk stout, often as long as the blade.
The receptacle is pear-shaped, short -stalked, subtended by several small broad
bracts. The staminate flowers are rarely seen in the cultivated forms, but occur
in the wild fig, which is called Caprifig, and is so different in appearance that it
was thought to be a different species by the early botanists; the perianth is 3-to
5-lobed; stamens i to 5, usually 3, their filaments longer than the perianth. The
pistillate flowers have a 3- to 5-lobed per-
ianth; the ovary is superior, i- or rarely,
2-celled, ovule i, style lateral, tapering,
much exceeding the perianth, forked into
2 stigmatic lobes. Receptacles that,
owing to an imperfect ovary, do not pro-
duce seed, but are taken possession of by
a small wasp-Hke insect, which establish
their home in them, are called gall-
flowers, while imperfect pistillate flowers,
which neither produce seed nor become
occupied by the fig insect, are called
mules by fig growers. The fruit is usually
obliquely pear-shaped, 5 to 7.5 cm. long,
var}qng in color from white, through
green and yellow to purple and brown,
smooth, soft and fleshy; the seed-Uke
nutlets are imbedded in the fleshv walls
Fig. 329. — Common Fig.
of the enlarged yellow and brittle receptacle, each containing a solitary suspended
seed with a straight embrj-o in fleshy endosperm.
There are over 400 varieties of Figs in cultivation, of which there are three classes,
the ordinary Fig, which flowers twice in the year, producing fruits each time,
whether the ovaries have been pollinated or not; the first crop is called Early figs
or " Brebas," the second crop is called Summer figs. San Pedro figs produce but
one crop, the early or Brebas; their second flowers are "mules," and produce no
fruit. Smyrna figs will not produce fmit unless the ovary is pollinated; they
produce perfect seeds, to which they owe their nutty flavor; they bear no staminate
372 The Figs
flowers of their own, so the polUnation is secured by placing branches of the Cap-
rifig, upon which are staminate flowers and insects, among the branches of the
Smymas when in flower, the insects passing in and out of the various receptacles
causing the distribution of the pollen; this is called caprification.
The wood is soft, open-grained and spongy, rather strong and elastic, light
yellow and light in weight. It is used in the Old World for hones, its porosity
holding the emery or other abrasive substance placed upon it.
The Fig is sometimes planted for ornament and shade, as well as for its fruit,
in warmer regions. Of the many species of its genus it is almost the only one
producing edible fmit; but one other is known to produce an inferior, insipid
fruit, which is sparingly used in its native region, namely, the Sycamore of the
ancients, Ficiis Sycamoriis Linnaeus, native of Africa, and cultivated for ages in
Egypt; its wood is very durable and is said to be the material from which most
of the caskets containing Egyptian mummies were made.
THE PROTEA FAMILY
PROTEACE^ J. St. Hilaire
HIS family comprises some 50 genera, containing about 100 species of
trees, shrubs or perennial herbs of the warmer regions of the southern
hemisphere, being most abundant in southern Africa. They are of no
special economic value; the seeds of several are eaten like nuts, either
raw or roasted, the timber of some is of local importance, but they are grown
widely for ornament or for their curious flowers.
The Proteaceae have alternate, rarely opposite or whorled, simple or compound,
usually hard and dryish leaves. The flowers are usually perfect, sometimes polyg-
amous or dioecious; the perianth is in one series of 4 partly united divisions;
stamens as many as there are parts of the perianth, upon which they are borne;
the ovar}^ consists of a single carpel, which is free and i -celled, more or less oblique;
style terminal; stigma disk-like, nipple-shaped or capitate; ovules i or 2. The
fruit is dehiscent or indehiscent, often folhcular or capsular; seed without
endosperm.
One arborescent species has become adventive in warmer portions of our area.
SILK OAK
GENUS GREVILLEA ROBERT BROWN
Species Grevillea robusta A. Cunningham
|N AustraUan tree which has become spontaneous in Florida and CaH-
fomia, having escaped from gardens, where it is cultivated for orna-
ment and has reached a height of 20 meters. In its native home,
however, it attains a height of 45 meters, with a trunk diameter of
at least 9 dm.
The twigs are rather stout, very silky-hairy at first, becoming smooth and gray.
The leaves are alternate, membranous and dr}'ish, bi-pinnately parted, 2 to
4 dm. long, the segments narrow, entire or more or less incised on the margin
and sharp or taper-pointed, light green and smooth above, pale or brownish silky-
hairy with prominent veins beneath, the leaf-stalk long, channelled and abruptly
thickened at the base. The flowers are golden-yellow and ver>' showy, in terminal
many-flowered panicles i to 2 dm. long; they are irregular but perfect; their
perianth is oblique, its lobes clhptic or oval; stamens 4; anthers sessile or nearly
373
374
Silk Oak
so; ovary stalked; the style is elongated and persistent; ovules 2, collateral. The
fruit is a compressed, oblique, elliptic follicle, about 2 cm. long, recurved on its
long slender stalk and tipped with the long slender style, dark brown and
sphtting open on one edge exposing the flat- winged yellowish seed.
The elastic wood of the Silk oak is valued in AustraUa for casks.
Fig. 330. — Silk Oak.
Seedling plants from i to 5 dm. high are much admired and are grown in great
numbers by florists on account of their fern-like foHage and used as centerpieces
for small fern dishes. In Florida and CaHfomia the tree is grown for its general
beauty and briUiant flowers, which are valued as a source of honey for bees. It
grows rapidly in dry sandy soils.
The genus is a large one, comprising probably 200 species of shrubs or trees,
mostly Austrahan. The name is in honor of Charles Francis Greville, an English-
man, prominent as a member of the Royal Society and a liberal patron of botany.
The type species is Grevillea punicea R. Brown.
THE OLAX FAMILY
OLACACE^ Lindle)^
LACACE^ consist of about 24 genera, including some 120 species of
trees, shrubs, or rarely shrubby herbs, some with twining stems,
occurring throughout the tropical zone, but most abundant in the
East Indies. They are of no economic importance. The typical
genus, Olax, is composed of trees and shrubs of the Old World tropics.
The Olacacese have alternate, sometimes whorled, usually entire leaves, with
no stipules. The flowers are perfect or polygamous, regular, axillar)^ in cymes,
racemes, or soUtary. The calyx is 4-lobed to 6-lobed, sometimes, however, it is a
mere border to the hypogynous disk, which is free from or adnate to the ovary;
the corolla is more or less tubular and 4-lobed to 6-lobed, sometimes of nearly
distinct petals, inserted on the disk or on the receptacle, valvate in the bud ; stamens
4 to 12, joined to the corolla tube, filaments distinct, rarely united, anthers oblong,
introrse, opening lengthwise; the ovary is free or immersed in the disk, or partially
inferior, i- to 4-celled, its divisions often incomplete; styles mostly united; stigma
entire, or 3- or 4-lobed ; ovules i to 3 in each cell. The fruit is a drupe, naked or
nearly enclosed in the enlarged disk, i-celled and i-seeded; the seed has a mem-
branaceous coat, and copious fleshy endosperm, or rarely none; embryo small and
straight.
The genera represented in our area are:
Branches unarmed; corolla-lobes short; stamens as many as the corolla-lobes;
drupe nearly enclosed. i. Schoepfia.
Branches armed; corolla-lobes long; stamens twice as many as the corolla-lobes;
drupe nearly naked. 2. Ximenia.
I. WHITEWOOD
GENUS SCHCEPFIA SCHREBER
Species Schoepfia chrysophylloides (A. Richard) Planchon
Diplocalyx chrysophylloides A. Richard. Schoepfia Schreberi Small, not J. F. Gmelin
HIS small unarmed tree or shrub occurs on coral rock and in sand in pe-
ninsular Florida, the Keys, the Bahamas, Cuba, and Jamaica.
The branches are unarmed, crooked, and rather brittle. The twigs
are slender, slightly zigzag, smooth, green, becoming ashy gray. The
leaves are alternate, leather}^ ovate or oblong-ovate, 2 to 6 cm. long, sharp or
375
Zl^
Whitewood
blunt pointed, tapering or abruptly contracted at the base, entire on the margin,
light green and smooth above, slightly paler beneath; the leaf-stalk is short and
winged. The flowers are perfect, axillary, in clusters of 2 or 3, or sohtary, pink
or red; the calyx is cup-shaped, 2 mm. high, shghtly dilated and entire- rimmed,
almost filled by a fleshy disk; the corolla is leathery, narrowly bell-shaped, 4 mm.
long, 4-ribbed, smooth; the 4 lobes are sharp-pointed and revolute; the 4 stamens
are adnate to the base of the corolla- lobes, anthers sessile; ovary 3-celled, mostly
immersed in the disk, style short, stigma 3-lobed.
Fig. 331. — White Wood.
The fruit is a scarlet ovoid or ovoid-oval drupe, 10 to 12 mm. long, almost
entirely enclosed in the accrescent calyx; the seed is usually sohtary in each cell
of the crustaceous stone.
The genus contains about 15 species of trees or shrubs of the tropical regions
of America and Asia; S. Schreberi Gmelin, of the Windward islands, is the type
of the genus.
The name is in commemoration of Johann David Schoepf (1752-1800), a
German physician and botanist, who traveled in North America and the West
Indies.
Tallow wood
377
II. TALLOWWOOD
GENUS XIMENIA [PLUMIER] LINN^US
Species Ximenia americana Linnaeus
THORNY small tree or shrub, which encircles the globe in the tropics,
entering our area in peninsular Florida and the Keys, where it attains
a maximum height of 6 meters. It is the type species of the genus.
It is also called Seaside plum. Hog plum, Mountain plum, False
sandalwood, and Wild oHve.
The branches are thorny and spreading; the bark is close, smooth, reddish,
and very astringent. The twigs are angular, be-
coming round and smooth. The leaves are alter-
nate, or in clusters of 3, firm and leathery, oblong or
eUiptic, 3 to 7 cm. long, blunt or notched at the
apex, tapering or rounded at the base, entire on the
margin, sHghtly hairy when young, bright green and
smooth above, paler beneath; the leaf-stalk is slen-
der, grooved, 5 to 10 mm, long. The flowers are
yellowish white and fragrant, perfect, in 2- to 4-
flowered axillary clusters, on pedicels about as long
as the leaf-stalk; the calyx is persistent, with 4 or 5
triangular sharp-pointed lobes; the corolla narrowly
bell-shaped, leathery, 4-lobed, the lobes linear,
with reflexed elongated tips ; stamens 8, borne at the
base of the ovary, their filaments thread-Hke, erect;
anthers Jinear, opening lengthwise; ovary superior, sessile, ovoid-oblong, 3- or 4-
celled, and smooth; styles united, as long as the calyx; stigma capitate; ovules 3 or
4 in each cell. The fruit, ripening in July, is a yellow or reddish, pulpy drupe,
globose or broadly ovoid, 14 to 17 mm. in diameter, with an almond-like odor and
acid taste. The stone is ovoid, about 2 cm. long, minutely pitted, light reddish
brown, with a white seed. The fruit is edible, and is a favorite food of many birds.
The wood is hard, close-grained, yellow; its specific gravity is about 0.92. It
is said to be used as a substitute for Sandalwood in the Eastern tropics.
The genus contains about 5 species of tropical trees or shrubs. The name is
in honor of Franz Ximenes, a Spanish naturahst, writer on medicinal plants about
1615.
Fig. 332. — Tallowwood.
THE KNOTWEED FAMILY
POLYGONACEiE LINDLEY
OSTLY composed of herbaceous plants in the temperate zones, this
large family, which includes over 30 genera and nearly 1000 species,
contains a considerable number of trees and shrubs in tropical regions.
The leaves are simple, mostly entire-margined, usually alternate, rarely
opposite or whorled, and have characteristic sheathing united stipules (called
ochreae). The small regular flowers are variously clustered; the calyx is free from
the ovar}', lobed, or composed of separate sepals; there are no petals; there are
from 2 to 9 stamens with slender filaments and 2-celled anthers; there is but one
pistil, the I -celled ovary containing i ovule and tipped by a 2-cleft or 3-cleft style.
The fruit is an achene, usually invested or enclosed by the persistent calyx, which
in the following genus becomes fleshy, so that the fruit often resembles a berry or
grape.
This family yields a few valuable products. Among foods. Buckwheat, the
seed of Fagopyrum Fagopyrum (Linnaeus) Karsten, also produced by other species
of Asiatic origin, is the most important. The popular Pie plant, or Rhubarb, is
the leaf-stalk of Rheum Rhaponticum Linnaeus, the root of which is also used as a
purgative, but is very inferior to the official Rhubarb, which is the root of the Asi-
atic Rheum officinale Baillon. The roots and herbage of several species of the
genus of well-known weeds. Polygonum, often called Smartweeds or Water peppers,
are sparingly used in medicine ; the roots of several species of Rumex, Docks, are
employed as astringents ; the root of Rumex hymenosepalus Torrey, called Canaigre
is used in tanning; it is native of the southwestern States and Mexico.
I. THE GRAPE TREES
GENUS COCCOLOBIS PATRICK BROWNE
OME 120 kinds of Grape trees are known, all natives of warm and
tropical America, many occurring in the West Indies, two of which
grow naturally also in southern Florida. Some of the species are
low shrubs, but a number form tall trees, while a few are woody
vines; all have simple evergreen, entire-margined leaves, with the characteristic
stipular sheaths (ochreae) of the family. The perfect small flowers are clustered in
racemes and borne on short pedicels, which are jointed beneath the 5-lobed calyx;
there are 8 stamens with rather slender filaments, borne at the top of the calyx-
378
Sea Grape
379
tube; the ovan- is bluntly 3-anglcd, the single ovule erect, and there are 3 styles.
The fruit of most species has a thin fleshy pulp, though it is sometimes dry and
crustaceous, containing a pit (achene) and crowned by the persistent calyx-lobes.
The generic name is from the Greek, signifying a berry with a husk. Three
years after its pubhcation by Browne, Linnaeus modified the spelling to Coccoloba,
C. Uvijera Linnaeus being the type.
Our two species may be distinguished as follows:
Leaves orbicular or broader than long, cordate at the base; seacoast tree. i. C. Uvijera.
Leaves oblong to obovate, narrowed or rounded at the base; tree of ham-
mocks. 2. C. laurijolia.
I . SEA GRAPE — Coccolobis Uvifera (Linnaeus) Jacquin
Polygonum Uvijera Linnaeus
One of the most characteristic trees or shrubs of the tropical American sea-
coast, this interesting species is abundant on the shores of southern Florida, usually
not exceeding 5 meters in height, but occasionally
becoming 15 meters high, with a trunk up to 1.3
meters in diameter. When standing alone it pre-
sents a round mass, often broader than high. It is
the typical species of the genus.
The thin bark is brown and smooth, mottled
with hghter-colored areas; the stout young twigs
are ver}- finely hair}-, yellowish, becoming smooth
and gray. The leathery leaves are orbicular, or
often wider than long, 2 dm. broad or less, rounded,
notched, or short-pointed, the base deeply cordate;
they are ver}^ short-stalked, their stipular sheaths
membranous, i cm. long or less. The flowers are
borne. in small fascicles in elongated racemes, which
develop almost continuously throughout the year, so
that the tree is nearly always in flower; the flower-
stalks are 3 or 4 mm. long and minutely hair\'; the lobes of the bell-shaped calyx
are white, ovate and rounded, about as long as the stamens. The clusters of
fruit, which much resemble bunches of grapes, are conspicuous, each fruit being
pur]3le, globular, i to 2 cm. in diameter; the astringent pulp encloses the red pit.
The wood is very nearly as heavy as water, its specific gravity being 0.96, dark
brown and hard. It is used in small quantities for furniture, and on the Windward
islands much used for fuel. It is also called Horsewood and Hoopwood.
^^^-iM
Fig. 333. — Sea Orapc.
38o
The Grape Trees
Pigeon Plum
381
2. PIGEON PLUM — Coccolobis laurifoUa Jacquin
An abundant element in the vegetation of hammocks and keys of southern
Florida, this tree is also widely distributed in the West Indies from the Bahamas
to northern South America, reaching a maxi-
mum height of about 20 meters, with a trunk
up to 6 or 7 dm. thick or more.
Its smooth bark is thin, green, charac-
teristically mottled with brown, the branches
bluntly angular, the young twigs smooth. The
leaves are ovate to obovate, pointed or blunt,
12 cm. long or less, or larger on young shoots,
rounded or narrowed at the base, bright green
on the upper side, paler on the under, short-
stalked. The narrow racemes of flowers are
I dm. long or less, the slender pedicels 5 to 8
mm. long; the bell-shaped calyx is 4 or 5 mm.
broad, its 5 lobes nearly orbicular, and about
as long as the stamens. The nearly globular
ripe fruits are red, about i cm. in diameter,
acid, ripening in early spring; the pit (achene)
is hard and brown.
The wood is dark reddish brown, hard
and strong, with a specific gravity of just about i.oo, being ahnost exactly as
heavy as water.
Coccolobis floridana Meisner (C. Curtissii Lindau), also Floridian, differs
from this by having short staminodes between the stamens, but this feature does
not seem to us sufficient to separate it specifically.
Fig. 335. — Pigeon Plum.
THE FOUR O'CLOCK FAMILY
NYCTAGINACE^ Lindley
HIS family, familiarly illustrated by the Four O'clock of our gardens, is
mainly composed of herbaceous plants, but there are a few genera of
trees and shrubs in tropical regions. In all there are some 17 genera
and 250 species or more, widely distributed, but most abundant in tem-
perate and tropical America. The flowers are quite large and showy, or very in-
conspicuous; the calyx is usually corolla-like, 4-toothed or 5-toothed, or sometimes
lobed ; there is no corolla ; the stamens are hypogynous, with fihf orm filaments and
2-celled anthers; the ovary is enclosed by the tube of the calyx, i -celled, containing
I ovule. The fruit is either dry or somewhat fleshy, ribbed and grooved.
Only the following genus is represented in our arborescent flora.
BLOLLY
GENUS TORRUBIA VELLOZO
Species Torrubia longifolia (Heimerl) Britton
Pisonia discolor longijolia Heimerl. Pisonia longijolia Sargent
ORRUBIA comprises some 15 species of trees and shrubs, natives of
tropical America.
The Blolly occurs in southern Florida,
on the Bahama islands and in Cuba, grow-
ing usually within the influence of salt water, though
also in hammocks a few miles inland, and reaches a
maximum height of about 16 meters, with a trunk up
to 5 dm. in diameter, usually much smaller, however,
and often shrubby. It has been confused with Torrubia
ohtusata (Jacquin) Britton, a related species with much
larger and thicker leaves, which grows on the Bahama
islands.
Its thin brown bark is scaly, its smooth young twigs
yellowish, turning gray. The smooth, mostly opposite
leaves are obovate to oblanceolate, rather thick, rounded
or occasionally notched at the apex, narrowed to a ^^^- ^^^- ~ ^'°"y-
wedge-shaped base, 2 to 5 cm. long, the midvein prominent, the lateral veins ob-
382
Blolly
S^S
scure; the slender leaf-stalks are 5 to 15 mm. long. The small greenish dioecious
flowers are in small cymes, opening from April to November; the obconic or fun-
nelform calyx is about 4 mm. long, with ovate pointed lobes, the stamens nearly
twice its length. The oblong red fleshy fruit is narrowed at the base, lo-ribbed,
not glandular, 5 to 7 mm. long.
The wood is yellowish, weak and soft, with a specific gravity of 0.65.
The generic name is in honor of Joseph Torrubia, a Spanish monk and natu-
ralist. T. opposita Vellozo, of Brazil, is the type species.
The genus Pisonia Linnaeus, differs from Torrubia in having a dry angular
club-shaped fruit, with 5 rows of stalked glands. Pisonia rotimdata Grisebach,
of Florida, the Bahamas, and Cuba, is a shrub, and has been mentioned as forming
a tree, but no satisfactor}^ evidence that it is arborescent in Florida has come to
our attention. Pisonia aculeata Linnaeus, the type species of Pisonia, is a
woody vine, armed with stout hooked spines, and occurs in Florida and through-
out the West Indies.
Fig. 337. — BluUy on Great Inagua.
THE MAGNOLIA FAMILY
AlAGNOLIACE^ J. St. Hilaire
AGNOLIACE.E include about lo genera, comprising some 85 species
of trees and shrubs, widely distributed in temperate and tropical
regions. Besides the trees here described, the North American flora
contains two species of lUicium, shrubs of the southeastern States,
and Schizandra coccinea Michaux, a chmbing shrub or woody vine, ranging from
North Carolina to Florida and Louisiana.
The ^lagnoliaceie have alternate petioled leaves, stipulate, at least in the bud,
and large sohtan' flowers. The sepals and petals are imbricated in whorls of
three, hypogynous and deciduous, the petals often in two or three whorls, thus
6 or 9 in number; the stamens are numerous, borne on the lower part of the recep-
tacle, which is often elongated, the pistils also numerous, borne above the stamens
on the receptacle, ripening into an aggregate cone-like fruit, composed of many
i-seeded or 2-seeded folhcles or achenes.
The aromatic and bitter principles pervading the sap of these plants have
caused the use, particularly in the tropics, of the barks of a great many of them
as tonic and febrifuge remedies; this application is quite local, however, except in
the case of the so-called Star anise, the fruit of lUicium verum J. D. Hooker, of
southeastern China noted for its anise-like odor, the volatile oil being used in-
discriminately as oil of aniseed ; the fruits of some of the species of this genus,
especialK' /. anisatum Linnaeus, of Japan, are ver}^ poisonous. Many of the
plants are highly ornamental.
The two arborescent genera of our flora are:
Leaves not lobed; fruit a cone of fleshy follicles.
Leaves 4-lobed or 6-lobed; fruit a spindle-shaped cone of dry carpels.
Magnolia.
Liriodendron.
I. THE MAGNOLIAS
GENUS MAGNOLIA [PLUMIER] LINN.EUS
HIS genus includes some 25 species of trees and shrubs, natives of
eastern North America, eastern and central Asia, southern Mexico,
and the West Indies. All our species arc trees with bitter bark.
The leaves are entire-margined, pinnatcly veined, their stipules
(scales in the bud) falling away as the buds open. The large flowers are solitary
at the ends of the branches, stalklcss or short-stalked. There are three more or
384
Cucumber Tree
385
less petal- like sepals which fall before the petals, 6, 9, or 12 petals, many stamens
borne near the base of the long receptacle, their anthers hnear, and numerous
pistils, spicatc or capitate on the upper part of the receptacle, the ovaries con-
taining 2 ovules, the style short or slender. The fruit is a large cone of follicles;
the ripe seeds are red and fleshy, hanging on long threads from the follicles.
Plumier dedicated this elegant genus to Pierre Magnol, who died in 17 15, and
was sometime Professor of Botany in MontpelHer. Most of the species have
merit as ornamental trees or shrubs, but they furnish scarcely any products of
economic importance; the typical species is Magnolia virginiana Linnaeus. The
barks of most of the species have been used as tonics and febrifuges.
The North American species may hz determined by the following key:
Corolla green to yellow; follicles not tipped.
Leaves elliptic to ovate, rarely obovate; flowers greenish yellow.
Leaves rhombic-obovate to nearly orbicular; flowers canary-yellow.
Corolla white; follicles tipped by the styles.
Leaves thick, leathery, brown-tomentose beneath, persistent.
Leaves thin to firm, glabrous, glaucous or silky beneath.
Leaves not auricled at the base.
Leaves firm, white-silky beneath; fruit 3 to 5 cm. long.
Leaves thin, becoming smooth beneath; fruit 6 to 9 cm. long.
Leaves auricled at the base.
Leaves pale green beneath; fruit oblong-conic.
Leaves elongated-obovate, gradually acute; stamens 9 to 13 mm.
long.
Leaves rhombic-obovate, abruptly acute; stamens 4 to 6 mm.
long-
Leaves white beneath; fruit subglobose.
1. M. acuminata.
2. M. cordata.
3. M. grandijlora.
4. M. virginiana.
5. M. tripetala.
6. M. Fraseri.
7. .1/. pyramidata.
8. M. macrophylla.
I. CUCUMBER TREE-
Linnccus
Magnolia acuminata
This elegant tree, the common name of which is
in allusion to its oblong fruit, which rather remotely
resembles a cucumber, inhabits slopes and borders of
streams from western New York and southern On-
tario to lUinois, Arkansas, West Virginia, Georgia,
and northern Mississippi, sometimes forming forests.
It reaches a maximum height of about 30 meters,
with a tmnk up to 1.5 meters in diameter. It is
also known as INIountain magnolia.
The dark brown thick bark is deeply furrowed.
The young twigs are round, smooth, reddish brown,
becoming gray-brown. The buds are i to 2 cm.
long, oblong, bluntly pointed and linely white-hain,-.
The thin deciduous leaves are ovate, var}'ing to
Fig. 338. — Cucumber Tree.
386
The Magnolias
somewhat obovatc, short-pointed, i to 3 dm. long, ven- hairy when unfolding,
but become smooth and rather dark green on the upper side, but pale green
and usually somewhat hairy on the under surface; the base varies from pointed
to somewhat heart-shaped and the leaf-stalks from 2 to 4 cm. in length. The
bell-shaped upright flowers open from April to June; the green sepals are oblong
to oblong-lanceolate, blunt, spreading or reflexed, about 2 cm. long; the petals
-
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Fig. 33Q. — Cucumber Tree, Carnot, Pa.
are greenish yellow, glaucous, concave, oblong or oblanceolate, blunt, 5 to 7 cm.
long; the styles are slender. The ripe fruit is red, 6 cm. long or less, 2 to 3 cm.
thick, often curved or contorted.
The tree is very desirable for lawn and park ])lanting, forming a tall
conic mass of foliage with widely spreading lower branches; it is quite free
from insect and fungus pests, and stands the smoke of cities better than most
of our native trees. Its wood is used locally for lumber, in cabinet work, and
Bull Bay
387
for pumps, is yellowish brown, soft and rather weak, with a specific gravity of
about 0.47.
On account of their slender deciduous styles, this species and the next are
sometimes classed as a genus distinct from Magnolia, under the name Tulipastrum
Spach.
2. HEART-LEAVED CUCUMBER TREE -Magnolia cordata Alichaux
This tree, often regarded as a form or variety of the preceding species, is of
very limited natural distribution, growing wild
only in mountain woods from North Carolina to
Georgia. It sometimes becomes 24 meters high,
with a trunk about i meter in thickness.
Its bark is rough and furrowed, the buds,
shoots, and young leaves silky-hairv% the twigs
becoming smooth and gray. The leaves vary
from broadly ovate to rhombic-obovate ; they are
dark green on the upper side, 2 dm. long or less,
short- pointed, sparingly hair)^ on both sides, or
smooth when old, the base heart-shaped, truncate
or somewhat pointed. The bell-shaped flowers,
which open in April, are canary-yellow, the sepals
about 2 cm. long, spreading, the oblong or obovate
petals 5 to 7 cm. long, blunt or bluntish. The
fruit is about 7.5 cm. long and 2 to 2,5 cm.
thick.
The wood closely resembles that of the Cucumber tree, but is Hghter in weight;
its specific gravity being about 0.41, and owing to its rarity is not of economic
importance. The tree is often cultivated and is of great beauty and interest.
Fig. 340.
Heart -leaved Cucumber
Tree.
3. BULL BAY — Magnolia grandiflora Linnasus
Magnolia virginiana fcetida Linnaeus. Magnolia ja'tida Sargent
The BuU bay, or Great laurel magnolia, is the largest leaved evergreen tree of
our flora, and grows naturally in moist soil, especially along ponds and swamps,
from eastern North CaroHna to central Florida, westward through the Gulf States
to Texas and Arkansas. It attains a maximum height of about 25 meters, and
a trunk diameter of 5 meters, and when unimpeded by other trees is conic in
form.
The thick rough bark is light brown, the young twigs round, covered with
reddish hairs, but become smooth and gray; the buds are very hair\'. The leaves
are thick, leathery, persistent over winter until after the new ones unfold in the
spring, I to 3 dm. long, pointed or bluntish, dark green, smooth and finely netted-
388
The Magnolias
Fig. 341. — Bull Bay.
veined on the upper side, the under sur-
face rusty-hairy, the base either narrowed
or rounded; the thick leaf-stalks are 3.5
cm. long or less. The broadly bell-shaped
flowers open from April to July or Au-
gust, and are heavily fragrant; the creamy
"white sepals and petals are broadly obo-
vate, notched, clawed, 7 to 10 cm. long
and nearly as wide as long; the styles are
stout and persistent, the ovaries densely
hair}^ The ripe fruit is oval, very hairy,
8 to 12 cm. long, the obovoid seeds 1.5
to 2 cm. long, somewhat flattened.
The wood has a hmited use in car-
pentry and is good fuel; it is nearly white
with a specific gravity of about 0.64, and
rather hard. The tree is highly valued for
decorative planting from Maryland south-
ward, and in warm-temperate Europe.
4. SWEET BAY— Magnolia virginiana Linnaeus, 1753
Magnolia glauca Linnaeus, 1763
The Sweet bay. Swamp bay, or Laurel magnoha, known also as White bay,
Swamp laurel. Swamp sassafras, and Beaver tree, while seldom over 8 to 10 meters
high at the north, and there often flowering as a shrub, attains in Florida a height
of 20 to 25 meters, with a trunk up to a meter
in diameter or more. It grows in swamps
from eastern Massachusetts to southern Florida,
extending westward to Lebanon county, Penn-
sylvania, central North Carolina, and westward
through the Gulf States to Texas and southern
Arkansas. The base of its trunk is sometimes
much swollen.
The old bark is thin and gray, that of young
trees and branches pale gray or nearly white;
the round young twigs are finely hairy, green,
becoming reddish brown to gray. The leaves,
which arc deciduous in the autumn at the
north, but persistent through the winter at the
south, are oblong to elliptic, firm in texture, 5
to 15 cm. long, pointed or blunt at each end,
pale and silky hairy when unfolding and remaining so on the under surface, but
Fig. 342. — Sweet Bay.
Umbrella Tree
389
becoming bright green, smooth and shining on the upper; their stalks are 2.5
cm. long or less. The nearly globular white flowers are deliciously fragrant,
opening from March to May in Florida, and in May and June farther north;
the sepals are obovate or oblong, thin, 1.5 to 3.5 cm. long; the eUiptic to obo-
vate concave clawed petals are rather longer than the sepals, and are rounded
at the apex; the styles are short and stout. The oval smooth red fruit is 3 to 5
cm. long.
The wood has a specific gravity of about 0.50, the white sap wood being much
thicker than the darker heart wood ; its use is Umited to tool-handles and wooden-
ware. The tree is well adapted for decorative planting, though of rather slow
growth; several forms of it have received names in cultivation.
5. UMBRELLA TREE —Magnolia tripetala Linnaus
Magnolia Umbrella Lamarck
The clusters of large leaves at the ends of the branchlets, remotely resembling
an umbrella, have given this tree its ordinary common name ; it is sometimes called
Elk-wood. The tree grows naturally in ravines and along streams or swamps
in woods from southern Pennsylvania to Georgia,
westward to Kentucky, Arkansas, and northern
Mississippi.
It is usually a small tree, sometimes becom-
ing 14 m. tall and with a slender trunk up to
about 4 dm. in diameter. The thick bark is
light gray and nearly smooth, the young twigs
smooth, green, turning gray. The buds are nar-
row, long- pointed, glaucous, 4 cm. long or less.
The leaves are narrowly obovate or broadly ob-
lanceolate, thin, 7 dm. long or less, short-pointed,
gradually narrowed to the base, the under side
ver}' velvety hairy when young but both sides
smooth when old; their stout stalks are 2 to 4
cm. in length. The large white flowers appear
in May and are unpleasantly odorous; the ob-
long-oblanceolate sepals are 10 to 15 cm. long,
reflexed, and fall away early; the 6 or 9 oblong
to oblanceolate blunt petals are clawed and somewhat longer than the sepals; the
styles are stout and short. The fruit is oblong, rose-colored, 12 cm. long or less,
and picturesquely beautiful in the autumn.
The Umbrella tree grows rapidly, is hardy as far north as central New York
and is very desirable for lawn and park planting. Its wood is weak, soft brown at
the heart, nearly white toward the bark, has a specific gravity of about 0.45, and
is of little value.
Fig. 343. — Umbrella Tree.
390
The Magnolias
Linnaeus, mistaking the 3 petal-like sepals for petals, gave the tree the inap-
propriate name of tripetala.
6. LONG-LEAVED UMBRELLA TREE - Magnolia Fraseri Waher
Magnolia aiiriculata Lambert
Inhabiting rich woods, mainly in the mountains from southwestern Virginia
to Georgia, Kentucky, and Mississippi, this small
tree often makes up a considerable portion of the
forests, attaining a maximum height of about 15 m.,
with a trunk sometimes 5 dm. thick, the branches
mostly spreading. Its thin bark is brown and nearly
smooth, the round, smooth twigs reddish brown to
gray, the narrow, smooth purple buds 2 to 4 cm.
long. The leaves are clustered near the ends of
branchlets, obovate-spatulate, thin, pointed or blunt-
ish, 2 to 4 dm. long, with two blunt basal auricles;
they are smooth on both sides, the upper surface
dark green, the under pale green; the slender leaf-
stalks are 3 to 7 cm. long. The white fragrant
flowers open in May and June ; the sepals are obovate,
blunt, shorter than the petals, and fall away soon
Fig. 344. — Lon^-ieaved Umbrella after the flower opens; the petals are 12 cm. long or
' ' ^^^^- less, elliptic to ovate, clawed, mostly blunt ; the sta-
mens are 9 to 13 mm. long; the fruit is oblong-conic, 12 cm. long or less, rose-
colored, the beaked carpels yellow inside.
The tree does not lend itself well to cultiva-
tion in the open. Its wood is white, excepting
the small brownish heart, is weak and soft,
with a specific gravity of about 0.50. It is also
known as Eraser's Magnolia.
7. RHOMBIC-LEAVED UMBRELLA
TREE — Magnolia pyramidata Pursh
This tree, which inhabits woods and river-
banks in southern Georgia, northern Florida,
and Alabama, is closely related to the prece-
ding species, with which it has been confused. It
attains a maximum height of only about 10 me-
ters, with a trunk up to 2 dm, in thickness.
Its brown bark is thin and nearly smooth,
the twigs reddish brown, turning gray, the long
Fig. 345. — Rhombic-leaved Umbrella
Tree.
Large-Leaved Umbrella Tree
391
buds smooth and pointed. The thin leaves are rhombic- obovate, usually abruptly
short-pointed, glabrous, 2.5 dm. long or less, with two basal, somewhat diverging
auricles; they are bright green on the upper side, and paler underneath, their stalks
3 to 6 cm. in length. The white flowers open in May or June, and are smaller
than those of M. Fraseri Walter, the lanceolate, pointed or long-pointed petals 5
to 8 cm. long, the stamens only 4 to 7 mm. long, the sepals oblong-obovate, ab-
ruptly pointed, early deciduous. The oblong rose-red fruit is 6 to 8 cm, long, the
short-beaked carpels yellow within.
8. LARGE-LEAVED UMBRELLA TREE
Michaux
Magnolia macrophylla
This, the largest leaved tree of the North American flora, inhabits woods,
especially wooded ravines or valleys, ranging from Kentucky and North Carolina, to
central Florida, westward to Arkansas and Loui-
siana, attaining a maximum height of 15 to 20
meters, with a trunk up to 5 dm. in diameter.
The thin pale gray bark is nearly smooth, the
round, smooth twigs green, turning reddish or
gray. The gigantic leaves are clustered toward
the ends of the branches, thin, obovate to oblong-
obovate, blunt or blunt-pointed, with two short,
rounded auricles at the base, the upper surface
deep green and smooth, the under side white-
glaucous and more or less finely hairy, at least
when young; the stout leaf-stalks are 15 cm.
long or less, the midrib very prominent. The
creamy white fragrant flowers are 2 to 3 dm.
broad, opening from May to July, the bases of
the ovate blunt petals purple or rose-colored
within; the oblong to obovate blunt sepals are
much shorter than the petals. The fruit is nearly globular, 6 to 15 cm. long,
bright rose-colored, the carpels short-tipped.
The tree is ver)- desirable for decorative planting, its enormous leaves and
flowers being very striking. Its wood is brown at the heart, with yellowish sap-
wood, weak but hard, with a specific gravity of about 0.53.
Fig. 346.
Large-leaved Umbrella
Tree.
392
Tulip Tree
II. TULIP TREE
GENUS LIRIODENDRON LINN^US
Species Liriodendron Tulipifera Linnaeus
HE Tulip tree, White-wood, Tulip poplar. Yellow poplar, WTiite poplar.
Blue poplar, Hickor}- poplar, Saddle-leaf, or Lyre tree, as it is variously
called, the type of the genus Liriodendron, is the most characteristic
tree of eastern North America, and also one of the largest and most
interesting ; it grows in woods from Rhode Island to southern Vermont, Michigan,
and Missouri, south to Florida, Mississippi, and Arkansas, attaining a maximum
height of about 60 meters, the trunk sometimes 3 meters in diameter or more.
The thick brown bark is irregularly ridged, the stout twigs reddish brown to
gray, the blunt-pointed buds large, glaucous and smooth, their scales stipular to
the leaves, falling away while the leaves are still young, except on seedhng plants,
where they are quite persistent. The alternate leaves are unique in form, smooth,
broadly ovate or nearly orbicular in outhne, truncate or broadly notched at the
apex, 6 to 20 cm. long, with two apical lobes and
2 or 4 basal ones ; they are shining bright green
on the upper surface, paler and dull on the under
side; the slender leaf-stalks are 10 cm. long or
less, and the leaves quiver somewhat hke those
of the Aspens. The large, greenish yellow flowers
are solitary at the ends of branchlets, opening in
May or June; they have 3 reflexed petal-hke
sepals, 6 connivcnt clawed blunt petals, many
stamens borne on the base of the long receptacle,
and many pistils spiked on the upper part of the
receptacle; the style is winged, the stigma small.
The fruit is an oblong pointed cone 5 to 7 cm.
long, the dry fruiting carpels imbricated on the
receptacle, the axes of which remain on the trees
after the carpels have fallen away.
The tree grows rapidly and is most desirable for shade or ornament on lawns
or along highways. It is quite free from insect pests and the few leaf-fungi that
live upon it are not noticeably detrimental. Its wood is soft, weak and brittle,
light yellow to brown, with a specific gravity of about 0.42. It is easily worked and
is very valuable, being used in large quantities for a variety of purposes, including
construction of buildings, interior carpentr}^ furniture, shingles, and woodenware.
The genus is represented by only one other Hving species, a native of China
{Liriodendron chinensis Sargent). Its geological history is extensive, fossil leaves
of its ancestors occurring in the rocks from the Lower Cretaceous period to those
of recent formation. The name is Greek, signifying a tree bearing lilies.
Fig. 347. — Tulip Tree.
Tulip Tree
393
Fig. 348. — Tulip Tree, New York Botanical Garden.
THE CUSTARD APPLE FAMILY
ANONACEyE de Candolle
HERE arc some 46 genera of Anonacese, containing nearly 600 species,
widely distributed in tropical regions of both the Old World and the
New, a few only in the temperate zones. They have alternate entire-
margined leaves without stipules. The flowers are solitar)^ or clus-
tered; there are 3 sepals and usually 6 petals, the latter in two series, the outer series
mostly larger than and otherwise differing from the inner; there are numerous
stamens and pistils. The fruit is large, mostly compound by the coalescence of
the ripening ovaries, fleshy in our species.
This family produces ver>' httle that is of general economic importance, but
manv of its jjroducts are locally useful in the tropics, furnishing, as it does, many
medicines, spices, and a large variety of edible fruits; best known of these are the
Soursop, from Anona muricata Linnaeus, of tropical America, the Sweetsop from
A. squamosa Linnaeus, cultivated in all tropical countries, also called Cherimoya,
which name, however, should be apphed to the Peruvian A. Cherimoya Miller.
The Custard-apple, also called Bullock's heart, is the fruit of A. reticulata Linnaeus.
The popular perfume Ylang-ylang is extracted from the flowers of Artahotrys
odoratissima R. Brown, of the Malay region.
The two genera of the arborescent flora of the United States are distinguished
as follows:
Petals imbricated; fruit simple. i. Asimina.
Petals valvatc; fruit compound. 2. Anona.
I. NORTH AMERICAN PAWPAW
GENUS ASIMINA ADANSON
Species Asimina triloba (Linnaeus) Dunal
Anona triloba Linnaeus
SMALL tree or tall shrub, the type of the genus, which occasionally
becomes 12 or 15 meters high and forms a trunk up to 2.5 dm. in
diameter. It chiefly inhabits river valleys, and occurs from west central
New Jersey to western New York, southern Ontario, Michigan, and
Kansas, southward to Florida and Texas. It often forms dense thickets.
The thin smooth bark is dark gray to brown, with Hghter colored blotches, the
young twigs reddish brown, hair\', becoming smooth, the small buds densely hairy.
The leaves are hairy w^hen unfolding, but become smooth or nearly so, except on
394
Pond Apple
395
the veins of the under side, where some of the brown pubescence is often retained
until they are fully grown; they are rather narrowly obovate, i to 3 dm. long,
abruptly short-pointed, narrowed to a wedge-
shaped base, deep green on the upper surface,
paler beneath; their stalks are only 5 to 10 mm.
in length. The flowers are borne at leaf scars
on twigs of the preceding season, and appear
with the leaves from March to June, according
to latitude; the 3 valvate sepals are broadly
ovate, 8 to 12 mm. long, densely hairy; the 6
thick, strongly nerved petals, at first green, be-
coming purple, are in two series of 3, the outer
ones ovate-orbicular, 2 to 2.5 cm. long, reflexed,
larger than the erect inner ones; the stamens
have short filaments and separated anther-sacs;
the several pistils are borne on top of the globose
receptacle. The fruits (berries) are very large,
oblong-cylindric, 16 cm. long or less, about 4
cm. thick, yellow when ripe in the autumn, containing many dark brown flattened
shining seeds horizontally imbedded in the edible pulp.
The tree is very desirable for decorative planting on account of its interesting
leaves, which half-droop at an unusual angle, and also on account of its handsome
flowers and fruit. Its wood is light yellow, weak and soft, with a specific gravity
of only about 0.40.
About seven other species of Asimina grow in the southeastern States, especially
in Florida, but they are all shrubs, though A. ohovata sometimes attains a height
of 3 meters. The genus does not exist in the wild state beyond the North American
continent.
The generic name is from assimin, the aboriginal appellation. The common
name. Pawpaw, is unfortunate, for the fruit bears scarcely any resemblance, except
in color, to that of the Papaw or Papaya {Carica Papaya Linneeus) which grows
in southern Florida and throughout tropical America, and the plants belong to
widely different natural famihes.
Fig. 349. — North American Pawpaw,
11. POND APPLE
GENUS ANONA LINN^US
Species Anona glabra Linnaeus
NONA includes some 50 species of trees and shrubs, mostly aromatic,
of wide distribution in warm and tropical regions. They have ever-
green leaves and rather large, perfect flowers. The flowers have 3
valvate sepals and 6 valvate petals in two series of 3, the inner ones
smaller than the outer; the receptacle is hemispheric; the numerous pistils are
39^
Pond Apple
borne on top of the receptacle, each containing a single ov^ule, and they coalesce
in ripening into a compound fruit.
The generic name is said to be derived from the Malayan. The Soursop
(Anona muricata Linnaeus) of the West Indies and tropical America generally,
is the type of the genus.
The Pond apple grows in ponds and swamps
in southern Florida, and throughout the Bahama
islands, where it is abundant in wet rocky sink-
holes. It sometimes becomes 12 meters high,
with a trunk 4 or 5 dm. thick, its base often much
swollen and buttressed. The thin reddish brown
bark is slightly fissured and scaly, the round brown
twigs smooth, the buds small and pointed. The
leaves are thick, oblong or ovate, 8 to 18 cm. long,
bright green and somewhat shining on the upper
side, paler and dull on the under surface, rather
strongly netted-veined, the apex pointed, the base
rounded or cordate, the stout leaf-stalks i to 4 cm.
long. The nodding, short-stalked flowers are soli-
tary in the axils of the leaves, 2 to 3.5 cm. long,
Fig. 350. -Pond Apple. yellowish, the 3 broad short sepals shghtly united
at the base, about 6 mm. long, the thick outer petals a httle longer than the inner
ones. The fruit is ovoid, 13 cm. long or less, rounded at the top, its base de-
pressed; it is yellow, or blotched with brown, the surface obscurely reticulated,
the flesh insipid. The seeds are oblong, rounded at the top, i to 2 cm. long, en-
closed by the thin aril.
The wood is brown, weak, soft, with a specific gravity of about 0.50.
THE LAUREL FAMILY
LAURACE^ Lindley
OMPOSED wholly of trees and shrubs, most of them evergreen, this
family has the genus Laurus, the true laurel for its type, containing
two species, natives of the Mediterranean region, and not to be con-
founded with the many other evergreen shrubs and trees of other
families popularly known as laurels. The Lauracese include some 40 genera and
between 900 and 1000 species, widely distributed in warm and tropical regions, a
few only in the temperate zones.
They nearly all have alternate thick leaves, usually entire-margined (Sassafras
is an exception, having both entire-margined and lobed leaves). The flowers are
small and variously clustered, perfect or imperfect, regular; the calyx is 4-lobed to
6-lobed; there is no corolla; the stamens are in three or four series of 3 each, borne
on the calyx, some of them often sterile (staminodes), and their anthers open by
valves to discharge the pollen; the ovary is free from the calyx, i-celled, containing
only I ovule; the style is usually short, tipped by a small stigma. The fruit is
plum-Hke, one-seeded.
The aromatic nature of most members of this family renders them especially
valuable as spices and stimulants, and a great many of them are locally so em-
ployed, especially in the tropics. A few, however, are poisonous and most all of
them are ornamental. The Royal bay, Laurus nobilis Linnaeus, of the Mediter-
ranean region, has been employed for ages as an emblem of victory, and is
largely used in warmer climates for ornament and shade, on account of its dense
head of bright evergreen foHage; it is also used for ornament in cooler regions,
where it is grown in large tubs and afforded protection in winter; its leaves and
fruits are sometimes used for medicine and as a flavoring agent. Among the
better known and more universally used products of the family, however, is Cinna-
mon, of which there are several kinds, generally named after the locaHty from which
they come; it is the bark of several species of Cinnamomum, natives of the
East Indies; the buds are also used under the name of Cassia buds. Camphor is
a volatile substance obtained by distillation of the wood or twigs of Cinnamomum
Camphora (Linnaeus) Nees and Ebermair, a tree of Japan and Formosa; this tree
is also planted for shade in southern CaHfomia and the Gulf States. Another
drug of great interest is Coto bark, of which there are two varieties, known as
Veris coto and Para coto, the first being considered the best, but is almost unob-
tainable; both come from South America, but neither their botanical identity nor
the trees from which they are secured arc yet known; they are valuable sto-
machic remedies and have been lauded as specifics for Asiatic cholera.
397
398
The Red Bays
Besides the trees here described, our flora contains the Spice-bushes {Benzoin)y
and the Pond-spices (Malapocnna), shrubs with deciduous leaves. Our tree
genera are botanically distinguished as follows:
Flowers panicled, not involucrate; leaves evergreen; flowers perfect.
Calyx-lobes persistent, the tube not enlarged in fruit.
Calyx-lobes deciduous, the tube enlarged in fruit.
Flowers racemose or umbellate, involucrate.
Leaves deciduous, some of them lobed; flowers racemose, imperfect.
Leaves persistent, entire; flowers umbelled, perfect.
1. Per sea.
2. Ocotea.
3. Sassafras.
4. Umbellularia.
I. THE RED BAYS
GENUS PERSEA GvERTNER
ERSEA includes about 50 species, mainly trees, natives of warm-tem-
perate and tropical America; they have entire evergreen leaves and
small panicled, perfect flowers. The calyx is 6-lobed; there are 12
stamens, the inner series of three reduced to stalked, gland-like stam-
inodes, the three outer series perfect with 4-celled and 4-valved anthers.
Fruit large, edible, 8 to 18 cm. long; introduced Mexican tree.
Fruit small, less than 2 cm. long, inedible.
Young twigs glabrous or very sparingly hairy.
Young twigs densely hairy.
1. P. Per sea.
2. P. Borbonia.
3. P. pubescens.
Fig. 351. — Alligator Pear.
I. ALLIGATOR PEAR
Persea Persea (Linnaeus) Cockerell
Laiirus Persea Linnaeus. Persea gratissima Gaertner
A native of Central America, this tree has
been extensively planted and cultivated for its
valuable fruit in all parts of tropical America^
and it has run wild in southern Florida. It at-
tains a maximum height of about 15 meters, with
a trunk up to 6 dm. in diameter, and is the type
species of the genus.
The rather thin bark is light gray and fissured.
The young twigs are yellow-green, silky, becoming
gray and smooth. The leaves are oblong to oval
or obovatc, rounded or narrowed at the base^
hairy when young, smooth and finely nettcd-veined
when old, i to 2 dm. long, their stalks 4 to 6 cm.
long. The small, green flowers are in leafless
hairy panicled small clusters, the inner sepals 4
Red Bay
399
to 5 mm. long, somewhat longer than the outer ones; the ovary is densely hairy.
The fruit is oval or pear-shaped (Avocado of the Spanish), large, i8 cm. long or
less, drooping, stalked, smooth, the thick, oily pulp delicious, and is now produced
in considerable quantities in southern Florida.
The two following native species differ much from the Alligator pear in
aspect, in the size and shape of the fruit, as well as in some features of the
flowers, and have received the generic name Tamala Rafmesquc.
2. RED BAY — Persea Borbonia (Linnaeus) Sprengel
Laurus Borbonia Linnaeus
The Red bay or Sweet bay, know^n also as Florida mahogany, Tisswood, and
Laurel tree, inhabits moist soil from Virginia
to Florida, Texas, and southern Arkansas,
reaching a maximum height of about 25 me-
ters, with a trunk sometimes a meter in diam-
eter, often forming a considerable part of the
forest.
The thick, dark brown bark is deeply
fissured into small plates; the young twigs are
brown, smooth, or shghtly hairy. The leaves
are oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 5 to 15 cm.
long, pointed at both ends, bright green,
smooth and shining on the upper side, pale and
smooth or sparingly hairy on the veins of the
under surface, very finely netted-veined on both
sides; the reddish leaf-stalks are i to 2 cm.
long. The flowers open from March to May
and are borne in small stalked clusters in the
leaf-axils, the stalks of the clusters smooth or nearly so, i to 2 cm. long; the yel-
lowish white, finely hairy calyx is about 3 mm, long, the inner sepals two or three
times as long as the outer, and about as long as the stamens, which have hairy
filaments; the ovary is smooth, and ripens into a globular or obovoid blue or nearly
black shining fruit, i to 1.5 cm. in diameter, seated upon the persistent calyx.
The wood, used to a Hmited extent in carpentry, is strong, hard, red, and has
a specific gravity of about 0.64. The tree is desirable for lawn and park planting
in the South.
Persea littoralis Small, a shrub or small tree, growing on sand- ridges in eastern
Florida, is described as distinguishable from the Red bay by its relatively broader
and shorter leaves, which are not netted-veined on the under side, and by its fruit,
which has a bluish bloom, but it is not certain that these features are constant.
Persea humilis Nash, a shrub, or perhaps sometimes a small tree of inland penin-
sular Florida, differs from both in having the under side of the leaves silky-hairy.
Fig. 352. — Red Bay.
400
Lancewood
3. SWAMP RED BAY — Persea pubescens (Pursh) Sargent
Laurus caroUnensis pubescens Pursh.
This tree closely resembles the Red bay in general appearance and bark, but
is usually smaller and not known to become more than 14 meters high nor to form
a trunk more than 3.5 dm. in thickness; it
is distributed from southeastern Virginia to
Florida and Texas, growing in swamps or
wet soil, near the coast, and grows also on
the Great Bahama island.
Its bark is usually thinner than that of
the Red bay, and the young brown twigs are
densely hair}'. The leaves are elUptic, oval
or lanceolate, 5 to 20 cm. long, pointed at
both ends, sometimes long-pointed at the
apex, rather bright green, smooth and shin-
ing on the upper surface, pubescent, at least
on the veins, beneath; the leaf-stalks are i
to 2 cm. long. The stalks of the axillary
flower-clusters are 5 to 8 cm. long, densely
velvety hairy, as well as the branches of the
inflorescence, the short flower-stalks and the
calyx; the inner sepals are 5 or 6 mm. long
and about twice as long as the outer ones, the stamens about as long, with hairy
filaments. The oval or nearly globular dark blue fruit is 1.5 cm. in diameter or
less.
The soft orange-brown wood has a specific gravity of about 0.64.
Fig. 353. — Swamp Red Bay.
II. LANCEWOOD
GENUS OCOTEA AUBLET
Species Ocotea Catesbyana (Michaux) Sargent
Laurus Catesbyana Michaux
COTEA includes some 200 kinds of evergreen trees and shrubs, with
entire-margined leaves, mostly natives of tropical America, a few in
the Old World tropics, having its type species in Ocotea guianensis
Aublet, of Guiana; the generic name was that used for this tree by
the Indians of Guiana.
The Lancewood inhabits southern Florida and the Bahama islands, and is
abundant in hammocks or coppices, becoming at least 12 meters high, with a
smooth, somewhat angled or flattened trunk 3 dm. thick or less. The bark is
Lancewood
401
thin, light gray, the slender smooth round twigs brown, turning gray. The oblong
to oblong- lanceolate leaves are 15 cm. long or less, pointed or long- pointed, smooth,
dark green and shining on the upper surface, dull green, sparingly finely hairy or
smooth on the under side, narrowed at the base, rather strongly nettcd-veined,
their stalks 1.5 cm. long or less. The small perfect white flowers are numerous
in axillary panicles, opening in March and April, their stalks 4 or 5 mm. long,
reddish; the calyx is 2 or 3 mm. long in flower, its 6 lobes ovate-oblong and blunt;
there are 12 stamens, shorter than the calyx, arranged in four series of 3 each, those
Fig. 354. — Lancewood.
of the inner or fourth series without anthers (staminodes), those of the third series
bearing 2 glands on the filaments, those of the two outer series glandless and
hairy; the style is short and cyhndric. The fruit is a dark blue or nearly black
drupe, globular or oval, 1.8 cm. long or less, borne on the persistent enlarged lower
part of the calyx (hypanthium).
The tree is classified by some authors as Nectandra coriacea (Swartz) Grise-
bach, of the West Indies, and is certainly closely related to it. The wood is
dark bro\\Ti and hard, with a specific gravity of about 0.77.
402
Sassafras Tree
III. SASSAFRAS TREE
GENUS SASSAFRAS NEES AND EBERMEIR
Species Sassafras Sassafras (Linnaeus) Karsten
Laurtis Sassafras Linnaeus Sassafras variifolium (Salisbury) Kuntze.
Sassafras officinale Nees and Ebermeir
HE name of this interesting tree is of Spanish origin. The genus is
small, one other species existing in China, though the leaves of many
of their ancestors have been found as fossils in rocks of recent geologic
epochs. It inhabits dry soil, ranging from Massachusetts to Florida.
Ontario, Michigan, Kansas, and Texas, sometimes reaching a height of 40 meters,
with a tmnk 2 meters in diameter or more.
The thick brown bark is rough and
ridged in irregular layers, even on quite
young trees. The young twigs are hairy,
but soon become smooth ; the buds are ovoid
and pointed. The oval or oval-obovate
leaves vary from entire-margined to 3-lobcd,
often with a lobe on one side only, and thus
mitten-shaped; they are thin, pinnately
veined, when young quite hairy but smooth
when fully grown; their stalks are 2.5 cm.
long or less. The imperfect, mostly dioe-
cious flowers are yellow and about 6 mm.
wide, borne in stalked umbelled racemes at
the ends of twigs and open in April or May,
before or with the unfolding of Jhe leaves;
each umbel is subtended by several large bud-scales, which form an involucre to
the flower-cluster; the calyx is 6-parted; the staminate flowers have three series of
3 stamens each, about as long as the calyx, or 9 stamens in all, those of the inner
series bearing a. pair of stalked glands at the base of the filaments; the pistillate
flowers have 6 short sterile stamens (staminodes), an ovoid ovary, and a slender
style. The fruit is an oblong-globose blue drupe i to 1.5 cm. long, seated in the
enlarged, bright red calyx- tube.
The weak though durable wood is orange-brown, with a specific gravity of
about 0.50, and is much used for fences. The tree grows rather rapidly and is
very desirable for lawn planting, both on account of its beauty and its curious
leaves and flowers. Oil of Sassafras, used in perfumery, is distilled from the roots
and bark; the bark of the root and the mucilaginous pith of the twigs are used
medicinally.
Fig. 355. — Sassafras Tree.
Sassafras Tree
403
Fig. 356, — Sassafras, near Fort Lee, New Jersey.
404
California Laurel
IV. CALIFORNIA LAUREL
GENUS UMBELLULARIA NUTTALL
Species Umbellularia californica (Hooker and Arnott) Nuttall
Tetranthera californica Hooker and Arnott
NE of the largest trees of the Laurel family, and, like the Sassafras, a
monotype, this evergreen aromatic tree reaches a maximum height
of about 30 meters, with a trunk up to 1.6 meters in diameter, ran-
ging from Oregon to southern California, preferring moist soil, and
being largest and most abundant in river valleys. The generic name is Latin,
referring to the small umbels of flowers.
The bark is thick and dark brown, its sur-
face scaly. The young, greenish twigs are finely
hairy, becoming smooth, yellowish to light gray.
The leather}^ oblong-lanceolate leaves are 5 to
14 cm. long, pointed at both ends, short-stalked,
dark green on the upper surface, pale green be-
neath, finely netted-veined on both sides, and
turn bright yellow in late autumn. The flowers,
borne in small stalked axillar}^ involucrate
umbels, are yellow, opening from January- to
May; the calyx is about 9 mm. long, 6-lobed,
about as long as the perfect stamens, its lobes
obovate or oblong and blunt; there are 9 perfect
stamens in three series of 3 each, and 3 sterile
inner stamens (staminodes) ; the ovar}^ is smooth,
containing i ovule; the style is nearly as long
as the perfect stamens. The plum-Hke fruit is
oval, 2 to 3 cm. long, yellowish green, with a
thin pulp and a large pit with a thin shell.
The tree is highly esteemed for planting within its natural range, and in coun-_
tries of similar cHmate, but is not hardy in the eastern United States north of
Charleston. The wood is largely used for furniture, in carpentiy, for boats, and
for woodenware of various kinds; it is hght brown, strong and hard, with a specific
gravity of 0.65. The fruit is said to have been eaten by the Indians and the leaves
are sometimes used as a flavoring agent.
Fig. 357. — California Laurel.
THE CAPER FAMILY
CAPPARIDACE^ Lindley
HIS family includes some 35 genera and 400 species, or more, widely
distributed, mostly natives of warm temperate and tropical regions.
It comprises herbs, shrubs, and trees, with alternate or very rarely
opposite, simple or palmately compound leaves, the flowers solitary
or in cymes or racemes, either regular or quite irregular. There are 4 to 8 sepals
and usually 4 petals; the receptacle is either short or elongated; the stamens are
usually many, inserted on the receptacle, sometimes adnate to the stalk of the
ovary, their anthers oblong; the ovary is i-celled, containing many ovules borne
in two rows on each of the two placentas. The fruit is a capsule or a berr}^
Only the following species is represented in our arborescent flora, but we have
a number of herbs and a few shrubs.
The generic name Capparis is modified from the ancient greek appellation of
the Caper tree of southern Europe, C. spinosa Linnaeus, the type of the genus,
the flower-buds of which, pickled, are the capers much used as a condiment.
JAMAICA CAPER TREE
GENUS CAPPARIS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
Species Capparis jamaicensis Jacquin
SMALL tree which occurs on the Keys and adjacent mainland of
southern Florida and on the West Indian islands, from the Bahamas
to Jamaica and Barbadoes, growing to a height of 7 meters or more,
with a trunk up to 2 dm. in thickness.
The thin reddish brown bark is somewhat furrowed, the angled and flattened
young twigs densely brown-scurfy, this characteristic scurf covering also the pedi-
cels, calyx, the pods, and the under side of the leaves. The thick oblong or oblong-
lanceolate leaves are persistent through the winter, 10 cm. long or less, notched at
the apex in all specimens seen from Florida, but often pointed in West Indian
specimens, the base narrowed or rounded, the upper surface bright green, very
smooth and shining; the stout leaf-stalks are 6 to 12 mm. long; when growing
near or in water the tree produces water-shoots, which bear narrowly linear leaves,
often 2 dm. long, and only i to 2 cm. wide. The large flowers are usually in 2's
or 3's at the end of short peduncles in the axils of the upper leaves, the stout, angu-
405
4o6
Jamaica Caper Tree
lar flower-stalks 5 to 12 mm. long; the 4 ovate to
lanceolate sepals are pointed and about i cm.
long; the 4 white petals are oblong, blunt, and
about as long as the sepals, turning purple when
old; there are 16 to 32 stamens, 5 cm. long or. less,
with filiform separate filaments, which are long-
hairy near the base and purple; the ovary is borne
on a smooth stalk 3 to 5 cm. long and ripens into
a long, linear drooping, torulose, pointed pod 3
dm. long or less, and about 6 mm. thick.
The yellow wood is hard, with a specific gravity
of about 0.70.
Capparis cynophaUophora Linnaeus, usually a
stragghng shrub, rarely over 3 meters high, the
only other Capparis growing within our area has
smooth, strongly-netted veined leaves and smooth
Fig. 358. — Jamaica Caper Tree,
pods; it occurs in southern Florida and the West Indies
THE HORSE RADISH TREE FAMILY
MORINGACE^ Dumont
GENUS MORINGA LAMARCK
Species Moringa Moringa (Linnaeus) Small
Giiilandina Moringa Linnaeus. Moringa pterygosperma Ga^rtner
i^ORINGA, or Horse-radish tree,
the type of the genus Moringa,
so called on account of the
pungent taste and odor of its
roots, is a native of India, has long been
cultvated in tropical countries, and has
escaped from cultivation in Florida and
the West Indies. The family includes only
the genus Moringa, of which 3 species are
known, natives of Asia and Africa.
It is a small tree, sometimes 7 or 8 me-
ters high, with corky bark and alternate
pinnately decompound leaves; the very
numerous leaflets are thin, opposite, oval
to obovate, blunt, dull green, short-stalked,
2 cm. long or less. The showy, irregular
fragrant flowers are in large axillary pani-
cles; the cup-shaped calyx is 5-cleft; there
are 5 unequal whitish petals and 5 perfect dechned stamens with slender fila-
ments, hairy toward the base, and i -celled anthers, alternating with about as
many sterile stamens (staminodia) ; the hairy ovary is i -celled, containing many
ovules and is tipped by a slender style; it ripens into a long, angled, pointed,
drooping pod, 4.5 dm. long or less, and i to 2 cm. thick, containing numerous
winged seeds.
The wood is soft, weak, and of little value. The tree is valued for its pods,
which are eaten as a vegetable and pickled; Ben oil, much used by watch-
makers, is expressed from its seeds.
Fig, 359. — Horse-radish Tree.
407
THE CUNONIA FAMILY
CUNONIACE^ Lindley
UNONIACE.^ include some 20 genera, made up of several hundred
species of trees and shrubs, mostly natives of tropical and subtropical
regions; the curious and interesting evergreen Lyonothaninus being
endemic on the islands off the coast of southern California.
The trees and shrubs of this family have opposite leaves (rarely whorled),
either simple or compound, with several or many leaflets; they have small stipules
which fall away early. The flowers are small and regular, clustered, perfect, or
in some genera imperfect; they have 4 or 5 sepals borne on an hypanthium and
as many petals as sepals ; the stamens are usually twice as many as the petals, or
more, and are borne under the edge of a disk; there are usually 2 carpels, either
separate, as in Lyonothamnus, or more usually united into a 2-celled ovary, which
contains several or many o\ailes in two rows on the placenta. The fruits are small
folhcles or capsules.
LYON'S IRONWOOD
GENUS LYONOTHAMNUS ASA GRAY
Species Lyonothamnus floribundus Asa Gray
Lyonothamnus asplenijolius (Brandegee) Greene
YONOTHAMNUS is a monotypic genus, restricted in distribution, so
far as known, to the islands Santa Catalina, San Clemente, and Santa
Cruz, off the coast of southern Cahfomia, inhabiting rocky soil. It is
a small tree, often a mere shrub, attaining a maximum height of about
13 meters, with a trunk up to 2.5 dm. in diameter.
Its bark is characteristic, separating in long thin reddish brown strips, which
remain attached to the trunk for some time, finally falling away. The opposite
leaves are either simple and entire, or pinnately compound or pinnatifid, when
much iobed closely resembHng those of the Sweet-fern (Compionia) ; they are more
or less hair)' on the under side, smooth above, 15 cm. long or less, persistent. The
numerous perfect white flowers are 6 to 8 mm. broad, in hairy, terminal com-
pound cymes; the hemispheric hypanthium is 5-lobed, the lobes persistent; there are
5 broad, stalkless petals, 15 incurved stamens, about as long as the petals, borne on
the disk that lines the calyx-tube, their filaments ver\' slender, their anthers short,
oblong; the two pistils are stalkless, each ovary i -celled, containing 4 pendulous
408
Lyon's Ironwood
409
ovules, the style stout, the stigma small. . The fruit is a pair of quite woody glan-
dular folHcles, each containing 4 oblong seeds.
This rare and handsome tree is well adapted to cultivation in regions not sub-
ject to frost. Its wood is very hard, red, with a specific gravity of about 0.80.
Fig. 360. — Lyon's Ironwood.
Its leaves vary greatly, some pinnatifid and others entire-margined occurring on
the same twigs on Santa Catalina island. The generic name is in honor of
WiUiam S. Lyon, who explored Santa Catalina island in 1884-1885; he was an
officer of the CaHfomia Board of Forestry.
THE WITCH HAZEL FAMILY
HAMAMELIDACE^ Lindley
AMAMELIDACEi^ comprise some 13 genera, containing nearly 40
species of trees or shrubs. They occur in eastern North America,
Asia, and south Africa.
The leaves are simple, alternate, entire, toothed or lobed, stalked
and stipulate; the flowers usually perfect, sometimes polygamous or monoecious,
borne in various forms of clusters, either axillary or terminal, the perianth often
imperfect and sometimes entirely absent; the calyx-tube, if any, is more or less
adnate to the ovary and there are 4 or 5 sepals; petals, if present, 4 or 5 in num-
ber, elongated, and inserted at the base of the sepals; stamens 4 to 10; half of them
are usually rudimentary; filaments distinct, anthers introrse; ovary 2-celled, com-
posed of 2 carpels united at the base; styles 2, distinct, awl-shaped, erect or curved;
stigmas simple; ovules usually soHtary or sometimes more, suspended and hori-
zontal. The fruit is a 2-celled, 2-beaked, woody or cartilaginous capsule, opening
at the top; the seeds, i or several, shining, anatropous; embryo large and straight
in fleshy to bony endosperm.
In addition to the arborescent genus that occurs in our area, the genus of
shrubs, Fothergilla, known as Dwarf alder, which occurs only in eastern North
America, from Virginia southward, is represented by three species.
WITCH HAZEL
GENUS HAMAMELIS LINN^US
Species Hamamelis virginiana Linnaeus
HE Witch hazel, also called Witch elm, occurs throughout eastern
North America from Nova Scotia to Ontario and Minnesota south to
Florida and Texas; westwardly it extends into eastern Nebraska.
As a shrub it is one of the most frequent of woody plants in this area,
occurring in low, rich thickets and woodlands; southward it often becomes a tree,
with a maximum height of 10 meters and a trunk diameter of i dm.
The trunk is short, the branches diverging irregularly and usually forming an
open tree; the bark is about 5 mm. thick, light brown and scaly; the twigs are
almost round, rather slender, and covered with rough brown hairs, but by autumn
have become quite smooth, dark brown, and marked by a few hght-colored circular
spots; the winter buds are sharp- pointed, somewhat curved, light brown and
410
Witch Hazel
411
hairy. The ahemate leaves are 7 to 15 cm. long, ovate to nearly orbicular, sharp
or long pointed, seldom rounded, the very uneven base rounded or sHghtly cordate
on one side and wedge-shaped on the
other, the margin entire toward the
base, more or less scalloped toward
the end, the upper side dark green and
quite smooth, the venation on the lower
side prominently hairy; the leaf-stalk
is short, the small stipules lanceolate.
The flowers, which open in the autumn,
during or after the falhng of the leaves
and the ripening of the previous year's
fruit, are in clusters of 3 on short
bracted peduncles at the axils of the
leaves; calyx 4- parted, reflexed and
hairy; petals 4, strap-shaped, crisped,
1.5 to 2.5 cm. long, bright yellow, but
sometimes wanting; stamens 4, short,
opposite the sepals, and alternate with
4 rudimentary stamens; the pistil con-
sists of a woolly 2 -celled ovary and a
Fig. 361. — Witch Hazel.
short, stigma-pointed style. The fruits, of which there are usually 2 in a cluster, are
about 15 mm. long, and are ovoid thickened, woody, hairy, 2-beaked capsules,
splitting open at the top, exposing a polished inner surface and ejecting, with con-
siderable force, the suspended seeds, which are about 8 mm. long, smooth, nearly
black, and shining.
The wood is hard, close-grained, Hght brown; its specific gravity is about 0.68.
The branches have long been in use as divining rods for the supposed detection of
water and minerals. An aqueous distillation over the fresh leaves and twigs is
largely employed as a popular appUcation to sprains and bruises; the absence,
however, of any active constituent save the minutest trace of a volatile oil, strongly
indicates that its virtues, if any, reside in the small quantity of alcohol added for
its presentation.
The generic name is Greek, having reference to the flowers and fruit appearing
at the same time. In addition to the above-described species, which is the type
of the genus, two others are known to occur in eastern Asia.
THE SWEET GUM FAMILY
ALTINGIACEiE Hayne
LTINGIACE^ consist of probably 5 genera, with about 10 species of
trees or shrubs of temperate or warmer regions of the Old and New
World.
They have alternate leaves, which are deciduous or persistent,
glandular-toothed, palmately lobed or entire, short or long-stalked, usually with
deciduous stipules. The flowers are mostly monoecious, sometimes perfect, clus-
tered in heads, surrounded by several deciduous bracts; they are without calyx or
corolla. The heads of staminate flowers are in terminal racemes or panicles with
numerous stamens intermingled with many small scales. The pistillate flowers
are in sohtary, long-stalked axillary heads, the pistil 2-carpelled ; ovary partly in-
ferior, containing several or many horizontal ovules in each carpel ; stigma short,
persistent or deciduous. The fruit is a hard, dry, many-capsuled head, sometimes
armed with stout persisting stigmas; seeds of two kinds, the fertile, which are spar-
ingly produced, being samara-hke, or ovate, winged, and usually marked with
resinous ducts, the straight embryo imbedded in the fleshy endosperm; the sterile
seeds are very numerous, wingless, and angular.
SWEET GUM
GENUS LIQUIDAMBAR [CLAYTON] LINN.EUS
Species Liquidambar Styraciflua Linnaeus
HE Sweet gum is also called Bilsted, Star-leaved gum. Red gum,
Liquidambar, and Alhgator tree. It occurs from southern Connect-
icut to Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Texas and Guatemala, usually in wet,
rich soil, bordering streams or swamps. It is a stately forest tree,'
reaching a maximum height of 45 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 meters.
The branches are usually regular and spreading, forming a very symmetrical
round tree when growing in the open; in the forest, however, the trunk is tall,
slender and straight, the head narrow. The bark is deeply furrowed into
broad, scaly ridges, 2.5 to 4 cm. thick, and gray-brown; on young trees and large
branches it is thinner and dark gray; the bark of the branches frequently develops
several wide, stratified corky wings often 2.5 to 4 cm. broad; the twigs are rather
stout and pithy, obscurely angular, at first covered by rusty brown hairs, becoming
412
Sweet Gum
413
smooth, light brown, marked by broadly triangular leaf scars, and fmally dark
gray; the winter buds are scarcely i cm. long, sharp pointed, and covered by
shining red-brown scales; the leaves are thick and firm, almost orbicular in outline,
about 15 cm. across, deeply palmately cleft into 5, rarely 7, sharp-pointed, wedge-
shaped, glandular-toothed lobes, bright green, smooth and shining above, paler
beneath, the base usually heart-shaped ; the leaf-stalk is about as long as the blade
and slender; tlie stipules are small. The flowers, which appear when the leaves
are about half-grown, are of two kinds; the staminate are borne in terminal up-
FiG. 362. — Sweet Gum, New York Botanical Garden.
right racemes 5 to 8 cm. long, consisting of several greenish globose clusters of
many stamens commingled with elongated scales and subtended by an involucre of
4 deciduous bracts; the pistillate flowers are borne on slender drooping peduncles
2.5 to 5 cm. long, at the axils of the terminal leaves, in globular heads about 1.5
cm. in diameter, with a small involucre, and consist of many accrescent receptacles
supporting 4 rudimentan.- anthers, and a partly inferior, 2-carpeled, i -celled ovary
with 2 stout incun^ed styles, with inner stigmatic surfaces. The fruit, which is
persistent throughout the winter, is a spiny, globose, cone-like mass, 3 to 4 cm. in
diameter, of a light brown color when ripe, becoming red-brown during the winter;
414
Sweet Gum
it consists of many imbedded woody capsules, which are capped by the persist-
ent, woody, horn-like styles; the capsules spht open at the top, exposing a pol-
ished inner surface and a solitar}', flattened
angular seed, rarely two, about 12 mm.
long, with a short, ovate wing, together
with many variously shaped imperfect
seeds.
The wood is hard, straight-grained,
weak, hght brown; its specific gravity
is about 0.59. It pohshes well, but warps
badly. It is used to a small extent in
carpentry. Its aromatic exudation and an
extract of the bark are used at the south
in catarrhal and stomachic affections, but
are not usually articles of commerce.
The genus, of which this tree is the type
species, received its name by a combina-
tion of Latin and Arabic, in allusion to
the fragrant juice of these trees, of which
there are two additional species in Asia.
Several fossil forms are known from the Miocene formations of Europe and
America, extending far north into Greenland and Alaska.
As an ornamental tree the Sweet gum has few superiors, its rapid growth,
freedom from disease or insect pests, symmetrical form, rich green leaves in sum-
mer, their gorgeous crimson autumnal coloration, and its striking silvery gray,
corky-winged branches in winter, combine to make this one of the most desirable
trees for park and street planting or for individual lawn specimens.
Fig. 303.
Sweet Gum.
THE PLANE TREE FAMILY
PLATANACE.E Lindley
HIS family of one genus with about 7 species, are trees of the north
temperate zone. They are tall trees, with large, brbad leaves and
thin, Hght-colored, exfoliating bark. Several fossil forms, also, are
known from the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, being found as
far north as Greenland.
The leaves are simple, alternate, palmately lobed, prominently veined, with
long petioles, the hollow base of which encloses the bud for the following season;
the stipules are large, entire or toothed. The flowers are monoecious, small and
closely inserted on a globose, more or less fleshy receptacle, forming long-stalked
heads, which are soHtary, in spikes, or racemes; the perianth is very small, con-
sisting of 3 to 6 outwardly hairy sepals and an equal number of thin, smooth petals;
the staminate flowers are in axillary reddish heads; the stamens are as many as
the sepals and opposite them ; the filaments are very short, the anthers elongated ;
the pistillate heads are terminal and green, consisting of an equal number of small
sepals and petals, with 2 to 8 distinct ircelled carpels, mingled with rudimentary
stamens (staminodes), and surrounded by persistent, long-jointed hairs; the style
is terminal, and stigmatic for about half its length; the ovary is soHtary, rarely
2, linear and i-celled. The fruit is a globose, compact head, composed of many
elongated inverted pyramidal nutlets, surrounded by stiff, erect hairs; the seed is
pendulous, elongated, has fleshy endosperm, and a straight, linear embryo.
The name adopted by Linnaeus for these trees is the Greek classic name of the
European plane tree, Platanus orientalis Linnaeus, the type of the genus. The
common name Sycamore, most used for these trees in America, properly belongs
to the Old World tree Ficus Sycamorus Linnaeus, of the Fig family.
THE PLANE TREES
GENUS PLATANUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN.^US.
Fruit heads solitary, rarely two together; eastern tree. i. P. occidentalis.
Fruit heads racemose.
Lateral heads usually stalked; leaf-lobes elongated; southwestern tree. 2. P. Wrightii.
Lateral heads usually sessile; leaf-lobes relatively short; California tree. 3. P. racemosa.
415
4i6
The Plane Tree Family
I. SYCAMORE — Platanus occidentalis Linnaeus
This very large tree, also known as the Plane tree, Button wood. Button-ball
tree, and Water beech, occurs from Maine and Ontario south to Florida, and
westward to Nebraska and Texas, It is a frequent tree of low, rich lands, bor-
dering streams. Its greatest development is attained in the valleys of the
central States, often reaching a height of 55 meters, with a trunk diameter of
3.5 meters.
The trunk is often branched from near the base into several smaller trunks, or
is greatly reduced by the very large, promi-
nently outspreading branches, forming an
irregular, open, and very broad head; on
the edges of streams the trunk is often re-
cHning or arching far out over the water,
and then develops one or more tree-Hke,
upright branches; in the east it is usually
erect, and branched only above. The
bark of old trees is 5 to 7 cm. thick,
shallowly furrowed into broad ridges, which
are broken up into thin plates of a dark
brown color; on younger trunks and branches
the bark is quite thin and spontaneously peels
off into large, thin plates, exposing a smooth,
hght greenish gray inner layer. The twigs
are rather stout ; when young they are coated
with pale hairs, but soon become smooth,
Fig. 364. - Sycamore. brownish, and finally light gray. The win-
ter buds are stout and blunt, about 10 mm. long. The leaves are orbicular in
outhne, 10 to 20 cm. across, 3-to 5-lobed, the lobes broad, long-pointed, and more
or less toothed, the teeth separated by shallow rounded sinuses; they are trun-
cate, heart-shaped, or rarely wedge-shaped at the base, very woolly when unfold-
ing, but soon become smooth, except on the veins beneath, light green and firm;
the stout leaf-stalk is one fourth to one third the length of the blade; the stipules
are conspicuous, 2 to 4 cm. long and sharp-toothed. The stalks of the flower-
heads are densely woolly. The fruit heads, usually solitar}-, rarely 2, are 2.5 to 4
cm. in diameter and light brown, hanging at the end of smooth, cord-like pe-
duncles 7 to 15 cm. long, persisting on the branches until the following spring. The
nutlets are 10 to 12 mm. long, sUghtly rounded at the top and usually capped by
the short persistent style.
The wood is hard, weak, not durable, coarse-grained, light brown, having a
specific gravity of about 0.56. It is used to some extent for inside finishing of
buildings and for furniture. Butcher's blocks, rollers, and chewing-tobacco boxes
are largely made of it. The tree is undesirable for lawn or park planting, its young
Sycamore
417
Fig. 365. — Sycamore, New York Botanical Garden.
4i8
The Plane Tree Family
leaves being killed in May or June by the minute fungus Glocosporium nervi-
sequiim Saccardo, though the second crop of leaves clothes the branches in July.
The European species, P. oricntalis Linnaeus, is less subject to this disease.
2. ARIZONA SYCAMORE - Platanus Wrightii S. Watson
This tree is also called the Arizona plane tree, but locally simply Sycamore.
It is known only from the mountain canons of southwestern New ^Mexico, south-
ern Arizona and Sonora, at eleva-
tions of about ^800 meters. Its
greatest height is 24 meters, with a
tnmk diameter of 1.5 meters.
It much resembles the above de-
scribed tree in bark and manner of
branching. The twigs are slender,
thickly woolly at first, but soon be-
come smooth and light reddish
brown or gray brown in color; the
winter buds are conic, sharp-pointed,
about 5 mm. long. The leaves are
15 to 20 cm. across, lobed to below
the middle into 3 to 7 elongated
wedge-shaped, sharp- pointed, or
Fig. 366. -Arizona Sycamore. ^^^.^j^ rounded lobes, which are en-
tire or toothed; the base is usually heart-shaped, seldom truncate or wedge-shaped;
they are thin, firm, hght green, and smooth above, pale and hairy beneath; the
stout, usually smooth leaf-stalk is 3 to 5 cm. long; the stipules are small, seldom
over 10 mm. long, and usually entire. The flowering peduncles are covered with
thick, whitish hairs. The fruit heads, of which there are from 2 to 5, are 2 to 3
cm. in diameter, and hang on a smooth, slender stem, 15 to 20 cm. long; the
lateral heads are on stalks 2 to 2.5 cm. long. The nutlets are smooth, angular,
about 6 mm. long, rounded at the top and capped by the short, curved, persistent
style.
The wood is ven,- similar to that of the previously described tree, except
that it is considerably Hghter in weight, its specific gravity being about 0.47.
3. CALIFORNIA SYCAMORE - Platanus racemosa Nuttall
Also known as the CaHfomia plane tree. Button ball, and Button -ball tree,
occurs from Alameda county, California to the mountains of Lower Cahfomia,
growing along the water courses, up to an elevation of 900 meters. Its maximum
height is about 38 meters, with a trunk diameter of 2.7 meters.
In trunk, bark, and manner of branching it is similar to the other American
California Sycamore
419
sycamores; the winter buds are conic, somewhat long-pointed, and about 8 mm.
long. The leaves are 1.5 to 2.5 dm. across, 3- to 5-lobed to about the middle,
the lobes wedge-shaped, sharply pointed, entire or toothed, usually cordate, some-
times truncate or wedge-shaped at the base, thick and firm, hght green above,
paler and woolly, especially on the venation beneath; the stout leaf -stalk is 2.5
to 7 cm. long, and hairy. The fruit-heads, of which there are 2 to 7, are 2 to 3
cm. in diameter, hanging on a smooth stalk 13 to 25 cm. long, the lateral ones
being sessile or nearly so. The angular nutlets are somewhat tapering at the top
and capped by the relatively long, curved, persistent style.
Fig. 367. — California Sycamore.
The wood is similar to that of the Arizona tree, except that it is shghtly heavier,
its specific gravity being about 0.49.
This is considered by many to be the most beautiful of all the native deciduous
trees of the Pacific coast.
THE ROSE FAMILY
ROSACEA B. Jussieu
IBOUT 70 genera compose the family Rosaceae, containing some 1200
species of herbs, shrubs, or trees, and a few vines; they are of greatly
diversified habit and are widely distributed throughout the world.
The leaves are mostly alternate, rarely opposite, simple or com-
pound, usually stipulate, sometimes conspicuously so. The flowers are regular,
usually perfect, rarely dicEcious, variously disposed ; the calyx free from or joined
to the ovary, 4- to 9-lobed, usually 5-lobed, often bracteolate; petals of the same
number as the lobes of the calyx or sometimes none; stamens few to many, their
filaments distinct, the anthers 2-celled; pistils sohtary or many, distinct, or ad-
herent to the calyx; ovary i-celled; styles terminal, lateral, or basal; ovules i to
many in each cell and inverted. The fruit varies greatly, mostly folhcular, some-
times drupaceous or nut-hke, often raised upon or imbedded in an enlarged
receptacle; endosperm of the seed usually wanting.
This family furnishes many of the most popular ornamental cultivated plants;
also some of our most dehcious fruits, such as the Strawberry, Raspberry, and
Blackbern'.
Two arborescent genera, with 6 species, occur in the western portion of our area :
Fruit a 5-celled, ovoid capsule; flowers many, in terminal panicles. i. Vauquelinia.
Fruit a plumed nutlet; flowers in few-flowered clusters, usually axillary. 2. Cercocarpus.
I. VAUQUELINIA
GENUS VAUQUELINIA CORREA
Species Vauquelinia calif ornica (Torrey) Sargent
SpircBa calijornica Torrey
BEAUTIFUL httle tree, confined to a Hmited area in southern Arizona
and adjacent Sonora and Lower Cahfomia, where it is usually a shrub,
but in the Santa Catahna Mountains of Arizona, at an elevation of
about 1500 meters, it becomes a tree, attaining a maximum height of
6 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 dm.
The branches are upright, stiff and crooked ; the bark is about 2 mm. thick,
reddish brown, and broken into small angular scales; the twigs are at first thickly
clothed with pale hairs, brown, becoming brown-gray and marked by raised leaf
420
The Mountain Mahoganies
421
scars. The leaves are alternate, sometimes opposite, oblong to lanceolate, 4 to 8
cm. long, taper-pointed, or rarely rounded at the apex, abruptly wedge-shaped or
rounded at the slightly unequal base, remotely glandular-toothed, leather^', bright
yellowish green and smooth
above, finely woolly and promi-
nently net- veined beneath; the
leaf-stalk is thick, grooved on
the upper side, 8 to 12 mm,
long; the deciduous stipules are
very small and sharp-pointed.
The flowers, which appear in
spring, are borne in loose,
branching panicles 5 to 8 cm.
across, leafy below and bracteate
above; the stalks are slender,
whitish hairy; the persistent ca-
lyx is short, obconic, leathery,
with 5 sharp erect lobes; the 5
petals are orbicular to oblong,
reflexed and persistent; the 15
to 25 stamens are in three or four rows, the outer row borne opposite the petals,
those within being alternate; filaments equal or some shorter, awl-shaped; anthers
2-celled, opening lengthwise; the pistil is 5-carpeled, the carpels united below into
a 5-celled hairy ovary terminated by 5 short, spreading styles with small terminal
stigmas. The fruit is a woody, ovoid, 5-celled, hairy capsule 8 mm. long, sub-
tended by the 5 conspicuous, Hght red, persistent petals; the capsules remain on
the branchlets until the following season, finally splitting into segments tipped by
the remnant of the style. There are two seeds in each carpel, terminated by an
oblong wing.
The wood is hard, close-grained, dark brown, its specific gravity about 1.13.
This genus, of which V. corymbosa Correa, is the type species, is confined to
western North America; two additional species are known; both Mexican shrubs
or small trees. The name is in commemoration of the celebrated French chemist,
Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, who died in 1829.
Fig. 368. — Vauquelinia.
II. THE MOUNTAIN MAHOGANIES
GENUS CERCOCARPUS HUMBOLDT, BONPLAND AND KUNTH
ERCOCARPUS is composed of small trees or shrubs of the drier
regions of western North America, where about 8 species have been
detected.
The leaves are alternate, simple, mostly leather}', more or less
persistent, with prominent spreading veins, short, stout leaf-stalks and adnate,
1
•V^'*:
* A ^4.+*
422
The Mountain Mahoganies
deciduous stipules. Flowers perfect, solitan', or in axillar\^ or terminal clusters;
the calyx-tube is long-cylindric, abruptly widened at the throat and 5-lobed,
lobes spreading and deciduous, the tube persistent in fruit; there is no corolla; the
stamens, of which there are 1 5 to 20, are in several rows on the lobes of the ca-
lyx, their filaments very short; anthers large and often hairy; pistil included in
the calyx-tube, i-carpeled, the style long, thread-like, and very hairy, terminated
by a minute blunt stigma. The fruit is a dry, leathery, angular or ridged linear
nutlet, enclosed in the persistent calyx-tube and terminated by the enlarged plu-
mose style; the single seed is Hnear, pointed, and without endosperm.
The wood of all the species is of a reddish brown color, very hard, compact,
and hea\7. The name Cercocarpus is from the Greek, meaning tailed-fruit. The
type species is C. jothergilloides H. B. K., of Mexico.
The arborescent species of our area are :
Leaves dentate or serrate, at least toward the apex, or rarely entire.
Leaves prominently dentate.
Leaves glabrous or whitish -pubescent beneath. i. C. betuloides.
Leaves densely woolly beneath. 2. C. Traskice.
Leaves dentate toward the apex or entire, obovate. 3. C. breviflorus.
Leaves entire, their margins revolute. 4. C. ledifolins.
I. SCENTED MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY
Nuttall
Cercocarpus betuloides
Although usually a shrub this frequently becomes a tree with maximum height
of 9 meters, and a trunk diameter of 2.5 dm. It occurs in the mountains from
southern Oregon to Lower CaHfomia, and
has been confused with the shrubby C.
parvijolius Nuttall.
The branches are spreading or some-
what pendent. The bark is very thin, sep-
arating into irregular scales or flakes, which
fall away in the autumn. The leaves are
quite leathery, with a birch-Hke odor, 1.5
to 2.5 cm. long, obovate, wedge-shaped
and entire below the middle, rounded and
coarsely glandular-toothed above the mid-
dle, very hairy at first, soon becoming dark
yellow-green, not hairy but roughish above,
paler and with a few hairs near the promi-
nent veins beneath; the channelled leaf-
stalks are about 2.5 mm. long. The flowers
are usually soHtar}^ in the axils of the
leaves, 7 mm. long; the woolly calyx is cylindric, its lobes narrow, obtuse; in
Fig. 369. — Scented Mountain Mahogany.
Trask's Mountain Mahogany
423
fruit it is spindle-shaped, slightly hairy, deeply cleft at the apex, and about 2 cm.
long; the nutlet is grooved on the back, covered with dense, long hairs, its plume 6
to 8 cm. long.
The wood is close-grained, bright red-brown, and heavy; specific gravity about
0.93. It is sometimes used for tool-handles and turned articles, also much valued
for fuel.
2. TRASK'S MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY - Cercocarpus Traskiae Eastwood
This rare and very local tree has been found only on Santa Catalina island,
off the coast of southern Cahfomia, where but a small number of individuals,
associated with several other trees of wide relationship, but equal rarity, occur.
Its maximum height is 7.5 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 dm.
The trunk is short and crooked; the branches arc stout, irregularly out-
spreading, forming a pictu-
resque tree; the bark is thin,
smooth, hght gray to brown,
sometimes becoming trans-
versely fissured. The twigs
are stout, very hairy and red-
brown, soon becoming
roughened by leaf scars. The
leaves are thick and leathery,
oval to nearly orbicular, 4 to
6 cm. long, rounded, or seldom
sharp-pointed at the apex,
wedge-shaped, or sometimes
rounded at the base, toothed
by slender, gland-tipped teeth
above the middle; they are
densely woolly when young,
becoming dark green, shining,
and with impressed veins
above, silky-white hairy, and prominently marked by the thick, oblique veins be-
neath; the hairy leaf-stalks are about 8 mm. long. The axillary flowers appear
in March, in nearly sessile several- flowered clusters, which are very hairy through-
out; the calyx-tube is smooth on the inner side; anthers short, oblong and hair)-;
in fruit the calyx is spindle-shaped, about 12 mm. long, deeply cleft at the top,
light brown and long silky-hairy. The nutlet is somewhat ridged, about 10 mm.
long, covered by white silky hairs, the plumose style about 5 cm. long.
The wood of Trask's mountain mahogany is hard, close-grained, hght brown,
and heavy.
Fig. 370. — Trask's Mountain Mahogany.
424
The Mountain Mahoganies
3. FEW-FLOWERED IMOUNTAIN MAHOGANY -Cercocarpus
breviflorus A. Gray
This small tree or shrub is confined to the high dry mountains near our south-
em border in western Texas, New Mexico, and
eastern Arizona, extending southward into
Mexico. Its maximum height is 7 meters, with
a trunk diameter of 2 dm.
The bark is about 3 mm. thick, slightly fis-
sured, and scaly; the twigs are densely hairy,
but soon become smooth and red-brown. The
leaves are thick, oblong to obovate or elHptic,
1.5 to 2.5 cm. long, pointed or rounded at the
apex, wedge-shaped below the middle; the en-
tire, wavy or toothed margin is revolute; when
young the leaves are densely whitish-hairj', but
soon become grayish green above, paler be-
neath, and softly hairy on both sides; the ve-
nation is very prominent, especially on the
under side; the leaf-stalk is stout, short, and
usually reddish. The flowers are axillar}^ ses-
sile or nearly so, usually solitary, sometimes 2
together; the calyx- tube is slender, about 5 mm.
long, its lobes short, rounded, and densely
covered with whitish hairs; in fruit it is stalked, spindle-shaped, red-brown,
smooth toward the cleft apex, 8 to 10 mm. long. The nutlet is nearly cylindric,
covered with long whitish hairs, its plume projecting about 3 cm. beyond the tube.
Fig. 371. — Few-flowered Mountain
Mahogany.
4. MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY — Cercocarpus ledifolius Nuttall
A characteristic tree or shrub of the high dry slopes of the western sides of
the Rocky Mountains and westward, at altitudes of from 1500 to 2700 meters,
being found from Wyoming to Oregon, south to New Mexico and Cahfomia,
reaching at its greatest development a maximum height of about 12 meters, with
a trunk diameter of 7.5 dm.
The trunk is short; the branches are stout and spreading; the bark of very
old trunks is 2.5 cm. thick, reddish brown, deeply furrowed and scaly; the twigs
are hairy and brown, becoming smooth, often with a bloom, and finally dark brown
and roughened by numerous leaf scars. The leaves are crowded, thick and
leathery, somewhat resinous, entire lanceolate to narrowly oblong, 1.5 to 3 cm.
long, pointed at each end, the margin strongly revolute, quite hair}^ when young,
but soon become smooth above, woolly and prominently veined beneath; leaf-
stalk short and broad. The flowers are soHtary in the axils of the leaves, 2 cm.
Mountain Mahogany 425
long; calyx hairy, its tube comparatively short, its lobes sharp- pointed; in fruit
the calyx-tube is enlarged, 1.5 cm. long, cylindric, angular and hairy. The nut-
let is cyHndric, pointed at each end, somewhat angular, 7 mm. long, dark red-
brovra and covered with long hairs; plume 5 to 7 cm. long, more or less spirally
twisted.
Fig. 372. — Mountain Mahogany.
The wood is close-grained, very hard but brittle, bright red or bro\vn, and
takes a fine pohsh; its specific gravity is about 1.07. It is highly valued as a fuel,
and largely made into charcoal for use in the region in which it grows.
THE APPLE FAMILY
MALACEiE Small
HIS family includes some 20 genera, containing several hundred species
of trees and shrubs, which are of wide distribution in temperate
regions. Their principal economic value lies in their fruits, such as
the Apple, Pear, Quince, and Crab, grown in all temperate regions.
The leaves are alternate, simple, or pinnately compound, stalked, with free,
deciduous stipules. The flowers are perfect and regular, soUtary, racemose, corym-
bose or cymose; the calyx is superior, usually 5-lobed, the tube joined to the ovary;
the petals equal the calyx-lobes in number and are usually clawed ; stamens distinct,
numerous, or rarely few; anthers small, 2-celled, opening lengthwise; the pistils
are composed of i to 5 carpels, wholly or but partly united; ovules i or 2, rarely
more, in each carpel, anatropous and ascending; the i to 5 styles are term'nal and
surmounted by small stigmas. The fruit consists of the greatly enlarged calyx-
tube, which encloses the papery or leathery carpels, forming a more or less fleshy
pome; the endosperm is wanting, the cotyledons fleshy.
Fossil leaves found in the Tertiary formations of Europe and America have
been described as belonging to Pyrus, Amelanchier, or Crataegus,
The arborescent genera within our area are:
Carpels papery or leathery at maturity.
Leaves deciduous.
Leaf-blades pinnately compound.
Leaf-blades simple.
Cavities of the ovary (carpels) same number as the styles.
Flesh of pome with grit-cells.
Flesh of pome vi^ithout grit-cells.
Cavities of the ovary becoming tvi^ice the number of the styles.
Leaves persistent.
Carpels bony at maturity.
I. Sorbus.
2. Pyrus.
3. Mains.
4. Amelanchier.
5. Heteromeles.
6. Crataegus.
I. THE MOUNTAIN ASHES
GENUS SORBUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
ORBUS embraces about 11 species of. trees and shrubs, inhabitants of
the cooler portions of the northern hemisphere, over which they are
widely distributed. They are of no economic importance, except for
ornamental planting, as their properties are common to other members
of the Apple family, and usually less pronounced than in many of them.
426
American Mountain Ash
427
The leaves are alternate, pinnately compound, the leaflets saw-toothed, their
stipules deciduous. The flowers are perfect, in compound cymes; the calyx- tube
is obconic, shallowly 5-lobed, without bracts; the 5 petals are broadly rounded
and contracted at the base into short claws; stamens many, inserted with the
petals in the throat of the calyx; ovary inferior, its cells 2 ovulcd; styles usually
3, distinct, and terminated by small blunt stigmas. The fruit is a small, usually
red, berry-hke pome, with soft, thin, cartilaginous carpels, each containing two
small brown seeds.
The name apphed to these plants by Linnaeus is an old Celtic one, Sorbus
domestica Linnaeus, is the type species.
About 5 species of shrubs, in addition to the arborescent forms, have been
described from western North America.
Leaflets smooth above, smooth or somewhat hairy beneath.
Leaflets hairy on both sides.
1. 5. americana.
2. S. Aucuparia.
I. AMERICAN MOUNTAIN ASH — Sorbus americana Marshall
Sorhiis sambticijolia Roemer, not Chamisso and Schlecht.
Sargent
Sorbus americana decora
This small tree, often only a shrub, occurs in moist or rockv woodlands, from
Newfoundland to Manitoba and Iowa, southward in the mountains to North Caro-
lina; its maximum observed height is 9 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 5 dm.
The bark is smooth, 3 mm. thick, grayish,
and irregularly roughened by small appressed
scales. The twigs are stout, shghtly hair}^,
soon becoming smooth, reddish brown, and
marked by large triangular leaf scars; the inner
bark is pleasantly odorous; the winter buds are
sharp-pointed. The leaflets, of which there are
II to 17, are membranous, lanceolate to oblong,
3 to 8 cm. long, sessile or nearly so, the terminal
one stalked; they vary from long taper-pointed
to short-pointed or blunt, are unequally wedge-
shaped and entire-margined toward the base,
sharply toothed with short-tipped or glandular
teeth, shghtly hairy at first, becoming smooth
on both sides, yellowish green, with the midrib
impressed above, paler, with midrib prominent, beneath; the petioles are slender
and grooved, the stipules broad, nearly triangular and deciduous. The flowers
expand in May or June; they are in dense, compound cymes 8 to 15 cm. broad,
on short, stout pedicels; the calyx is obconic, 5-lobed, the lobes about one fourth
as long as the white, nearly orbicular petals, which are about 3 mm. across. The
Fig. 373. — American Mountain Ash.
428
The Mountain Ashes
fruit ripens in late autumn, is globose or slightly pear-shaped, 4 to 8 mm. in di-
ameter and bright red, its flesh acidulous; seeds about 3 mm. long, angular,
rounded at the top, sharp-pointed at the base.
The wood is soft, close-grained, weak, and brown; its specific gravity is about
0.55. At the North the tree is occasionally planted for ornament and shade, and
deserves more extended use in the cooler regions of our area. Young shoots some-
times bear leaves with deeply incised margins. The leaflets vary greatly in form.
2. ROWAN TREE — Sorbus Aucuparia Linnaeus
This rapid growing tree, also called Mountain ash and Quick beam, is a native
of Europe and Asia, extending far northward, where it becomes a small shrub.
In our area it has long been planted
for ornament, and has become spar-
ingly naturahzed in some of the north-
eastern States and Canadian Provinces.
Its maximum height is 18 meters, with
a trunk diameter of 8 dm.
The branches are stout and spread-
ing, forming an orbicular head; the
bark is smooth or somewhat scaly, 6
mm. thick, dark gray; the twigs are
hairy, grayish browTi; the sharp-
pointed buds are softly woolly. The
leaves are odd-pinnate, with hairy
petioles, and 9 to 15 leaflets, which are
oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 2.5 to 7.5 cm. long, blunt or short pointed, the margin
sharply toothed, except near the unequally rounded base, dufl green above, paler
beneath, hairy on both sides. The white flowers appear in June or July in com-
pact woolly cymes, their calyx-lobes woolly; petals spreading, about 4 mm. across;
stamens exserted, as long as the petals. The fruit is globose, about 10 mm. in
diameter, bright red, and usually borne in great abundance.
The wood is hard, fine-grained, light brown; its specific gravity is about 0.83.
It is used for tool handles and portions of machinery, as are most of the hard, non-
spHtting woods of the Apple family. In the days of the bow and arrow it was
considered next best to the Yew for bows. The fruit is eaten in northern Europe
and is also dried and ground into meal.
As an ornamental tree it has long been a favorite on account of its rapid growth,
profusion of flowers, and showy fruit, which is much eaten by birds; many hor-
ticultural forms of it are known.
Fig. 374. — Rowan Tree.
i
Pear
429
II. PEAR
GENUS PYRUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
Species Pjrriis communis Linnaeus
jS an inferior fruited escape from orchards, the Pear is found in woods
and thickets of the northeastern States. It is a native of Europe and
Asia, attaining a maximum height of 20 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 9 dm., and is the type of the genus Pyrus.
The trunk is straight, its branches are short, stout, and ascending, forming an
oblong or conic tree; the small branches are frequently thorny; the bark is 5 to
8 mm. thick, shallowly fissured and broken into elongated loose dark brown or
gray scales; twigs stout, nearly smooth, brownish red, with small yellow dots;
winter buds blunt, rather large, and hairy at the tip. The leaves are alternate,
thick and leathery, ovate, elhptic or obovate, 3 to 8 cm, long, sharp or taper-
pointed, rounded at the base, margin finely toothed or entire, downy and hairy
margined when young, becoming dark green, smooth and shining above, paler
and smooth or nearly so beneath; the leaf-
stalk slender, nearly as long as or sometimes
longer than the blade. The flowers, opening
in April or May, are 4 to 5 cm, across, borne
on spur-Hke branches of the previous season
in few to many-flowered cymes, on slender,
usually downy pedicels 1,5 to 5 cm, long;
the calyx-tube is urn-shaped and downy, the
5 lobes as long as the tube, sharp-pointed
and hairy margined; the petals are white,
nearly orbicular, rounded, contracted at the
base; the stamens are numerous; the ovary
is composed of 5 carpels, with 2 ovules in
each cavity; the styles are more or less united
at the base and terminated by small, club-
shaped stigmas. The fruit of the wild tree
is a pome about 5 cm, long, its flesh dr\nsh,
sour, astringent, and permeated by grit- cells,
the carpels (the core) leathery, with two large brown seeds in each.
The wood is hard, close-grained, and reddish-brown; its specific gravity is
about 0.82.
The Pear as an orchard fruit is too well known to need further mention.
The genus Pyrus contains about 12 species of trees or shrubs, all natives of
temperate portions of the Old World, The name adopted for these trees by Lin-
naeus is the ancient name of the pear.
Fig. 375. — Pear.
430 The Apples
III. THE APPLES
GENUS MALUS [TOURNEFORT] HILL
ALUS embraces about 15 species of trees or shrubs, natives of the north
temperate zone, over which they are well distributed.
The leaves are simple, alternate, toothed or lobed, and slender-
stalked. The flowers, which are white to rose-colored and fragrant,
are clustered in simple terminal cymes; the calyx-tube is urn- or bell- shaped,
5-lobed at the top; the petals, inserted at the mouth of the calyx-tube, are rounded
at the apex, narrowed and clawed at the base; the stamens, about 20, are inserted
with the petals in several rows and composed of stout filaments and rather large
oblong yellow or purple anthers; the ovary consists of 5 carpels, or sometimes but
2 or 3, united at the base, free at the top, and terminated by slender, stigmatic
pointed styles; ovules 2 in each cavity. The fruit is a large globose pome, usually
depressed, and hollowed at the base, with thick juicy flesh free of grit-cells; its
papery or leathery carpels, forming the "core," are joined at the top, but free in
the middle, containing 2, sometimes but i, large, ovoid, pointed, shining brown
seeds.
The name Malus is the Greek name of the Apple, which is the type of the genus
The species occurring in our area are :
Fruit impressed at the base; calyx-lobes persistent.
Leaves glabrous, at least where mature.
Leaves oblong, lanceolate or oval, mostly narrowed at the base. i. M. angusiijolia.
Leaves ovate, cordate or rounded at the base. 2. M. coronaria.
Leaves persistently pubescent or tomentose beneath.
Leaves mostly narrowed at base; pome 2 to 4 cm. in diameter. Native
trees.
Pedicels stout, hairy, i to 2.5 cm. long. 3. M. iaensis.
Pedicels slender, smooth, 2 to 4 cm. long. 4. M. Soulardi.
Leaves rounded or subcordate at the base; pome 5 to 10 cm. in diam-
eter. Introduced European tree. 5. M. Malus.
Fruit rounded at the base, oblong; calyx-lobes deciduous. 6. M. diversijolia.
I. NARROW-LEAVED CRAB APPLE —Malus angustifolia (Aiton)
Michaux
Pyrus angustifolia Aiton
This is a beautiful small tree, often forming dense thickets, from New Jersey
to Kansas, south to Florida and Louisiana. Its maximum height is 9 meters, with
a trunk diameter of 3 dm.
The branches are stiff and spreading, forming a broad, round tree; the bark
is about 5 mm. thick, rather deeply fissured into narrow ridges, and broken into
small, persistent, reddish brown scales; the twigs are slender, pale-hairy, soon be-
Narrow-Leaved Crab Apple
431
coming smooth and brown, producing slender, spur-like branches; the winter buds
are small, blunt and brown. The leaves are thick and leathery, oblong, oblong-
lanceolate or ovate, 2 to 5 cm. long, sharply or bluntly pointed, narrowed at the
base, margin toothed or entire, dark green and shining with impressed midrib
above, paler and nearly smooth beneath; leaf-stalk slender, usually smooth, 2 to 2.5
cm. long. The flowers are rose-colored and very fragrant, appearing from March
Fig. 376. — Narrow-leaved Crab Apple, Carnot, Penn.
to May, 2 to 2.5 cm. across, in few-flowered cymes, on slender, somewhat glandu-
lar pedicels 2 to 4 cm. long; the calyx-tube is urn-shaped, the lobes triangular,
sharp-pointed, persistent on the fruit; petals narrowly obovate, rounded, wavy or
irregularly toothed; ovar\' and base of styles pale woolly, the latter nearly distinct.
The fiiiit is nearly globular, 2.5 to 3 cm. in diameter, 2 to 2.5 cm. high, impressed at
the base and apex, dark green and roughish, fragrant, the flesh hard and ver}^ sour.
432
The Apples
Fig. 377. — Narrow-leaved Crab Apple.
The wood is hard, close-grained, light red-
dish brown; its specific gravity about 0.68.
It is sometimes used in the manufacture of
tools, handles, and portions of machiner)\
The tree is also called Southern crab apple.
The fruit is used for jelhes and cider.
This is one of the most charming of North
American trees on account of its abundance
of showy, fragrant flowers.
2. AAIERICAN CRAB APPLE
Malus coronaria (Linnaeus) Miller
Pyrus coronaria Linnaeus
Also called Sweet crab, Fragrant crab and
Scented crab, this small tree is quite abun-
dant, often forming dense thickets, from On-
tario to ^Michigan, South Carolina, Missouri, Alabama and northern Louisiana.
It often attains a height of 9 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3.5 dm.
The trunk is short, its branches slender, spreading, often crooked, forming
a broad, round-headed tree; the bark is about
10 mm. thick, reddish brown, furrowed and
scaly; the twigs are white-woolly, soon becom-
ing smooth or nearly so, red-brown and finally
fight brown and bearing spine-like spurs; the
winter buds are small, blunt and bright red;
the leaves are membranous, ovate or some-
times nearly triangular, 3 to 8 cm. long, usually
sharp-pointed, rounded or slightly heart-shaped
at the base, margined by sharp glandular teeth,
or often lobed, red-brown and velvety beneath
when unfolding, soon becoming quite smooth,
bright green, with impressed veins above, paler,
smooth or nearly so, and prominently veined,
beneath, the slender, sorriewhat glandular leaf-
stalk 4 to 5 cm. long. The very fragrant flowers,
appearing in May, wlien the leaves have fully
expanded, are rose-colored, seldom white, 4 to 5 ig. 37 . — . mencan ra ppe.
cm. across, in few-flowered cymes, on slender smooth pedicels 1.5 to 4 cm. long;
the calyx-tube is urn-shaped, hairy, tlie lobes long, sharply pointed, hairy on the
inner surface; petals obovate, rounded, sometimes toothed or wavy margined; sta-
mens shorter than the petals; ovary and base of styles hair>\ The fruit ripens late
in autumn and remains hanging on the long, slender stalks for some time; it is de-
Western Crab Apple
433
pressed-globosc, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. in diameter, 2 cm. high, the basal hollow broad and
shallow; it is yellowish green and fragrant, covered by a sticky secretion; flesh
firm, translucent and very acid; seeds large, oval and dark brown.
The wood is very similar to that of the Narrow-leaved crab, except that it is
heavier, its specific gravity about 0.70. The fruit is also used for jellies and for
cider, and, hke the former species, it is a most desirable ornamental small tree.
3. WESTERN CRAB APPLE— Malus ioensis (Wood) Britton
Pyriis coronaria ioensis Wood. Pyrus ioensis Bailey
A small tree with stout spreading branches, resembhng the preceding species.
It is the common Crab apple of the central States, from Minnesota and Wisconsin
south to Kentucky and Texas. Its maxi-
mum height is 9 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 4.5 dm.
The bark is about 9 mm. thick and
broken up into elongated, persistent
scales of a red-brown color; the twigs
are densely white-woolly when young,
becoming nearly smooth, dark gray or
brown; the leaves are rather thick and
firm, ovate or oblong, 3 to 8 cm. long,
blunt or pointed at the apex, narrowed
or rounded at the base, blunt- toothed,
scalloped or somewhat lobed on the mar-
gin, white-woolly, becoming dark green
and smooth above, but remaining pale
and woolly beneath; leaf-stalk stout,
hair}% 2 to 5 cm. long. The flowers, ap-
pearing in April or May, are 4 to 5 cm.
Fig. 379. — Western Crab Apple.
across, on slender, hairy pedicels 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long; calyx-tube white- woolly, as
are its narrow, sharp-pointed lobes; styles united and hairy for some distance
from the base. The fruit is borne on a stout, hairy stalk 2 to 4 cm. long; it is de-
pressed-globose, 3 to 5 cm. in diameter, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. high, with the persistent
calyx in a shallow depression, the basal hollow narrow; it is yellow-green, fragrant,
and sour.
The Western crab apple is one of the handsomest of the American crab apples,
and should be more frequently planted in parks and large gardens. A double-
flowered form, known as Bechtel's crab, is a magnificent object, with its large,
double rose-colored flowers, and is often seen in our parks and gardens.
434
The Apples
4. SOULARD CRAB APPLE — Malus Soulardi (Bailey) Britton
Pyrus Soulardi Bailey
A small, stout, upright tree, similar to the other American crab apples in form
and flowers, but in fruit it rather resembles the common apple and is considered
by some authors to be a natural hybrid of it and one of the native species. It
occurs but sparingly from Minnesota southward to Texas.
The bark is scaly and brownish; twigs stout, densely white-woolly at first,
becoming smooth, red-brown and
finally dark gray-brown; winter buds
small, red-brown, the scales hairy-
margined. Leaves rather thick and
wrinkled, ovate-elliptic or obovate, 3
to 8 cm. long, mostly blunt at the
apex, rounded or somewhat heart-
shaped at the base, irregularly scal-
lop-toothed or occasionally lobed,
woolly when young, when old bright
green and smooth or nearly so above,
woolly beneath; leaf-stalk woolly, 2
to 2.5 cm. long. The flowers, ap-
pearing in May, are 5 cm. across,
rose pink, in rather dense cymes, on slender hairy pedicels; the bell-shaped calyx
is white- woolly, its lobes long, sharp-pointed, hairy; stamens large, orange- colored.
The fruit is flat-globose, about 5 cm. in diameter, 3 cm. high, suspended on
smooth, slender pedicels 2 to 4 cm. long, greenish yellow, fragrant, the flesh firm
and less acidulous than that of the other American crab apples, its basal hollow
broad.
It is cultivated in the north central States for its fruits, which are highly praised
for cider and jeUies, being used as a substitute for the Quince, where that fruit
will not thrive, and is also planted for ornament.
The Siberian Crab apple, Malus haccata (Linnaeus) Borckhausen, much culti-
vated for its fruit, has become spontaneous in northern New England; its fruit
is but little hollowed at the base, crimson to yellow.
Fig. 380. — Soulard Crab.
5. APPLE — Malus Malus (Linnjeus) Britton
Pyrus Mains Linnaeus
This well-known fruit tree is a native of western Asia, and is a frequent escape
to woods, thickets, and roadsides of the eastern United States; its maximum height
is about 12 meters, with a trunk diameter up to 9 dm.
The trunk is usually short, with outspreading branches, forming a broad,
Oregon Crab Apple
435
round-headed tree; the bark is 8 to lo mm. thick, brown-gray, and broken into
small irregular thin flat plates. The twigs are rather stout, densely hairy, light
green, becoming reddish or purpHsh brown,
finally smooth and dark gray-brown; the
winter buds are large, blunt and hairy; the
leaves are thick, somewhat fleshy, broadly
ovate to oval, 2 to 5 cm. long, blunt or ab-
ruptly pointed, rounded or somewhat heart-
shaped at the base, margin toothed or nearly
entire, dark green, smooth or nearly so above,
hairy or woolly beneath; leaf-stalk hairy, as
long as the leaf-blade or nearly so. The
flowers are white or pinkish, 3 to 8 cm.
across, in few-flowered cymes, on stout,
woolly pedicels 2 to 5 cm. long; calyx-tube
urn-shaped, very woolly, as are its lobes,
which are narrowly triangular and sharp-
pointed; petals broadly obovate, rounded at
the apex and usually entire; styles hairy.
The pome is depressed, globular, or rarely
elongated, with persistent calyx lobes at the top,
hollowed at the base, 2 to 8 cm. in diameter;
flesh of wild fruit usually coarse and sour.
The wood is hard, close-grained, red-brown; its specific gravity is about 0.80.
It is used in the manufacture of tools and machinery. As a fruit and ornamental
tree it is too well known to require further description; some of the dwarf and
double-flowered forms should be more often seen in private grounds and pubHc
parks.
Fig. 381. — Apple.
6. OREGON CRAB APPLE— Malus diversifoUa (Bongard) Roemer
Pyriis diversifoUa Bongard. Malus rivularis Roemer. Pyrus rivularis Douglas
This small tree or shrub occurs in rich moist lands along streams from Alaska
southward to central Cahfomia, attaining its greatest development in Washington
and Oregon, where it reaches a maximum height of 12 meters, with a tmnk diam-
eter of 4.5 dm. usually much smaller, however, and often forming thickets.
The bark is about 6 mm. thick, broken into thin, loose, reddish brown plates:
the winter buds are small, blunt and brown; twigs hair}% gradually becoming
smooth, bright red, shining, and finally dark brown. The leaves are firm in tex-
ture, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 2.5 to 8 cm. long, sharp or taper-pointed, nar-
rowed, rounded or subcordate at the base, margined by short, sharp, glandular
teeth, sometimes 3-lobed, dark green and smooth, with impressed venation above,
pale, slightly hair}^ or smooth, and prominently veined beneath; leaf-stalk stiff.
436
The Serviceberries
stout, haity, 2.5 to 4 cm. long. The flowers are 15 mm. across, in short racemose
leafy-based cymes, on slender,
hair}% glandular or smooth pedi-
cels; the calyx-tube is obconic,
smooth or nearly so, the lobes
are small, sharp-pointed, very
woolly on the inner surface, de-
ciduous in fruit; the petals are
obovate to orbicular, irregularly
toothed or wavy margined ; styles
smooth. The fruit ripens from
August to October, is obovoid-
oblong, about 8 to 10 mm. in
diameter, often twice as long, yel-
low to red ; the flesh is thin, dry,
pleasantly acidulous; the seeds
are relatively large.
The fruit was an important
food for the Indians, who dried
Fig. 382. — Oregon Crab Apple.
it for winter use. The wood is hard, close-grained, satiny, and pinkish red; its
specific gravity is about 0.83 ; it is made into mallets and tool handles. The fruit
differs from typical apples in not being sunken in at the base. Mains Macounii
Greene, of British Columbia, is, in our judgment, a form of this species. Mains
jusca (Rafinesque) Schneider, an older name, is not certainly applicable.
IV. THE SERVICEBERRIES
GENUS AMELANCHIER MEDICUS
]BOUT 30 species of Amelanchier, all unarmed trees and shrubs, have
been described ; they abound in the temperate portions of the northern
hemisphere, being most abundant, as to species, in North America,
where, in addition to the arborescent kinds, about 17 species of shrubs
are reported, one of them occurring in the mountains of Mexico.
The leaves are simple, entire, or variously toothed, stalked and stipulate. The
flowers are perfect, disposed in racemes or rarely solitary, appearing with the
leaves; the calyx-tube is bell-shaped, adnate to the ovar}^, its 5 lobes narrow, re-
flexed and persistent; the 5 petals are st rap- shaped ; the many stamens are inserted
with the white petals^ in the throat of the calyx, filaments awl-shaped; the ovary
is inferior, its cavities becoming double the number of styles, of which there are
2 to 5; these are united and hairy at the base. The fruit is a small, berry-like
pome, with persistent remnants of calyx and stamens at the top, 4-to lo-celled,
each cell containing a small, erect cartilaginous coated seed.
The fruits of most of these plants, which are also called June-berries, are edible,
The Serviceberries
437
having a pleasant taste and flavor; their small size, however, prevents their more
general use. It is to be hoped that horticulturists will eventually succeed in their
endeavor to secure improved varieties with larger fruit.
The name applied to these plants is the Savoyan name of the European service-
berry, Aniclanchier Amelanchier (Linnaeus) Sargent, the type of the genus.
The arborescent species in our area are:
Eastern trees; leaves mostly serrate or serrulate nearly to the base.
Top of ovary smooth, or nearly so; leaves mostly acute or acuminate
at the apex.
Young leaves and inflorescence smooth or slightly hairy; leaves mostly
cordate or rounded at the base. i. A.
Young leaves and inflorescence white-woolly; leaves mostly narrowed
or rounded at base, rarely subcordate. 2. A.
Top of ovary woolly; leaves rounded, obtuse or subacute at apex.
Leaves coarsely toothed. 2. A.
Leaves finely loothed. 4. A.
Western trees; leaves obtuse, toothed above the middle, seldom nearly to
the base.
Mature leaves firm, pale green. 5. A. alnijolia.
Mature leaves thin, bright green. 6. A. florida.
canadensis,
intermedia.
sanginnea.
alabamensis.
I. SERVICEBERRY — Amelanchier canadensis (Linnajus) Medicus
Mespilus canadensis Linnaeus. Amelanchier Botryapium de CandoUe
This medium-sized tree, also called Juneberry, and Service tree, occurs in dry,
hilly woods from Newfoundland to Ontario,
and Kansas, southward to Florida, and
Louisiana, attaining a maximum height of
18 meters and a trunk diameter of 7.5 dm.
Its branches are slender and spreading,
the tree becoming broad and round. The
bark is about 6 mm. thick, shallowly fissured
lengthwise, and broken into angular reddish
brown scales. The twigs are slender, smooth
or nearly so, soon becoming reddish, finally
dark red-brown; the buds are about 6 mm.
long, covered by brown scales. The leaves
are thick and firm, ovate or oval, 2.5 to 10
cm. long, or larger on vigorous young shoots,
sharp-pointed or taper- pointed, rounded or
heart-shaped at the base, rather coarsely
toothed, red-brown and slightly hairy when Fig. 383. - Serviceberry.
young, becoming smooth on both sides or sometimes persistently somewhat hairy
beneath, dull, dark green, with impressed midrib above, paler, with the midrib
438
The Serviceberries
prominent on the under side; the slender grooved leaf- stalks are 1.5 to 2.5 cm.
long. The flowers, opening when the leaves are about one fourth expanded, in
March or April to May, are in spreading or drooping racemes 7 to 10 cm. long,
on slender pedicels 1.5 to 3 cm. long; the bracts are purphsh, silky, but fall away
before the flowers open. The calyx is bell-shaped, nearly smooth, with lanceolate
sharp-pointed lobes, one fourth to one half the length of the petals, which are
linear-spatulate or Hncar-oblong, 1,2 to 1.8 cm, long; the ovary is smooth at the
top, or nearly so. The fruit, ripening in June or July, is red-purple, with a bloom
when fully ripe, about 6 mm. in diameter, and sweet; seeds about 3 mm. long.
The wood is hard, strong, close-grained, dark reddish brown, and satiny; its
specific gravity is about 0.78. It is sometimes used for tool-handles and portions
or machiner}^ as is the wood of many of the trees of the Apple family.
2. SWAMP SERVICEBERRY — Amelanchier intermedia Spach
Amelanchier Botryapium Hooker, not de CandoUe. Amelanchier obovalis Ashe
Anielanchier canadensis obovalis Michaux
Also called Shad bush and Swamp sugar pear, this is a small tree or shrub,
inhabiting moist soil, occurring from New Brunswick to Manitoba, southward to
Florida and Louisiana, reaching a maxi-
mum height of 9 meters, and a trunk diam-
eter of about 6 dm.
The trunk is straight when growing
singly; often, however, several trunks as-
cend together from a common base. The
bark is about 6 mm. thick, grayish brown,
scaly or quite smooth, with few fissures or
none. The twigs are slender and hairy,
becoming smooth or nearly so, dark red-
dish brown. The leaves are oval, oblong,
elHptic or obovate, 4 to 6 cm. long, or
those of young shoots larger, pointed at
apex, narrowed, rounded or sHghtly heart-
shaped at the base, margined nearly to the
base by sharp teeth, densely white-woolly
when young, becoming smooth when old,
dull green above, pale beneath. The
flowers, opening before the leaves are fully expanded, in April or May, are in
short, often dense, white-woolly racemes 2.5 to 6 cm. long, on short hairy pedi-
cels I to 2 cm. long; the calyx-tube and its long lobes are densely white- woolly, the
lobes, one third to one half the length of the spatulate petals, which are 6 to 14
mm. long; the ovary is nearly smooth at the top. The fruit is globular, ^bout 8
Fig. 384. — Swamp Servicebcrry.
Alabama Serviceberry
439
mm. in diameter, dark purple when ripe, juicy, and sometimes of better flavor
than that of the Serviceberr}^'.
ROUND-LEAVED SERVICEBERRY-
Lindley
Amelanchier sanguinea (Pursh)
Amelanchier rotundifolia (Michaux) Rcemer. Pyriis sanguinea Pursh
This small tree or shrub occurs in woods and thickets from New Brunswick
to New York and Minnesota, and south-
ward, along the mountains, to North
CaroHna. Its maximum height is 6
meters, with a tmnk diameter of about
3 dm.
The bark is quite smooth and Hght-
colored. The twigs are slender, red or
gray-brown. The leaves are thick and
firm, broadly oval, ovate or suborbicu-
lar, 4 to 8 cm. long, usually blunt or
rounded at each end, sometimes ab-
ruptly blunt-pointed, often heart-shaped
at the base, margined to the base, or
nearly so by large, often incurved teeth,
bright green above, smooth on both
sides almost from the first, pale or
whitish beneath, the midrib prominent
and yellowish, the leaf-stalk stout. The
flowers appear in May, in short, smooth
Fig. 385. — Round-leaved Serviccbern-.
racemes; the calyx is smooth, its lobes lanceolate; the petals are spatulate or ob-
lanceolate, i to 1.6 cm. long; the ovary is woolly at the top. The fruit is globose,
6 to 8 mm. in diameter, the stout pedicels 2 to 4 cm. long.
4. ALABAMA SERVICEBERRY — Amelanchier alabamensis Britton
The type specimens of this species, here described as new, were collected by
Professor F. S. Earle and Mr. C. F. Baker ( No. 1610) in the spring of 1898, at
Auburn, Lee county, Alabama, from a tree 5 meters in height.
The young shoots are loosely hairy, the older ones smooth and gray-brown;
the winter buds are oblong, blunt-pointed, 4 or 5 mm. long. The leaves are ovate
to elhptic, or some of them obovate, 8 cm. long or less, 2.5 to 5 cm. wide, rather
abruptly pointed at the apex, rounded or sHghtly heart-shaped at the base, densely
whitish-woolly on the under surface and somewhat hairy on the upper side when
young, sparingly but persistently hairy beneath, and smooth, dark green and
shining on the upper surface when old, finely toothed, their hairy stalks half as
440
The Serviceberries
long as the blades or less. The
tree flowers in late February or early
March; the axis of the racemes, the
pedicels, and the ovate pointed ca-
lyx-lobes arc loosely hairy, becom-
ing smooth when old; the top of
the ovary is white-woolly. The
fruit is about 9 mm. in diameter.
5. ROCKY MOUNTAIN
SERVICE TREE
Amelanchier alnifolia Nuttall
Fig. 386. — Alabama Ser\4ceberry.
Amelanchier oreophila A. Nelson
While nearly always a mere shrub, this species occasionally develops, under
favorable conditions, into a small tree with a maximum observed height of about
5 meters. It inhabits hillsides and the banks of lakes and streams from western
Ontario to the valley of the Yukon River, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Nevada.
The young twigs are loosely hair}% soon becoming smooth and gray-brown to
reddish brown; the winter buds are oblong, 4 or 5 mm. long, their scales smooth
or somewhat hairy. The leaves are
pale green, usually more or less hairy
when young, becoming smooth or
nearly so, and firm in texture when
mature; they vary from nearly orbic-
ular to elHptic or obovate-elUptic and
from 2 to 5 cm. long seldom twice as
long as wide, and are rather coarsely
and sharply toothed toward the apex,
the serrations sometimes extending
below the middle; their stalks are
hairy or smooth and usually less than
half as long as the blades. The
flowers are in short, loosely hairy, or
nearly smooth racemes, and open in
May or June, when the leaves are
nearly fully grown in size, though they
become much thicker later in the sea-
son; the calyx-lobes are lanceolate to
ovate-lanceolate, pointed, hairy, becoming smooth; the petals are linear, oblong-
linear or oblanceolate, 8 to 16 mm. long. The fruit is dark blue, about i cm. in
diameter, juicy and edible.
Fig. 387. — Rocky Mountain Service Tree.
Tollon
441
6. NORTHWESTERN SERVICE TREE - Amelanchier florida Lindley
Amelanchier Gormani Greene. Amelanchier Cusickii Fernald
The Northwestern Juneberry occurs along streams and lakes and on hillsides
from Alaska to Washington, Montana, and CaHfomia, sometimes becoming 7
meters high, with a trunk 2 to
2.5 dm. in diameter; it is usually
smaller, however, and often a
shrub. It has been confused
with Amelanchier alni folia by
most authors, but is regarded as
distinct from that species by re-
cent students of our northwest-
em flora.
Its bark is thin, brown,
nearly smooth. The young
twigs vary from smooth to
loosely hairy; the winter buds
are about 5 mm. long, either
smooth or with somewhat hairy
scales. The leaves are thin.
Fig. 388. — Northwestern Service Tree.
rather bright green, either smooth or hairy when young, always nearly or quite
smooth when mature ; they are mostly elliptic or ovate-oblong, varying to obovate,
sometimes twice as long as wide, 3 to 6 cm. long, obtuse at the apex, rounded,
slightly cordate, or sometimes narrowed at the base, rather coarsely toothed above
the middle, sometimes toothed to about two thirds of the way toward the base;
their stalks are smooth or hairy, usually less than half as long as the blades. The
racemes of flowers are short and rather dense. The blue-black often glaucous
fruit is larger than that of the other species, sometimes 2 cm. in diameter, and is
much collected for food.
V. TOLLON
GENUS HETEROMELES RCEMER
Species Heteromeles arbutifolia (Aiton) Roemer
Cratcegiis arbutifolia Aiton
LSO called Toyon, Christmas berr}', and CaHfomia holly, this tree
occurs in western CaHfomia, Lower California, and on the adjacent
islands. Upon the latter it attains the greatest development, reaching
a height of 9 meters, with a trunk diameter of 4.5 dm.; often, how-
ever, it is merely a much-branched shmb.
442
ToUon
The trunk is straight but short, and divided into numerous branches, the tree
being round-topped; the bark is 1.5 to 2 cm. thick, rather smooth, but with a few
shallow fissures, hght gray and somewhat aromatic; the twigs are round, pale-
hairy at first, but eventually become smooth and red-brown. The leaves, which
remain upon the plant for two or three seasons, are alternate, oblong to oblong-
lanceolate, 8 to 10 cm. long, sharply stiff-pointed, sHghtly rounded or wedge-shaped
at the base, irregularly sharp-toothed or nearly entire, dark green and shining,
with midrib deeply impressed above, paler and prominently net- veined beneath;
the petiole is i to 2 cm. long; the
minute stipules fall away early.
The flowers, appearing in summer
with the new fohage, are in ter-
minal compound panicles 10 to 15
cm. broad, more or less leafy
bracteate and very hairy; the ca-
lyx-tube is hairy below, smooth
above, the short lobes triangular,
spreading and persistent; the 5
petals are broadly wedge-shaped,
notched or irregularly toothed at
the apex, smooth and white; the
stamens are inserted with the pet-
als in pairs opposite the calyx-
lobes, their filaments are awl-shaped, incurved, the anthers oblong to ovate, open-
ing lengthwise; the pistil consists of 2 partly united inferior woolly carpels; the
styles are terminal, distinct, enlarged at the apex into broad stigmas ; ovules 2 in
each cell. The pome is obovoid to oblong, red or rarely yellow, fleshy; the hol-
low top is filled by white hairs; it is nearly i cm. long, mealy, astringent, and
ripens in December; there is usually one seed in each cell.
The wood is very hard, close-grained, and reddish brown; its specific gravity
is about 0.93. The brilliant, persistent fruit and dark glossy foHage should insure
it a place in all ornamental plantations where it will thrive; it is hardy in the
southern States and in southern Europe. The branches are largely collected in
its native region for Christmas and other decorations.
This genus, which is monotypic, receives its name from the Greek, in allusion
to its differences from other genera of the family.
F1G.389. — Tollon.
The Thorn Trees 443
VI. THE THORN TREES*
GENUS CRAT^GUS LINN^US
PECIES of this genus occur in the north temperate zone, and southward
along the highlands of Mexico and South America, but eastern North
America is the center of its distribution, and here it ranges from
Newfoundland westward throughout the St. Lawrence basin and
southward all over the eastern United States, a few species occurring in the Rocky
Mountain States and on the Pacific slope. They are most abundant, both as to
varieties and individuals, in the limestone formations of the St. Lawrence- Great
Lakes region and the Missouri-Arkansas region, few occurring near the Atlantic
coast.
Previous to 1899 about 65 species were known, about 25 of which were North
American, but since then over 600 species of these trees and shrubs have been
described. Many of these proposed new species have been based on such unstable
characters as the number of the stamens and the color of their anthers, and con-
siderable careful investigation will be necessary before the validity of many of
them is accurately determined. It seems likely that some of these forms are
natural hybrids between species. The trees here described seem to be distinct
species, and others which have been proposed may prove to be so when further
studied.
They are usually spiny, much-branched shrubs or small trees, with dark brown,
scaly bark, the winter buds globose or subglobose, bright chestnut-brown. The
leaves are deciduous, alternate, simple, toothed, lobed or sometimes deeply cut;
the leaves of the young vigorous shoots are generally much larger, and often more
deeply lobed than those of the older branches; the stipules are linear, glandular-
toothed, deciduous, but on young shoots often large and persistent. Flowers
white, rarely some shade of red, borne in simple or compound cor}^mbs, generally
with linear, bright-colored, glandular, deciduous bracts; calyx-tube cup-shaped
or bell-shaped, adhering to the carpels, its 5 lobes pointed or long-pointed, gen-
erally glandular- toothed, rarely leafy, persistent on the fruit or deciduous; petals
5, rounded, inserted in the mouth of the calyx; stamens 5 to 25, often variable in
the same species; filaments thread-like, incurved; anthers oblong to suborbicular,
white, yellow, pink, or purple ; ovary inferior or its summit free, composed of from
I to 5 carpels; styles i to 5, free, commonly surrounded at the base by a tuft of
hairs; stigmas terminal, persistent; fruit subglobose, ovoid, oblong or pear-shaped;
red, green, yellow, purple, blue or black; flesh thin or thick, hard and dry in some
groups, soft, succulent or mealy and edible in others, containing i to 5 one-seeded
nutlets (in C. Oxyacantha 2-seeded); seeds erect, flattened.
When the trees become better known they will be largely used in ornamental
planting, for screens, borders, and hedges, on account of their beautiful flowers,
which, by a proper selection of varieties, can be had from about May 15 to June 15,
* Contributed by Mr. W. W. Eggleston.
444
The Thorn Trees
in the North. The fruit is also verj- ornamental and lasts from August until
winter; it is also a favorite food of our native birds, and honey-bees visit the
flowers in myriads. As a hedge plant the Hawthorn has been used in the Old
World for centuries, but many of our native species are equally if not more desir-
able as such, and stand any amount of pruning. For individual lawn plants, they
are also very desirable, as is shown by the cultivated forms, a form of the Haw-
thorn with magnificent double red flowers being an especially striking example.
The fruits of several Old World forms are used as food, and a beverage was for-
merly made from them; in this country the fruits of C. astivalis and of other
southern species are made into preserves and jelHes; the fruit of C. mollis is sold
in the markets of Montreal, Canada, and no doubt others are used locally for the
same purposes; there are large-fruited kinds of economic value in Mexico. The
genus will bear more careful investigation by the pomologist.
The name is from the Greek, in reference to their hard, compact wood, which
is used for tool-handles and mallets. The European Hawthorn, Crakpgiis Oxya-
cantha Lirmeeus, is the generic type.
1. Introduced species. Nutlets 2-seeded. Leaves deeply cut; fruit red,
oblong to globose; corymbs many-flowered. i
2. Native species. Nutlets i to 5, i-seeded. Leaves entire, cut or lobed.
A. Nutlets without cavities on their inner faces.
* Fruit red, yellow or green; nest of nutlets with or without sinuses,
t Nest of nutlets with sinuses.
X Fruit ripening in autumn.
a Leaves entire, or several lobed.
b Fruit firm when ripe.
c Leaves broadest toward the apex,
d Leaves obovate to oblong; leaf-stalks glandless;
corymbs many-flowered; fruit ripening late;
flesh hard, greenish,
e Nutlets usually i to 3 (3 to 5 in Canhyi); leaves
leathery, dark green and shining above; fruit
red; flesh thin.
Corymbs and leaves smooth; nutlets i to 5.
Leaves narrow (wider in var. prunijolia) ; nut-
lets I or 2; nest of nutlets longer than
thick.
Leaves wide.
Nutlets 2 or 3; nest of nutlets of about
equal length and thickness.
Nutlets 3 to 5; nest of nutlets longer than
thick.
Corymbs and leaves hairy; nutlets 2 or 3; nest
of nutlets of about equal length and thick-
ness.
C. Oxyacanlha.
2. C. Crus-galli.
3. C. Palmeri.
4. C. Canbyi.
Leaves broad, fruit smooth.
Leaves narrow, fruit hairy,
ee Nutlets usually 3 to 5; leaves thin, impres-sed
5. C. fccunda.
6. C. berberijolia.
The Thorn Trees
445
i
veined and dull above; fruit red or yellow
flesh thick.
Nutlets 3 or 4; leaves narrow.
Nutlets usually 3; nest of nutlets longer than
thick; leaves smooth, bright dark yellow-
green above.
Nutlets 3 or 4; nest of nutlets of about equal
length and thickness; leaves hair)', dull gray-
green above.
Nutlets 5; nest of nutlets shorter than thick;
leaves wide,
dd Leaves short -obovate to spatulate; leaf-stalks, leaves
and corymbs conspicuously glandular; corymbs
few-flowered; nutlets usually 3 or 4; fruit green,
orange or red, subglobose or oblong, hard;
leaves thin; twigs conspicuously zigzag.
Corymbs smooth; nest of nutlets shorter than
thick.
Corymbs hairy.
Fruit smooth.
Fruit yellow-green; nest of nutlets shorter than
thick; leaves obovate.
Fruit red; nest of nutlets of about equal length
and thickness; leaves spatulate.
Fruit, twigs, and leaves hairy; nest of nutlets of
about equal length and thickness.
cc Leaves broadest at the middle.
Fruit smooth; nutlets 3 to 5; fruit red, subglobose
to oblong; flesh thin; corj-mbs smooth, many-
flowered; leaves 3-lobed, smooth, bright dark
green above.
Fruit bright red, 5 to 7 mm. thick.
Fruit dull brick red, 6 to 9 mm. thick.
Fruit hairy.
Nutlets 3 to 5; nest of nutlets shorter than thick;
corjTnbs hair}', many-flowered; leaves thick,
hairy above when mature, orbicular-ovate; flesh
thick; fruit globose, orange-red.
Nutlets 5, the nest of about equal length and
thickness; leaves thin, smooth above when ma-
ture, oblong to oval; fruit oblong to globose,
orange-red; flesh thin; cor^-mbs many-flowered.
ccc Leaves broadest toward the base.
Nutlets usually 3 or 4; sinus between nutlets shallow;
nest of nutlets shorter than thick; fruit greenish or
reddish yellow, nearly globular, angular; flesh thick,
hard; corymbs few-flowered; leaves half-leather}',
yellow-green.
Nutlets usually 3 to 5; sinus between nutlets deep;
nest of nutlets shorter than thick; fruit depressed
globose to short oblong, angled, wa.xy; flesh
7. C pausiaca.
8. C. punctata.
9. C. siiborbiculata.
10. C. lacrimata.
11. C flava.
12. C. recurva.
13. C. dispar.
14. C. viridis.
15. C. nitida.
16. C. Harhisoni.
17. C Berlandieri.
18. C. Bovntoni.
446
The Thorn Trees
thick and hard; corymbs smooth, many-flow-
ered; leaves thin but firm, smooth with age.
Fruit green tinged with scarlet, prominently angled,
young fruit conspicuously waxy.
Fruit cherry-red; terminal leaves heart-shaped at
the base.
bb Fruit soft when ripe.
Leaves broadest toward the apex; nutlets 4 or 5; nest
of nutlets shorter than thick; fruit hairy; leaves
obovate.
Fruit red.
Nutlets ear-shaped; fruit becoming smooth; leaves
thin, dull above; calyx-lobes spreading; corymbs
many-flowered.
Nutlets rounded at both ends; leaves thick, shining
above; calyx-lobes erect; corymbs few-flowered.
Fruit lemon-yellow; nutlets 5; leaves thin, bright
dark green above.
Leaves broadest at the middle.
Nutlets usually 2 to 4; fruit red, nearly globular;
corymbs many-flowered; leaves thin but firm.
Nutlets 2, nearly smooth on the back.
Nutlets 2 to 4, strongly ridged on the back.
Nest of nutlets shorter than thick; fruit about 10
mm. thick, dark red; leaves 3 to 5 cm. wide.
Nest of nutlets longer than thick; fruit about 15
mm. thick, carmine-red; leaves 4 to 7 cm.
wide.
Nutlets 5; nest of nutlets shorter than thick.
Leaves broadest toward the base.
Fruit smooth.
Nutlets usually 3 or 4, with acute ends; fruit
oblong or pear-shaped; flesh thick, succulent,
edible; corymbs many-flowered; leaves thin,
smooth with age.
Fruit pear-shaped; nutlets usually 4; nest of nut-
lets longer than thick; leaves oblong-ovate,
thin.
Fruit oblong or ovoid; nutlets 3 or 4; nest of nut-
lets of about equal length and thickness;
leaves wedge-ovate.
Nutlets usually 5, with rounded ends; nest of nut-
lets shorter than thick; fruit large, smooth, scar-
let, subglobose to short-oblong, five-angled, calyx
prominent; flesh thick and soft, edible; leaves thin,
smooth, often broader than long, prominently
lobed; corymbs smooth, generally many-flowered.
Fruit hairy; nest of nutlets shorter than thick.
Leaves slightly lobed; nutlets usually 3 to 5;
fruit large, scarlet, hairy, oblong; flesh thick,
edible; corymbs many-flowered; leaves thin.
n
19. C. priiinosa.
20. C. silvicola.
21. C. pyrijormis.
22. C. Ashei.
23. C. brazoria.
24. C. Margaretta.
25. C. rotundifolia.
26. C. Jonesce.
27. C. collina.
/
\
28. C. tenuifolia.
29. C. pentandra.
30. C. coccinioides.
The Thorn Trees
447
becoming smooth above, broad; young foliage
red-bronze.
Nutlets usually 4 or 5; leaves hairy.
Nutlets 5; leaves and corymbs woolly -hair)-.
Leaves often deeply lobed.
Flesh thin; nutlets 5; leaves thin; leaves scab -
rate above when mature, elliptic-ovate;
fruit depressed globose, red.
Flesh thick; nutlets usually 5; fruit large, hairy,
subglobose, oblong or pear-shaped, red,
edible; corymbs hairy, many-flowered;
leaves thin, yellow-green, broad, promi-
nently lobed; young foliage yellow-
green.
Leaves and young twigs hairy.
Fruit red or crimson, sometimes 25 mm.
thick; nutlets 7 to 9 mm. long, 10 mm.
thick; leaves 4 to 10 cm. wide, 4 to 13
cm. long.
Fruit scarlet, sometimes 15 mm. thick; nut-
lets 6 to 8 mm. long, 7 to 9 mm. thick;
leaves 3 to 8 cm. wide, 3 to 8 cm. long.
Leaves and young twigs densely woolly-
hairy; fruit bright cherry-red; nutlets 6
to 8 mm. long, 8 to 11 mm. thick,
aa Leaves conspicuously 3- to 5 -lobed; fruit small, depressed-
globose, red; nutlets 5, with conspicuous calyx-scar; flesh
thin; leaves half-leathery, bright green above; corymbs
smooth, many-flowered.
J J Fruit ripening in spring; sinuses between nutlets deep; nest
of nutlets shorter than thick; nutlets 5; fruit subglobose,
red; flesh thick, soft, edible; corymbs woolly-hair)', few-
flowered; leaves rusty woolly-hairy,
tt Nest of nutlets without sinuses; nutlets 2 to 5, calyx-scar con-
spicuous; fruit small, oblong, scarlet; corymbs many-
flowered; leaves hairy, veins extending both to the points of
the lobes and the bottoms of the sinuses.
Nutlets 2; leaves deeply cut.
Nutlets 5; leaves entire.
** Fruit blue-black; nest of nutlets without sinuses; nutlets 3 to 5, calyx-
scar conspicuous; nest of nutlets shorter than thick; fruit sub-
globose; flesh thin; corymbs smooth, many-flowered; leaves
smooth, half-leathery, dark green and shining above, narrowed
at the base, veins extending both to the points of the lobes
and the bottoms of the sinuses.
B. Nutlets with a shallow cavity on each inner face, or cavities on indi-
vidual nutlets sometimes faint or wanting; fruit red.
Nutlets usually 3 to 5; leaves thin but firm, bright yellow-green
above.
Nutlets 3 or 4; leaves and cor\'mbs nearly smooth.
Nutlets 5; leaves, corymbs and fruits densely hairy.
31. C. Pringlei.
32. C. lexana.
33- C. gravida.
34. C. mollis.
35. C. canadensis.
36. C. lanuginosa.
37. C. Phcenopyrum
38. C. (Bstivalis.
39. C. Marshallii.
40. C. spathulata.
41. C. brachyacantha.
42. C. Columbiana.
43. C. laitrentiana.
448
The Thorn Trees
Nutlets usually 2 to 4; leaves half-leathery, bright green and
shining above.
Nutlets usually 2 or 3.
Fruits, corymbs, and leaves hair}'.
Fruits, corymbs, and leaves smooth.
Nutlets usually 3 or 4.
C. Nutlets with distinct cavities on their inner faces.
Nutlets usually 2 or 3, with i deep cavity on each inner face; fruit
red; leaves hairy beneath, at least along the veins, often hairy
above; spines 3 to 10 cm. long; corymbs hairy, many-flowered.
Fruit subglobose to short-oblong, dark red; flesh succulent;
leaves leathery, dark green and shining above.
Fruit pear-shaped to oblong, crimson; leaves thin, dull green,
hairy, and with impressed veins above.
Nutlets with several shallow cavities on each inner face; fruit black,
short-oblong to subglobose; nutlets 3 to 5, ear-shaped, with a
conspicuous caly.x-scar; leaves smooth beneath, half -leathery;
spines i to 3 cm. long.
Leaves broad; corj'mbs hairy.
Leaves narrow; corj'mbs smooth.
Leaves lanceolate-elliptic; nutlets usually 4.
Leaves small rhombic-elliptic; nutlets 5.
44. C. pertomentosa.
45. C asperijolia.
46. C. Brainerdi.
47. C. macracantha.
48. C. Chapmani.
49. C. Douglasi.
50. C. rividaris.
51. C. saligna.
I. HAWTHORN — Crataegus Oxyacantha Linnaeus
This common species of the Old World has sparingly escaped from cultivation
along roadsides and in thickets in the east. It
is a shrub or a small tree, sometimes 6 meters
high, with ascending or nearly erect branches
forming an oblong crown; the bark is dark
brown and scaly ; the twigs are reddish brown,
smooth, often end in spines, and are armed
with sharp chestnut-brown spines i cm. long
or more.
The leaves are ovate, 3-lobed to 7-lobed
or cleft, toothed or doubly toothed, with small,
flattened teeth, i to 4 cm. long, i to 4.5 cm.
wide, sHghtly hairy or nearly smooth when
young, becoming smooth, except on the
lower side of the veins when mature, dark
green on the upper surface, paler beneath,
pointed at the apex, wedge-shaped, often ab-
ruptly so at the base; leaf-stalks 5 to 20 mm.
long. The flowers are white or pink, about 15 mm. wide, numerous in smooth
corymbs; the calyx-lobes are triangular, rounded or pointed; stamens about 20;
anthers pink; styles 2 or 3. The fruit ripens in October, is globose or subglobose,
Fig. 390. — Hawthorn.
Cock-Spur Thorn
449
about 6 mm. thick, red, the persistent calyx-lobes reflexed; its flesh is yellow, mealy,
insipid; nutlet i, slightly pointed at the apex, ridged lengthwise. Also called
English hawthorn, Whitethorn, May hawthorn and May.
2. COCK-SPUR THORN — Crataegus Crus-galU Linn^us
This species occurs from the vicinity of Montreal, Canada, southward along
Lake Champlain to Connecticut, Virginia, and through the Appalachian foothills
to northern Georgia and Alabama and westward through southern Ontario and
southern Michigan to Missouri. It is a tree sometimes 8 meters high, with stout
and spreading branches; the bark is grayish brown, scaly; the twigs are smooth,
light brown to gray, and usually bear straight or shghtly curved, chestnut-brown
spines from 3 to 8 cm. long.
The leaves are obovate to elHptic, 2 to 12 cm. long, i to 3 cm. wide, pointed
or rounded at the apex, wedge-shaped and entire at the base, sharply toothed
toward the apex, smooth, thin, but becoming leathery, dark green and shining
above, paler beneath; leaf-stalks wing-
margined towards the apex, 5 to 20
mm. long. The flowers are about
15 mm. wide, numerous in smooth
corymbs; the calyx-lobes are hnear,
long-pointed, smooth or slightly short-
hairy; stamens about 10; anthers
pink; styles i to 3. The fruit ripens
late; it is short-oblong to subglobose,
about 15 mm. long, dull red, the calyx-
lobes reflexed; flesh greenish, firm, dry,
containing i to 3 (usually 2) nutlets, 8
to 9 mm. long, strongly ridged on the
back, the nest of nutlets 7 to 9 mm.
thick.
This species is very variable. C.
prunifolia Poiret is a broad-leaved va-
FiG. 391. — Cock-Spur Thorn.
riety, occurs from southern Ontario to southern Michigan and south to Pennsylva-
nia; variety pyracanthi folia Alton has narrower leaves, shghtly pubescent when
young, and smaller bright red fruit, and grows from northern Delaware to Ohio;
variety oblongata Sargent, having brighter colored oblong fruit, often 2.5 cm. long
and with acute nutlets, is found near Wilmington, Delaware, and in Bucks county,
Pennsylvania; variety capillata Sargent, with thinner leaves, shghtly hair}' cor}'mbs,
and commonly i nutlet, is found near Wilmington, Delaware.
450
The Thorn Trees
3. PALMER'S THORN — Crataegus Palmeri Sargent
Palmer's thorn occurs in southwestern Missouri.
It is a tree sometimes 7 meters high with stout, spreading branches, forming
a broad round-topped crown; the
twigs are smooth and are armed
with straight brown spines from 2
to 7 cm. long. The leaves are
ovate-orbicular, from 2 to 6 cm.
long and from 2 to 5 cm. wide,
pointed at the apex, wedge-shaped
at the base, coarsely toothed,
leathery, dark green and shining
above, Hght green beneath, smooth;
leaf-stalks about i cm. long, shghtly
wing-margined. The flowers are
about I cm. broad in many-
flowered, smooth corymbs; calyx-
lobes triangular, long-pointed, re-
FIG.3Q2.- Palmer's Thorn. ^^^^^^ toothed, smooth; stamens
about 10; anthers pale yellow; styles 2 or 3. The fruit, ripening late, is sub-
globose, dull green tinged with red, about i cm. thick; flesh yellow, dry, and
mealy; it contains 2 or 3 nutlets about 5 mm. long, the nest about 5 mm. thick;
nutlets strongly ridged on the back.
4. CANBY'S THORN - Crataegus Canbyi Sargent
Canby's thorn occurs from east-
em Pennsylvania to the shores of
Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. It is a
bushy tree, sometimes 6 meters high,
with long, ascending branches, form-
ing a broad, irregular head; the
young twigs are brown, becoming
light gray, and are armed with chest-
nut-brown spines from 2 to 4 cm.
long.
The leaves are oblong-obovate,
from 2.5 to 8 cm. long and from 2 to
6 cm. wide, pointed at apex, wedge-
shaped at base, doubly toothed,
sometimes lobcd, leathery, smooth.
Fig. 393. — Canby's Thorn.
dark green and shining above, paler and with conspicuous veins beneath; leaf-stalks
Barberry-Leaved Haw
451
slightly winged, glandular, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long. The flowers are about 15 mm.
wide, in many-flowered, smooth corymbs; the calyx- lobes are long- pointed, re-
motely glandular-toothed; stamens about 10; anthers pink; styles 3 to 5. The
fruit ripens late; it is short-oblong to globose, 10 to 15 mm. long, dark crimson
calyx-lobes reflexed; flesh thick, bright red, juicy; it contains 3 to 5 nutlets from
7 to 8 mm. long, the nest of nutlets from 6 to 7 mm. thick; they are rounded at
the ends and strongly ridged on the back, with a sinus between them.
5. FRUITFUL THORN — Crat«gus fecunda Sargent
This species occurs in rich woods and bottom lands, from southeastern Missouri
to southwestern Indiana. It is a tree from 6 to 8 m. high, with stout, wide-spread-
ing branches, forming a broad round-topped crown; the twigs are slightly hairy,
soon becoming smooth, Hght
orange-green turning ashy-gray,
and bear many slender nearly
straight chestnut-brown shining
spines from 5 to 7 cm. long.
The leaves are oblong-ovate
to broadly ovate, from 3 to 9 cm.
long and from 2 to 7 cm. wide,
dark green and shining above,
pale yellow-green beneath, Arm
in texture, with strongly marked
veins, the apex pointed or long-
pointed, the base wedge-shaped,
sometimes abruptly so, doubly
toothed nearly to the base,
slightly hairy when young, be-
coming glabrous except on the
veins beneath; leaf-stalks slightly winged, i to 2 cm. long, hairy. The flowers are
about 2 cm. wide in many-flowered, slightly long-hairy cor^-mbs; calyx-tube long-
hair}', its lobes lanceolate, pointed, coarsely toothed, with stalked dark red glands;
stamens about 10; anthers smafl, dark purple; styles 2 to 4. The fruit ripens
late; it is short-oblong to subglobose, from 20 to 25 mm. long, orange-red, with a
few hairs; calyx-lobes erect; flesh thick and hard, pale green, dry and sweet; it
contains 2 to 4 nutlets from 8 to 10 mm. long, the nest from 8 to 10 mm. thick;
they are rounded at the ends and strongly ridged on the back.
Fig. 394. — Fruitful Thorn.
6. BARBERRY-LEAVED HAW — Crataegus berberifoUa Torrey and Gray
This thorn occurs from North Carolina to Texas. It is a tree sometimes
12 meters high, with stout spreading branches, forming a broad flat-topped crown;
452
The Thorn Trees
the bark is dark gray, scaly; the young twigs are covered with matted white hairs
but become smooth with age and are
armed occasionally with slender red-
brown spines.
The leaves are oblanceolate-
obovate, 2 to 6 cm. long, i to 4 cm.
wide, pointed or short-pointed at
the apex, strongly wedge-shaped at
the base, finely toothed, rough hairy
and shining above, pale and hairy
below, particularly along the slender
midrib and veins, dark green, half
leathery; leaf-stalks densely woolly-
hairy, becoming smoother, winged
above, about i cm. long. The
Fig. 395.-Barbern'-leaved Haw. flowers are about 1 5 mm. wide in
long-hairy, few-flowered cor}^mbs; calyx-tube long-hairy, the lanceolate long-
pointed lobes slightly hairy, remotely toothed; stamens about 20; anthers yellow;
styles 2 to 3. The fruit ripens late in October; it is subglobose, about 10 mm.
thick, orange and red, slightly hairy, calyx- lobes spreading; flesh thin, yellow; it
contains 2 to 3 nutlets strongly ridged on the back, the nest of nutlets about 6
mm. long and 6 mm. thick.
7. PHILADELPHIA THORN — Crataegus pausiaca Ashe
Eastern Pennsylvania is the home of this species. It is a tree from 6 to 8
meters high, with spreading branches forming a flat or round crown; the bark is
dark brown, scaly; the young twigs
are orange-green, becoming gray,
and bear numerous stout, curved,
light brown spines from 4 to 6 cm.
long; the trunk sometimes has
branched spines 3 dm. long.
The leaves are oblanceolate-
obovate, 3 to 6 cm. long, 1.5 to 4
cm. wide, sharp-pointed to rounded
at the apex, wedge-shaped at the
base, doubly toothed above, dark
yellow-green with impressed veins
on the upper surface, paler be-
neath, slightly hairy when young, ^^^_ ^^^_ _ p,,^,^jp,j^ ^horn.
becommg smooth except on the
veins beneath, thin; leaf-stalks wing-margined, i to 2 cm. long. The flowers are
Large-Fruited Thorn
453
about 12 mm. wide, in many-flowered hairy corymbs; calyx-tube smooth near the
lobes; lobes smooth outside, hairy within, hnear, long-pointed; stamens lo to 20;
anthers dark rose; styles 2 to 4. The fruit ripens early in October; it is oblong-
pear-shaped, dull brick- red, about 15 mm. long and about 8 mm. thick, calyx-lobes
spreading; the flesh is hard, greenish yellow; it contains 2 to 4 nutlets, commonly
3 or 4, from 7 to 10 mm. long, the nest of nutlets 6 to 9 mm. thick; the nutlets are
strongly ridged on the back.
8. LARGE-FRUITED THORN — Crataegus punctata Jacquin
This species occurs from the Falls of Montmorency, Quebec, southward,
through western New England and along the Appalachian iMountains to northern
Georgia and westward to southeastern Minnesota, Iowa, and northern Illinois.
It ascends to 500 meters in Vermont and about 1800 meters in North Carolina
and Tennessee. It is a tree often 9 meters high, with branches usually horizontal.
Fig. 397. — Large-fruited Thorn, Van Cortlandt Park. N. Y. City.
forming in the older trees a conspicuously flat-topped head ; the bark is grayish
brown, scaly; the twigs are orange-brown, hair}', becoming gray and smooth, and
are armed with straight orange-brown to light gray s])incs from 2 to 5 cm. long.
The leaves are obovate, pointed or rounded at the apex, doubly toothed above,
from 2 to 8 cm. long, i to 5 cm. broad, hair}- beneath, especially along the veins,
454
The Thorn Trees
slightly hair}' above when young, becoming smooth, thick, dull gray-green; midrib
and veins strongly sunken in the upper
surface; leaf-stalks shghtly winged, i to
2 cm. long. The flowers are about 15
mm. wide in many-flowered, woolly-hairy
cor}'mbs; calyx-tube short-hairy, the lan-
ceolate pointed lobes less so; stamens
about 20; anthers white to pink; styles 3
to 5. The fruit ripens late; it is short-
oblong to subglobose, 12 to 25 mm. thick,
dull red, yellowish green to bright yellow,
dotted; calyx-lobes spreading; flesh firm,
dr}-; it contains 3 to 5, usually 3 or 4
nutlets, 8 to 9 mm. long, 8 to 10 mm,
thick, with ridged backs and pointed ends.
This species is also ver)^ variable.
The variety aurea Aiton, has yellow fruit,
lighter anthers, and slightly smaller nutlets than the type. Variety canescens Brit-
ton is a form with whitish woolly-hairy leaves and corj^mbs.
Fig. 398. — Large-fruited Thorn.
9. CAUGHNAWAGA THORN - Crataegus suborbiculata Sargent
This thorn occurs about the hmestone ridges of the Caughnawaga Indian
reservation and on the island of Mon-
treal, Quebec. It is a tree from 5 to
6 meters high, with spreading branches,
forming a broad flat-topped crown;
the twigs are smooth and are armed
with straight or curved chestnut-brown
spines, from 3 to 5 cm. long.
The leaves are ovate-orbicular,
from 2 to 7 cm. long, and from 2 to 6
cm. wide, the apex pointed, the base
broadly wedge-shaped, doubly toothed
or often lobed above the middle, thin,
smooth with impressed veins and dull
Fig. 399. — Caughnawaga Thorn.
dark green above, paler beneath; leaf-stalks winged above, glandular, i to 2 cm.
long. The flowers are about 2 cm. broad in several-flowered smooth corymbs,
calyx- lobes Hnear, long- pointed, with remote glandular teeth; stamens about 20;
anthers rose; styles 4 or 5. The fruit ripens very late, is subglobose, about 2 cm.
thick, dull green becoming tinged with red; flesh yellow, dry and hard; calyx-
lobes spreading; it contains 4 or 5 nutlets from 6 to 7.5 mm. long, the nest from 8
to ID mm. thick, the nutlets shghtly ridged on the back.
Summer Haw
455
lo. SMALL'S HAW — Crataegus lacrimata Small
Small's haw grows in sandy woods and along borders of streams of western
Florida. It is a large shrub or a small tree,
3 to 5 meters high, with drooping branches
forming a handsome round-topped crown; the
bark is ashy-gray, deeply furrowed; the twigs
are orange-brown becoming gray-brown, smooth,
and are armed with numerous small straight
chestnut-brown spines from i to 2.5 cm. long.
The leaves are wedge- spatulate, 10 to 20 mm.
long, 5 to 15 mm, wide, rounded, square cut, or
pointed at the apex, strongly wedge-shaped at
the base, glandular-toothed above the middle
with small curved teeth, 3'nerved, smooth, yel-
low-green, half-leathery; leaf-stalks shghtly
hairy, wing-margined above, 5 to 15 mm. long.
The flowers are about 2 cm. broad in i-to 5-
flowered smooth corymbs; calyx- lobes lanceo-
late, long- pointed ; stamens about 20; anthers
bright yellow; styles 3 to 5. The fruit ripens late in August; it is globose or short-
oblong, dull brownish yellow, about 8 mm. thick, calyx- lobes spreading; flesh thin,
yellow, dry; it contains 3 to 5 nutlets, commonly 3 or 4, 5 to 6 mm. long, shghtly
ridged on the back, the nest 6 to 7 mm. thick.
Fig. 400. — Small's Haw.
II. SUMMER HAW — Crataegus flava Alton
Fig. 401. — Summer Haw.
This species occurs in sandy thickets from
Virginia to Florida and Texas. It is a tree
sometimes 8 meters high, with spreading or
ascending branches, forming a broad irregular
top; the bark is dark brown, scaly; the twigs
are red-brown and armed with chestnut-
brown spines i to 6 cm. long.
The leaves are oval, ovate or obovate, 2
to 5.5 cm. long, 1.5 to 4 cm. broad, pointed
at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, cre-
nate-toothed or lobed toward the apex, with
gland-tipped teeth, thin, smooth at maturity,
yellow-green; leaf-stalks winged toward the
apex, glandular, 5 to 15 mm. long. The
flowers are about 15 mm. wide in few-flowered
hairy cor\'mbs; the calyx-tube is nearly smooth,
456
The Thorn Trees
the lobes slightly hairy on the inner surface, lanceolate, long-pointed, glandular-
toothed; stamens lo to 20; anthers pink; styles 3 to 5. The fruit is pear-shaped
or oblong, about 10 mm. thick, yellow or yellow-green, sometimes tinged with red;
the calyx- lobes are reflexed; the flesh is firm; it contains 3 to 5 nutlets, com-
monly 4, about 7 mm. long, strongly ridged on the back, the nest about 8 mm.
thick.
12. WEEPING THORN — Crataegus recurva Beadle
This species grows in dr\% sandy soil about Ocala, Florida. It is a shrub, or
a low tree, 3 to 5 meters high, with drooping branches forming a broad crown;
the bark is grayish brown, rough;
the twigs are woolly-hairy when
young, reddish brown, and are
armed with many slender straight
spines 6 to 15 mm. long.
The leaves are spatulate to ob-
ovate- wedge-shaped, 10 to 30 mm.
long, 5 to 20 mm. wide, slightly
hairy, particularly on the lower sur-
face when young, becoming smooth,
half-leather}^, rounded or broadly
pointed, often 3-lobed at the apex,
wedge-shaped at the base, often
abruptly so, glandular-dentate; leaf-
stalks conspicuously glandular, long-hairy, becoming smooth, 5 to 15 mm. long.
The flowers are about 15 mm. wide, soHtary, or in 2- or 3-flowered woolly- hairy
corymbs; calyx- lobes lanceolate, long-
pointed, nearly smooth, remotely glan-
dular-toothed; stamens about 20;
anthers pale yellow; styles 3 to 5. The
fruit ripens in August; it is pear-shaped,
7 to 9 mm. thick, red, calyx-lobes re-
curved; flesh thick and soft; nutlets 3
to 5, 6 to 7 mm. long, ridged on the
back, the nest 6 to 7 mm. thick.
13. CUTHBERT'S THORN
Crataegus dispar Beadle
Cuthbert's thorn occurs in sandy
soil about Aiken and Trenton, South
CI- J . . /-. • X, • Fig. 403. — Cuthbert's Thorn.
arolma, and Augusta, Georgia. It is
frequently a shrub, sometimes a small tree 6 to 8 meters high, with drooping
Fig. 402. — Weeping Thorn.
Southern Thorn
457
branches forming a broad, irregular head ; the bark is dark gray or nearly black,
furrowed; the twigs are dark red-brown, whitish woolly-hairy at first, becoming
smooth, and bear straight red-brown spines 3 to 5 cm. long.
The leaves are obovate to orbicular, 1.5 to 4 cm. long, i to 4 cm. wide, pointed
or rounded at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, doubly and irregularly toothed,
with from i to 3 pairs of lobes, the teeth gland-tipped, densely woolly-hairy when
young, becoming smoother above, blue-green; leaf-stalks quite woolly, becoming
hairy, glandular, shghtly wing-margined above, about i cm. long. Flowers about
15 mm. wide in densely white- woolly-hairy 3- to 7-flowered cor^'mbs; calyx-tube
densely white- woolly, the lanceolate lobes long-pointed, glandular- toothed, nearly
smooth below; stamens about 20; styles 3 to 5. The fruit ripens in August; it is
subglobose to oval, red, hairy at the ends ; calyx-lobes reflexed, woolly-hairy; flesh
thin, yellow, subacid; it contains 3 to 5 nutlets about 6 mm. long, with broad
ridges on the backs, the nest of nutlets about 6 mm. thick.
14. SOUTHERN THORN — Cratagus viridis Linnaeus
This thorn grows in low moist ground from Maryland to Florida and westward
to Missouri and Texas. It is a tree from 6 to 11 meters high, with spreading
branches forming a round crown, and gray
or pale orange-colored bark; the twigs are
reddish brown becoming gray, smooth, and
occasionally provided with slender spines
from 2 to 3 cm. long.
The leaves are oblong-ovate, 2.5 to 8
cm. long, I cm. to 4 cm. wide, acute at
the apex, sometimes either long-pointed or
broad-pointed, wedge-shaped at the base,
toothed or doubly toothed, sometimes with
one or two pairs of prominent lobes, slightly
hairy when young, becoming quite smooth,
except on the veins beneath, thin to
half-leather}^ dark green and shining above,
paler beneath; leaf-stalks from i to 2 cm.
long. The flowers are about 2 cm. wide in
many-flowered, smooth corymbs, the calyx-
lobes lanceolate, pointed, slightly hair}- on the upper surface; stamens about 20;
anthers yellow; styles 4 or 5. The fruit ripens late; it is globose or depressed-
globose, bright red or orange-red, 5 to 7 mm. thick, flesh thin and dry; nutlets
3.5 to 5 mm. long, ridged on the back, the nest from 5 to 6 mm. thick.
Fig. 404. — Southern Thorn.
458
The Thorn Trees
Fig. 405. — Shining Thorn.
15. SHINING THORN — Crataegus nitida (Engelmann) Sargent
Cratcegus viridis nitida Engelmann. Cratcegns denaria Beadle
This species occurs in bottom lands from southern Illinois (east St. Louis and
Wabash county), south to eastern Miss-
issippi. It is a tree sometimes 9 meters
high, the lower branches spreading and
the upper ones erect, making a rounded
crown; the bark is dark, scaly, the twigs
orange-brown to reddish brown, becom-
ing gray, smooth, and are occasionally
armed with brown spines from 3 to 5 cm.
long.
The leaves are oblong-ovate to oval,
from 3 to 8 cm. long, 2 to 6 cm. wide,
sharply pointed at both ends, or some-
times bluntish, coarsely doubly toothed,
often lobed, half-leathery, green and
shining above, paler beneath, smooth ex-
cept for a few hairs at the junction of
the veins on the under side of the young leaves; the leaf-stalks are winged above,
glandular, long-hairy towards the blade when young, i to 2 cm. long. The flowers
are about 2 cm. broad in many- flowered, smooth corymbs; calyx- lobes linear-
lanceolate, remotely glandular-toothed; stamens 10 to 20; anthers yellow; styles 3
to 5. The fruit ripens late; it is from 6 to 9 mm. thick, dull yellowish red to
brick-red, glaucous, with erect calyx-
lobes; the flesh is yellow, firm, mealy; it
contains 3 to 5 nutlets 4.5 to 7 mm. long,
ridged on the back, the nest 5 to 7 mm.
thick.
16. HARBISON'S THORN
Crataegus Harbisoni Beadle
Harbison's thorn occurs commonly
on the limestone hills about Nashville,
Tennessee. It is a tree sometimes 8 me-
ters high, with spreading branches form-
ing an open symmetrical crown; the bark
is gray-brown; the twigs are reddish
brown, hairy, becoming smooth and are
armed with dark reddish brown spines 3 to 5 cm. long.
The leaves are elliptic-obovate to orbicular, 3 to 10 cm. long, 2 to 9 cm. wide,
Fig. 406. — Harbison's Thorn.
Boynton's Thorn
459
pointed at the apex, wedge-shaped, often abruptly so, at the base, coarsely and
doubly toothed, thick, hairy on the upper surface, becoming rough, dark green
and shining, and with impressed veins above, paler beneath; leaf-stalks winged
above, glandular-hairy, from lo to 15 mm. long. The flowers are about 2 cm.
broad, in many-flowered hairy corymbs; calyx-tube densely hairy at the base
slightly hairy above; calyx-lobes lanceolate, pointed, green, slightly hairy, glandu-
lar-toothed; stamens 10 to 20; anthers yellow; styles 3 to 5. The fruit ripens
early in October; it is nearly globular, 10 to 13 mm. thick, bright red or orange-
red, calyx- lobes spreading; flesh yellow, thick, dr}^ and mealy, containing 3 to 5
nutlets ridged on the back, from 6.5 to 7.5 mm. long, the nest of nutlets 7 to 9
mm. thick.
17. BERLANDIER'S THORN — Cratsgus Berlandieri Sargent
Bcrlandier's thorn occurs in the bottom-lands of the Brazos River at Columbia
and Brazoria, Texas. It is a tree 5 to 6 meters high, with spreading branches,
forming a broad top; the bark is dark
brown and furrowed; the twigs are dull
reddish brown, whitish matted-hairy at
first, becoming smooth, and bear an occa-
sional straight gray spine 2.5 to 3.5 cm.
long.
The leaves are oblong-obovate to oval,
4 to 10 cm. long, 3 to 8 cm. wide, pointed
at the apex, strongly wedge-shaped at the
base, sharply and irregularly doubly toothed
nearly to the base, with 3 or 4 pairs
of broad, short lobes, hairy on the upper
surface, whitish woolly-hairy on the lower
side, becoming smooth and dark green ^^' '^°'^
above, paler beneath, thin; leaf-stalks woolly-hair}^, becoming smooth, winged
above, i to 2.5 cm. long. The flowers are about 15 mm. broad in many-flowered
whitish woolly-hairy corymbs; calyx woolly-hair}% its lanceolate long- pointed lobes
smoother on the upper surface, strongly glandular toothed; stamens about 20;
anthers yellow; styles 5. The fruit ripens about the middle of October; it is short-
oblong to subglobose, scarlet, about 15 mm, long; calyx-lobes erect, persistent;
flesh thin, yellow, dry and mealy; it contains about 5 nutlets about 7 mm. long,
ridged on the back, the nest about 7 mm. thick.
Bcrlandier's Thorn.
18. BOYNTON'S THORN — Crataegus Boyntoni Beadle
CratcEgtis intricata Sargent, not Lange
Boynton's thorn grows in open, rocky woods and in fields from western New
England south along the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia and west-
460
The Thorn Trees
ward to western New York and southern Missouri. It is a shrub i to 3 meters
high in the North, but often a tree 6 meters high in the South, with ascending,
unequal branches; the bark is dark
grayish brown, commonly smooth;
the twigs are reddish brown, smooth,
and are armed with an occasional
straight chestnut-brown spine 3 to 6
cm. long.
The leaves are elliptic-ovate, 2.5
to 7 cm. long, 2 to 5 cm. wide,
pointed or long-pointed at the apex,
wedge-shaped, often abruptly so, at
the base, thin, smooth, doubly toothed,
with erect teeth toward the apex,
commonly with three or four pairs of
pointed lobes, the lower lobes some-
times cut, the teeth gland-tipped;
leaf-stalks glandular, slightly winged
above, i to 3 cm. long. The flowers are about 2 cm. wide, in smooth, few-
flowered cor}^mbs; the lanceolate calyx-lobes are pointed, glandular- toothed, the
upper surface generally having a few hairs; stamens about 10; anthers light yel-
low. The fruit ripens late; it is depressed globose to pear-shaped, 10 to 15 mm.
thick, yellow-green to yellow-brown, flushed with red, the calyx-lobes spreading,
the flesh firm; it contains 3 or 4 nutlets 6 to 8 mm. long, strongly ridged on the
back, the nest of nutlets 7 to 9 mm. thick.
Fig. 408. — Boynton's Thorn.
19. WAXY THORN — Crataegus pruinosa (Wendland) K. Koch
Mespilus pruinosa Wendland
This species occurs in the Thou-
sand islands, thence southward through
western New England to the foothills
of the southern Appalachians and
westward to southern Wisconsin and
Missouri. It is a tree sometimes 6
meters high, with ascending branches
forming an irregular crown, or per-
haps more often a shrub with numer-
ous stems; the twigs are brown, be-
coming gray, smooth, and armed with
numerous slender chestnut-brown
spines 3 to 6 cm. long.
The leaves are elliptic to broadly yig. 409. — Waxy Thom.
Beadle's Wood-Thorn
461
ovate, 2.5 to 6 cm. long, 2.5 to 6 cm. wide, pointed or sharply pointed at the
apex, abmptly wedge-shaped, rounded or sometimes heart-shaped at the base,
doubly toothed, with three or four pairs of pointed lobes; young leaves thin but
j&rm, smooth, blue-green; leaf-stalks slightly winged above, glandular, 2 to 3 cm.
long. The flowers are about 2 cm, broad, in few-flowered smooth cor\'mbs;
calyx- lobes triangular, long-pointed, remotely toothed, with red stalked glands;
stamens 10 to 20; anthers hght pink; styles 3 to 5. The fruit ripens late; it is de-
pressed-globose, 5-angled, 12 to 15 mm. thick, apple-green, becoming a rich pur-
ple-red and covered with a waxy bloom; calyx-lobes erect, persisting; flesh firm,
yellow, sweet, mealy, containing 3 to 5 nutlets, commonly 5, from 6 to 8 mm. long,
ridged on the back, the nest 8 to 9 mm. thick.
20. BEADLE'S WOOD-THORN — Crataegus silvicola Beadle
Cratcegus filipes Ashe. Cratcegus sequax Ashe. Cratccgus Robbinsiana Sargent
This thorn occurs from western New England south to central Georgia and
northern Alabama and west to southern Michigan. It is a tree sometimes 9 meters
high, with ascending branches forming a small crown; the bark is slightly scaly;
the twigs are reddish brown becoming
ashy-gray, smooth, and are armed with
chestnut-brown curved spines 3 to 5
cm. long.
The leaves are triangular-ovate, 2
to 7 cm. long, 2 to 6 cm. wide, pointed
or long-pointed at the apex, rounded or
cut square, or, on the terminal shoots,
heart-shaped at the base, doubly
toothed, with three or four pairs of
lobes, the lower lobes often cut; they
are dark yellow-green, paler beneath,
thin and smooth; leaf-stalks glandular,
, rr^, ^ , Fig. 410. — Beadle's Wood-Thorn.
1 to 2 cm. long. 1 he flowers are about
2 cm. wide in several-flowered smooth cor}^mbs, the calyx-lobes broadly triangu-
lar, long- pointed, sometimes sHghtly hair)^; stamens about 10; anthers pink; styles
3 to 5. The fruit ripens late; it is subglobose, about 15 mm. thick, greenish red,
sometimes becoming cherry- red, slightly waxy when young; calyx-lobes spreading;
flesh firm, yellow or reddish yellow, mealy; it contains 3 to 5 nutlets 6 to 8 mm.
long, ridged on the back, the nest of nutlets 6 to 10 mm. thick.
462
The Thorn Trees
21. BUSH'S THORN — Crataegus pyriformis Britton
Bush's thorn occurs in rich bottom lands of southeastern Missouri. It is a
tree 8 to 9 meters high, with spreading branches forming a broad crown; the twigs
are hght green and long-hairy when
young, becoming gray and smooth, and
have an occasional sUm, chestnut-brown
spine 2 to 4 cm. long.
The leaves are broadly oval or obo-
vate-oval, 3 to 7 cm. long, 2 to 6 cm. wide,
pointed at the apex, strongly wedge-
shaped at the base, sharply and some-
times doubly toothed, usually slightly
hairy on the upper surface when young,
becoming smooth, hsLivy, especially along
the veins beneath, yellow-green above,
paler beneath, thin; leaf-stalks winged
at the apex, woolly-hairy, becoming
Fig. 411. -Bush's Thorn smoother, I to 3 cm. long. The flowers
are about 2.5 cm. wide, in many- flowered, long-hairy cor}^mbs; calyx-tube densely
long-hairy, the lobes lanceolate, long-pointed, slightly hairy, glandular-toothed; sta-
mens about 20; anthers pink; styles 4 or 5. The fruit ripens late, is oblong or
pear-shaped, about 12 mm. thick, bright cherry- red, calyx- lobes reflexed; flesh hght
yellow, juicy; it contains 4 or 5 nutlets about 8 mm. long and about 10 mm. thick;
the nutlets are ear-shaped, and are grooved on the back.
22. ASHE'S THORN - Crataegus Ashei Beadle
Ashe's thorn is known in the clay soils about Montgomery, Alabama. It is
a tree sometimes 6 meters high, with
ascending branches forming an oval top;
the bark is Hght gray or red-brown, be-
coming scaly with age; the twigs are
orange-brown or reddish brown, hair}%
becoming hght gray, smooth, and pro-
vided with slender, nearly straight spines
3 to 4 cm. long.
The leaves arc oblong-ovate or obo-
vate, 2 to 8 cm. long, i to 6 cm. wide,
abruptly long- pointed or pointed at the
apex, wedge-shaped at the base, sharply ^ , , , rr..
^ ° ' ' 1 / Fig. 412. — Ashes Thorn.
toothed, sometimes doubly toothed, with
erect teeth, hairy when young, the upper surface becoming simply rough with age,
Brown's Thorn 463
thick, dark green and shining above, paler beneath; leaf-stalks broadly winged
above, glandular, hair}-, becoming smooth, about i cm. long. The flowers are
about 2 cm. broad in few-flowered, long-hair}^ corj'mbs; calyx-tube long-hairy; ca-
lyx-lobes lanceolate, long-pointed, glandular- toothed, the outside nearly smooth,
inner surface hair}'; stamens about 20; anthers small, yellow; styles 3 to 5. The
fruit, ripening about the first of October, is globose-oblong, about 2 cm. thick,
bright red and hain.^; calyx- lobes erect or incurved, persistent; flesh thick and
yellow, containing 3 to 5 nutlets, 6.5 to 8 mm. long, the nest about 8 mm. thick;
nutlets shghtly grooved on the back, with a small sinus between them.
23. BRAZORIAN THORN — Crataegus brazoria Sargent
This species occurs in low rich woods on the banks of the Brazos river, Texas.
It is a tree sometimes 8 meters high, with ascending branches forming a round-
topped crown ; the young twigs
are shghtly hair}', becoming
smooth, and are unarmed, or
occasionally armed with long
gray spines.
The leaves are elliptic to
ovate or obovate, 3 to 6 cm.
long, 2 to 5 cm. wide, abruptly
pointed or blunt at the apex,
wedge-shaped at the base,
doubly toothed, with three or
four pairs of short pointed
sometimes irregular lobes, the ^'*=^- 4^3- - Brazorian Thom.
young leaves nearly smooth above, woolly-hairy beneath, particularly along the
veins, becoming smooth, dark green above, paler beneath, thin but firm; leaf-
stalks shghtly winged at apex, woolly-hair}^, becoming nearly smooth, i to 2 cm. long.
The flowers are about 2 cm. broad in many-flowered, woolly-hair}' cor}-mbs; calyx
hairy, the lobes lanceolate, long-pointed, glandular-toothed; stamens about 20;
anthers small, dark red; styles 5. The fruit ripens about the first of October; it
is subglobose, 8 to 12 mm. long, bright canar}'-yellow; flesh thin, hght yellow, dr}',
but sweet; it contains 5 nutlets, which are 6 to 7 mm. long, 7 mm. thick, and
grooved on the back.
24. BROWN'S THORN — Crataegus Margaretta Ashe
CratcEgns Brownii Britten
This species occurs from Ontario to Mar}land, western Virginia, central Iowa,
Alissouri, and middle Tennessee. It is a tree sometimes 8 meters high, or a large
shrub, with erect branches forming a narrow open crown; the bark is dark gray-
464
The Thorn Trees
brown; the twigs are orange-green, hairy, or sometimes smooth at first, and are
armed with curved chestnut-brown spines 2 to 4 cm. long.
The leaves are oblong-obovate, some-
times ovate, 2 to 6 cm. long, 2 to 4 cm.
wide, doubly toothed, with broad teeth
and broad pointed lobes, bluntly
pointed or rounded at the apex, wedge-
shaped at the base, shghtly hairy when
young, becoming smooth, dark green
above, paler beneath, half -leathery; leaf-
stalks slightly winged above, glandular,
1 to 3 cm. long. The flowers are about
2 cm. wide, in few-flowered, nearly
smooth corymbs; calyx-lobes linear,
long-pointed, short-hairy, glandular-
toothed; stamens about 20; anthers yel-
low; styles 2 or 3. The fruit ripens late in September; it is short-oblong or sub-
globose, dull dark red or orange-red; calyx-lobes spreading or erect; flesh yellow,
dry, mealy, containing 2 or 3 nutlets, commonly 2, about 6 mm. long, shghtly
ridged on the back, the nest of nutlets about 6 mm. thick.
Fig. 414. — Brown's Thorn.
25. ROUND-LEAVED THORN — Crataegus rotundifoUa (Ehrhart) Mcench
Mespilus rotundijolia Ehrhart
This species seems to range farther north than any other American thorn; it
occurs in the rich, well-drained
soil at the lower altitudes, par-
ticularly along the coast from
Newfoundland and Lake St.
John, Quebec, south through
New England and the Alleghany
Mountains to northern Virginia
and west to Wisconsin and
northern Ilhnois. It is a tree
sometimes 7 meters high, but
more often a beautiful round-
topped shrub with ascending
branches; the bark is dark red-
brown, scaly; the twigs are red-
brown, smooth, and bear many
Fig. 415. — Round-leaved Thorn.
chestnut-brown curved spines 2 to 7 cm. long.
The leaves are ovate-orbicular or obovate, 3 to 6 cm. long, 2 to 6 cm. wide,
pointed or long-pointed at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, doubly toothed with
Chapman's Hill Thorn
465
rather coarse appressed teeth and three or four pairs of pointed lobes, light yel-
low-green when young, thin, becoming leathery and dark green above, paler be-
neath; leaf-stalks slightly winged at the apex, glandular, i to 3 cm. long. The
flowers are about 2 cm. wide in many-flowered, smooth corymbs; calyx-lobes
linear, remotely glandular-toothed; stamens about 10; anthers pale yellow; styles
2 to 4. The fruit ripens in September and October; it is subglobose, about 10 mm.
thick, dark red; calyx-lobes erect, conspicuous; flesh yellow, dry, sweet; it contains
2 to 4 nutlets 6 to 7 mm. long, ridged on the back, nest of nutlets 7 to 9 mm. thick.
CratcEgus coccinea of Sargent seems to be a form of this, with slightly pubescent
leaves, corymbs and fruits, with about the same range as the type.
26. MISS JONES' THORN — Crataegus Jonesae Sargent
Miss Jones' thorn occurs on Mt. Desert island and the neighboring Maine
coast. It is a tree sometimes 6 meters high, with spreading branches forming a
broad, irregular crown; the bark is dark brown, scaly; the twigs are orange-brown,
woolly-hairy, becoming smooth, and
are armed with curved chestnut-
brown spines 5 to 8 cm. long.
The leaves are elHptic-ovate,
4 to ID cm. long, 3 to 8 cm.
wide, abruptly pointed at the apex,
wedge-shaped at the base, doubly
toothed above, with 4 to 6 pairs
of sharp-pointed flaring lobes,
slightly hddry when young, particu-
larly along the veins beneath, dark
green and shining on the upper
surface, paler beneath, leathery;
leaf-stalks hair}^, sHghtly winged
above, 3 to 5 cm. long. The Fig. 416. -Miss Jones' Thorn.
flowers are about 25 mm. wide, in many-flowered, long-hairy cor)^mbs; calyx-tube
woolly-hair}^, the lobes abruptly long- pointed, remotely toothed, hair}-; stamens
about 10; anthers large, pink; styles 2 or 3. The fruit ripens in October; it is
short-oblong to oblong pear-shaped, about 15 mm. thick, bright carmine- red, with
a few short hairs; flesh yellow, mealy, sweet, the calyx-lobes appressed, conspicu-
ous; it contains 2 or 3 nutlets, commonly 3, about 9 mm. long, strongly ridged on
the back, the nest of nutlets about 8 mm. thick.
27. CHAPMAN'S HILL THORN - Crataegus coUina Chapman
This species occurs in the hilly parts of the Appalachian Mountains from
southwestern Virginia to central Georgia, and extends westward to southern
Missouri and northern Mississippi. It sometimes ascends to 800 meters. It is a
466
The Thorn Trees
tree from 6 to 8 meters high, with spreading branches forming a flat-topped head ;
the bark is dark gray, scaly; the young twigs
are reddish, long-hairy, becoming gray and
smooth, and armed with stout brown spines
from 3 to 7 cm. long; the trunks are often
provided with numerous, much-branched
spines, from 15 to 20 cm. long.
The leaves are obovate-oblong or oval,
from 2 to 6 cm. long and from 1.5 to 5 cm.
wide, pointed at both ends, doubly toothed
above, the young leaves slightly hairy above,
paler beneath, with several pairs of oblique
veins, becoming smooth above, yellow-green,
half leathery; leaf-stalks about i cm. long.
The flowers are about 15 mm. wide, in many-
flowered, long-hairy corymbs; calyx-tube hairy, the lobes lanceolate, hairy outside,
nearly smooth within, toothed with gland-tipped teeth; stamens about 20; anthers
large, yellow; styles 3 to 5. The fruit, ripening in September, is globose, dull red,
9 to 12 mm. thick; the flesh is yellow, dry and mealy; it contains 3 to 5 nutlets, from
5 to 6.5 mm, long, the backs ridged, the nest of nutlets 6 to 8 mm. thick.
Fig. 417. — Chapman's Hill Thorn,
slightly hair)', sometimes winged
28. THIN-LEAVED THORN — Crataegus tenuifolia Britton
CratcEgus Holmesiana Ashe, not Cratcegus Holmesii Lesquereux
Cratccgiis villipes Ashe
This thorn occurs on rich, moist hillsides, from the vicinity of Montreal south-
ward through western New England to the Appalachian foothills of southern
Virginia, and westward through south-
em Ontario to northern IlHnois. It is
a tree sometimes 9 meters high, with
strongly ascending branches, forming
a long rounded crown ; the bark is pale
gray-brown, scaly; the twigs are red-
dish brown, smooth, and bear a few
chestnut-brown spines 4 to 6 cm. long.
The leaves are elHptic-ovate, 2.5 to
9 cm. long, 2 to 6 cm. wide, pointed or
long-pointed at the apex, wedge-shaped
at the base, doubly toothed with sharp
teeth, the 4 to 6 pairs of lobes with _ . , _,
, . , ^ _ Fig. 418. — Thin-leaved Thorn.
long-pomted, sometimes flarmg tips,
bronze-red when young, short-hairy above, becoming rough, yellow-green, paler
and slightly hairy along the veins beneath, thin; leaf-stalks slightly hairy,
Eggert's Thorn
467
glandular, 2 to 3 cm. long. The flowers are about 15 mm. wide in smooth or
slightly hair}', many-flowered corymbs; calyx-lobes lanceolate, long- pointed, glan-
dular-toothed; stamens 5 to 8; anthers pink; styles 3 to 5. The fruit ripens early,
in August or September; it is pear-shaped or oblong, about 12 mm. thick, crimson;
calyx- lobes erect or incurved, conspicuous; flesh yellow, mealy, acid; it contains
3 to 5 nutlets, commonly 4, 7 to 9 mm. long, ridged on the back, the nest of
nutlets 6 to 8 mm. thick.
29. TWIN-MOUNTAIN THORN — Crataegus pentandra Sargent
This species occurs in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains from Ver-
mont to Virginia. It is sometimes a tree 5
meters high, but more often a much-
branched shrub with ascending, unequal
branches; the bark is brown, scaly; the
young twigs are chestnut-brown, becoming
gray, smooth, and armed with stout, curved
reddish brown spines, from 3 to 5 cm. long.
The leaves are elliptic-ovate, 3 to 8
cm. long, 2 to 6 cm. wide, long-pointed at
the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, some-
times nearly square cut, sharply and irregu-
larly doubly toothed with erect sharp teeth,
thin, dark green above with a few short
hairs, paler and smooth beneath ; leaf-stalks Fig. 419- - Twin Mountain Thorn.
winged toward apex, 2 to 3 cm. long, glandular, with small glands. The flowers are
about 15 mm. wide, in smooth, many-flowered corymbs; calyx-lobes ovate, long-
pointed, with a few hairs on the upper surface, remotely glandular- toothed; sta-
mens 5 to 10; anthers pink; styles 2 to 4. The fruit ripens in September; it is
short-oblong, dark crimson, about 15 mm. long and 10 mm. thick; calyx-lobes
incurved; flesh succulent and mealy, acid, containing 2 to 4 nutlets (commonly 3),
6 to 8 mm. long; nest 6 to 8 mm. thick; .nutlets ridged on the back, ends acute.
30. EGGERT'S THORN — Crataegus coccinioides Ashe
Cratagus Eggertii Britton
Eggert's thorn occurs from the vicinity of Montreal through western New
England to Missouri and eastern Kansas. It is a tree sometimes 6 meters high,
with spreading branches forming a broad round-topped crown; the bark is grayish
brown, scaly; the twigs are chestnut-brown, smooth, and are armed with chestnut-
brown curved spines from 2 to 6 cm. long.
The leaves are broadly ovate, 4 to 9 cm. long, 3.5 to 8 cm. wide, pointed at
the apex, rounded or square cut at the base, doubly toothed with erect teeth,
468
The Thorn Trees
usually with several pairs of spreading broad-pointed or pointed lobes, green,
thin but firm, slightly hairy on the veins
beneath; leaf-stalks glandular, sHghtly
hairy, 2 to 3 cm. long. The flowers are
about 20 mm. wide in few-flowered,
smooth cor}'mbs, the calyx-lobes ovate,
pointed, remotely glandular-toothed;
stamens about 20; anthers pink; styles
3 to 5. The fruit ripens late; it is sub-
globose, 5-angled, about 20 mm. thick,
dark crimson; the calyx-lobes are erect,
conspicuous; flesh firm, tinged with red,
subacid; it contains 3 to 5 nutlets,
usually 5, 7 to 9 mm. long, grooved on
the back, the nest of nutlets 9 to 11
mm. thick with a deep sinus between
the nutlets.
Fig. 420. — Eggert's Thorn.
Cratagus dilatata Sargent is an eastern form, with bright red fruit and larger
corymbs.
31. PRINGLE'S THORN — Cratffigus Pringlei Sargent
Pringle's thorn grows from western New England southward to Pennsylvania
and westward to southern Ontario, Michigan, and northern Illinois. It is a tree
sometimes 8 meters high, with ascending branches forming a broad round-topped
crown; the bark is thin, scaly and red-brown; the twigs are chestnut-brown, hairy,
becoming gray and smooth, the curved chestnut-brown spines from 3 to 5 cm. long.
The leaves are ovate-oval, 3 to 9 cm. long, 2.5 to 8 cm. wide, broadly pointed
at the apex, rounded or abruptly wedge-
shaped at the base, doubly toothed, the
terminal leaves often with several pairs
of broad-pointed or pointed lobes, bronze-
green and hairy when young, becoming
bright yellow-green and smooth above,
paler beneath, hairy along the veins, be-
coming nearly smooth, thin; leaf-stalks
hairy, glandular, i to 3 cm. long. The
flowers are about 2 cm. wide, in many-
flowered, hairy (sometimes nearly smooth)
corymbs; calyx-tube shghtly hairy, the lan-
ceolate long-pointed lobes nearly smooth,
gland ular- toothed ; stamens 5 to 20; an-
thers pink; styles 3 to 5. The fruit ripens ^^«- ^^" " ^""^^^'^ '^^°™-
about the first of October; it is short-oblong, about 15 mm. thick, red and hairy;
Nashville Thorn
469
calyx-lobes erect, persistent; flesh thick, yellow, acid, often quite edible; it contains
3 to 5 nutlets 7 to 9 mm. long, grooved and ridged on the back, the nest 7 to 9
mm. thick.
This species is quite variable; the typical form has about ten stamens. C.
lobtdata Sargent is a form with more deeply cut leaves; C. polita Sargent, a
smoother, and C. exclusa Sargent, a more hair}^ form; C. neo-londonensis Sargent,
and C. Hillii Sargent, are twenty stamened forms with rougher leaves.
32. BUCKLEY'S THORN - Crataegus texana Buckley
Buckley's thorn occurs in the rich bottom lands of central and western Texas.
It is a tree sometimes 10 meters high, with ascending branches forming a broad
round-topped crown; the bark is scaly; the twigs are hairy, becoming smooth, dull
reddish brown, and bear occasional chestnut-brown spines about 5 cm. long.
The leaves are broadly ovate, 5 to
10 cm. long, 3 to 8 cm. broad, pointed
or rounded at the apex, wedge-shaped
at the base, doubly toothed, sometimes
slightly lobcd and the base square cut,
hairy when young, becoming dark green
and smooth above, paler beneath ; leaf-
stalks slightly hair}^, winged above, i
to 3 cm. long. The flowers are about
2 cm. wide, in many-flowered woolly-
hairy corymbs; calyx- tube and ovate
long-pointed lobes densely wooUy-
hairy, lobes sharply glandular-toothed ;
stamens about 20; anthers dark pink; ^'^- 422. -Buckley's Thom.
styles about 5. The fruit ripens about the last of October; it is short-oblong to
pear-shaped, 12 to 18 mm. thick, bright scarlet, hairy; calyx-lobes erect; flesh soft
and thick, yellow, sweet and edible; it contains 5 nutlets 7 to 9 mm. long, ridged
on the back, the nest of nutlets 8 to 10 mm. thick.
2,Z- NASHVILLE THORN — Crataegus gravida Beadle
Limestone hills about Nashville, Tennessee, are the home of this thom. It is
a tree sometimes 6 meters high, with wide-spreading branches, forming a broad
round-topped crown; the bark is dark brown, scaly; the twigs arc orange-red,
woolly-hairy at first, becoming smooth, and are armed with straight chestnut-
brown spines 3 to 6 cm. long.
The leaves are broadly ovate, pointed at the apex, abruptly wedge-shaped or
truncate at the base, doubly toothed, with 4 or 5 pairs of low lobes, short-hairy
on the upper surface when young, becoming nearly smooth, woolly-hairy particu-
470
The Thorn Trees
Fig. 423. — Nashville Thorn.
larly along the veins below, thin and firm,
dark green above, paler below, 2,5 to 9 cm.
long, 2 to 8 cm. wide; leaf-stalks slightly
winged toward the apex, woolly-hairy, i
to 2 cm. long. The flowers are about 15
mm. wide, in many-flowered, woolly-hairy
cor\'mbs; calyx-tube densely woolly-hairy,
the lanceolate, long-pointed lobes less
hair\% glandular-toothed; stamens about
20; styles 5. The fruit ripens in August
or September; it is depressed-globose, 12
to 15 mm. thick, red, hair)', calyx-lobes re-
flexed; flesh thin, yellow, dry and mealy;
it contains 5 nutlets 7 to 8 mm. long, the
nest 10 to II mm. thick; nutlets Hghtly grooved on the back, with a deep sinus
between them.
34. RED-FRUITED THORN — Crataegus mollis (Torrey and Gray) Scheele
C rates gus coccinea mollis Torrey and Gray
This species, also called Red haw, occurs from the Isle of Orleans, Quebec,
through western New England southward to Tennessee, and west to South Dakota,
eastern Nebraska, and Arkansas. It is a tree sometimes 13 meters high, with
wide-spreading branches, forming a broad round-topped crown ; the bark is grayish
brown, fissured and scaly; the twigs are
covered with dense woolly hairs when young,
soon becoming smooth, and are armed with
chestnut-brown, curved spines, from 3 to 5
cm. long.
The leaves are broadly ovate, pointed
at the apex, cut square or heart-shaped at
the base, doubly toothed, with sharp teeth
and 4 or 5 pairs of sharp lobes, 4 to 13 cm.
long, 4 to 10 cm. wide, with appressed hairs
on the upper surface, becoming roughish,
woolly-hairy beneath, half-leathery, yellow-
green; leaf-stalks woolly-hairy, sometimes
glandular when young, sometimes nearly
smooth when mature, from 2 to 4 cm. long.
The flowers, about 20 mm. wide, are in many-flowered, woolly-hairy corj'mbs;
calyx densely woolly-hairy, the lobes toothed or cut, glandular; stamens 10 to 20;
anthers large, Hght yellow; styles 4 or 5. The fruit, ripening late in August or
September, is short-oblong, subglobose or pear-shaped, 15 to 25 mm. thick, red
Fig. 424. — Red-fruited Thorn.
Woolly Thorn
471
or crimson; the calyx-lobes are erect, hair\'; the flesh yellow, mealy, acid, con-
taining 4 or 5, commonly 5, nutlets 7 to 9 mm. long, the nest 8 to 10 mm. thick,
the backs of nutlets grooved, and with a deep sinus between them.
This runs into many forms. Cratcegus suhmollis Sargent is a form with 10 sta-
mens and generally early ripening fruit, occurring in eastern Canada and New
England. Cratcegus champlainensis Sargent is a later fruiting form with 10 sta-
mens, with about the same range.
CANADIAN THORN — Crataegus canadensis Sargent
CratcEgus canadensis is known to occur only on the limestone ridges along the
St. Lawrence river above Montreal at
Caughnawaga. It is a tree sometimes
9 meters high, with spreading branches,
forming a large rounded topped crown ;
twigs orange-brown, hairy when young,
becoming smooth, armed with numer-
ous curved, chestnut-brown spines from
3 to 7 cm. long.
The leaves are broadly ovate to
oval, 3 to 8 cm. long, 3 to 8 cm. wide,
pointed at the apex, rounded or cut
square at the base, doubly toothed,
with sharp, erect teeth, slightly hairy
on the upper surface, becoming nearly ^^^- 425- — Canadian Thorn,
smooth, woolly-hair\% particularly along the veins, beneath, thin, blue-green; leaf-
stalks woolly-hairy, becoming nearly smooth, glandular, winged, 2 to 3 cm. long.
The flowers are about 15 mm. wide in many-flowered woolly-hair)' cor}'mbs;
calyx-tube and lanceolate long- pointed, glandular-toothed lobes woolly-hair}'; sta-
mens about 20; anthers small, yellow; styles 5. The fruit, which ripens in October,
is short-oblong to globose, about 15 mm. thick, scarlet, slightly hair}-, its calyx-
lobes spreading, prominent; flesh pale yellow, dry, mealy and acid; it contains 5
nutlets, 6 to 8 mm. long, grooved on the back, the nest about 8 to 9 mm. thick.
36. WOOLLY THORN — Crataegus lanuginosa Sargent
This species occurs in southwestern Missouri, where it reaches a maximum
height of 8 meters, with spreading and erect branches; the twigs are densely woolly-
hairy at first, becoming smooth, and are armed with many straight chestnut-brown
spines from 3 to 9 cm. long; the thorns of the terminal shoots are leafy at first,
the leaves disappearing with age.
The leaves are ovate to suborbicular, 2.5 to 7 cm. long, 2 to 6 cm. wide,
pointed at the apex, wedge-shaped or cut square at the base, coarsely doubly
472
The Thorn Trees
toothed, densely white woolly-hairy on the
lower surface, with rigid appressed hairs
on the upper surface when immature, be-
coming merely rough, dark green above,
half- leathery; leaf-stalks woolly-hairy, 5 to
25 mm. long. The flowers, about 2 mm.
broad, are in many-flowered white woolly-
hairy corymbs; calyx densely woolly-hairy,
the lobes ovate, long-pointed, glandular-
toothed; stamens about 20; anthers pink;
style 5. The fruit, ripening the last of
October, is subglobose to short-oblongs
about 15 mm. thick, bright cherry-red,
woolly-hairy on the ends, its calyx-lobes
spreading; flesh orange, dry and mealy, con-
taining 5 nutlets, 6 to 8 mm. long, grooved on the back, the nest of nutlets 8 to 1 1
mm. thick, with a deep sinus between nutlets.
Fig. 426. — Woolly Thorn.
37-
WASHINGTON THORN — Crataegus Phanopyrum (Linnaeus fils)
Medicus
CratcBgus cordata Alton, not Mespilus cordata Miller. Mespilus Phcenopyrum
Linnaeus fils
This species grows in moist, rich soil along streams, from Virginia, south along
the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains
to northern Georgia and Alabama, and from
the lower Wabash valley in IlUnois to south-
em Missouri and northwestern Arkansas. It
is often cultivated, and has become natural-
ized as far north as Delaware and eastern
Pennsylvania. It is frequently a large,
spreading shrub, and sometimes becomes a
tree 9 meters high, with nearly erect branches
forming an oblong head ; the bark is grayish
brown, scaly; the twigs are chestnut-brown,
smooth, bearing slightly curved spines 2 to
5 cm. long.
The leaves are broadly ovate to triangu-
lar, 2 to 8 cm. long, 2 to 8 cm. wide, pointed
or long-pointed at the apex, rounded or
heart-shaped at the base, 3- to 7-lobed, 3 of
the lobes generally strongly marked, toothed or doubly toothed, with pointed teeth,
smooth, or with a few hairs along the veins when young, bright green above.
Fig. 427. — Washington Thorn.
Parsley-Leaved Thorn
473
paler beneath, firm; leaf-stalks smooth, 1.5 to 5 cm. long. The flowers, about 10
mm. wide, are in smooth many- flowered cor}^mbs; calyx-lobes triangular, haiiT
on the margin; stamens about 20; anthers pink; styles 4 or 5. The fruit, ripen-
ing late in September, is depressed-globose, 4 to 6 mm, thick, scarlet; flesh thin
and firm; it contains 4 or 5, commonly 5, nutlets, 3 to 4 mm. long, with a con-
spicuous calyx scar, shallow sinus, smooth back, the nest 3.5 to 5.5 mm. thick.
38. MAY HAW — Crataegus aestivalis (Walter) Torrey and Gray
Mespiliis cBStivalis Walter
The May haw occurs in shallow ponds in the pinelands, and on low banks
of streams from South Carolina to northern Florida and west to southern Arkan-
sas and the Sabine River, Texas. It is also
called Apple haw. It is a tree from 5 to
9 meters high, or a large shrub with several
stems, with a close round-topped crown;
the bark is dark reddish brown, scaly;
the twigs are reddish, hairy, becoming
smoother, and are sometimes armed with
reddish spines from 3 to 4 cm. long.
The leaves are oblanceolate to oval,
from 2 to 7 cm. long, and from 1.5 to 4 cm.
wide, pointed or broadly pointed at the
apex, markedly wedge-shaped at the base,
crenate, doubly crenate-toothed, cut or
often lobed, often irregularly so; young
leaves densely rusty woolly-hairy beneath, less so above; mature leaves becom-
ing rough above, dark green, half-leathery; leaf-stalks about i cm. long, rusty
woolly-hairy. The flowers are about 25 mm, wide, in 2- to 5-flowered simple
glabrous corymbs, and appear with the leaves in February and March ; the calyx-
lobes are ovate, long- pointed, remotely glandular-toothed; stamens about 20;
anthers purple; styles 3 to 5. The fruit, ripening in May, is depressed-globose,
red, dotted, 12 to 15 mm, thick, its calyx spreading; flesh thick, juicy, subacid;
it contains 3 to 5 nutlets, 4 to 7 mm, long, the nest 6 to 9 mm. thick; the nut-
lets are slightly ridged on the back, with a deep sinus between them. The fruit
is used largely for preserves and jellies.
Fig. 428. — May Haw.
39. PARSLEY-LEAVED THORN — Crataegus Marshallii Eggleston
Mespilus apiijolia Marshall. Cratcegtis apiifolia Michaux, not Medicus
This species grows along streams and borders of swamps from Virginia to
Florida westward to Missouri and Texas, It is a shrub or a small tree 2 to 6 meters
high, with nearly horizontal branches, forming a wide irregular top; the bark is
474
The Thorn Trees
gray, smooth; the twigs are light red, woolly hair}^ with long hairs, becoming
smooth, with an occasional chestnut-brown, straight
spine 2.5 to 4 cm. long.
The leaves are broadly ovate to orbicular, i to
4 cm. long, I to 4 cm, wide, white hairy on the
under surface when young, somewhat hairy above,
becoming smooth, pointed or rounded at the apex,
heart-shaped to wedge-shaped at the base, pinnately
5- to 7-cleft, the lobes toothed and often doubly
^^ toothed with sharp teeth, thin ; leaf-stalks hairy,
becoming smooth, 2.5 to 5 cm. long. The flowers
are about 15 mm. wide, in 3- to 12-flowered short-
hairy cor^'mbs, the calyx-lobes lanceolate, long-
pointed, glandular- toothed, with red-tipped teeth,
smooth on the outside, sHghtly short-hairy above;
stamens about 20; anthers pink; styles i to 3.
The fruit ripens in October; it is oblong or oval,
4 to 7 mm. long, scarlet; calyx-lobes reflexed; the
flesh is thin, firm, enclosing i to 3 nutlets, commonly 2, 5 to 6.5 mm. long, with
smooth back, no sinus, rounded at calyx and pointed at stem end, with calyx-scar,
the nest 3 to 3.5 mm. thick.
Fig. 429. — Parsley-leaved Thorn.
40. SMALL-FRUITED THORN — Crataegus spathulata Michaux
This thorn occurs in moist, rich soil of the coast region, from Virginia to
northern Florida and westward to southern
Arkansas and Oklahoma to Texas. It is a
shrub or small tree 6 to 8 meters high, with up-
right and spreading branches, forming a broad
open crown; the bark is grayish brown, mi-
nutely scaly; the twigs are hght reddish brown,
smooth, and occasionally provided with straight,
brown spines 3 to 4 cm. long.
The leaves are spatulate to oblanceolate, i
to 4 cm. long, 5 to 20 mm. wide, pointed or
rounded at the apex, gradually narrowed below
from about the middle into winged petioles,
crenate-toothed, often 3- to 5-lobed above, with
3 conspicuous lobes, hairy on the veins above
when young, becoming smooth, half-leathery,
dark green above, lighter beneath; leaf-stalks
about I cm. long. The flowers are about 10
mm. wide, in many-flowered, smooth corymbs; fig. 430. — Small-fruited Thom.
Howell's Thorn
475
calyx-lobes triangular; stamens about 20; anthers red; styles 3 to 5. The fruit
ripens late; it is globose to subglobose, red, 4 to 6 mm. thick, calyx-lobes reflexed;
flesh dry and mealy; it contains 3 to 5 nutlets, 3 to 3.5 cm. long, the nest 3.5 to
4.5 mm. thick, the calyx-scar conspicuous.
41. ENGELMANN'S THORN — Crataegus brachyacantha Engelmann and
Sargent
Engelmann's thorn grows in moist soil in southern Arkansas, Louisiana, and
Texas. It is a tree sometimes 15
meters high, with spreading
branches, forming a round-topped
crown; the bark is dark brown,
deeply furrowed; the twigs are
reddish brown, smooth, and are
armed with curved spines i to 2
cm. long, and the ends of the
branches often terminate in spines.
The leaves are oblanceolate-
elliptic or narrowly ovate, 2.5 to
5 cm. long, I to 2.5 cm. wide,
pointed or rounded at the apex,
wedge-shaped decurrent below,
crenate-toothed, smooth, half-
leathery, dark green and shining
above, paler beneath, the veins
Fig. 431. — Engelmann's Thorn.
not very conspicuous; leaf-stalks narrowly wing-margined above, i to 2 cm. long.
The flowers are about 10 mm. wide in smooth, many-flowered cor^'mbs; calyx-
lobes short-pointed; stamens 15 to 20; styles 3 to 5. The fruit ripens early; it
is subglobose, about 10 mm. thick, blue-black, with a glaucous bloom; calyx-
lobes spreading; flesh thin; it contains 4 or 5 nutlets 5 to 6.5 mm. long, the nest
5.5 to 8 mm. thick.
42. HOWELL'S THORN — Crataegus columbiana Howell
Howell's thorn occurs commonly along the tributaries of the Columbia River,
east of the Cascade Mountains, and extends east to central-northern North Dakota,
and north into British Columbia. It is a much-branched shrub or small tree,
sometimes 5 meters high; the twigs are reddish brown, smooth, and bear some
chestnut-brown spines from 2 to 6 cm. long.
The leaves are thin, wedge-shaped, ovate or oblong, 2 to 6 cm. long, i to 5 cm.
wide, with 3 or 4 pairs of sharp lobes, the lower pair often quite deeply cut, sharply
and finely doubly toothed, sparingly long-hair}-, particularly along the veins; leaf-
476
The Thorn Trees
stalks slightly long-haity, glandular, winged above, about 15 mm. long. The
flowers are about 15 mm. broad,
un somewhat long-hairy, many-
flowered cor)'mbs; calyx-tube
nearly smooth; calyx- lobes trian-
gular, long-pointed, smooth on the
outside, shghtly long-hairy on the
inside, remotely glandular-toothed,
red-tipped; stamens about 10;
styles 3 or 4. The fruit, ripening
in September, is pear-shaped or
oblong, 8 to 12 mm. long, scarlet,
its calyx-lobes spreading, persist-
ent; the flesh is pulpy when ripe;
it contains 3 or 4 nutlets 6 to 8
Fig. 432. -Howell's Thorn. ^^^ long, ^6 to 7 mm. thick,
strongly ridged on the back, with a shallow pit on each inner surface.
43. ST. LAWRENCE THORN — Crataegus laurentiana Sargent
This thorn grows along the lower St. Lawrence River, and from northern
Michigan to British Columbia, eastern Oregon and central Colorado. It is a
many-branched shrub or a small tree
sometimes 5 meters high, with ir-
regular branches; the twigs are
shghtly hairy, soon becoming smooth,
bright orange-brown, and bear stout
chestnut-brown spines from 3 to 8
cm. long.
The leaves are oblong to oblong-
ovate, sharply or bluntly pointed at
the apex, strongly wedge-shaped at
the base, sharply and doubly toothed,
with three to five pairs of pointed
lobes, 3 to 8 cm. long, 1.5 to 4 cm. broad, slightly hair}% particularly along the
veins when young, becoming smooth, except along the veins beneath, half-
leathery, dark green above, paler beneath; leaf-stalks slightly winged toward the
apex, hairy, becoming smooth, i to 2 cm. long. The flowers are about 15 mm.
broad, in many-flowered, whitish woolly-hairy cor}'mbs; calyx-tube densely white
woolly-hairy, the lanceolate, long-pointed lobes hairy or nearly smooth, glandular-
toothed; stamens about 10; anthers small, pale pink; styles 4 or 5. The fruit
ripens in September, is oblong, dark crimson, shghtly hairy, about 10 mm. long,
its calyx- lobes reflcxcd, persistent; the flesh is yellow, becoming soft, succulent
Fig. 433. — St. Lawrence Thorn.
Rough-Leaved Thorn
477
and sweet when mature; it contains 4 or 5 nutlets 6 to 7 mm. long, strongly ridged
on the back, with a shallow pit on each inner face, the nest 7 to 8 mm. thick.
44. PRAIRIE THORN — Crataegus pertomentosa Ashe
Craicegus campestris Britton
This species is found in rocky barrens from western Missouri and eastern Kan-
sas to central Iowa. It is a tree sometimes 5 meters high, with nearly horizontal
branches, forming a flattened
the
crown; tne bark is dark gray;
the twigs are reddish brown,
hairy, soon becoming smooth
and armed with numerous chest-
nut-brown curved spines from 3
to 9 cm. long.
The leaves are oblong to
ovate, 3 to 7 cm. long, 2 to 6
cm. wide, sharply and finely
doubly toothed, with 4 or 5 pairs
of small abruptly sharp-pointed
lobes, pointed at the apex,
broadly wedge-shaped or
rounded at the base, shghtly
long-hairy above, particularly
along the veins when young, be-
coming smooth, hairy beneath, more thickly along the veins, half leather}^ bright
dark green above, paler beneath; leaf-stalks about i cm. long, winged, slightly
hairy, glandular. The flowers are about 2 cm. wide, in many-flowered densely
long-hairy corymbs; calyx-tube densely long-hairy, the lanceolate long- pointed
lobes deeply toothed, with glandular tips, hairy on the inside, nearly smooth
without; stamens 10 to 15; styles 2 or 3. The fruit, ripening in September, is
8 to 13 mm. thick, round, cherry- red, hairy when young; flesh yellow, succu-
lent, becoming mealy when mature, enclosing 2 or 3 nutlets 5 to 6.5 mm. long,
ridged on the back and pitted on the inner face, pits varying from shallow
to deep and occasionally wanting on individual nutlets, the nest of nutlets 5 to
6.5 mm. thick.
Fig. 434. — Prairie Thorn.
45. ROUGH-LEAVED THORN — Crataegus asperifolia Sargent
CratcEgus Deweyana Sargent. Craicegus McGeecB Ashe
This thorn occurs from western Nova Scotia to Iowa. It is a tree sometimes 8
meters high, with the lower branches horizontal and the upper ones ascending,
478
The Thorn Trees
forming a wide, irregular crown; the bark is light gray, scaly; the twigs are red-
brown, with numerous curved spines from 3 to 5 cm. long.
The leaves are elhptic-ovate, 4 to 8 cm. long, 3 to 7 cm. wide, pointed or
abruptly long-pointed at the apex, ab-
ruptly wedge-shaped or rounded at the
base, doubly toothed and lobed above,
thin, yellow-green, sHghtly hairy above
when young, becoming rough, smooth
beneath; leaf- stalks slightly winged, 2
to 4 cm. long. The flowers are about
15 mm. wide, in many-flowered, hairy
corymbs; calyx-tube long-hairy below,
the lobes smooth on the under surface,
long-hairy on the upper surface, glan-
dular-toothed, with small teeth; sta-
mens 7 to 10; anthers small, dark rose;
styles 2 or 3. The fruit ripens about
Fig. 435- -Rough-leaved Thorn. ^j^g middle of October; it is subglobose
to short-oblong, about 15 mm. thick, scarlet; its calyx- lobes are erect or incurved;
flesh thick, yellow; pedicels hairy; it contains 2 or 3 nutlets 7 to 8 mm. long,
with strongly ridged backs, and with shallow longitudinal pits on the inner face,
the nest of nutlets 7 to 8 mm, thick.
46. BRAINERD'S THORN — Crataegus Brainerdi Sargent
CmtcEgus Schuettei Ashe. Cratagus Forbesce Sargent
Brainerd's thorn is common in western New England and ranges south to
Pennsylvania and west to northern Illinois
and Wisconsin. It is commonly a round-
topped shrub, but often a tree 6 meters
high, with ascending branches; the scaly
bark is gray-brown, the twigs reddish
brown, smooth, and armed with chestnut-
brown spines from 3 to 6 cm. long.
The leaves are ovate, 3 to 9 cm. long,
2 to 6 cm. wide, broadly wedge-shaped at
the base, pointed at the apex, doubly
toothed, with 4 to 6 pairs of short-pointed
lobes, shghtly hairy on the upper surface
when young, rather thin, bright green
above, paler beneath; the leaf-stalks are
,. , , . Fig. 436. — Brainerd's Thorn.
slightly wmged above, i to 2 cm. long.
The flowers are about 2 cm. broad, in many-flowered, smooth corymbs; calyx-
Long-Spined Thorn
479
lobes linear, long-pointed, smooth on the outside, slightly long-hairy on the inside,
remotely glandular-toothed; stamens lo to 20; anthers pink; styles 2 to 4. The
fruit, which ripens the last of September, is oblong to nearly round, about 10 mm.
thick, cherry-red; the flesh is yellow, mealy, soft and acid; it contains 2 to 4 nutlets,
5 to 7 mm. long, 5 to 7 mm, thick, ridged on the back, the inner faces having a
shallow pit, but the pit is sometimes faint or wanting on individual nutlets.
CratxEgiis scabrida Sargent is a form commonly having about ten stamens and
with the upper surface of the leaves rougher. This occurs in New England and
New York.
Crataegus Egglestoni Sargent is a lo-stamened form with slightly pubescent
corymbs and rounder leaves. This is the most common form of the Green Moun-
tains and perhaps of the Adirondacks, ascending to nearly 800 meters in the
Green Mountains.
CratcEgus cydophylla Sargent appears to be a 20-stamened form.
47. LONG-SPINED THORN — Crataegus macracantha Loddiges
This species grows on rich hillsides, commonly on limestone, from Nova Scotia
south through New England to Pennsylvania and west along the Great Lakes to
southeastern Minnesota and northern Illinois. It is a tree sometimes 6 meters
high, with ascending and wide-spreading branches, forming an irregular broad
crown; the bark is gray; the twigs
are smooth, shining, chestnut-brown,
with numerous chestnut-brown
curved spines from 4 to 10 cm. long.
The leaves are rhombic-ovate
to obovate, from 3 to 8 cm. long,
2.5 to 6 cm. wide, slightly hairy on
the lower surface, sometimes a lit-
tle hairy above when young, be-
coming smooth except along the
veins beneath, pointed at the apex,
wedge-shaped at the base, doubly
toothed, with lobes toward the apex,
dark green and shining above, paler ^^«- 437- - Long-spined Thorn,
beneath, leathery; the leaf-stalks are slightly winged, i to 2 cm. long. The flowers
are about 2 cm. wide, in many-flowered, short-hairy cor\'mbs; calyx hair}% the
lobes sometimes nearly smooth, lanceolate, long-pointed and with long-pointed
gland-tipped teeth; stamens 10 to 20, commonly about 10; anthers white to pink;
styles 2 or 3. The fruit, ripening in September, is globose, hair}-, its calyx-lobes
reflexed; the flesh is yellow, sweet and pulpy, containing 2 or 3 nutlets, 5 to 7
mm. long, ridged on the back, the front or inner surfaces deeply pitted, the
nest of nutlets 5 to 7 mm. thick.
480
The Thorn Trees
This species runs into numerous forms. Cratcegtis succulenta Schrader has
about 20 stamens and larger fruit with larger nutlets. C. rhornhijolia Sargent has
smaller fruit and nutlets, about 10 stamens and more hairy cor}^mbs. C. integriloha
Sargent has entire calyx- lobes and about 10 stamens; it is common about Montreal,
Canada.
48. PEAR THORN — Crataegus Chapmani (Beadle) Ashe
Cratcegus tomentosa Chapmani Beadle
This species occurs from central New York, southw^ard through western
New Jersey and along the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains to northern
Georgia and westward through southern
Ontario to southern Minnesota, eastern
Kansas, and Missouri. It is also called
Pear haw. It is a tree sometimes 7 me-
ters high, with ascending or spreading
branches, forming a broad crown; the
bark is pale gray to dark brown, fur-
rowed; the twigs are dark orange and
tomentose when young, becoming gray
and smooth and are occasionally armed
with slender spines 3 to 5 cm. long.
The leaves are rhombic-ovate, 4 to
II cm. long, 3 to 8 cm. wide, pointed or
long-pointed at the apex, wedge-shaped
Pear Thorn.
Fig. 438
at the base, doubly toothed and generally lobed, hairy on the upper surface when
young, becoming rough, hairy beneath, particularly along the veins, thin, gray-
green; leaf-stalks wing-margined, glandular-hair}% about 2 cm. long. The flowers
are about 15 mm. wide, in many- flowered, whitish woolly-hairy corj^mbs; the calyx-
lobes are lanceolate, long-pointed, less hair^^ than the tube; stamens 10 to 20;
anthers small, pink; styles 2 or 3. The fruit ripens late; it is pear-shaped or oval,
10 to 15 mm. long, orange-red; pedicels hairy; flesh yellow, thick; nutlets 2 to 3,
5 to 7 mm. long, the nest 5 to 6 mm. thick.
49. DOUGLAS' THORN — Crataegus Douglasii Lindley
Cratagiis punctata brevispina Douglas. CratcBgus brevispina Farwell
Douglas' thorn occurs along banks of streams from British Columbia to north-
em California and eastward in the northern Rocky Mountains to the Bighorn
Mountains in Wyoming; on the shores of Lake Superior in northern Michigan,
and on Michipicotin island. It is a tree sometimes 12 meters high, with ascending
branches forming a round-topped crown; the twigs are reddish, smooth, and armed
with short, stout, red spines from i to 3 cm. long.
Nuttall's Thorn
481
The leaves are ovate or obovate to broadly ovate, 2 to 7 cm. long, i to 6 cm.
wide, pointed or short-pointed at apex,
wedge-shaped at base, doubly toothed and
lobed, covered with pale hairs, particularly
along the veins above, dark green above,
half-leather}', seldom becoming smooth
along the veins; leaf-stalks slightly winged,
hairy, glandular, i to 3 cm. long. The
flowers are about 15 mm. wide, in many-
fiowered smooth or short-hairy corj'mbs;
calyx-lobes short-pointed to long-pointed,
generally long-hairy above and often tinged
with red; stamens 10 to 20; anthers Hght
yellow; styles 3 to 5. The fruit, which
ripens early, is short-oblong and black, its
flesh yellow and sweet; it contains 3 to 5 nutlets, commonly 4, 5 to 6 mm. long,
the nest of nutlets 5 to 7 mm. thick; the nutlets are ear-shaped, pointed below,
ridged on the back, the inner surface bearing rough shallow pits.
Fig. 439. — Douglas' Thorn.
50. NUTTALL'S THORN — Crataegus rivularis Nuttall
CratcEgiis Wheeleri Rydberg
Nuttall's thorn occurs about the banks of mountain streams from southeastern
Idaho and southwestern Wyoming, southward through the Wahsatch Mountains
to southwestern Colorado and westward
to the Clover Mountains, Nevada. It is
a tree sometimes 6 meters high, with
strongly ascending branches, forming a
long crown; the bark is dark brown,
scaly; the twigs are bright red-brown,
occasionally armed with slender spines
1.5 to 4 cm. long.
The leaves are lanceolate to narrowly
elHptic, 2.5 to 8 cm. long, 1.5 to 4.5 cm.
wide, long-pointed or pointed at the
apex, strongly wedge-shaped at the base,
toothed or sHghtly doubly toothed, the
teeth gland-tipped, hair}', particularly
along the veins on the upper surface,
Fig. 440. — Nuttall's Thorn.
smooth beneath, thin, dull bluish green above, paler beneath; leaf-stalks winged
towards the apex, shghtly hair}', i to 2 cm. long. The flowers arc about 12 mm.
broad, in many-flowered, smooth cor}'mbs; calyx-lobes lanceolate, long-pointed,
slightly hair}' on the upper surface, remotely glandular-toothed, tipped with red;
482 The Thorn Trees
stamens about 20; anthers yellow; styles 3 to 5. The fruit ripens in September;
it is short-oblong, about 8 mm. thick, dark crimson, becoming black; calyx-lobes
reflexed; flesh yellow, succulent, mealy; it contains 3 to 5 nutlets 5 to 6 mm. long,
the nest 5 to 7 mm. thick; nutlets ear-shaped, ridged on the back, the inner sur-
face roughened with shallow pits.
51. GREENE'S THORN — Crataegus saligna Greene
Greene's thorn grows on the banks of streams of the continental divide in
central and southern Colorado, at altitudes from 2000 to 2500 meters. It is a tree
sometimes 6 meters high, with long, spreading, or drooping branches; the bark is
reddish-brown, scaly on old trees; the twigs are bright red, smooth, and armed with
straight, slender, bright red spines from 5 to 25 mm. long.
The leaves are thick, rhombic-lanceolate, 1.5 to 5 cm. long, 0.5 to 2 cm. broad,
rounded, short, or taper-pointed at the apex on the terminal shoots, wedge-shaped
at the base, glandular-toothed with short, flattened teeth, those of the terminal
shoots toothed or doubly toothed, shghtly hairy on the upper surface, particularly
Fig. 441. — Greene's Thorn.
along the veins, smooth beneath, dark green and shining above, paler beneath;
leaf-stalks winged towards the top, slightly hairy, about i cm. long. The flowers
are about 10 mm. wide, in smooth corj'mbs; calyx-lobes smooth, triangular, pointed,
red-tipped; stamens about 20; anthers small, yellow; styles 3 to 5. The fruit
ripens in August, is globose, about 8 mm. thick, blue-black, its calyx-lobes re-
flexed, persistent; flesh yellow, thin and sweet; it contains 3 to 5 nutlets, commonly
5, 3.5 to 4 mm. long, the nest of nutlets 5 to 5.5 mm. thick; nutlets ear-shaped,
slightly ridged on the back, with a calyx-scar, inner surface roughened with shallow
pits.
THE PLUM FAMILY
AMYGDALACE.E Reichenbach
HIS family comprises about 6 genera, including over loo species of trees
and shrubs, which are widely distributed throughout the world, but are
most abundant in the north temperate zone.
Their bark, leaves, and seed, when crushed in contact with water,
develop hydrocyanic acid. They also exude a gum when wounded, and most all
of them produce edible fruits and are very ornamental in flower.
The leaves are alternate, simple, firm and often leathery, sometimes persistent,
usually toothed, stalked and stipulate, the teeth and leaf-stalks often glandular,
the stipules deciduous. The flowers are regular, usually perfect, in cymes, umbels,
corymbs, or racemes; the 5-lobed calyx is inferior, free from the ovary, and de-
ciduous; the corolla consists of 5 petals inserted on the disk or calyx-tube; the
many stamens are inserted with the petals, their anthers 2-celled; pistils in our
genera are soHtar^-, some exotic genera have i to 3; ovary i-celled, containing 2
ovules; style simple; stigma small, usually terminal. The fruit is a drupe, with a
solitary, suspended seed; endosperm none; the embryo has fleshy cotyledons.
Fossil leaves and pits found in the Tertiary formations of Europe and North
America have been described and classified as belonging to plants of this family.
Our arborescent genera are:
Drupe fleshy.
Style lateral; stone 5- or 6-ridged and reticulated; drupe smooth. ■
Style terminal.
Stone coarsely wrinkled and pitted; drupe velvety.
Stone smooth or nearly so; drupe smooth.
Flowers corymbose, appearing before or with the leaves, on branchlets
of the previous year.
1. Chrysobalanus.
2. Amygdalus.
3. Pricmis.
Flowers racemose, appearing after the leaves, on branchlets of the year. 4. Padus.
Drupe nearly drj'; flowers in axillary racemes; leaves persistent.
5. Lanrocerasiis.
I. COCOA PLUM
GENUS CHRYSOBALANUS LINN^US
Species Chrysobalanus Icaco Linnaeus
LSO called the Gopher plum, this occurs along the coast in peninsular
Florida, the West Indies and Mexico to Central America, reaching, in
its greatest development, a height of 9 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 3 dm., but it is usually a shrub. It is the type species of the genus.
The trunk is straight, with thin, scaly bark about 4 mm. thick, and hght
483
484
Cocoa Plum
brownish gray; the twigs are nearly smooth, dark red-brown, soon becoming
scarred by numerous conspicuous light yellowish lenticels. The leaves are per-
sistent, alternate, broadly elliptic to nearly
orbicular, 5 to 7 cm. long, rounded, blunt-
pointed or notched at the apex, con-
tracted at the base into a very short, stout
stalk, entire, leathery, dark green and shin-
ing above, yellowish green with promi-
nent midrib beneath; the small, sharp-
pointed stipules fall off early. The flowers
are in cymes 2.5 to 5 cm. long, borne in
the axils of the leaves expanding in spring
and summer; peduncles short, stout, sub-
tended by deciduous bracts and bractlets;
the bell-shaped calyx is densely hairy, its
lobes triangular-ovate, sharp-pointed, one
half the length of the 5 spatulate, whitish
petals; the stamens are about as long as
the petals, their filaments slender, distinct;
the ovoid anthers are 2-celled, opening
lengthwise; the sessile ovary is thickly
hairy, the style fiHform, arising from the base of the ovary, and terminated by a
small truncate stigma; the 2 ovules are ascending. The fruit is globose, or usually
sHghtly ovoid, 2 to 4 cm. in diameter, smooth, and variable as to color, pink to
creamy white or purple; the white flesh is sweet and juicy, often 8 mm. thick,
and adherent to the stone, which is pointed at both ends, prominently ridged,
deeply reticulated on the surface, thin walled, i to 4 cm. long.
The wood is hard, strong, close-grained, light brown, with a specific gravity
about 0.77; it is of no importance economically. The fruit is of the shape and
size of a plum, insipidly sweet, but very variable as to sjze, color, and taste. It
is used for preserves in Cuba under the name Hicaco. The seeds are edible, and
an oil is expressed from them in some of the West Indian islands. The leaves,
bark and root are astringent and are sometimes employed in tropical America as
remedial agents.
A closely related shrub or small tree, Chrysohalanus pdlocarpus Meyer, which
inhabits the same geographical area, has smaller, often obovoid purple fruit with
a narrow pit, and usually pointed leaves; it may be specifically distinct.
The name, Chrysobalanus, is Greek and signifies golden date. One other
species, C. oblongifolius Michaux, is a shrubby plant, native in the coastal regions
of the southeastern United States: another occurs on the coast of Africa.
Fig. 442. — Cocoa Plum.
Peach
485
11. PEACH
GENUS AMYGDALUS LINN.^US
Species Amygdalus Persica Linnaeus
HIS well-known fruit tree has become naturalized throughout the greater
portion of the southern States, and is abundantly spontaneous in
waste places and on roadsides in the middle and northern States. It
is a broad-headed, low tree, attaining a height of about 7 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 2 dm.
The bark of old trees is rough, scaly and dark brown; the twigs are round,
smooth, glossy green, changing to purpHsh and finally gray. The leaves are
alternate, simple, elHptic to lanceolate or
oblong, 8 to 10 cm. long, tapering toward
each end, sometimes blunt at the base,
sharply toothed, Hght green and shining
above, paler beneath ; the stout leaf-stalk is
5 to 10 mm. long. The flowers develop
from scaly buds formed the previous sea-
son at the axils of the leaves, expand be-
fore the leaves, are few or many, usually
pink and very fragrant; the calyx-tube is
urn-shaped, its 5 lobes obovate, usually
purpUsh; the 5 petals are spreading, 8 to
20 mm. long, rounded at the apex; stamens
20 to 30, the filaments slender and distinct,
usually colored ; the ovary is sessile, i-celled,
and surmounted by a simple style terminated by a small stigma. The fruit is a
soft, velvety drupe, subglobular, with a groove on one side, 4 to 10 cm. in diameter;
the sweetish, acidulous, 1 aromatic flesh is adherent to or free from the hard, long
stone, which is elHptic or ovoid, somewhat compressed, pointed, deeply wrinkled
and pitted externally, polished within; the seed is almond-Hke, aromatic, and
slightly bitter.
The peach is a native of Asia. Long cultivation has developed numerous
varieties as to size and shape of the fruit, color and taste of the flesh, and its free-
dom from the stone, as well as to time of ripening. Ornamental forms, with
insignificant fruit or none, are planted on account of their double, rose-hke
flowers or colored foliage.
The wood is rather soft, coarse-grained, and hght brown. In India it is a
favorite building material. The foliage and seed develop considerable hydro-
cyanic acid; the seeds are used in the manufacture of a substitute for oil of bitter
almonds; a bland, fixed oil is also expressed from them.
Amygdalus is supposed to have been the Syrian name of the Almond, which,
486 The Plums and Cherries
with the Nectarine and two or three other Asiatic shrubs, constitute the genus, of
which the Peach is the type.
III. THE PLUMS AND CHERRIES
GENUS PRUNUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
RUNUS comprises about 65 species of trees or shrubs, well distributed
over the northern hemisphere. They are especially numerous in
North America.
The leaves and bark abound in a bitter and astringent principle,
and most all of them produce hydrocyanic acid upon maceration of the bark,
leaves, or seed, with water. The fruit of most of them is edible, many being cul-
tivated from time immemorial and now known in a great number of highly
improved forms.
The leaves are alternate, simple, usually saw-toothed, stalked and deciduous,
their stipules quite large, usually glandular and deciduous, the enlarged bud scales
conspicuous before falling; the flowers, soHtary, umbellate, or corymbose, appear
with or before the leaves mostly on branchlets of the previous season; the calyx-
tube is obconic, urn-shaped or tubular, 5-lobed and deciduous; the 5 petals are
white to rose-colored, inserted in the mouth of the calyx-tube on a marginal disk,
deciduous, rarely wanting; the 15 to 20 stamens are usually borne with the petals in
three series; the filaments are thread-Hke, the anthers oval, 2-celled, and open
lengthwise; the i -celled ovary is borne in the bottom of the calyx-tube; the termi-
nal style is capped by a broad, simple stigma; the 2 ovules are pendulous. The
drupe is smooth, sometimes glaucous; stone bony, smooth or nearly so, more or
less compressed, indehiscent; seed i, rarely 2; cotyledons fleshy.
The generic name, Prunus, is the ancient Latin name of the Plum, Primus
domestica Linnaeus, the type species. There are probably 25 shrubby species, as
well as the following arborescent ones, in our area :
I. Plums; fruit usually with a ventral groove and a flattened stone (stone
in No. I nearly globular, little flattened).
Umbels several-flowered; native trees.
Drupe purple, with a bloom (variously colored in No. 2), less than
15 mm. thick.
Drupe globose; stone nearly globular; leaves glabrous; southern tree. i. P. umbellatu.
Drupe oblong or oval; stone longer than thick; leaves pubescent.
Twigs glabrous.
Stone rounded at base; Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas tree. 2. P. tarda.
Stone pointed at base.
Leaves hairy all over beneath; southeastern tree. 3. P. mitis.
Leaves hairy only on the midrib beneath; Pennsylvania
tree. 4. P alleghaniensis.
Twigs closely pubescent; leaves hairy, beneath; southern tree. 5. P. injucimda.
Drupe red or orange, without bloom; mostly over 20 mm. thick.
Calyx-lobes entire.
Black Sloe
487
Calyx-lobes without glands, not ciliate.
Leaves acute to acuminate; eastern tree.
Leaves obtuse; Oregon and California tree.
Calyx -lobes glandular-ciliate or ciliate.
Calyx-lobes serrate and glandular.
Calyx -lobes pubescent on both sides.
Calyx-lobes pubescent on inner side only.
Umbels only i- to 3- flowered; introduced European trees.
Flowers usually solitary; twigs spiny; leaves oblong to ovate.
Flowers usually in pairs; twigs mostly not spiny; leaves ovate to
obovate.
Cherries; fruit without ventral groove; stone globose or subglobose.
Flowers in lateral umbels, corymbs or fascicles, appearing with or
before the leaves.
Flowers umbellate or fascicled, not corymbose; introduced Euro-
pean trees.
Leaves glabrous; pedicels short; fruit sour.
Leaves pubescent at least on the veins; pedicels long; fruit sweet.
Flowers corymbose, but the axis of the corymb often short; native
trees.
Leaves acute to acuminate; eastern tree.
Leaves obtuse or rarely acute; western trees.
Leaves glabrous.
Leaves pubescent.
Flowers in terminal corymbs at the ends of twigs of the season; intro-
duced European tree.
6. P. americana.
7. P. subcordata.
8. P. angustijolia.
9. P. horlidana.
10. P. nigra.
11. P. spinosa.
12. P. domestica.
13. P. Cerasus.
14. P. Avium.
15. P. pennsylvanica.
16. P. emarginata.
17. P. prunijolia.
18. P. Mahaleh.
I. BLACK SLOE— Prunus umbellata Elliott
Also called Southern sloe, Hog, Prai-
rie, Oldfield, Chicasaw, or Bullace plum,
this is a small tree, frequent in river
swamps and in hammocks of the coastal
region, from South Carolina to Louisiana,
north to Arkansas. Its maximum height
is 6 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3
dm.
The trunk is slender, usually erect,
but often ascending, with wide-spread-
ing branches; the bark is about 8 mm.
thick, separating into persistent, dark
brown scales; the twigs are more or less
densely hairy, soon becoming smooth and
shining, light red, changing to dark
brown. The winter buds are very small.
The leaves are rather thin, oblong, el-
liptic or nearly oval, 5 to 7 cm. long,
Fig. 444. — Black Sloe.
488
The Plums and Cherries
broadest cither above or below the middle, pointed or tapering at the apex,
rounded or narrowed, with 2 glands at the base, margined by small pointed teeth,
dark green and smooth above, paler, smooth or slightly hairy on the yellowish
midrib beneath; the leaf-stalk is short and slender. The flowers, appearuig before
the leaves, from February to April, are 1.5 cm. across, in lateral, nearly stalkless,
3- or 4-flowered umbels, on smooth, slender stalks 1.5 to 2 cm. long; the calyx-
tube is broadly obconic, its lobes sharp, triangular-ovate, hairy on the inner surface;
the petals are nearly orbicular; the filaments and pistil are smooth. The fruit
ripens from June to September, is globose, 1.2 to 1.5 cm. in diameter, black, with a
light-colored bloom; the skin is thick and tough, the flesh thick and sour; the
stone is nearly globular, plumxp, acute at both ends, sHghtly wrinkled, prominently
ridged on one edge and shghtly furrowed at the other.
The fruit of the Black sloe is largely gathered from wild trees for sale in the
markets of the south, and is made into pies, jams, and jclHes.
The wood is hard, close-grained and dark red-brown; its specific gravity is
about 0.82.
2. TEXAN SLOE
Prunus tarda Sargent
This small tree of open woods and thickets in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas
reaches a maximum height of 8 meters, with a trunk diameter of 6 dm.
The branches are widely spreading; the bark is 1.5 to 2 cm. thick, shallowly
fissured and broken into small scaly ridges of a light red-brown color; the slender
twigs are hairy and green at first, soon be-
coming reddish brown and glossy, and finally
red-brown and duU; the winter buds are
small, narrow and sharp-pointed. The leaves
are firm, oblong to obovate, 3.5 to 8 cm.
long, sharp or taper-pointed, gradually nar-
rowed, rounded or wedge-shaped at the base,
finely toothed, with glandular tipped teeth,
yellowish green and smooth above, more or
less hairy along the yellowish midrib and
principal veins beneath; the leaf-stalk is
densely hair}'. The flowers open in early
spring, are 2 cm. across, in stemless umbels
of 2 or 3 flowers, on slender, smooth pedicels
about 2 cm. long; the calyx-tube is obconic,
its lobes entire, acute, and hairy on both sur-
faces; the petals are oblong, clawed, rounded
and erose at the apex; the filaments and pistil are smooth. The fruit ripens in
the late autumn, is broadly oblong to subglobose, 10 to 12 mm. long, varying in
color from yellow, red, and blue to purple and black; skin thick and tough, flesh
thick, rather sour; the stone is ovoid, slightly flattened, much wrinkled and sharply
Fig. 445. — Texan Sloe.
\.
Alleghany Sloe
\
489
pointed, rounded at the base, slightly ridged on one edge and grooved at the
other.
The fruit is gathered from wild trees and made into pies and preserves.
3. GEORGIA SLOE — Prunus mitis Beadle
A small tree or shrub, with spreading or ascending branches, known only from
dry soils in Georgia and Alabama, where it attains
a maximum height of 8 meters and a trunk diame-
ter of 3 dm.
The bark is dark gray to reddish brown; the
twigs are smooth, shining, becoming dark gray or
bro\\^Ti, seldom producing spiny spurs. The leaves
are thin, elHptic, lanceolate to obovate, 2 to 9 cm.
long, sharply or taper-pointed, narrowed or rounded
and 2-glandular at the base, densely hairy on both
surfaces, especially so on the prominent venation,
bright green above, paler beneath, the leaf-stalk
densely hair}% 4 to 10 mm. long. The flowers, ap-
pearing before the leaves in late March, are about
1.5 cm. across, in stalkless, 2- to 6-flowered umbels,
on slender, smooth pedicels i to 2 cm. long; the
calyx-tube is obconic, smooth at the base, its lobes
triangular, blunt-pointed, hairy on outer, velvety on
inner surface; the petals are obovate, rounded at the apex. The fruit, ripening in
June and July, is oblong, i to 1.4 cm. long, dark purple, with a bloom; the stone
is ovoid or oval, slightly flattened, about i cm. long, pointed at each end, especially
at the apex, and ridged on one edge.
Fig. 446. — Georgia Sloe.
4. ALLEGHANY SLOE — Prunus alleghaniensis Porter
Also called Porter's plum, and sometimes, Sloe, this is a local tree or shrub, being
knowTi mainly from a narrow strip of territory crossing the mountains of Penn-
sylvania, known as the Barrens, extending through Huntingdon and Clearfield
counties, where it forms extensive thickets and reaches a maximum height of
6 meters, with a trunk diameter of 2 dm.
As a tree it is slender, with many erect, stiff branches, and few spines if any;
the bark is 8 mm. thick, fissured, and with small, persistent scales; the twigs are
pale-hairy, soon becoming smooth, dark red and somewhat shining, finally very
dark brown. The leaves are thick and firm, oblong-cIHptic to lanceolate, 5 to 9
cm. long, sharply or taper-pointed, more or less rounded at the base, finely sharp-
toothed, hairy when young, becoming dark green and roughish above, smooth
except for a few hairs on the veins beneath; the leaf-stalk is slender, grooved, 1.5 to
2 cm, long, and sometimes hairy. The flowers, opening in May, when the leaves
/
490
The Plums and Cherries
are unfolding, are about 1.5 cm. across, in nearly stalkless, 2- to 5-flowered umbels,
on slender, smooth pedicels about 2 cm.
long; the calyx-tube is narrowly obconic,
its lobes broadly oblong, blunt, and hairy
within; the petals are rounded, white, fad-
ing to pink; the filaments and pistil are
smooth. The fruit, ripening in July or
August, is globose-ovoid, i to 2 cm. in di-
ameter, dark purple, with a bluish bloom;
the skin is thick and tough; the flesh is
thick and pleasantly acid; the stone is
broadly oval, somewhat flattened, 8 to 15
mm. long, pointed at both ends, ridged on
one edge and somewhat grooved at the
other.
The fruit of the Alleghany sloe is much
gathered for local use, in the making of
Fig. 447- -Alleghany Sloe. pj^s and jellies. The wood is hard, close-
grained, reddish brown, its specific gravity about 0.70.
5. HOG PLUM — Prunus injucunda Small
Like its relatives, this is also called Sloe. It is a shrub or small, straggling,
somewhat spiny tree of the granite hills of Georgia and Alabama, and is particu-
larly abundant at the base of Stone Mountain,
where it was first discovered. Its maximum
height is 8 meters, with a trunk diameter of 2
dm.
The bark is thin, closely fissured, dull dark-
gray to nearly black; the twigs are velvety, soon
becoming reddish or purphsh, and finally dull
gray. The leaves are thick and firm, ovate to
obovate, 3 to 6 cm. long, sharp or taper-pointed,
tapering or rounded at the base, finely toothed
with sharp, thin-pointed teeth, yellowish green,
wrinkled and shghtly hairy above, densely vel-
vety, with the yellow midrib very prominent, the
lateral veins less so, beneath; leaf-stalk stout,
0.5 to I cm. long, and hairy. The flowers, open-
ing in March or April, are in nearly stalkless
umbels of 4 or 5, on slender, hairy pedicels about ^^^ ^^g _ ^^^ p,^_
1.5 cm. long; the calyx-tube is obconic and
hairy, its lobes triargular, erect, entire, ciHate, and sharply pointed; the clawed
Wild Yellow Plum
491
petals are orbicular; the filaments and base of the pistil arc hairy. The fruit,
ripening in July or August, is oblong, 1.2 to 1.5 cm. long, dark purple with a
lighter bloom; the flesh is thin, sour, and astringent; the stone is ovoid, 8 to 10
mm. long, much flattened, somewhat wrinkled, pointed at both ends, with a
broad grooved ridge on one edge and a groove at the other.
The fruit of the Hog plum, as its common name impHes, is not considered fit
for domestic use. This species has been regarded as a variety of the Black sloe
and described under the name Prunus umbellata injucunda Sargent.
6. WILD YELLOW PLUM — Prunus americana Marshall
Also called Wild red plum, this low-branched, somewhat spiny tree of woods and
thickets from New York to Ohio, Montana, Florida, Texas and Colorado, attains
a maximum height of 1 1 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 dm.
The numerous branches are wide-spreading, often drooping, and frequently
armed with many spine-hke spurs; the bark is
about 15 mm. thick, breaking up into thin,
dark brown plates; the twigs are smooth or
hairy, light green, becoming brown and finally
reddish brown ; the winter buds are very small,
sharp-pointed and brown. The leaves are firm,
elliptic to oval or obovate, 4 to 10 cm. long,
taper-pointed, usually rounded at the base,
sharply toothed, sometimes doubly so, dark
green and rough with midrib impressed above,
paler and hairy, especially near the veins, be-
neath; the slender leaf-stalk is 1.5 to 2 cm.
long. The flowers appear in March at the
South to May at the North; they are white,
2.5 cm. across, in sessile 2- to 5-flowered um-
bels, on slender, smooth pedicels i to 2 cm.
long; the calyx- tube is obconic, smooth, usually
red on the outside, the lobes entire and sharp-pointed; the petals are obovate,
rounded, and irregularly eroded. The fruit, ripening from June to October, is
subglobose or globose-oblong, 1.8 to 2.5 cm. long, orange to bright red, usually
without bloom; the skin is thick and tough, the flesh yellow, juicy and acidulous;
the stone is oval, flattened, shghtly wrinkled, pointed at the top, narrowed at the
base, flattened on one edge and grooved at the other.
The fruit is largely gathered from wild growing trees and used for preser%'es
and jellies. It has also been cultivated for a long time and many selected varieties
are now known to orchardists. As an ornamental tree it is much admired for its
profusion of flowers, its fine form, and foliage. The wood is hard, strong, close-
grained, reddish brown and lustrous; its specific gravity is about 0.73.
Fig. 449. — Wild Yellow Plum.
492
The Plums and Cherries
The Woolly-leaf plum is a variety of this, or perhaps a distinct species, with
conspicuously hairy leaves and twigs, occurring west of the Alleghany Mountains,
principally in the Gulf States, and known as Prunus americana lanata Sudworth.
7. PACIFIC PLUM— Prunus subcordata Bentham
A low branching tree, or usually a shrub, on dry rocky hills of southern Oregon
to middle Cahfomia, reaching a maximum
height of 7.5 meters, with a trunk diameter of
3 dm.
The branches are stout, somewhat spread-
ing; the bark is about 8 mm. thick, gray to
brown and fissured into thin, scaly plates; the
twigs are sometimes hairy, soon becoming
smooth and bright red, finally dark reddish
purple to brown-gray. The leaves are some-
what leathery, ovate to orbicular, 2.5 to 7 cm.
long, rounded or blunt at the apex, slightly
heart-shaped or rounded at the base, closely,
sometimes doubly toothed, dark green above,
paler beneath, the venation prominent beneath
and impressed above; the leaf-stalks are i to 5
cm. long. The flowers, appearing from March
to May, are about 2 cm. across, in nearly stalkless, 2- to 4-flowered umbels, on
slender pedicels 7 to 15 mm. long; the calyx-tube is bell-shaped, nearly smooth,
the lobes oblong, rounded and somewhat hairy; the petals are obovate, rounded;
the pistil and filaments are smooth. The fruit ripens in August or September,
is globose or oblong, 2 to 3 cm. long, dark red or sometimes yellow; the flesh is
juicy and pleasantly acidulous; the stone is somewhat flattened, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long,
pointed at each end, sharply ridged on one edge and grooved on the other.
Its fruit is much gathered from wild growing trees and from selected forms
brought under cultivation. The young plants are used by western nurserymen as
stock upon which to graft or bud better varieties of plums. The wood is hard,
close-grained, and pinkish brown, its specific gravity about 0.64.
The Sisson or Sierra plum, a variety of this with nearly smooth, orbicular, not
heart-shaped leaves, ash-colored stems, and larger yellowish fruit, is Prunus sub-
cordata Kelloggii Lemmon.
Fig. 450. — Pacific Plum.
8. CHICKASAW PLUM- Prunus angustifolia Marshall
Also called Mountain cherry, this is a somewhat spiny, small tree or shrub,
with spreading branches, often forming dense thickets in dry sandy soils, from
New Jersey to Florida, westward to the lower Mississippi valley, Arkansas and
Wild Goose Plum
493
eastern Texas. Its maximum height is 8 meters, with a trunk diameter of 2
dm.
The bark is thin, scarcely fissured, but broken into thick, persistent, dark
brownish red scales; the twigs are nearly
smooth or short-hairy, becoming entirely
smooth, red or purple and shining, finally
dull and dark. The leaves are rather thin,
lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 3 to 10 cm.
long, sharp or somewhat taper-pointed, more
or less rounded at the base, margined by
very small gland-tipped teeth, smooth and
shining above, paler and dull beneath; the
slender leaf -stalk is i to 1.5 cm. long, bear-
ing two glands near the base of the blade.
The flowers appear in March and April be-
fore the leaves, in nearly stemless, 2- to 4-
flowered umbels, on slender, smooth pedicels
8 to 15 mm. long; the calyx-tube is bell-
shaped, smooth, the lobes oblong, blunt-
pointed, and fringed with glandular hairs;
petals clawed, white, obovate, rounded; filaments and pistil smooth. The fruit,
which ripens in June or July, is oval to globose, about 1.5 cm. in diameter, bright
red, somewhat shining, with a slight bloom; flesh subacid and juicy; stone ovoid,
swollen, somewhat ridged on one edge, conspicuously grooved at the other.
The fruit of the Chickasaw plum is gathered from wild trees and sold in the
markets of the southern States; the tree is also cultivated. Nurse r}^men cata-
logue about a dozen named varieties of it. The wood is rather soft, weak, light
brown; its specific gravity is about 0.68.
Fig. 451. — Chickasaw Plum.
9. WILD GOOSE PLUM — Prunus hortulana Bailey
Also called Garden wild plum, this grows in woods and thickets along streams,
from Mar}dand to Kansas, Alabama and Texas. It is a small, low-branched
tree, sometimes a shrub. Its maximum height is about 9 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 3 dm.
The outspreading branches are without spines; the ver}^ thin bark is dark
brown, usually peeling off in thin plates; the twigs are stout, stiff, smooth and
red-brown, becoming darker with age. The leaves are firm and thick, ovate, lanceo-
late or oval, 10 to 15 cm. long, taper- pointed, wedge-shaped or rounded at the
base, glandular-toothed, dark green and shining, with broad, impressed midrib
above, paler and hairy along the prominent yellowish midrib beneath; the leaf-
stalk is glandular near the blade, about 2.5 cm. long. The flowers, appearing with
the leaves in April and May, are 1.5 to 2 cm. across, in nearly stalkless 2- to
494
The Plums and Cherries
Fig. 452. — Wild Goose Plum.
4-flowered umbels on slender, roughish pedicels; the calyx-tube is obconic, the
lobes ovate, blunt or pointed, glandular-
toothed, hairy on both surfaces; the petals
are obovate, seldom notched. The fruit
ripens in September or October, is nearly
globular, 2 to 2.5 cm. long, bright red; its
skin is thick, the flesh thin, hard, and
acid ; the stone is oval, somewhat swollen,
usually rough and pitted, grooved on one
edge, ridged on the other.
The fruit of the Wild goose plum is
gathered from the wild trees and used like
that from other wild plums. It is the
parent of many of the best varieties of
American cultivated plums. The wood
is similar to that of the closely related
plum trees.
A form with dull, thicker, coarser
toothed, mostly oblanceolate, prominently-veined leaves and a smooth stone, oc-
curring in Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee, is known as Prunus hortulana Mineri
Bailey, and sometimes regarded as a distinct species.
10. CANADA PLUM — Prunus nigra Aiton
Also called Horse plum, this is a small, bushy tree, occurring in woods and ne-
glected lands from Newfoundland to Alberta,
and southward to Georgia, reaching a maxi-
mum height of ID meters, with a trunk di-
ameter of 3 dm.
The bark is 3 mm. thick, with a smooth
light gray to brown, thin outer layer, which
peels off readily; the twigs are light green,
smooth or shghtly hairy, soon becoming dark
red-brown, and develop spine-hke spurs often
5 cm. long; the winter buds are rather large,
5 to 8 mm. long, and covered with brown
scales. The leaves are firm, eUiptic to obo-
vate, 6 to 12 cm. long, 2.5 to 7 cm. broad,
sharply pointed, rounded or blunt at the
broadish base, margined by glandular, mostly
double teeth, light green and smooth above,
pale and sparingly hairy, with midrib promi-
nent beneath; the leaf-stalk is 1.5 to 2.5 cm.
long, with two prominent red glands near the base of the blade. The flowers,
Fig. 453. — Canada Plum,
Sloe
495
appearing before the leaves in April or May, are 1.5 to 2.5 cm. across, in 3- to
5-flowered umbels on smooth, red pedicels i to 2 cm. long; the calyx-tube is ob-
conic, usually red, the lobes lanceolate, glandular-toothed, hairy on the inner
surface; the petals are obovate, rounded and irregularly erose, white, fading to
pink. The fruit, ripening in August or September, is oval or subglobose, 2.5 tp 3
cm. long, orange to red, with a sHght bloom. The skin is thick, the flesh yellow
and sour; the stone is oval, flattened, sharply ridged on one edge and sHghtly
grooved at the other.
The fruit of the Canada plum is collected for culinary purposes, and several
improved forms of it are in cultivation. As an ornamental tree it is very desirable
on account of its early, large fragrant flowers. The wood is strong, close-grained,
hard and brown; its specific gravity is about 0.69.
II. SLOE — Prunus spinosa Linnaeus
Also called Blackthorn and Buckthorn, this is a spiny, much branched small
tree or shrub, native of Europe, but naturalized along roadsides, from Massachu-
setts to Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Its
maximum height is about 9 meters, with a
trunk diameter of 6,5 dm.
The bark is quite smooth and nearly
black; the twigs are smooth, shining, dark
brown, becoming dark gray. The leaves are
firm, ovate or oblong, 4 to 5 cm. long, blunt
at the apex, narrowed or rounded at the base,
toothed on the margin, dark green and almost
smooth when fully grown; the leaf-stalk is
about I cm. long. The flowers appear in
April and May before the leaves; they are 10
to 12 mm. across, soHtary or two together, on
slender, smooth pedicels about i cm. long; the
calyx- tube is bell-shaped, its lobes narrow,
long and blunt. The fruit, ripening in July,
Fig. 454. — Sloe.
is ovoid to globose, about 12 mm. in diameter, nearly black, with a bloom; flesh
thin, rather acid and astringent, edible after frost; the stone is broadly oval,
slightly flattened, much wrinkled, acute on one edge, ridged and grooved on the
other.
The wood is hard, close-grained and red-brown; its specific gravity is about
0.83. It is used in Europe for the manufacture of furniture. The young trunks
and straight branches are made into the celebrated Blackthorn canes. As an
ornamental tree it has been extensively planted for hedges, but has been discarded,
as it suckers too profusely from the roots. A double-flowering form is vct}' hand-
some and greatly admired.
496
The Plums and Cherries
12. GARDEN PLUM — Prunus domestica Linnaeus
Primus insititia Linnjeus
The European garden plum, also known as the Damson plum or Bullace, is
an occasional escape to roadsides and about old orchards, often forming dense
thickets; it sometimes attains
a height of 8 meters. The
branches are stiff and upright,
with or without thorns.
The twigs are rather stout,
somewhat hairy at first, be-
coming smooth and red to gray-
ish brown. The leaves are
thick and firm, very variable in
outHne, from ovate to obovate,
5 to 8 cm. long, sharp or taper-
pointed, more or less tapering
at the base into the stout,
broad, channelled leaf-stalk,
coarsely and irregularly
toothed, dull dark green and
somewhat wrinkled above.
Fig. 455. — Garden Plum.
paler, rough, and prominently veined beneath. The flowers are white, appearing
in April or May, with the leaves; they are usually soHtary, sometimes 2 or 3 in
a cluster, on slender stalks about 5 cm. long. The fruit, which ripens in August,
varies somewhat, but on wild plants is usually
about 2.5 cm. long, blue-black, with a bloom;
the stone is large, slightly roughened, promi-
nently ridged and grooved on one edge.
The wood is hard, close-grained, red-
brown, sometimes with lighter streaks; its
specific gravity is about 0.83. It takes a fine
polish and is a favorite, in Europe, for cabi-
net work and instrument making.
13. SOUR CHERRY
Linnaeus
Prunus Cerasus
A native of Europe, also called Egriot,
widely cultivated in many improved fruiting
varieties, and a frequent escape, from suck-
ers at the roots or spontaneously by seed,
in waste places along roadsides and margins
Fig. 45O. — Sour Cherry.
Sour Cherry
497
N ' » • -
>->*^e4Si^^!^^^^f?^^'^^?. #S^-^ V
"'-■v^^p^^^r^v^^^!^-- **»|p^^^^ij'^ '' ^ "^
^^^^^^^^^B^y.^ * ■ **-?y^.|,''" * '''^>5*'^HBf ' 'i ^^^^C^?»tK^LlaK^Hfc_/i6w^rK '«"'■> ■^'
■f^^H^^Bi^Bt^ B ^B ^^^^^1
^fci^>_>_j_^K_/^^^MU^^^^B
^^^^^HH^^^^n^HS^j^HMlji^^^^^^^^HBx^'^^^^^^^^^I^^^E
Fig. 457. — Sour Cherry, Carnot, Pa.
of woods, from New Hampshire to Georgia and Colorado. Its maximum height
is 15 meters, with a trunk diameter of nearly i meter.
The trunk is short, the branches slender, outspreading and more or less droop-
ing at the ends, forming a broad rounded head; the bark is 6 to 8 mm. thick, quite
smooth, with a few elliptic lenticels, gray-brown; the twigs are slender, smooth,
red or gray-brown. The leaves are thin, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 4 to 1 1 cm.
long, abruptly sharp or taper-pointed, rounded at the l)ase, variously toothed,
resinous when young, becoming smooth on both surfaces. The flowers, appearing
498
The Plums and Cherries
before or with the leaves in April or IMay, are 1.5 to 2.5 cm. across, in lateral,
vcn- scaly, short-stalked 2-to 5-flowered umbels, on smooth slender pedicels 2 to
4 cm. long; the calyx-tube is urn-shaped, smooth, its lobes rather broad, blunt,
minutely glandular-toothed and reflexed; the petals are broadly obovate, notched
at the apex. The fruit ripens in June and July, is nearly globular, 8 to 12 mm. in
diameter, red to black, without bloom; the flesh is juicy and acid, separating readily
from skin and stone.
The fruit of the Sour cherr}-, as found growing wild, is usually too small and
sour to be much used; that of its cultivated forms, however, is well known and
highly valued for its agreeably acidulous taste and flavor. The wood is strong,
rather soft, close-grained and yellowish red; its specific gravity is about 0.87* It
is used like that of the Sweet cherry, from which it is not differentiated by wood
workers.
14. SWEET CHERRY — Prunus Avium Linnaeus
Also called Bird, Crab, Wild, or Mazard cherr}^, this is native of Europe and
has long been extensively cultivated in many improved varieties; it is frequently
spontaneous, usually from seed distributed
by birds, in open woods and along road-
sides and neglected fence rows. Its maxi-
mum height is about 21 meters, with a
trunk diameter of 1.2 meters.
The trunk is tall and straight, with short,
stiff branches, forming an upright conic
rather close-headed tree. The bark is 8 to
10 mm. thick, covered by a rather smooth,
gray-brown, leathery outer layer, which is
roughened or fissured transversely, its edges
often rising, exposing the inner bark, which
then becomes more or less deeply furrowed
longitudinally. The twigs are stout, smooth,
gray to red-brown. The leaves are thick,
ovate, oval or somewhat obovate, 6 to 12
cm. long, abruptly short taper-pointed,
blunt or tapering at the base, irregularly saw-toothed, often doubly so, green and
smooth above, paler and hairy on the veins beneath; the leaf-stalk is slender,
smooth, 2 to 3 cm. long. The flowers, appearing with the leaves in April or May,
are 2.5 to 3 cm. across, in lateral, sessile, 3-to 5-flowTred umbels, on smooth slen-
der pedicels 3 to 6 cm. long, the calyx-tube urn-shaped, more or less red at the
top, the lobes oblong, blunt and reflexed; petals white, nearly orbicular, broadly
notched at the apex. The fruit of wild trees is globular or nearly so, 8 to 10 mm.
in diameter, dark red to nearly black, with a slight bloom; the flesh is sweet and
adheres to the globose stone.
Fig. 458. — Sweet Cherry.
Wild Red Cherry
499
The fruit of the Sweet cherry in the wild state is small, its flesh thin, dr)' and
unpalatable and of Uttle use except as food for birds. The cuhivated forms
originating from this species are very numerous.
The wood is strong, rather soft, close-grained, yellowish red and takes a very
fine polish; its specific gravity is about 0.88. It is largely used for fine furniture,
inside finishing, and also for musical and other instruments.
15. WILD RED CHERRY — Pruinis pennsylvanica Linnccus fils
Also called Bird, Pigeon, or Pin cherry, this tree grows in open woods and
clearings from Newfoundland to British Columbia, south to Georgia, Tennessee
and Colorado. Its maximum height is
about 12 meters, with a trunk diameter of
4 dm.
The bark is i to 1.5 mm. thick, readily
peeling ofiF in thin red-brown layers; the
twigs are smooth, becoming bright red, shin-
ing, with a few yellow lenticels; the leaves
are thin, oblong, lanceolate, to nearly oval,
8 to 15 cm. long, taper-pointed, tapering or
rounded at the base, doubly toothed, bright
green and shining above, paler beneath.
The flowers, appearing with the leaves from
April to June, are about 1.5 cm. across, in
clusters of short-stalked, 4- or 5-flowered
cor}^mbs, on slender pedicels 1.5 to 3 cm.
long; the calyx- tube is obconic and smooth,
its lobes oblong, red-margined, and blunt;
the petals are white, broadly obovate; the
stamens and pistil are smooth. The fruit is globose, 5 to 7 mm. in diameter, bright
red, smooth, the skin thick, the flesh thin and sour; stone globose or sHghtly elon-
gated, slightly ridged on one edge.
The wood is soft, close-grained, light brown; its specific gravity is about 0.50.
As a natural reforestering agent this cherry is one of the most valuable in the
eastern portion of the continent. Growing rapidly and thickly upon the bare soil
after destructive forest fires, it forms exclusive forests in a few years, and by its
short life soon makes way for other trees whose seedHngs it had protected. As
an ornamental tree its fine form, profusion of early bloom, and abundance of
showy fruit, useful as food for birds, make it desirable; its short life, however, is
against its general use for lawn or park planting.
Fig. 459. — Wild Red Cherr}'.
500
The Plums and Cherries
1 6. BITTER CHERRY — Prunus emarginata Walpers
This chern' occurs in the mountains from southern British Columbia to southern
California, Idaho and Nevada. Its maximum height of 8 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 2.5 dm,, is attained only in the northern portion of its range; else-
where it is merely a large shrub.
The branches are slender and upright. The bark is about 8 mm. thick,
usually smooth and shining, dark
brown or reddish, with bands of
yellowish gray markings ; the twigs
are slender, sHghtly hairy, soon
becoming smooth, and dark red-
brown. The leaves are membra-
nous, oblong, obovate to oblong-
lanceolate, 3 to 8 cm. long, rounded
and blunt at the apex, usually
with two large dark glands at the
narrow base, margined by small
gland-tipped teeth, dark green and
smooth above, paler and smooth
beneath; leaf-stalk smooth,
grooved and stout, about i cm.
long. The flowers, appearing from
April to July, in clustered 2- to
4-flowered umbels, are on slender
pedicels 2.5 to 4 cm. long; the calyx-tube is obconic, usually smooth, the lobes are
broadly oblong, stout, rounded or notched; petals greenish white, obovate, rounded
or notched; stamens and pistil smooth. The fruit, ripening in summer, is globose,
8 to 15 mm. in diameter, dark red to nearly black, slightly translucent, its flesh
thin, astringent and bitter; stone ovoid, pointed at each end, somewhat pitted, or
smooth, grooved and ridged on one edge, slightly grooved at the other, variable
in size and form.
The wood is soft, close-grained, brittle and pinkish brown; its specific gravity
is about 0.45; it takes a high poHsh and is used for furniture in the regions in which
it occurs.
Fig. 460. — Bitter Cherry.
17. WOOLLY-LEAF CHERRY — Prunus prunifolia (Greene) Shafer
Cerasus mollis Douglas. Prunus mollis Walpers, not Torrey
Prunus emarginata villosa Sudworth. Cerasus prunijolia Greene
This medium-sized tree occurs from British Columbia to Idaho, southward to
southern California, and Arizona, its maximum height being about 15 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 5 dm., though often only a shrub.
Mahaleb
501
The bark is about 8 mm. thick, usually smooth and dark gray; the twigs are
slender, hairy, becoming smooth and gray-
brown. The leaves are thick-membranous,
oval to obovate, 4 to 9 cm. long, blunt or more
or less pointed at the apex, narrowed and
2 -glandular at the base, margined by gland-
tipped teeth, dark green with impressed mid-
rib above, paler and woolly beneath ; leaf-stalk
slender, channelled and hairy, about i cm.
long. The flowers, appearing from May to
July, are i to 1.5 cm. across, in several 2- to
4-flowered umbels, on slender hairy pedicels
2 to 5 cm. long; the calyx-tube is obconic,
hairy, as are the blunt lobes; petals obovate,
rounded at the apex; stamens and pistil
smooth. The fruit, ripening in August, is
globose, 8 to 12 mm. in diameter, bright red,
flesh thin and very bitter, the stone ovoid.
The wood is brittle, soft, close-grained,
pinkish-brown; its specific gravity is about 0.45
of furniture. i
The young plants are used by nurserymen as stock upon which to graft culti-
vated varieties of cherries. It is said to have been planted as a shade-tree in some
of the towns of the Northwest.
Fig. 461. — Woolly -leaf Cherr}-.
It is used in the manufacture
18. MAHALEB — Prunus Mahaleb Linnaeus
Fig. 462. — Mahaleb.
A small European tree, also called
the Perfume or Scented cherr}', often a
shrub, flowering when very young and
small; it is sparingly naturahzed in our
area in waste places, fence rows and way-
sides, from Ontario to Pennsylvania;
also recently reported from Kansas. Its
maximum height is 7.5 meters, with a
trunk diameter of 4 dm.
The bark is thin, smooth and hght
gray; the twigs are slender, shining and
grayish red ; the leaves are thin and firm,
ovate, 4 to 6 cm. long, abruptly sharp-
pointed, rounded or somewhat cordate
at the base, margined with small, glan-
dular teeth, light green and smooth on
502 The Wild Cherries
both surfaces; the leaf-stalk is slender, i to 2 cm. long. The flowers, which are i
cm. across, appear with the leaves, on short, leafy branches of the current season,
in several-flowered umbels; they are borne on stout pedicels; the calyx-tube is top-
shaped, its lobes ovate; the petals are white, obovate, about 5 mm. long. The fruit
is globose or globose-ovoid, about 8 mm. in diameter, reddish black and shining.
The flesh is thin, hard and bitter, the stone small, globose, slightly flattened.
The Mahaleb is distinctly fragrant in all its parts, and consequently used in
the manufacture of all sorts of ornaments, especially by the French, who also use
it largely for perfumer}'. The favorite Weichsel smoking pipes and pipe stems,
umbrella handles, small boxes, and other trinkets, are made from the stems and
roots of this tree. The wood is a favorite for cabinet work; it is hard, dark brown,
and takes a fine polish; its specific gravity is about 0.94.
As an ornamental tree or shrub it is highly appreciated in Europe, but is seldom
seen, as such, in our area, where its introduction was due to the fact that it is a
favorite of the nuser}^men as a stock upon which to graft other kinds of cherries or
plums.
IV. THE WILD CHERRIES
GENUS PADUS BORCKHAUSEN
?]ADUS includes about 1 5 species of trees or shrubs, natives of the northern
hemisphere. The leaves are deciduous, alternate, simple, usually
toothed and stalked, the stipules early deciduous, the accrescent bud
scales very prominent. The flowers are numerous and borne in ter-
minal racemes on young leafy branches of the season's growth, appearing after
the leaves; the calyx- tube is usually bell-shaped, with 5 short lobes; petals white,
inserted in the throat of the calyx; the 15 to 20 stamens distinct; style simple,
terminated by the flattish stigma; o\ailes pendulous, 2 in number. The drupe is
fleshy, small, smooth, and contains a solitary seed.
The type of the genus is the European bird cherry, Prunus Padus Linnaeus,
Padus being its old Greek name. By the Germans it is aptly designated Grape
cherr}^ It is sometimes cultivated in America for its early flowering and showy
black fruit, which is much eaten by birds. It has escaped from cultivation at
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Our arborescent species are:
Sepals deciduous; teeth of the leaves slender; small trees or shrubs.
Fruit very astringent; leaves thin, smooth; eastern. i. P. virginiana.
Fruit sweet or but little astringent; leaves thick; western.
Leaves smooth. 2. P. melanocarpa.
Leaves hair\' beneath. 3. P. demissa.
Sepals persistent; teeth of the leaves relatively coarse.
Smooth throughout.
Sepals deltoid, broader than long; leaves delicately reticulate veined. 4. P. eximia.
Sepals ovate, longer than broad; leaves not reticulate veined. 5. P. serotina.
Choke Cherry
503
Hairy on young shoots, raceme-axis, and pedicels.
Leaves pale or glaucous beneath, at least when old, and nearly
glabrous beneath, except along veins.
Leaves obovate, rounded at apex; drupe red.
Leaves oblong to ovate or elliptic, obtuse to acuminate; drupe
purple.
Leaves densely brown persistent-woolly beneath, not glaucous.
6. P. Cuthbertii.
P.
P.
alabatnensis.
australis.
I. CHOKE CHERRY — Padus virginiana (Linnseus) Rcemer
Primus virginiana Linnaeus
As a shrub this is frequent on rocky soils, usually along banks of streams,
from Newfoundland to Manitoba, southward to Georgia and Texas, rarely becom-
ing a tree, of a maximum height of about 8 meters, with a trunk diameter of 2 dm.
frhe bark is about 7 mm. thick, slightly fissured, dark gray and of a disagree-
able odor I twigs usually smooth, becoming
light brown and finally dark red-brown ;
the winter buds are pointed, about 4 mm.
long. The leaves are thin, ovate to obo-
vate,'5 to 10 cm, long, pointed, mostly
rounded at the base, margined with sharp,
.slender teeth, smooth on both sides. J -the,
leaf-stalk i to 2 cm. long, slender, grooved,
wifh two large glands near tTieT)ase of the
leaf-blade^i he tiowers, ~appraringTrom
ipril to June, are about 12 mm. across,
in upright or nodding loosely-flowered
racemes 8 to 15 cm. long, the axis and
pedicels smooth, the latter 6 to 10 mm.
long, the calyx-tube urn-shaped, its lobes
broad, blunt, reflexed and smooth; the
petals are white, nearly orbicular, the fila-
ments and pistil smooth; the style is short, thick, and abruptly enlarged into a
broad terminal stigma. | The fruit, ripening in July or August, is globose, 8 to 10
mm. in diameter, red, black, or yellow, shining; the flesh thin, juicy, dark colored
and very astringent; the stone is ovoid, somew^hat flattened, ridged on one edge,
acute at the other.
The fruit becomes much less astringent when fully ripe and is made into jellies
and preserved, especially at the North.
The wood is hard, close-grained, weak, light brown, (it is a beautiful plant at
all stages of growth, but especially when in flower, and deserves a place in all large
plantations. \
Fig. 463. — Choke Cherry.
504
The Wild Cherries
2. ROCKY MOUNTAIN WILD CHERRY
Nelson) Shafer
Padus melanocarpa (A.
Primus demissa melanocarpa A. Nelson
This shrub or small tree, also called Choke cherry, is distributed from North
Dakota to Alberta, Washington, California,
Nebraska and New Mexico, sometimes at-
taining a height of about lo meters, with a
trunk diameter of 3 dm.
The bark is thin, usually quite smooth
and dull, dark gray. The slender twigs are
smooth and dark, reddish brown to gray.
The leaves are thick and firm, narrowly
obovate or oval, abruptly sharp or blunt
pointed, rounded or seldom tapering at the
base, margined by short, sharp teeth, bright
green, smooth and shining above, paler
and smooth beneath. The leaf-stalk is
stout, glandular, about 2 cm. long, usually
quite red. The flowers are in dense, usually
short, thick-stemmed racemes 7.5 to 10 cm.
long, smooth throughout, the petals about
6 mm. long. The fmit is globose, 6 to 8
mm. in diameter, black or nearly so, rarely
yellow, the flesh thin, sweet and but little astringent; stone nearly globular.
The wood is hard, weak, close-grained and light brown.
When in flower this is very beautiful, and is frequently planted for ornament
about Rocky mountain homes. Its smooth foliage and nearly black fruit seem
to distinguish it from the following species. The fruit is used for food by the
Indians, and is often made into jelhes.
Fig. 464. — Rocky Mountain Wild Cherry.
3. COLUMBIAN WILD CHERRY — Padus demissa (Nuttall) Roemer
Cerasus demissa Nuttall. Prunus demissa Walpers
This tree or shrub, also called the Western choke cherry, is abundant in the
Columbia River basin of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, extending east to South
Dakota and south to California. It attains a height of 15 meters, with a trunk di-
ameter of 6 dm.
The bark is about 6 mm, thick, slightly fissured, gray-brown. The twigs are
stout, densely hairy when young, becoming gray-brown and nearly smooth. The
leaves are thick and firm, obovate or oblong-obovate, 5 to 10 cm. long, broadest
about the middle, sharp-pointed, rounded or heart-shaped at the base, sharply
Texas Cherry
505
toothed on the margin, bright green and sHghtly
hairy above, pale and hairy beneath; the stout
leaf-stalk is i to 2 cm. long, with 2 glands
near the base of the leaf-blade, and haiiy when
young. The flowers are in rather dense hairy
or smooth racemes 7 to 10 cm. long; the calyx
is somewhat glandular, its lobes short and ob-
tuse; petals white, orbicular, about 5 mm. long.
The fruit is globose, 8 to 10 mm. in diameter,
purpHsh or red; the flesh is thin, sweet and
edible when fully ripe.
The wood is hard, close-grained, grayish
brown; its specific gravity is about 0.70. It
takes a fine poHsh, and is used for cabinet
work. The bark is used in medicine like
that of the Eastern wild cherry, Padus serotina,
and the fruit used for food.
Fig. 465. — Columbian Wild Cherry.
4. TEXAS CHERRY — Padus eximia Small
Prunus eximia Small
A beautiful tree occurring in the river valleys of southern Texas, where it
reaches a maximum height of 26 meters.
The branches are loosely spreading, forming a round-headed tree; the twigs
are slender, smooth, red-bro\Mi to gray-
brown. The leaves are rather thin,
ovate to oblong, lanceolate or oval, 3 to
8 cm. long, blunt or somewhat bluntly
taper- pointed, rounded, with 2 glands
at the base, margined with apprcssed
sharp teeth, bright green above, pale
green beneath, smooth on both surfaces;
the slender leaf-stalk is i to 1.5 cm.
long. The flowers, appearing in April,
are 10 to 12 mm. across, in drooping
racemes 5 to 7 cm. long; the pedicels are
club-shaped, smooth, 4 to 8 mm. long;
the calyx-tube is obconic, the short lobes
broader than long; the white petals are
orbicular to ovate. The fruit ripens in
Fig. 466. — Texas Cherry.
August, is globose, purple, 8 to 10 mm. in diameter, the persistent calyx and fila-
ments adhering to its base; flesh sweet; stone globular, pointed at the apex.
This Cherry is often eaten by children, sometimes with injurious efifects.
5o6
The Wild Cherries
5. WILD CHERRY — Padus serotina (Ehrhart) Agardh
Primus serotina Ehrhart
This well-known tree, also called the Black, Cabinet, or Rum cherry, is abun-
dant in mixed forests and neglected clearings, from Nova Scotia to Ontario and
South Dakota southward to Florida, Kansas and Texas, attaining a maximum
height of 35 meters, and a trunk diameter of 2 m.
The bark of old trunks is nearly 2 cm. thick, fissured in all directions into small
scaly plates of a dark red-brown color -
with raised edges on young trunks and
branches the bark is smooth and yellow-
ish brown, the outer portion peeling off
easily, exposing a bright green inner
layer. The twigs are slender, smooth,
pale green or yellowish brown, becoming
bright red or brown ; winter buds covered
by brown, pointed scales. The leaves
are firm, oval to oblong or lanceolate, 6 to
15 cm. long, taper-pointed, or rarely blunt,
wedge-shaped or rounded with two
prominent glands at the base, margined
by short, thick-tipped glandular teeth,,
slightly hairy at the midrib when unfold-
ing, soon becoming smooth, shining, dark
green with impressed midrib above, paler
Fig. 467. — Wild Cherry. -^.jth prominent midrib beneath, the leaf-
stalk about 1.5 cm. long. The tree flowers from April to June, when the leaves,
are partly expanded; flowers about 8 mm. across, on short pedicels less than i
cm. long, in narrow, erect or spreading racemes 10 to 15 cm. long, the axis and
pedicels smooth; the calyx- tube is cup-shaped, smooth, its lobes ovate, obtuse, and
slightly irregularly toothed, and, with the filaments, persistent in fruit; petals white,,
broadly obovate ; filaments and pistil smooth. The fruit ripens in August or Sep-
tember, is globose, 8 to 10 mm. in diameter, dark purple or black; skin thick;
flesh dark, juicy, but slightly astringent; the stone is oblong, pointed, ridged on one
edge, sharp on the other.
The fruit is used to some extent for making jellies and as a flavoring for alco-
holic liquors. The bark is an important drug and is official in the United States
Pharmacopoeia on account of the tonic bitter principle and the sedative hydrocyanic
acid it produces; it should be gathered in the autumn or winter.
The wood is strong, rather hard, close-grained, yellowish red and satiny; its
specific gravity is about 0.58. It is used very extensively in the manufacture of
furniture and for panels, doors, cases and frames. The tree is of rather rapid
growth, but is not esteemed for decorative planting.
Alabama Cherry
507
A form with very large, coarsely-toothed, leathery leaves, whitish beneath, stout
diverging racemes with few flowers, their calyx-lobes and filaments hairy, is con-
fined to the higher summits of the southern Alleghany Mountains; it is known as
Padus serotina neomoniana (Sudworth) Small.
6. CUTHBERT'S CHERRY - Padus Cuthbertii Small
Primus Cuthbertii Small
Cuthbert's cherry is known only from Georgia, where it occurs in rich sandy
woods, attaining a maximum height of only about 6 meters, with a trunk diame-
ter of 1.5 dm., and is often only a shrub.
The twigs are slender, woolly, becoming dark gray to red-brown. The leaves
are thick and leather}^, obovate,
varjqng to oval or fiddle-shaped,
4 to 9 cm. long, blunt or notched
at the apex, wedge-shaped with
two small glands at the base,
margined by short teeth, dull,
dark green and smooth above,
pale or somewhat glaucous, con-
spicuously hairy on the midrib,
less so on the lateral veins, be-
neath; the leaf -stalk is 5 to 10
mm. long and densely hairy.
The flowers, appearing in May,
are about 7 mm. across, in ra-
cemes 5 to 8 cm. long, the axis
and pedicels densely hairj^; the
pedicels are club-shaped, 3 to 5
nmi.
long.
becoming; twice as
Fig. 468.— Cuthbert's Chern'.
long in fruit; the calyx-tube is broadly obconic, shorter than the triangular lobes,
which are broader than long, and obtuse; petals crisp, nearly orbicular. The
fruit, ripening in July, is globose, smooth and red, subtended by the persistent
calyx and filaments; stone globose, shghtly depressed, taper-pointed, and shghtly
ridged on both edges.
7. ALABAMA CHERRY — Padus alabamensis (C. Mohr) SmaU
Prunus alabamensis C. Mohr
This cherry is known only from the mountainous districts of Alabama and
Georgia, where it is a spreading tree with shghtly drooping branches, attaining a
maximum height of 10 meters, with a trunk diameter of 5 dm.
The bark is rather thick, much fissured, dark brown, splitting into thin small
5o8
The Wild Cherries
scales; the twigs are slender, hair}', soon becoming nearly smooth, dark red-brown
and finally brown, with many
small, darker, roundish lenticels.
The leaves are thick and leath-
ery, oblong-elHptic to broadly
ovate, 6 to 12 cm. long, 2.5 to 4
cm. wide, short taper-pointed or
sometimes blunt, rounded or
slightly narrowed at the base,
toothed by rather distant, short,
blunt, gland-tipped teeth, deep
green and smooth above, pale
and slightly hairy beneath, es-
pecially along the prominent,
darkish venation; the petiole is
short and grooved. The flowers
appear early in May, are about
Fig. 469. -Alabama Cherry. ^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^ -^^ g^jfj spreading
or erect racemes 10 to 15 cm. long, the axis, pedicels, and the calyx closely hairy;
the calyx-tube is urn-shaped, its lobes short, nearly triangular; the petals are nearly
orbicular, white, the filaments and pistil smooth; the stigma club-shaped. The
fruit is globose, about 10 mm. thick, purple, subtended by the persistent calyx
and filaments at its base; the flesh is thin and sour; the stone is ovoid, shghtly
flattened, about 7 mm. long, ridged on one edge, grooved at the other.
8. SOUTHERN WILD CHERRY — Padus austraUs (Beadle) Small
Primus australis Beadle
A very local species known only from the vicinity of Evergreen, Alabama,
where it is a spreading tree, attaining a maxi-
mum height of 20 meters, with a trunk di-
ameter of 4.5 dm.
The bark of old trunks is i cm. thick,
gray to nearly black; on younger trunks and
branches it is light gray, roughened by nu-
merous lenticels; the twigs are slender, pale-
hairy, soon becoming smooth, and dull
reddish brown. The leaves are thin and
firm, obovate to ovate or elhptic, 4 to 10
cm. long, abruptly blunt-pointed, sometimes
sharp-pointed, rounded or narrowed at the
base, finely saw-toothed, dull dark green and
smooth above, covered by brownish hairs fig. 470 — Southern wild Cherry.
Wild Orange 509
beneath, most abundant along the broad midrib and the slender lateral veins;
the stout leaf-stalk is about 8 mm. long, rusty-hairy and glandular near the blade.
The flowers are on short pedicels in slender, spreading racemes 7 to 10 cm. long,
which are densely hairy. The fruit ripens in July, is globose, about 8 mm. in
diameter, dark purple, with the persistent calyx and stamens at its base.
The wood of the Southern wild cherry is probably very similar to that of the
common wild cherry.
V. THE EVERGREEN CHERRIES
GENUS LAUROCERASUS [TOURNEFORT] REICHENBACH
BOUT 20 species of Evergreen cherries are known, all natives of warm-
temperate and tropical regions in both the Old World and the New.
Besides the four here described as occurring within the United States,
two others grow in the West Indies and in Mexico and Central America.
The so-called English laurel (Laurocerasus Laurocerasus), the type of the genus,
is widely cultivated for ornament in England and France, but is a native of south-
eastern Europe.
The leaves are alternate, persistent on the trees into their second season, thick,
shining, toothed or entire, the rather large stipules falHng away early. The flowers
are borne in racemes in the axils of leaves of the previous season, opening in some
kinds late in the year, in others in the spring. The calyx has 5 small lobes, and
there are 5 petals and 15 to 30 stamens with very slender filaments. The ovary
is stalkless, containing 2 ovules, and ripens into a small stone-fruit (drupe), its
pit containing one seed, the flesh nearly dry and scarcely edible. The foUage
develops much prussic acid, when macerated in water.
Our species may be distinguished as follows:
Drupe oblong to oval; petals smaller than the calyx -lobes; southeastern tree. i. L. caroliniana.
Drupe globose to subglobose; petals longer than the pointed calyx-lobes.
Calyx-lobes laciniate; southeastern tree. 2. L. myrtijolia
Calyx-lobes entire; Pacific coast trees.
Leaves spinulose-toothed. 3- L. ilicijolia.
Leaves entire-margined. 4- L. Lyoni.
I. WILD ORANGE — Laurocerasus caroliniana (Miller) Roemer
Padus caroliniana Miller. Primus caroliniana Aiton
This beautiful evergreen tree, also called Mock orange, inhabits rich soil,
preferring river valleys, from North Carolina to Florida, Mississippi, and Texas.
It also occurs in Bermuda. It attains a ma.ximum height of about 12 meters,
with a trunk about 3 dm. thick.
The thin bark is gray and smooth, or somewhat ridged, the young twigs smooth,
green, turning red to red-brown, the pointed buds 3 or 4 mm. long. The leaves
510
The Evergreen Cherries
are oblong to oblong- lanceolate, leather}^ 5 to 12 cm. long, pointed at the apex,
narrowed at the base, entire-margined, or rarely with a few sharp teeth, the upper
side dark green and shining, paler green and dull on the under side ; the leaf-stalks
are 5 to 8 mm. long. The iflower-clusters are shorter than the leaves; the flower-
stalks are club-shaped, 2 to 4 mm. long; the flowers open from February to April;
Fig. 471. — Wild Orange.
the obconic calyx-tube is white, the lobes small, rounded, entire-margined, reflexed;
the petals are shorter than the calyx- lobes, erect, boat-shaped, about i mm. long;
the stamens are orange-yellow and much longer than the petals. The fruits are
oblong or oval, 10 to 13 mm. long, pointed, black and shining, the skin thick, the
flesh thin, the pit ovoid, slightly ridged on one side.
The tree is much planted in the South for ornament and for hedges, and grows
rapidly. The hard and strong wood is brown, with a specific gravity of about
0.87. Other common names are Laurel cherry, Carolina cherry. Mock olive.
2. WEST INDIAN CHERRY — Laurocerasus myrtifolia (Linnceus) Britton
Celastrus myrtifolius Linn^us. Primus spJuerocarpa Swartz
Laurocerasus sphcerocarpa Roemer
Widely distributed in the West Indies and in South America, this small ever-
green tree occurs sparingly in southern Florida, where it grows to a height of about
12 meters, and forms a trunk sometimes 3 or 4 dm. thick.
It has thin, nearly smooth reddish brown bark, and slender orange-brown,
smooth young twigs which soon turn gray; the buds are small and bluntish. The
leaves are leathery, elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 5 to 10 cm. long, blunt or blunt-
Islay
511
pointed, narrowed or sometimes rounded at the base, entire-margined, bright green
and shining on the upper side,
paler and dull beneath; the leaf-
stalks are about i cm. long.
The flowers appear late in the
year, the clusters shorter than
the leaves; the slender flower-
stalks are 4 to 15 mm. long;
the calyx-lobes are very small,
their margins toothed ; the pet-
als are white, broadly obovate,
yellowish near the base, much
longer than the calyx; the
orange-colored stamens are as
long as the petals or longer.
The cherries are globular, 9 to
12 mm. in diameter, orange-
brown, the flesh thin, the pit
. Fig. 472. — West Indian Cherr}'.
ridged on one side.
The wood is dense, hard, red, with a specific gravity of about 0.90.
3. ISLAY — Laiirocerasus ilicifolia (Nuttall) Roomer
Cerasus ilicifolia Nuttall. Pninus ilicifolia Walpers
Inhabiting hillsides, canons, and river banks in CaHfomia and Lower Cali-
fornia, this fine evergreen
tree attains a maximum
height of about 10 meters,
with a trunk sometimes 6
dm. thick at the base; it is
usually much smaller, how-
ever, and often shrubby.
The bark is quite thick,
red-brown and fissured.
The young twigs are smooth,
yellow-green, becoming
brown, the buds pointed.
The leaves are ovate, thick,
spiny-toothed, 6 cm. long
or less, pointed or blunt at
the apex, rounded, slightly
heart-shaped or narrowed
Fig. 473. — Islay. ^^ the basc, dark green and
512
The Evergreen Cherries
shining on the upper side, the under surface yellowish green and dull; the leaf-
stalks are channelled and 3 to 12 mm. long. The racemes of flowers are as long
as the leaves or longer, the flowers opening from April to July; the flower-stalks
are 3 to 6 mm. long; the calyx-tube is orange with small pointed reflexed lobes
much shorter than the blunt obovate petals ; the stamens are about as long as the
petals. The cherries are nearly globular, puiple, about 1.5 cm. in diameter when
ripe, the flesh thin, the pit ovoid, smooth.
The wood is hard, strong, dense, with a specific gravity of about 0.98, being
very nearly as heavy as water. The plant grows rapidly and is esteemed for
hedges in warm-temperate regions, but is not hardy at the North. Among Cali-
fomian common names for it are Holly-leaf cherr}^, Evergreen cherry, Spanish
wild cherr)\
Fig. 474. — Island Islay.
4. ISLAND ISLAY — Laurocerasus Lyoni (Eastwood) Britten
Cerasus Lyoni Eastwood. Prunus ilicifolia integrijolia Sudworth
Primus integrijolia Sargent, not Walpers
This tree of the islands near the coast of southern CaHfomia is a near relative
of the preceding species. It grows to a
height of about 12 meters, with a trunk
sometimes 4.5 dm, thick.
Its bark is thick and gray. The
young twigs are smooth, yellow-green,
becoming brown. The leaves are leath-
ery, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 5 to 8 cm.
long, sharp-pointed, entire-margined,
dark green and shining on the upper
side, somewhat paler and dull on the
under surface, the base rounded. The
flower-clusters are very dense and about
as long as the leaves; the flowers are very
short-stalked or nearly stalkless, opening
in March or April; the calyx- lobes are
much shorter than the obovate petals,
to 2
which are about as long as the stamens. The round purple fruits are 1.5
cm. in diameter.
THE MIMOSA FAMILY
MIMOSACEiE Reichenbach
HIS family comprises some 35 genera, with about 1350 species of herbs,
shrubs or trees, which are common in the warmer portions of the
world, but are most abundant in the tropics, where some of them are
of great economic importance, the well-known gum arable being a
gummy exudation of various species of the genus Acacia. Some of the most
important shade trees of the tropics, also, are members of this family. The leaves
of many of these plants are very sensitive, responding, by drooping, to the shghtest
touch, even a shght disturbance of the surrounding atmosphere being sufficient
to produce this effect, as in the case of the well-known Sensitive plant, Mimosa
pudica Linnaeus, of our greenhouses, which is a common weed in the tropics.
The leaves are alternate, mostly compound or 2 to 3 times evenly pinnate, stalked
and stipulate, the stipules often persistent and spine-hke. The flowers are small,
mostly in spikes or heads, usually perfect, sometimes polygamous; calyx 3-to 6-
lobed or toothed, the lobes valvate in the bud; petals equaling the sepals in num-
ber, distinct or partly united; the stamens equal the petals in number, or are
twice as many, or very numerous, usually conspicuously much longer than the
corolla, their filaments distinct or united at the base; pistil a single carpel; ovary
superior, i -celled; style simple, tipped by the small stigma. The fruit is a legu-
minous pod, variously shaped and often contorted; the seeds are with or with-
out endosperm; cotyledons thick and fleshy.
In addition to the trees here described about 60 species of shrubs and herbs
in 8 genera occur in the United States.
Our genera, with arborescent species, are:
Stamens more than 10.
Filaments partly united into a tube.
Pod splitting into halves through the thickened margin.
Pod thick, leathery, contorted; flowers in globose heads; leaves few-
foliolate. i. Pithecolobium.
Pod hard, woody, straight or nearly so; flowers in spikes; leaves
many-foliolate. 2. Siderocarpos.
Pod thin, leather)'.
Flower heads small, 1.5 to 2 cm. in diameter; ovary stalked; leaf-
lets nearly symmetrical. 3. Havardia.
Flower heads large, 3 to 4 cm. in diameter; ovary sessile; leaflets
one-sided. 4. Albizzia.
Pod not splitting into halves through the margin, but breaking away
from it. 5. Lysiloma.
513
514
The Cats-Claws
Filaments distinct or the inner ones sometimes united at the base.
Ovary stalked; pod dry; seeds not in 2 distinct rows.
Ovary sessile; pod swollen, nearly cylindric, pulpy; seeds in 2 distinct
rows.
Stamens only as many as the calyx-lobes or twice as many.
Pods straight, or but slightly curved, in loose clusters.
Pod flat, compact; seeds transverse, not enclosed in a sac.
Pod thick, spongy; seeds oblique, enclosed in a sac; spines above the
leaf -stalk.
Pods coiled into a close spiral, in dense clusters; spines below the leaf-
stalks.
I. THE CATS-CLAWS
GENUS PITHECOLOBIUM MARTIUS
6. Acacia.
7. Vachellia.
8. LeiiccBna.
9. Prosopis.
10. Stromhocarpa.
ITHECOLOBIUM consists of about 100 species of trees or shrubs, .
with or without spines. The leaves are alternate, bipinnate, typically
few-foliolate, usually glandular; stipules deciduous, or persistent and
spinescent. The flowers are perfect or polygamous, in globose heads;
the calyx is bell-shaped or tubular, 5-, or sometimes 6-toothed; the corolla con-
sists of 5 petals, partly united ; stamens very numerous, long-exserted, the filaments
thread-Hke, united at the base into a tube; anthers small; ovary with many ovules,
borne at the bottom of the calyx-tube, contracted into a slender style; stigma
small, capitate; o\ailes in two rows. The fruit is a compressed, narrow legume,
often greatly contorted, sometimes with pulpy or mealy partitions between the
seeds, tardily dehiscent. The seeds are partly enclosed by the bright colored aril-
hke funicle, ovate to orbicular, compressed, and suspended transversely in the
pod.
The genus Pithecolohium is widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical
regions of both hemispheres, but is most abundant in tropical America. One of
the best known and most valuable species is the Mexican rain tree, Pithecolohium
Saman (Jacquin) Bentham, of Central America, planted and widely naturalized
throughout the West Indies; it is a magnificent shade tree, and its pulpy pods,
edible but insipid, are valued as food for cattle.
The name is Greek, in reference to the much contorted pods of most of the
species. The type species is considered to be P. Unguis Cati (Linnaeus) Martius.
The oldest generic name for these plants is Zygia P. Browne, but it is unavaila-
ble for use because the author established no type species.
Our arborescent species are :
Twigs spiny; leaflets thin, 2.5 to 5 cm. long.
Twigs not spiny; leaflets leathery, 3 to 7 cm. long.
1. P. Unguis-Cati.
2. P. guadaliipense.
Cats-Claw
515
I CATS-CLAW — Pithecolobium Unguis-Cati (Linnaeus) Martius
Mimosa Unguis-Cati Linnaeus. Zygia Unguis-Cati Sudworth
This small tree or straggling shrub inhabits sandy soils of southern peninsular
Florida and the Keys, and occurs southward throughout the West Indies into
tropical America; its maximum height is 8 meters, with a trunk diameter of 2
dm.; it is also called Long pod and Florida cats-claw.
The branches are irregular and spiny, forming a fiat-topped tree. The bark
is about 6 mm. thick, shallowly fissured into
reddish brown plates. The twigs are slender,
angular at first, usually zigzag, brown to dark
brown, the straight, stiff stipular spines 15 mm.
long or less. The leaves are persistent, evenly
bipinnate; the slender leaf-stalk is 3 to 4 cm.
long, slightly grooved, with a large orbicular
gland at the end; there is only one pair of
2-foHolate pinnae on slender, glandular stalks 6
to 12 mm. long; the leaflets are membranous,
obHquely obovate or oval, 2 to 4 cm. long,
rounded or short-pointed, broadly wedge-
shaped at the base, entire or shghtly wavy on
the margin, Hght green and shining above,
paler beneath. The flowers appear from March
to September, in slender terminal or axillary
panicles of globose heads about 2 cm. in di-
ameter; calyx bell-shaped, 5-lobed, about 2
mm. long and about one fourth the length of
the smooth, sharp-pointed petals; the numerous purplish stamens are twice as
long as the corolla, their filaments united into a tube for half their length; ovar)-
stalked; style fihform. The fruit is compressed, 8 to 12 cm. long, 6 to 12 mm.
wide, much twisted and contorted, thick, leather\% long-stalked, rounded at the
apex, thickened at the margins, hght red-brown, at length sphtting through the
thickened margins; the seeds are irregularly obovate, somewhat compressed, 10
mm. long, dark brown and shining and partly surrounded by the enlarged bright
red ariloid fleshy stalk.
The wood is ver}- hard, close-grained, bright red to purple, with bright yellow
sapwood; its specific gravity is about 0.90. The somewhat astringent bark has a
local reputation as a remedy for urinary disorders, on which account it is sometimes
called the Nephritic tree.
Fig. 475. — Cats-claw.
5i6
The Cats-Claws
2. BLACK BEAD — Pithecolobium guadalupense Chapman
N\i">i7/^ A small unarmed tree or shrub growing
in sandy or rocky soil of the Florida Keys
and the Bahamas, where it attains a height
of 6 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 dm.
The branches are irregular, forming a
flattish topped, irregular head. The bark
is about 5 mm. thick, slightly fissured, red-
brown internally and dark gray externally.
The twigs are stout, roughened by numer-
ous lenticels, red-brown or grayish brown.
The leaves are persistent, evenly bipinnate;
their leaf-stalk is 2 to 3 cm. long, deeply
grooved, with a large conic gland at the end ;
there are 2, sometimes 4 pinnae, with stalks
I to 2 cm. long, abruptly thickened at the
base ; the sessile leaflets are thick and leath-
ery, obliquely obovate to nearly orbicular,
Fig. 476. — Black Bead. 4 to 7 cm. long, roundcd, shallowly notched
or seldom bluntly pointed, rounded or tapering at the unequal base, entire and
revolute on the margin, light green and veiny, with stout prominent midrib. The
Fig. 477. — Black Bead, Inagua, Bahamas.
Texan Ebony
517
The calyx is finely hairy, 5-lobed, much shorter than the
3 times as long as the corolla. The pod is compressed,
pink flowers appear from October to March, in loosely paniclcd, globose heads 2
to 3 cm. in diameter,
corolla; stamens 2 or
ID to 15 cm. long, dark brown and hairy, finally bent into two almost complete
circles, short-stalked and obHque at the base, abruptly taper-pointed at apex, split-
ting into 2 leathery valves, with a reddish inner surface and twisting into a tortu-
ous mass; seeds compressed, about 12 mm. long, broadly ovate, black, with a bright
scarlet ariloid fleshy stalk.
The wood is very similar to that of the preceding species, but lighter in color.
II. TEXAN EBONY
GENUS SIDEROCARPOS SMALL
Species Siderocarpos flexicaulis (Bentham) Small
Acacia flexicaulis Bentham
Pithecolohium flexicaule Coulter
HIS beautiful evergreen small tree or shrub occurs in Texas and south-
ward into Mexico, attaining a height of 10 meters, with a trunk diam-
eter of 9 dm.
The branches are zigzag and spreading; the twigs are stout, some-
what hair}', Hght green, soon becoming
smooth, gray to reddish brown and bearing
stipular spines 6 to 12 mm. long. The leaves
are evenly bipinnate, 4 to 6 cm. long, includ-
ing the slender leaf-stalk, which bears small
glands; stipules spinose; there are 2 or 3 pairs
of pinnae, 3.5 to 4.5 cm. long, on stalks 5 mm.
long; the leaflets, 3 to 5 pairs, are almost leath-
ery, oblong, oval or obovate, 5 to 12 mm. long,
sessile, usually blunt-pointed, rounded at the
oblique base, dark green and shining above,
paler and finely netted -veined beneath. The
flowers, appearing from June to September,
are fragrant and yellow, usually perfect, in
cyUndric spikes 2 to 4 cm. long on stout
hair}' peduncles 1.5 to 2 cm. long; the calyx
is bell-shaped, 5-lobed, about 0.5 mm. long;
corolla about 3 mm. long, its 5 lobes much
1 ,1 .1.1 , Fig. 478. — Texan Ebony.
longer than the tube; stamens numerous,
about 5 mm. long, united at the base into a tube the length of the corolla; ovary
smooth and sessile; style thread-Hke. The fruit ripens in autumn, is narrowly
oblong, straight or nearly so, somewhat flattened, hard and woody and Hned with
5i8
Huajillo
a thick, pith-like tissue; it is lo to 15 cm. long, about 2.5 cm. wide, oblique at the
base and sessile, rough, dull brown, finally splitting through the margin; the seeds
are transversely arranged in the pod, oblong-obovate, more or less flattened, 12
to 15 mm. long, half as wide, dull red-brown with a slight depression on each side.
The wood is hard, compact, close-grained, dark red or purpUsh brown, with
a yellowish sapwood; its specific gravity is about 1.04. It is highly esteemed for
cabinet-work and is one of the most valuable woods of its region, its durabiUty in
contact with the soil also making it very desirable for fence posts. The green pods
are used like beans, and the ripe seeds are roasted and used as a substitute for
coffee by the Mexicans and Indians.
The genus is monotypic; its name, Siderocarpos, is Greek and refers to the
hard, woody pod.
III. HUAJILLO
GENUS HAVARDIA SMALL
Species Havardia brevifolia (Bentham) Small
Pithecolobium brevijolium Bentham
SMALL evergreen tree, often merely a shrub, occurring along the Rio
Grande in Texas, but more abundant southward in Mexico. Its
maximum height is 9 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 dm.
The nearly erect branches are slender and form an irregular tree.
The bark is thin, smooth, and gray; the twigs are somewhat angular, hght gray
at first, becoming dark brown, and bear per-
sistent stout, stiff stipular spines about 1.5
cm. long. The leaves are evenly bipinnate, 7
to 9 cm. long, including the hairy leaf-stalk,
which bears a prominent gland ; there are 2 to
5 pairs of pinnae 2.5 to 3 cm. long, nearly or
quite sessile, the terminal pair being some-
what shorter than the basal; the leaflets, of
which there are 10 to 20 pairs, are sessile,
oblong, sometimes narrowly so, 3 to 7 mm.
long, blunt or somewhat sharp-pointed,
rounded at the unequal base, entire, pale
hairy at first, becoming smooth, Hght green
above, paler and finely netted beneath. The
flowers are perfect, whitish or yellowish, in
more or less hairy panicles 5 to 10 cm. long,
of subglobose head-Hke clusters 1.5 to 2 cm.
in diameter; calyx cup-shaped, the lobes tri-
FiG. 479- — Huajillo. angular, about i mm. long; corolla tubular,
about 4 mm. long, the 5 ovate lobes shorter than the tube; stamens numerous, 2
Julibrissin
519
to 3 times the length of the corolla, their filaments united into a tube at the
base; ovary smooth and stalked; style filiform. The pod ripens in August and
persists on the branches until the flowering season; it is linear-oblong, flat, leath-
ery, 7 to 12 cm. long, about 1.5 cm. wide, taper-pointed, obliquely tapering into
the stalked base, brown outside, yellow inside, sphtting readily through the thick
margin; the seeds are transverse in the pod, flattened, ovate to orbicular ovate,
6 mm. long, dark brown and shining, with an oval depression on each side.
The wood is rather hard, close-grained, dark red-brown, and very heavy.
There is but one species known of the genus Havardia; its name is in honor of
Colonel Valery Havard, M.D., of the United States Army, who has made many
valuable contributions to our knowledge of the botany of the various regions in
which his active military career has stationed him.
IV. JULIBRISSIN
GENUS ALBIZZIA DURAZZINI
Species Albizzia Julibrissin Durazzini
N Asiatic tree, long planted for ornament and shade in the southern
States, where it is hardy as far north as the District of Columbia; it
has become naturalized in woods and thickets from Virginia to Florida
and Louisiana. Its maximum
height is 12 meters, with a trunk diameter of
5 dm.
The branches are long and wide-spread-
ing, forming a rather round-headed tree.
The bark is thin and scaly. The twigs are
slender, somewhat angular, spineless, smooth,
and yellowish brown. The leaves are evenly
bipinnate, 2 to 4 dm. long, including the leaf-
stalk, which is I to 1.5 dm. long; there are
8 to 12 pairs of pinnae, all of nearly equal
length, about 10 cm. long, and the axis ter-
minated by a spine-like projection; leaflets 25
to 35 pairs, oblong, 10 to 15 mm. long, un-
equal, the upper margin being straight and
scarcely 2 mm. from the midrib, which pro-
trudes beyond the blade, forming a promi-
nent tip, the lower margin rounded ; the mar-
gins are strongly revolute, veins prominent;
the upper surface is dark green, the lower surface is paler and hair}'. The flowers
are pink, in showy loose panicles of compact heads 4 to 6 cm. in diameter, on
slender stalks 4 to 5 cm. long; the calyx is small, one third the length of the
Fig. 4S0. — Julibrissin.
520
Wild Tamarind
corolla, which is pink, funnel-form, its lobes ovate; stamens numerous, 3 to 3.5
cm. long, much exscrted, the filaments united at the base; ovary short-stalked.
The fruit is broadly linear, flat, 10 to 15 cm. long, sharp-pointed at each end,
often slightly constricted between the seeds, smooth, straw-colored, paper}% and
dehiscent; the seeds, 8 to 10 in a pod, are oval, very flat, 8 to 10 mm. long and
light brown.
The wood is hard, close-grained, dark brown; its specific gravity is about 0.77.
It is a rather rapid grower and a desirable tree on account of its showy flower
heads and open feathery foliage. The generic name is in honor of the Italian
naturaUst, Albizzi. There are about 50 species known, of which this one is the
type, all natives of Asia or Africa. A. Lebbek, a larger African tree with larger
leaflets and pods, is much planted for shade in the West Indies.
V. WILD TAMARIND
GENUS LYSILOMA BENTHAM
Species Lysiloma bahamensis Bentham
HIS handsome tree is an inhabitant of sandy soils, in southern Florida,
the Bahamas, and Cuba. Its maximum height is 16 meters, with a
trunk diameter of 1.2 m. It has been confused with the similar L.
latisiliqua of Haiti.
The branches are stout and spreading, forming a round-topped tree. The
bark is 4 to 12 mm. thick, smooth, gray to
darkish brown, that of older trunks sphtting
into thick scales; the twigs are smooth or
nearly so, reddish brown with wart-like
markings, becoming light brown. The
leaves are deciduous, evenly bipinnate, 10 to
14 cm. long, including the slender leaf-stalk,
which bears a large gland near the first pair
of pinnae; the leaf- like, acute, ovate stipules
are 12 mm. long, and usually remain until
the flowers appear; there are 2 to 5 pairs of
pinnae 3.5 to 8 cm. long, stalked, the terminal
pair being a little shorter than the basal; the
leaflets, 10 to 30 pairs, are sessile, oblong or
oblong-lanceolate, 8 to 15 mm. long, blunt at
apex, unequally rounded at the base, entire,
smooth, light green above, paler beneath.
The white, usually perfect, flowers, appear-
FiG. 481. -Wild Tamarind. j^^g f^.^^ October to June, are in terminal
racemes or axillary clusters, of globular heads, on peduncles 2 to 4 cm. long; the
Wild Tamarind
521
heads arc while-woolly before the flowers open, 1.5 to 2 cm. in diameter; the calyx
is bell-shaped, broadly 5-lobed, i mm. long, about half the length of the corolla
with its 5 reflexed lobes; stamens about 20, twice as long as the corolla, the
filaments united into a slender tube toward the base; ovar\' smooth, nearly or
quite sessile, the style fiHform. The fmit ripens in autumn, remaining upon the
branches for several months; it is flat, broadly linear or oblong, 8 to 15 cm. long,
2.5 cm. broad, straight or nearly so, wavy-margined, pointed at the apex, tapering
at the base into a stalk 3 to 4 cm. long, dark brown, not splitting through its per-
sistent margin but faUing away from it by the slow disintegration of the paper}'
valves; the seeds are transverse in the pod, oval to oblong, flattened, about 12
mm. long, dark brown and shining.
The wood is hard, not strong but tough, close-grained, dark reddish brown,
the sapwood nearly white; its specific gravity is about 0.64. It is esteemed by
boat and ship-builders.
The genus Lysiloma, of which this is the type species, consists of about 10
species, all tropical American. Its name is from the Greek, in reference to the
way the sides of the pod separate from its margin.
Fig. 482. — Wild Tamarind, Inagua, Bahamas.
522 The Acacias
VI. THE ACACIAS
GENUS ACACIA [TOURNEFORT] ADANSON
CACIA comprises about 450 species of trees, shrubs, and a few herbs.
They are mostly armed and giow in warm, dr)' regions, being espe-
cially abundant in AustraHa, where some 300 species occur and where
they are among the most valuable trees. There are no native living
forms in Europe, although numerous fossil ones are known from the lower Eocene
formation of that continent. In addition to the arborescent species in our area,
there are about 10 shrubby species along our southern border. The well-known
Gum arable is a natural gummy exudation of several African species.
The leaves are usually evenly bipinnate, sometimes reduced to a dilated petiole
(phyllode); the pinnse are numerous, often with many leaflets; the stipules are small,
deciduous or spinescent. The flowers are in globose heads or cylindric racemes
or spikes, variously clustered, terminal or axillary, more or less bracteate, usually
perfect, sometimes polygamous, small, yellow or white; the calyx is bell-shaped,
5-toothed, lobed or divided; petals 5, more or less united at the base, or seldom
separate, rarely wanting; stamens 50 or more, exserted, free or but Httle united,
filaments thread-hke; anthers small; ovary sessile or stalked, 2- to many-ovuled,
contracted into the long style. The fruit is oblong or hnear, usually flat, straight
or cun'ed, mostly 2-valved.
The name is from the Greek, in reference to the spiny branches of many of
these plants. The African Acacia nilotica Dehle is the type species.
Our arborescent species are three:
Flowers racemose, slender-pedicelled; pod nearly straight. i. A. Wrightii.
Flowers spicate, sessile; pod much curled and contorted. ?. A. Greggii.
Flowers capitate; pod straight, but slightly compressed. 3. A. subtortuosa.
I. TEXAS CATS-CLAW -Acacia Wrightii Bentham
A small tree or shrub, with dense foliage and short spines, occurring in grav-
elly soil, from western Texas southward into Mexico, often becoming 9 meters
high, with a trunk diameter of 3 dm.
The branches are spreading, and form an irregular tree; the bark is about
3 mm. thick, furrowed into ridges, which are broken into dark gray-brown scales;
the twigs are somewhat angular, smooth, yellowish or reddish brown, soon be-
coming pale gray, and armed with stout recurved spines 4 to 6 mm. long. The
leaves are evenly bipinnate, 2 to 3.5 cm. long, including the slender, sometimes
glandless, sHghtly hairy leaf-stalk; there are 2 or 3 pairs of pinna? 2 to 2.5 cm.
long, and short stalked; the leaflets, 2 to 6 pairs, are sessile or nearly so, ob-
liquely oblong to obovate, 5 to 7 mm. long, rounded, blunt or short-pointed at the
apex, stiff, hght green and smooth above, paler with prominent venation beneath.
Paradise Flower
5-^3,
The fragrant flowers, opening from March to August, are perfect, light yellow,
in axillary racemes 3 to 5 cm. long, i cm. in
diameter; pedicels short, slender, hairy; the
calyx is minutely 5-lobed, hairy, about 1.5
mm. long; petals spatulate, 3 mm, long; sta-
mens numerous, twice the length of the pet-
als; ovary stalked and hair^^ The fruit is
flat, oblong, slightly curved, 8 to 11 cm. long,
2 to 2.5 cm. wide, pointed at the apex, taper-
ing to the stout stalk, thick and often wavy
on the margin, Hght reddish brown, thin and
papery, marked by transverse veins, the seeds
transversely attached, narrowly obovate, 6 mm.
long, compressed, hght brown, with an oval
area on each side.
The wood is hard, close-grained, hght
brown, its specific gravity is about 0.94. It
is largely used and highly esteemed for fuel in
its native region.
Fig. 483. — Texas Cats-claw.
2. PARADISE FLOWER— Acacia Greggii A. Gray
This small tree is also called Catsclaw, Devil's claw, and Ramshom; it occurs
frequently near our Mexican border, in dr}',
gravelly soils, from western Texas to southern
Cahfomia, and southward into Mexico, attain-
ing a maximum height of 9 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 3 dm.
The branches, bark, and twigs are very simi-
lar to those of Acacia Wrightii; the leaves are
persistent, evenly bipinnate, 2.5 to 5 cm. long,
including the slender leaf-stalk which has a
brown gland near the middle ; there are i to 3
pairs of pinnae 2 to 4 cm. long, and short-stalked;
leaflets 4 to 7 pairs, sessile, obhquely oblong or
obovate, 4 to 6 mm. long, rounded, blunt, or
short-pointed at the apex, thick and firm, hght
green, hair}^, and prominently veined. The fra-
grant, yellowish flowers appear from April to
September, in axillar}^ clusters of 2 or 3 dense,
hairy spikes 3 to 5 cm. long, i cm. in diameter,
the peduncles 1.2 to 1.5 cm. long; the calyx is ses-
sile, minutely 5-lobed, somewhat hairy, about 1.5 mm. long; petals broadly spatu-
FiG. 484. — Paradise Flower.
524
The Acacias
late, 3 mm, long, united at the base, woolly margined ; stamens numerous, about 6
mm. long; ovary stalked and hairy. The fruit is flat, linear-oblong, 8 to 12 cm.
long, 1.5 to 2 cm. wide, much curved and contorted, and constricted between the
seeds, usually rounded at the apex, obhquely tapering into a short stalk, light
brown and thick margined, its valves membranous and transversely veined; the
seeds are oval-orbicular, 6 mm. in diameter, dark brown, shining, with an oval
depression on each side.
The wood is hard, strong, durable, reddish brown; its specific gravity is about
0.85.
It exudes a gum very much Hke gum arabic, and locally used as such, but not
an article of commerce.
3. RIO GRANDE ACACIA — Acacia subtortuosa Shafer, new species.
A small tree, or more often a round-topped shrub i to 2 meters high, occurring
in the Rio Grande region of southwestern Texas and adjacent Mexico, where it
attains a maximum height of 6 meters, with a
trunk diameter of 1.5 dm.
The trunk is short, with spreading
branches. The bark is deeply fissured and
dark brown. The twigs are hair\' when
young, becoming smooth and dark brown,
bearing many whitish spines 2 cm. long or
less. The leaves are equally bipinnate, 3 to
4 cm. long, including the short leaf-stalk, and
composed of 3 or 4 pairs of pinnae, each bear-
ing 9 to 14 pairs of leaflets; these are linear,
slightly curved, i to 2 mm. long, blunt or mi-
nutely tipped at the apex, nearly sessile, light
green and smooth or somewhat hair}\ The
flowers are fragrant and bright yellow, appear-
ing in March, in axillary clusters of i to 3
globular heads, i cm. in diameter, on slender
peduncles 1.5 to 3 cm. long; calyx short,
shghtly hairy, one third as long as the corolla,
the stamens much longer than the corolla. The fruit is long- linear, 8 to 15 cm.
long, 6 mm. broad, little flattened, reddish brown, finely hairy, and a little con-
stricted between the many seeds, which are obovate, shghtly compressed, 6 mm.
long, nearly black, with a hght brown obovate ring on each side.
This species has been confused with the similar A . tortuosa (Linnaeus) Willde-
now, of the West Indies. The type specimens were collected by Dr. E. Palmer,
near Durango, Mexico, April and No^■cmber, 1896, Nos. 11 and 510.
Fig. 485. — Rio Grande Acacia.
Frangipanni
525
VII. FRANGIPANNI
GENUS VACHELLIA WIGHT AND ARNOTT
Species Vachellia Farnesiana (Linnaeus) Wight and Arnott
Mimosa Farnesiana Linnaeus. Acacia Farnesiana Willdenow
[LSO called Yellow opopanax, Sponge wood, Cassie, and Huisache, this
is a small monotypic tree or shrub, probably native in Texas, thence
southward to Chile, but is naturalized throughout the tropics, and
occurs in our area from Florida to southern California, reaching a
maximum height of 9 meters, with a trunk diameter of 4.5 dm.
The trunk is short, its branches are somewhat drooping, wide-spreading, form-
ing a beautiful round-headed tree; the thin bark
is broken into long ridges, peeling off in long
thin red-brown scales; the twigs are slender,
round, or slightly angular, smooth or nearly so,
and armed with round, stiff whitish spines often
2.5 cm. long. The leaves are deciduous, evenly
bipinnate, 4 to 8 cm. long, including the slender
short leaf-stalk; there are 3 to 8 pairs of pinnae
1.5 to 3 cm. long, sessile or nearly so, with 10 to
25 pairs of leaflets, which are linear-oblong, 2 to
6 mm. long, usually blunt pointed, unequal at
the base, sessile or nearly so, light green and
smooth on both sides. The flowers are very
fragrant, bright yellow, appearing in summer
and autumn in globular heads, which are white-
woolly before the flowers open, on slender hairy
peduncles 2.5 to 3 cm. long, in axillary clusters
of I to 3 heads; the calyx is shallowly 5-lobed,
half as long as and very similar in form and
texture to the tubular corolla, which is 5-lobed,
about 1.5 mm, long; stamens numerous, 2 to 3 times as long as the corolla, their
filaments distinct; ovary sessile and hairy; style fiHform. The fruit is stout, often
thicker than wide, oblong or cylindric, straight or shghtly curved, 3 to 7.5 cm.
long, 1.5 cm. thick, contracted to a short thick point and narrowed to a very
short stalk at the base, dark brown or purpHsh, somewhat shining, marked on the
edges by a yellowish band, broadly grooved; seeds surrounded by a pulp and
placed transversely in two distinct rows, oval, thick, 6 mm. long, hght brown and
shining.
The wood is close-grained, hard, brownish red; its speciflc gravity is about
0.83.
It is largely cultivated in southern Europe for its flowers, which are used in
Fig. 486. — Frangipanni.
526 Lead Trees
the manufacture of perfumery; the pods are sometimes used in tanning and dyeing.
The plant is very ornamental and is used for hedges throughout the tropics. The
generic name commemorates Rev. C. H. Vachell, an EngUsh missionary and
botanical collector in China.
VIII. LEAD TREES
GENUS LEUC^NA BENTHAAI
EUC^NA consists of about 15 species of evergreen, usually unarmed
trees or shrubs, natives of the warmer parts of America, with probably
one species in the islands of the Pacific Ocean; in addition to the arbo-
rescent species, one shrub, LeuccBjia retusa Bentham, occurs on our
southwestern border.
The leaves are evenly bipinnate, with the leaflets large and in few pairs, or
small and in numerous pairs. The flowers are white and mostly perfect, in axillary
clusters or in terminal racemes of dense globose heads, the individual flowers being
sessile in the axils of small bracts; calj^x narrowly bell-shaped, 5-lobed; corolla of
5 distinct sharp or rounded petals; stamens 10, exserted, the filaments free; ovary
stalked, many-ovuled, the slender style terminated by a small stigma. The fruit
is a many-seeded legume; it is flat, broadly hnear, with thickened margins, the
transverse seeds obovate, flattened, usually brown and shining; endosperm hard,
thin.
The name Leucaena is from the Greek and has reference to the white flowers;
L. glauca (Linnaeus) Bentham is the type species.
Our arborescent species are:
Pinnae 10 to 20 pairs; twigs finely woolly. i. L. pulverulenta.
Pinnae 6 to 10 pairs; twigs smooth.
Leaves without glands between the pinnae; pod 7 to 15 cm. long. 2. L. glauca.
Leaves with a large gland between each pair of pinnae; pod 15 to 20
cm. long. 3. L. Greggii.
I . MEXICAN LEAD TREE — Leucaena pulverulenta (Schlechtendal) Bentham
Acacia pulverulenta Schlechtendal
This handsome Mexican tree enters our area in the rich bottom lands along
the lower Rio Grande in Texas, and is the largest and most stately tree of the
Mimosa family occurring in the United States, often reaching a height of 18
meters, with a trunk diameter of 5 dm.
The trunk is straight and upright for several meters, and separates above into
widely spreading branches, forming an open round tree. The bark is 6 mm.
thick, light brown, breaking up into persistent scales; the twigs are somewhat
grooved and finely hairy at first, becoming round and pale brown. The leaves
Lead Tree
527
are evenly bipinnate, i to 2 dm. long, including the slender leaf-stalk, which is
provided with a gland at the top or about
midway from the base; there are 10 to 20
pairs of pinnae, 3 to 5 cm. long and short-
stalked; the leaflets, 15 to 30 pairs, arc
closely placed, linear, about 5 mm. long,
bluntly pointed, oblic^ue, and nearly or quite
sessile, somewhat hairy at first, becoming
pale, hght green and smooth. The flow^ers
appear during spring and summer on the
new growth in axillary clusters of 2 to 4,
long-stalked, globose heads 1.5 cm. in di-
ameter, which are woolly before the flowers
open; the bell-shaped calyx is i to 1.5 mm.
long, obtusely 5-lobed and slightly hairy;
petals about three times the length of the
calyx, hnear-spatulate, and sharp-pointed;
the 10 stamens are scarcely twice the length
of the petals ; ovary nearly sessile and hairy.
The fruit is flat, hnear, often variable in
length in the same cluster, from i to 2 dm.
long, about 2 cm. wide, usually 2 or 3 in a cluster on a thickened stalk, rounded
and tipped by a short point, tapering obhquely at the short-stalked base, brown
and shining, sphtting into thin leathery valves, 16 to 28 seeded; seeds obovate, 7
mm. long, dark brown and shining.
The wood is hard, close-grained, dark brown, with yellowish sapwood; its spe-
cific gravity is about 0.67. It is occasionally sawed into lumber and apphed to
ordinary local uses.
Its rapid growth, profusion of flowers, and beautiful feathery foliage recom-
mend it as an ornamental and shade tree for the southern portion of our area.
It is also called the Chalky Leucaena.
Fig. 4S7. — Mexican Lead Tree.
2. LEAD TREE — Leucaena glauca (Linnaeus) Bentham
Mimosa glauca Linnasus
A shrub, rarely becoming a slender tree 10 meters tall, with a trunk diameter
of I dm. It occurs in sandy soil in peninsular Florida, and is native and widely
distributed in the American tropics whence it was introduced; it is also natural-
ized in the Philippine islands.
The bark is about 10 mm. thick, dark brown, somewhat ridged and broken into
short, persistent scales. The twigs are sHghtly hair}' at first, soon becoming
smooth, dark or grayish brown. The leaves are evenly bipinnate, i to 3 dm.
long, including the stout, round petiole which is 3 to 6 cm. long, with an enlarged
528
Lead Trees
Lead Tree.
base and with or without a conspicuous gland; there are 3 to 10 pairs of pinnae 6
to 10 cm, long, and rather far apart, the
upper scarcely shorter than the others, con-
sisting of 10 to 20 pairs of short-stalked leaf-
lets which are narrowly oblong to lanceolate,
8 to 15 mm. long, sharp-pointed, obHque at
the base, entire, Hght green, pale underneath.
The flowers appear in early spring in globose
heads 1.5 to 3 cm, in diameter, in axillary
clusters of 2 or 3 or in short terminal ra-
cemes, on stout, woolly peduncles 2.5 to 3
cm. long. The calyx, subtended by a peltate
bract, is obconic, i mm. long, its small lobes
short, blunt and hairy; petals 5, Hnear-spat-
ulate and hairy; stamens 10, nearly 3 times
the length of the corolla, with large oval
anthers; ovary short-stalked and hairy. The
pods are linear, 10 to 15 cm. long, about 1.5
cm. wide, flat, usually in clusters of 2 to 10,
often of different lengths, thick-margined,
abruptly tapering at the apex, gradually narrowed at the base, brown and shin-
ing, sphtting readily into 2 valves; seeds
compressed, obovate, 8 to 10 mm. long,
rounded at the apex, narrowed at the base,
bright brown and shining.
The wood is hard, close-grained and
light brown.
This plant is very common in the Ameri-
can tropics; horses are said to lose their
tails and manes if they browse on the foli-
age. The seeds are used as beads with
those of Abnis precatorius Linnaeus, Prayer
beads, and other seeds, in fancy work on
some of the West Indian islands.
3. GREGG'S LEAD TREE
Leucsena Greggii Watson
A small tree known only from a limited
area in southwestern Texas and adjacent
Mexico, where it grows in ravines and along
the banks of streams.
Gregg's Lead Tree.
The twigs are stout, somewhat zigzag, yellowish hair}^ at first, becoming quite
The Mesquite 529
smooth, and reddish brown. The bark is about 8 mm. thick, dark brown, fur-
rowed into ridges and scaly. The leaves are evenly bipinnate, 1.5 to 2 dm. long,
including the slender leaf-stalk which is about 3 cm. long, with spinescent stipules
at its base 10 to 15 mm. long; there are about 12 pairs of distant pinKae, short-
stalked, with a conspicuous gland between each pair; leaflets 16 to 30 pairs,
lanceolate, 6 to 10 mm. long, sharp or taper-pointed and rounded on one side of
the oblique base, sessile or nearly so, grayish green and hair)% becoming nearly or
quite smooth. The flowers are in solitary or clustered globose white heads, on
stout peduncles 5 to 8 cm. long, which have two bracts at the end, the heads 2 to
2.5 cm. in diameter. The calyx is obconic, hairy at the tip of the short lobes,
about three fourths the length of the petals; stamens much exserted, their anthers
small; ovary sessile and hairy. The fruit is very flat, Unear, 1.5 to 2 dm. long, 10
to 15 mm. wide, pointed, tapering to the short, stout stalk, finely hairy until nearly
ripe, when it is quite smooth. The seeds are oval, 12 mm. long, flat, notched at
the base, dark brown and shining.
The wood is hard, close-grained and brown; its specific gravity is about 0.92.
IX. THE MESQUITES
GENUS PROSOPK LINN^US
"ROSOPIS includes some 15 species of trees or shrubs of dr}' or arid re-
gions of tropical and subtropical portions of both the Old World and
the New, most abundant in America. They are spiny or unarmed;
some of them are of economic value, locally, for lumber and fuel; the
pods of some species are used as food for both man and beast.
The leaves, which are mostly deciduous, are evenly bipinnate, with few pinnae
and few or many leaflets. The perfect, greenish or yellow flowers are in spikes;
calyx sessile, 5-lobed; corolla of 5 free or slightly united petals; stamens 10; ovar}-
sessile or stalked, hairy or smooth, many-ovuled; style thread-hke; stigma small.
The fruit is an indehiscent legume, hnear, compressed, or nearly round, straight
or curved, often constricted between the seeds which are separated by a more or
less spongy tissue, ovate to oblong and compressed; endosperm hard.
Prosopis is the Greek name of an unidentified plant, and why Linnaeus applied
it to these trees is not clear. The Persian plant Prosopis spicigera Linna;us is the
type species.
Foliage smooth. i. P. glandidosa.
Foliage densely hairy. " 2. P. velutina.
1. MESQUITE— Prosopis glandulosa Torrey
Prosopis jiiliflora Brewer and Watson, not de CandoUe
Also called Honey locust, Algaroba, Honey pod, and Ironwood, this is a small
tree with a round symmetrical head, but more often an irregular crooked branched
530
The Mesquites
bush or a mere straggling shrub; the large tap root is remarkable for the great
depth to which it will extend for water in arid soils. It is found from Kansas to
Nevada, Texas and California, and southward into Mexico. Its maximum height
is about ID meters, with a trunk diameter of 4 dm. This species has been con-
fused with the Jamaican Prosopis jidiflora (Swartz) de Candolle, which forms of
it much resemble.
The bark is rather thick, shallowly fissured, with thick, reddish brown scales.
The twigs are smooth or nearly so, yellowish
green, becoming darker, mostly zigzag, and
usually spiny. The winter buds are short and
blunt. The leaves are evenly bipinnate with
I pair of pinnae (rarely 2), with round stalks
5 to 10 cm, long, thickened and glandular at
the base, with a small gland and spine at the
junction of the pinnae; these are 7 to 14 cm.
long, with short stalks; they have 6 to 25 rela-
tively close or widely separated pairs of leaf-
lets, which are linear or nearly so, 1.5 to 4 cm.
long, blunt or sharp-pointed, leathery and
bright green. The fragrant flowers appear
from April until August, in cyhndric spikes 4
to 8 cm. long, on slender nearly smooth pe-
duncles 5 to ID mm. long; calyx short-
stalked, bell-shaped, i mm. long, smooth, 5-lobed; corolla of 5 nearly erect, Unear,
sharp-pointed petals, 4 to 5 times the length of the calyx; stamens 10, nearly twice
the length of the petals; ovary short-stalked and hairy. The pod is linear, round
or nearly so when ripe, i to 2 dm. long, about i cm. thick, straight or nearly so,
constricted between the seeds, abiaiptly contracted at each end and short-stalked,
yellow, longitudinally veined, the thin outer coat enclosing a sweet pulp, which sur-
rounds the obHquely transverse seeds, which are enclosed in thin sacs; seeds flat-
tened, oblong, light brown and shining.
The wood is rather weak, hard, close-grained, dark red to brown, with yellow
sapwood, its specific gravity about 0.76. It is much used and highly esteemed for
fence posts and paving blocks, and appHed to various other local uses, valued for
fuel, and often made into charcoal. The wood of the root, which is often dug up
for fuel, is much heavier, having a specific gravity of about 0.84.
The ripe pods are an important article of food for both man and beast in the
desert regions.
Fig. 490. — Mesquite.
2. ARIZONA MESQUITE — Prosopis velutina Wooton
This, the largest of the Mesquites, occurs in the hot dry valleys of the desert
region of southern Arizona, southern Cahfomia and Sonora, often becoming a
Screw Pod Mesquite
531
^
tree, with numerous irregular thick and crooked branches, attaining a height of
15 meters, and a trunk diameter of 6 dm.
The bark is rough, lissured, dark brown and scaly. The slender sometimes
zizgag, often spiny twigs are velvety, grayish brown to }'cllowish brown. The
winter buds are short, bluntish and hair)-.
The leaves, which are often clustered, are
evenly bipinnate, with i, or often 2, pairs of
pinnae, on very hairy stalks 4 to 6 cm. long
and terminated by a small spine between the
bases of the end pinnae; the pinnae are hairy -
stalked with 12 to 20 pairs of leaflets, which
are oblong or linear-oblong, 7 to 10 mm. long,
blunt or pointed, leathery, light green, promi-
nently veined and persistently hairy or becom-
ing smooth. The flowers are in i to 3,
clustered axillary dense cylindric spikes 5 to
7.5 cm. long, on stout, hairy peduncles about
2 cm. long ; the bell-shaped calyx, with trian-
gular lobes, is very velvety; petals 5, oblong,
blunt-pointed and hairy on the inner surface;
stamens 10, distinct and exserted; ovary nearly
sessile and very hairy. The fruit is linear,
sHghtly flattened, sometimes curved, 10 to 18
cm. long, 8 mm. wide, somewhat constricted between the seeds, abruptly pointed at
both ends, short-stalked, indehiscent, pale yellow, slightly veined lengthwise, vel-
vety when young, somewhat hairy when ripe.
The wood and fruit are put to the same uses as those of the preceding species,
of which this tree is often regarded as a vaiiety.
Fig. 491. — Arizona Mesquite.
X. SCREW POD MESQUITE
GENUS STROMBOCARPA A. GRAY
Species Strombocarpa odorata (Torrey) A. Gray
Prosopis odorata Torrey. Prosopis piibescens Bentham
HIS small tree or shrub is also called Tomillo, and Screw bean. It is
common in sandy or gravelly bottom lands, from western Texas to
Cahfomia; its maximum height is 10.5 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 3 dm.
The bark is rather thick, hght brown, and separates into long thin shaggy
flakes; the twigs are round, finely hairy at first, becoming smooth, light reddish
brown; they are armed with stiff stipular spines 8 lo 20 mm. long. The leaves
are deciduous, evenly bipinnate, usually with i pair of pinnae, sometimes 2 pairs.
532 Screw Pod Mesquite
on slender leaf-stalks i to 2 cm. long, with a gland at the base of the pinn?e, which
are 3.5 to 5 cm. long, short-stalked, and bear 5 to 8 pairs of leaflets; these are ob-
long, I to 2 cm. long, sharp-pointed, sessile or nearly so, finely hairy and promi-
nently netted- veined. The flowers, appearing in April and continuing into the
summer, are greenish white, in slender, stalked, axillary spikes 5 to 8 cm. long;
the calyx is sessile, bell-shaped, slightly 5-lobed, hairy on the outside, one fourth
to one third the length of the 5 lanceolate petals, which are pale- woolly on the inner
2
Fig. 492. — Screw Pod Mesquite.
surface; stamens 10, free and little exserted, about 4 mm. long; ovary stalked and
hairy. The pods are borne in dense elongated clusters; they arc sessile, tightly
twisted, spiral cyHnders 3 to 5 cm. long, about 8 mm. in diameter, pale yellow
and woody without, pulpy within; seeds obovate, 1.5 to 2 mm. long, hard, pale
brown, with homy endosperm.
The wood is very hard, brittle, close-grained, light brown; its specific gravity
is about 0.76. It is sometimes used for fencing and often for fuel. The pods are
edible and used for fodder in the absence of the more desirable Mesquite. The
generic name is Greek, in reference to the coiled pod. There are about 6 species,
of which one other, a shrub, occurs in Texas.
THE SENNA FAMILY
CiESALPINIACEiE Klotzsch & Garcke
|BOUT loo genera, containing looo species of trees, shrubs, herbs, and
vines, some of which are armed with very large, stout prickles, com-
pose the Senna Family. They occur throughout the warmer temperate
regions, but are most abundant in the tropics. The most important
economic products of this family, are Senna and Logwood, the former being the
leaves of several African species of Cassia; they are used for their laxative prop-
erties; this property is also possessed by many other species of the genus Cassia in
a lesser degree. Logwood is the heartwood of the trunk and roots of Hcsmatoxy-
lon campechianum Linnaeus, of the West Indies and Central America, and is to
this day the most important of the vegetable dyes, most of which have been dis-
placed by the products of synthetic chemistry.
The leaves of the Senna family are mostly compound, but simple in a few
genera. The flowers are borne ip various forms of clusters, seldom solitary, mostly
perfect, sometimes monoecious, dioecious, or polygamous, nearly regular or quite
irregular; the calyx consists of 5 more or less united sepals; corolla usually of 5
petals, imbricated, the lower ones enclosing the upper one in the bud; stamens 10,
sometimes fewer, their filaments distinct or partly united; ovary i-carpeled, i- to
many-seeded, usually sessile, but sometimes stalked, the style terminal. The fruit
is a legume, 2-valved, mostly dehiscent; seeds with or without endosperm.
The arborescent genera of our area are
Flowers very irregular.
Leaves bipinnate; pod swollen, fleshy.
Leaves simple; pod flat, papery.
Flowers nearly regular.
Flowers dioecious or polygamous.
Pod flat, leathery; stamens longer than the small corolla.
Pod swollen, woody; stamens shorter than the large corolla.
Flowers perfect.
Leaf with a short, spur-like petiole, ending in a spine, the axis of the
pinnas broad and winged.
Leaf with a long petiole, the axis of the pinnae not broad nor winged.
Calyx-lobes valvate.
Spiny; leaflets few; pod not over 10 cm. long.
Not spiny; leaflets many; pod over 20 cm. long.
Calyx-lobes imbricated; pod small, very flat.
Tamarindiis.
Cercis.
Gledilsia.
Gvmuocladus.
Parkinsonia.
Cercidium.
Delonix.
Poinciana.
533
534
Tamarind
I. TAMARIND
GENUS TAMARINDUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
Species Tamarindus indica Linnaeus
HIS handsome tree is a native of the tropics, being found in the East
Indies, West Indies, Arabia, and Egypt, also cidtivated and more or
less naturalized in all tropical countries; in our area it has become
naturahzcd in peninsular Florida and on the Keys. Its maximum
height is about 24 meters, with a trunk diameter up to 1.5 meters.
The branches are numerous and spreading, forming a dense, round-topped
tree; the bark is about 6 mm. thick, sHghtly reticulate fissured, and brown; the
twigs are zigzag, hairy at first, becoming quite smooth and grayish brown. The
leaves are evenly pinnate, 7 to 10 cm. long, including
the thickened, channelled stalk, with 10 to 18 pairs
of sessile oblong leaflets 1.5 to 2 cm. long, blunt at
both ends, entire margined, hght green, and promi-
nently veined. The flowers, appearing in Florida in
April, are in loose racemes on hairy peduncles 7 to 10
cm. long; their pedicels are 10 to 12 mm. long; the
calyx is tubular, 6 mm. long, smooth, yellowish, with
oblong lobes, 2 of which are inferior; corolla of 5
petals, the upper 3 large, ovate, the middle one boat-
shaped, toothed on the margin, yellow marked with
red Hnes, the lower 2 ver}" smafl; stamens 9, in 2
series, purphsh, their filaments more or less united,
only 3 of them perfect, with oblong anthers; ovary
stalked, hair}'; style awl-shaped, with a stigmatic tip.
The fruit is a somewhat swollen fleshy pod, dull
brown and roughish, about 2.5 cm. broad, ver}^ variable in length and shape, de-
pending upon the number of seeds, usually i to 4, often constricted between them;
the seeds are ovate in outline, vcr^- angular, flat, about 12 mm. long, red-brown
and shining and enclosed in a membranous sac which is surrounded by the thick
acidulous pulp; the pod is indehiscent; its hard outer coating is brittle and breaks
away from the pulp.
The wood is hard, close-grained, yellowish white, sometimes brownish; its
specific gravity is about 0.95. It is sometimes used in general carpentry, and for
charcoal. The pulp of the fruit, which is rich in citric, tartaric, and mahc acids,
is preserved in various ways and is used as a laxative or for acidulous bever-
FiG. 493. — Tamarind.
ages.
The name is Latinized from the Arabic, Tamar hindy, meaning Indian date,
as the fruit of this tree, which is the type species, was called. The East Indian
tree has a longer, less brittle coated, and more numerously seeded pod, and is
Redbud 535
considered by some authors as distinct ; in that case our tree would have to be
known as Tamarindus occidentalis Gsertner.
11. THE REDBUDS
GENUS CERCIS LINN^US
ERCIS consists of some 6 species of small trees or shrubs, inhabitants
of the temperate regions of both hemispheres. Fossils referable to
this genus have also been found in the Eocene formation of Europe.
The leaves are deciduous, alternate, simple, entire, and long-
stalked. The flowers are perfect, irregular, in simple clusters or racemes, on slen-
der pedicels and borne on the branches of the previous year. The calyx is
oblique, bell-shaped and 5-toothed, colored and persistent; corolla of 5 nearly equal
rose-colored clawed petals, the standard the smallest, the keel larger than the
wings; stamens 10, in two scries, distinct, the inner series the shorter, their anthers
oblong, versatile, opening lengthwise; ovary short-stalked, oblique, many-ovuled;
style thick and fleshy, incurved and tipped by the obtuse stigma. The fruit is a
very flat, papery legume, oblong or broadly hnear, taper-pointed at each end,
2-valved, dark red-purple, reticulate veined, many seeded, one edge narrowly 2-
winged; the seeds are transverse on slender stalks; they are ovate or oblong, flat-
tened and reddish brown; the embryo is surrounded by a thin layer of endosperm.
Cercis is the Greek name of the Old World Judas tree, C.Siliquaslnim Linnaeus,
the type of the genus. Our species are:
Leaves abruptly pointed; pod stalked in the calyx; eastern. i. C. canadensis.
Leaves notched, rounded or blunt-pointed.
Leaves blunt-pointed; pod scarcely stalked in the calyx; Texan and
Mexican. 2. C. reniformis.
Leaves rounded or notched; pod stalked in the calyx; Californian. 3. C. occidefitalis.
I. REDBUD — Cercis canadensis Linnaeus
This beautiful tree, which is also called the Judas tree, Salad tree, and Junebud,
occurs from Ontario and New Jersey to Florida, and westwardly to Minnesota
and Arkansas, where it is a common tree or large shrub, mostly in the rich soil
of river valleys, attaining a maximum height of 15 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 4.5 dm.
The bark is 12 mm. thick, deeply fissured into narrow ridges, which separate
into thin reddish brown scales, that of the branches usually smooth; the twigs are
slender, shining, Hght brown, becoming dull and gray-brown; the winter buds are
3 mm. long, bluntly ovoid and covered with brown scales. The leaves are rather
thick, ovate-orbicular or reniform, 8 to 12 cm. long, abruptly contracted at the
apex into a short, broad tip, more or less heart-shaped at the base, bright green
and smooth above, paler and usually smooth, except along the hair\' veins be-
53^
The Redbuds
neath; leaf-stalk round, slender, seldom as long as the blade, the stipules small,
leaf-like, caducous. The flowers, appearing
from IS'Iarch to May before the leaves, are
in clusters of 4 to 8, their pedicels 5 to 12
mm. long; the calyx-tube is dark red or pur-
ple, 3 to 4 mm. long, its lobes short and
rounded; petals pink or rose-colored, the
standard oval, 7 to 8 mm. long, keel-petals
concave, about i cm. long; ovary pubescent
and short- stalked. The pods remain on the
branches until winter; they are Hnear-oblong,
6 to 9 cm. long, nearly straight, tapering ob-
hquely at each end, short-stalked, quite thin
and papery, pinkish bronze and somewhat
glaucous. The seeds are broadly ovate, 6
mm. long, light brown.
The wood is hard, weak, somewhat
coarse-grained, dark red-brown; its specific
Fig. 494. - Redbud. gravity is about 0.64.
It is often cultivated for ornament in Europe and in this country. Its rapid
growth, great beauty in its early profusion of bloom, and general neatness at all
times, recommend it for use where a small tree or large shrub is desired.
2. TEXAN REDBUD — Cercis reniformis Engelmann
Cercis occidentalis texensis S. Watson. Cercis texensis Sargent
A small tree or rather large shrub of Texas and
adjacent Mexico, where it attains a height of 12
meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 dm. In the
mountain valleys of Texas, however, it is usually a
small shrub, often forming thickets.
The bark is smooth and light brown. The twigs,
frequently hairy at first, become light brown and
ultimately dark gray. The leaves are orbicular, 7.5
to 10 cm. long, scarcely as wide, bluntly pointed,
deeply heart-shaped at the base, sometimes slightly
wavy on the margin, smooth, dark green above, paler
and sometimes hairy, especially when young, beneath ;
leaf-stalk relatively stout, enlarged at each end and
often hairy. The flowers are rather small, densely
clustered, on short slender stalks. The pod is very ^^^" ^^^^^
flat, linear-oblong, 6 to 10 cm. long, acute at each end, nearly or quite sessile in
the persistent calyx; seeds ovate, about 5 mm. long, hght brown.
Texan Redbud.
The Honey Locusts
537
The wood is hard, close-grained, yellowish brown, its specific gravity about
0.75-
3. CALIFORNIA REDBUD - Cercis occidentalis Torrey
Usually a widely branched shrub, this species sometimes becomes a tree 6
meters tall. It occurs from the coast mountains to
the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada of Cali-
fornia, from the northern part of the state to San
Diego county. It has also been found in Diamond
Valley, Utah.
The twigs are slender, smooth and brown. The
leaves are kidney-shaped, usually broader than long,
5 cm. to rarely 7.5 cm, wide, notched or blunt at the
apex, shallowly or deeply heart-shaped at the base,
entire on the margin, thick and leathery, bright green,
smooth and somewhat shining on both surfaces; the
leaf-stalk is slender, 2 to 2.5 cm. long. The flowers,
which appear in March and April, are clustered, on
rather long, slender stalks, the bell-shaped calyx
usually of a dark reddish color, its teeth short and ^^" ^^
broad ; petals magenta. The pod is flat, oblong, to linear-oblong, 5 to 7 cm. long,
purplish, turning brown, tapering at each end and stalked in the calyx.
California Redbud.
III. THE HONEY LOCUSTS
GENUS GLEDITSIA [CLAYTON] LINN^US
LEDITSIA contains about 11 species of trees, usually armed on the
trunk and branches with simple or compound thorns. They occur
mostly in the warmer portions of the north temperate zone, being most
abundant in Asia, and eastern North America, and fossils from the
Tertiary formations of Europe have been referred to the genus. The pulp of the
pods of the Japanese tree has been used as soap; their wood is of but ordinary
value.
The leaves are deciduous, evenly bipinnate or merely pinnate, often both on
an individual leaf, stipulate; leaflets smafl, numerous, and scalloped. The flowers
are polygamous, small, green or white, in slender axillar\% usually spicate clusters;
the calyx-tube is bell-shaped, nearly equally 3- to 5-lobed; the corolla of as many
nearly equal petals as there are calyx- lobes; stamens 10, inserted with the petals
on the margin of the disk, slightly exserted, on short, free filaments, the anthers
uniform, 2-celled, much smaller or abortive in the pistillate flowers; ovary borne
in the bottom of the calyx-tube, nearly sessile, rudimentary or absent in the stami-
nate flowers; style short; stigma terminal, somewhat dilated, ovules 2 or many.
538
The Honey Locusts
The fruit is a leguminous pod, usually many-seeded, rarely i-seeded, elongated,
straight, flattened, its walls hard and woody, dehiscent when old, usually pulpy
between the seeds, which are transversely placed, obovate, compressed, borne on
slender stalks, light brown, crustaceous; endosperm homy.
The name is in commemoration of the German botanist, John Gottlieb Gle-
ditsch, a friend and contemporary of Linnaeus. G. triacanthos is the type species.
Our species are:
Pod oval or elliptic, i- or 2-seeded; ovary smooth.
Pod linear or oblong-linear, many-seeded.
Pod ID to i8 cm. long, not pulpy within.
Pod 20 to 30 cm. long, pulpy within.
1. G. aquatica.
2. G. texana.
3. G. triacanthos.
I. WATER LOCUST — Gleditsia aquatica Marshall
This rather handsome tree occurs in the coastal region from North Carolina
to Florida, and extends westward to Indiana, Arkansas and Texas, forming con-
siderable forests on rich lands of river valleys subject to overflow. Its maximum
height is 20 meters, with a trunk diameter of 7.5 dm.
The trunk is often very short, dividing near the base into stout, rather crooked
branches. The bark is about 4 mm. thick, duU
gray to red-brown, shallowly fissured and broken
into thin smooth plates. The twigs are smooth,
yellowish brown, becoming gray or red-brown
and shining. The spines are straight or slightly
curved, with one or two short branches, dark
reddish brown and shining, flat and ridged, very
sharp, often 12 mm. wide at the base and 7 to
12 cm. long. The leaves are pinnate or bipin-
nate, 10 to 20 cm. long; leaf-stalk slender, round
and smooth, 3 to 4 cm. long; there are 6 to 12
pairs of leaflets on the pinnate leaves and 3 to 12
pairs on the pinnae of the bipinnate foiTn; the
leaflets are ovate to oblong or lanceolate, 2 to
3.5 cm. long, blunt or notched at the apex,
rounded or narro ved at the base, often entire be-
FiG. 497- -Water Locust. j^^ ^^^ middle, diirk green and shining above,
dull green beneath. The flowers appear from Apnl to June, in loose racemes 5
to 8 cm. long; the calyx is bell-shaped, its lobes laiceolate to oblong- lanceolate,
blunt-pointed and shghtly hairy; petals green, obloj.g or oval-oblong, rather longer
than the calyx-lobes; stamens shghtly exserted, ihe anthers green; ovary long-
stalked and smooth. The fruit is oval or elhptic, obhque, 3 to 5 cm. long, 1.5 to
2 cm. wide, flat, pulpless, abruptly pointed at each end, long-stalked, brown and
Honey Locust
539
shining, its margins somewhat thickened ; it contains i seed, rarely 2; seeds round,
flat, brown and shining, about i cm. broad.
The wood is very hard, strong, coarse-grained and bright reddish brown; its
specific gravity is about 0.73.
2. TEXAN HONEY LOCUST - Gleditsia texana Sargent
This rare and very local tree, is known only from dry bottom lands on the
Brazos River, Texas; it has spreading branches but a narrow head, and attains a
maximum height of about 36 meters, with a
truck diameter of 7.5 dm.
The bark is thin, close and smooth; the
twigs are slender, somewhat zigzag, yellow at
first, becoming gray, and they are spineless.
The leaves are once or twice pinnate, about 15
cm. long, including the leaf-stalk, which, with
the rachis, is slender and hairy at first, becom-
ing nearly smooth; the pinnate form has 10 to
15 pairs of leaflets, the bipinnate form 3 to 7
pairs of pinnae, with 8 to 14 pairs of leaflets, the
lowest pair of pinnai often reduced to simple
leaflets. The leaflets are thick and firm, ob-
long to oblong-lanceolate, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long,
blunt or pointed at the apex, rounded at the
base, deep green and shining above, hairy when
young, pale and smooth except along the yel-
low midrib beneath. The flowers appear in
April and May, in axillary racemes. The
staminate flowers are yellow, in slender hairy often clustered racemes, 8 to 10 cm.
long when fully grown; the calyx-tube is bell-shaped, its 5 lobes ovate, pointed,
and hairy; the petals are somewhat longer and broader than the calyx-lobes;
stamens exserted, the filaments slender, hairy near the base, the anthers green.
The fruit is very flat, straight, hnear-oblong, 10 to 13 cm. long, blunt at the
tipped apex, obliquely rounded at the base, scarcely thickened along the margin,
hairy, brown, and pulpless, containing many oval, dark brown and shining seeds
10 mm. long.
Fig. 498. — Texan Honey Locust.
3. HONEY LOCUST — Gleditsia triacanthos LiniicTus
The Honey locust is also called Sweet locust, Black locust. Thorny locust.
Thorn tree, Three-thomed acacia, and Honey shucks. It prefers rich river bot-
toms, seldom occurring on dr\^ hills, from Ontario to Pennsylvania and Florida,
and westward to Kansas and Texas, and is to some extent naturalized in the
540
The Honey Locusts
northeastern States. Its maximum height is about 42 meters, with a trunk di-
ameter of 1.8 dm.
The branches are spreading or somewhat pendulous. The bark is 1.5 to 2 cm.
thick, deeply fissured into broad ridges, which
are roughened by persistent brown scales with
upturned edges. The twigs are stout, zigzag,
with enlarged nodes, thickened at the tip,
nearly smooth, becoming greenish red and
shining and finally brown. The spines
become 5 to 15 cm. long, simple or branched,
stiff, very sharp, long- pointed and red-brown;
they are produced by some trees in the greatest
profusion, on others they may be entirely
wanting. The winter buds are very small,
usually several together. The leaves are pin-
nate or bipinnate, 1.5 to 2 dm. long; the leaf-
stalk is enlarged at the base, flattened and
grooved above, 3 to 5 cm. long; there are 9 to
14 pairs of leaflets on the pinnate form, or 4
to 7 pairs of pinnae on the bipinnate forms;
the upper pinnae are the largest, 10 to 12 cm.
Fig. 499- - Honey Locust. j^j^g^ ^^e basal ones often reduced to a single
leaflet; the leaflets are ovate to lanceolate, varying to elliptic, 1.5 to 3 cm. long,
blunt at each end, dark green and shining above, yellowish green and sometimes
hairy beneath. The flowers appear in May or June, the staminate flowers in short,
hairy racemes, with short peduncles; the pistillate are in few-flowered, usually
soHtary elongated racemes; the calyx is bell-shaped, unequally lobed, the lobes
sharp-pointed and hairy; the petals are greenish, oval to oblong-oval, erect, and
longer than the calyx- lobes; stamens 10, exserted, the anthers green; ovary woolly.
The fruit is long-Hnear, 20 to 30 cm. long, about 3 cm. wide, flat, somewhat
cur\'ed and twisted, brown to purpHsh black and shining, pointed, tapering toward
the short-stalked base, the margin thickened, the walls tough, enclosing a sweetish
astringent pulp; the numerous seeds are flat, oval, 12 mm. long, hght brown and
shining.
The wood is hard, strong, durable, coarse-grained, reddish brown, its specific
gravity about 0.67; it is extensively used for fence posts, wheel hubs, and some-
what in general construction. Its rapid growth, graceful foliage, fine form, and
freedom from disease or insects, render it a very desirable tree for lawns or parks;
its lateness in leafing out, however, makes it of little value for shade.
Kentucky Coffee Tree
541
IV. KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE
GENUS GYMNOCLADUS LAMARCK
Species Gymnocladus dioica (Linnaeus) Koch
Giiilandina dioica Linnaeus. Gymnocladus canadensis Lamarck.
HIS large tree, also called Coffee nut, Coffee bean, Nicker tree, and
Mahogany, occurs from southern Ontario and Minnesota southward
to Tennessee and the Indian Territor}^, growing in rich deep soil. It
is often seen in cultivation in the northeastern States, and in Europe.
It attains a maximum height of about 35 meters, with a trunk diameter of 9 dm.
The trunk is usually short and forks into several nearly upright branches. The
dark brown bark is 2 or 3 cm. thick, deeply fissured into rough scaly ridges.
The twigs are stout, pithy, and slightly
hairy at first, becoming brown and marked
by large leaf scars. The leaves are de-
ciduous, bipinnate, 3 to 9 dm. long and
4 to 6 dm. wide, with deciduous leaf-Kke
stipules I cm. long; the first and often
the second pair of pinnae consist of en-
tire leaflets, usually twice the size of the
others; the pinnae have 3 to 7 pairs of
leaflets with or without a terminal one;
leaflets ovate to oval, 3 to 7 cm. long,
taper-pointed, rounded at the base, en-
tire and short-stalked, thin, more or less
woolly and pinkish when unfolding, dark
green and shining above, pale green be-
neath. The flowers are polygambus,
re^-ular, in terminal racemes or panicles,
the staminate clusters 7 to 10 cm. long,
the pistillate 2.5 to 3 dm. long; the calyx
is (elongated, tubular, 10- ribbed and
Fig. 500. — Kentucky Coffee Tree.
haiiy, about i cm. long, its 5 lobes linear-lanceolate, 5 to 6 mm. long; petals 5,
nea'ly white, oblong, slightly keeled, somewhat longer than the calyx-lobes; stamens
ID, shorter than the petals, the filaments awl-shaped and hairy, the anthers large,
bright orange; ovary sessile, hairy; style short; stigma oblique. The fruit is a
large woody legume, in clusters of 3 to 5, remaining on the branches all winter; it
is flattish, oblong, 1.5 to 2.5 dm. long, 3.5 to 5 cm. wide, slightly curved, abruptly
pointed, unevenly rounded into a stout stalk, dark red-brown and somewhat glau-
cous, the margins thickened ; a dark, sweetish pulp surrounds the seeds, which are
ovoid, a little flattened, 2 cm. long, hard, dark brown and dull, the endosperm thin.
Tie wood is rather soft, strong, coarse-grained, light brown; its specific gravity
542 The Horsebeans
is about 0.69. It takes a fine polish, is very durable, and used for fence-posts and
in general construction. The seeds were used by the early pioneers of Kentucky as
a substitute for coffee. It is often planted for ornament and shade, on account of
its rapid growth, graceful foliage, and odd winter aspect.
The generic name is Greek, referring to its stout, naked branches. There is
but one other species, Gymnodadus chinensis Baillon, a native of southern China;
the American species is the type of the genus. Fossil remains referable to the genus
have been found in the Tertiary formations of Europe.
V. THE HORSEBEANS
GENUS PARKmSONIA [PLUMIER] LINN.^US
ARKINSONIA consists of but 3 species of thin-barked, spiny trees or
shrubs of the warmer parts of America and Africa; the Horsebean,
Parkinsonia aculeata Linnaeus, has become naturalized throughout the
tropics, having been grown and used as a hedge and fodder plant for
a long time.
The leaves are alternate or clustered, on short leaf-stalks, which fork into 2
to 4 rachises bearing numerous pairs of small sessile leaflets. The flowers are
perfect, nearly regular, axillary, racemose, the pedicels jointed; calyx short, bell-
shaped, the 5 lobes nearly equal, refiexed; corolla of 5 yellow spreading petals,,
much longer than the calyx- lobes, the upper or standard broadest and clawed ; sta-
mens 10, in two series, their filaments distinct, hairy below, the anthers opening
lengthwise; ovar}^ borne at the base of the calyx-tube, short- stalked, hair}^, many-
ovuled, the style slender. The fruit is a linear legume, tapering at both ends,
nearly circular in cross-section, constricted between the distant seeds, longitudinally
veined, 2-valved and leathery; seeds few, longitudinally placed, brown and hard,
the endosperm homy.
The type species is Parkinsonia aculeata. The name is in commemoration jf
John Parkinson, an English botanist, herbalist to James I, who died in 1750.
Our species are:
Racemes elongated: leaflets 20 to 30 pairs. i. P. aculeata.
Racemes short; leaflets 4 to 6 pairs. 2. P. micro phyila.
I. HORSEBEAN — Parkinsonia aculeata Linnaeus
This graceful and striking Httle tree or shrub, also called Retama, is supposed
to be native from the Rio Grande in Texas, southward into Mexico. It is well
established and naturalized in all warm and tropical regions and occurs in our area
from Florida to the Pacific coast. It attains a maximum height of about g moters,
with a trunk diameter of 3 dm.
The short trunk divides into spreading or drooping branches. The reldish
Small Leaved Horsebean
543
brown bark is about 3 mm. thick, smooth or somewhat scaly. The twigs are zig-
zag, short-hairy when young, smooth when older, yellowish green, and bear spines
2 cm. long or less. The leaves are obscurely bipin-
nate; the pinnae, springing from a very short enlarged
spinescent stalk, are 2 to 4 dm. long, with a very flat
rachis 2 to 3 mm, wide, supporting 25 to 30 pairs of
distant leaflets, which are linear-oblong to obovate,
1.5 to 8 mm. long, on very short slender stalks. The
flowers are fragrant, light yellow, and often appear
throughout the year in upright few-flowered racemes
7 to 15 cm. long; calyx-tube smooth, shorter than the
oblong reflexed lobes; petals spreading, nearly orbicu-
lar, 1.5 cm. long, the upper one red spotted; stamens
about half as long as the petals. The fruit is pendent,
clustered, cylindric, 5 to 10 cm. long, rather narrow,
long-tapering at each end, the calyx persistent at
the base; it is dark yellow to brown, with a few soft
hairs when young, becoming smooth; the seeds are far apart, oblong cylindric, 10
mm. long, 3 mm. in diameter.
The wood is hard, very close-grained, Hght brown with thick yellowish sap wood ;
its specific gravity is about 0.61. It is frequently cultivated for ornament and
hedges and the foliage often used as fodder for goats and other domestic animals.
Fig. 501. — Horsebean.
2. SMALL LEAVED HORSEBEAN — Parkinsonia microphylla Torrey
A small, much branched spiny tree or
shrub of rather rare occurrence in the deserts
of southern Arizona, southern Cahfomia, So-
nora, and Lower California, sometimes reach-
ing the height of 7.5 meters, with a tmnk
diameter of 3 dm.
The bark is up to 6 mm. thick, usually
smooth or nearly so, dark yellow. The twigs
are stout and hair)', yellowish green, soon be-
coming smooth, and terminated by stift" spine-
hke tips. The leaves are early deciduous,
mostly falling away soon after unfolding; the
pinnae are 2.5 to 3 cm, long, the stalks slightly
winged and grooved ; the leaflets, 4 to 6 pairs,
are rather distant, ovate to oblong or nearly
round, 2 to 4 mm. long, blunt at each end,
sessile, densely hairy when unfolding, less so
Fig. 502. — Small Leaved Horsebean. when okl. The flowers are pale yellow, ap-
544
The Green Barked Acacias
pearing from April until June, often before the leaves, in few-flowered racemes
about 2.5 cm. long, on slender pedicels 6 to 10 mm. long; the calyx- tube is short,
its reflexed lobes deciduous; petals obovate, about 5 mm. long, spreading; stamens
somewhat longer than the petals; ovary stalked and hairy. The pods, which
hang on the branches for a long time, are cyHndric, 5 to 8 cm. long, 10 to 12 mm.
thick, tapering toward each end, long-stalked and constricted between the i to 3
seeds, which are elliptic, a Httle flattened, about 10 mm. long, pale and brown.
The wood is hard, close-grained, dark yellow-brown with yellow sapwood; the
specific gravity is about 0.74.
VI. THE GREEN BARKED ACACIAS
GENUS CERCIDIUM TULASNE
''BOUT 5 species of trees and shrubs, with stout, crooked branches,
bright green bark, and sharp axillary spines, compose the genus
Cercidiuni. They occur only in the warmer portions of the western
hemisphere. Three species are known from our area, 2 of which
are arborescent.
The leaves are alternate, early deciduous, bipinnate, small, stalked, and usually
without stipules. The flowers are very showy, nearly regular, few in axillary
racemes; the calyx is tubular or bell-shaped, and persistent, its 5 pointed lobes
reflexed; corolla golden yellow, of 5 broad nearly equal petals; stamens 10, borne
on the margin of a disk, the upper one swollen near the base, the filaments free
and hairy; anthers 2-celled, opening lengthwise; ovary short-stalked, smooth or
hairy; style slender, the stigma very small. The fruit is a flat or somewhat
swollen legume, at length dehiscent; the seeds, placed lengthwise in the pod on
long stalks, are ovate, hard and flattened with thin homy endosperm.
The name apphed to these plants is the Greek name of a weaver's instrument,
of which the shape of the pod is suggestive; the type species is C. spinosum
Tulasne, of South America. Our arborescent species are:
Leaflets green, somewhat glandular, not glaucous; pod flat. i. C. jloridum.
Leaflets glaucous; pod somewhat swollen 2. C. Torreyanum.
I. GREEN BARKED ACACIA — Cercidium floridum Bentham
This small tree, with its bright green branches and golden-yellow flowers, is a
conspicuous object in extreme southern Texas, where it occurs but sparingly, be-
coming more common, however, southward in adjacent Mexico. It is a low,
crooked, wide-spreading tree, attaining a height of 6 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 2.5 dm.
The bark is about 2 mm. thick, light greenish brown, smooth or nearly so.
The twigs are slender, sHghtly zigzag, smooth or nearly so, olive-green, bearing
Palo Verde
545
slender spines often 2,5 cm. long. The leaves are about 2.5 cm. long, usually
composed of i pair of short pinna? on a hairy
stalk 5 to 7 mm. long; pinme 1.5 to 2.5 cm.
long, stalked, bearing 2 to 4 pairs of leaflets,
which are obovatc or oblong-obovate, 4 to 6
mm. long, obtuse or notched at apex, nearly
sessile, and somewhat glandular. The flowers
appear with the leaves and continue for several
months, so that ripe fruit and flowers are fre-
quently found on the branches in mid-summer;
they are in 3- to 5-flowered racemes, on slender
stalks; the calyx- lobes are oblong, reflexed and
deciduous; corolla 2 cm, across; petals broad,
the standard orbicular to reniform, the others
obovate to orbicular; ovary smooth. The fruit
is flat, hnear-oblong, 4 to 6 cm. long, straight
or nearly so, narrowed toward each end,
smooth, brownish yellow, spHtting into 2 thin ^'^■5°3-— reen ar e cacia.
valves which are hghter within and expose 2 or 3 longitudinally placed seeds, which
are flattened, oval, i cm. long, brownish yellow with darker sides and shining.
The wood is soft, close-grained, greenish yellow and satiny; its specific gravity
is about 0.54. It is used for fuel.
long.
2. PALO VERDE — Cercidium Torreyanum (S. Watson) Sargent
Parkinsonia Torreyana S. Watson
Also called Green-barked acacia, and very similar to the tree just described, but
perhaps more upright and irregularly branched. It is
larger and occurs in the desert regions of Arizona,
southern California, Sonora, and Lower Cahfomia,
where its brilliant flowers and green branches, even
when devoid of foliage, are in strange contrast with the
dreary surroundings. It attains a maximum height of
9 meters, with a trunk diameter of 5 dm.
The bark of old trees is 3 mm. thick, at times shghtly
furrowed, and scaly, but usually, as on the branches,
smooth and bright green. The twigs are somewhat zig-
zag, smooth, light yellow or pale green and glaucous,
armed with spines 8 to 10 mm. long. The leaves ap-
pear in March or April, and fall off soon afterward,
sometimes a second crop unfolds after an autumnal
rain; they are pale hairy on expanding, about 2.5 cm.
composed of i pair of short pinnae on a slender smooth stalk 5 to 7 mm.
Fig. 504. — Palo Verde.
546
Flame Tree
long, each bearing 2 or 3 pairs of leaflets, which are oblong, 2 to 3 mm. long,
blunt-pointed, obHque at the base, and glaucous. The flowers, appearing in April
or May, are ver}- similar to those of C. 'floridiim, but a trifle larger and on stouter
stalks. The fruit is oblong, 8 to 10 cm. long, somewhat swollen, abruptly narrowed
at both ends, the upper edge more or less grooved, often shghtly constricted be-
tween the seeds, which van,- from 2 to 8, and are larger and not as flat as those of
C floridiim.
The wood is soft, weak, close-grained, satiny, hght brown, with yellow sap-
wood; its specific gravity is about 0.65. It is of Uttle use except for fuel.
VII. FLAME TREE
GENUS DELONIX RAFINESQUE
Species Delonix regia (Bojer) Rafinesque
Poinciaiia regia Bojer
HIS deciduous-leaved tree, also called Flamboyant and Royal poinciana,
is wide-spreading, flat-topped, and spineless. It is a native of Mada-
gascar, but has long been planted throughout the tropics as a favorite
ornamental shade tree, so that it has become naturahzed in many
countries, and is now spontaneous in southern peninsular Florida and on the Keys.
It is very common in the West Indies, where it at-
tains a maximum height of about 12 meters, with a
trunk diameter of 9 dm.
The bark is thin, slightly furrowed, and gray-
brown. The twigs are stout, somewhat hair}', brown
or brown-gray, and marked by small yellowish ex-
crescences. The feather}' leaves are without stipules,
equally bipinnate, 3 to 5 dm. long, including the
stout red or yellow stalk, which is 7 to 12 cm. in
length; there are 10 to 25 pairs of pinnae with a
hair}' rachis, and 20 to 40 pairs of oblong leaflets;
these are 4 to 10 mm. long, rounded at each end,
unequal at the base, the midrib and the thickened
entire margin prominent, hair}- on both sides and
short-stalked. The orange-red or bright scarlet
flowers are large, in ample terminal or axillary co-
r}'mbose racemes, on stout pedicels; the 5 calyx-lobes are nearly equal, longer than
the tube; petals spreading and reflexed, nearly orbicular, 5 to 7 cm. long, wa\T or
crisp on the margin, tapering into a long claw, scarlet veined and spotted with
yellow; stamens 10, with ver}' long exserted distinct filaments, the anthers large,
opening lengthwise. The fruit is a rather flattened, elongated, linear, very hard
woody pod, often 6 dm. long, shghtly cun^d, gray to dark brown and rough,
usually sohd between the transversely placed seeds, which are nearly cyUndric.
Fig. 505. — Flame Tree.
Flame Tree
547
o
O
3
C
66
h
_2
o
6
548
Barbados Flower
The wood is soft, weak, close-grained, whitish or yellowish; its specific gravity
is about 0.83. The dehcate foliage and profusion of gorgeous flowers make this a
ver}' elegant shade tree for the tropics. Its long period of leaflessness, weak,
easily broken branches, and the continuous dropping of its great pods, are,
however, undesirable features. The genus includes 3 species or more, natives of
Africa; D. regia is the type. The name is Greek, in reference to the very evident
claws of the petals.
VIII. BARBADOS FLOWER
GENUS POmCIANA [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
Species Poinciana pulcherrima Linnaeus
Cccsalpinia pulcherrima Swartz
ARBADOS FLOWER is a beautiful small tree, or more often a shrub,
supposed to be a native of Barbados, but it now occurs so frequently
throughout the tropics, both wild and in cultivation, that there is some
doubt as to its original home. It is also known as Barbados pride,
Flower fence, and Bird of paradise flower, and has become naturahzed in penin-
sular Florida. Its maximum height is 4 meters, with a trunk diameter of 10 cm.
The bark is thin, smooth or nearly so, and brown. The twigs are stout,
smooth, sometimes armed with stout recurved prickles.
The leaves are evenly bipinnate, 20 to 30 cm. long, in-
cluding the long slender leaf-stalk. There are 4 to 12
pairs of pinnae 4 to 10 cm. long, with 6 to 18 pairs of
leaflets; these are thick and leathery, oblong to obovate,
15 to 25 mm. long, blunt, notched or short-pointed at
the apex, rounded or wedge-shaped at the base, bright
green above, paler, smooth, and prominently veined
beneath. The flowers, which appear throughout the
year, are ver\^ showy, bright red, sometimes yellow, in
terminal racemes or panicles, on slender pedicels 4 to
9 cm. long; the calyx is 5-lobed, the lobes imbricated,
the lower one the largest and overlaps the others; the
5 petals are unequal, 2 to 3 cm. long, crisp or wavy-
margined; stamens 10, straight or nearly so; filaments distinct, very long-exserted;
anthers opening lengthwise. The fruit is broadly linear, somewhat broadest toward
the apex, which is unequally taper- pointed, narrowed or rounded at the short-
stalked base, dark brown and roughish, separating into two twisting valves; the
few seeds are obovate, somewhat angular, 8 to 10 mm. long, and yellowish brown.
The generic name is in honor of M. de Poinci, Governor of the Antilles about
1650, and a patron of botany. There is but one other species in the genus as here
understood, our plant being the type.
Fig. 507. — Barbados Flower.
THE PEA FAMILY
FABACEiE Reichenbach
HIS is a very large family, comprising some 325 genera, including
probably 5000 species of trees, shrubs, herbs, woody and herbaceous
climbers, of wide distribution, most abundant in the warmer temper-
ate regions of both hemispheres. They are of vast and varied economic
importance; the seeds of many, as beans, peas, and peanuts, are of the highest
nutritive value on account of the large quantity of albuminous matter stored in
them. Many are of great medicinal value, and some of them are very poisonous,
such as the Calabar bean, the seed of Physostigma venenosum Balfour, and the
bright scarlet seeds of Abriis precatorius Linnaeus, a tropical climbing vine, are as
intensely poisonous as they are brilHant. Many furnish valuable timber, and
numerous genera supply important forage plants such as the Clovers, Alfalfa,
Lupines, and MeHlots. Their value as concentrators of nitrogen in the soil is ines-
timable; many dyes are also derived from plants of this family, indigo being the
most important, and the ornamental plants belonging here are ver\' numerous.
The FahacecB have alternate stipulate leaves which are mostly compound.
The flowers are usually perfect, rarely polygamous or dioecious, sohtan," or in vari-
ous simple or compound clusters, axillary or terminal, irregular. The calyx is 4-
or 5-toothed, rarely cleft, and often 2-Hpped; corolla pea-Hke (papiUonaceous) ; its
5 petals are distinct or somewhat united, usually of 3 kinds, the broad upper one,
which in the bud surrounds or encloses the others, is known as the standard or
banner, the 2 lateral are called the wings, and the 2 lower, more or less united, are
called the keel; stamens 10 or sometimes only 9, rarely there are but 5; their fila-
ments are usually united into i or 2 groups, rarely separate; usually 9 are united
into a spHt tube, the loth being free; pistil a single carpel, simple and superior;
the ovary i -celled or several-celled by transverse partitions; style simple; stigma
terminal, obhque or lateral; ovules i to many. The fruit is a 2-valved dehiscent
legume, or indehiscent, often more or less modified ; seeds usually without endo-
sperm, the cotyledons thick.
There are about 75 genera with some 1250 species in our area; the following
are arborescent:
Stamens 10; filaments distinct.
Flowers racemose; pods swollen, constricted between the seeds. i. Sophora.
Flowers paniculate; pods flattened. 2. Cladrastris.
Stamens 10 or fewer; filaments united in one or two groups.
Leaves more than 3-foliolate.
549
550
The Coral Beans
Leaves glandless.
Pods dehiscent.
Leaves unequally pinnate, sometimes equally pinnate in Olneya.
Pods flat, wing-margined on one side.
Pods not winged on the margin.
Flowers racemose; branches spiny.
Flowers solitar)' or obscurely racemose; branches unarmed.
Leaves equally pinnate; flowers very large.
Pods indehiscent, 4-winged.
Leaves glandular or dotted; petals all distinct.
Leaves not more than 3-foliolate, usually unifoliolate, very small and early
deciduous (in our species).
3. Roblnia.
4. Olneyc.
5. Coursetia.
6. Agati.
7. Ichthyomethia.
8. Eysenhardtia.
9. Parosela.
I. THE CORAL BEANS
GENUS SOPHORA LINN^US
OPHORA includes 25 or 30 species, mostly trees or shrubs, a few,
perennial herbs, natives of warm and tropical regions of both the
Old World and the New. They have unarmed stems and branches,
odd-pinnate leaves and showy flowers in racemes or panicles. The
calyx is bell-shaped with short teeth; the standard is obovate to orbicular, the
wings obhquely oblong, the keel oblong, straight or nearly so; the 10 stamens are
all separate or nearly separate, their anthers versatile ; the pistil has a short-stalked
ovary and incurved style. The pod is leathery or fleshy, constricted between the
seeds, usually not spUtting open, containing several or many seeds. The generic
name is from the Arabic, signifying yellow, the flowers being that color in many
species. Sophora tomentosa Linnaeus, is a shrub of tropical seacoasts, occurring
in Florida. The Japanese Sophora japonica Linnasus, is much planted for orna-
ment. The type species of the genus is the Asiatic Sophora alopecuroides Linnseus.
Our arborescent species are :
Racemes terminal; leaves thick, persistent.
Racemes axillary; leaves thin, deciduous.
1. S. secundiflora.
2. 5. affinis.
I. EVERGREEN CORAL BEAN — Sophora secundiflora (Cavanilles)
de Candolle
Virgilia secundiflora Cavanilles
This shrub or small tree inhabits borders of streams and seacoasts from Texas
to New Mexico, southward, in Mexico, to Nuevo Leon and San Luis Potosi. It
sometimes becomes about 12 meters high, with a trunk 2 dm. in diameter, and is
known in Mexico as Frigolito.
The young twigs are finely velvety, becoming smooth and brown. The ever-
green stalked leaves have from 7 to 1 1 thick leathery leaflets, which arc oblong to
Deciduous Coral Bean
551
obovate blunt or slightly notched at the apex, narrowed at the base, a little hairy
beneath when young, but becoming smooth, 2.5 to 6 cm. long, shining and bright
yellowish green on the upper surface,
paler and dull on the under side. The
racemes are borne at the ends of branch-
lets, appearing with the leaves of the sea-
son in Febmary or March; the axis of
the racemes, the pedicels and calyx, are
finely velvety ; the pedicels bear two small
pointed bractlets at about the middle;
the violet-blue flowers are 2 to 3 cm.
long and strongly fragrant; the ovary
is white-silky. The pod is hard and
woody, 2 dm. long or less, about 1.5 cm.
thick through the seeds, much con-
stricted between the seeds, densely vel-
vety; the oblong red bony seeds are i
to 1.5 cm. long, without endosperm, and are very poisonous.
The wood is hard, close-grained, orange-red with yellow sapwood; its specific
gravity is about 0.98.
Evergreen Coral Bean.
2. DECIDUOUS CORAL BEAN - Sophora affinis Torrey and Gray
An inhabitant of hillsides and river valleys in southern Arkansas and Texas,
this small tree attains a maximum height of only about 7 meters, with a trunk up
to 2.5 dm. in diameter.
The thin reddish brown bark peels off in thin scales. The young twigs are
green and shghtly hair)% becoming brown
and smooth; the winter buds are small,
brown-hairy. The deciduous leaves are
stalked and have 11 to i0 oblong thin
short-stalked leaflets, which are blunt,
finely hairy when young, but smooth or
nearly so when old, 2.5 to 4 cm. long,
their yellowish midribs rather prominent
on the dull green under side, the upper
side darker green and somewhat shining.
The racemes, which appear in April or
May, are axillary, drooping, mostly shorter
than the leaves, the axis slender; pedi-
cels and calyx densely silky-hair}-; the
Fig. 509. — Deciduous Coral Bean.
pedicels are i cm. long or less; the calyx is about 4 mm. long, and the white or
pinkish corolla about 1.5 cm. long; the ovar}' is stalked and hair}\ The pod is
552
Kentucky Yellow Wood
fleshy, black and shining, 8 cm. long or much less, deeply constricted between
the seeds, which have a thin layer of endosperm.
It is also known under the names Pink locust and Bearded locust.
The wood is very hard and strong, close-grained and Ught red; its specific
gravity is about 0.85.
II. KENTUCKY YELLOW WOOD
GENUS CLADRASTIS RAFINESQUE
Species Cladrastis lutea (Michaux) K. Koch
Virgilia lutea Michaux. Cladrastis tinctoria Rafinesque
ENTUCKY YELLOW WOOD is an interesting and ornamental tree,
native of the southeastern States, from western North Carolina through
Tennessee and Kentucky to Missouri ; it prefers rich valley soil and is
quite local in distribution, attaining a maximum height of about 20
meters, with a trunk 6 or 7 dm. thick. It is a monotype, no other species of Cla-
drastis being known; its Manchurian relative, sometimes known as Cladrastis
amurensis Bentham, belonging to the similar genus Maackia (Maackia amurensis
Ruprecht and Maximo wicz).
The bark is thick, brown or brownish, nearly smooth. The young twigs are
greenish brown, slender, somewhat drooping,
at first a Uttle hairy, but soon smooth, brown
and shining; the winter buds are small, ob-
long, blunt, brown-hairy, borne 4 together
and enclosed in the base of the leaf-stalk.
The odd-pinnate, deciduous stalked leaves
have neither stipules nor stipels; the 5 to 11
leaflets are thin, short-stalked, ovate, oval or
obovate, 10 cm. long or less, pointed at the
apex, blunt, narrowed or wedge-shaped at the
base, entire-margined, finely hairy when
young, smooth or but sHghtly hairy on the
under side when mature, the upper surface
bright green, the under side paler. The
numerous showy white flowers are in large
terminal drooping panicles, and appear in
May or June; the slender flower-stalks are i
cm. long or more; the slightly hairy calyx is narrowly bell-shaped with 5 short
and broad rounded teeth; the corolla is about 2 cm. long, the standard orbicular,
the wings and keel- petals oblong; the 10 stamens are separate, with slender fila-
ments and versatile anthers; the ovary is hnear, short-stalked, long-hairy and
contains several ovules, and is tipped by the incurved style. The pod is Knear,
Fig. 510. — Kentucky Yellow Wood.
Locust
553
smooth, short-stalked in the persistent calyx, 4 to 8 cm. long, 8 to 10 mm. wide,
tipped with the persistent subulate style, and contains few oblong flattened seeds
without endosperm.
The name Cladrastis is Greek, signifying brittle branches. The w^ood is yellow,
hard, strong, with a specific gravity of about 0.63, and has a limited use for gun-
stocks. A yellow dye is extracted from it. The tree is desirable for lawn and
park planting as far north as New York and central Ohio; it is also called Yellow
locust, Yellow ash and Gopher-wood.
III. THE LOCUSTS
GENUS ROBINIA LINN^US
OBINIA comprises about 7 species of trees or shrubs confined to
North America. Fossil remains referred to the genus, however, have
been found in central Europe.
They have slender zigzag twigs and small naked buds. The
leaves are alternate, unevenly pinnate, the nearly opposite leaflets without glands;
the stipules become spinescent. The flowers are on long pedicels in short nod-
ding racemes in the axils of the leaves, with early deciduous bractlets; the calyx is
bell-shaped, 5-toothed, the upper teeth shortest and somewhat united; the standard
is broad and reflcxed; wings curved and separate; keel petals curved, united
below; stamens 10, inserted with the petals, 9 of them united at the base, their
anthers all ahke, or nearly so, ovate; the ovary is stalked, linear-oblong; style awl-
shaped; stigma small; o\Tiles many. The fruit is a many-seeded, flat, 2-valved
narrow legume, wing-margined on one edge, short-stalked, membranous, smooth
or prickly; the seeds are obHquely placed, oblong with a hard coat, thin endo-
sperm and large embryo.
The name is in commemoration of Jean Robin (i 550-1629) and his son Ves-
pasien (1579-1660), distinguished Paris botanists. The type species is R. Pseud-
acacia. In addition to the 3 arborescent species, 4 shrubby ones occur in our area.
The trees are much ravaged by the locust borer.
Racemes loose; pods smooth; eastern tree. i. R. Psciidacdcia.
Racemes dense; pods glandular-hispid.
Twigs viscid; eastern tree. 2. R. viscosa.
Twigs not viscid; southwestern tree. 3. R. iico-mexicana.
I. LOCUST — Robinia Pseudacacia Linnaeus
This well-known tree is native in the mountains from Pennyslvania to Georgia,
and perhaps westward to Iowa and Kansas. It is widely naturalized throughout
the eastern United States and in Canada and much planted in Europe and in the
western States.
The trunk is usuallv divided into several leading branches; these are slender,
554
The Locusts
usually erect, forming an oblong tree. The bark is 2.5 to 4 cm. thick, somewhat
porous, deeply furrowed into roundish ridges of a reddish brown color. The twigs
are round or nearly so, slightly haiiy at first, soon becoming smooth and brown.
The pinnate leaves arc 1.5 to 3 dm. long, consisting of 7 to 19 leaflets and a
'n Y / .
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^^^^^^^^^^^v^ '*-•' ' ^^^hK^^S^^^^H^^^^^hI^I
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n
Fig. 511. — Locust, Carnot, Pennsylvania.
grooved stalk 2.5 to 4 cm. long thickened at the base. The leaflets are thin, elhp-
tic or ovate, 2.5 to 4.5 cm. long, rounded and often minutely bristle-pointed, the
base rounded, the margin entire; their short stalks are about 4 mm. long; they
are silver^' white at first, soon becoming dull green and smooth above, paler and
smooth beneath, or slightly hairy on the midrib. The stipules are about 12 mm.
Clammy Locust
555
Fig. ^12. — Locust.
long, awl-shaped, soon developing into hard, straight or slightly curved spines,
becoming 2.5 cm. long and often persisting
for several years. The flowers appear from
April to June in loose racemes 10 to 12.5
cm. long, with 10 to 25 flowers on pedicels
6 to 15 mm. long; they are white, with a yel-
low spot on the standard and very fragrant.
The pod is Hnear, slightly curved, smooth,
reddish brown, flat, soon dehiscent ; the seeds,
4 to 10 in each pod, are kidney-shaped, about
4.5 mm. long, yellowish brown with darker
blotches.
The wood is very hard, strong, close-
grained, brown or greenish yellow; its specific
gravity is about 0.73. It is very durable,
being one of the most lasting of woods in con-
tact with the soil, a favorite for fence posts,
also used in ship-building and turnery. The
bark of the root is of some medicinal repute.
This tree has long been planted in Europe
and America as a forest tree or for ornament,
and a great many varieties have developed, especially in Europe; it produces suck-
ers very freely from cut stumps and is difficult to eradicate from fields or lawns.
It is also called Black locust, Yellow locust. White locust, Red locust. Green
locust, Honey locust, Peaflower locust,
Post locust. Acacia, False acacia. Parasol
acacia, Bastard acacia. Locust tree. Silver
chain and White laburnum.
2. CLAIMMY LOCUST
Robinia viscosa Ventenat
This small tree is better known from
cultivated specimens than in the wild state,
in which it is verj^ rare, being knowTi only
from a few localities in mountain woods,
from North Carolina to Alabama; it has
often escaped from gardens in eastern
Canada and the eastern States. Its maxi-
mum height is 12 meters, with a trunk di-
ameter of 3 dm,, and it is also known as
Honey locust. Red flowering locust. Rose
flowering locust and Rose acacia.
Fig. 513. — Clammy Locust.
556
The Locusts
The slender branches are spreading, forming a roundish head. The bark is
about 3 mm. thick, roughish and dark gray or brown. The twigs are viscid, red-
dish brown and covered with glandular hairs. The leaves are 1.5 to 3 dm. long,
consisting of 11 to 27 leaflets and a stout nearly round petiole which is often
glandular and viscid, and slightly enlarged at the base; the leaflets are rather thick
and firm, ovate, oblong or clhptic, 2.5 to 4 cm. long, rounded or pointed and
bristle tipped at the apex, rounded or tapering at the short-stalked base, entire
on the margin, dark green and smooth above, pale and somewhat hairv', especially
along the yellowish venation beneath; the stipules are slender, rarely developing
into slender spines. The flowers, appearing in May and June and often again
in the autumn, are odorless, in dense racemes 5 to 8 cm. long; the slender pedun-
cle and pedicels are covered with long glandular hairs. The calyx is red and
hair\% its lobes awl-shaped ; the corolla is pink or flesh colored ; the standard narrow
and marked with yellow blotches; the wing petals are broad. The fruit is linear,
flat, 5 to 10 cm. long, somewhat glandular, hispid and viscid, sunken between the
seeds, tapering at each end and tipped with the remnants of the style ; seeds about
4 mm. long, reddish brown, mottled.
The wood is hard, close-grained and brownish; its specific gravity is about 0.81.
It is well known in cultivation as a handsome flowering tree; there are several
varieties, some of which are probably hybrids with the common locust.
3. NEW MEXICO LOCUST — Robinia neo-mexicana A. Gray
A small tree of mountain sides near
streams in New Mexico, Arizona and
southern Colorado, at altitudes of 1200 to
3000 meters. It attains a height of 7.5
meters, with a trunk diameter of 3.5 dm.
in Colorado, but is usually a shrub and
commonly called Locust.
The tnmk has a thin, nearly smooth
bark of a light brown color, breaking into
small scales. The twigs are covered with
brown glandular hairs which persist for at
least one season, after which they become
reddish brown and often glaucous. The
leaves are 1.5 to 3 dm. long, consisting of
13 to 21 leaflets and a stout hairy petiole
which is grooved on the upper side. The
leaflets are thin, oblong to ovate, about 4
New Mexico Locust. cm. long, rounded, sometimes notched and
bristle-pointed, wedge-shaped or rounded at the base, entire on the margin, hairy
when unfolding, soon becoming smooth and bluish green above, paler with con-
FlG. 514.
Sonora Ironwood
557
spicuous veins beneath; the principal veins and the petioles are hairy; the stipules,
which are thin and flexible at first, develop into brown-red spines, sometimes 2.5
cm. long. The flowers open in May or June in dense, racemes and sometimes
again in August; the stout peduncle and slender pedicels and the calyx are cov-
ered with glandular hairs. The flowers are pale rose colored, sometimes nearly
white; the standard and wing petals are very broad. The pod is narrow, 7.5 to
10 cm. long, reddish brown, glandular hairy, tapering at each end, bearing the
recurved, persistent style at the apex; the seeds are about 3 mm. long, dark brown
and blotched.
The wood is very hard, strong, close-grained and yellow with brownish mark-
ings; its specific gravity is about 0.80. The tree is hardy as far north as the
New England States.
IV. SONORA IRONWOOD
GENUS OLNEYA A. GRAY
Species Olneya Tesota A. Gray
MOST beautiful tree of wide distribution in the desert regions of
the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico, reaching a
height of 9 meters, with a trunk diameter of 4.5 dm. It is called
Palo de Hierro and Arbol de Hierro by the Mexicans.
The trunk is short and stout, usually forking into several nearly upright
branches. The bark is thin
and scaly, peeling off in
long reddish brown strips.
The twigs are whitish hairy,
soon becoming green,
marked with red and finally
turning light brown. The
spines, which are often in
pairs below the leaves, are
straight or nearly so, very
stiff and sharp, 3 to 10 mm.
long and persist for several
years. The pinnate leaves
are somewhat persistent, 2
to 6 cm. long, consisting of
10 to 15 leaflets and a slen-
der grooved petiole 6 to 10
mm. long, often fascicled and without stipules; the leaflets are oblong-obovate, 8
to 20 mm. long, blunt or minutely tipped, wedge-shaped at the base, entire on
the margin and short-stalked; they are whitish-hair}^, the lower surface conspicu-
FiG. 515. — Sonora Ironwood.
558
Texan Coursetia
ously veined. The flowers unfold with the leaves from March to July in short
axillary whitish-hairy racemes with sharp bractlets that fall off before the flowers
expand. The flowers are purpHsh, about 15 mm. long on pedicels about the
length of the calyx ; calyx-lobes are about equal, ovate and blunt ; the disk is cup-
shaped and joined to the calyx-tube; the petals are purpHsh or violet; the standard
is roundish and deeply notched, reflexed, and appendaged at the base; wings
oblique, oblong, about equaling the incurved keel; stamens 10, one of them sepa-
rate; anthers all alike; ovary sessile or shghtly stalked, softly hairy; the style bent
inward, bearded above; stigma thick and fleshy; ovules many. The fruit, which
ripens in August, is a somewhat flattened 2-valved, leathery pod, Hght brown and
glandular-hairy, the base subtended by the persistent calyx, the apex tipped with
the style; the i to 5 seeds are ovoid, about 8 mm. long, dark brown and shining.
The wood is hard and strong, but brittle, and dark brown ; its specific gravity
is about 1. 1 5, being considerably heavier than water. It is difficult to work but
is sometimes made into canes and is highly prized for fuel.
The genus contains but one species; its name is in commemoration of Stephen
T. Olney (181 2-1878), a prominent manufacturer and amateur botanist of Rhode
Island.
V. TEXAN COURSETIA
GENUS COURSETIA DE CANDOLLE
Species Coursetia axillaris Coulter and Rose
PROFUSELY branched shrub or small tree several meters tall,
known only from the vicinity of San Diego, Texas.
The unarmed twigs are zigzag, hairy at first becoming smooth
and Hght gray. The leaves are alternate, clustered on short spur-
like branches, odd-pinnately compound, i to 2 cm. long, consisting of 7 to 11 leaf-
lets, the lower pair orbicular or oval, the
others obovate or oblong-obovate, blunt
at the apex, rounded at the base and en-
tire on the margin, Hght green, promi-
nently reticulated, nearly smooth above,
minutely hairy beneath. The flowers
are solitarv or in few-flowered racemes,
on pedicels that eventually become 5 to
10 mm. long. The calyx-tube is beU-
shaped, its lobes longer than the tube,
triangular or lanceolate, acute, nearly
equal, the upper pair sHghtly united;
corolla white, the standard reflexed, 12
mm. broad; wings free; keel petals in-
F1G.S16. — Texan Coursetia. curvcd; Stamens lo, the filaments of 9
Australian Corkwood Tree
559
united for more than half their length; anthers all alike; ovary sessile; style in-
curved, hairy along the inner side; stigma capitate; ovules several. The pod is
linear, 2 to 3.5 cm. long, smooth, 2-valved, marginless, bristle-pointed at the apex,
narrowed at the base and constricted between the seeds, which are compressed,
orbicular, about 2 mm. in diameter, shining and red-brown.
The genus embraces about 15 species of trees or shrubs confined to the warmer
portions of the New World, Coursetia tomentosa (Desfontaines) de CandoUe, of
Peru, being the type species. The name is in honor of G. Dumont de Courset
(i 746-1824), a French scientist.
VI. AUSTRALIAN CORKWOOD TREE
GENUS AGATI ADANSON
Species Agati grandiflora (Linnaeus) Desvaux
Rohinia grandifJora Linnaeus. Seshania grandiflora Poiret
HIS tropical Asiatic tree has been cultivated for its large showy flowers
and for shade in all warm countries and has become quite widely
naturahzed, especially in the West Indies, whence it was introduced into
southern Florida, where it is now spontaneous in sandy soils. Its
maximum height is about 9 meters.
The twigs are stout, densely hairy at first. The leaves are long and narrow,
evenly pinnate, 1.5 to 3 dm. long, con-
sisting of ID to 20 pairs of leaflets; these
are oblong, 2 to 2.5 cm. long, rounded
at each end, or minutely tipped, short
stalked, fight green and smooth above,
scarcely paler and sfightly hairy be-
neath. The flowers are very large, in
few- flowered, short, hairy racemes; their
calyx is cup-shaped, shallowly 2-Hpped;
corolla white or red, 7.5 to 10 cm. long;
the standard shorter and narrower than
the keel petals; stamens 10, one of them
separate from the 9 others. The fruit
is a Hnear pod often 3 dm. long, about
8 mm. wide, fight yellow, very thick on
both edges, somewhat sunken in between
.1 J .1. 1 ii.- 1 J Fig. kit. — Australian Corkwood Tree.
the seeds, the valves thick and spongy, ^ '
spfitting freely through the thick edges; seeds numerous, compressed, kidney-
shaped, about 6 mm. long and brown.
This corkwood is soft, coarse-grained and white; its specific gravity is about
0.51 ; it is not durable and of Httle use. The flowers and the green pods are eaten
560
Jamaica Dogwood
as a salad or pot herb, both in the East and West Indies. The astringent bark is
also used medicinally, especially in Asiatic countries. The genus consists of
only this species; its name is Malabaric.
VII. JAMAICA DOGWOOD
GENUS ICHTHYOMETHIA PATRICK BROWNE
Species Ichthyomethia Piscipula (Linnaeus) A. S. Hitchcock
Erytkrina Piscipula Linnaeus. Piscidia Erythrina Linnaeus
AMAICA DOGWOOD is quite abundant on the sandy coastal lands
of southern peninsular Florida and the Keys, and is common in the
West Indies and also in southern Mexico. Its maximum height is
about 17 meters, with a trunk diameter of 9 dm.
The usually crooked branches are upright or ascending. The bark is 3 mm.
thick, light reddish brown, its surface broken into small scales. The twigs are
thickly brownish hairy at first, soon becoming quite smooth, reddish brown. The
leaves are alternate, without stipules, de-
ciduous, I to 3 dm. long, consisting of
from 5 to 1 1 leathery leaflets and a stout
petiole somewhat enlarged at the base.
The leaflets are oblong to obovate or
rarely ovate, 5 to 10 cm. long, abruptly
pointed or blunt, rounded at the base,
entire or slightly wavy on the margin,
hairy at first, soon becoming smooth and
dark green above, paler and rusty hairy
along the prominent midrib beneath.
The flowers are in large lateral, grayish
hairy panicles on leafless branches of
the previous season; the calyx is bell-
shaped and persistent, its 5 lobes short,
triangular; the petals are white with a
Fig. 518. — Jamaica Dogwood.
reddish tinge; the standard is suborbicular and notched, grayish hairy on the
outer surface, green blotched within, its claw almost as long as the calyx; wings
oblong-spatulate; keel-petals broad and curved, their claws connected; stamens
10, the filaments of 9 united into a tube, the other one free only at the base, being
united with the tube above; anthers all aHke; ovary linear, sessile and silky, con-
tracted into a thread-like inwardly bent style; stigma capitate; ovules many.
The fruit is a stalked 4-winged legume, linear, 5 to 10 cm. long, indehiscent,
hairy or smooth, grayish brown, the thin wings i to 2 cm. wi:de. The flattened
seeds are oval, red-brown and dull.
The wood is weak, close-grained, yellowish brown; its specific gravity is about
Eysenhardtia
561
0.87. It is very durable, takes a fine polish and is a favorite in Florida for boat
building, fuel and charcoal. The bark, especially of the root, contains a sedative
principle somewhat similar in its action to morphine; and the fluid extract is used
to some extent in American medical practice.
The genus is monotypic, and was established by Patrick Browne, by reference
to LinncTus' name for the tree, and by a good description of it. Its name is from
the Greek in reference to the use of the bark of its roots as a fish poison, the
Caribs having used it to stupefy fish, a practice still carried on by negroes.
VIII. EYSENHARDTIA
GENUS EYSENHARDTIA HUMBOLDT, BONPLAND AND KUNTH
Species Eysenhardtia orthocarpa S. Watson
YSENHARDTIA contains 5 species of shrubs and small trees grow-
ing naturally from the southwestern United States to Guatemala.
It is named in honor of Karl Wilhelm Eysenhardt, Professor of
Botany at Konigsberg (1794-1825); the type species is Eysenhardtia
amorpJwides Humboldt, Bonpland and Kunth, a shrub of wide distribution from
New Mexico to Guatemala. Our tree
species, E. orthocarpa, occurs from Ari-
zona and western Texas to Oaxaca and
Hidalgo; it is not known to exceed 7
meters in height, with a trunk 2 dm.
thick.
The bark is thin, light gray and
scaly, the young twigs finely hairy, be-
coming smooth and red-brown.
The
Fig. 519. — Eysenhardtia.
deciduous leaves are stalked, equally
pinnate, with 10 to 24 pairs of leaflets,
the leaf-axis grooved on the upper side
and finely hairy; the leaflets are thin,
oblong to oval, 2 cm. long or less,
blunt or slightly notched at the apex,
short-stalked, very glandular and hairy on the under side, smooth or nearly so and
light green on the upper; the minute stipules are subulate. The small white
flowers are in axillary hairy spikes, which appear in Arizona in May, but speci-
mens from central Mexico show flowers collected in July and in October; the
spikes are densely many-flowered, 10 cm. long or less; the calyx is ribbed, glan-
dular and hairy, about 3 mm. long; the petals are 6 to 8 mm. long, oblong to
spatulate, clawed, the standard only a little wider than the wings and keel; there
are 9 stamens united by their filaments into a tube, and one separate shorter sta-
men ; the ovary contains 2 to 4 ovules and is tipped by a hooked style. The pods
562
Indigo Bush
are narrowly oblong, pendent, smooth, pointed, about 1.5 cm. long, nearly straight,
and usually bear only one flat seed.
The wood is hard and dense, reddish brown, with a specific gravity of 0.87.
IX. INDIGO BUSH
GENUS PAROSELA CAVANILLES
Species Parosela spinosa (A. Gray) Heller
Dalea spinosa A. Gray
HIS small spiny tree, or more often a much branched shrub, occurs in
the deserts of southern Cahfomia, southwestern Arizona and adjacent
Mexico. Its maximum height is 6 meters, with a tmnk diameter up
to 5 dm. It is also called Dalea and Indigo thorn.
The trunk is usually very short, branching near the base. The bark is about 5
mm. thick, deeply fissured into grayish brown scales. The twigs are slender, finely
hairy ; spines 5 cm. long or less. The leaves are few near the bases of the spine-
Hke twigs, consisting of but one leaflet,
which is wedge-shaped, about 2 cm. long,
bluntly pointed, sessile or nearly so, wavy
and glandular on the margin, and whitish
haiiy;they fall off soon after unfolding.
The flowers appear in June or July in
racemes 2.5 to 4 cm. long, the white
hairy rachis spine-tipped ; they are short-
stalked; the calyx-tube is lo-ribbed,
glandular between the ribs, its blunt lobes
ovate; the petals are dark blue; stamens
united into a tube, the anthers all alike,
often with a gland, 2-celled and opening
lengthwise; ovary sessile, hairy and glan-
dular; style slender; ovules usually 2.
The fruit is a one-seeded, compressed ovate pod about 8 mm. long, partly enclosed
by the persistent calyx and tipped by the withering style; seed kidney-shaped,
about 3 mm. long, shining, brown and mottled.
The wood is soft, rather coarse-grained, and brown; its specific gravity is about
0.55. Seedling plants bear oblong or oblanceolatc toothed leaves sometimes 4
cm. long.
The genus is wholly American, comprising about 100 species of herbs, shrubs
and a few trees, most of them being native in the southwestern United States,
Mexico and Central America.
The generic name is an anagram of Psoralea, a genus of closely related plants.
The type species is Dalea ohovatijolia Ortega, a Cuban herbaceous species. The
Fig. 520. — Indigo Bush.
Indigo Bush 563
generic name Dalea, published for these plants by Ortega in 1800, is preceded
by Dalea of Gaertner, pubhshed for a different genus in 1788.
The Parosela arhorescens (Torrey) Heller, was originally described as a small
tree from the San Fernando Mountains in southern California, but has not since
been met with as such. It differs from the above in being less spiny, having
more numerous hoary leaflets and close, spike-like inflorescence.
Coral bean, Erythnna arborea (Chapman) Small, a shrub or woody herb, with armed stems,
sometimes 6 meters high, occurs in sandy soil in southern peninsular Florida and on the Keys.
Its leaves are 3-foliolate, the leaflets deltoid or hastately 3-lobed, 3.5 to 10 cm. -long, their rachis
and petioles wiry; flowers scarlet, 3 to 4 cm. long, in racemes up to 2 dm. long; the pods
are 8 to 12 cm. long and constricted between the scarlet seeds. By some this plant is con-
sidered to be a form or variety of the herbaceous Erythrina herhacea Linnaeus, which ranges
further northward, from North Carolina to Florida and Texas; and it cannot, with certainty,
be regarded as a tree.
THE CALTROP FAMILY
ZYGOPHYLLACE^ Lindley
YGOPHYLLACE^ consists of about 20 genera including some 150
species of herbs, shrubs and trees, widely distributed in warm and
tropical regions. They have opposite stipulate pinnate leaves with
entire leaflets. Their flowers are regular, perfect and stalked, either
axillar)' or terminal, and soHtary or clustered; there are usually 5 sepals and 5
petals and twice as many stamens as there are petals, the stamens having ver-
satile anthers; the ovary is several-celled, with either one or several ovules in each
cavity; the united styles are terminal. The fruit, in our species, is nearly dry,
capsular, spHtting when ripe into two carpels or more.
The North American tree genera are: .
Filaments not appendaged; leaflets broad. i. Guaiaciim.
Filaments appendaged; leaflets narrow. 2. Porliera.
LIGNUM VITiE
GENUS GUAIACUM [PLUMIER] LINNiEUS
Species Guaiacum sanctum Linnseus
HE genus Guaiacum contains several species of trees and shrubs, with
evergreen leaves, widely distributed in the American tropics. G. sanc-
tum inhabits southern Florida, growing on several of the Keys, and
occurs throughout the Bahamas, in Porto Rico, Haiti, Cuba, and Yu-
catan. The generic name is Carib; Guaiacum officinale Linnaeus is the type.
The tree attains a maximum height of about 10 meters, with a short trunk
up to I meter in diameter; on the Bahamas it sometimes blossoms as a mere shrub.
The thin bark is Hght gray, separating on the surface into thin scales; the branches
are irregular, spreading or somewhat drooping, isolated trees being nearly round
in outhne, or even broader than high. The young twigs and leaves are slightly
hairy, but soon become smooth; the branchlets are much thickened at the nodes,
light gray and somewhat ridged. The leaves are petioled and have 3 or 4 pairs
(occasionally only 2 pairs) of leather)^ oblong or obovate leaflets, which are blunt
or minutely tipped, sessile or nearly so, finely veined, with veins radiating from
the base, 3 cm. long or less, dark green on both sides. The beautiful flowers are
borne at the ends of twigs, their slender hairy peduncles minutely bracted at the
base, and appear from February to April; the hairy sepals are shorter than the
564
/
Northern Porliera
56s
blue petals; the slender filaments are
not appendagcd. The fruit is an obo-
void rather fleshy capsule, strongly
five-angled, 17 mm. long or less, short-
stalked in the persistent base of the ca-
lyx, bright orange when ripe; it con-
tains black clHptic seeds provided with
a scarlet aril.
The dense resinous wood is heavier
than water, its specific gravity being
about I.I 5; in color it varies from light
yellow to greenish, the heartwood being
much darker than the sapwood; it is
sometimes called Ironwood.
The wood, on account of the resin,
is used medicinally as a diaphoretic
and alterative, like that of its more
Fig. 521. — Lignum Vitse.
southern relative G. officinale, the resin of which, however, is preferred.
NORTHERN PORLIERA
GENUS PORLIERA RUIZ AND PAVON
Species Porliera angustifolia (Engelmann) A. Gray
Giiaiacum angustifoliitm Engelmann
ORLIERA contains several species of shrubs and trees, distributed
from the Sonoran region to Chile; they differ from Guaiacums in
having filaments which are appendaged by
a scale, and their leaflets are narrow. The
generic name commemorates Porher de Baxamar, a
Spanish patron of Botany. The type species is the
South American Porliera hygrometra Ruiz and Pavon.
Porliera angustifolia inhabits plains or prairies in
Texas and northern Mexico. While usually a shrub, it
sometimes becomes a tree up to 7 meters in height,
with a trunk up to 2.5 dm, thick, its branches spread-
ing or straggling. The leaves have from 4 to 6 pairs
of linear coriaceous leaflets, and are short-stalked
and smooth; the leaflets are 1.5 cm. long or less, 2 to
3 mm. wide, distinctly netted- veined, minutely tipped, Uf^ . — v^'
somewhat obUque at the sessile base. The flowers are t/^
borne at the ends of short branches and are i to 2 cm. Fig. 522. — Northern Porliera.
broad; the concave round sepals are about 5 mm. long, half as long as the ellip-
566 Northern Porliera
tic lilac-purple petals; the filaments are pink and the anthers bright yellow; the
ovary is finely hairy. The fruit is from 2-lobed to 4-lobed.
The wood is hard, compact, the heart wood dark brown, the sapwood yellow;
it is heavier than water, the specific gravity being about i.io. It has medical
properties similar to Guaiacum wood, but less active.
THE RUE FAMILY
RUTACE.E Jussieu
'LTHOUGH the typical genus of this family, Ruta, is composed of
herbaceous plants, the Garden rue {Ruta graveolens Linnaeus) bein»
its most famihar species, there are over loo genera with probably
looo species of trees and shrubs included in it, especially occurring
in tropical regions; many of these are armed with prickles. The leaves are
usually pinnately compound, the leaflets always dotted with pellucid oil-glands,
readily seen by the aid of a hand-lens. The small regular and usually perfect
flowers are in variously clustered cymes; there are from 3 to 5 imbricated sepals,
as many petals as there are sepals, and usually as many stamens, though some-
times more; the pistil has from 2 to 5 separate or united carpels. The fruit is
various in the different genera.
Aside from the Citrus fruits, the family yields Httle of economic value except
a few drugs, most important of which are Jaborandi or Pilocarpus, the leaflets of
Pilocarpus micro phyllus Stapf, and of P. J ahorandil^oXvaQs, both of Brazil; Buchu,
the leaves of several species of Barosma from southern Africa; Angustura or
Cusparia bark, of the South American tree Cusparia Angustura (A. Richard)
Lyons, and the bark and fruits of the Prickly ashes. Bengal quince or Bael fruit,
Mgle Marmelos (Linnaeus) Correa is cultivated in India for its edible fruit, the
rind of which is also medicinal.
The North American genera containing trees are :
Fruit dry, a capsule or a samara.
Fruit a dehiscent capsule.
Fruit an indehiscent samara.
Fruit separating into 3 or 4 carpels, which are winged on the back;
filaments glabrous.
Fruit winged all around; filaments hairy.
Fruit pulpy, a drupe or berry.
Fruit a small drupe; stamens 8.
Fruit a large berry; stamens 20 to 60.
I. Xanthoxylum.
2. Helietta.
3. Ptelea.
4. Amyris.
5. Citrus
567
568
The Prickly Ashes
I. THE PRICKLY ASHES
GENUS XANTHOXYLUM LINN^US
ANTHOXYLUM (Greek, Yellow wood) includes not fewer than
140 species, all woody plants and many of them trees, widely dis-
tributed in tropical regions, a few in the temperate zones; the type is
Xanthoxylum Clava-H erculis Linnaeus. Their foliage is aromatic and
the bark is usually armed with spines supported on conic cushions of cork. The
leaves are alternate and pinnately compound in all our species. The flower-clus-
ters are either terminal or axillary and the flowers perfect or usually imperfect;
they have 4 or 5 sepals, petals and stamens, and the pistil is composed of from i to
4 carpels, more or less united, which ripen into capsules each containing one seed.
Flower-clusters small, dense, axillary.
Flower-clusters large, terminal.
Leaves unequally pinnate, dull.
Not prickly; leaves persistent.
Very prickly; leaves deciduous.
Leaves equally pinnate, shining.
I. X. Fa gar a.
2. X. flavum.
3. X. Clava-H erculis.
4. X. coriaceum.
I. WILD LIME — Xanthoxylum Fagara
(Linnaeus) Sargent
Schiniis Fagara Linnaeus. Fagara Fagara
Small
Usually a shrub, the Wild lime, occa-
sionally forms a tree about 10 meters high.
It grows plentifully in southern Florida,
along the Gulf coast in Texas, is very
abundant throughout the Bahamas and oc-
curs also through the West Indies to Cen-
tral and South America, being one of the
most widely distributed of tropical woody
plants.
The bark is gray and thin and bears
corky projections 2.5 cm. high or less; the
branches are usually plentifully armed with
hooked prickles, making passage through
thickets usually impossible without cutting one's way, though the plant is occa-
sionally nearly or quite unarmed; the twigs are smooth, gray-brown, often some-
what zigzag. The evergreen leaves are unequally pinnate, 6 to 10 cm. long, with
from 5 to II sessile leaflets, the axis winged between the leaflets, and the leaf-
stalk, which is from 6 to 12 mm. long, also winged or margined; the leafllets are
Fig. 523. — Wild Lime.
Yellow Wood
569
obovate, thick, firm in texture, i to 2.5 cm. long, notched or rounded at the apex,
narrowed or wedge-shaped at the base, bluntly few-toothed or sometimes entire-
margined. The small yellowish green flowers are in usually numerous short axil-
lary cymes, and open in Florida from March to June, the slaminate on one tree,
the pistillate on another; there are 4 small sepals, 4 ovate petals, 4 stamens rather
longer than the petals in the staminate flowers, while the pistillate flowers have 2
pistils with slender styles united above, but no stamens. The fruit is an obovoid
roughish capsule about 3 mm. long, containing a round black shining seed.
The wood of the Wild Hme is ver}- hard and compact, reddish brown, with a
specific gravity of about 0.74.
The Northern prickly ash, Xanthoxylum americanum, Miller, occurring along river banks
and in woods from Quebec and Ontario to Georgia and from Minnesota to Nebraska and
Missouri, is an aromatic prickly shrub sometimes assuming the form of a tree, rarely 7 meters
tall, with a stem up to 2 dm. thick; it resembles the foregoing species in general appearance,
its flowers and fruits being in small axillary clusters, but the leaves are larger and deciduous
while the flowers are without calyx. This plant furnishes most of the Prickly ash berries of
the drug trade, but very little of the bark; its wood is coarse-grained, soft and light brown,
with a specific gravity is about 0.56.
2. YELLOW WOOD— Xanthoxylum flavum Vahl
Xanthoxylum flondanum Nuttall. Fagara flava (\\^hl) Krug and Urban
Xanthoxylum caribaum S. Watson, not Lamarck
The Satinwood, as it is also called, is an unarmed, evergreen, round-topped
tree or shrub of the Florida Keys, Bermuda and the Bahamas, southward to
Jamaica and Martinique. It attains a
maximum height of about 10 meters,
with a trunk up to 4.5 dm. thick, but is
usually much smaller.
The bark is about 6 mm. thick, hght
gray, shallowly fissured, separating into
short, close, scales. The twigs are stout
but very brittle, densely silky hain,- at
first, gradually becoming smooth or nearly
so and bearing large rounded leaf scars;
the winter buds are about 12 mm. long,
taper-pointed and hair}-. The leaves are
unequally pinnate, i to 2 dm. long, in-
cluding the round stout glandular petiole;
the 5 to II leaflets are oblong or ovate,
3.5 to 7 cm. long, short-stalked, blunt or pointed at the apex, nearly entire or
slightly scalloped on the margin, unequal at the base; they are covered with stellate
Fig. 524. — Yellow Wood.
57^
The Prickly Ashes
Fig. 525. — Yellow Wood, Inagua, Bahamas.
hairs when young, becoming thick, leathery and smooth, dull yellowish green, with
numerous large glands. The dioecious flowers, which appear in Florida during
June, in Bermuda in September, are in panicles of small cymes, the pedicels and
bracts whitish-hairy; calyx about i mm. broad, its sepals triangular-ovate; petals
5, oblong or oblong-ovate, 2.5 mm. long, greenish-white, recurved and thickened;
stamens longer than the petals; ovary glandular- punctate. The fruit is an ovoid
capsule 6 mm. long, also glandular-punctate, containing a single seed which is
about 4 mm. long, black and shining.
The wood is very hard but weak and brittle, fine-grained, orange-yellow and
susceptible of a fine polish; its specific gravity is about 0.90; it is largely used for
furniture, and for tool handles.
3. SOUTHERN PRICKLY ASH — Xanthoxylum ClavaHerculis Linnaeus
Xanthoxyliim carolinianum Lamarck. Fcif;ara Clava-Herciilis Small
This very spiny tree or shrub occurs most abundantly near the coast from
Virginia to Florida, extending westward into Texas, and north to xA.rkansas, attain-
ing a height of 17 meters, with a trunk diameter up to 5 dm. It is also known
as Toothache tree, Pepperwood and Hercules' club.
The trunk is rather stout, the branches numerous and outspreading, forming
a round head. The bark is about 2 mm, thick, hght gray with numerous broad
Doctor's Club
51^
The twigs arc
and corky based conic prickles often over 5 cm. in diameter,
brown-hairy at first, becoming smooth,
gray, and bear stout, sharp, brown
broad -based prickles about 2 cm.
long. The winter buds are short and
blunt, dark brown. The leaves are de-
ciduous, unequally pinnate, 2 to 3 dm.
long, including the stout, often prickly
stalk; leaflets 7 to 19, rarely as few
as 3, ovate to lanceolate, 3 to 7 cm.
long, short-stalked or sessile, taper-
pointed, shallowly toothed, abruptly
narrowed at the base, the lateral ones
unequal and sometimes curved; they
are bright green and shining above,
paler and sometimes slightly hairy be-
neath. The flowers, appearing in the
spring, are dioecious, in cymose pani-
cles I to 2 dm. long, their calyx about
I mm. long; petals 3 mm, long, con-
cave, thickened and blunt at the apex ;
stamens longer than the petals, their
filaments smooth. The fruit is in dense clusters, the capsules obliquely globose-
obovoid, 5 to 6 mm. in diameter, rough, minutely tipped and brown; seed black,
shining.
The wood is rather soft, close-grained and hght brown; its specific gravity is
about 0.50. The bark, together with that of the Northern prickly ash, Xanthoxy-
lum americanum Miller, is official in the United States Pharmacopoeia under the
name of Xanthoxylum, but most of that found in commerce is obtained from
this southern species.
Fig. 526. — Southern Prickly Ash.
4. DOCTOR'S CLUB — Xanthoxylum coriaceum A. Richard
Tobinia emarginata Grisebach. Fagara coriacea Krug and Urban
Also called Hercules' Club, this is a spiny shrub or small tree growing in south-
em peninsular Florida and the adjacent Keys, the Bahamas and many other
islands of the West Indies. It reaches a maximum height of about 7 meters, but
is usually much smaller.
The trunk is usually fluted at the base, and like the branches, is usually
armed with broad corky-based spines. The bark is very thin and close, brownish
gray with lighter blotches. The twigs are quite smooth and dark brown. The
leaves are also smooth, equally pinnate, i to 2 dm. long, including the smooth or
rarely prickly stalk with a shghtly enlarged base; the 4 to 12 leaflets are in oppo-
Sl'^
Baretta
site pairs, thick and leathery, obovate to wedge-shaped or oblong, 3.5 to 6 cm.
long, rounded or notched at the apex,
more or less revolute on the entire mar-
gin, tapering at the base into a short stout
stalk, prominently reticulated on both
surfaces, bright green and shining above,
paler beneath. The flowers are in
cor}^mb-Uke cymes, their stout pedicels
sometimes sUghtly hairy; the small calyx
consists of 3 broad blunt sepals each
about 0.5 mm, long; petals also 3, yel-
lowish, oval or oblong, 2 to 3 mm. long;
stamens 3, their anthers shorter than the
filaments. The OA'oid capsules are 4 to 5
mm. long, rough-glandular and brown;
Fig. 527. — Doctor's Club.
seed black, shining and punctate.
The wood is hard, close-grained, grayish yellow and heavy.
II. BARETTA
GENUS HELIETTA TULASNE
Species Helietta parviflora Bentham
SMOOTH evergreen shrub occurring on the bluffs about Rio Grande,
Texas, and southward into Mexico, where it becomes a tree 8 meters
high, with a trunk
diameter of 1.5 dm.
It is perhaps never more than a
shrub in Texas.
The trunk is erect and slen-
der, its branches also erect, or
nearly so. The bark is 3 mm.
thick, dark brown, scaly, the
inner bark yellowish. The twigs
are round, shghtly hairy, becom-
ing smooth, brown, the small
leaf scars roundish. The leaves
are opposite, trifoholate, the 3
leaflets sessile on the grooved
leaf-stalk; the leaflets are leath-
ery, spatulate to obovate or ob-
long, I to 4 cm. long, blunt or notched at the apex, tapering to the sessile base,
usually entire, the terminal one usually largest ; they are yellowish green and shin-
FiG. 528. — Baretta.
/
The Hop Trees 573
ing above, paler beneath and abundantly black glandular-punctate. The perfect
flowers appear in April or May in finely hairy panicled cymes 2 to 5 cm. long,
axillary to the upper leaves. The calyx consists of 4 ovate, sharp-pointed sepals,
united at the base; the 4 petals are white, thick, oblong, 2.5 mm. long, blunt and
slightly crisped and spreading; stamens 4, shorter than the petals, their filaments
flattened and smooth; disk, ovary and style glandular-punctate, the 4-lobed ovary
depressed-ovoid. The samaras are in clusters of 3 or 4, oblong, 6 to 8 mm. long,
their wings ovate, rounded, 6 to 12 mm. long and netted-veined.
The w^ood is hard, close-grained, orange to brown; its specific gravity is about
0.88; it is used for fuel.
The genus consists of about 4 species, all American, occurring from Texas to
Paraguay, the type being H. PlcBana Tulasne of Colombia. The name is in
commemoration of Dr. Louis Theodore HeHe, a French physician.
III. THE HOP TREES
GENUS PTELEA LINNAEUS
HIS wholly American genus, occurring from Canada to southern
Mexico, contains about 12 distinct species of shrubs or low trees of
no special economic value, though many more have been described.
They have alternate, rarely opposite, 3- to 5-foliolate leaves with-
out stipules. The polygamous flowers are greenish or yellowish on slender pedi-
cels, in terminal often compound cymes. The calyx is deeply divided into 3 to
5 lobes; petals 3 to 5, imbricated, longer than the calyx, spreading and deciduous;
stamens equal to the petals in number and alternate with them, their anthers
ovate, sometimes cordate, introrse, 2-celled and opening longitudinally; in the fer-
tile flowers, however, the stamens are shorter, with imperfect anthers; ovary 2- or
3-celled; style very short; stigma 2-or3-lobed; ovules 2 in each cavity, one above
the other, the upper one only becoming fertiHzed. Fruit a 2-celled, 2-seeded sa-
mara, orbicular or nearly so, with a broad reticulated wing; seed with a smooth
or slightly wrinkled leathery coating, and fleshy endosperm.
The generic name is the ancient Greek name of the Ash, which the fruit was
thought to resemble; Ptelea trifoliala is the type species.
Two of the species occurring in our area become arborescent.
Leaflets lo to 15 cm. long, usually acuminate; fruit about 25 mm. across;
eastern. i. p. trijoliata.
Leaflets 2.5 to 7.5 cm. long, usually blunt at the apex; fruit 18 mm. across;
Californian. 2. P. crenulala.
574
The Hop Trees
I. THREE-LEAVED HOP-TREE — Ptelea trifoUata Linnaeus
Occurring from Ontario to Florida, jNIinnesota, Kansas and Texas as a well-
known shrub under various names, such as Shrubby trefoil, Whahoo, Quinine
tree. Sang tree. Hop ash, Stinking ash,
Water ash, Wafer ash, and Wing seed,
this rarely becomes a tree 7.5 meters
tall, with a trunk diameter of 2 dm.
It has a rather disagreeable odor.
The trunk is slender, the branches
spreading, forming a round top. The
bark is about 3 mm. thick, smooth or
nearly so and dark gray. The twigs
are slender, finely hairy when young,
soon becoming smooth, shining, dark
brown and marked by prominent leaf
scars. The winter buds are ver}^ small,
nearly round and whitish. The leaves
are 3-foliolate with a petiole 6 to 7.5
cm. long; leaflets sessile, ovate or elHp-
tic-oblong, I to 1.5 dm. long, usually
taper-pointed, rounded or narrowed at
the base, mostly entire on the margin,
Fig. 529. — Three-leaved Hop Tree.
the terminal one largest and more gradually tapering toward the base; they are
hairy when unfolding, smooth at maturity and dark green and somewhat shining
above, paler, smooth or hair}' and prominently veined beneath. The flowers ap-
pear from March to June, according to latitude, the sterile and fertile flowers
borne in the same clusters, their pedicels slender, very hairy or nearly smooth;
petals ovate-oblong, 3 to 5 mm. long; ovary slightly hairy. The fruit is about
2.5 cm. in diameter, rounded or notched at the base, hanging on the slender pedi-
cels and persisting well into the winter.
The wood is hard, close-grained, yellowish brown and satiny; its specific gravity
is about 0.83. The bark of the root is sparingly used as a bitter tonic and the
ripe fruit is said to be used as a substitute for hops. The plant is often seen in
cultivation, where its bright foHage and buff-colored fruits add pleasing variety to
the shrubbery.
2. CALIFORNIA HOP TREE — Ptelea crenulata Greene
A small Cahfomian tree of the coast mountains and the western foothills of
the Sierra Nevada, attaining a height of 7.5 meters though usually much smaller
and often a shrub. Its odor is quite agreeably aromatic.
The round twigs are hair}', becoming smooth and dark brown. The winter-
The Torchwoods
575
buds are small, and white hairy.
The leaflets are sessile, elliptic
to obovate, 2.5 to 7.5 cm. long,
usually blunt, sometimes sharp-
pointed, rounded or broadly
wedge-shaped at the base and
margined with small round teeth,
bright green and smooth above,
paler and somewhat hairy be-
neath; the slender leaf-stalk is
from 2 to 4 cm. long. The
flowers which appear from
April to June, are small, green-
ish, the petals 2 or 3 times as
long as the calyx, about 6 mm.
long, the filaments hairy at the
base. The fruit is about 18 mm.
Fig. 530. — California Hop Tree.
in diameter, almost circular; the wing rounded or notched, rarely somewhat heart-
shaped at the base.
IV. THE TORCHWOODS
GENUS AMYRIS LINN.EUS
]MYRIS comprises about 15 species of unarmed trees or shrubs of tropi-
cal America. They abound in fragrant resinous substances, and
have been used as aromatics and stimulants.
They have either alternate or opposite, usually compound leaves
which are conspicuously glandular-punctate. The flowers are perfect or polyga-
mous, white, and borne in terminal or axillary panicles. The calyx is umshaped
and 4-lobed ; the 4 petals are imbricated ; stamens 8,. inserted on the disk, their
filaments exserted; anthers ovate, introrse and opening lengthwise; ovary i-celled,
rudimentary or sterile in the staminate flowers; style terminal, short arnone; stigma
capitate; ovules 2, suspended from the top of the cavity. The fruit is an aro-
matic, ovoid or obovoid drupe with a papery stone which is one-seeded; seed pen-
dulous, without endosperm; the embryo is small.
The name is Greek in allusion to their aromatic or balsamic properties; the
type species is A. elemijera. In addition to the arborescent species a shrub, Amyris
parvijolia A. Gray, occurs on our Mexican border.
Leaflets shining beneath; ovarj' smooth; fruit globose.
Leaflets dull beneath; ovary hairy; fruit obovoid to oval-elliptic.
1. A. ekmijcra.
2. A. balsamijcra.
Sl^
The Torchwoods
I. TORCHWOOD — Amyris elemifera Linnaeus
Amyris maritima Jacquin
This is a slender evergreen tree or shrub of sandy and rocky soil in southern
peninsular Florida and the Keys, the Bahamas and most of the other West
Indies. It attains a maximum height of about 17 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 3 dm.
The bark is thin, slightly fissured and broken into small grayish scales. The
twigs are slender, round, brown, becoming gray. The winter buds are flattened,
sharp-pointed, about 3
mm. long. The leaves
are 3- to 5-foholate, on
slender stalks 2.5 to 4
cm. long, slightly thick-
ened toward the base;
the leaflets are broadly
ovate, blunt, sharp or
taper-pointed, wedge-
shaped or rounded at
the base, entire or re-
motely round -toothed
on the margin. They
Fig. 531. — Torchwood. ^^^e thick, dark green
and shining on either side, prominently veined and black glandular-dotted be-
neath, 2.5 to 8 cm. long, the terminal leaflet often longer than the lateral ones.
The flower clusters are smooth, terminal, pedunculate or nearly sessile; they ap-
pear throughout the year, but are most abundant in August and September. The
fruit is globose, about 10 mm. long; the fleshy outer covering is black and cov-
ered with a glaucous bloom ; when fully ripe it is of an aromatic, oily and rather
agreeable flavor.
Torchwood is hard, close-grained, very resinous, orange-colored; its specific
gravity is about 1.04. It is very durable, takes a fine pohsh, but in Florida it is
used only for fuel. The branches are used for torches in the West Indies.
2. BALSAM TORCHWOOD— Amyris balsamifera Linnaeus
A small tree or shrub of sandy or rocky soils of southern Florida, the West
Indies and South America, attaining a height of 7 meters, with a trunk diameter
of about 2 dm. It is sometimes called Rosewood and Candle-wood.
The twigs are slightly hairy, slender and dark gray, the leaves 3- to 5-foliolate
on slender petioles; the leaflets are ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 5 to 13 cm. long,
taper-pointed, narrowed or rounded at the base, entire or crenulate on the mar-
Citrus Fruits
577
gin, each on a short stalk, thick and
leathery, bright green, smooth and
shining above, dull green and con-
spicuously veined and black glan-
dular dotted beneath. The flowers
appear throughout the year in pani-
cles 3 to 8 cm, long, on short
slightly hairy pedicels; the obovate
or oval petals are 3 to 3.5 mm.
long; the ovoid or eUipsoid ovary
is hairy. The fruit is obovoid to
eUiptic-oval, 6 to 13 mm. long,
tapering below into a short neck,
black with a bluish bloom when
fully ripe, and aromatic.
The wood is similar to that of
the preceding species, and its
branches are also used for torches.
Fig. 532. — Balsam Torchwood.
V. CITRUS FRUITS
GENUS CITRUS LINN.EUS
ITRUS consists of about 30 species of usually thorny evergreen trees
or shrubs of Asiatic origin, many of which are cultivated throughout
the tropics for their dehcious acidulous fruits and have become
abundantly naturahzed in many warm countries. Their economic im-
portance Ues in their valuable fruits. The volatile oil contained in the abundant
small oil-glands, especially in the rind of the fruit, is largely used for flavoring,
and the more acid fruits are a source of that most important of vegetable acids,
citric acid. The wood of the orange tree is used to some extent in fancy cabinet
work and for canes.
Several of the lesser known fruits of this genus have become popular with us.
Foremost among these is the Grape fruit, a form of Citrus decumana Linnaeus, also
commonly known as Pomelo; this species is a native of the Malay region and is a
large tree noteworthy for its immense grape-hke clusters of large, nearly globular,
hght yellow fruits often i dm. or more in diameter, the flesh of which has a pe-
cuHarly blended taste of bitter, sweet and acid, making it a most heaUhful break-
fast food. The Mandarine, a depressed-globose fruit of the size of a small orange
with a deep orange-colored or almost red, very smooth, thin rind and a sweet
pleasantly acid pulp, is the product of a small tree native of Cochin China, Citrus
nohilis Louricro. The small, berry-like, Hght yellow fruits, 12 to 18 mm. long,
known as Kumquats and noted for their spicy sweet acid taste, are quite rare in
578 Citrus Fruits
our markets but are eagerly sought for by those who know them; they are pro-
duced by a small Japanese tree, Citrus madurensis (Rumpf) Louriero. All these
fruits are being successfully grown in Cahfomia, Florida, and the West Indies.
The Trifoliolate orange, Citrus trijoliata Linnaeus, native of Japan, is noted for its
hardiness, thriving as far north as southern New York; it is a popular hedge plant
southward ; its small fruits are pleasing to look upon, but worthless as food on
account of their bitter pungent taste; expert horticulturists, however, are working
with it in the hope of securing hybrids with the more useful species which will
prove both hardy and edible. Oil of Bergamot is the volatile oil of the rind of the
fruit of C. Bergamia Risso and Poiteau.
Citrus trees have alternate, persistent, leathery, usually unifoholately compound
leaves, the blade falling away from the petiole or rachis, which is often winged.
The flowers are perfect and regular, very fragrant, solitary or in few-flowered
clusters in the axils of the leaves; calyx cup-Hke, 4- or 5-toothed; petals 5, rarely
4 to 8, usually white, and deciduous; stamens 20, rarely as many as 60, inserted
around the annular or cup-like disk, their filaments dilated at the base and often
united into clusters; anthers versatile; ovary superior, several-celled; ovules several
in each cavity; styles united, deciduous. The fruit is a variously shaped large or
small berry, with an acidulous juicy pulp and a tough leathery rind which contains
numerous glands filled with pleasantly aromatic volatile oil; seeds several in each
cell, reduced in number or often wanting in the cultivated varieties, with a pale yel-
low papery coating and large fleshy cotyledons; there is no endosperm.
The name is the Greek name of the Citron which is the type of the genus.
The following species have become naturalized or frequently appear spon-
taneously in the warmer portions of our area :
Leaf-stalk margined or winged.
Wings very broad. i. C. vulgaris.
Wings very narrow or mere margins.
Leaflet entire; fruit with a sweet pulp and an easily separable rind. 2. C. Aurantium.
Leaflet toothed; fruit with a very acid pulp and an inseparable rind. 3. C. Limonum.
Leaf-stalk usually without margins or wings.
Berry small with a thin rind. 4. C. spinosissima.
Berry large with a thick fleshy rind. 5. C. medica.
I. BITTER ORANGE — Citrus vulgaris Risso
Also called Sour orange, and Bigarade orange, this is a small tree with a com-
pact head, reaching a maximum height of 9 meters, with a trunk up to 4 dm. thick.
The twigs are light green and smooth, the thorns small, alternate and sharp-
pointed, larger and stronger on older branches. The leaf -blades are borne on very
broad-winged petioles 12 to 18 mm. long. The blades are ovate, 7.5 to 10 cm.
long, sharp- pointed, entire on the margin, dark green, shining and very aromatic.
The flowers are about 3 cm. broad, in axillar}^ cymes. Calyx cup-shaped, the 4
or 5 lobes blunt-pointed ; petals hnear-oblong, white, containing numerous conspicu-
Sweet Orange
579
ous oil-glands; stamens 20 to 25, their filaments united into several groups; ovary
6- to 14-celled. The fruit is globose, its
rind quite reddish, slightly rough with a
great profusion of oil-glands, the whitish
internal portion spongy and very bitter;
flesh acid and bitter; seeds rather small,
flattened and somewhat cone-shaped, lon-
gitudinally ridged.
The Bitter orange is a native of south-
eastern Asia. The fruits of some sorts
are eaten, and made into preserves. The
juice is used, as is that of the Lemon, to
form a refreshing drink called orangeade.
The dried rind is largely used in medicine
for its bitter tonic properties and to im-
part its flavor to preparations of other
drugs; the dried young fruit, under the
Fig. 533. — Bitter Orange.
name of Orange berries, is similarly used.
The volatile oil obtained from the flowers
is a popular flavor and basis for perfume; it is known as oil of neroli, while the
volatile oil, preferably obtained by mechanical methods from the rind of this
fruit, is considered superior to that similarly derived from the Sweet orange.
The seedlings of this species are a favorite stock upon which to graft the im-
proved varieties of other Citrus fruits.
2. SWEET ORANGE — Citrus Aurantium Linnaeus
This, one of the most popular of all
fruits, is widely cultivated in all tropical
countries and has become spontaneous in
peninsular Florida and in other (}ulf States
and perhaps in California; it is the largest
of our species, often attaining a height of
12 meters.
The branches form a compact, broad
head, and bear but few thorns. The bark
is thin, rather smooth and grayish brown.
The leaves have narrow-margined leaf-
stalks about 2.5 cm. long; their blades are
oval to ovate-oblong, 7.5 to 10 cm. long,
sharp-pointed, rounded at the base, usually
entire on the margin, dark green and shin-
FiG. 534. — Sweet Orange. ing above, paler beneath. The flowers are
:>
8o
Citrus Fruits
Fig. 535. — Lemon, Montscrrat, West Indies.
in clusters of i to 5, rather smaller than those of the preceding species; their
calyx is cup-shaped with 4 to 6 persistent, awl-shaped, thick, green lobes; petals
usually 5, oblong, 12 to 18 mm. long, thick, fleshy and recurved; stamens 20 to
25, included, their filaments flattened and united into several groups; ovar}^
rounded, 10- to 14-celled; stigma capitate. The fruit is globose or shghtly de-
pressed; rind smooth, orange colored and easily separable from the juicy, sweet,
subacid pulp; seeds few or many, in some cultivated varieties entirely wanting,
oblong-ovoid, usually flattened, pointed at one end and oblic}uely ridged.
The Sweet orange is probably a native of southeastern China. The wood is
quite hard, close-grained and light yellow.
Lime
581
Lemon.
3. LEMON — Citrus Limonum Risso
In Florida the lemon was growing wild long before any attempt had been made
toward its cultivation by American settlers, and it was probably introduced dur-
ing the early Spanish occupation. It is a small tree up to 6 meters tall.
The branches are somewhat spreading, short and thorny, forming a rather
open head. The bark is thin, rather
smooth and grayish. The twigs are
smooth, purpHsh at first, becoming
yellowish gray. The leaf-blades are
borne on narrowly margined petioles;
they are light green, ovate-oval, 5 to
7 cm. long, sharp-pointed, rounded at
the base, toothed on the margin. The
flowers are soHtary or in pairs in the
axils of the leaves, on short peduncles ;
the persistent calyx is 4- or 5-lobed;
the corolla is 4 to 5 cm. across, pur-
pHsh outside, white within; the ob-
long petals are rounded at the apex
and spreading; stamens about 35, their ^^^- 536-
filaments more or less united into small groups; ovary 7- to lo-celled. The fruit,
ripening at all seasons, is oblong or ovoid, usually about 7.5 cm. long, pointed at
each end; its rind is Hght yellow, quite thin, very aromatic, varying from nearly
smooth to very rough or mamillated, and adherent to the abundant, white, very
juicy, acid pulp; seeds oval, pointed and quite smooth.
The Lemon is probably a native of Cochin China and is widely cultivated in
tropical countries. In the United States,
where its consumption for lemonade is
enormous, it is cultivated in California and
in Florida, but the bulk of the supply still
comes from the Mediterranean region.
4. LIME — Citrus spinosissima Meyer
A small straggling tree or shrub attain-
ing a maximum height of 6 meters; it has
become sparingly naturahzed in peninsular
Florida, where it is being cultivated to
some extent.
The tmnk is usually very short. The
branches are crooked, numerous and ver\^
thorny; the thorns are small, but sharp, the twigs light green, becoming darker
Fig. 537. — Lime.
5^2
Citrus Fruits
with age. The leaves, which usually have wingless petioles, are dark green and
shining, elHptic-oval, often bluntish at each end, wavy or slightly toothed on the
margin. The flowers are in axillary clusters of 3 to 10, the calyx 4- or 5-toothed;
corolla white throughout; the 4 or 5 petals are oblong and rather fleshy; stamens
about 25, small, their filaments united into several groups; ovary short, about 10-
celled. The fruit is usually short-oval, about 4 cm in diameter, the rind light
yellow, rather thin, often roughened; flesh greenish, very juicy and acid.
The Lime is a native of India and southeastern Asia, but has been cultivated
in tropical countries for a long period, the fruit being of much importance as the
basis of cooling acidulous drinks.
5. CITRON — Citrus medica Linnaeus
The Citron is sparingly cultivated and occasionally spontaneous in peninsular
Florida. It is usually a shrub, rarely becoming a small tree 4 meters tall.
The trunk is short; the branches are thick, irregular, rather straggling and very
thorny, the bark thin and Hght
gray. The twigs are stiff, smooth
and purpHsh at first. The leaves
have wingless petioles, are oval-ob-
long, I to 1.5 dm. long, sharp-
pointed, toothed or usually entire,
dark dull green above, paler be-
neath. The flowers are rather
large in compact axillary clusters
of 3 to 10, often imperfect; calyx
cup-shaped; corolla tinged with
purple outside, white within, the
petals oblong, their apex incurved ;
stamens about 40, included; ovary
9-to i2-celled. The fruit is oblong,
1.5 to 2 dm. long, blunt at the
apex; rind very thick, roughened
and light yellow externally, white
Fig. 538. — Citron.
and fleshy inside, the pulp very juicy, acid and bitterish or sweetish; seeds oval,
nearly white and smooth.
The Citron, which is the most tender of the species grown in America, is
probably a native of eastern China and has been in cultivation for a very long time.
It is used almost exclusively as candied rind, very httle of which is produced
in either Florida or Cahfomia; most of our supply is secured, by importation
from Italy, of the rind preserved in salt solution, from which it is freed and then
candied in this country.
THE QUASSIA FAMILY
FAMILY SIMAROUBACEiE de Candolle
HE Quassia Family consists of nearly 30 genera, including about 150
species of trees and shrubs, together with a few herbaceous plants,
widely distributed in warm and tropical regions of both the Old
World and the New, a few only inhabiting the temperate zones.
They have a bitter sap, which is usually milky, and most of them have pinnate
leaves without stipules. Their flowers are mostly dioecious or polygamous, small,
regular and in axillary or terminal clusters. The calyx is 3-lobed to 5-lobed, or
of 3 to 5 persistent sepals; the disk of the flower is well developed, usually ring-
like or cup-hke; there are from 3 to 5 deciduous petals and as many or twice as
many stamens in the staminate flowers with separate filaments and introrse an-
thers; the pistillate flowers have 2 to 5 pistils which are more or less united, their
ovaries sometimes completely united; each cavity or separate ovary usually con-
tains one pendulous ovule; there are also commonly several abortive filaments
or staminodes in the pistillate flowers. The fruit is a drupe, berr}', capsule or
samara in the different genera.
The bitter principle pervading most members of this family has caused the
bark or wood of many of the species to be employed as tonic and febrifuge reme-
dies; the most generally used is Quassia, the wood of Picraena excelsa (Swartz)
Planchon, of Jamaica, and that of Quassia amara Linnaeus, of Guiana. It is
usually found in the shops as chips; drinking cups turned out of the wood exhibit
its persistent bitterness, water placed in them for a few moments becoming in-
tensely bitter, forming a very convenient way to secure its tonic properties, which
they continue to supply for a considerable time. An infusion of the chips, sweet-
ened with sugar is used to poison flies.
The North American trees of this family are species of the following genera ;
all have pinnately compound leaves.
Fruit a drupe or berry.
Ovary deeply lobed; fruit drupaceous. i- Simarouha.
Ovary not lobed, 2-celled to 5-celled; fruit a berr}^ 2. Picramnia.
Fruit a samara or w^inged capsule.
Petals 5 or 6; fruit a samara; introduced Asiatic tree. 3- Ailanthus.
Petals none; fruit a hairy, winged capsule; native tree of southern Florida. 4. Alvaradoa.
583
5^4
Gumbo Limbo
I. GUMBO LIMBO
GENUS SIMAROUBA AUBLET
Species Simarouba medicinalis Endlicher
IMAROUBA (the name aboriginal for the type species, 5. amara Aublet
in Guiana) includes some lo species of resinous evergreen trees with
alternate odd-pinnate leaves, natives of tropical and subtropical
America. Their small flowers are numerous in large panicles, the
pistillate ones succeeded by small drupes.
Gumbo Limbo, known also as Bitter-wood, Paradise tree, and on the Bahama
islands as Ash, inhabits southern Florida,
the Bahamas and Jamaica, and probably
occurs also on Cuba; it has been confused,
however, with the similar Cuban Simarouha
glauca de Candolle. It attains a maximum
height of about 17 meters, with a trunk up
to 5 dm. in diameter.
The bark is thick, reddish brown and
somewhat scaly; the young twigs are green
and smooth, turning reddish brown. The
leaves are 3 dm. long or less, composed of
about 13 leaflets or fewer, the leaf- axis
slender and round, the leaf- stalk long; the
leaflets are oblong to oblong-obovate, leath-
ery in texture, 4 to 8 cm. long, blunt or
bluntly pointed, entire-margined, veiy
bright green and strongly shining on the
upper side, pale and dull beneath, smooth
or with some minute hairs, the two surfaces
contrasting very strongly in color and luster. The panicles of flowers are often as
long as the leaves, the flowers borne 2 to 6 together or singly along the branches on
very short stalks; the flowers are about 10 mm. broad when expanded and have 5
very short ovate sepals and 5 ovate to oblong- lanceolate yellowish petals; the
staminate ones have 10 stamens, each with a toothed scale at the base of the fila-
ment; the pistillate ones have a deeply 5-lobed ovary with 5 recurved styles, which
ripens into 5 or fewer red or purple oval drupes about 2 cm. long.
The bark yields a bitter tonic. The wood is soft, brownish, and of little value;
its specific gravity is about 0.40.
Fig. 539. — Gumbo Limbo.
Bitter Bush
585
The alternate leaves are i to
II. BITTER BUSH
GENUS PICRAMNIA SWARTZ
Species Picramnia pentandra Swartz
WEST INDIAN shrub or small tree which enters our area in southern
peninsular Florida and some of the Keys, where it occurs in sandy
soils and reaches a maximum height of 6 meters, with a trunk diam-
eter of 1.5 dm. It is abundant on the Bahama islands and in Porto
Rico and other West Indian islands.
The twigs are slender, slightly hairy and gray.
3 dm. long, unevenly pinnate, consisting of 5 to
9 leaflets and a round leaf-stalk 4 to 6 cm. long;
the leaflets are elHptic or oblong-elHptic, rarely
ovate, 5 to 10 cm. long, taper-pointed, tapering
or rounded at the base, entire on the thickened
margin, thin and firm, dark green and shining
above, paler and smooth beneath, the venation
yellowish and conspicuous on either side. The
flowers are dioecious, greenish and small, in rather
loose, few-flowered, slightly hairy panicles oppo-
site the leaves; the calyx is usually 5-lobed and
the lobes imbricated, those of the pistillate flowers
narrowly triangular-ovate and sharp-pointed, the
disk flat and lobed ; the corolla of the staminate
flowe
is is
to 5 mm. wide, the petals narrow;
Fig. 540. — Bitter Bush.
stamens usually 5, inserted opposite the petals
and beneath the disk; in the pistillate flowers
they are reduced to Hnear scales; the ovar)^ is
sessile, 2-celled; styles partially united; stigmas 2
or 3, recurved; ovules 2, pendulous. The fruit is an oblong berr\^, i to 1.5 cm.
long, reddish, becoming dark blue or black and shining.
The genus is tropical American, comprising about 30 species of trees or shrubs
with a ver>' bitter principle in their bark, wood and twigs, to which the Greek
generic name has reference. The type species is Picramnia Antidesma Swartz,
of the West Indies and Central America.
586
Tree of Heaven
Fig. 541. — Tree of Heaven, New York Botanical Garden.
Tree of Heaven
587
III. TREE OF HEAVEN
GENUS AILANTHUS DESFONTAINES
Species Ailanthus glandulosa Desfontaines
EVEN species of Ailanthus are known, all natives of eastern Asia; they
are trees with odd-pinnate leaves and large panicles of small greenish-
white flowers, the pistillate ones followed by drooping clusters of nar-
row samaras. The generic name is modified from an Asiatic name
of this tree.
Ailanthus glandulosa, which is the generic type, is a native of China, known
also as Chinese sumac, but has become
so perfectly established in parts of the
northeastern United States and Ontario
as to appear like an element of the natu-
ral flora, growing not only along roads
and near habitations, but often in woods
and wild thickets, spreading freely both
by suckers and seeds. It sometimes be-
comes 30 meters high, with a trunk up
to a meter in diameter.
The bark is thin, gray, slightly
roughened, that of young branches and
shoots quite smooth. The leaves are
from 3 to ID dm. long, stalked, smooth,
with 13 to 41 short-stalked pointed leaf-
lets, which are ovate to ovate-lanceolate,
entire-margined or with i to 4 blunt
teeth near the heart-shaped or truncate
base, thin in texture and wilting at once
after the leaf is picked. The individual
flowers are only about 6 mm. broad, but
exceedingly numerous; the calyx is 5-lobed, the petals 5, valvate, spreading, the
disk lo-lobed, and the unpleasantly scented staminate ones have 10 stamens; the
ovary in the pistillate ones is deeply 2-lobed to 5-lobed. The samaras are linear,
veiny, twisted, about 5 cm. long, thin, bearing the seed at about the middle.
The free growth by suckers makes this a weed-tree, often verj' difficult to eradi-
cate, coming up year after year even when ruthlessly cut down, and growing 2 or 3
Fig. 542. — Tree of Heaven.
meters high in a season.
The wood is nearly white, soft and weak.
588
Alvaradoa
IV. ALVARADOA
GENUS ALVARADOA LIEBMANN
Species Alvaradoa amorphoides Llebmann
]LVARADOA consists of four species, natives of the West Indies, and
Mexico, one of them occurring in southern Florida. They have
alternate pinnate leaves with numerous small alternate leaflets readily
detachable from the leaf-axis when dry. The small regular dioecious
flowers are in racemes or spikes. The name is in honor of Pedro de Alvarado, a
Mexican explorer and conqueror, who assisted Cortes in the conquest of Mexico.
In Alvaradoa amorphoides, the twigs and racemes are finely velvety. The
leaves are 2 dm. long or less, in-
cluding the slender stalk, and
usually have 25 to 35 leaflets,
which are short-stalked, thin,
obovate to oblong, 2 to 3 cm.
long, 7 to 10 mm. wide, finely
hairy on both sides, or the upper
surface smooth when old, dark
green above, pale or whitish
beneath, the apex rounded or
pointed, the base narrowed.
The slender racemes of flowers
are borne at the ends of branches,
those of staminate flowers some-
times 4 dm. long, those of pistil-
late flowers shorter; the calyx is
about 1.5 mm. long, velvety,
deeply 5-lobed, its lobes ovate,
acutish; there are no petals; the
staminate flowers have 5 sta-
FiG. 543- - Alvaradoa. ^^^^ ^-^j^ fihform filaments
several times longer than the calyx, and a 5-lobcd disk; the pistillate flowers have
a similar calyx, and a flattened ovary with 2 or 3 recurved styles; the ovary is 2-
celled or 3-celled, the 2 ovules being borne in one of the cavities, the other cavity
empty. The capsules are lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, flat, finely hairy and
hairy-fringed, 8 to 18 mm. long, 3 to 4 mm. wide, tipped by the persistent styles.
The tree was discovered in southern Florida by P. H. Rolfs and N. L. Britton in
1904, in hammocks southwest of Cutler, and has since been observed by J. K. Small
in the same region, attaining a height of 6 meters, with a trunk up to i dm. thick.
It is widely distributed in the Bahamas, in Cuba and in southern Mexico, growing
more commonly as a shrub than as a tree and is the type of the genus.
BAY CEDAR FAMILY
SURIANACE^ Lindley
Genus Suriana Linnaeus
Species Suriana maritima Linnaeus
HE Bay cedar, Suriana marittjna Linnaeus, a typical maritime plant
of sea-beaches and coastal rocks, occurs in southern Florida, through-
out the West Indies, in northern South America and on islands of
the Pacific Ocean. It is named in honor of Jos. Donat Surian, a
French artist, and is a monotype, no other species of Suriana being known, and it
has no close relatives. While usually
a mere shrub, 2 meters high or less,
it occasionally forms a tree up to 8
meters high, with a single trunk 3 dm.
in diameter as observed by J. K. Small
on Elliott's Key, Florida.
The bark is brown, rough and ir-
regularly fissured, rather thin, separat-
ing finally in thin plates. Its rather
thick but flaccid leaves are linear-
spatulate, 1.5 to 4 cm. long, finely
appressed-silky, entire-margined, al-
ternate, densely set on the twigs, their
veins very inconspicuous. The perfect
and regular flowers are in small clus-
ters almost concealed by the upper
leaves; there are 5 ovate pointed se-
pals 6 to 8 mm. long, 5 imbricated
clawed yellow petals about as long as the sepals, 10 stamens, those opposite the
sepals shorter than those opposite the petals, and 5 hair)' pistils, each with a
one-celled ovary containing 2 ascending ovules, a fiUform style and a knob-like
stigma. The pistils ripen into hairy achene-Hke fruits about 4.5 mm. long; the
embryo of the seed is horseshoe-shaped.
The wood is too meager to be of use for structural purjjoses, but is vcr)- hard
and dense and makes good fuel; it is reddish brown in color and very heav}-.
Fig. 544. — Bay Cedar.
589
THE TORCHWOOD FAMILY
BURSERACEyE Kunth
URSERACEiE consist of about 20 genera, embracing some 200 species
of resinous tropical trees, with alternate odd-pinnate leaves, not
punctate with pellucid dots. The flowers are small, regular, per-
fect or dioecious, borne in panicles or racemes. The calyx is com-
posed of from 3 to 6 persistent sepals and the corolla of the same number of
separate or sometimes slightly united petals; there is a cup-Hke or ring-Hke disk,
and the stamens are usually twice as many as the petals, and have separate sub-
ulate filaments; the ovary is superior, 2-celled to 5-celled, with 2 pendulous
ovules in each cavity, the stigma 2-lobed to 5-lobed. The fruit is rather fleshy
and drupe-Uke, but usually spUts into valves when quite ripe, exposing the seed.
There is only one species of tree of this family in our area. The aromatic
gummy sap found in practically all of the plants of the family is usually mani-
fested by an exudation on the surface of the bark and twigs, especially when
wounded, and this has been largely employed in medicine and the arts. Besides the
several kinds that are of general economic importance a great many are known
and used only in the locaHties where they are native. The most important and
best known is myrrh, the product of Commiphora Myrrha (Nees) Engler, and
perhaps several other closely related species, from northeastern Africa; it is a gum-
resin and is used as a tonic and stimulant, usually in the form of tincture. The
so-called gum elemi, is from Canarnim commune Linnaeus of the Phihppine
Islands; olibanum or frankincense is obtained from Boswellia Carterii Bird well,
and probably other closely related species of the same genus also from northeastern
Africa. These and several less known commercial products are used principally
in the form of plasters.
WEST INDIAN BIRCH
GENUS TEREBINTHUS PATRICK BROWNE
Species Terebinthus Simaruba (Linnaeus) W. F. Wight
Pistacia Simaruba Linnaeus. Biirsera gummijera Jacquin. Bursera Simaruba Sargent
HE so-called West Indian Birch inhabits southern Florida and is widely
distributed throughout the West Indies, occurring also in Central
America and northern South America; it is also known as Gumbo
Limbo and erroneously as Gum Elemi. The tree attains a height of
20 meters, with a trunk up to i meter in diameter, but is usually much smaller;
590
West Indian Birch
591
its lower branches are nearly horizontal and sometimes ver}^ close to the ground.
It is the type of a genus which consists of
some 40 species of trees of tropical distribu-
tion.
The thick red-brown smooth and shin-
ing bark peels off freely in papery layers of
the thickness of those of the Yellow birch.
The twigs are stout, smooth, gray, becoming
red-brown. The smooth pinnate leaves are
clustered toward the ends of the branchlets,
are i to 2 dm. long, stalked, with from 3 to
7 leaflets, which van' in form from oval to
obovatc, and are opposite, entire-margined,
unequal-sided, firm in texture, short-pointed,
5 cm. long or less. The flowers are in lateral
stalked racemes 5 to 10 cm. long, the flower-
stalks 4 to 8 mm. long; the sepals, which
become reflexed, are ovate and about i mm. long; the greenish petals are ovate
to oblong-lanceolate, 2 to 2.5 mm. long. The fruits are oblong, bluntly 3-anglcd, 5
to 6 mm. long, and finally split into 3 valves which fall away from the white seed.
545. — West Indian Birch.
Fig. 546. — West Indian Birch, Inagua, Bahamas.
592
West Indian Birch
The wood is light brown, weak and soft and decays rapidly; its specific gravity
is only 0.30. The branches are much used for fenceposts in the West Indies,
and, when fresh, grow readily in such usage into trees, striking root easily. The
smooth red-brown bark makes this tree conspicuous in tropical landscapes, and
it is considerably planted for shade, being of rapid growth. The generic name
Terebinthus, referring to the resinous sap, given to this tree by Patrick Browne,
in 1756, antedates Biirsera Jacquin by six years; Browne estabhshed the genus
by a good description, and by a reference to the Linna?an name of the tree,
given in 1753. It is sometimes called Turpentine tree in the West Indies.
THE MAHOGANY FAMILY
MELIACE^ Ventenat
ELIACEiE are almost wholly tropical in distribution. They are mostly
composed of trees and shrubs classified into about 50 genera with some
700 species. The leaves are alternate, pinnate, or pinnately com-
pound, without stipules, and not punctate with pellucid dots. The
flowers are regular, perfect, polygamous or dioecious, and borne in panicles; the
calyx is composed of from 3 to 6 sepals, the corolla of the same number of separate
or slightly united petals, and there are 8 or 10 stamens in the staminate and per-
fect flowers, their filaments united into a tube; in the pistillate flowers the ovary
is free from the calyx (superior), 3-celled to 5-celled, with from 2 to many ovules
in each cavity. The fruit is a drupe, capsule or berry in the different genera.
Next to Mahogany the most important economic member of this family is
the so-called Spanish cedar, also known as West Indian cedar and Cigar box
wood ; it is the West Indian and Central American tree Cedrela odorata Linnaeus.
The bark of this tree is also used medicinally in its native countries. The barks
of many other members of the family are used medicinally principally as cathar-
tics and anthelmintics, but Azedarach, the bark of the China tree, is the only one
usually found in the drug trade of Europe and America.
Two genera are represented in our flora:
Ovules 2 in each cavity of the ovan^; fruit a drupe; seeds wingless. i. Melia.
Ovules many in each cavity of the ovar}'; fruit a large woody capsule; seeds
winged. 2. Swietenia.
I. CHINA TREE
GENUS MELIA LINN^US
Species Melia Azedarach Linnaeus
^ELIA, of which this tree is the generic type (a Greek name of the Ash),
includes about 25 kinds of Asiatic trees, having compound leaves
and perfect, white or purple flowers in large axillar}' panicles. The
5 or 6 sepals are imbricated; the disk of the flower is ring-like; the
petals are separate, twisted and narrow; the tube of stamens is nearly cylindric,
expanded and lo-lobed or 12-lobed at the top, bearing 10 or 12 anthers; each
lobe of this stamen-tube is 2-cleft or 3-clcft ; the ovar)' is 3-cellcd to 6-cellcd and
the stigma 3-lobed to 6-lobed. The fruits are numerous small drupes.
The China tree, or Pride of India, native of India or China, has become thor-
593
594
Mahogany
oughly naturalized in the southern States from South Carolina to Texas, and it
withstands the winter as far north
as Chesapeake bay and Little Rock,
Arkansas. It attains a height of 15
to 20 meters, with a trunk sometimes
2 meters thick, and flowers in the
spring in the southern States.
The bark is furrowed, the twigs
smooth. The deciduous leaves are
stalked and twice compound, the
numerous leaflets ovate to clHptic,
thin, pointed, cut-toothed or lobed, 3
to 7 cm. long, and bright green; the
stalked panicles of flowers are 3 dm.
long or less, the flower-stalks 4 to 10
mm. long; the sepals are elHptic to
oblong-lanceolate, pointed, about 2
mm. long; the purpHsh petals are
Fig. 547. — China Tree. narrowly oblong, blunt, about i cm.
The drupes are yellow, nearly globular to oblong, 1.5 to 2 cm. in diameter,
smooth, enclosing a hard brown pit.
The pits are bored and strung Hke beads into necklaces, whence the name
Bead tree, sometimes applied to this species. The tree grows rapidly, and is
much planted for shade and ornament in the southern States and in the West
Indies. It has a broad round top and rather dense deciduous foliage.
long
II. MAHOGANY
GENUS SWIETENIA JACQUIN
Species Swietenia Mahagoni Jacquin
HIS important tropical tree enters our area in peninsular Florida and
the Keys, where it was formerly more abundant than now, as the large
trees have been cut down for their valuable timber. It occurs in the
Bahamas, and the other West Indies, but most abundantly on the
continent from Mexico to Peru; its maximum height is 25 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 4 m. It is sometimes called Madeira and Madeira redwood.
The trunk is straight and sometimes very large, with immense buttresses at its
base. The branches are large and spreading, forming a dense round head. The
bark is about 16 mm. thick, its surface breaking into thick, short, dark reddish
brown scales. The twigs are angular, smooth and reddish, soon becoming round
and gray. The alternate leaves are persistent, evenly pinnate, i to 2 dm. long,
consisting of 4 to 8 leaflets and a slender, smooth leaf-stalk which is enlarged at
Mahogany
595
the base. The leaflets are leathery, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 3 to 8 cm. long,
taper-pointed, very unequal-sided, entire on the margin; they are shining dark
green and smooth above, paler and smooth or with some brownish hairs beneath.
The flowers, appearing in early summer in Florida, are perfect, in axillary open
panicles 6 to 15 cm. long. The calyx is small, cup-shaped, its 5 teeth broadly
rounded, about i mm. long; the disk is annular; the corolla is white, 8 to 9 mm.
across, the petals spreading, oblong to obovate and blunt or notched ; the stamens
are united into a smooth tube with 10 teeth above, the 10 anthers attached on the
back at the sinusus and opening lengthwise; the ovary is ovoid, 5-celled; style
erect; stigma disk-hke and 5-rayed; ovules many in each cell. The fruit is a
5-celled capsule splitting from the base into 5 thick valves, the 5-winged axis
Fig. 548. — Mahogany.
persistent; it is ovoid, 6 to 12 cm. long, brown and rough; the flat seeds are 18
mm. long, the broad thin wing ovate, blunt, thick, wrinkled and brown.
The wood is very hard and strong, close-grained, red, darkening with age; its
specific gravity is about 0.73. It is very durable and of the highest value in cabi-
net work and interior finishing and is cultivated in the East Indies for its valuable
timber.
The genus is a small tropical one of probably not over 3 species, 2 American
and I African. The name is in commemoration of Gerard von Swieten (1700-
1772), a noted physician and botanist of Leyden and Vienna. Our tree is the type
of the genus.
THE SPURGE FAMILY
EUPHORBIACE.E J. St. Hilaire
HIS family includes about 210 genera containing some 4000 species
of trees, shrubs and herbs with acrid, often milky juice, natives of all
parts of the globe. Thty vary greatly, from the most humble herb
of the cooler regions to large thick cactus-hke plants, and the noble
trees of the tropics. Some are of great economic importance, especially the South
American Hevea hrasiliensis J. Mueller, and other species of Hevea, the milky
juice of which yields the valuable Para rubber. Another South American plant
of great importance is the Cassava, Manihot Manihot (Linnaeus) Lyons, now cul-
tivated in all warm countries for the starch contained in the large roots. The seeds
of many of the plants of this family yield fixed oils, most of which are more or
less irritant and consequently purgative when taken internally; best known of
these are Castor oil, expressed from the ripe seeds of Ricinus communis Linnaeus,
cultivated for this purpose in warm countries, also that most powerful oil of a simi-
lar nature, Croton oil, from Croton Tiglium Linnaeus, native of the East Indies, and
Purging nut oil from the seeds of Jatropha Curcas Linnasus of the West Indies.
Cascarilla, an aromatic medicinal bark, is produced by the Bahamian shrub Cro-
ton eluteria (Linnaeus) Swartz; the poisonous Gum euphorbia is also produced by
members of this family. Among ornamental plants the brilliant foliage of vari-
ous species of Acalypha and of CodicBum, the latter under the name of Crotons,
is well known. The Cactus-like Euphorbias of the Old World are favorite hedge
plants in the tropics on account of their spiny armament and the acrid, irritating
milky juice that exudes from their stems when broken. The thorny Euphorbia
splendens Linnaeus, known as Christ's thorn, is noted for its brilliant scarlet bracts
as well as for its grotesque form. Poinsettia pulcherrima (Willdenow) Graham, is
a well-known conservator^^ plant, with very large vivid scarlet bracts.
The Euphorbiacece have very various leaves; they may be alternate, opposite,
verticillate, or in the Cactus-like species are often entirely wanting or reduced to
scales; they often have glands at their base; stipules present or wanting. The
flowers are monoecious or dioecious, regular. The calyx is of several sepals; the
petals equal in number to the sepals, sometimes much reduced, or often entirely
wanting, the flowers frequently subtended by an involucre of petal-like bracts;
stamens few or many in one or more series, their filaments distinct or united;
ovary usually 3-celled; ovules i or 2 in each cell, pendulous; styles as many as
the cells of the ovary, simple, divided or many-cleft. The fruit is mostly a 3-lobed
capsule frequently separating with great force on ripening into 3 2-valved carpels,
596
Guiana Plum
597
often leaving a permanent axis; seed anatropous; embtyo straight in fleshy or oily
endosperm; cotyledons broad.
The genera containing our arborescent species are:
Ovules and seeds 2 in each cell; fruit a fleshy drupe; flowers in small clusters, i. Drypetes.
Ovule and seed solitary in each cell; flowers, at least the staminate, spicate.
Styles 2 or 3; ovary 2- or 3-celled; fruit capsular, 2- or 3-lobed.
Pistillate flowers and capsules stalked; American tree. 2. Gymnanthes.
Pistillate flowers and capsules not stalked; introduced trees. 3. Sapium.
Styles 6 to 8; ovary 6- to 8-celled; fruit pulpy. 4. Hippomane.
I. THE DRYPETES
GENUS DRYPETES VAHL
RYPETES consists of about 10 species of evergreen trees or shrubs
of tropical America, 2 of which occur in our area. They have a thick,
milky juice, but are of no known economic value except for their
wood.
They have persistent, alternate, leathery leaves; the stipules are small and fall
off very early. The flowers are dioecious, without petals; the staminate flowers
are in dense axillary clusters, their calyx consisting of 4 to 8 imbricated nearly
separate sepals, deciduous or persistent in fruit; the stamens as many or twice
as many as the divisions of the calyx, inserted under the edge of a disk, their fila-
ments thread-like, distinct; anthers extrorse, erect, ovate, 2-celled and opening
lengthwise; ovary sometimes rudimentary, usually none. The pistillate flowers are
in sparse axillary clusters on short, sometimes stout pedicels with deciduous
bracts at their base; calyx similar to that of the staminate flowers; the ovary is
sessile on the disk, i- or 2-celled; style very short or wanting; stigma i or sometimes
2, disk-like or 2-Iobed; ovules 2 in each cell. The fruit is drupaceous with a fleshy
pulp and a hard stone; the seed has a crustaceous coat, fleshy endosperm and
erect embryo.
The name is Greek and refers to the drupaceous fruit ; the type species is Dry-
pete glauca Vahl, of Porto Rico and other West Indian islands. Our arborescent
species are:
Sepals 4; ovary 2-celIed; fruit subglobose, 8 to 10 mm. long. i. D. lateriflora.
Sepals 5; ovary i-celled; fruit slightly elongated, 2 to 2.5 cm. long. 2. D. diversijolia.
I. GUIANA PLUM — Drypetes lateriflora (Swartz) Urban
SchaeJJeria lateriflora Swartz. Drypetes crocea Poiteau
A small evergreen tree or shrub inhabiting woods in southern peninsular
Florida, the Keys and the West Indies, attaining a height of 10 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 2.5 dm. It is also called Whitewood.
598
The Drypetes
The trunk is short, its branches ascending or erect, the tree becoming round
topped. The bark is about 1.5 mm.
thick, close, hght reddish brown,
smooth or somewhat scaly. The
twigs are round, slender, light green
becoming gray. The leaves are
somewhat leathery, oblong or elliptic,
5 to 12 cm. long, sharp or short taper-
pointed at both ends, entire on the
margin, slightly hairy when young,
becoming smooth, shining and dark
green above, paler and prominently
reticulated beneath; the leaf-stalk is
slender, grooved, 5 to 10 mm. long.
The flowers appear late in the au-
tumn or during the winter in the
axils of the leaves or at leafless
Fig. 549. - Guiana Plum. ^^^^^ ^j^^ ^^jy^ -^ greenish, hairy,
deeply 4-lobed, the blunt lobes oblong or ovate, 1.5 to 2 mm. long. The stami-
nate flowers have 4 stamens, their filaments slender; anthers notched and hairy;
there is no ovary. The pistillate flowers have an ovoid, hair}^, 2-celled ovary.
The drupes are soHtary or 2 or 3 together on short stout stalks, subglobose, 8
mm. in diameter, dark brown and hairy; the flesh is thin and dry; seed obovoid,
swollen on one side, 3 mm. long.
The wood is hard, brittle, close-grained, dark red-brown with thick yellow
sapwood; its specific gravity is about 0.92. It has no special apphcation.
LARGER GUIANA PLUM - Drypetes
diversifolia Urban
Drypetes keyensis Urban. Drypetes glauca Nuttall,
not Vahl
This is a taller evergreen tree, or often a
shrub, of sandy or rocky soils of the Florida Keys
and the Bahamas; it sometimes attains a height
of 15 meters, with a trunk diameter of 5 dm.
The branches are stout, usually erect or as-
cending, or the lower spreading, forming a
round-topped tree. The white bark is about 12
mm. thick. The twigs are stout, green and
slightly hairy, becoming gray or white, with large
leaf scars. The leaves are thick and leathery, ^ig. 550. - Larger Guiana Plum.
oblong, elliptic or oval, 5 to 10 cm. long, blunt or pointed, thickened on the mar-
Crabwood
599
gin, dark green and shining, with the midrib prominent above, pale, glaucous
and reticulated beneath; leaf-stalk short, grooved above, yellowish. The flowers
appear in early spring in the axils of the leaves of the previous season. The
staminate are in many-flowered clusters, on pedicels shorter than the leaf-stalk:
calyx yellowish, lobed, oblong or oval, blunt and smooth; stamens 8, filaments
unequal; anthers nearly as broad as long, hairy. The pistillate flowers are usually
sohtary, the ovary hairy, i-celled; stigma broad, almost sessile. The fruit is an
oblong or ovoid drupe 2 to 2.5 cm. long, bright white, very conspicuous among
the dark green leaves; flesh thick and pulpy, stone obovoid, much narrowed at the
base; the seed is oblong, rounded at each end, 10 mm. long, hght brown and
marked by conspicuous radiating veins.
The wood is hard, weak, brittle, dense, and brown; its specific gravity is about
0,93. Leaves of seedlings and of shoots from cut stumps are coarsely toothed
with bristle-tipped teeth. It is called Whitewood in the Bahamas.
II. CRABWOOD
GENUS GYMNANTHES SWARTZ
Species Gymnanthes lucida Swartz
3LSO called Poison wood, this is a small milky-sapped evergreen tree or
shrub of peninsular Florida and the Keys, also in the Bahamas and
other West Indies generally; its maximum height is 10 meters, with
a trunk diameter of 2 dm.
The ridged trunk is slender, sometimes much enlarged at the base. The
branches are slender, erect
or ascending,
about I . s
The bark is
mm. thick.
smooth or somewhat scaly
and dark brown. The
twigs are slender, round,
light green, becoming gray.
The leaves are alternate,
thick, obovate to oblong-
spatulate or nearly oblong,
5 to 10 cm. long, blunt-
pointed, tapering at the
base, entire or wavy on the
margin, becoming dark
green, smooth and shining
above, pale, dull and
prominently veined be-
FiG. 551. — Crabwood.
neath; the petiole is shghtly grooved, 5 to 20 mm. long, the stipules small, falling
early. The small green flowers are monoecious, the staminate in slender axillary
6oo The Tallow Trees
scaly spikes 2 to 5 cm. long; calyx minute; stamens 2 or 3, their thread-like fila-
ments distinct; anthers erect, ovoid, 2-celled, opening lengthwise; the pistillate 1
flowers are at the bases of the spikes, solitary, or in clusters of 2 or 3, on slender
peduncles 12 to 15 mm. long, and consist of a rudimentary 3-Iobed perianth and a
3-celled angular ovary, with 3 recurved styles which are stigmatic on their inner
faces; ovules sohtary in each cell. The 3-lobed capsule is borne on a slender
stalk 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long; it is depressed-globose, about i cm. in diameter, dark
brown to black, the lobes rounded; it sphts into 3 parts with a hard, shining
inner surface leaving a white central axis; the seeds are globose to ovoid, 3 to 5
mm. thick, bright brown, with a flat, circular appendage.
The wood is hard, close-grained, and dark brown; its specific gravity is about
1.09. It takes a fine poKsh and is sometimes made into canes.
This genus comprises about 10 species, all tropical American trees or shrubs
of no especial economic value. The name is Greek, in reference to the very
simple flowers, Gymnanthes elliptica Swartz, of Jamaica being the type.
III. THE TALLOW TREES
SAPIUM PATRICK BROWNE
APIUM consists of about 25 species of milky-juiced trees or shrubs
of the tropical regions of both hemispheres. The West Indian Sapium
Aucuparium Jacquin, is the type species.
They have alternate or opposite, mostly leathery leaves, their
stipules falhng off early. The flowers are dioecious or rarely monoecious, with
but one series of the perianth present, in axillary, lateral or apparently terminal
spikes or racemes. Flowers without a disk, in long, slender spikes, the staminate
perianth 2- or rarely 3-parted, the lobes nearly equal; stamens 2 or 3, their fila-
ments distinct; anthers opening lengthwise. The pistillate flowers are below the
staminate, the perianth of 2 or 3 more or less united parts; ovary 2- or 3-celled;
styles 2 or 3, shghtly united at the base; ovules solitary in each cell. The
fruit is a 2- or 3-lobed capsule, the 2 or 3 cells each containing a single seed; the
seeds have a thick hard testa, coated with a wax-Hke substance.
The name is probably derived from the Celtic "sap," meaning fat, in refer-
ence to the waxy coating of the seed.
Two arborescent species have been introduced into our area:
Leaves rhombic; capsules 3-lobed; seed 8 to 9 mm. long; poplar-like tree. i. 5. sebiferum.
Leaves linear-oblong or narrowly oblong; capsules 2-lobed; seed 6 to 7 mm.
long; willow-like tree. 2. S. glandulosum.
South American Milk Tree
60 1
I. CHINESE TALLOW TREE — Sapium sebiferum (Linnaus) Roxburgh
Croton sebijerum LiniKi'us. Stillingia sebijera Michaux
This large poplar- like tree has been introduced into our area as a shade tree
from China or Japan, and has become naturalized from North Carolina to Florida
and Louisiana, where it reaches a maximum height of 15 meters.
The bark is about 10 mm. thick, rather smooth and reddish brown. The
twigs are slender, round, smooth
and marked by numerous leaf
scars, yellowish brown or gray.
The leaves are alternate, thin,
or membranous, rhombic, 4 to 8
cm. long, taper-pointed, broadly
wedge-shaped at the base, wavy
on the margin, dark green and
smooth above, paler beneath,
prominently veined on either sur-
face; the leaf-stalk is slender, with
a gland near the top, and as long
as or longer than the blade. The
flowers appear in the spring in
terminal, slender spikes 5 to 10
cm. long. The fruit is a 3-lobed
capsule, 1.5 cm, in diameter, de-
pressed-globose, abruptly pointed,
dark brown, the thick walls separating readily into cleft segments exposing the 3
large seeds which are 8 to 9 mm. long, coated with a white, waxy substance under
which is a dark brown, thick testa. They hang on by light threads for some time
after the opening of the capsule, when their waxy whiteness is in strong contrast
to the reddish autumnal foliage.
The wood is hard, close-grained, nearly white; its specific gravity is about
0.51; it is used in Asia for furniture, and it is said that the Chinese make their
wooden type or printing blocks from this wood. A brittle wax, used for candle
making in Asiatic countries is obtained from the seed coat.
Fig. 552. — Chinese Tallow Tree.
2. SOUTH AMERICAN MILK TREE
Morong
Sapium glandulosum (Linnaeus)
Hippomane glandulosa Linnaeus. Hippomane biglandulosa Linnaeus. Sapium biglan-
dulosum J. Mueller
This willow-Hke, South American tree or shrub has become naturahzed in
Florida, especially about Pensacola; its maximum height is about 13 meters.
The bark is about 8 mm. thick, fissured into small scales of an ashy gray color.
602
Manchineel
The twigs arc rather stout, smooth, yellowish or grayish brown and bear small
leaf scars. The leaves are alternate,
thick, leather}', linear-oblong or nar-
rowly oblong, 8 to 1 6 cm, long, pointed
at the apex, narrowly wedge-shaped at
the base, sharply but finely toothed on
the margin, bright green and smooth
above, paler and smooth beneath, the
whitish midrib prominent on both
sides; the leaf-stalk is rather stout,
channelled, about 3 cm. long, with two
yellowish glands at the base of the
leaf-blade. The flowers are quite
small, yellow, usually monoecious, in
terminal, interrupted spikes 5 to 9 cm.
long. The fruit is a 2-lobed grayish
brown capsule about i cm. in diame-
FiG. 553. — South American Milk Tree.
ter; the seeds are 6 to 7 mm. long.
compressed, ellipsoid, coated with a
reddish waxy substance, their testa dark brown and crustaceous.
The milky sap is very abundant and it is said to exude profusely when the
leaves are abraded by the wind, so as to spread all over the ground underneath
the tree.
IV. MANCHINEEL
GENUS HIPPOMANE LINN./EUS
Species Hippomane Mancinella Linnaeus
HIS evergreen tree of beaches and marshes of peninsular Florida, the
Keys and from the Bahamas to tropical America, is probably the
most poisonous member of our arborescent flora. In Florida it never
reaches its maximum height of 18 meters and a trunk diameter of 9
dm., but scarcely exceeds one fourth these dimensions.
The branches are spreading, or somewhat drooping, perfect trees being round-
topped. The bark is 12 to 25 mm. thick, closely" scaly, brown or gray. The twigs
are stout and pithy and marked by prominent leaf scars. The leaves are alternate,
thick and leathery, ovate or oval, 4 to 10 cm. long, sharp or short taper- pointed,
rounded or somewhat heart-shaped at the base, wavy or minutely toothed on the
margin, dark yellowish green, smooth and shining with a yellowish midrib above,
paler and dull with less prominent yellowish venation beneath; leaf-stalk slender,
yellowish, about the length of the blade and with 2 reddish glands at the top;
stipules early deciduous. The flowers are monoecious, yellowish green, opening
from February to April in spikes 4 to 8 cm. long with a stout rachis. The clus-
Manchineel 603
tered staminatc flowers occupy the upper portion of the spike and are subtended
by broad bracts; the perianth is small, membranous, 2- or 3-lobed; stamens 2 or
3, their filaments more or less united into a short column below, se])arate and
spreading above; anthers exserted, yellow, ovoid, extrorse, opening lengthwise.
The pistillate flowers are very smafl, few or solitary, in the axils of [hv l^racts be-
low the staminate flowers and consist of an ovoid, 3-parted perianth surrounding
the glandular, 6- to 8-celled ovary, which is contracted above into a short, cylin-
dric style, with 6 or 8 stigmatic lobes; ovules solitary in each cavitv. The fruit
is drupaceous, globose, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. in diameter, shghtly 6- to 8-lobed, yellow-
ish green or light yellow and shaded with red; flesh thin, pulpy and milky juiced;
Fig. 554. — Manchineel.
pit depressed, bony, 6- to 8-celled, with many thorn-hke projections on its thick
walls; seeds ovoid, flattened, dark brown.
The wood of the Manchineel is soft, close-grained, dark brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.53. It is said to be harder and heavier in the tropics, and to
be used there for cabinet work. The acrid milky juice is very poisonous and was
used by the Caribs to poison their arrows. The juice, and the smoke from the
burning wood is ver\' injurious to the eyes.
The genus is monotypic; its name is Greek, and was applied to this tree by
Linnaeus, but used by ancient authors for some wholly different plant, reputed to
excite horses.
THE SUMAC FAMILY
ANACARDIACE.E Lindley
HIS family consists of about 50 genera comprising some 500 species
of trees or shrubs and a few woody climbers, natives of temperate
and tropical regions, but most abundant in the latter. They are
noted for their acrid, resinous or milky juices which render them of
varied economic value, in medicine, in the art of tanning, and the manufacture
of varnishes, mastic, Japanese lacquer and other resins being products of members
of this family. Edible tropical fruits in great variety are also produced by these
plants, among the best known being the Mango and Spanish prune; Cashew nuts
are a dr}^ nut-like oily fruit remarkable for being surmounted on a large pear-
shaped fleshy peduncle which when fully ripe is juicy and also edible; the fruit is
roasted and eaten like peanuts. The Pepper tree of western South America, so
much planted in Cahfornia for ornament and shade, is Schinus molle Linnseus,
its numerous bright red aromatic fruits being a substitute for pepper. This plant
seems destined to become naturahzed on the Pacific coast.
The AnacardiacecB have alternate, simple or compound leaves without punctate
dots and without stipules. The inflorescence is spicate, racemose or paniculate,
with regular, rarely perfect, mostly polygamous flowers, their calyx of 3 to 7 slightly
united sepals; petals as many as and alternate with the sepals, imbricated or rarely
valvate; stamens as many or twice as many as there are petals, rarely otherwise,
inserted at the base of the disk, their filaments free; anthers introrse, usually ver-
satile; ovary in the staminate flowers i -celled, in the pistillate i -celled or some-
times 4- to 5 -celled, usually free; styles united or distinct, terminal or lateral;
stigmas entire; ovules soHtary. Seeds without endosperm; cotyledons fleshy.
Our genera are:
Leaves always compound.
Drupe broader than long.
Drupe densely hairy; stone smooth.
Drupe smooth; stone ribbed.
Drupe somewhat elongated, not flattened.
Leaves usually simple (occasionally 3-foliolate in No. 4).
Drupe flattened, hairy; stone roughened.
Drupe not flattened, smooth.
Drupe 4 mm. long; stone smooth; native southern tree or shrub.
Drupe 10 to 12.5 cm. long; stone covered with long, coarse fibers; intro-
duced tropical fruit tree.
1. Rhus.
2. Toxicodendron.
3. Mdopium.
4. Neostyphonia.
5. Cotinus.
6. Mangifera.
604
Dwarf Sumac 605
I. THE SUMACS
GENUS RHUS LINN/EUS
'BOUT 20 Sumacs are now known, natives of North America, Europe
and Asia. The type species is Rhus coriaria Linnaeus, of southern
Europe. Most of them are shrubs, but a few become small trees
under favorable conditions. They have alternate compound leaves
which turn red to crimson in autumn, either unequally pinnate with several or
numerous leaflets, or in some low shrubs of the genus the leaves are three-foholate,
and in one southwestern form there is but one leaflet. The flowers are small,
green or rarely white, borne in panicles at the ends of branches, and open long
after the leaves appear, or in some shrubs in spike-Hke clustered racemes and
open before the leaves unfold; they are dioecious or mainly so; there are usually
5 sepals, and as many petals and stamens; the stamens of the pistillate flowers
are very short and usually abortive, those of staminate flowers often as long as the
petals; the ovary in the pistillate flowers is ovoid, i-celled, and contains one
pendulous ovule; there are 3 styles, each with a knob-Hke stigma. The fruits
are small drupes covered with acid hairs, the stone smooth, not ribbed, bony.
The North American Sumacs which form trees may be distinguished as follows :
Rachis of the leaf wing-margined.
Leaflets ovate to oblong-lanceolate, acute. i. R. copallina.
Leaflets narrowly lanceolate, acuminate.
Leaflets falcate; Texan tree. 2. R. lanceolata.
Leaflets not falcate; southern tree. 3. R. leiicantha.
Rachis of the leaf not wing-margined.
Twigs densely velvety. 4. R. hirta.
Twigs smooth, or nearly so, usually glaucous. 5. R. glabra.
I. DWARF SUMAC — Rhus copallina Linnaeus
Schmaltzia copallina Small
While almost always a mere shrub seldom over 4 meters high, this species
occasionally becomes a tree 6 meters tall, with a trunk 1.5 dm. thick; it grows in
dr}^ soil, preferring hillsides, and ranges from Maine to Florida, Ontario, Minne-
sota, Nebraska and Texas. Its sap is water}% not milky.
The reddish brown bark is thick and scaly. The young twigs are finely vel-
vety, stout. The ver}' small buds are round and scarcely 2 mm. long. The
leaves are 3 dm. long or less, their stalks hairy and nearly round, the leaf-axis
between the 9 to 21 leaflets, wing- margined ; the leaflets are rather thick, stalkless
or very short-stalked, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, entire-margined or few-toothed
toward the apex, pointed, dark green and smooth on the upper side, paler and
usually finely hairy on the under, 2.5 to 7.5 cm. long. The flowers are in dense
6o6
The Sumacs
panicles 7 to i6 cm. long at the ends of
branches, the staminate on one plant, the
pistillate on another, and open from June
to August ; they are green and about 3 mm.
broad, the calyx much shorter than the
blunt reflexed petals; the hairy flower-stalks
are 2 to 4 mm. long. The fruits are some-
what flattened, about 4 mm. thick, densely
covered with crimson acid hairs; the smooth
stone is orange-brown.
The leaves are a source of tannin. The
wood is soft, Hght brown, with a specific
gravity of about 0.53.
2. TEXAN SUMAC
Rhus lanceolata (Asa Gray) Britton
Rhus copallina lanceolata Asa Gray
YiQ_ rrr_ Dwarf Sumac. Schmaltzia lanceolata Small
The Texan sumac has usually been regarded as a variety of the preceding
species, and was originally described as of this relationship, but it is confined to
Texas, in so far as its geographic distribution is known, and seems to have
marked differences from its widely distributed relative. It grows in dry soil,
especially on Hmestone, attaining
a maximum height of about 10
meters, with a trunk 2 dm. in di-
ameter, usually, however, much
smaller, and often a mere shrub.
The bark is Hght brown and
nearly smooth. The young twigs
arc quite densely velvety. The
leaf-stalk is velvety and the leaf-
axis winged between the 9 to 19
stalklcss or very short-stalked leaf-
lets, which are narrowly lanceo-
late, long- pointed, more or less
scythe-shaped, 7 cm. long or less. Fig. 556. - Texan Sumac.
and usually entire-margined; they are dark green on the upper surface and pale
green beneath. The tree flowers in July or August and its flowers closely resemble
those of R. copallina. The fruits are covered with short hairs and are described
as dull red or green ; they are borne on very short stalks.
The hght brown wood has a specific gravity of about 0.52.
Staghorn Sumac
607
3. SOUTHERN SUMAC —Rhus leucantha Jacquin
This little-known tree or shrub was well described and illustrated by Jacquin
in 1798, but this author did not know where it grew naturally, his description and
figure having been drawn from plants grown under glass in the garden at Schoen-
brunn, Vienna. It is now known to
inhabit extreme southern Florida
and Cat island near the mouth
of the Mississippi River, and prob-
ably occurs at intermediate points.
There is a similar tree or shrub in
the province of Pinar del Rio,
Cuba, but the specimen of this
plant that we have seen does not
enable us to decide whether it
represents the same species or not.
In the region south of Miami,
Florida, it is a tree reaching a
height of about 8 meters, with a
trunk about i dm. thick.
The bark of the Florida tree
is thin, bright red, smooth and
shining. The young shoots are finely haiiy. The axis of the leaves is winged
between the leaflets as in the Dwarf sumac and the Texan sumac; there are 17 to
31 leaflets, which are short-stalked or stalkless, lanceolate, unequal-sided, but not
scythe-shaped, 5 to 9 cm. long, long-pointed, narrowed at the base, dark green,
dull and smooth on the upper surface when mature, finely hairy on the under side.
The flowers are described as white. The fruit is similar to that of Rhus copallina
and similarly covered with red hairs.
Fig. 557. — Southern Sumac.
4. STAGHORN SUMAC — Rhus hirta (Linn^us) Sudworth
Datisca hirta Linnaeus. Rhus typhina Linnaeus. Schmaltzia hirta Small
Usually a large shrub, the Staghorn sumac or Hair}^ sumac sometimes becomes
a tree up to 13 meters high, with a trunk 3 to 4 dm. in thickness. It prefers dry
soil, commonly growing on hillsides, though sometimes near the borders of swamps,
and occurs from Nova Scotia to Georgia, westward to Ontario, South Dakota,
Missouri, and Mississippi; it is uncommon near the coast south of New York.
The sticky, milky sap turns dark in contact with the air.
The bark is dark brown, smooth, or, when old, somewhat scaly. The young
twigs are very stout, densely pink-velvety, becoming green and finally smooth
and brown after about four years' growth. The buds are yellowish hair)-, round,
6o8
The Sumacs
about 3 mm. long. The leaves are from 2 to 6 dm. long, with 11 to 31 leaflets
and a round hairy stalk and axis; the
leaflets are very short-stalked or stalk-
less, lanceolate to oblong- lanceolate, 7
to 12 cm. long, long- pointed, sharply
toothed, firm, dark green and nearly
smooth on the upper surface when fully
grown, pale and somewhat hairy, at least
on the veins, on the under side. The
tree flowers in June or early July; the
dense panicles of flowers are at the ends
of branches, 3 dm. long or less, those of
staminate flowers on one tree, the pistil-
late on another; the individual flowers
are green and about 3 mm. wide when
expanded; the calyx is hairy and its
lobes pointed; the petals of the stami-
nate flowers are reflexed, those of the
pistillate flowers erect or a Uttle spread-
ing. The bunches of fruit are about 2
dm. long, the little drupes nearly globu-
lar, densely covered with crimson hairs, the stone smooth and bony.
The wood is soft, orange-green, coarse-grained, with a specific gravity of about
0.44. The bark contains much tannin.
Fig. 558. — Staghorn Sumac.
5. SMOOTH SUMAC - Rhus glabra Linnaeus
Schmaltzia glabra Small
While usually a shrub, growing in colonies, this
species occasionally forms a tree 6 or 7 meters high,
with a trunk i dm. thick. It is very widely distribu-
ted in North America, ranging from Nova Scotia
to Ontario, Michigan and Minnesota, south to Flor-
ida, Mississippi, and Louisiana, preferring hillsides.
It is also known as Upland sumac and Scarlet sumac.
The thin bark is gray and nearly smooth. The
stout young shoots are smooth and often covered
with a bluish bloom. The buds are globose, 3 to
4 mm. long, and whitish-woolly. The leaves are
smooth, with a round wingless axis, and have 11
to 31 lanceolate or oblong- lanceolate leaflets, which
are 10 cm. long or less, stalkless or very short-
FiG. 559. — Smooth Sumar
Poison Sumacs
609
Fig. 560. — Smooth Sumac, Carnot, Pa.
stalked, long-pointed, sharply toothed, dark green on the upper side and whitish
on the under. The small green flowers are in dense panicles, and open from
June to August, according to latitude; the flower-stalks are sometimes a little
hairy. The fruit ripens late, and is covered with short reddish acid hairs. Some
fifteen supposed species to be included in this, have recently been described.
II. POISON SUMACS
GENUS TOXICODENDRON [TOURNEFORT] :MILLER
OISON sumacs include about 16 species of shrubs, vines, and trees,
natives of North America and Asia. They all have a poisonous saj:),
which excites painful inflammation to most people who come in contact
with it, a mere touch of a leaf or twig sufficing in many instances;
some people are apparently immune, however. The generic name is in allusion to
6io
Poison Sumacs
these poisonous qualities. The leaves of these plants are unequally pinnate or
3-foliolate, the leaflets either entire-margined, or variously toothed or lobed. The
small green flowers are in axillary or lateral clusters, usually panicles; they are
cither dioecious or polygamous; the 4 to 6 sepals are persistent at the base of the
fruit; there are 4 to 6 petals and usually as many stamens, those of the pistillate
flowers small and usually abortive; the ovary in the pistillate flowers is one-celled,
enclosing i pendulous ovule. The fruit is a drupe, with a thin smooth outer
coat, which early separates and falls away from the inner, which is waxy and
encloses a ribbed stone. The type species is Toxicodendron vulgare Miller, one
of the Poison Vines of eastern North America.
Only one of the several North xA.merican species forms a tree.
POISON SUMAC— Toxicodendron Vernix (Linnaeus) Shafer
Rhus Vernix Linna.'us. Rhus venenata de Candolle
This small tree inhabits swamps and occurs from southern Ontario and Ver-
mont to eastern Massachusetts and Florida, westward to Minnesota, Arkansas,
and Louisiana. It is also known as Poison elder. Poison ash, Poison oak, Swamp
dogwood, and Poison dogwood, and is
dangerously poisonous to the touch. It
sometimes attains a height of 8 meters,
with a trunk 1.5 dm. in diameter, but is
usually smaller, and often a mere shrub.
Some people are said to be affected by
coming close to the plant without act-
ually touching it.
The smooth bark is thin and hght
The young twigs are smooth.
gray.
brown or orange-brown. The buds are
pointed, purpHsh, the terminal ones 2
cm. long or less, their scales finely hair}\
The leaves are smooth, except when
quite young, when they are quite hairy;
when fully grown they are 1.5 to 4 dm.
long, their stalks round and slender, the
6 to 12 lateral leaflets stalkless or ver}'
short-stalked, ovate or rhombic, thin,
2.5 to 15 cm. long, pointed, green on
both sides and entire-margined ; the terminal leaflet is long-stalked. The axillaiy
panicles of flowers are 7 to 20 cm. long, the staminate ones on one tree, the pistil-
late on another; the numerous insignificant flowers are about 2 mm. broad, open-
ing in June or July; the usually 5 pointed lobes of the calyx arc much shorter
than the narrow petals, whose tips are sHghtly reflexed. The large panicles of
Fig. 561. — Poison Sumac.
Pois(3n\v()od
6ii
fruit remain on the tree through the winter; the fruits are grayish white or yellow-
ish, nearly globular or somewhat longer than thick, about 4 mm. in diameter,
shining, a Httle flattened; the stone is longitudinally grooved.
The wood is yellowish, light and soft, and of no economic value; its specific
gravity is about 0.44. The leaflets become orange to scarlet in the autumn, and
thus very conspicuous, causing much poisoning to people who gather autumn
leaves indiscriminately. The sap furnishes a varnish similar to that commercially
obtained from the Japanese Lacquer-tree, Toxicodendron vermcijenim (de Can-
doUe) Shafer, (Rhus vernicifera de Candolle), which closely resembles our plant.
Other local common names for this tree are Swamp sumac, Thunderwood, and
Poison wood.
III. POISONWOOD
GENUS METOPIUM PATRICK BROWNE
Species Metopium Metopium (Linnaeus) Small
Rhus Metopium Linnaeus
OISONWOOD, Bum-wood, or Hog-gum, is a monotype, no other
species of Metopium being known. It inhabits southern Florida, the
Bahamas, Porto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica, occurring also in Central
America. Its sap is dangerously poisonous to the touch, and some
people are said to be affected by mere
proximity to the plant; a purgative gum-
resin exudes from the bark. The tree
attains a height of 13 or 14 meters, with
a trunk sometimes 6 dm. thick; the
branches spread widely.
The bark is thin, splitting when old
into large scales; it is red-brown outside
and orange within. The young twigs are
stout, red-brown and smooth, the buds
pointed, their scales haiiy-f ringed. The
leaves, borne near the ends of twigs, are
alternate, smooth, firm in texture, un-
equally pinnate, 3 dm. long or less, with
from 3 to 7 stalked lea^flets, which are
ovate to nearly orbicular or obovate, 2.5
to ID cm. long, pointed, notched or blunt
at the apex, the base narrowed, truncate
or heart-shaped, the upper surface bright green and shining, the under side dull
green, the margin entire, sometimes slightly revolute; the stalks of the leaflets vary
from I to 3 cm. in length. The flowers arc small but very numerous, in loose,
upright axillaiT panicles as long as the leaves or longer; they open from Februar)'
Fig. ^62. — Poisonwood.
6l2
The California Mahogany
Fig. 563. — Poisonwood, Inagua, Bahamas.
to May, the staminate and pistillate on different trees; the stout flower-stalks are
from 2 to 4 mm. long; the calyx has 5 round blunt sepals, much shorter than the 5
ovate blunt petals, which are yellowish green; in the staminate flowers the 5 sta-
mens are somewhat shorter than the petals; the pistillate flowers have a globular
i-celled ovar}' with a short style and 3 short stigmas, the usually 5 stamens very
short and abortive. The fruits are oblong, orange-yellow shining drupes i to 1.5
cm. long, the stone thin-walled; the bunches of fruit are spreading or pendulous.
The wood is weak, dark brown, heavy, its specific gravity being about 0.80.
The tree is also locally known as Doctor- gum and Coral sumac.
IV. THE CALIFORNIA MAHOGANY
GENUS NEOSTYPHONIA SHAFER
Species Neostyphonia integrifolia (Nuttall) Shafer
Styphonia integrifolia Nuttall
S the name Styphonia (in reference to its astringent bark), given to this
tree by Nuttall in 1838, had already been applied to a genus of the
Mint family by Aledicus in 1791, Nuttall's name is invalid. The
genus includes about 5 species of trees and shrubs, natives of Cali-
fornia, Lower California, and Mexico. Their leaves are simple, or rarely 3-folio-
Smoke Tree
613
laic, coriaceous, and evergreen. The flowers are mainly dioecious, and borne in
dense bracted racemes arranged in panicles at the ends of branches, opening
very early in the spring. The fruit is densely hairy, enclosing a bony, smooth
stone.
The California mahogany, also called California sumac, the type of the genus,
occurs in southern California,
northern Lower California, and
on the adjacent islands of the
Pacific Ocean, growing in sandy
or rocky soil along and near the
coasts. It occasionally becomes
10 meters in height, with a trunk
about a meter in diameter, but
is usually much smaller, and
commonly a mere shrub, form-
ing thickets; its branches are
long and spreading. F^°- 564- - California Mahogany.
The bark is thin, reddish brown and scaly. The young twigs are finely velvety,
red-brown, becoming smooth or nearly so after about three years' growth. The
buds are round, small and hairy. The leaves are thick and leather)', entire-
margined or sometimes spiny-toothed, rarely divided into 3 leaflets, with the 2
lateral leaflets smaller than the terminal one; they are ovate to oval, finely hairy
when very young but smooth on both sides, except on the veins of the lower surface
when mature, 8 cm. long or less, thick-stalked, shining green on the upper side,
pale green beneath. The dense clustered racemes are i to 3 cm. long; the flower-
stalks are thick and very short, bearing 2 to 4 ovate pointed hair}'-f ringed bracts;
the small flowers are pink, the sepals nearly orbicular and the petals reflexed.
The ovoid fruit is i to 1.5 cm. long, flattened, densely covered with red hairs; it
is resinous and viscid-juicy.
The wood is hard, bright red, with a specific gravity of about 0.78, and furnishes
a valuable fuel.
V. SMOKE TREE
GENUS COTINUS ADANSON
Species Cotinus americanus Nuttall
Rhus cotinoides Nuttall. Cotinus cotinoides Britton
NLY 2 species of Cotinus are known, one inhabiting southern Europe
and warm-temperate Asia, commonly planted for ornament, the
other, long considered identical with it, being found wild in a few
places in the southern and south-central United States. The two
species are very much ahke; they both having simple leaves and large panicles
6i4
Smoke Tree
with small flowers, the panicles mostly composed, however, of capillary hairy
sterile flower-stalks, nearly of a smoke color, whence the popular name of the trees.
The American smoke tree, or Chittam-wood, occurs sparingly in rocky situa-
tions, preferring limestone, in Alabama, eastern Tennessee, Missouri, Kansas, the
Indian Territory, and western Texas. It
attains a maximum height of about 12
meters, with a trunk diameter up to 4 dm.
Its branches spread widely.
The thin bark is light gray, channelled
and scaly. The sap is resinous and un-
pleasantly odorous. The young twigs are
smooth, purplish, becoming green to
brown. The pointed buds are 3 or 4 mm.
long. The leaves are thin, oval to obo-
vate, 5 to 15 cm. long, their stalks 3 cm.
long or less; they are blunt or sometimes
notched at the apex, narrowed or some-
what wedge-shaped at the base, silky-
hairy on the under side when young, but
merely puberulent on the veins of the
under side when mature, dark green on
the upper side, paler green beneath, entire-
margined or a httle wavy. The flowers
are in large panicles at the ends of branches and open in April or May; most of
the panicle is made up of the sterile hairy flower-stalks, the flowers being few and
their stalks smooth ; the staminate and pistillate flowers are produced by different
trees; there are bracts i to 1.5 cm, long among the flowers, but these fall away
before the fruit is mature; the calyx has 5 lobes and there are 5 oblong petals;
the flower-stalks are slender, usually 2 to 4 of them together at several places in
the panicle. The fruits are obHquely oblong, smooth, about 4 mm. long, their
slender stalks 5 to 8 cm, long.
The wood is soft, orange-yellow, coarse-grained, durable, with a specific gravity
of about 0,64, and is locally used for fencing. The Old World smoke tree, Cotinus
Cotinus (Linnaeus) Sargent, the generic type, differs from our plant in its thicker,
more hairy leaves, which are rounded or blunt at the base.
Fig. 565. — Smoke Tree,
Mango
615
VI. MANGO
GENUS MANGIFERA LINN^US
Species Mangifera indica LinricTus
HIS tropical Asiatic evergreen tree is now cultivated in all tropical
countries for its fruit and has become naturalized in many places.
In Florida it has become established in hammocks on the peninsula
and on some of the Keys. It reaches a maximum height of about 21
meters, with a trunk diameter of 2.5 meters, often buttressed at the base.
The branches are numerous and outspreading, forming a dense round head.
The bark is rather rough and gray. The twigs are slender, smooth, and of a pur-
phsh red tinge. The persistent leaves are alternate, thick and leathery, oblong-
lanceolate to lanceolate, 15 to 25 cm. long, blunt,
sharp or taper- pointed, tapering at the base, en-
tire on the margin, dark green and shining, with
impressed venation above, scarcely paler, smooth
and prominently veined beneath, the leaf-stalk
grooved, thickened at the base and about 2.5 cm.,
long. The flowers are produced in large terminal
compound panicles, in great numbers; it is said
that 2100 individual flowers have been counted
in a single panicle; the flower stalks are densely
covered with yellow hairs. The calyx is 5-parted;
petals 5, rarely 4, inserted at the base of a 4- or
5-lobed disk; stamens 4 or 5, only i or 2 of which
bear anthers; ovar\^ i-celled with a single ascend-
ing ovule; style simple and curved. The fruit,
which is abundantly produced in pendulous clus-
ters, is a usually kidney-shaped drupe 10 to 12.5
cm. long, the skin smooth, hght green, yellow or reddish; the flesh is soft, juicy,
acidulous and aromatic; the large stone is covered with a coat of coarse fibers,
which extend into the flesh; the kernel is bean-shaped, nearly white; all portions of
the tree have an aromatic turpentine-like odor.
It is largely cultivated for its fruit and many improved varieties are grown
that are free from the turpentinc-Hke odor and taste characteristic of the com-
mon or unimproved form, and almost without fiber. It is used both ripe and green,
fresh or cooked, and is made into pickles, jelHes, and other preparations.
The wood is soft, rather coarse-grained and fibrous, strong and ver}' elastic,
brownish gray; its specific gravity is about 0.86; it is extensively used in the East
Indies. The bark is used as a remedy for fevers. The genus contains about
30 species of trees or shrubs of tropical Asia. The name is Latin, meaning
Mango bearing; Mango being the Hindu name of this tree, which is the type
of the genus.
Fig. 566. — Mango.
6i6
Mango
o
3
C
THE CYRILLA FAMILY
CYRILLACEiE Lindley
jjYRILLACE^, a very small family, contains only 3 genera, of which
but 6 species are known. They are small trees or shrubs usually
growing in wet or swampy situations and occur, as far as is known,
only in America. They are of no economic importance.
The CyrillacecE have alternate, simple, entire, rather persistent leaves that
are mostly crowded near the ends of the twigs and are without stipules. The
flowers are perfect and regular, in bracted racemes. Their calyx consists of
usually 5, sometimes 4 to 8, persistent sepals; corolla of the same number of petals,
distinct or sHghtly united, sessile or with short claws; stamens 4 to 10, in one or
two series, the shortest being opposite the petals; filaments distinct and flattened;
anthers introrse, 2-celled and opening lengthwise; disk annular, cup-Hke or cylin-
dric; ovary 2-celled to 5-celled, and angular; ovules i to 4 in each cavity; style
usually none or short; stigma 2-lobed to 5-lobed, usually small. The fruit is
small, crustaceous or spongy, dehiscent or indehiscent, sometimes winged; the i
to 5 seeds are oblong or spindle-shaped, their coating smooth or soft, mucous-
like and merging into the fleshy endosperm; embryo cyUndric. Our genera arc:
Inflorescence lateral; sepals 5, equal; fruit wingless and dehiscent. • i. Cyrilla.
Inflorescence terminal; sepals 5 to 8; fruit winged and indehiscent. 2. Cliftonia.
LEATHER-WOOD
GENUS CYRILLA [GARDEN] LINN^US
Species Csnilla racemiflora Linnaeus
]YRILLA includes three closely related species, natives of warm-tem-
perate and tropical America. It is the type of a small family of
trees and shrubs, and takes its name in honor of Domcnico Cirillo,
Itahan naturaHst (1734-1799). The Leather- wood, which is the
generic type, grows in sandy soil, mostly in swamps and along streams, from Vir-
ginia to Florida, westward, near the Gulf of Mexico, to Texas. It attains a maxi-
mum height of about 10 meters, with a trunk 3 dm. in thickness, but is usually
much smaller, and often a shrub. Its branches spread widely. The plant is also
known as Iron-wood, Bumwood, Red titi and White titi.
The very thin bark is pale brown, breaking up into large scales. The young
twigs are smooth and round, red-brown to gray, the buds pointed. The simple
617
6i8
TIti
alternate entire-margined leaves are leathery, narrowly to rather broadly oblanceo-
late to obovate or oblong, 2 to 10 cm. long, i to 3 cm. wide, rather strongly netted-
veined, blunt or pointed, dark green and
shining on the upper side, dull green and
paler on the lower; their stalks are from 3 to
15 mm. long and they have no stipules. The
small white or pinkish flowers are regular
and perfect, borne in long narrow clustered
racemes near the ends of twigs, soon coming
to be at the bases of twigs of the season ; the
individual flower-stalks are subtended by nar-
row pointed bracts and bear two smaller
bracts near the base of the flower; the flowers
open in June or July and have 5 equal se-
pals about I mm. long, 5 much longer pointed
petals, 5 stamens somewhat shorter than the
petals and alternate with them, a 2-celled
ovary with a short style and 2 short stigmas.
Fig. 568. — Leather- Wood. rj.^^ f ^.^ -^g ^^j.^ ^i^^^ 2-celled capsules about
2.5 mm. long, which split open when ripe to release the few pointed seeds.
The wood is heavy and hard, but weak, reddish brown, close-grained; its
specific gravity about 0.68.
Cyrilla antillana Michaux, of the West Indies and northern South America,
has thicker, blunter leaves; it may occur in southern Florida.
TITI
GENUS CLIFTONIA GARTNER
Species Cliftonia monophylla (Lamarck) Britton
Ptelea monophylla Lamarck. Cliftonia ligustrina Willdenow
HE Titi, also called Buckwheat-tree, Black titi and Iron- wood, is a
monotype, no other species of the genus being known. It inhabits
wet sandy soil and swamps from South Carolina and Georgia to
Florida and Louisiana, reaching a maximum height of about 15 meters,
with a trunk 5 dm. in diameter, and is one of the most beautiful trees of the
southern United States. The genus is named in honor of Francis CHfton, an
English physician.
The thick dark brown bark of old trees is furrowed and scaly, that of young
trunks much thinner and nearly smooth. The young twigs are smooth, round
and bright brown, becoming pale brown, the buds narrow and pointed. The
leaves are alternate, leather)', smooth evergreen (faUing toward the end of the
second season), entire-margined, elliptic to oblanceolatc, blunt or short-pointed,
Titi
619
punctate, wedge-shaped at the base, stalkless or very short-stalked, 4 to 6 cm.
long, bright green and shining on the upper side, dull green beneath. The per-
fect and regular fragrant flowers are in racemes at the ends of twigs; the flower-
stalks are subtended by small pointed thin bracts which fall away before the
flower-buds open, and they bear two very small bracts below the flower; the calyx
has from 5 to 8 ovate sepals which are somewhat united at the base and often unecjual
in size; the 5 to 8 white petals are obovate, blunt, narrowed into short claws, 3.5
to 5 mm. long, and much longer than the calyx; there are 10 stamens in two series
of 5, the outer series longer than the inner, but somewhat shorter than the petals;
the lower part of the filaments is broad and flattened, the upper part narrow; the
anthers are short ; the ovary is 2-winged to 4- winged and there are 2 to 4 stigmas
without styles. The fruits are dry, 2-winged to 4-winged, oblong, 6 to 7 mm.
long, nearly as wide as long, borne on stout nodding stalks; they resemble the fruit
of buckwheat.
The wood is weak and brittle, hard, reddish brown, with a specific gravity of
about 0.62, and is prized for fuel.
THE HOLLY FAMILY
AQUIFOLIACEiE de Candolle
HIS family consists of 3 genera comprising about 290 species of small
trees or shrubs of temperate and tropical regions of both hemispheres.
They are of some economic value, especially the South American
Ilex paraguariensis St. Hilaire, the leaves of which constitute the
Mate, Yerba, or Paraguay tea as it is variously called, and which is of such great
importance as a beverage to the inhabitants of South America on account of its
tonic properties. The bark, leaves and berries of other species have also been used
as astringent tonics, alteratives or emetics, especially by the North American Indians.
The AquijoliacecE have alternate, evergreen or deciduous, simple, stipulate
leaves. The flowers are perfect, polygamous or dioecious, regular, mostly small
and white; their calyx, which usually persists, is 3- to 6-parted; corolla of 4 to 6
imbricated, deciduous petals alternate with the sepals and often united at the
base; stamens as many as the petals, their filaments erect; anthers introrse, the
sacs opening lengthwise; ovary superior, 4- to 8-celled; stigma usually sessile,
discoid or capitate; ovules i or 2 in each cavity. The fruit is a small berry-Hke
drupe, wuth 4 to 8 homy or crustaceous one-seeded nutlets; endosperm fleshy
and abundant; embryo cylindric.
The genus Ilex is the most important as well as the predominating one ; another
genus indigenous in our area, Nemopanthes, is represented by the well-known Wild
or Mountain holly of the swamps of northeastern North America, Nemopanthes
77incronata (Linnaeus) Trelease, which is almost always a small shrub, but has
been obser\'ed to become tree-like, 5 meters high, with a trunk 7 cm. in diame-
ter in Sussex County, New Jersey.
THE HOLLIES
GENUS ILEX LINN.^US
LEX comprises about 275 species, of which probably 22 occur in our
area. Nearly all are small trees or shrubs of wide distribution. Fos-
sil remains referable to the genus occur both in Europe and America.
They have alternate, thick, leather)^ or membranous, deciduous or
persistent leaves with entire, toothed or spiny margins. The flowers are small,
white or nearly so, in axillary clusters; the 4- to 6-lobed calyx is small and per-
sistent; corolla wheel-shaped, its petals 4 to 6, free or partly united, oval to ob-
620
Black Alder
621
long, blunt-pointed, deciduous, those of the fertile flowers usually shorter than those
of the sterile; filaments distinct, awl-shaped, exserted; ovary sessile, nearly cylin-
dric, 4- to 6-cclled, rarely more, the stigmas sessile; ovules i or 2, suspended in each
cell. The fruit is a fleshy drupe, globose, usually crowned by the withering stigmas;
nutlets 4 to 8, bony or crustaceous, one-seeded ; the embr)'o is small and erect.
This genus furnishes several highly ornamental plants. The European holly.
Ilex Aqui folium, is a favorite for evergreen hedges in mild climates; its inner
bark is made into Bird Hme by a process of boiling; the leaves have also been used
in medicine.
The name given to these plants by Linnaeus was the ancient name of the
European evergreen or Holly oak, on account of the resemblance of its leaves to
those of the type species, Ilex Aquijolium Linnaeus. Our arborescent species are:
Nutlets smooth; leaves deciduous.
Staminate and pistillate flowers both on short pedicels.
Staminate flowers on long pedicels, the pistillate on short pedicels.
Nutlets roughened; leaves deciduous or persistent.
Leaves deciduous.
Leaves mostly obovate to spatulate, broadest above the middle.
Leaves mostly ovate to lanceolate, broadest below the middle.
Leaves smooth or but slightly hairy along the venation; calyx smooth
without.
Leaves 4 to 7 cm. long, not strongly toothed; lowland tree.
Leaves 6 to 20 cm. long, strongly toothed; mountain tree.
Leaves densely hairy beneath; calyx hairy without.
Leaves evergreen, persistent.
Leaves entire, or with a few teeth near the apex.
Leaves linear, i to 4 cm. long.
Leaves oblong to oblanceolate, 8 to 10 cm. long.
Leaves blunt; twigs dark brown.
Leaves taper-pointed; twigs white or gray.
Leaves dentate or crenate.
Leaves crenate.
Leaves dentate, the teeth spiny; or rarely entire with a spiny tip.
1. /. verticillata.
2. /. IcBvigata.
3. /. decidua.
4. /. amhigua.
5. /. montana.
6. /. Beadlei.
7. /. myrtijolia.
8. /. Cassine.
9. I. Krugiana.
10. /. voniitoria.
11. /. opaca.
I. BLACK ALDER— Ilex verticillata (Linnaeus) A. Gray
Prinos verticillata Linnaeus
Also called Inkberr>', Virginia winterberry, Winterberry and Feverbush, this
common shrub of swamps and wet grounds occurs from Nova Scotia to Ontario,
Wisconsin, Florida and Missouri. It rarely becomes a tree, reaching a height of
7 meters.
The branches are alternate and spreading. Its bark is about i mm. thick,
close, smooth and of a brown or gray color. The twigs are smooth or but slightly
hairy, and brown. The deciduous, rather thick leaves are elliptic or oval, or some-
times ovate or obovate, 2 to 8 cm. long, sharply or taper-pointed at the apex,
622
The Hollies
sharply toothed on the margin, usually
smooth, but sometimes shghtly hairy above,
more or less densely so and prominently
netted beneath; the leaf-stalk is 5 to 10
mm. long. The flowers, which open in
June or July, are mostly dioecious, their ca-
lyx-lobes ovate or triangular-ovate, fringed
and rather sharp-pointed; corolla whitish,
6 to 7 mm. across, the petals blunt. The
fruit is in clusters, so arranged as to ap-
pear verticillate ; it is globose, 6 to 8 mm.
in diameter, bright red, or rarely yellowish;
the nutlets are smooth.
The bark and sometimes the leaves are
occasionally used in medicine as a tonic
iG. 570. ac er. ^^^ alterative. The Black alder, on ac-
count of its brilliant fruit, is destined to become very useful in the ornamentation
of large grounds where a variety of shrubbery is desired.
2. WINTERBERRY — Ilex laevigata (Pursh) A. Gray
Prinos IcBvigata Pursh
This shrub of swampy grounds and wet woods from Maine to Pennsylvania,
Georgia, and Kentucky sometimes becomes a tree 6 meters tall. It is also called
the Smooth winterberry and Hoop wood.
The twigs are smooth and usually dark gray.
The leaves are deciduous, rather thin, elHptic,
oval or lanceolate, 4 to 8 cm. long, sharply or
often taper-pointed, shallowly toothed and
tapering to the short slender petiole, smooth
on either surface or rarely slightly hairy on the
venation beneath. The flowers open in May
or June. The staminate flowers are clustered
on stalks i to 2 cm. long. The pistillate flowers
are solitary on short stalks, their sepals triangu-
lar or ovate-triangular, often finely fringed on
the margin and sharp-pointed ; corolla white or
nearly so, 6 to 7 mm. across, the petals blunt.
The fruit is orange-colored or red, subglobose,
8 to ID mm. in diameter; its nutlets are smooth.
Like the foregoing, this is also \ery desirable for the ornamentation of large
grounds in securing winter fruit effects; both grow well, however, only in moist soil.
Fig. 571. — Winterberry.
Carolina Holly
623
3. DECIDUOUS HOLLY - Ilex decidua Walter
This small tree, or more commonly a much branched shrub, grows on the
borders of swamps and streams from Virginia
to Illinois, Kansas, Florida and Texas, but it
does not occur in the mountains. Its maximum
height is about 10 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 2.5 dm. It is also called Possum haw and
Bearberry holly.
The branches are spreading or ascending.
Its bark, scarcely 2 mm. thick, is pale brown
and warty. The twigs are round and smooth,
becoming light gray. The leaves are deciduous,
rather thick, usually clustered at the ends of
short branches, obovate to elliptic-obknceolate,
2.5 to 7.5 cm. long, blunt or notched at the apex,
tapering at the base, roundish toothed on the
margin; they are dark green and smooth above,
paler and somewhat hair}^ beneath; the leaf- Fig. 572- -Deciduous Holly,
stalk is slender, grooved, 0.5 to 1.5 cm. long and hairy. The flowers appear with
the leaves, in axillary clusters, on pedicels 0.5 to 1.5 cm. long; their calyx is smooth
or but slightly hairy, its lobes triangular, sharp- pointed and somewhat fringed;
corolla white, 4.5 to 6 mm. across, its 4 petals obovate or nearly oblong and blunt;
the stamens are shorter than the petals. The fruits are orange-colored or scar-
let globose drupes 6 to 9 mm. in diameter, on short stalks, ripening in the autumn
and persisting on the branches during the winter.
The wood of the Deciduous holly is hard, close-grained, yellowish white; its
specific gravity is about 0.74.
4. CAROLINA HOLLY
Ilex ambigua (Michaux) Chapman
Prinos ambigmis Michaux. Cassine caro-
liniana Walter. Ilex caroliniana
Trelease, not Miller
This as a small tree rarely attains a
height of 6 meters; it is much more oftqn
a shrub 2 to 4 meters high.
The twigs are nearly smooth, some-
times reddish brown, but becoming dark
gray or brown. The leaves are decidu-
ous, rather thin, broadly oval to ovate,
obovate or elliptic, 4 to 7 cm. long, sharp
Fig. 573. — Carolina Holly.
624
The Hollies
or taper- pointed, tapering or rounded at the base, short petioled, margined with
very small sharp, stift-tipped teeth above the middle, smooth or nearly so on both
surfaces. The flowers are axillar}', solitary or in clusters, on pedicels 2 to 5 mm.
long, opening in early spring. The calyx is 2 to 3 mm. across, smooth, its lobes
broadly triangular and pointed in the staminate flowers, blunt in the pistillate,
hair}'-f ringed ; corolla white, 5 to 6 mm. across, its petals oval, blunt. The sta-
mens are shorter than the petals. The fruit is a globose to oblong red drupe,
6 to 7 mm. in diameter; the nutlets, usually 4, are Hght brown and very promi-
nently ribbed.
5. MOUNTAIN HOLLY — Ilex montana Torrey and Gray
Ilex monticola A. Gray
A deciduous shrub or small tree attaining a maximum height of 12 meters
and a trunk diameter of 3 dm., occurring mostly in mountain woods from New
York to Georgia and Alabama.
The trunk is short, its branches slender, spreading and ascending. The bark
is about I mm. thick, close, Hght brown
and warty. The twigs are round,
smooth, reddish bro\vn becoming dark
gray. The leaves are very thin and
nearly smooth, eUiptic, eUiptic-lanceo-
late or rarely suborbicular, 6 to 20
cm. long, taper- pointed, narrowed or
rounded at the base, sharply toothed
on the margin, dark green and smooth
above, paler and smooth, except for a
few hairs along the prominent venation,
beneath. The flowers appear from May
to August, in clusters on short, lateral
stalks, the staminate on pedicels 12
mm. long, the pistillate sohtary or few
in a cluster, on short pedicels. The
calyx is 3 to 4 mm. across; its lobes are
broadly triangular, irregularly toothed, sharp-pointed and ciliate; corolla white, 6
to 8 mm, across, its lobes oval to obovate and blunt; stamens shorter than the
corolla-lobes. The fruit is a scarlet globose drupe about 12 mm. in diameter,
crowned with the large stigma; the nutlets are strongly ribbed.
The wood is hard, close-grained, nearly white; its specific gravity is about
0.66. It takes kindly to cultivation and is a desirable addition to decorative
shrubbery on account of its bright fohage and briUiant fruit.
"2 /
Fig. 574. — Mountain Holly.
Myrtle Leaved Dahoon
625
Fig. 575. — Beadle's Holly.
6. BEADLE'S HOLLY - Hex Beadlei Ashe
Inhabiting rocky woods of the mountainous portions of North Carolina, Ten-
nessee, and Alabama, and usually a
shrub, this sometimes becomes a
small tree.
The twigs are round, quite
smooth, and brownish or dark gray.
The deciduous leaves are membra-
nous, often crowded, elliptic, ovate
or suborbicular, broadest either
about or below the middle, 3 to 8
cm. long, sharp or taper-pointed,
rounded or tapering at the base, and
sharply toothed on the margin ; they
are light green and finely hairy
above, paler and densely hairy with
prominent midrib beneath; the leaf-
stalks are about i cm. long and
hairy. The flowers are on short
hairy pedicels in few-flowered clus-
ters; the calyx is hairy, about 2
mm. broad, its lobes blunt; the corolla is 5 to 6 mm. across. The fruit is a bright
red drupe, oblong-globose, 6 to 8 mm. long; the nutlets are strongly ribbed.
This may be a hairy form of the preceding species.
7. MYRTLE LEAVED DAHOON
Hex myrtifolia Walter
This stragghng shrub sometimes be-
comes a tree with an ascending or curved
trimk, and stiff, upright, slender branches.
It occurs in cypress swamps and wet
woods in the pinelands of North Carohna
to Florida and Louisiana. Its maximum
height is 9 meters, with a trunk diameter
of 3 dm.
The bark is thin and nearly white. The
twigs are slender, gray to brown, and nearly
smooth. The leaves arc thick, leathery
and persistent, narrowly oblong or linear,
Fig. 576. -Myrtle Leaved Dahoon. ^^ ^^ vigorous shoots nearly oval, I to 4
cm. long, bristle-pointed, tapering to the base, entire and somewhat revolute on the
626
The Hollies
margin, dark green and smooth above, pale and usually smooth beneath, the leaf-
stalk about 2 mm. long. The flowers are soHtary, or in few-flowered clusters, and
open from April to June. The calyx-lobes are triangular and sharp-pointed; co-
rolla white, 4 to 5 mm. across, its 4 lobes obovate or oval and blunt; stamens 4,
shorter than the corolla. The fruit is globose, red, about 6 mm, in diameter, on
stalks about 5 mm. long; the nutlets are prominently ribbed on both surfaces.
The wood is soft, close-grained and ver}' hght brown; its specific gravity is
about 0.59. The plant has been regarded as a variety of Ilex Cassine, but
seems to be distinct.
8. DAHOON — Hex Cassine Linnaeus
Ilex Dahoon Walter
A small evergreen tree or shrub, also called Yaupon and Dahoon holly; it
grows in swamps and on stream banks in the coastal regions from Virginia to
Florida and Louisiana, attaining a maximum height of 9 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 4.5 dm., and slender spread-
ing and ascending branches. It occurs
also in the northern Bahama islands and
in Cuba.
The bark is about 2 mm. thick, close,
and dark gray. The twigs are compara-
tively stout, densely silky-hairy for several
years, becoming smooth and dark brown.
The leaves are persistent, leathery, ob-
lanceolate or oblong, rarely obovate, 4 to
10 cm. long, sharp, blunt or notched at
the apex, gradually tapering to the base,
somewhat revolute on the entire or spar-
ingly toothed margin, dark green, shining
and smooth above, pale and sometimes
hairy beneath; the leaf-stalk is 5 to 10
mm. long, grooved and usually hairy.
The flowers are in simple or panicled,
umbel-hke clusters, the peduncle 3 to 20
mm. long and hair)', the pedicels short. The calyx is 1.5 to 2 mm. across, its lobes
triangular ovate, toothed and fringed, usually sharp-pointed; corolla white, 4 to
4.5 mm. across, its lobes obovate and blunt; stamens usually shorter than the
corolla-lobes. The fruit remains on the twigs all winter; it is globose, bright red
or yellowish, 6 to 8 mm. in diameter, on short hairy stalks; nutlets ribbed.
The wood is soft, close-grained, weak and hght brown; its specific gravity is
about 0.48.
Fig. 577. — Dahoon.
Cassena
627
9. KRUG'S HOLLY— Ilex Krugiana Lcesener
This West Indian evergreen tree has recently been discovered in southern
peninsular Florida by Dr. J. K. Small and Mr. Percy Wilson, growing in rich
hammocks south of Miami, attaining a height
of about 15 meters, with a trunk diameter of
3 dm. In the Bahamas it is called Whitewood
and it grows also in Haiti.
The twigs are round, gray, becoming white.
The bark is thin, close, quite smooth and nearly
white. The leaves are elliptic, elliptic-ovate or
ovate-lanceolate, 5 to 10 cm. long, taper-pointed,
rounded or narrowed at the base, entire and
revolute on the margin, yellowish green, smooth
and shining with impressed midrib above, dull
and smooth with prominent midrib beneath;
the leaf-stalk is 1.5 to 2 cm. long, slender and
grooved. The flowers are in axillar}^ clusters;
peduncles about i cm. long, the pedicels very
short. The calvx is about 2 mm. broad, with
triangular, sharp-pointed lobes; corolla whitish, spreading, 2.5 mm. across, its lobes
ovate and spreading; ovary ellipsoid; stigma discoid, slightly 4-lobed. The fruit
is a globose, brownish purple drupe, its stalk 5 to 10 mm. long; nutlets usually 4,
dark brown, rough, scarcely ridged.
Fig. 578. — Krug's Holly.
apex.
10. CASSENA — Ilex vomitoria Aiton
Ilex Cassine Walter, not Linnaeus
Usually an evergreen shrub, this sometimes
becomes a tree up to 8 meters tall, with a
trunk diameter of 2 dm., often forming dense
thickets along margins of swamps and streams
from Virginia and Arkansas to Florida and
Texas, mostlv near the coast. It has become
naturalized in Bermuda.
The ascending branches are slender. The
bark is 1.5 to 3 mm. thick, broken into small
scales of a light reddish brown color. The
stiff, widely spreading twigs are finely hairy, but
become smooth, and pale gray. The leaves
persist for 2 or 3 years, are leather}', oblong,
o\al or elliptic, i to 2.5 cm. long, blunt at the
abruptly tapering to a short, grooved stalk; the margin is toothed; they are
Fig. 579. — Cassena.
628
The Hollies
Fig. 580. —Holly, Washington, D.C.
deep green and shining above, paler beneath. The flower clusters are short-stalked
on the staminate plant, but quite sessile on the pistillate, the smooth pedicels 3 to 6
mm. long; the 4 calyx-lobes are triangular-ovate and blunt; corolla white, 5.5 mm.
across, its lobes oval or obovate and blunt. The fruit is a dark red globose
drupe, 5 to 6 mm. in diameter on a short stalk; the nutlets are but sHghtly ribbed.
The wood is hard, close-grained, nearly white; its specific gravity is about 0.73.
The branches with their brilHant fruit are used in winter decoration like those
American Holly
629
of the American holly, but not as extensively. In the form of a decoction the
leaves were used by the Indians as an emetic and purgative.
It is also called Yaupon, Yopon, Cassena tree, Evergreen cassena, Cassioberry
bush, and Emetic holly.
II. AMERICAN HOLLY — Ilex opaca Alton
This handsome evergreen tree is also called White holly; it occurs in moist
woodlands or on drj'ish hillsides near the coast from Maine to Florida, in the
Gulf States to Texas, and up the Mississippi valley to Missouri and southern
Indiana. Its maximum height is 15 meters, with a trunk diameter of i meter.
The branches are slender, spreading and ascending, forming a conic tree.
The bark is up to 12 mm. thick,
close, white or grayish. The twigs
are finely rusty hairy, soon becom-
ing smooth and light brown. The
leaves are stiff and leather\% oval,
elHptic or obovate, 4 to 10 cm. long,
the apex and marginal teeth spine-
tipped, rarely nearly entire; they are
dark green, smooth and shining
above, pale, smooth and dull be-
neath; the petiole is short. The
flowers, the two kinds usually on
different individuals, open from
April to June, the staminate 2 to 9
on a common stalk; the pistillate
flowers are usually solitary; the ca-
lyx-lobes are triangular, about i
mm. long, finely fringed and sharp-
pointed; corolla 5.5 to 6.5 mm.
across, its lobes oblong and blunt; the stamens of the staminate flowers exceed the
corolla, but in the pistillate flowers they are shorter. The fruit is a bright red
drupe, rarely yellow, about i cm. in diameter, smooth and shining; it remains on
the branches throughout the winter; nutlets Hght brown, with few but prominent
ribs.
The wood is tough, rather weak, ven,^ close-grained, and white; its specific
gravity is about 0.58. It is used for furniture, cabinet work, interior finishing,
and in turner}^, for which its whiteness and compactness make it very desirable.
Immense quantities of the branches, wath their bright red berries and clear
green foHage, are used during the winter holidays for decorative purposes. As an
ornamental tree it is strikingly beautiful, but it grows slowly and is not often seen
in cultivation.
Fig. 581. — American Holly.
THE STAFF TREE FAMILY
CELASTRACEiE LIndley
HIS family comprises about 40 genera, with some 350 species of trees,
shrubs, or woody climbers of wide geographic distribution, but most
abundant in the tropics. They are of no especial economic value; a
few have medical properties and many are quite ornamental.
The Celastraceae have simple, deciduous or persistent, alternate, opposite or
whorled leaves, with or without stipules. The flowers are small and inconspicuous,
usually in cymes, sometimes otherwise clustered, perfect or imperfect, regular,
generally on short jointed pedicels; the calyx is persistent, 4- or 5-lobed or parted,
the corolla is of 4 or 5 petals, inserted under the margin of the flat or lobed disk;
stamens 4 or 5, inserted upon or under the disk, their anthers introrse; ovary ses-
sile, 2- to 5-celled, the styles short and thick or wanting; stigma capitate, entire
or 2- to 5-lobed; ovules, or 2 in each cell. The fruit is a capsule, drupe or berry,
sometimes winged ; seeds soHtary or several in each cell, often enclosed in a bright-
colored aril; endosperm copious, fleshy or oily; embryo straight.
The well-known woody cHmber, known as False bittersweet, Celastrus scandens
Linnaeus, is a member of this family. The arborescent genera in our area are;
Fruit a dehiscent capsule.
Fruit indehiscent, drupaceous or berry-like.
Flowers perfect; ovary 4-celled.
Flowers dioecious; ovary 2-celled.
Leaves opposite; ovules pendulous.
Leaves alternate; ovules erect.
1. Euonymus.
2. Rhacoma.
3. Gyminda.
4. Schajjeria.
I. WAHOO
GENUS EUONYMUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
Species Euonymus atropurpureus Jacquin
[UONYMUS includes about 65 species of shrubs and small trees, mostly
natives of the north temperate zone, a few, how^ever, occurring in the
East Indies and one in Australia. There are about 6 species in the
United States, of which the Wahoo is the only one which forms a
tree, and there are several in Mexico. The generic name is the ancient Greek
appellation of the type species, the European Spindle-tree {Euonymus EuropcBUS
Linnaeus), which is much planted for ornament in North America, and occasionally
escapes from cultivation. The species of Euonymus have opposite, stalked, simple
630
Rhacoma
631
leaves, with very small stipules which fall away early. The rather small flowers
are in stalked axillary cymes, and are either perfect or polygamous; the calyx is
4-lobed or 5-lobed; there are 4 or 5 petals, as many stamens, and the ovary is from
3-celled to 5-celled, usually with 2 ovules
in each cavity; the style is short and
there are as many stigma-lobes as ovary-
cavities. The fruit is a more or less
fleshy lobed capsule, sphtting into valves
when ripe, the seeds with a large red or
purple aril.
The Wahoo, known also as Burning
bush and Indian arrow, while often a
shrub, locally becomes a tree 8 or 9 me-
ters high, with a trunk 2 dm. thick. It
grows in woodlands and thickets from
Ontario to Pennsylvania, Florida, Mon-
tana, the Indian Territory, and Arkan-
sas. Its bark is gray and ridged; the
young twigs are smooth, bluntly angled,
slender and green, becoming round and purpUsh brown; the buds are purple, 3
or 4 mm. long. The leaves are ovate-oblong to eUiptic, 4 to 13 cm. long, pointed,
thin, finely hairy on the under side, darker green and smooth on the upper, nar-
rowed or sometimes rounded at the base, finely toothed, strongly pinnately veined;
the leaf-stalks are 8 to 20 mm. long. The flower-clusters are long-stalked; the
flowers are deep purple, about 12 mm. wide, and open in May or June; their
parts are usually in 4's, the obovate wavy-margined petals much longer than the
calyx-lobes and stamens. The fruit is deeply 4-lobed, rarely 3-lobed, 12 to 16 mm.
broad, purplish, its valves hanging on the twigs into the winter.
The wood is nearly white, hard and dense, with a specific gravity of about
0.66. The bark of the stem and root is used in medicine. Local names are
Spindle tree, Strawberry tree, Arrowwood, and Bleeding heart.
Fig. 582. — Wahoo.
II. RHACOMA
GENUS RHACOMA LINN^US
Species Rhacoma Crossopetalum Linnaeus
Myginda Rhacoma Swartz. Crossopetalum aiistrimim Gardner
SHRUB or small tree widely distributed in the West Indies, and
growing in sandy soil in southern peninsular Florida and on the
Keys, where it reaches the height of 6 meters; it is the type species of
the genus.
It has a smooth, pale bark and 4-angled brownish or ashy-gray twigs. The
v^m
632
False Boxwood
leaves are opposite or in whorls, ovate, obovate, oblong
or elliptic, i to 4 cm. long, blunt or acutish or notched
at the apex, narrowed and tapering at the base, the
margin bluntly toothed at least toward the apex; they
are light green and smooth above, paler with promi-
nent midrib beneath; the leaf-stalk is about 2 mm. long.
The flowers are ver}^ small, perfect, in the axils of the
leaves, in slender- stalked clusters, appearing in spring;
their urn-shaped calyx has 4 roundish lobes; petals 4,
inserted under the flattened 4-lobed disk, oval and re-
flexed; stamens 4, inserted between the lobes of the
disk; ovary 4-celled, merging into the disk; stigmas 4;
ovules solitary and erect in each cavity. The fruit is a
red, sUghtly obHque drupe 5 to 6 mm. long, with a
bony stone.
The genus consists of 10 or more species, mostly
shrubs, of the warmer portions of the New World. One
other species, a small, straggling, or prostrate shrub,
with spiny-toothed leaves, also grows in southern Florida.
The name is supposed to be from Rha, the old name of the Volga, and was
used by Phny for some Old World plant.
Fig. 583. — Rhacoma.
III. FALSE BOXWOOD
GENUS GYMINDA [GRISEBACH] SARGENT
Species Gyminda latifolia (Swartz) Urban
Myginda latifolia Swartz. Gyminda Grisehachii Sargent
YMINDA, as now
known, consists of 2
species, one here de-
scribed, the other Costa
Rican. They are evergreen trees
with simple opposite leaves, and
small greenish imperfect flowers,
in small axillary clusters, the pistil-
late on one plant, the sterile on
another. The calyx has 4 small
lobes; there are 4 petals much
longer than the calyx; the stami-
nate flowers have 4 stamens about
as long as the petals and a minute
abortive ovary; the fertile flowers Fig. 584. — False Boxwood.
Florida Boxwood
^Z3,
have a 2-ccllcd ovary with i pendulous ovule in each cavity. The fruit is a
small drupe. The name Gyminda is an anagram of Myginda, to which genus the
following species was first referred.
Gyminda latijolia, the type of the genus, grows in southern Florida, the Baha-
mas, Cuba, and Porto Rico. It attains a maximum height of about 9 meters, with
a trunk 2 dm. in diameter or less. Its bark is reddish brown and thin. The
young twigs are sharply 4-angled and smooth, becoming round and gray. The
leaves are obovate-oblong, thick, slightly toothed or entire-margined, blunt or
sometimes notched at the apex, narrowed at the base, very short-stalked, 2 to 5
cm. long, paler green on the under side than on the upper. The flowers open from
February to June. The drupe is nearly black, oblong, 6 to 8 mm. long.
The wood is dense, very dark brown, with a specific gravity of about 0.90.
IV. FLORIDA BOXWOOD
GENUS SCH^FFERIA JACQUIN
Species Schaefiferia frutescens Jacquin
CH.EFFERIA contains 5 species, one a low shrub of Texas and adjacent
Mexico, a tree of subtropical America, here described, which, how-
ever, also grows commonly as a shrub, and three other West Indian
shrubs. They have alternate persistent entire-margined leaves and
small imperfect flowers, clustered or solitary in the axils, the staminate on one
Fig. 585. — Florida Boxwood.
plant, the pistillate on another. The 4-lobed calyx is ver\- much shorter than the
4 petals; there are 4 slender stamens and a rudimentaiy ovary in the staminate
flower; in the pistillate flower the 2-celled ovary has one erect ovule in each cavity,
and is surmounted bv a short stvle and a 2-lobed stigma. The fruit is a small
634 Florida Boxwood
drupe, grooved on each side, containing two seeds. The genus is named in honor
of J. C. Schaeffer, a German naturahst, who died in 1790.
Schcpfferia fnitescens, the type of the genus, inhabits southern Florida and the
West Indies from the Bahamas to Jamaica and Barbados, occurring also in
Central America and South America. It is also known also as Yellow-Wood in
Florida, and sometimes forms a tree 14 meters high, with a trunk 2.5 to 3 dm.
thick. The very thin bark is light gray and slightly grooved, the young twigs
ridged and angled, yellow-green, becoming round and light gray. The leaves are
obovate to oblong or spatulate, pointed, blunt or rarely notched, leathery, veiny,
2.5 to 6 cm. long, narrowed at the base and short-stalked. The flowers are about
3 mm. wide, and open in Florida in February and March, but in the West Indies
the flowering period extends to August. The fruit is 4 to 6 mm. long, bright red,
tipped by the persistent style, unpleasant to the taste.
The wood is yellow, dense, with a specific gravity of about 0.77.
THE CANOTIA FAMILY
CANOTIACEiE Britton
GENUS CANOTIA TORREY
Species Canotia holacantha Torrey
ANOTIA is a curious and interesting monotype, whose botanical
relationships are not very evident. It occurs only, so far as known,
in Arizona and southern California, and is a leafless tree or shrub; its
twigs are tipped by stiff spines. It has
been regarded by authors at different times as belong-
ing to three different natural families, and is here con-
sidered as sufficiently distinct from everything else to
constitute a family all by itself, the Canotiaceae. The
generic name, given by Dr. Torrey, is what it was
called by the Mexicans when discovered by Dr. Bigelow
in 1854.
The brown bark is deeply channelled, the twigs and
spines round and smooth; there are characteristic black
markings at the base of each twig and at the bases of
the small flower-clusters, which are borne on the sides
of twigs and subtended by a very small ovate pointed
scale. The flowers, which open from June to October,
are perfect and regular, white, about 8 mm. broad ; the
calyx is ver^' small and 5-lobed; the 5 petals are oblong-
obovate and blunt, alternating with as many short sta-
mens; the ovary is 5-celled with about 6 ovules in each cavity, the style long, the
small stigma slightly 5-lobed. The fruit is a dry oblong capsule, about 2.5 cm.
long, with a slender tip, and splits when ripe into 5 woody valves, releasing the flat
and winged seeds.
The wood is hard, dense, Light brown, with a specific gravity of about 0.67.
Fig. 586. — Canotia.
^3S
THE BLADDERNUT FAMILY
STAPHYLEACE.E de Candolle
HIS family includes some 5 genera, with probably 25 species of trees
or shrubs of wide geographic distribution. They are of no economic
value, but are sometimes planted for ornament.
The Staphyleaceae have mostly opposite, rarely alternate, odd
pinnate or trifoliolate leaves. The flowers are regular and perfect, disposed in
racemes or panicles, terminal or axillary; the calyx is composed of 5 sepals, the
corolla of the same number of petals, which are longer than the sepals and imbri-
cated; stamens 5, inserted under the edge of a cup-like disk, their filaments dis-
tinct; anthers 2-cellcd, introrse; the ovary, of 2 or 3 partly united carpels, is
sessile, its 3 styles are distinct or united; stigmas simple; the ovules are borne in one
or two rows. The fruit is an inflated bladder-like membranous capsule, or
berry-like or drupaceous in some exotic genera; the seed is hard and bony, usually
shining, with scant fleshy endosperm and a straight embryo.
There is one genus with 2 species of shrubs in our area, one of which occasionally
becomes arborescent.
BLADDERNUT
GENUS STAPHYLEA LINN^US
Species Staphylea trifoliata Linnaeus
LADDERNUT is a well-known shrub, frequent in thickets from
Quebec to Minnesota, southward to Georgia and Arkansas; it has
recently been reported as being arborescent in Floyd county, Georgia,
and in Montgomery county, Alabama, by Dr. Roland M. Harper,
attaining the height of 9 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 dm. As a shrub
it often reaches a height of 5 meters.
The bark is smooth, and striped with light green or white. The twigs are slightly
angular, pithy, light green and more or less shining, becoming dark brown, dull,
and profusely striped with white. The buds are broadly ovoid, about 3 mm.
long, covered by broad smooth scales. The leaves are opposite, trifoHolate, the
leaflets being ovate, elliptic or obovate, 5 to 10 cm. long, usually taper-pointed,
finely toothed on the margin, the lateral pair unequally rounded or narrowed at
the base, the terminal one equal and stalked ; they are hairy at first, soon becom-
ing nearly smooth and bright green above, paler and slightly hairy beneath ; the
stipules are linear, 8 to 12 mm, long, tinged with red, and soon fall off. The bell-
636
Bladdernut
^Zl
shaped flowers are in axillary drooping panicles 5 to 10 cm. long, white and rather
showy; the pedicels are jointed at or above the middle, 8 to 12 mm. long; the 5
sepals are lanceolate to oblong, 7 to 10 mm. long, blunt and smooth; the 5 petals
are spatulate, sUghtly longer than the calyx; stamens 5, their filaments about equal
Fig. 587. — Bladdernut.
in length to the petals and hairy. The fruit is a dry inflated bladder-like, ovoid
capsule 4 to 6 cm. long, 3-lobed, and notched at the apex; seeds few, about 3
mm. long, light brown and shining.
The generic type is Staphylea phinata Linnaeus, of Europe; the name is Greek,
in reference to the flower clusters. There is one other species in our area, the
California bladdernut, Staphylea Bolanderi A. Gray. The European bladdcmuts,
Staphylea colchica Stevan, and S. pinnata are occasionally seen in parks and
on lawns.
y
THE MAPLE FAMILY
ACERACEiE Saint Hilaire
HIS family consists of but 2 genera, the Asiatic Dipteronia of Oliver,
and the Maples, including in all about 100 species of trees or shrubs,
many of which contain a saccharine sap which upon concentration
becomes the favorite Maple syrup, or on solidification is known as
TVIaple sugar. The timber of the maples is also highly valued. As ornamental
and shade trees they are probably more used than any other single genus of our
flora.
The AceracecB have opposite, simple leaves, which are usually palmately lobed,
rarely entire or pinnate. The flowers are regular, polygamous or dioecious, borne
in axillary or terminal corymbs or racemes. The calyx is usually 5-parted, mostly
colored and deciduous; the disk, if any, is cup-shaped, usually lobed; corolla want-
ing or, if present, consisting of the same number of petals as there are calyx-
lobes and alternate with them; stamens as many as the calyx-lobes, or often 8,
their filaments thread-Hke, distinct, sometimes very short; anthers introrse, versa-
tile; ovary free, 2-lobed and 2-celled; styles 2, usually united; stigma 2-cleft. The
fruit usually consists of 2 long- winged samaras with nut-Hke bases; seed i, rarely
2, compressed, without endosperm; the embr}^o has thin cotyledons.
Our arborescent forms are best treated as one genus, although some authors
group the Box elders, or Ash-leaved maples, the compound-leaved species, into
another genus under the name Rulac Adanson or Negtmdo Moench.
THE MAPLES
GENUS ACER [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
CER comprises nearly 100 species of trees or shrubs, with few excep-
tions confined to the northern hemisphere, throughout which they are
widely distributed. Numerous fossil species have also been de-
scribed.
The name is the ancient Celtic name of the Maple, A. Pseudo-Platanus Linnaeus
being the type.
The following North American trees are known:
A. Leaves simple, palmately or radiately veined.
a. Flowers in terminal racemes, panicles or corymbs, unfolding after
the leaves, or with them.
* Flowers panided or racemose.
638
The Maples
639
Inflorescence erect; petals linear to linear-spatulate, 2 or 3
times as long as the sepals; small tree or shrub.
Inflorescence drooping; petals oblong to obovate, about as
long as the sepals.
Ovary and fruit glabrous; leaves 3-lobed toward the apex;
small eastern tree.
Ovary and fruit hirsute; leaves deeply 5-lobed; large western
tree.
** Flowers corymbose or short-racemose; western trees and shrubs.
Petals much shorter than the purple sepals.
Petals about as long as the sepals.
Samaras diverging at 180 degrees.
Samaras ascending or erect.
Terminal leaf-lobe rhombic.
Terminal leaf-lobe ovate,
b. Flowers in lateral umbel-like clusters, expanding with the leaves or
before them.
Flowers expanding before the leaves, their pedicels not drooping.
Petals obsolete or none; calyx 5 -toothed; ovary pubescent.
Petals present; sepals nearly distinct; ovary glabrous.
Leaves nearly glabrous beneath, or somewhat pubescent;
samaras less than 4 cm. long.
Leaves bright green above, pale green or whitish beneath.
Wing of the samara broadened above the middle.
Wing of the samara linear, scarcely widened above.
Leaves dark green above, pale beneath, mostly 3-lobed.
Leaves persistently woolly beneath, at least along the veins;
samaras mostly 4 cm. long or longer.
Flowers expanding with the leaves, their pedicels drooping.
Eastern trees; leaves large.
Bark of trunk gray to black; samaras mostly 3 cm. long or
longer.
Leaves pale or glaucous beneath, not stipulate, their
lobes coarsely toothed.
Leaves green on both sides, often stipulate, their lobes
entire or undulate.
Bark white; samaras mostly less than 3 cm. long.
Leaves glaucous and sometimes pale-pubescent beneath;
samaras green.
Leaves green and velvety beneath; samaras red.
Rocky mountain tree; leaves small, their lobes coarsely toothed.
B. Leaves pinnately compound, often trifoliolate (Ash-leaved Maples).
United part of the samaras distinctly constricted at the base,
stipe-like; leaves thin; eastern tree.
United part of the samaras not constricted at the base, or but
slightly constricted; leaves firm; western trees.
Foliage densely pubescent; Califomian tree.
Foliage not densely pubescent.
Samara-wing adnate to the body only to or above the middle
Samara-wing adnate to the body down to the point of
coherence; Utah tree.
I. A. spicatum.
2. yl. pennsylvanicum.
3. A. macrophyllum.
4. A. circinatum.
5. A. modocense.
6. A. glahrum.
7. A. Douglasii.
8. A. saccharinum.
9. A. ritbrum.
10. A. stenocarpum.
11. A. carolinianum.
12. A. Drummondii.
13. A. Sacchariim.
14. A. nigrum.
15. A. floridannm.
16. A. lencoderme.
17. A. grandidentatmn.
18. A. Negundo.
ig. A. call for uicum.
20. .1. interior.
21. A. Kingii.
640
The Maples
I. MOUNTAIN MAPLE— Acer spicatum Lamarck
More often a shrub than a tree, this plant grows in rocky woods from New-
foundland to James bay and Manitoba, south, especially along the mountains to
Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan, and Minnesota. It sometimes attains a height
of about ID meters, with a trunk diameter of about 2 dm.
Its bark is thin and brown or grayish brown. The young twigs are finely
hairy, red in winter and brown in summer. The
leaves are quite thin, long-stalked, the blade 7 to 13
cm. long, and nearly or quite as wide, 3-lobcd or
sometimes 5-lobed, usually cordate at the base, the
lobes pointed, coarsely toothed nearly all around with
gland-tipped teeth, very hairy beneath and somewhat
hairy above when young, but smooth on the upper
side and sparingly haiiy beneath when mature. The
flowers are in long, upright hairy stalked compound
racemes at the ends of the branches, and open in
May or June after the leaves are nearly fully de-
veloped, the sterile flowers in the upper part of the
clusters, the pistillate ones below; the calyx is very
small and hairy; the yellow-green petals are linear-
FiG. 588. — Mountain Maple. gpatulate, about 1. 5 mm. long; the stamens of the
sterile flowers are longer than the petals, while those of the fertile ones about
equal the petals in length. The clusters of ripe red fruit droop; the samaras are
about 2 cm. long, their wings divergent or ascending, the seed-bearing part strongly
striated, the wing 6 to 8 mm. wide.
The tree is too small for its wood to be of commercial importance; it has a
specific gravity of 0.53, and is brown. It is sometimes planted for ornament, but
needs shade of other trees for its successful cultivation in places where the sum-
mers are hot.
2. STRIPED MAPLE — Acer pennsylvanicum Linnaeus
The striped maple, perhaps more generally called Moosewood, because moose
and deer feed on its young shoots, is an inhabitant of woods and forests from
Nova Scotia through Quebec and Ontario to Michigan and Minnesota, extending
south, especially along the mountains, to Georgia and Tennessee. Like the
Mountain maple it commonly flowers as a shrub; as a tree it reaches about 13
meters in height, with a trunk diameter of about 2.5 dm.
The bark is thin and reddish green, striped with lighter colored bands or lines.
The young twigs are yellow-green in summer and red-brown in winter. The
leaves are large, often 2 dm. long, and nearly or quite as wide, broadest above the
middle, thin, soon collapsing after being picked, 3-lobed at or above the middle,
Broad-Leaved Maple
641
finely toothed all around, hairy when very young
but at maturity smooth above, paler and nearly
smooth beneath, the short lobes long-pointed.
The flowers are borne in long nodding stalked ra-
cemes at the ends of the branches, the sterile and
fertile ones usually in different clusters but on the
same plant; the narrow yellow-green sepals are
about as long as the obovate or spatulate bright
yellow bluntish petals; the stamens of the sterile
flowers are nearly as long as the petals, those of
th-" fertile flowers ver}^ short. The widely diver-
gent samaras are smooth, 2 to 2.5 cm. long, the
wing 8 to 10 mm. wide.
The tree is of great beauty and adapted to
lawn and park planting in shaded situations; its
wood is Ught brown, with a specific gravity of
0.52, It is also called Striped dogwood, Whistle
wood and Pigeon wood.
Fig. 589. — Striped Maple.
3. BROAD-LEAVED MAPLE— Acer macrophyUum Pursh
A forest tree of the Pacific coast, attaining a height of at least 32 meters and
a trunk diameter of about i meter, and ranging from southern Alaska to southern
Cahfomia, and known also as White
maple.
The furrowed brown bark is SQaly
and rather thick. The twigs are quite
smooth, at first fight green, red in the
winter and subsequently gray. When
unfolding, the leaves are densely hairy,
but soon become smooth above, and
at maturity have only a few hairs in
tufts at the axils of the veins beneath ;
they are nearly orbicular in outline,
or somewhat wider than long, the
petiole often as long as the blade, the
latter deeply 5-lobed, or sometimes 3-
lobed, cordate at the base, rather
leathery and 2 to 3 dm. across when
fully grown, dark green and somewhat
Fig. 590. — Broad-Leaved Maple. shining above, paler and with the veins
ver}^ prominent beneath, the pointed lobes wavy-margined, coarsely toothed, or
again lobcd. The flowers are in long, drooping racemes at the ends of the
642
The Maples
branches, and appear in spring after the leaves are grown, both sterile and fertile
ones usually in the same clusters; the sepals are obovate, blunt, yellow, and about
as long as the narrower yellow petals; in the sterile flowers the stamens are
nearly twice as long as the petals; in tlie pistillate flowers they are very short. The
samaras vary from 4 to 6 cm. in length; the somewhat divergent wings are i to 2
cm. wide, and the seed-bearing part is densely covered with long hairs.
The tree is hardy as far north as southern New York, but does not succeed
very well in eastern North America, while doing splendidly in European parks.
Its wood furnishes a very valuable lumber, with specific gravity of about 0.49; it
is soft and reddish brown, and is extensively used in the West for furniture and
in carpentry.
The Sycamore Maple, Acer Pseudo-Plataniis Linnaeus, attaining a height of 24 meters, a
rapid growing shade tree introduced from Europe, is a beautiful tree, occasionally spontaneous,
especially about our eastern cities. Its 5- to 7-lobed leaves are coarsely round- or blunt-toothed,
shallowly heart-shaped at the base, 8 to 15 cm. broad, dark green and smooth above, pale, glau-
cous and hairy on the broad veins beneath. The flowers appear in June in many-flowered,
pendulous racemes. Its fruit is large and smooth.
4. VINE MAPLE— Acer circinatum Pursh
The common name Vine maple refers to the traihng or half-cHmbing habit
of this interesting tree, which grows naturally along streams and lakes, often
formmg almost impenetrable thickets, from British Columbia to northern Cali-
fornia, mainly near the coast. It is often
shrubby in habit, but sometimes forms
trunks 12 to 15 meters long and i dm. thick.
It is known also as Mountain maple.
Its bark is reddish brown, thin and
nearly smooth. The young twigs are
smooth, green to red-brown, sometimes
covered with bloom. The petioles of the
leaves are shorter than the blades; the
leaves are quite silky-hairy when young,
but are smooth at maturity, except for a
few long silky hairs at the base of the
blade on the under side; the blades are
Fig. 591. — Vine Maple. orbicular in outline, or somewhat wider
than long, thin, bright green on both surfaces, but a little paler beneath than
above, 5 to 15 cm. across, or those of young shoots larger, cordate or sometimes
nearly truncate at the base, digitately 5-lobed to 9-lobed, the lobes lanceolate,
sharp-pointed, and sharply toothed. The sterile and fertile flowers are borne
together in nodding cor>'mbs at the ends of the twigs, and open from April to June,
while the leaves are still young; the oblong pointed red or purple sepals are pro-
vided with long silky hairs; the hooded greenish petals are much shorter than the
Dwarf Maple
643
sepals, but they are longer than the stamens in the pistillate flowers, while the
stamens of the sterile flowers are much longer than the sepals. The samaras arc
smooth, soon red, and diverge from each other as widely as is possible; they are
about 3 cm. long, the wing 8 to 15 mm. wide.
The wood is used in small quantities for the handles of tools; it is hard, light
brown, with a specific gravity of 0.67. The tree succeeds well in cultivation and
is of great beauty. Professor Greene has described Acer Macounii, from specimens
collected by Mr. J. M. Macoun, in British Columbia, as distinct from the Vine
Maple.
5. MODOC MAPLE — Acer modocense Greene
This recently described tree is a native of northern California, related to the
Vine maple, but apparently distinct from
• it, though known as yet only from a few
specimens.
The bark of twigs is smooth, faintly
shining, Hght brown. The leaves are
thin, nearly orbicular in outline, 5 to 6
cm. broad when mature, with 5 radiat-
ing ovate lobes which are pointed and
sharply irregularly toothed; the leaf-sur-
faces are nearly equally light green on
both sides, the under surface somewhat
hairy on the veins and at the end of the
slender smooth stalk, which is from 2 to
3 cm. in length. The small flowers are
described as green or greenish white, the
sepals oval and but httle longer than the
petals. The samaras diverge nearly at
Fig. 592. — Modoc Maple.
180°, the seed-bearing part plump, strongly ner^-ed, 5 mm. long, and nearly as
thick as long, the oblong blunt wing nearly 2 cm. long and about 8 mm. wide.
6. DWARF MAPLE— Acer glabrum Torrey
This small tree or shrub occurs along streams and on hillsides from Montana
and Idaho to Wyoming, wt=tem Nebraska, throughout Colorado to New Y, j
and Arizona, and also in the Sie^- Nevada Mountains of Cahfomi-
a maximum height of only about t eters, and its tnmk is not J- ^ ^
2 dm. in thickness. It is also called SI "ubby maple.
Its bark is thin and red-brown. The *wigs are smooth
come red-brown; the long-stalked thin leave
when very young, nearly orbicular in outlin
o
644
The Maples
— Dwarf Maple.
across, 3-lobed or 5-lobed, or often 3-parted,
rather dark green above, and apple-green on
the under side, the lobes pointed or blunt,
sharply toothed, the middle lobe narrowed at
the base, rhombic in outline. The flowers are
mostly dioecious, in small sessile or short-
stalked corymbs or cor}'mb-Uke racemes, open-
ing in May; the sepals are blunt, oblong or ob-
long-spatulate, petal-hke; the petals are oblong
or linear-oblong, yellow-green, and vary from
haK as long to about the length of the sepals;
the stamens, even those of the sterile flowers,
are not longer than the sepals; the samaras are
smooth, shining, 1.5 to 3 cm. long, more or less
diverging, the wing 8 to 12 mm. wide.
The wood is close-grained, light brown and
hard, with a specific gravity of about 0.60; it is
not of commercial importance.
7. DOUGLAS' MAPLE — Acer Douglasii Hooker
Douglas' maple much resembles the Dwarf maple, and has been considered
by several authors as not at all different from that species, but a study of many
specimens of both leads us to re-
gard the two as distinct. It ranges
from Alaska through British Co-
lumbia to Alberta, Montana, Idaho,
and Oregon. While usually a bush,
it sometimes attains the habit of a
tree and reaches a height of about
10 meters.
The bark is smooth and red-
brown, the twigs purple. The leaves
differ from those of the Dwarf maple
in being relatively large, often 8 to
10 cm. across, and as a rule are less
lobed, although sometimes
•^^e middle lobe is, how-
tiic
Fir.. 594. — Douglas' Maple.
itlinc, little or not at all nar^ wer at the base than above it; the
harply toothed all a und, pale green beneath, dark green
' vcUow dioeciouf tlowers are borne in short corymb-like
'eaves are partly grown; the stamens of the
^ spatulate or nearly linear sepals and petals.
Silver Maple
645
The samaras are smooth, 2 to 3 cm, long, the erect or more or less divergent wings
8 to 13 mm. wide.
8. SILVER MAPLE — Acer saccharinum Linnaeus
Acer dasycarpiim Ehrhart
Preferring sandy river-banks, the Silver maple, or Soft maple as it is often
called, ranges from New Brunswick to southern Ontario and South Dakota, south-
ward to Florida, Missouri, and the Indian Territor}-, attaining a maximum height
of about 40 meters and a trunk diameter of
about 1.4 meters. It is also known as River
maple. Water maple. White maple and Creek
maple.
The brown bark of old trunks splits frecl}-
into thin scales, that of the hmbs and young
trunks is smooth and gray; the young twigs are
green and smooth, but early become brown.
The leaf-stalks are long and slender, the leaf-
blades nearly orbicular in outhne, bright green
on the upper side, nearly w^hite and often silvery
beneath, hairy on the under side when young,
but both surfaces smooth at maturity; they are
5-lobed to beyond the middle, the lobes pointed,
coarsely and sharply toothed, or again lobed.
The flowers appear in earliest spring in dense
clusters much ahead of the leaves, the sterile and ^''^- 595- - Silver Maple,
fertile ones in separate clusters, sometimes both on the same tree, sometimes on
different trees; they are greenish yellow or reddish; there are no petals; the calyx
has 5 short teeth and in the sterile flowers is nearly tubular with the stamens pro-
jecting far beyond it, but in the fertile flowers it is cup-shaped and not longer than
the stamens, the ovary- being densely hair\'. The young samaras are hair}', but
soon become smooth and more or less divergent; when ripe they are 5 to 7 cm.
long with a wing 1.8 mm. wide or less.
The Silver maple is one of the most rapid-growing trees, and is used in large
quantities for street planting, the brittleness of its wood being its only drawback
for this purpose; violent summer gales will sometimes strew the ground with its
branches. A number of varieties have been propagated and extensively planted
for ornamental purposes.
The wood is hard, brittle, light brown, with a specific gravity of 0.53, and is
used for furniture and to a Hmited extent in carpentr}^ A small amount of maple
sugar is locally made from the sap.
646
The Maples
9. RED MAPLE — Acer rubrum Linnccus
The Red maple, one of the most beautiful of American trees, grows naturally
all over the eastern United States and Canada from Nova Scotia to Georgia, and
perhaps to northern Florida, westward to Manitoba, Wisconsin, Missouri, and
Texas. It prefers wet soil, and often forms forests or groves in swampy lands,
but often occurs on hillsides. It attains a maximum height of about 40 meters
and a trunk diameter of about 1.5 meters.
Fig. 596. — Red Maple, New York Botanical Garden.
The bark is not ver}' thick, that of young trunks being smooth and gray, that
of old trees darker in color, shaggy, separating in long plates or scales. The young
twigs are smooth and green, soon becoming red. The leaves are 1.5 dm. long or
less, long-stalked, broadly ovate or nearly orbicular in outHne, rather thin, usually
5-lobed, often 3-lobed, mostly rounded or subcordate at the base, at first more or
less hairy on the under side, but when mature usually nearly or quite smooth on
both surfaces, light green above, and pale green or whitish beneath; the lobes are
Narrow Fruited Maple
647
coarsely toothed. The red, scarlet or rarely yellow flowers appear in dense clus-
ters before the leaves at the axils of leaves of the preceding season, some of the
clusters composed of staminate and some of
pistillate flowers, either on the same or on
different trees; the flowers are stalked, and the
stalks of the pistillate ones greatly elongate as
the fruit matures; the sepals are oblong, blunt,
wavy-margined or nearly entire, and about as
long as the similar narrower petals ; the stami-
nate flowers have from 3 to 8 stamens with
filaments two or three times as long as the se-
pals; the pistillate flowers have a smooth ovary
and 2 long styles, which are united at the
base, and stamens shorter than the sepals.
The red or scarlet samaras vary from 2 to 3.5
cm. long and from 6 to 10 mm. wide, the wing
broadest at or above the middle, the seed-
bearing part sHghtly striate and about 6 mm.
long.
Fig. 597. — Red Maple.
The tree is of rapid growth, and is a great
favorite for road and park planting, but is not usually adapted to city streets; it
is little attacked by either insects or fungi. The foliage turns red or scarlet in late
autumn and contributes much to the autumn coloration of the forest of eastern
North America. The wood is hght brown or reddish brown, not strong, with a
specific gravity of about 0.62, and is largely
used for furniture and wooden- ware. Among
local common names for this tree are Swamp
maple. Shoe-peg maple. Soft maple. Scarlet
maple. Water maple, and ^Vhite maple.
10. NARROW FRUITED MAPLE
Acer stenocarpum Britton, new species
This name is given to small trees grow-
ing in flinty soil at Allenton, St. Louis county,
Missouri, from which specimens were col-
lected by Mr. G. W. Lettcrman in 1884, in-
asmuch as the fruit seems to be quite differ-
ent from that of any forms of the Red maple.
Fig. 598. - Narrow Fruited Maple. ^j^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^.^.^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^
maple, thin, 3-lobed or 5-lobed, light green above and pale beneath. The red
flowers appear before the leaves. The samara are borne on exceeding slender
stalks, 5 to 7 cm. long; they are almost hnear, not widened above, about 2 cm. long.
648
The Maples
and 3 to 5 mm. wide, slightly cun-cd, the seed-bearing part about 5 mm. long and
very strongly striate.
II. CAROLINA MAPLE— Acer carolinianum Walter
Acer micro phylliim Pax. Acer tomentosum Pax
While closely related to the Red maple, this tree of the southern United States
differs from it so markedly as to
warrant its recognition as a species.
In New Jersey, where both forms oc-
cur, there is no difficulty in telling
them apart at a glance when in foli-
age. The most northern point at
which we have observed the Carolina
maple is near Stroudsburg, in eastern
Pennsylvania, but it is reported from
Massachusetts; it is plenty in south-
central New Jersey and thence south
to Florida, extending west to Texas
and to southern Missouri.
The bark of the trunk is light
gray and relatively smooth. The
leaves are dark green on the upper
surface, white-glaucous, and more
Fig. 599. — Carolina Maple.
or less hairy on the under side, at least along the veins, thicker than those of the
Red maple, usually 3-lobed and obovate in outline and narrowed or wedge-shaped
at the base, but sometimes 5-lobed and nearly orbicular, varying greatly on the
same tree; they are rarely ovate and without lobes; the margin is toothed. The
fruit closely resembles that of the Red maple, is bright red or sometimes yellow,
and is nearly fully grown before the leaves unfold.
This tree was described by Professor Alphonso Wood as Acer ruhrum variety
Iridens, in allusion to its prevailingly 3-lobed leaves.
12. DRUMMOND'S MAPLE — Acer Drummondii Hooker and Arnott
A tall swamp tree, with scaly bark, occurring from Missouri to Texas and east-
ward to Georgia and Florida, attaining a height of at least 30 meters. It is related
to the Red maple of the North, and has been regarded by some authors as a form
of that tree.
The young twigs are white-woolly, but soon become smooth. The long-stalked
leaves are woolly on both sides at the time of unfolding but soon become smooth
and dark green on the upper side, but remain woolly, often densely so, on the lower
surface, at least along the veins, until they fall away in the autumn; they are
Sugar Maple
649
3-lobed, or sometimes 5-lobed, usually cor-
date or truncate at the base, very light
green or nearly white beneath, often 12 cm.
across; the pointed lobes are very coarsely
toothed or again lobed. The flowers are
dioecious, so far as they are known, and
appear before the leaves very early in the
season. The samaras are larger than those
of the Red maple, being 3.5 to 6.2 cm. long,
nearly erect or somewhat divergent, with a
wing I to 2 cm. in width.
The persistently woolly leaves and large
fruit seem to mark this southern tree as
specifically different from the northern Red
maple.
The wood of Drummond's maple is very
similar to that of the Red maple.
Fig. 600. — Drummond's Maple.
13. SUGAR MAPLE— Acer Saccharum Marshall
Acer saccharinum Wangenheim, not Linnaeus
The Sugar maple prefers rocky uplands, and is often called Rock maple. Sugar
tree, and Hard maple; it is a grand tree, sometimes attaining a height of 40 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 1.5 meters, perfect
specimens appearing when in leaf, like great
round domes. It ranges from Newfoundland
to Georgia, but south of Mar}'land is rare near
the coast, and extends westward to Manitoba,
Nebraska, and Texas.
The bark of aid trunks is channelled, brown
and scaly, that of young ones light brown and
smooth. The young twigs are smooth and
green, but soon become brown or orange-
brown; the inner bud-scales are silky, becom-
ing 2 to 4 cm. long in unfolding, and hght ycl-
\o\\\ The long-stalked spreading leaves are
rather thin in texture, dark green above, paler
green or quite glaucous beneath, hair}' on the
under side when young, but nearly or quite
smooth when mature; they are orbicular in out-
line or wider than long, 5-Iobed or 3-lobcd, 8
to 15 cm. broad, and more or less cordate at
Fig. 601.
Sugar Maple,
the base; the pointed lobes var\' from coarsely toothed to entire-margined. The
650
The Maples
yellow flowers appear with the leaves, or a few days before them, in clusters at
and near the ends of twigs of the preceding season; they are long-stalked and
drooping, the tree being conspicuous when in bloom; the staminate and pistillate
flowers are in separate clusters; the pedicels and 5-Iobed calyx are provided with
long hairs ; there are no petals ; the staminate flowers have about 7 stamens twice
as long as the calyx; in the pistillate flowers the stamens are only about as long
as the calyx and the oxsLvy is sHghtly hair)\ The samaras vary from 3 to 4 cm.
in length, the seed-bearing part about i cm. long and strongly reticulated, the
parallel or shghtly divergent wings 1.3 cm. wide or less.
This tree and the closely related Black maple are the principal sources of
maple sugar. The wood has a specific gravity of about 0.7c, is light reddish brown,
and more valuable than that of any other maple, being used in large amounts for
furniture, flooring, decorative work, tool-handles, shoe-pegs, and in ship-building;
birdseye and curled maple, so much prized for cabinet work, are this wood with
an irregular or twisted grain. The tree is of rather slow growth, but otherwise
very desirable for road and park planting. Its foliage turns from yellow to orange
or scarlet in the early autumn and is a striking feature of the forests at that time
of year.
Rugel's maple (Acer Rugelii Pax) is a form of the Sugar maple with small
leaves, the lobes of which are usually without teeth; it occurs from Georgia and
North CaroHna through Tennessee to Missouri, and locally further north; it does
not seem to be a distinct species.
The Norway Maple, Acer platanoides Linnaeus, a tree of northern Europe, much planted
as a favorite shade tree and attaining a height of 30 meters is occasionally spontaneous about
cities and towns. Its usually 5-lobed leaves are sharp or taper-pointed and coarsely sharp-
toothed, deeply heart-shaped at the base, 9 to 15 cm. broad,
dull green and smooth above, light green, smooth and
prominently thin veined beneath, these exuding a milky juice
on being punctured. The flowers which appear in June
are yellowish green, in pendulous corymbs, the broad wings
of the fruit spreading at right angles. The foliage turns a
bright yellow in autumn.
14. BLACK MAPLE — Acer nigrum
F. A. Michaux.
This tree has often been regarded as a variety of
the Sugar maple, but recent studies by many bota-
nists indicate that it is specifically distinct. Like its
relative, it is an upland species, and is known to
grow naturally from Quebec to Georgia, South
Dakota, Kansas, and Louisiana; within this area it
locally entirely replaces the Sugar maple, while in
other locahties it is not known to exist, its distribution being pecuhar in this re-
FiG. 602. — Black Maple.
Florida Sugar Maple
651
spect. While commonly smaller, it sometimes attains as great a size as the Sugar
maple, and is also known as Black sugar maple.
The old bark is dark brown or nearly black, fissured and scaly. The young
twigs are usually hair)^, yellowish green, becoming orange-brown and smooth.
The leaves are often wider than long, sometimes 2 dm. broad, cordate at the base,
with the basal lobes often overlapping, dull darkish green above and nearly of
the same hue beneath, 3-lobed or 5-lobed, with the lobes entire or wavy-margined,
rarely with one or two large teeth ; they are quite densely hairy beneath when young,
and somewhat hairy, at least on the veins, when mature; the leaf-stalks are also
hairy, at least when young, and are expanded at the base, often bearing stipules
which are sometimes 3 or 4 cm. long. The flowers are borne on drooping, hairy
pedicels, and closely resemble those of the Sugar maple. The samaras are nearly
the same as those of the Sugar maple.,-but the wings are usually more divergent.
The Black maple is a very attractiA^e shade tree, but is not as much planted as
the Sugar maple. Its wood is very similar to that of the Sugar maple.
15. FLORIDA SUGAR MAPLE — Acer floridanum (Chapman) Pax
Acer saccharinum floridanum Chapman
This southern relative of the Sugar maple is a graceful tree, rarely more than
18 meters high, with a maximum trunk diameter of about i meter. The bark is
chalky white, that of old trunks
rough, that of young trees smooth
or nearly so. The tree grows
naturally in river swamps from
Georgia and Florida to Louisiana,
and is reported to exist further
west in Texas and northern
Mexico.
The young twigs are smooth
and green, soon turning brown.
The slender-stalked leaves are
orbicular in outline, or often
wider than long, 5 to 9 cm.
broad, deep green above, glau-
cous and smooth or somewhat
hairy on the veins beneath, trun-
cate at base, or but sHghtly cor-
date, 3-lobed or 5-lobed, with
Fig. 603. — Florida Sugar Maple.
short, blunt or pointed, entire or wavy-margined lobes. The flowers resemble
those of the Sugar maple, but are smaller and shorter stalked, appearing with the
leaves, the drooping pedicels and the 5-lobed calyx hair}-. The samaras are green,
1.5 to 3 cm. long, the more or less divergent wings 8 mm. wide or less.
652
The Maples
This interesting tree differs from the others of the Sugar maple group in growing
in wet soil, they being upland species.
1 6. WHITE-BARKED SUGAR MAPLE — Acer leucoderme Small
This, the smallest of the eastern Sugar maples, inhabits rocky river-banks and
ravines from North Carohna and Georgia westward to Arkansas and Louisiana.
It is not known to become more than 13 meters high, nor to form a trunk more
than 0.5 meters in thickness, and is often a mere shrub.
The bark of old trunks is smooth and white, or brown and ridged at the base
of the tree ; that of the branches is
gray or reddish. The young twigs
are smooth and green, but soon
become red-brown and shining.
The leaves are usuallv broader
than long, but sometimes nearly
orbicular in outhne, 5 to 10 cm.
across, 3-lobed to 5-lobed, dark
green and smooth above, Hghter
green and hairy beneath, even
when old, truncate to cord-ate at
the base, the pointed lobes with
one or more large teeth, or wavy-
margined. The flowers resemble
those of the Florida sugar maple,
being smaller than those of the
Sugar maple of the North, and
appear with the leaves on filiform
smooth drooping pedicels; the ca-
FiG. 604. — White-barked Sugar Maple.
lyx is undulately 5-lobed; the ovary and young fruit are hairy, the ripe samaras
are red, i to 2 cm. long, smooth, the parallel or divergent wings 5 to 8 mm. wide.
The tree has been planted for shade in some southern cities; it is probably not
hardy north of Virginia.
17. MOUNTAIN SUGAR MAPLE - Acer grandidentatum Nuttall
A species of the Rocky mountain region, this tree ranges from northern ISIon-
tana to eastern Utah, Wyoming, western Texas, and New Mexico, extending
southward into Mexico. It sometimes reaches a height of 13 meters, with a trunk
2.5 dm. in diameter. It prefers the sides of canons and banks of streams.
The bark of old trunks is dark bro\^^l and scaly, that of young trees lighter
brown. The smooth green young twigs soon turn brown. The rather stout-
petioled leaves are usually wider than long, 5 to 9 cm. wide, 3-lobed with coarsely
Ash-Leaved Maple
(^53'
toothed lobes, short-pointed, cor-
date at the base, the upper surface
bright green and smooth, the lower
somewhat paler green and fmely
haiiy, even when old. Like the
other Sugar maples the flowers are
in clusters at and near the ends of
the twigs, and appear with the leaves
or a little before them. The droop-
ing pedicels and the 5-lobed calyx
are hair\'; the stamens of the starhi-
nate flowers are relatively shorter
than those of the eastern trees,
being about one and one-half times
Fig. 605. — Mountain Sugar Maple.
as long as the calyx. The samaras vary from 2 to 4 cm. long, the broad wings
1.5 cm. wider or less, either nearly parallel or quite widely divergent.
The wood is hard, close-grained, light brown to nearly white; its specific gravity
is about 0.69.
Local names are Large-toothed maple. Hard maple, and Western sugar maple.
18. ASH-LEAVED MAPLE — Acer Negundo Linnaeus
Negundo aceroides Moench
The Ash-leaved maple, often called Box elder, ranges naturally from western
Vermont to western New Jersey and northern Florida, westward to Ontario,
Manitoba, South Dakota, Kansas, Texas, and Mexico.
It is not native along the Atlantic coast, but is widely
planted for ornament. The tree attains a maximum
height of about 23 meters and a trunk diameter of 1.5
meters. It prefers the banks of streams and lakes, or
the edges of marshes.
The bark of old trees is quite thick, ridged, scaly
and light brown, that of young trees is smooth and
gray. The young twigs are green, and either smooth
or finely velvety; they become purplish and covered
with a bloom. The leaves are pinnately compound,
usually with 3 leaflets, but there are sometimes 5 leaf-
lets; the end leaflet is long-stalked, the lateral ones
short-stalked ; in shape the leaflets vary from ovate to
oval, ovate-lanceolate or obovate; they are thin, entire-
margined or coarsely toothed, rarely 3-lobed, some-
what hairy on both sides when young, smooth above or minutely papillose when
old, more or less hairj' on the under side when mature, bright green on both sur-
FiG. 606. — Ash-leaved Maple.
654
The Maples
faces or a little paler beneath than above, and vary from 5 to 13 cm. in length.
The clustered flowers are without petals and borne on the twigs of the past sea-
son, at the scars of last year's leaves, and appear with the new leaves or a Httle
before them, the staminate and pistillate flowers on different trees; the staminate
ones are on hair\' drooping pedicels, have a 5-lobed calyx and about 5 stamens
with long-pointed anthers much projecting beyond it; the pistillate flowers are in
smooth or hairy drooping racemes, which greatly elongate as the fruit matures,
have 5 Hnear-oblong sepals, a slightly hairy ovary, 2 slender styles and no stamens.
The samaras are smooth or a little hairy, divergent at various angles, 2 to 4 cm.
long, the wings i cm. wide or less, the oblong ridged seed-bearing part i to 1.5
cm. long, the united portion constricted near the base, a feature which distinguishes
this eastern tree from the western species of Ash-leaved maples.
The wood is white, soft and weak, with a specific gravity of about 0.43, and
is used to some extent for furniture, wooden ware, and in carpentry; some maple
sugar is locally made from the sap. The tree is of rapid growth, and very exten-
sively used in planting along roads and in parks. A very large number of garden
forms have been developed from seeds in European nurseries. Among common
names for the tree are Three-leaved maple. Black ash, and Sugar ash. A Texan
form is more hsLiry and has been described as a distinct species {Acer texanum
Pax).
The Ash-leaved maples differ from the typical maples in their compound
leaves, and are often regarded as form-
ing a separate genus {Rulac Adanson ;
Negundo Moench).
19. CALIFORNIA ASH-LEAVED
' MAPLE
Acer californicum (Torrey and Gray)
Dietrich
Negundo calijornicum Torrey and Gray
The California Ash-leaved maple
has been regarded by some authors
as a variety of the eastern tree, but it
seems to us better to consider it as
a distinct species. It is, so far as
known, restricted to CaHfomia, occur-
ring along streams and in canons. It
sometimes attains a height of 16 me-
ters and a trunk diameter of nearly i meter.
The young twdgs are finely velvety, green, turning gray. The leaves usually
have 3 leaflets, though there are sometimes 5; these are ovate or ovate-lanceolate
Fig. 607. — California Ash-leaved Maple.
Western Ash-Leaved Maple
655
in outline, or the terminal one nearly round in outline, pointed, ver)' coarsely toothed
or sometimes 3-lobed, densely hairy on the under side even when nearly or (juite
mature, and more or less hair}' on the uj)per surface. The llowers api)ear with
the leaves, and resemble those of Acer Negundo, but the pedicels, calyx, ovar}',
and styles are densely woolly. The samaras are about 3 cm. long, little divergent,
fmely hairy even when ripe, the united part not constricted at the base, the usually
incurved wings i cm. wide or less, often overlapping, adnate to the seed-bearing
part only to or above the middle.
The wood is nearly white, and a little heavier than that of the eastern tree; its
specific gravity being about 0.48. The tree is planted for shade in California,
and is locally known as False maple and Box elder maple.
20. WESTERN ASH-LEAVED MAPLE— Acer interior Britton, new species
The Ash-leaved maple which inhabits the central part of the United States,
ranging from Alberta and Montana to Wyoming, western Nebraska, Kansas,
Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, differs
both from the eastern species and from that
of California in features which while indi-
viduallv seem insignificant are coUectivelv
sufficient to warrant its recognition as a
species. It is also known as Water ash.
Its young twigs are either smooth or
finely velvety, and covered with a bloom.
The leaflets are firm in texture, thicker than
those of Acer Negundo, somewhat hair\' on
the under side, at least along the veins, and
usually have some hairs on the veins upon
the upper surface; they are coarsely
toothed, or often lobed, and usually 3 in
number, rarely 5. The anthers are not
long-pointed. The samaras are more or
less divergent, smooth when mature and 3
or 4 cm. long, the outer edge of the wing
straight or somewhat curv^ed, the wing ad-
nate to the seed-bearing part to about the
middle, the united portions not constricted at the base when ripe, though some-
times sHghtly so when the fruit is young.
This tree ranges further north than the eastern species, and is more hardy in
cultivation. It is sometimes planted in the East, and extensively as a shade tree
within its range. The type specimen of the species is one collected by Professors
Underwood and Selby on chapparal covered hills southeast of Ouray, Colorado,
Sept. 7, 1901 (No. 11).
Fig. 608. — Western Ash-lcaved Maple.
656
The Maples
21. KING'S ASH-LEAVED MAPLE— Acer Kingii Britton, new species
This tree inhabits the Wahsatch Mountains of Utah. It is apparently nearest
related to the next preceding species, having similar fohage, and the united part
of the samaras is not constricted at the base, but the samara-wings are adnate to
the seed-bearing parts down to the point at which these are united.
Fig. 609. — King's Ash-leaved Maple.
The only specimens known to us were collected in the Wahsatch Mountains at
about 2000 meters ahitude, by Dr. Sereno Watson, during Mr. Clarence King's
Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel, August, 1869 (No. 216); here the
trees are stated to be abundant. The specimens have finely velvety twigs, the leaves
with 3 leaflets, which are pointed and coarsely toothed, and very long racemes.
The long fihform pedicels of the fruit are somewhat hairy and the samaras are
about 3.5 cm. long, httle divergent, the wings curved on the back and i cm. wide
or less.
THE BUCKEYE FAMILY
iESCULACEiE Lindley
HIS family consists of 2 genera with about 16 species of trees or shrubs
of the northern hemisphere. They are of Httle economic value, but
are great favorites as shade trees and of some importance for timber.
The ^£,sculace(B have opposite, stalked, digitately compound leaves,
consisting of 3 to 9 leaflets, without stipules. The flowers are borne in conspicuous
terminal panicles; they are polygamous, unsymmetrical and irregular. Their calyx
is 5-lobed, the lobes unequal; the corolla is of 4 or 5 elongated, unequal petals
consisting of a blade and a claw; the disk is annular or one-sided, with 5 to 8 sta-
mens inserted upon it, their filaments distinct, very long; anthers introrse; the
ovary is sessile, 3-celled; styles elongated and united, the stigma entire; ovules 2 in
each cell. The fruit is a leathery, dehiscent, smooth or spiny capsule; seeds large,
usually but one or two, with a thick, tough testa and large, thick cotyledons; there
is no endosperm. In addition to the genus Msculus there is a Mexican genus,
Billia, with one species.
THE BUCKEYES
GENUS .ffiSCULUS LINN^US
[ESCULUS, an ancient name of some other tree, was applied to the
Horse-chestnuts and Buckeyes by Linnaeus, and has been their generic
name since his time. The genus includes both trees and shrubs
distributed in temperate regions of Europe, Asia, and America, ex-
tending in the New World as far south as Venezuela. There are about four Asiatic
species known; the Horsechestnut, the type of the genus, is a native of southeastern
Europe, while in America there are about 10 species, one of them in northern
South America, two in Mexico, 7 within the hmits of the United States, of which
5 are trees, while M. parviflora Walter, of the southeastern States, and ^E. argiita
Buckley, of the plains from Missouri to Texas, are known only as shrubs.
The bark of these plants is unpleasantly odorous, the twigs round, the leaf
scars triangular, the buds large and in some species very resinous. The showy
flowers are borne in large clusters at the ends of branches, many of them imper-
fect and sterile; they appear after the leaves are nearly or quite fully grown; the
tubular to befl-shaped calyx is unequally 5-lobed; there are 4 or 5 unequal clawed
petals, when 4 they are in 2 pairs; the filaments are filiform. The capsule has 3
657
658
The Buckeyes
leathery valves which split when it is ripe to release the one to ihree large shin-
ing seeds.
Capsule spiny, at least when young; stamens exserted.
Flowers white, mottled with yellow and purple; petals 5; intro-
duced European tree.
Flowers yellow or greenish yellow; petals 4; native tree.
Capsule smooth; petals 4; native trees.
Stamens much exserted; winter-buds resinous; California tree.
Stamens included or but little exserted; winter-buds not resinous;
eastern and southern trees.
Calyx tubular, red or reddish.
Leaflets densely tomentose beneath; seeds yellow-brown.
Leaflets glabrate beneath; seeds dark brown.
Calyx oblong-campanulate, greenish.
1. M. Hippecastanurn.
2. ^. glabra.
3. JE. calijornica.
4. M. aiistrina.
5. ^. Pavia.
6. ^. octandra.
I. HORSECHESTNUT — -fflsculus Hippocastanum Linnsus
The Horsechestnut, a native of Asia, has long been cultivated for shade and
ornament in Europe and America, and it has escaped from cultivation locally in
the eastern United States. It is a ver)' large
tree with spreading branches, sometimes at-
taining a height of about 30 meters, with a
trunk 2 meters in diameter.
The bark of the old trees is i cm. thick
or more, shallowly fissured into small irregular
scaly dull brown plates. The young twigs are
smooth, round, reddish brown, with large leaf
scars, the large pointed buds very resinous-
sticky. The long-stalked leaves are haiiy
when young, but smooth or nearly so when
old; there are 5 or 7 leaflets, dark green on
the upper surface, paler green beneath; they
are obovate or oblanceolate, i to 2 dm. long,
abruptly pointed, irregularly finely toothed,
wedge-shaped at the base. The flowers are
in large clusters often 3 dm. long, at the ends
of branches, and open in June or July; the axis of the cluster, the flower-stalks
and calyx are finely hairy; the calyx is bell-shaped and 5-lobed; the petals arc
white, blotched with red and yellow, unequal in size and shape; the stamens are
longer than the petals and curved upward. The globular fruit is covered with
prickles and contains several shining brown seeds.
The tree is called Chestnut in England, as distinguished from the Sweet chestnut
iCastanea), and is also known as Bongay. It is much used as a stireet tree in
European cities.
Fig. 610. — Horsechestnut.
California Buckeye
659
2. OHIO BITCKE YE — -ffisculus glabra Willdenow
This tree grows best in moist soil, especially along and near rivers, and is dis-
tributed from western Pennsylvania to Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, and the Indian
Territory. It is knovra also as Fetid buckeye and Stinking buckeye, from its
unpleasant odor, and as American Horse-
chestnut. It attains a maximum height of
about 25 meters, with a trunk diameter of 6
dm., but is usually smaller, commonly not over
15 meters in height.
The thick bark is gray, channelled, break-
ing up into plates. The young twigs are
brown and finely hair}% becoming smooth and
reddish brown. The terminal buds are
about 2 cm. long, pointed, their scales keeled,
nearly triangular, the outer ones covered with
a thin bloom. The leaves have 5 or 7 oblong
to obovate thin leaflets, which are quite hairy
when young, but only slightly hairy on the
pale green under side when old, 7 to 18 cm.
long, sharply and irregularly toothed with
small teeth, sharply rather long-pointed, nar-
rowed at the base and short- stalked ; the
rather stout leaf-stalks are 15 cm. long or less, finely hairy w^hen young, but become
smooth or nearly so. The tree flowers in April or May, having numerous yellow
or greenish fiowei*s in dense finely hairy panicles; the flower-stalks are about 5
mm. long; the calyx is bell-shaped, 6 to 8 mm. long, finely hairy, the short lobes
blunt; the petals are 12 to 18 mm. long, crisped, loosely hairy, the Umb longer than
the claw, that of the upper pair spatulate, narrower than that of the lateral ones; the
usually 7 stamens are considerably longer than the petals, their anthers orange;
the ovary is rough-prickly. The fruit is round or somewhat pear-shaped, 7 cm.
in diameter or less, prickly, borne on stout stalks; the seeds are somewhat flat-
tened, 2 to 4 cm. broad.
The wood is weak and soft, whitish, with a specific gravity of about 0.45, and
is used for paper-pulp, woodenware, in construction, and for artificial limbs.
611. — Ohio Buckeve.
3. CALIFORNIA BUCKEYE — iEsculus calif ornica (Spach) NuttuU
Calothyrsiis calijornica Spach
The California buckeye is a low and ver\' beautiful tree, which grows in river
valleys only in Cahfomia. It attains a maximum height of 12 to 15 meters, with
a short trunk often a meter in diameter or more, but it is usually much smaller,
and commonly only a tall shrub.
66o
The Buckeyes
Fig. 6i2. — California Buckeye.
The light gray bark is smooth or nearly so. The young twigs are gray-brown
or somewhat reddish, smooth and round. The buds are very sticky, dark brown
and pointed. The leaves usually have either 5 or 7
leaflets, rarely only 4; the leaf-stalks are grooved and
from 4 to 12 cm. long; the leaflets are lanceolate or
oblong-lanceolate, 5 to 15 cm. long, somewhat hairy
when young, pointed, smooth or nearly so when old,
vcr}' finely toothed, dark green on the upper surface,
pale green and with the veins rather conspicuous on
the under side, the base usually unequal-sided and
varying from narrowed to somewhat heart-shaped.
The dense flower-clusters are long-stalked, i to 2 dm.
long, about 6 cm. thick, their branches, the short
flower-stalks and the calyx finely and densely hairy^;
the flowers open from May to July; the calyx is nar-
rowly bell-shaped, 6 to 8 mm. long, its lobes some-
times toothed; the petals are white or pale pink,
about 2 cm. long, oblong and bluntish; the 5 or 7
stamens are nearly twice as long as the petals, their
filaments very narrow, the short anthers orange; the
ovar}^ is very hairy. The fruit is smooth, nearly pear-shaped, short- stalked, usually
oblique, 8 cm. long or less, its valves thin; it generally contains but one seed.
The wood is nearly white, dense but soft; its specific gravity is about 0.50.
The tree has been considerably planted in
California for ornament, as well as in Europe;
its leaves fall early in the season, often soon
after the time of flowering. The seeds are
roasted by the Indians, soaked in water, which
removes the poisonous principle contained in
them when fresh, and are then used as food.
4. SOUTHERN BUCKEYE
^sculus austrina Small
This small tree or shrub has been confused
with both the Sweet buckeye and the Red
buckeye. It grows in rich soil, along rivers or
in woods, from Tennessee and Missouri to
Louisiana and Texas, and perhaps occurs fur-
ther east. It is not known to attain a height
of more than 10 meters, nor a trunk diameter of over 1.5 dm., and often flowers
as a shrub.
The bark is light brown and smooth, or nearly so. The young twigs are finely
/
Fig. 613. — Southern Buckeye.
Red Buckeye
66i
hairy, becoming smooth and gray, the buds smooth, not sticky, blunt, the terminal
ones 6 mm. long or more. The leaves are usually composed of five leaflets; the
leaf-stalk is stout, finely hairy, 7 to 15 cm. long; the leaflets are usually short-
stalked, oblong- lanceolate to oblanceolate, pointed, 6 to 15 cm. long, finely and
somewhat irregularly toothed, and when mature are bright green and shining on
the upper side, but pale and densely velvety-hairy on the under surface; the lower
ones are sometimes very unequal-sided at the base. The flowers open in April
or May, the clusters i dm. long or longer, the flower-stalks densely and finely
haiiy; the calyx is finely hairy or nearly smooth, tubular or tubular- bell-shaped,
10 to 15 mm. long, its lobes short and blunt; the petals are very unequal, red,
similar to those of the Red buckeye ; the stamens are about as long as the narrower
pair of petals and have hairy filaments; the ovary is hair}\ The fruit is pear-
shaped or nearly globular, 6 cm. long or less, smooth, its valves thin; the seeds are
yellow-brown, 2 to 3.5 cm. broad.
5. RED BUCKEYE — ^sculus Pavia Linnaeus
While usually a shrub not over 4 meters high, the Red buckeye occasionally
forms a small tree 6 meters tall. It grows in rich soil, in woods and along streams,
from Virginia to Florida, westward to Missouri,
Arkansas, and Texas, flowering in March, April,
or May.
The bark is smooth and brown. The young
twigs are finely hairy or smooth, round, gray
to brown, the buds not resinous. The leaves
have 5 or 7 stalked leaflets; the slender leaf-
stalk is 15 cm. long or less; the leaflets are ob-
long, oblanceolate or obovate, rather thin, very
finely and closely toothed, 5 to 15 cm. long,
pointed, dark green, smooth and shining on the
upper surface when mature, paler green and
smooth or sUghtly hairy on the under side, the
base narrowed. The flower-clusters are i to 2
dm. long, the axis, flower-stalks, and calyx finely
hairy; the tubular calyx is reddish, about 1.5
cm. long, its lobes short and blunt; the petals are red, 2.5 to 4 cm. long, their
claws hairy, the upper pair with claws as long as the oblong blades, the lateral
pair with longer claws and nearly orbicular blades; the stamens are as long as
the petals or a httle longer, the lower parts of the filaments hair}^ The fruit is
smooth.
Fig. 614. — Red Buckeye.
662
The Buckeyes
6. SWEET BUCKEYE — -ffisculus octandra Marshall
/Esnilits fava Aiton
This tree, known also as Yellow buckeye and Big buckeye, is the largest Amer-
ican species of the genus, occasionally attaining a height of 35 meters, with a trunk
a meter in diameter; it is usually smaller, however, commonly not exceeding 20
meters in height, and is reported to flower as a shrub in western Texas. It grows
in rich soil, preferring valleys, and ranges from
western Pennsylvania to Illinois, Iowa, and the
Indian Territor)^ south to Georgia, Louisiana
and Texas, blooming, according to locality, from
March to June.
The thick bark is brown, fissured and scaly.
The young shoots are finely hair)', becoming
smooth and brown, the buds bluntish, not resi-
nous, the terminal ones 2 to 2.5 cm. long, their
ovate scales covered with a thin bluish bloom.
The leaves are more or less hairy when young;
they have 5 or 7 short-stalked or stalkless leaflets,
the slender leaf-stalk i to 1.5 dm. long, finely
hairy or smooth; the leaflets vary from oval or
elliptic to obovate, and from i to 2.5 dm. long;
they are finely toothed, long-pointed, narrowed
at the base, with the lower pair oblique, dark
green and smooth on the upper surface when
mature, yellowish green and somewhat hairy on the under side, at least along the
veins. The flower-clusters are i to 3 dm. long and finely hairy; the calyx is nar-
rowly bell-shaped, i to 1.5 cm. long, its lobes blunt; the petals are yellow or pur-
plish, 2 to 3 cm. long, those of the upper pair with oval blades nearly as long as
the hairy claw, the lateral pair with shorter blades and much longer claws; the
stamens are not longer than the petals, their filaments hairy. The fruit is obo-
void, 4 to 6 cm. thick, smooth, its valves thin; there are several seeds, 2 to 3.5
cm. broad.
The wood is white and soft, with a specific gravity of about 0.43, and is used
for artificial limbs, woodenware, and paper pulp. The tree grows rapidly and is
desirable for lawn and park planting.
Fig. 615. — Sweet Buckeye.
THE SOAPBERRY FAMILY
SAPINDACEiE R. Brown
APINDACEi^ consist of about 120 genera, comprising some 1000
species of trees, shrubs or vines, a few of them herbaceous. They
are of wide distribution, but especially numerous in the tropical regions
of the Old World. They are of no great economic value, except that
the saponin, which many of them contain, principally in their bark, renders them
of value as a vegetable soap, and to some extent in medicine.
The Sapindacece have mostly alternate, compound leaves, generally pinnate
and without stipules. The flowers are in racemose panicles or con'mbs, regular
or shghtly irregular, dioecious, polygamous, polygamo-dicecious or rarely perfect.
The calyx is cleft into 4 or 5 imbricated sepals; the corolla consists of 3 to 5 petals,
or sometimes wanting; disk fleshy, entire or lobed; stamens 5 to 10, sometimes fewer
or more, usually inserted on the disk, their filaments distinct or sometimes united
at the base; ovary 2- to 4-lobed or entire, 3-celled or 2- to 4-celled, the styles partly
united; stigma capitate or lobed, the ovules i or several in each cell. The fruit is
various, being leathery or membranous, capsular or berry-like; seeds i or more in
each cavity, bony, leathery or crustaceous, with thin fleshy endosperm or none.
In addition to the trees there are several genera of climbers in our area, the
best known being the herbaceous Balloon vines, Cardiospenmim, of which 3 species
occur in the United States. Our arborescent genera are :
Fruit berry-like, sessile; flowers regular.
Ovules solitary in each cavity of the ovary.
Ovules 2 in each cavity.
Ovary 2-celled; leaflets 2, 4, or 6.
Ovary 3-celled; leaflets 3.
Fruit a leathery capsule, stalked.
Flowers regular; ovules i in each cavity.
Flowers irregular;, ovules 2 in each cavity.
1. Sapindt(S.
2. Exothea.
3. Hypelale.
4. Cupania.
5. Ungnadia.
I. THE SOAPBERRIES
GENUS SAPINDUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
HE name Sapindus is from the Latin Sapo indicus, Indian soap, in
allusion to the saponifying properties of the berries, the pulp of which
makes a lather when rubbed up in water. About 10 species are known,-
distributed in tropical and warm-temperate regions of America and
Asia; Sapindus Saponaria Linnaeus is the type of the genus.
663
664
The Soapberries
These trees have bitter bark, round or angled twigs, ahemate pinnately com-
pound leaves without stipules, entire-margined leaflets, and very small regular
clustered dioecious or polygamous flowers, the clusters borne at the ends of branches.
The calyx is composed of 4 or 5 sepals; there are 4 or 5 petals alternate with the
sepals, in some species with 2 appendages at the base; the stamens vary from
4 to ID, those of the staminate flowers much longer than those of the pistillate
ones; the filaments are very slender or fihform, often hairy, the anthers short; the
ovary is from 2-celled to 4-cellcd, and 2-lobed to 4-lobed, with i ovule in each
cavity; the style is short, the stigma with as many lobes as the ovary. The fruit
is a smooth fleshy berry, with firm translucent pulp, containing a large seed,
which has a tuft of hairs at its base.
The North American species may be distinguished as follows:
Leaflets obtuse or acutish, not acuminate; rachis winged.
Leaflets acuminate; rachis wingless or merely margined.
Petals lanceolate; Florida tree.
Petals ovate; western tree.
1. 5. Saponaria.
2. 6'. marginatus.
3. S. Drummondii.
I. SUMAC-LEAVED SOAPBERRY— Sapindus Saponaria Linnaeus
This small tree inhabits southern Florida, the West Indies, and northern South
America. It attains a maximum height of about 15 meters, with a trunk about
5 dm. thick; the branches
are upright, the leaves
evergreen.
The thick bark is light
gray outside, falling off in
large, thin scales and ex-
posing the darker inner
layers. The young twigs
are at first angular and
green, finely hairy, becom-
ing round, fight brown,
and smooth. The leaves
are short-stalked, 2 dm.
long or less, hairy when
young, and have from 2 to
4 pairs of stalkless leaflets
with or without a terminal
Fig. 616. — Sumac-leaved Soapberry. q^c; the leaf-Stalk and
leaf- rachis are broadly winged, the leaves thus somewhat resembling those of some
sumacs; the leaflets are firm in texture, oblong, elhptic or somewhat obovate,
blunt or bluntish, 3 to 12 cm. long, narrowed at the base, bright green, smooth
and shining on the upper side when mature, paler green, strongly netted veined
Drummond's Soapberry
665
and somewhat hairy beneath. The flowers appear in early spring, the dense and
upright finely hairy clusters i to 2 dm. long; the sepals are round, blunt, about 2
mm. broad, the petals broadly obovate, about 3 mm. long, and hairy-fringed; the
stamens of staminate flowers are about as long as the petals, those of pistillate
flowers shorter; the filaments are hairy; the ovary is ovoid. The ripe fruits arc
globular, 10 to 18 mm. in diameter, shining, the pulp orange-brown, the seed black,
obovoid.
The wood is dense, light brown, heavy, its specific gravity being about 0.83.
The tree is known also as False dogwood.
2. FLORIDA SOAPBERRY— Sapindus marginatus WiUdenow
An inhabitant of moist sandy soil in Florida, this tree attains a maximum
height of about 10 meters, with a trunk 3 dm. in diameter; its branches are nearly
erect. It was first discovered in
Georgia, but is not at present known
to grow in that State; it has also been
reported as occurring on the coast of
South Carolina.
The bark is Hght brown, the young
twigs finely hairy, becoming smooth
and pale gray. The leaves are hairy
when young, becoming smooth or
nearly so, and have 7 to 13 leaflets; the
leaf-rachis is not winged, but is some-
times narrowly margined; the leaflets
are lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate,
somewhat scythe-shaped, long-pointed,
short- stalked, 5 to 15 cm. long, un-
equal-sided, bright green above, paler
on the under side; the flower-clusters
are hairy, 3 dm. long or less; the
flowers are 4 or 5 mm. wide, opening
in May and June ; the sepals are oval or nearly orbicular, blunt, the petals ovate
or oval, hair\^ with 2 basal appendages, and are longer than the sepals. The fruit
is globular or oval, 1.5 to 2 cm. long, keeled on the back, the pulp Hght yeUow
or orange, the seed browTi and obovoid.
Fig. 617. — Florida Soapberry.
3. DRUMMOND'S SOAPBERRY— Sapindus Dnunmondi Hooker and Arnott
Drummond's soapberry grows in river valleys and on hillsides, from southern
Missouri to Louisiana, the Indian Territory, New Mexico and northern Mexico.
It reaches a maximum height of about 16 meters, with a trunk 6 dm. thick, but is
666
Inkwood
usually much smaller. The tree is called Chinabcrr}- in New Mexico, and else-
where known as Wild China. Its leaves are deciduous.
The thick bark is fissured and flaky. The young twigs are densely velvety,
pale green, becoming gray and smooth, the buds
small and nearly round. The leaves are 4.5 dm.
long or less, and have 7 to 19 leaflets; the leaf-
rachis is hair)% somewhat ridged, not winged; the
leaflets are markedly scythe-shaped, very short-
stalked, 3.5 to 10 cm. long, unequal-sided, long-
pointed, obliquely broadly to narrowly lanceolate,
smooth and dull green on the upper surface when
mature, yellow green and more or less hairy be-
neath, at least on the veins. The flower-clusters
are i to 2 dm. long; the flowers, which open from
May to July, are about 4 mm. broad, the ovate
pointed or bluntish sepals shorter than the obo-
vate petals; the stamens of staminate flowers are
a Httle longer than the petals. The fruits are
globular, i to 1.5 cm. in diameter, not keeled,
the pulp yellow, drying black, the obovoid seed
dark brown.
The wood is light brown, dense but readily split, with a specific gravity of
about 0.80; it is used in basketry.
The species was formerly confused with the preceding one, and was illustrated
as such in " lUustrated Flora of the northern States and Canada."
Fig. 618. — Drummond's Soapberry.
II. INKWOOD
GENUS EXOTHEA MACFADYEN
Exothea paniculata (Jussieu )Radlkofer
Melicocca paniculata Jussieu. Exothea oblongifolia jMacfadyen
NKWOOD is probably a monotype, though a second species of the
genus has been described from Mexican specimens; the affinities of
this are uncertain, however. The tree inhabits Florida, the Bahamas,
Cuba, Porto Rico, Santo Domingo, Jamaica, St. Vincent, and Guate-
mala, attaining a height of 15 to 20 meters, with a trunk sometimes 5 dm. in diam-
eter. The generic name, given by Macfadyen, is Greek, signifying to expel, this
tree having been removed by him from the genus with which it was first associated
by Jussieu. In the Bahamas it is known as Butter-bough.
The bark is reddish brown, rather thin, scaly. The young twigs are smooth,
brown, and somewhat angled. The evergreen leaves are alternate, equally pin-
nate, with 2, 4, or 6 leaflets, rarely with but i leaflet or with 3; the leaf-stalk is
White Ironwood
667
short and there are no stipules; the leaflets are nearly or quite smooth, oblong,
elHptic or oblong-obovate, pointed, blunt or notched, entire-margined, 5 to 13 cm.
long, dark green and shining on the
upper side, Ughter green on the
under; they are narrowed at the base
and very short-stalked or stalkless.
The small dioecious or polygamous
flowers, which open in March or
April, are in terminal and axillaiy
stalked clusters; the flower-stalks
and calyx are finely hairy; there are
5 ovate, ver}' blunt persistent sepals
about 3 mm. long, and 5 white
ovate-oblong petals nearly of the
same length; the stamens are 7 or 8
in number, those of the staminate
flowers about as long as the petals,
those of pistillate flowers much shorter; the ovar}- is 2-celled, hair)', stalkless, the
style very short, the knob-like stigma turned to one side. The fruit is a globular
berry with a juicy orange-colored pulp, turning purple, 10 to 13 mm. in diameter,
the seed yellow-brown.
The heavy hard wood is red-brown, with a specific gravity of about c.95; it is
used in boat-building, for dock-piles, and for tool-handles.
Fig. 619. — Inkwood.
III. WHITE IRONWOOD
GENUS HYPELATE PATRICK BROWNE
Species Hypelate trifoliata Swartz
HIS, the only kno\\Ti species of Hypelate, is an evergreen tree, occurring
on the Keys of southern Florida, in the Bahama islands, Porto Rico,
Cuba, and Jamaica, It attains a maximum height of about 13 meters
and a trunk diameter of about 5 dm.
The thin bark is smooth or nearly so. The young twigs are round, smooth,
slender and greenish, becoming gray. The leaves are composed of 3 leaflets,
borne on a narrowly margined stalk i to 5 cm. long; there are no stipules; the
leaflets are firm in texture, obovate or spatulate, entire-margined, blunt, somewhat
pointed or rarely notched, 2 to 4.5 cm. long, finely veined, bright green and shining
on the upper surface, paler and dull on the under side, both sides smooth. The
tree flowers in" May or June, the very small monoecious or polygamous flowers
borne in long-stalked loose terminal and axillar}' clusters; there are 5 ovate blunt
sepals, which are sHghtly hair}- and haiiy-f ringed, 5 nearly round white hair}'-
f ringed petals about 2 mm. long and about as long as the sepals; the stamens
668
Cupania
Fig. 620. — White Ironwood.
number about 8, and have filiform fila-
ments, those of the staminate flowers
about as long as the petals, those of
pistillate flowers shorter; the ovary is
3-celled, somewhat 3-lobed, with 2
ovules in each cavity; the style is short
and the knob-like stigma turned to one
side. The fruits are ovoid, black, 5 to
7 mm. long, the flesh thin, the pit thick-
shelled, containing one seed.
The wood is dark brown, hard,
strong, and durable ; its specific gravity
is about 0.95, and is used for fence-
posts and tool-handles. The name
Hypelate was taken up for this tree by
P. Browne in his work on the plants of
Jamaica; it is the ancient Greek name
for the Butcher's broom of Europe
(Ruscus), which this tree little resembles, however.
IV. CUPANIA
GENUS CUPANIA [PLUMIER] LINN.EUS
Species Cupania glabra Swartz
BOUT 35 species of Cupania
are known, all trees and
shrubs, natives of tropical
America. They have un-
equally pinnate leaves, with toothed leaf-
lets and no stipules; the flowers are very
small, regular, polygamous or dioecious,
and are borne in large axillary clusters;
the fruit is a 3-lobed, 3-celled leathery
capsule, usually containing 3 seeds; Cu-
pania americana Linnaeus, a common
tree of Haiti, Cuba, and Porto Rico, is
the type of the genus.
Cupania glabra is known in the
United States only from Pine Key, south-
em Florida, where it was collected many
years ago by Blodgctt, and has not since
been observed there. It is common in
Cuba and Jamaica and occurs also in Fig. 621. — Cupania.
Spanish Buckeye
669
Central America and northern South America. In Cuba it attains a height of
12 meters or more, with a trunk at least 3 dm. thick.
The young twigs are finely hairy, becoming smooth and brown. The leaflets
vary in number from 5 to 15 ; they are oblong to oblanceolate, narrowed at the base,
firm in texture, 6 to 15 cm. long, short-stalked, blunt, strongly pinnately veined,
shallowly toothed, quite hairy when young, smooth, dark green and shining on
the upper side when mature, dull green and more or less hairy on the under surface.
The flower-clusters are finely hairy and as long as the leaves or longer; there are
5 sepals, 5 rounded petals about as long as the sepals, and about 8 stamens, those
of the staminate flowers rather longer than the petals; the style is short and 3-cleft.
The capsule is rather sharply 3-lobed, top-shaped, 11 to 14 mm. long, its stout,
stalk-like base about 5 mm. long.
V. SPANISH BUCKEYE
GENUS UNGNADIA ENDLICHER
Species Ungnadia speciosa Endlicher
NGNADIA is a monotype, occurring in Texas, New Mexico, and
northern Mexico. It sometimes forms a tree about 10 meters high,
a trunk 2 dm. thick, but is usually smaller and often shrubby. It
grows on hillsides, in canons, and along streams, and is known also
as Texan buckeye.
. The thin light gray bark is fissured, the twigs round, slender, finely hairy,
Fig. 622. — Spanish Buckeye.
becoming smooth and light brown. The buds are small and nearly globular.
The alternate leaves are pinnately compound, long-stalked, the leaflets usually 5,
6/0 Spanish Buckeye
sometimes 3 or 7, quite hairy when young, but becoming nearly or quite smooth
when old, the lateral ones nearly or quite stalkless, the end one slender-stalked;
they are lanceolate to ovate or elliptic, 5 to 12 cm. long, pointed, rather finely and
irregularly toothed, rounded or somewhat heart-shaped at the base, dark green
and shining on the upper side, paler beneath. The large deep pink flowers are
in finely hairy clusters on the sides of twigs at the axils of leaves of the preceding
season, and open at or just before the unfolding of the leaves in March or April;
their stalks are 6 to 15 mm. long, and jointed near the middle; the calyx is finely
hairy and 5-lobed very nearly to the base, the lobes oblong and bluntish; the corolla
is about 2.5 cm. wide when expanded; the 4 or 5 crested obovate petals are clawed,
the claw hair}- there are 7 to 10 unequal stamens about as long as the petals, their
filaments filiform and smooth; the ovary is hair}^, stalked, three-celled with 2
ovules in each cavity; the style is long and very slender, tipped with the very small
stigma. The fruit is a long-stalked, 3-lobed, 3-celled leathery capsule about 5 cm.
thick, spHtting into 3 valves when ripe; the seeds are depressed-globose, black,
shining, i to 1.5 cm. broad, usually 3 in each capsule.
The wood is red-brown, brittle but dense, with a specific gravity of about 0.63.
THE BUCKTHORN FAMILY
RHAMNACEiE Dumortier
HIS family consists of about 46 genera including nearly 600 species of
trees, shrubs or vines, with or without spines. They are of wide dis-
tribution in both temperate and tropical regions and are of considerable
economic importance on account of the bitter and astringent principle
contained in many, rendering them of much value in medicine and in the art of
tanning. One of the most important and most generally used American drugs,
Cascara Sagrada, is the bark of Rhamnus Purshiana de Candollc a small tree of
the northwestern United States and adjacent British Columbia. Rhamnus cathartica
Linnaeus, of which the fruit under the name Buckthorn berries is used, and Rham-
nus Frangula Linnaeus, of which the bark is used, are two well-known European
drugs; the fruits of various species of Zlzyphus, known as Jujube berries, are edible.
The RhamnacecB have alternate, rarely opposite, prominently nerved, simple
leaves, with small stipules which in some species fall away early. The flowers are
small, regular, perfect or polygamous, sometimes dioecious, and variously clustered.
The calyx is 4-lobed or 5-lobed, the lobes valvate; disk fleshy, Hning or filhng
the calyx-tube ; the corolla, when present, consists of 4 or 5 petals, inserted on the
calyx and alternate with its lobes; stamens 4 or 5, inserted with and opposite the
petals; filaments distinct; anthers versatile, 2-celled; ovar)- partly immersed in
the disk, 2-celled or 3-celled ; styles and stigmas more or less united ; ovules soUtary
or rarely 2 in each cavity and erect. The fruit is capsular or drupe-hke, rarely
winged; seeds soUtary in each cell, smooth or furrowed, their endosperm fleshy
or sometimes none; cotyledons usually very broad.
There are a number of genera, represented by shrubs or cHmbers, in addition
to the following ones, containing arborescent species, occurring in our area :
Fruit more or less fleshy.
Fruit pulpy, with a 3-celled stone.
Petals absent.
Sepals crested; leaves usually opposite. i- Krugiodendron.
Sepals not crested.
Leaves opposite, evergreen; branches not spiny. 2. Reynosia.
Leaves alternate, deciduous; branches spiny. 3- Condalia.
Petals present. 4- Karwinskia.
Fruit dryish, with 2 or 3 nutlets. 5- Rhamnus.
Fruit dry and hard, separating into 3 parts.
Sepals inflated; petals with slender claws. 6. Ceanothiis.
Sepals spreading; petals without claws. 7- Coluhritia.
671
672
Black Ironwood
I. BLACK IRONWOOD
GENUS KRUGIODENDRON URBAN
Krugiodendron ferreum (Vahl) Urban
Rhammis jerreus Vahl. Rhamnidiuni ferreum Sargent
MONOTYPIC small evergreen tree or shrub, which has been referred
by various authors to 8 different genera; it grows in southern Florida,
and is widely distributed in the West Indies, from the Bahamas to
St. Vincent and Jamaica, though not yet found in Cuba; it is common
in Porto Rico. It sometimes grows to a height of 10 meters, forming a trunk
4 or 5 dm. thick, but is usually smaller.
The thick bark is ridged and gray, the young twigs green and velvety, be-
coming smooth and gray. The
leaves are ovate to broadly oval,
blunt or sometimes notched, en-
tire-margined, firm, bright green
and shining on the upper sur-
face, dull green beneath, 2 to 5
cm. long, the upper ones of the
twigs mostly opposite and the
lower alternate; the stipules are
thin, pointed, and fall away
soon after the new leaves un-
fold; the leaf-stalks are 3 to 6
mm. long. The small greenish
yellow flowers, which open in
April or May, are in little axil-
lary clusters much shorter than
Fig. 623. — Black Ironwood.
the leaves; they are perfect, regular, and about 4 mm. broad; there are 4 to 6,
usually 5, triangular-ovate pointed sepals slightly united at the base, each with a
crest on its inner side; there are no petals; the stamens are as many as the sepals,
alternate with them and a little shorter; the ovary is ovoid, smooth, 2-celled,
each cavity containing 2 ovules; the style is short and thick, the stigma 2-lobed.
The fruit is an ovoid or nearly round black drupe, 5 to 8 mm. long, containing
I bony pit.
The wood is very heavy, sinking in water, its specific gravity being about 1.30;
it is hard, dense, and orange-brown. The genus was named by Professor Urban
in honor of Leoj)old Krug, his associate for many years in the study of the West
Indian flora.
Red Ironwood
6/3
11. RED IRONWOOD
GENUS REYNOSIA GRISEBACH
Reynosia septentrionalis Urban
HE generic name Reynosia is in honor of x\lvaro Rcynoso, a Cuban
chemist and agriculturalist, who died in 1888, About 9 species are
known, evergreen trees and shrubs of the West Indies and southern
Florida. The Red ironwood is a small tree, known also as Darling
plum, which reaches a maximum height of about 9 meters, with a trunk diameter
of about 2 dm. ; it grows in southern Florida and also on the Bahama islands, and
has been confused with the Cuban
Reynosia lali}oliaGnseha.ch; the Cuban
Reynosia retusa Grisebach is the type
of the genus.
The thin bark is reddish brown,
spKtting up into thin plates. The
young twigs are sparingly and finely
hair)', angular, becoming smooth and
gray-brown. The leaves are short-
stalked, opposite, leathery, oblong to
oval or somewhat obovate, 2 to 4 cm.
long, entire, smooth, and nearly equally
dull green on both sides, notched or
blunt at the apex, narrowed at the
base, finely netted- veined, their mar-
gins revolute; the very small stipules
fall away soon after the leaves unfold.
The perfect and regular yellowish
green flowers are about 5 mm. broad, borne in small axillary umbels, and open
in March or April; the flower-stalks are 4 or 5 mm. long; the 5 ovate pointed
sepals are a httle united at the base; there are no petals; the 5 stamens are
alternate with the sepals; the ovary is ovoid, 2-celled or 3-cellcd, with i ovule
in each cavity; the style is short and thick, the stigma 2-lobed or 3-lobcd. The
fruit is an ovoid dark purple drupe, about 1.5 cm. long, tipped with the base of the
style, its flesh edible, the stone round and hard.
The wood is just about as heavy as water, its specific gravity being 1.07; it is
dark brown, very hard and dense.
Fig. 624. — Red Ironwood.
6/4
Purple Haw
III. PURPLE HAW
GENUS CONDALIA CAVANILLES
Species Condalia obovata Hooker
ONDALIA, named by Cavanillcs in honor of Antonio Condal, a Spanish
scientist of the eighteenth century, includes about lo species of thorny
trees and shrubs, natives of the southwestern United States, Mexico,
and southern South America, the typical species being Condalia micro-
phyila Cavanilles, of Chili. They have small alternate leaves, small, perfect and
regular flowers without petals, borne
solitary or in clusters in the leaf-axils;
the fmit is a small drupe.
Condalia obovata, known also as Log-
wood and Bluewood, inhabits dr\' re-
gions in Texas and northern Mexico.
It attains a maximum height of about
lo meters, with a trunk up to 2 dm.
thick, has upright branches and zigzag
gray, finely hairy twigs tipped by thorns ;
it is often shrubby, however, forming
chapparal thickets, not over 4 meters
high.
The bark is thin, brown and ridged.
The leaves are obovate or spatulate, i
to 2.5 cm. long, wedge-shaped at the
base, entire-margined, hairy when young,
at least on the under side, pale green
and smooth above, usually blunt at the apex and abruptly tipped, sometimes
notched. The very small green flowers are solitary or few together in the axils
and very short-stalked; there are 5 ovate pointed sepals, 5 stamens alternate with
them, and a i -celled ovary containing i ovule; the style is short and thick, the
stigma 3-lobed. The drupe is dark blue or nearly black, oblong, about 6 mm.
long, the pit thick- walled, the flesh sweet.
The wood is heavier than water, its specific gravity being about 1.20; it is red,
hard and dense, is used for fuel and is said to yield a blue dye.
Fig. 625. — Purple Haw.
The Buckthorns
675
IV. NORTHERN KARWINSKIA
GENUS KARWINSKIA ZUCCARINI
Species Karwinskia glandulosa Zuccarini
SUALLY a shrub, this relative of the Buckthorns, which inhabits dry
soil from Texas to New Mexico, Lower CaHfomia, and northern
Mexico, sometimes forms a small tree about 7 meters high. It has
been confused with Karwinskia Humholdtiana Zuccarini, the type of
the genus, which occurs from southern Mexico to northern South America. The
generic name is in honor of the Ba-
varian Baron Karwinski von Kar-
win, who traveled in Brazil, and
died in 1855.
The young twigs are finely and
sparingly hair}-, becoming smooth
and light brown, or sometimes per-
sistently hair}^ The leaves are op-
posite, rather short-stalked, oval or
oblong, entire-margined, strongly
pinnately veined, blunt or bluntish,
firm in texture, rounded at the
base, 3 to 7 cm. long, smooth on
both sides, dull, paler green on the
under than on the upper surface;
the leaf -stalks are 3 to 10 mm.
long. The small green perfect
flowers are in smooth axillary
stalked clusters, longer than the
leaf-stalks; the calyx is about 3 mm. broad, the 5 triangular pointed calyx-lobes
about as long as the calyx-tube; there are 5 small hooded petals; the 5 stamens are
a little longer than the petals; the ovar)^ is 2-celled with 2 ovules in each cavity;
the slender style is 2-lobed. The fruit is a nearly black round drupe, 10 to 12
mm. in diameter.
Fig. 626. — Northern Kanvinskia.
V. THE BUCKTHORNS
GENUS RHAMNUS [TOURNEFORT] LINN.^XTS
OINIE 60 or 70 species of Rhamnus are known, widely distributed in
America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Most of them are shrubs, but
a few form small trees. In North America, besides the 15 species
recognized as natives of the United States and Canada, and the 2
European ones that have become naturaUzed with us {Rhamnus cathartica and
676
The Buckthorns
Rhamnus Frangula), one occurs in the West Indies, and several in Mexico and
Central America. It was to R. cathartica Linnaeus, the type species, to which the
Greek name, now the name of the genus, was originally applied.
The Buckthorns have bitter bark, alternate simple usually toothed leaves,
with small stipules, which fall away early, and small green clustered axillary
flowers, either perfect or imperfect. The calyx is 4-lobed or 5-lobed, with a bell-
shaped tube; there arc 4 or 5 petals, each wrapped around a stamen, or in some
species none; the 4 or 5 short stamens are alternate with the calyx-lobes, borne on
the edge of the disk; the ovary is from 2-celled to 4-celled, each cavity containing
I ovule; the style is short or slender, the stigmas as many as the cavities of the
ovary; the fruit is a small drupe, containing 2 to 4 nutlets.
The arborescent forms of the United States may be distinguished as follows:
Leaves deciduous; flowers perfect; nutlets rounded on the back.
Peduncles shorter than the petioles; eastern tree.
Peduncles longer than the petioles; western tree.
Leaves persistent; flowers polygamous or dioecious; nutlets grooved on the
back; Califomian trees.
Leaves spinulose-serrate.
Leaves not spinulose, glandular-serrate.
1. R. caroliniana.
2. R. Purshiana.
3. R. ilicifolia.
4. R. pyrijolia.
I. INDIAN CHERRY — Rhamnus caroliniana Walter
This species grows along streams and on hillsides from Virginia to Florida,
southern Ohio, IlHnois, Kansas, and Texas, often a mere shrub, but sometimes
forming a tree 12 meters high, with a trunk
2 dm. thick ; it is also called Yellowwood and
Polecat-tree.
The bark is thin, smooth, or slightly fur-
rowed, light gray. The young twigs are
reddish brown and finely hairy, becoming
smooth and gray. The leaves are oblong
to elHptic, quite densely velvety-hairy when
young, pointed, entire-margined, rounded or
narrowed at the base, rather firm in texture,
when mature 5 to 12 cm. long, dark green
and somewhat shining on the upper sur-
face, paler and smooth or slightly hairy on
the under side; their stalks are 8 to 18 mm.
long. The flowers are in small stalked hairy
clusters in the leaf-axils, opening from April
to June ; the calyx-lobes are triangular-ovate,
pointed, nearly or quite as long as the calyx-
tube; the 5 ovate notched petals are much shorter than the calyx-lobes; there are
5 very short stamens opposite the petals and partly enfolded by them; the ovary
Fig. 627. — Indian Cherry.
Holly-Leaved Buckthorn
^11
is 3-celIed. The fruit is nearly globular, about lo mm. in diameter, black, usually
containing 3 nutlets, which are rounded on the back; its flesh is sweet.
The wood is light brown, rather hard, weak, with a specific gravity of about 0.55.
2. CASCARA SAGRADA — Rhamnus Purshiana do CandoUe
An important drug-plant, this Buckthorn occurs on hillsides and along streams
from Montana to British Columbia, Colorado and central CaHfomia. While often
a shrub, it sometimes forms a tree 10 to 13 meters high, with a trunk up to 5 dm.
thick. It is also known as Coffee-tree, Bitter-bark, Shittimwood, Bearberr)^
Wahoo, and several other local names.
The thin bark is brown and scaly, the young twigs finely hairy, green, be-
coming reddish brown and at length
smooth, the small buds not scaly. The
leaves are oblong or obovate, rather
thin, short-pointed or blunt, smooth and
dark green on the upper surface when
mature, more or less hair}^ and yellow-
ish green on the under side, finely and
usually closely toothed, 3 to 18 cm.
long, the base blunt or somewhat heart-
shaped; the hairy leaf-stalks are 2.5
cm. long or less. The greenish perfect
flowers appear in May or June in axil-
lary hairy stalked clusters, but the tree
often continues to flower on some twigs
until late in the season ; the flower-stalks
are slender and 6 to 20 mm. long; the
bell-shaped calyx is about 5 mm. long, its 5 or sometimes 4 pointed lobes about
as long as the tube; there are 5 minute petals each wrapped around a short sta-
men; the ovary is 2-celled or 3-celled, the slender style tipped by a 2-lobcd or
3-lobed stigma. The fruit is nearly round, black when ripe, juicy, containing 2 or
3 nutlets, which are rounded on the back, not grooved.
The wood is reddish brown, weak, with a specific gravity of about 0.58. The
bark is in high repute as a laxative and is collected in large quantities.
Fig. 628. — Cascara Sagrada.
3. HOLLY-LEAVED BUCKTHORN — Rhamnus ilicifolia Kellogg
This small evergreen tree, or shrub, which has been confused with the smaller-
leaved, darker green low shrub Rhamnus crocea Nuttall, is widely distributed in
middle and southern California, and has been collected in Arizona. It grows on
hillsides and mountain slopes in relatively dry soil, and occasionally forms a tree
6 or 7 meters high, with a maximum trunk diameter of about 2 dm.
6/8
The Buckthorns
Its bark is thin and gray. The young twigs are green, more or less hair\%
turning reddish brown and becoming smooth.
long,
The buds are not more than 2 mm
their scales hairy-fringed. The leaves are
firm in texture, ovate to oval or nearly as
wide as long, sharply toothed with bristle-
tipped teeth, smooth or very nearly so, yellow-
green, blunt, pointed, or sometimes notched at
the apex, blunt or narrowed at the base, 5 cm.
long or less; the leaf-stalks are 2 to 10 mm.
long. The polygamous or dioecious flowers
are rather numerous in small clusters in the
axils, and open from February to May, their
stalks 2 to 5 mm. long; the 4 green calyx-
lobes are about as long as the bell-shaped
calyx-tube; there are usually no petals; the 4
stamens of the staminate flowers are about as
long as the calyx-lobes, the anthers rather
longer than the filaments ; the pistillate flowers
have 4 short rudimentary stamens, a 2-celled ovary with a slender style and 2
slender stigmas. The fruit is obovoid, red, 5 to 7 mm. long, its stalk about the
same length; it contains 2 grooved nutlets.
Fig. 629. — Holly-leaved Buckthorn.
4. PEAR-LEAVED BUCKTHORN — Rhamnus pyrifolia Greene
Inhabiting, so far as known, only the islands off the coast of southern CaHfomia,
this small evergreen tree sometimes
attains a height of 10 meters, with
a trunk up to 2 dm. thick, but is
sometimes shrubby. It has been
confused with Rhamnus insidus of
Kellogg, which is endemic on Cer-
ro8 island. Lower California.
The bark is smooth, dark gray
to nearly black, the young twigs
densely and finely hairy, green, be-
coming brown. The leaves are ob-
long to broadly oval, firm in text-
ure, short-stalked, smooth or nearly
so on both sides when mature,
blunt or rounded at both ends, or
sometimes narrowed at the base, 2
to 7.5 cm. long, bright green above, Fig. 630. — Pear-leaved Buckthorn.
California Lilac 679
yellow-green on the under side, toothed or nearly entire-margined, the low teeth
gland-tippcd, not bristly. The small polygamous or dioecious flowers open from
March to IMay; the 4 lanceolate pointed calyx-lobes arc about as long as the ca-
lyx-tube; there are no petals; the 4 stamens of the staminate flowers are some-
what shorter than the calyx-lobes. The fruit is scarlet, broadly obovoid, about 5
mm. long, containing 2 grooved nutlets.
Rhamnus cathartica Linnaeus, the Purging buckthorn of Europe, has been
widely planted for hedges in the eastern United States, and is locally naturalized.
It has thorny branches, petaliferous flowers, and black fruit containing 3 or 4
nutlets. Usually a tall shrub, planted trees are known up to 9 meters high, with
short trunks 3.5 dm. thick.
VI. CALIFORNIA LILACS
GENUS CEANOTHUS LINN/EUS
^OT fewer than 35 or 40 species of Ceanothiis are known, natives of the
United States, British America, and northern Mexico. Most of them
are shrubs, some, such as the New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus
"^ Linnaeus), the type of the genus, widely distributed in eastern North
America, not over 6 or 7 dm. high; but at least 3 of the California species form
small trees, and several others which are normally shrubs sometimes become tree-
hke.
They have alternate stalked leaves, often strongly 3-nenTd, and small perfect
flowers, usually very numerous in large clusters. The calyx is 5-lobed, the lobes
curved inward ; there are 5 hooded and clawed petals, each more or less enfolding
a stamen with a fihform filament; the 3-lobed and 3-celled ovary is sunk in the
disk and adnate to it, and there is a single ovule in each cavity. The fruit is dry,
3-lobed or nearly round, splitting when ripe into 3 valves.
The generic name is Greek, first appHed to these plants by Linnaeus, but used
by the ancient authors for some wholly different group.
The North American arborescent species may be distinguished as follows:
Leaves smooth, or but little pubescent beneath.
Twigs unarmed. i. C. thyrsifloms.
Twigs tipped with spines. 2. C. sp!)wsus.
Leaves densely white-tomentose beneath. 3. C. arboreus.
I. CALIFORNIA LILAC — Ceanothus thyrsiflorus Eschscholtz
This, the largest of the genus, sometimes attains a height of about 12 meters,
with a trunk 3 or 4 dm. in diameter, but is usually much smaller and commonly
a shrub. It is abundant on hillsides and along streams in western California,
and is not known to grow naturally except in that State. It, its hybrids, and deriv-
atives under cultivation, are largely planted in European and CaHfomian parks
68o
California Lilacs
and gardens. Califomian local names are Blue myrtle, Blue blossom, Wild lilac,
and Tick tree.
The thin red-brown bark is finely
scaly. The young twigs are strongly
ridged and angled, finely hairy, yellow-
ish green, becoming smooth, round and
brown. The leaves vary from oblong to
ovate, and from 2 to 5 cm. in length; they
are blunt or bluntish at the apex, nar-
rowed or sometimes rounded at the base,
finely toothed, 3-nerved, smooth and
shining on the upper side, more or less
hairy on the under surface, at least along
the veins; the leaf-stalks vary from 4 to
12 mm. long. The dense compound
hairy flower-clusters are 5 to 10 cm.
long, borne at the ends of twigs of the
season; the flowers are blue or white, fragrant, and open from March to April;
the sepals are broadly ovate, the claw of the petals as long as the blade or longer,
the stamens as long as the petals or shorter. The 3-lobed fruit is black.
The wood is brown, soft, and weak, with a specific gravity of about 0.57.
Fig. 631. — California Lilac.
2. SPINY CEANOTHUS — Ceanothus spinosus Nuttall
Inhabiting valleys and canons in southern Cahfomia, and usually a mere shrub,
this species rarely forms a tree 6 or 7 meters
high, with a trunk 1.5 dm. in diameter or
less.
The bark is red-brown and scaly, the
young twigs finely hairy, green, somewhat
angled, becoming brown, some of them
tipped by stout thorns i to 3 cm. long.
The leaves are elHptic to oblong-obovatc,
blunt, bluntish or notched at the apex, nar-
rowed at the base, 2 to 4 cm. long, pin-
nately veined, firm in texture, entire-mar-
gined, or those of shoots sometimes toothed,
persistent during the winter, hair)' on the
under side when young, smooth or nearly so
on both sides when old, the upper surface
dark green, the under side paler. The com-
pound, rather loose flower-clusters are 1.5
dm. long or less, borne at the ends of twigs; fig. 632. — Spiny Ceanothus.
Naked wood
68 1
the blue flowers open from March to May. The fruit is black, somewhat 3-lobed,
about 7 mm. thick.
3. ISLAND CEANOTHUS — Ceanothus arboreus Greene
This small tree or shrub is confined, so far as known, to the islands near the
coast of southern Cahfomia.
It becomes as much as 8 me-
ters high, with a trunk 2.5
dm. in diameter, and is also
known as Tree myrtle.
The young twigs are angu-
lar, densely white- velvety, be-
coming smooth, round and
brown. The leaves are ovate
to elHptic, blunt or pointed,
finely toothed, thick, strongly
3-veined from the obtuse base,
5 to 10 cm. long, dark green
and finely velvety on the up-
per side, densely white- velvety
on the under surface; the
stout leaf-stalks are 5 to 20
mm. long. The hght blue
flowers are in rather dense white-velvety clusters at the ends of twigs and open
from January to April. The fruit is black, 7 to 8 mm. thick.
The wood, which has a specific gravity of about 0.78, is hard, dense and
reddish brown. The species has been confused with the widely distributed
Ceanothus velutinus, which it resembles.
Fig. 633. — Island Ceanothus.
VII. NAKEDWOOD
GENUS COLUBRINA L. C. RICHARD
Species Colubrina reclinata (L'Heritier) Brongniart
Ceanothus redinatus L'Heritier
HE genus Colubrina (Latin, from coluber, a serpent), named by Lin-
naeus, with reference to the snake-hke ridges on the trunks of some
species, includes about 15 species of shrubs and trees, most of them
natives of tropical and subtropical America, one Asiatic. Of the
West Indian species, two occur in southern Florida, one a tree, as described below,
the other, Colubrina Cohihrina (Linnaeus) Millspaugh, the type of the genus, a
shrub; and there are two Texan shrubby species. They all have alternate, stalked
682
Naked wood
leaves, and small perfect flowers in axillary clusters; there are 5 calyx- lobes, 5
petals, 5 stamens, and the oxsltj is 3-celled with i ovule in each cavity. The
fruit is 3-lobed, spUtting when ripe into 3 valves.
The Nakedwood, or Soldier wood, inhabits extreme southern Florida, and is
distributed throughout the West Indies from the Bahamas to St. Vincent and
Jamaica. It attains a height of at least 20 meters, with a trunk up to 1.5 meters
in diameter. The orange-brown bark is deeply irregularly furrowed and ridged,
falling away in papery layers. The young twigs are finely hairy, reddish, becoming
smooth, round, and brown. The leaves vary from ovate to elliptic or ovate-lan-
FiG. 634. — Nakedwood.
ceolate, and from 4 to 8 cm. in length; they are entire-margined, bluntly pointed,
smooth when fully grown, the rounded or narrowed base bearing 2 glands; the
slender leaf-stalks are usually i cm. long or more. The hairy flower-clusters are
stalked, and as long as the leaf-stalks or shorter; the pointed calyx-lobes are keeled
on the inner side; the hooded petals are shorter than the calyx- lobes, each enfolding
a stamen; the rather slender style is 3-lobed at the top. The fruit is orange-red,
nearly round, 8 or 10 mm. in diameter, splitting into three 2-lobed valves, each
containing one black shining oblong seed.
The wood is dark brown, hard, strong, and heavy, its specific gravity being
about 0.82.
THE LINDEN FAMILY
TILIACEiE Jussieu
HIS family, comprising about 35 genera, with probably 375 species,
consists of trees, shrubs, and a few herbs, which are widely distributed
in temperate and tropical regions. The whole family is noted for
the fibrous bark, which is of great economic importance, especially
the product of the stem of the nearly herbaceous genus Corchorus, which yields
the well-known Jute fiber.
The plants of the Linden family have simple leaves, which are alternate, seldom
opposite, accompanied by small stipules that fall off early; the inflorescence is
cymose, or sometimes paniculate; the flowers are regular and usually perfect, with
5, or rarely fewer, valvate, deciduous sepals; the petals are equal in number to the
sepals or fewer, usually imbricated in the bud and often appendaged by a petal-
hke scale (staminode) at the base; stamens many, in sets of 5 to 10, or distinct,
the filaments often forked; anthers 2-celled, erect or versatile; the ovary is free,
2- to ID-celled, usually sessile. The fruit is a nut-hke drupe in the Lindens, in
other genera sometimes berry-hke and fleshy or capsular, i- to lo-celled.
Besides the well-known Linden trees 2 herbaceous genera with 3 species enter
the southern part of our area.
THE BASSWOODS
GENUS TnJA [TOURNEFORT] LINN^US
HIS genus is composed of some 20 species, all of which are trees of
considerable stature, natives of the north temperate zone, widely dis-
tributed in eastern North America; one species occurs in the moun-
tains of Mexico. In Europe they extend several degrees further north;
they are not found, however, in western North America, nor in central Asia.
The leaves are alternate, stalked, unequally cordate or truncate at the base,
serrate or crenate, sharply or taper-pointed, with early faUing stipules. The white
to yellow flowers are sweet and fragrant, in cymes, either axillar}^ or terminal;
the long peduncle is united through about half its length with a conspicuous Ught
green bract; the 5 sepals are narrow and thickish; the 5 petals are alternate with
the sepals, sometimes with a petal-like scale at the base, imbricate; the numerous
hypogynous stamens are inserted upon a short receptacle; filaments thread-like,
forked, collected into a group at the base of each petal-Hke scale, their anthers
2-celled, facing outward ; the ovary is sessile, superior, 5-celled; style elongated,
683
684 The Basswoods
erect; stigma 5-lobed; ovules 2 in each cavity. Fruit a globose nut-like drupe,
with a hard coat, usually i -celled; seeds i or 2 in each fruit, obovoid, the endosperm
fleshy; embr^-o large, often curv^ed; cotyledons broad, .5-lobed.
The inner bark or bast is tough, and is made into cordage, mattings, fish-nets,
and shoes in northern Europe. The flowers are mucilaginous and are used in
domestic medicine; the fragrant volatile oil obtained from the flowers is used in
perfumery, and a highly prized honey is gathered by the bees which visit these
trees when in blossom.
Several fossil species have been described from the Tertiary formations of
Europe and America.
The generic name, adopted by Linnaeus, was the classic name of the Linden,
Tilia europcea Linnaeus, the type of the genus. Our species are:
Leaves smooth beneath or very nearly so, sometimes glaucous.
Leaves green beneath, their teeth slender-tipped. i. T. americana.
Leaves white-glaucous beneath, their teeth not slender-tipped; southern
trees.
Cyme-branches smooth; staminodes entire. 2. T. australis.
Cyme-branches hairy; staminodes erose. 3. T. floridana.
Leaves mostly densely hairy beneath, not glaucous.
Leaves white, gray or silvery beneath.
Bracts mostly abruptly narrowed at the base, sessile or nearly so.
Leaves gray or silvery gray beneath, the hairs very short. 4. T. heterophylla.
Leaves white beneath, the hairs rather long, cottony. 5. T. eburnea.
Bracts mostly attenuate at the base, stalked. 6. T. Michauxii.
Leaves brown-hairy or rusty hairy beneath.
Leaves thick, firm, copiously hairy beneath. 7. T. puhescens.
Leaves very thin, sparsely hairy beneath. 8. T. leptophylla.
I. AMERICAN LINDEN — Tilia americana Linnaeus
A stately tree, known also as Basswood, White-wood, and Whistle-wood, occurs
in woods from New Brunswick to Manitoba, southward to Georgia and eastern
Texas, reaching its greatest abundance about Lakes Erie and Ontario, where it
sometimes forms exclusive forests. Its maximum height is about 40 meters, with
a trunk diameter up to 1.5 meters. The branches incline to spread, and develop
into an ample rounded head where the tree grows in the open.
The dark gray bark, 2 to 2.5 cm. thick, is longitudinally furrowed into flat
ridges. The season's twigs are round, smooth, greenish to Hght gray or reddish,
becoming darker the following year. The winter buds are often i cm. long, ovoid,
pointed and red. The leaves are firm in texture, ovate to orbicular, 10 to 18 cm.
long, and about two thirds as wide as long, unequally cordate to truncate at the
base, long-pointed, deeply toothed, with sharp gland-tipped teeth; the upper
surface is dark green and shining, the under side green and smooth, except for a
few rusty hairs in the axils of the stronger veins; the leaf-stalk is slender, about
one third as long as the blade. The bracts of the peduncles are decurrent upon
Southern Basswood
685
them to within 10 or 15 mm. of the base; they are 10 to 16 cm. long and i to 3
cm, wide, tapering at the base, blunt at the
apex and smooth ; there are 5 to 20 flowers
in each cluster. The sepals are ovate-lanceo-
late to lanceolate, 6 to 8 mm. long, some-
what shorter than the wedge-shaped blunt
pale yellow petals, which are about as long
as the spatulate staminodes. The ovary is
woolly and ripens into an ovoid fruit 10 to
12 mm. long, often tipped by the base of the
style; the broadly ovoid seed is about 5 mm.
long.
The wood is soft, quite tough, close-
grained, light brown or reddish, with a spe-
cific gravity of about 0.45. It is largely used
in general carpentry, for furniture, carriages,
woodenware, and in great quantities for paper
pulp. The tree blossoms in May or June ; it
is one of the best ornamental trees for plant-
ing in the northern States, its freedom from insect pests, handsome fohage, and
large and fragrant flowers making it more desirable than the European Lindens.
Fig. 635. — American Linden.
2. SOUTHERN BASSWOOD— Tilia austraUs Small
This medium-sized linden attains a height of 20 meters and a trunk diameter
of 2.5 dm. It is little known outside of the type locahty in north central Alabama,
where it occurs in the higher
valleys, particularly in Blount
county.
The twigs are rather slen-
der, reddish brown, becoming
darker and rougher with age.
The winter buds are small and
ovoid. The leaves are thin
but firm, ovate to oval-ovate,
7 to 17 cm. long, obliquely
heart-shaped to nearly tmn-
cate at the base, abruptly
taper- pointed, serrate, the
teeth tipped with prominent
glands; the upper surface is
deep green and somewhat
Fig. 636. — Southern Basswood. glossy, the under side glaucous
686
The Bassvvoods
and smooth, or nearly so. The bracts are oblong to narrowly obovate, lo to 13
cm. long, 3 to 4 cm. wide, sessile or short-stalked, smooth and glaucous on either
surface. The peduncle is smooth, the free portion 2 to 4 cm. long, with from 5
to 10 medium-sized flowers; the sepals are narrowly ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 3.5
to 4 mm. long; the petals are 5.5 to 7 mm. long; the staminodes are entire, linear-
spatulate, slightly shorter than the petals. The fruit is globose.
3. FLORIDA BASSWOOD—TiUa floridana Small
This, the smallest of the American species of Tilia, scarcely exceeds 9 meters
in height, with a trunk about 1.5 dm. in diameter.
The bark is somewhat furrowed and not very thick. The leaves are thin,
ovate or oval-ovate, 4 to 11 cm.
long, 2 to 6 cm. wide, unequally
subcordate or truncate at the base,
abruptly short taper-pointed at the
apex, serrate, the teeth tipped with
prominent glands; the upper sur-
face is smooth, deep green, the
lower glaucous, somewhat hair}-^
when young, glabrous or nearly so
at maturity; the petiole is stout,
rather short, 2 to 3 cm. long. The
bracts are decurrent to within 0.5
to 1.5 cm. of the base of the pedun-
cle, rather small, 7 to 10 cm. long,
I to 2 cm. wide, rounded at the
apex, somewhat hairy; the pedun-
cle is hairy, the free portion 0.5 to 1.5 cm. long, few- to many-flowered; the sepals
are lanceolate to Hnear-lanceolate, 3 to 3.5 mm. long; the petals 4.5 to 5.5 mm.
long; the staminodes are almost linear or linear-spatulate, irregularly margined,
somewhat shorter than the petals. The fruit is globose, 5 to 6 mm. in diameter,
covered with brownish gray hairs.
A rare species as yet known only from the vicinity of Jacksonville, and in
Orange county, Florida.
Fig. 637. — Florida Basswood.
4. WHITE LINDEN — Tilia heterophylla Ventenat
Also called Bee-tree, Wahoo, Silver- leaved linden, and White basswood, this is
a tree slightly smaller than the American hnden, attaining a maximum height of
about 30 meters, with a trunk diameter of i to 1.25 m. It grows in rich woods,
mostly in mountainous regions, from western New York to Illinois, Tennessee,
Alabama, and Florida, reaching its greatest development in the southern Alle-
ghanics.
Ashe's Linden
687
The bark is about 1.25 cm. thick, furrowed, and separates into short, flat
scales of a light brown color. The twigs are round, smooth, greenish to Hght red,
becoming brown with age. The winter buds are
broadly ovoid, flattened, and red. The leaves are
12 to 20 cm. long, scarcely two thirds as wide,
variable in outUne, oblong-ovate to orbicular-
ovate, obhque and cordate to truncate at the base,
short taper- pointed, toothed with short, abruptly
pointed teeth; the upper surface is dark green
and smooth, the under side white or grayish and
finely hair\'; the leaf-stalk is slender, about one
fourth the length of the blade. The bracts of the
peduncles are sessile or nearly so, abruptly nar-
rowed to the base, bluntish at the apex, 9 to 15
cm. long, about 2 cm. wide, and somewhat hairy.
The free portion of the peduncle is rather long
and bears from 5 to 15 flowers. The sepals
are ovate-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, rather
sharply pointed, slightly shorter than the narrow ^-5
petals, which are 7 to 9 mm. long; the spatulate staminodes are one fourth
shorter; the style is longer than the petals; the woolly ovary ripens into a globose
ashy gray fmit 7 to 9 mm. in diameter.
The wood is soft and close-grained, light browTi; its specific gravity is about
0.42; it has more prominent medullary rays, but is not distinguished from the
wood of the American linden in commerce.
White Linden.
5. ASHE'S LINDEN — Tilia eburnea Ashe
A small tree reaching a height of 22 meters, occurring in the foothills of mid-
dle North Carolina, South Carolina, and northern Georgia. It is also called the
Blue Ridge lin.
The bark is furrowed, dark gray-brown on the trunk, smoother and of a silver
gray color on the branches; the twigs are smooth or somewhat glaucous, green-
red to reddish brown, becoming gray with age; the buds are C|uitc large, o\oid,
smooth, somewhat glaucous. The leaves are thick, 8 to 14 cm. long, ovate to
orbicular-ovate, abruptly taper-pointed and unequally cordate or truncate at the
base, sharply toothed on the margin, dark green and smooth above, the lower
surface densely woolly, becoming less so as the leaf matures; the rather slender
leaf-stalk is smooth, sometimes glaucous, one third the length of the blade. The
bracts are oblong to spatulate, decurrent to the base or the peduncle or nearly so,
rounded at the apex, more or less so at the base, 7 to 11 cm. long, one fourth as
wide, glabrate above, usually soft hairy beneath; the peduncle is about two thirds
the length of the bract, its free portion short, with few (2 to 6) rather small flowers;
688
The Basswoods
Fig. 639. — Ashe's Linden.
the sepals are ovate-lanceo-
late; the petals are 5 to 6 mm.
long, the staminodes spatulate;
ovary brown-tomentose. The
fruit is nearly globular, 5 to 7
mm. in diameter, not pointed.
This recently described
Linden is very little known ex-
cept from the original description
and a few herbarium specimens,
and it may not be specifically
distinct from the preceding spe-
cies. Its wood is probably very
similar to that of the other Lin-
dens and used indiscriminately
as such. The flowers open
about the middle of June, a Httle
earlier than those of the White
linden, whose flowers are somewhat larger. If it should prove hardy at the North
it ^vould be a most desirable addition to the list of trees available for ornamental
planting.
6. MICHAUX'S BASSWOOD-TiliaMichauxii Nuttall
Tilia alba F. A. Michaux, not Linnaeus
This magnificent tree occurs
from Pennsylvania and Ohio south
to Georgia and Alabama. It grows
in rich soil along streams, seldom
occurring upon the hills, reaching a
maximum height of 30 meters, with
a proportionately thick trunk. The
silvery gray, rather smooth bark of
the branches is in contrast to the
darker, broadly furrowed bark of
the trunk. It is also called White
bass wood.
The leaves are firm, rather large,
7 to 22 cm. long, cordate or rarely
truncate at the ver}- obHcjue base,
taper-pointed and sharply-toothed,
bright green and shining above,
gray- or silvery- woolly beneath; the
slender leaf-stalk is 3 to 5 cm. long;
Fig. 640. — Michaux's Basswood.
Downy Basswood
689
the bracts of the peduncles are decurrcnt upon them to within from i to 3 cm. of
their base; they are spatulate, 8 to 14 cm. long, i to 2.5 cm. wide, usually tapering
at the base, somewhat rounded at the apex, the lower surface sHghlly hairy. The
smooth peduncles are free from the bracts for 4 to 5 cm., and bear 8 to 15 large,
hght yellow flowers; the sepals are narrowly ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 4.5 to 6
mm. long; the petals are eUiptic, 6 to 10 mm. long, slightly larger than the spatu-
late staminodes. The globose fruit is 6 to 8 mm. long.
This tree is distinguished from the American linden by its large white-woolly
leaves and the smoother, lighter colored bark of the branches. Our statement of
the economic appHcations of the American linden is equally appHcable to this
species, while as an ornamental tree its larger silvery leaves and larger and later
flowers are additional merits.
7. DOWNY BASSWOOD— Tiliapubescens Aiton
A small tree, also called the Southern basswood, seldom exceeding 15 meters in
height, with a trunk diameter of 3 to 5 dm. It occurs in moist, rich woods, usually
near the coast, from Virginia south to Florida and westward to Louisiana. It is no-
where very abundant, but is most common in South Carolina and Georgia. The re-
ports of its being found as far north as Long island
are based on a misunderstanding of the species.
The bark is 12 to 16 mm. thick, coarsely fur-
rowed and broken into reddish brown scales. The
season's twigs are slender and densely covered
with rusty down, which persists more or less until
the second year, when they are reddish brown;
the winter buds are sharp-pointed, dark red-brown
and shghtly hairy. The leaves are thick and firm,
ovate to broadly ovate, 8 to 18 cm. long, obhquely
tnmcate or slightly cordate at the base, short- or
long- pointed and coarsely toothed ; the young leaf
is very hair}', but becomes smooth on the upper
surface when fully grown, the lower surface re-
FiG. 641. — Downy Basswood.
maining covered with a dense rusty -brown down : the leaf-stalk is slender, 3 to 4
cm. long, and very hairy; the bracts are sessile, oblong to oblong- spatulate, 6 to 9
cm. long, 1.5 to 2 cm. wide, narrowed or rounded at the base, very downy on
the under side. The peduncle and pedicels are hairy; the many flowers are rather
small; the sepals are lanceolate, 3.5 to 4.5 mm. long; the oblong petals are 6 to
7.5 mm. long, twice the length of the spatulate staminodes. The white-woolly
ovary ripens into a globose fruit 6 to 8 mm. in diameter.
The wood of this tree is similar to that of the American linden, except that it
is lighter in weight, having a specific gravity of about 0.40; it is used like that of
its well-known relatives.
690
The Basswoods
8. TEXAS BASSWOOD-Tilia leptophylla(Ventenat) Small
Tilia ptihescens leptophylla Ventenat
This tree much resembles the Downy basswood, being considered merely a
variety of it by some authors. It is smaller in all its parts and smoother. It
occurs in low woods of southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas, extending
north to Missouri.
Fig. 642. — Texas Basswood.
Its leaves are thin and membranous, ovate to broadly ovate, 6 to 9 cm. long,
unequally truncate or subcordate at the base, abruptly long-pointed, remotely
toothed with coarse teeth ; the upper surface is rather smooth and Hght green, the
under side somewhat hairy; the leaf-stalk is slender, 2.5 to 4 cm. long. The bracts
are sessile or nearly so, small, 6 to 8 cm. long, i to 2.5 cm. wide, abmptly tapering
at the base, bluntly rounded at the apex, smooth above and hair}^ beneath. The
free portion of the peduncle is about 3 cm. long and bears 3 to 7 small flowers
or more. The sepals are broadly lanceolate, about 7 mm. long, about equal in
length to the oblanceolate-obovate petals; the spatulate staminodes are i mm.
shorter. The fruit is globose, about 8 mm. in diameter, and very hairy.
THE MALLOW FAMILY
MALVACE^ Necker
SnALVACEi'E consist of about 40 genera, including some 800 species,
mostly herbs, some shrubs, and a few tropical trees. They are of
world-wide distribution, except in cold cHmates, the well-known weed
Malva rotimdifolia Linna?us reaching farthest north, in Russia. Al-
though they mostly keep to low altitudes, a few alpine forms exist in the higher
Andes of South America.
They abound in a mucilaginous principle and in fibrous tissue, thus becoming
of the greatest economic importance, cotton, the fibrous appendage to the seed
of various species of Gossypium, being their most valuable product.
The leaves of the Mallow family are simple and alternate, their stipules small
and deciduous. The flowers are variously clustered, or soUtary, always regular
and generally perfect, some being very large. The 5, rarely fewer, sepals are
valvate, more or less united and frequently subtended by an involucre of a num-
ber of narrow bracts. The petals, also 5 in number, are hypogynous and convo-
lute. The many hypogynous stamens are united into a column enclosing the
pistil, their bases united with those of the petals; anthers kidney-shaped, i -celled.
The ovary has several cavities; styles united upward from their bases but free
above, usually projecting beyond the stamen-column and generally equaling the
ovary-cavities in number. The fruit is a several-celled capsule, rarely a berry.
Seeds kidney-shaped, globose or obovoid, hard or brittle, smooth or rough, some-
times hairy; endosperm scant, fleshy, mucilaginous; embr}'o large, curved, or
folded; cotyledons leafy.
One tropical arborescent species occurs in southern Florida.
SEASIDE MAHOE
GENUS THESPESIA SOLANDER
Species Thespesia populnea (Linnaeus) Solander
Hibiscus populneus Linnaeus
LSO called Umbrella tree. Tulip tree, and Portia tree in the East
Indies,* Poppy tree. Poplar, and Catappa in the West Indies, this
rarely enters our area on the Keys of southern Florida, where it is a
low tree 2 to 4 meters high, but often a shrub with stout round twigs;
it is common in the West Indies, introduced from the Old World tropics.
691
692
Seaside Mahoe
Fig. 643. — Seaside Mahoe.
The leaves are leather}^, heart-shaped, sometimes shghtly wa\7-margined, taper-
pointed, 5 to 12 cm. long and nearly as wide, the leaf-stalk nearly as long as the
blade. The flowers are axillary, on stout peduncles shorter than the petals, which
are large and showy, yellowish with a
purple base, to which color the whole
flower changes toward the end of the
day; the involucre of 3 to 5 linear
bracts falls away early; the calyx is
cup-shaped and entire; petals 5, each
4 to 7 cm. long; stamens numerous;
ovary sessile, 5-celled, containing few
erect ovules in each cavity, the 5
styles with decurrent stigmas. The
fruit is a firm, leather}^, roundish, de-
pressed capsule, 3 to 4.5 cm. in di-
ameter, 1.5 to 2 cm. high, 5-celled,
indehiscent or sometimes opening
shghtly at the top; seeds 2 or 3 in each
cavity, i cm. long and hairy.
The wood is hard, pale red or brown, strong, even-grained, its specific gravity
about 0.80. It is durable under water and is a favorite for boat-building; also
used in the manufacture of furniture and many objects of special local utility ; the
bast of the young shoots is utilized as a fiber; a yellow dye is said to be obtained
from its juice and a fixed oil is expressed from the seed.
This tree is of rapid growth in tropical countries, where it often reaches a height
of 15 meters, and is planted as a shade tree, for which its head of dense fohage
makes it well adapted.
The generic name is Greek, meaning divine or exalted. There are about 4
species known, all natives of tropical regions; our species is the type.
Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus Syriacus Linnaeus, or Shrubby Althaea, as it is also called, is a
native of western Asia, but has been a garden plant for a great many years and is now known
in a large number of forms. It is much used for ornamental hedges, and has locally escaped to
roadsides and waste places from southern Pennsylvania an'd New Jersey southward; it is usually
a shrub i to 6 meters tall, rarely assuming the aspect of a tree unless artificially trained to do so.
The leaves are deciduous, more or less 3-lobed, and coarsely scalloped; the white to rose-colored
flowers are subtended by an involucre of distinct bracts and have distinct spreading styles; the
capsules are oblong-ovoid, each cavity usually containing 2 seeds.
Mahoe, Paritium tiliaceiim (Linnaeus) Jussieu, a shrub or small tree found throughout the
tropics, also occurs as a shrub on some of the Florida Keys. The heart-shaped leaves are
shallowly toothed, abruptly taper-pointed, prominently veined beneath, from i to 2 dm. in diam-
eter, and long-stalked; the yellow flowers are subtended by a cup-shaped, 8 to lo-lobed involucre;
the styles are distinct; capsules oblong. The bark furnishes a strong fiber, remarkably durable
in water, and is made into rope, for local use, wherever the plant is abundant.
THE CHOCOLATE FAMILY
STERCULIACEyE Ventenat
TERCULIACEiE include about 50 genera, containing upward of 750
species of trees, shrubs, and herbs, widely distributed in tropical and
semi-tropical regions. The most important product of this family is
Chocolate, derived from the seed of Theobroma Cacao Linnaeus.
The SterculiacecB have alternate leaves which are simple or compound, entire,
toothed or deeply lobed, petioled and accompanied by free stipules, which fall
away early. The flowers are usually perfect, regular or irregular, and clustered
into panicles, racemes, or spikes, seldom sohtar\\ The 5 sepals are more or less
united at the base. The petals arc of the same number as the sepals, or wanting.
The numerous stamens are variously grouped, or united into a tube, many of them
often being sterile; the anthers are 2-celled, facing outwardly and opening length-
wise. The pistil consists of 5 carpels or seldom fewer, more or less united, with
an equal number of styles either distinct or united. The fruit is a capsule, folhcle,
or seldom a drupe, having few or many seeds which are variously shaped, angular,
or winged, smooth or hair)\
Six genera with 8 species, all low and more or less shrubby, together with the
following introduced tree occur in the southern portion of the United States.
CHINA PARASOL TREE
GENUS FIKMIANA MARSIGLI
Species Firmiana platanifolia (Linnaeus) R. Brown
Sterculia platanifolia Linnaeus
HIS species, also called the Japanese varnish tree, is a native of eastern
Asia, and was introduced into the southern States as an ornamental
shade-tree, where it is now naturahzed in thickets and by roadsides
in Georgia and other Gulf States. It is a rapid-growing, round-
headed tree, up to 12 meters tall, with a smooth bark and stout soft twigs.
The leaves are large, alternate, orbicular or reniform in outline, i to 3 dm.
broad, more or less deeply 3- to 5-palmately lobed, the lobes usually blunt-pointed,
very hairy on the under side but comparatively smooth above, the stout leaf-stalk
as long as the blade or longer. The numerous greenish flowers are borne in pan-
icles up to 12 dm. long; the bell-shaped calyx is composed of 5 sepals, which are
Unear- lanceolate, 8 to 10 mm. long, rcflexed and somewhat petal- like; there is no
693
694
China Parasol Tree
corolla. The stamens, springing from the calyx-tube, are united into a broad
column with about 15 anthers. The ovary is composed of 5 carpels, each having
a more or less lobed stigma. The fruit is a leathery capsule which opens before
maturity into 5 distinct folhcles 6 to 9 cm. long, 3 to 3.5 cm. wide, veiny and hairy,
supported by stalks about 2 cm. long and widely spreading, with i to 3 globular
seeds about 6 mm. in diameter exposed on each inner margin.
Fig. 644. — China Parasol Tree.
The wood is very soft, white, and very light in weight. The bast of the young
twigs is used for fiber and the seeds are used in Chinese medicine. In this country
it has been planted for ornament and shade, and is hardy as far north as Wash-
ington, D. C. There are about 10 other species, nearly all Asiatic, this one being
the type. The genus was named in honor of Karl Joseph Firmian, who was
Governor-General of Lombardy about 1782,
THE HAND-TREE FAMILY
CHEIRANTHODENDRACE^ A. Gray
HIS small family was proposed by Dr. Asa Gray, to include two closely
related monotypic genera of otherwise uncertain affinities, our Fre-
montia, and Cheiranthodendron platanoides Baillon, the Mexican hand
tree, so named on account of the hand-Hke arrangement of its conspic-
uous long red anthers. They are both American, the former native of California,
the latter of Mexico.
The Hand-tree family have alternate leaves, which are more or less palmately
lobed, rather thick, generally covered with stellate hairs, and provided with small,
early-faUing stipules. The showy axillary flowers are subtended by 3 bracts.
The calyx is deeply 5-parted and petal-Hke. There is no corolla. The stamens
are more or less united at the base, their upper portions being alternate with
the lobes of the calyx and terminated by long adnate 2-celled extrorse anthers. The
ovary is 5-celled, each cell containing many horizontal anatropous ovules; the
filiform style is terminated by a small stigma. The fruit is a 5-celled dehiscent
capsule. The seeds are oval, smooth and crustaceous, with fleshy endosperm, the
embr}'o small and erect, the cotyledons flat and leaf-Hke.
FREMONTIA
GENUS FREMONTODENDRON COVILLE
Species Fremontodendron californicum (Torrey) Coville
Fremontia calijornica Torrey
REMONTIA is found only in California, reaching its greatest develop-
ment on the foothills of the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, where
its maximum height is about 9 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 to
3.5 cm. Its trunk is short; the branches are stout, stiff, and widely
spreading. It is nowhere common and is usually a much branched shrub rather
than a tree.
The bark is furrowed, 6 mm. thick, of a dark reddish brown color, and scaly.
The round, stout twigs are covered by rough brown hairs. The leaves are 3- to
5-lobed, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. wide, the stout petiole 0.5 to 1.5 cm.
long; they are thick, light green above, prominently ner\'cd and rough beneath.
The flowers are short- stalked, with an involucre of 3 or rarely 5 early-falling bracts;
the hairy calyx is deeply 5-cleft, the obovate spreading lobes, 2.5 cm. long, are
69s
^■'w^Bv.'ttai^aagB'.i'-^
696
Fremontia
bright yellow and petal-like; stamens united for half their length into a column; the
adnate anthers are oblong-linear, 2-celled, facing outwardly and opening length-
wise; the pistil has a 5-celled ovary with a long style and pointed stigma. The
fruit is a 5-celled capsule 2 to 2.5 cm. long, 1.5 to 2 cm. in diameter, covered
with long stiff hairs on the outer surface, and soft-woolly hairs within, each cell
containing 2 to 4 ovoid hard seeds 7 mm. long.
Fig. 645. — Fremontia.
The wood is hard, close-grained, red-brown; its specific gravity is about 0.71.
This tree was called Slippery elm by the earlier settlers of California, on account
of the resemblance of its inner bark to that of the well-known eastern tree, its
mucilaginous nature making it available, as such, for poultices.
The generic name is in commemoration of Colonel John Charles Fremont, the
distinguished explorer, who first discovered this tree.
THE WILD CINNAMON FAMILY
CANELLACEiE Martius
HIS family contains 4 genera, with about 7 species of trees indigenous
to tropical America, and is of economic importance principally for
yielding the Hght yellow bark called Wild cinnamon, or Canella bark,
a spice and aromatic tonic.
The CanellacecB have alternate, simple, entire, evergreen punctate leaves without
stipules; the flowers are perfect and regular, in corymbose cymes; the calyx con-
sists of 3 thick imbricated sepals, the corolla of 4 to 12 narrow imbricated petals
or sometimes more; stamens numerous, borne with the petals, their filaments united
into a tube encircling the ovary; anthers extrorse, joined to the filament-tube;
ovary free, of 2 to 5 united carpels, i-celled, with 2 to 5 parietal placentae; style
stout; stigma 2- to 5-lobed; ovules 2 to many, horizontal. Fruit a 2- to several-
seeded berry; seeds shiijing and crustaceous; endosperm fleshy; cmbr^'O straight
or shghtly curved.
One genus, with a single species, occurs in our area.
CINNAMON WOOD
GENUS CANELLA PATRICK BROWNE
Species Canella Winterana (Linnaeus) Gaertner
Laurus Winterana Linnaeus. Canella alba Murray
SMALL tree, also called Canella bark. White wood, and Wild cinna-
mon, of frequent occurrence on the Florida Keys and throughout the
West Indies to Venezuela. Its maximum height is about 15 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 2.5 dm.
The trunk is short, the branches slender, more or less outspreading, the tree
round-topped; the bark is about 3 mm. thick, separating into thick hght gray scales;
the inner bark is about i mm. thick, buff-colored, very spicy and aromatic. The
twigs are stout, round, gray, and bear large leaf scars. The leaves arc alternate,
leathery, oblanceolate, spatulate or oUong-spatulate, 3 to 10 cm. long, blunt at the
apex, narrowed at the base, shghtly re volute on the margin, deep green and shin-
ing above, pale and pellucid-punctate beneath; the leaf-stalk is short, stout,
winged and grooved. The flowers are in many-flowered cymes, which are termi-
nal or sometimes in the upper axils, about 4 cm. across; the calyx has 3 orbicular
or kidney-shaped, concave, leathery sepals, which are erect, very thick, half the
697
698
Cinnamon Wood
length of the petals, and fringed on the margin; corolla of 5 oblong petals 4.5 to 5
mm. long, blunt, concave, thick, fleshy, purple and deciduous; the stamens are 15
to 20, the filaments united into a tube 3 mm. high; anthers linear, 2-valved, open-
ing lengthwise; ovary cyhndric or oblong-conic; the style is short and fleshy, the
stigma 2- or 3-lobed. The fruit, which mostly ripens in the spring, is a crimson
subglobose berry 12 to 15 mm. in diameter, tipped by the persistent style and sub-
FiG. 646. — Cinnamon Wood.
tended by the persistent calyx; seeds few, obovate to kidney-shaped, black and
shining, their endosperm copious.
The wood is very hard, close-grained, and reddish brown; its specific gravity
is about 0.99. The berries are a favorite food of birds. The bark is largely used
in the tropics as a condiment and it is valued in medicine for its aromatic tonic
properties. The genus consists of 2 species, this one being the type. Canella
is the Spanish name of Cinnamon.
THE BALSAM-TREE FAMILY
CLUSIACE^ Lindley
LUSIACEiE comprise some 12 genera with about 125 species of trees
or shrubs with yellowish, milky sap, natives of the warmer portions
of both hemispheres. They are of considerable local economic im-
portance, the concrete milky juice of many being used both medici-
nally and mechanically; of the former, Gamboge, a gum resin obtained from
Garcinia Hanhuryi J. D. Hooker, is powerfully purgative and poisonous in over-
doses; it is also used as a yellow coloring and is official in all modem Pharma-
copoeias; others are used externally for healing purposes, and as we would use
pitch in boat-building. Several edible fruits, the finest of them, and claimed by
many to be the most deHcious of all known fruits, is the Mangosteen, the fruit of
Garcinia Mangosiana Linneeus, of the East Indies, where it is largely cultivated
in many improved varieties. In tropical America the Mammee apple, the large
fruit of Mammea americana Linnaeus, is much used.
The ClusiacecE have opposite, sometimes whorled, entire leaves. The flov/ers
are mostly dioecious or polygamous in few-fiowered cymes, or soHtar)'. The calyx
consists of 2 to 16 strongly imbricated sepals, usually thick, leathery and persist-
ent; the corolla is large, white, pink or yellow, of 4 to 9 petals; the stamens are
mostly numerous, sometimes reduced in the pistillate flowers, their filaments more
or less united; the pistils consist of 2 to many united carpels; ovary 2- to many-
celled, its base surrounded by the united filaments; styles very stout or none;
stigmas thick; ovules several to many. The fruit is drupaceous or capsular, the
seeds sometimes arillate; endosperm none.
One species belonging to this family has been found in our area, or perhaps two.
BALSAM TREE
GENUS CLUSIA [PLUMIER] LINN^US
Species Clusia flava Jacquin
HIS evergreen tree or shrub is also called Bull Bay; it is an epiphyte,
germinating on the trunk or branches of other trees and sending down
aerial roots, which, upon reaching the soil, enter and finally become
the trunk. It has a thick, yellow, milky sap, and is reported to have
grown on Key West many years ago; it extends southward through the West
Indies to tropical America, and is also called Monkey apple and Fat pork. Its
699
700
Balsam Tree
maximum height is about 20 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 dm. The twigs
are stout, smooth, yellow-green or gray, and roughened by large leaf scars.
The leaves are thick and leather}-, cuneate-obovate, 5 to 15 cm. long, blunt
or notched at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, narrowed to the short, broad
leaf-stalk, entire on the margin, yellowish green, smooth and shining above, paler,
smooth and finely veined beneath. The flowers are few, clustered in cymes;
calyx of 8 to 16 imbricated sepals, which are thick, leather-hke, and suborbicular;
the corolla has 4 broad obovate petals 2.5 to 3 cm. long, leathery, yellow, some-
times slightly unequal; stamens short and thick, several to many in the staminate
flowers, none in the pistillate flowers. The fruit is a pear-shaped or globular,
leathery capsule, and splits into about 12 segments; seeds usually 12, globular^
surrounded by a soft pulp.
Fig. 647. — Balsam Tree.
The gummy exudation is used in the West Indies as a dressing for wounds,,
and the bites of insects.
No species of the genus is known to inhabit Florida at the present time, but
there is evidence that another one, perhaps Clusia rosea Linnaeus, formerly existed
on Pine Key and Key West; further exploration of the Keys may still reveal one
or the other.
The genus is composed of about 80 species, confined to tropical and subtropical
America. The name is in commemoration of Charles de I'Ecluse, a French bota-
nist of the sixteenth century. The type species is Clusia major Linnaeus, of the
West Indies.
THE TAMARISK FAMILY
TAMARICACE^ Lindley
HIS family comprises 4 genera, with nearly 100 species of trees, shrubs,
or partly woody herbs, natives of southern Europe, northern Africa,
and central and southern Asia. They are pecuHary ornamental, but
of little economic value. The bark is astringent, and has been used,
in tanning and dyeing.
TamaricacecB have alternate entire, usually very small or scale-Hke, often
imbricated leaves without stipules. The small flowers are mostly perfect, regular,
in spikes, racemes, or panicles; the calyx consists of 5, rarely 4 or 6, imbricated
sepals; the corolla of an equal number of distinct petals; stamens 5 to many, their
filaments free and distinct, the anthers opening lengthwise; ovary of 2 to 5 united
carpels, superior, upon a lo-lobed or obsolete disk, i-celled, with 3 to 5 basal
placentas; styles 3 to 5, distinct; ovules 2 to many on each placenta. Fruit a dry
capsule, its seeds erect, small, each terminated by a tuft of hairs; there is no endo-
sperm. One species has become naturalized in our area.
TAMARISK
GENUS TAMARIX LINN^US
Species Tamarix gallica Linnasus
HIS small tree or shrub of southern Europe is cultivated for ornament
from Massachusetts southward, and has become naturalized in the
southern States, especially in Texas, where it occurs in thickets, waste
places or roadsides, and reaches a height of 6 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 3 dm.; also in Bermuda, the Bahamas and Haiti. It is also known
as French tamarisk, Heath, Cypress, and Flowering cypress.
The branches are slender, wand-Hke, and spreading. The bark is thin, fissured
into flat, elongated, dark brown ridges. The twigs are numerous, somewhat
clustered, pendulous, slender and round, purphsh red, and entirely covered with
thin, imbricated scale-Hke leaves; these are awl-shaped, about i mm. long, sharp-
pointed, glaucous, whitish or bluish, persistent in mild chmatcs. The ven- small
flowers appear in summer, are nearly sessile, in conspicuous slender panicles 2 to
3 dm. long, of numerous spikes; the calyx has 5 triangular persistent sepals about
0.5 mm. long; the corolla is white or pink, deciduous; the stamens have free fila-
ments, thickened at the base; ovary free, sharp-pointed. The fruit is a pyramidal
capsule about i mm. long, with many small seeds.
701
702
Tamarisk
Its wood is quite hard and tough, rather strong, coarse-grained, and light red-
dish m color.
The bark is sometimes used in tanning and dyeing, also the galls caused by
the sting of a coleopterous insect, known as Mogador galls; these are a source
of tannic acid, of which they contain about 40 per cent. A saccharine exudation
of this or a closely related species in Arabia, also caused by the puncture of an
Fig. 648. — Tamarisk.
insect, constitutes the Tamarisk or Jews' manna. Crude brushes are made from
the twigs.
The genus, of which our plant is the type species, contains about 60 others,
all natives of the Mediterranean region or the East Indies, several of which are
cultivated in our gardens. The name is derived from that of an Asiatic river, on
which these plants grew in abundance.
THE TEA FAMILY
THEACE^ de Candolle
HIS family comprises about i6 genera, with some 175 species of trees,
shrubs, and a few cUmbing vines, inhabiting the tropics and warmer
temperate regions of Asia and America and represented in our area
by 4 genera each with i species, 2 of which are arborescent. It is
very important economically on account of the Tea plant, Thea viridis Linnaeus,
native of southeastern Asia, the prepared leaves of which yield the well-known
beverage. Tea. Several members of this family are great favorites in the gardens
of warmer temperate regions and in conservatories, best known among these being
the CamelUa, Camellia japonica Linnaeus, now occurring in many varieties of
doubled and variously colored flowers.
The TheacecB have alternate, usually simple, rarely digitately divided, per-
sistent or deciduous leaves without stipules. The flowers are usually large and
showy, perfect and regular, axillary and soHtary or sometimes in crowded racemes
or panicles, often subtended by several bracts. The calyx consists of 5, or rarely
4 to 7 imbricated sepals; the corolla divisions are the same in number, sometimes
slightly united, imbricated; the stamens are as many as there are corolla-segments
or several times as many, the filaments various; anthers erect or versatile, open-
ing lengthwise or by apical pores; the pistil consists of 3 to 5 united carpels;
ovary 3- to 5-celled, sometimes partially immersed in the receptacle; styles as
many as there are cells of the ovary or sometimes united; stigmas various; o\ailes
2 to many in each cavity. The fruit is a leathery or woody capsule ; seeds few to
many; endosperm usually wanting, or, if present, fleshy; embryo straight or obhque;
cotyledons flat or fluted.
Our arborescent genera are:
Leaves deciduous, membranous; flowers nearly sessile, capsules globose; seeds
angled. i- Franklinia.
Leaves persistent, leathery; flowers on long pedicels; capsules ovoid; seeds
winged. 2. Gordonia.
703
704
Franklinia
I. FRANKLINIA
GENUS FRANKLINIA MARSHALL
Species Franklinia altamaha Marshall
Gordonia altamaha Sargent. Gordonia piibescens L'Heritier
DECIDUOUS small tree or shrub of very local occurrence, discovered
by the Bartrams in 1765 near Ft. Barrington, along the Altamaha
River in Georgia, and later cultivated in their celebrated garden at
Philadelphia, and seen again at the original locality by Moses Mar-
shall, 25 years later. It is not known to have been found wild since, and at the
present time is only known from cultivated specimens in gardens and parks. Its
maximum known height is 7 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 dm. It is some-
times called the Franklin tree.
The branches are stout, slightly angular. The bark of young stems and
branches is thin, smooth, gray, or
reddish brown to dark brown. The
twigs are rather slender, round and
hairy. The leaves are membranous,
oblanceolate or oblong-obovate, 6 to
15 cm. long, blunt or sharp-pointed,
narrowed at the base, sharply saw-
toothed above the middle, or nearly
to the base, deep green and shining,
with impressed and sHghtly hairy
midrib above, pale and thickly hairy,
with prominent midrib beneath; they
turn scarlet before falHng; the leaf-
stalk is hairy, grooved, and short.
The fragrant flowers appear in July
Fig. 649.— Franklinia. ^^^ continue until stopped by frost;
they are soHtary in the axils of the upper leaves, on stalks less than i cm. long;
the 5 sepals are very unequal, concave, orbicular, 12 to 14 mm. long, hairy-mar-
gined, and white hairy; the corolla is 7 to 9 cm. across; the 5 petals are nearly
distinct, white, membranous, concave, obovate, 4 to 5 cm. long, somewhat crisped
and rounded, silky; stamens numerous, their filaments elongated, distinct; anthers
yellow, versatile; ovary 5-cellcd, ridged, hairy, the slender style about as long as
the stamens; the stigma is disk-Hke. The fruit is a blunt, 5-valvcd, woody cap-
sule, subglobose, 1.5 to 2 cm. in diameter, spHtting upward from the bottom; the
seeds, 6 to 8, or fewer in each cell, are 12 to 14 mm. long, angled, woody-coated;
endosperm none.
The genus, consisting of but one kno\\'n species, is named in honor of the
illustrious American philosopher and statesman, Benjamin Franklin.
Loblolly Bay
705
II. LOBLOLLY BAY
GENUS GORDONIA ELLIS
Species Gordonia Lasianthus (Linna.'us) Ellis
Hypericum Lasianthus Linnaeus
LSO called Tan bay, this is a large evergreen tree of the southeastern
States, ranging from southern Virginia to Florida and Louisiana, near
the coast; it reaches a maximum height of 25 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 5 dm., usually much smaller and sometimes shrubby.
The tnmk is usually straight, the branches upright or spreading. The bark
is 2 cm. thick, deeply fissured into ridges and splitting into small reddish brown
scales. The twigs are stout, dark brown. The
winter buds are sharp-pointed, 6 to 8 mm.
long, and silky hairy. The leaves are thick
and leathery, narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate,
5 to 15 cm. long, pointed or bluntish at the
apex, narrowed at the base into a short-winged
stalk, finely toothed above the middle, dark
green, smooth, and shining above, dull green
and smooth beneath. The flowers, opening
from June to September, are large and showy,
white, borne on smooth stalks 3 to 7 cm. long,
in the axils of the upper leaves; they are sub-
tended by several small, early-falhng bracts;
the calyx is composed of 5 unequal sepals,
suborbicular, 8 to 12 mm. long, fringed and
velvety; the corolla is 5 to 7 cm. across; the
petals are ovate to elliptic, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long,
united and narrowed at the base, rounded at
the apex and silky-hairy. The numerous sta-
mens are on a 5-lobed, cup-shaped, fleshy disk at the base of the petals, their fila-
ments short and distinct; anthers yellow, versatile; ovary 5-celled, ovoid; style
stout, with spreading stigmas; ovules 4 in each cavity. The fruit is an ovoid cap-
sule, 15 to 18 mm. long, sharp-pointed, silky, sphtting into 5 segments, the angu-
lar central placental axis remaining. Seeds 2 to 4 in each cell, flattened and
somewhat S-shaped, 6 to 7 mm. long, with a papery brown wing.
The wood is soft, weak, fine-grained, and reddish; its specific gravity is about
0.47. It is occasionally used in cabinet work; its weakness, however, prevents its
general application. The bark is sometimes used in tanning.
The genus comprises about 10 species, mostly Asiatic trees or shrubs; our
species is the type. The name is in honor of James Gordon (i 750-1 780), an
EngHsh nurser>'man, who introduced many American plants into English gardens.
Fig. 650. — Loblolly Bay.
THE JUNCO FAMILY
KCEBERLINIACE^ Engler
HIS family consists of a single genus, with but one known species,
a tree or shrub occurring in northern Mexico and adjacent Texas;
it is a nearly leafless, spiny branched plant, without economic interest.
This curious plant has alternate, scale-like leaves, which are broad-
est near the apex and very soon deciduous. The very small flowers are perfect,
in short racemes near the ends of the branchlets, opening from March to June.
Their calyx consists of 4, rarely only 3, distinctly imbricated, deciduous sepals
ovate, blunt i mm. long; the corolla of an equal number of white obovate con-
volute petals 2.5 mm. long, which are somewhat clawed; stamens 8, shorter than
the petals, their filaments distinct, and thickened at the middle; the anthers are
oval, attached on the back, 2-celled, opening lengthwise; the ovar)-, of 2 united
carpels, is ovoid, 2-celled, and stalked, the style simple, awl-shaped; stigma termi-
nal and blunt ; ovules numerous, attached to the placenta in several rows. Fruit a
2-celled globose black berry, tipped with the persistent style; flesh thin; seeds i
to several in each cell, spirally twisted and wrinkled; endosperm thin.
JUNCO
GENUS KCEBERLINIA ZUCCARINI
Species Koeberlinia spinosa Zuccarini
UNCO inhabits dr)% gravelly
regions bordering the Rio
Grande River and some of its
tributaries in Texas and adja-
cent Mexico, where it forms immense and
formidable thickets and attains a maxi-
mum height of 8 meters, with a trunk di-
ameter of 3 dm. The trunk is very short,
scarcely 2.5 meters tall before it begins to
branch into a dense head. The branches
are all terminated by firm, often curved
thorns, and covered with a fight green bark.
The bark of the trunk is thin, scaly and
red-brown. The twigs are short, alternate
and smooth.
706
Fig. 651. — Junco.
Junco 707
The wood is hard, close-grained, dark brown to nearly black; its specific
gravity is about 1.12. The generic name is in honor of C. L, KoeberHn, a Bava-
rian clergyman and botanist.
Holocantha Emoryi A. Gray, a leafless, thorny plant of the Quassia family,
much resembling this tree, occurs in the same region and originally described as a
"curious small shrub or tree," was thought to belong to the same genus. It can
be distinguished by its velvety younger twigs, different inflorescence, and by its
fruit, which is closely clustered, dry, and 3-lobed.
THE PAPAYA FAMILY
CARICACE^ Dumortier
HIS family comprises 2 genera, including about 22 species of trees or
tree-like herbs, peculiar to tropical America. They are valuable on
account of their juicy fmit and the digestive properties of its milky
sap.
The Caricacea have large, alternate, palmately lobed, stalked leaves. The
flowers are rarely perfect, usually monoecious or dioecious. The calyx is short.
The staminate flowers have a gamopetalous corolla, with an elongated tube and
broad 5-lobed Hmb; the 10 stamens are inserted in the throat of the corolla in
2 series, one shorter than the other; anthers adnate to the filaments, 2-celled and
introrse. The pistillate flowers have a polypetalous corolla of 5 erect petals,
mostly spreading above the middle; there are no stamens nor staminodes; the
ovary of 5 carpels is free, sessile, i -celled, or appearing as if 5-celled, without a
style, the 5 distinct stigmas being sessile; o\ailes many, in 2 rows. The perfect
flowers have a shorter corolla, otherwise similar to the pistillate flowers and with-
out staminodes. The fruit is a large juicy berry, with numerous rough seeds,
their endosperm fleshy. One species enters the extreme southern portion of our
area.
PAPAYA
GENUS CARICA LINN.^US
Species Caxica Papaya Linnaeus
[|LSO called Custard apple, and Papaw, this peculiar plant is of short
duration, and its stem structure and lack of branches suggest a gigan-
tic herb. It is a common plant throughout tropical America and
occurs in our area in southern Florida, where improved varieties are
cultivated for their fruit. Its maximum height is about 6 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 1.5 dm.
The trunk is slender, round, and naked, seldom branched. The bark is thin,
light green; it gradually passes into the woody tissue, which is ver}' soft and porous
and only about 2 cm. thick, enclosing a layer of pithy tissue which in turn en-
closes a large central cavity. The leaves, borne at the top of the trunk, are subor-
bicular in outline, 2 to 6 dm. broad, palmately 5- to 7-lobed, the segments again
pinnately lobed and pointed, light green above, pale and glaucous with prominent
yellowish venation beneath ; the leaf-stalk is yellow, stout, hollow, often 5 dm. long
708
Papaya
709
Fig. 6>2.
Papaya, Florida.
and enlarged at the base. The }ello\v flowers appear at an}' season; usually the
different kinds are on separate trees, seldom on the same tree; the staminate are
in slender panicles i to 3 dm. long, and fragrant; the calyx is i to 1.5 mm. long;
the corolla is salverform, 2.3 to 3 cm. long, the tube slender, dilated near the top,
the lobes lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, scarcely as long as the tube; rudimentary-
ovary, if present, short, awl-shaped. The pistillate flowers are in i-to 3-flowered
short-stalked cymes; the calyx is 3 to 6 mm. high, persistent; corolla of distinct
710
Papaya
linear-lanceolate, erect petals 2 to 2.5 cm. long, twisted in the bud; the ovary is
ovoid, bluntly 5-angled. The perfect flowers have a tubular-bellshaped, corolla,
its lobes erect, and usually 5 stamens; ovary obovoid or oblong. The fruit is a
large berr}', oblong to subglobose, 2 to 12 cm. long, short-pointed at the apex, yel-
lowish or orange-colored, the skin thick, closely adhering to the firm flesh, sweetly
insipid, enclosing a mass of numerous black, round, rough seeds each about 4 mm.
long.
It is largely cultivated in the tropics for its fruit, improved forms yielding very
large sweet kinds. In Florida two varieties are growing wild, one with slender
green stems, producing small fruit, the other has stout, purplish stems, and yields a
large fruit.
Fig. 653. — Papaya.
The Papaya is useful in many ways; various parts of the plant have been used
medicinally for many human ailments. The juice will remove warts and cleanse
wounds. The leaves are used as soap and tough meat is packed in them to make
it tender. The active principle, an enzyme of the milky juice, papain, is a gray-
ish white powder, which has been used in scientific medicine as a digestive agent
similar to pepsin, and to dissolve the membranes in diphtheria.
The genus consists of about 21 species, all tropical American plants ver}' similar
to the Papaya, which is the type of the genus. The name Papaya is the old Carib
one; the generic name refers to the supposed resemblance of the fruit to figs.
The wood is soft and spongy and of no known use.
THE CACTUS FAMILY
CACTACEyE Lindley
OME cactuses have been regarded as trees by various authors, but it
seems best to us to exclude them all from the category. The stem-
structure of big and little ones is very similar, and no criterion, except
that of size, is available to determine which to include and which to
regard as shrubs or herbs. They form a natural group not readily divisible into
herbs, shrubs, and trees, and are very numerous in the arid regions of temper-
ate and tropical America.
Four species, natives of the south central and southwestern United States,
have been described as trees. The largest of these is the columnar Suwarro,
Cereus giganteus Engelmann, of Arizona, southeastern California, and Sonora,
which sometimes reaches a height of 20 meters, with a trunk up to 6 dm. in
diameter, either simple or with several upright branches; the stem and branches
are longitudinally ribbed and the ribs bear very numerous clusters of stout
spines 2 to 4 cm. long. The white flowers are about i dm. long and 6 cm.
wide, crowded near the top of the stem. The pulpy fruit is ovoid, red, edible,
and about 6 cm. long.
Three large species of the genus Opuntia inhabit the same general region.
These are much branched xevy prickly plants, the prickles accompanied by
minute barbed bristles. All three species have round knobbed stems and
branches and attain a maximum height of only about 4 meters. Their flowers
are pink, purple, red or yellow, the corolla rotate.
711
THE POMEGRANATE FAMILY
PUXICACE^ Horaninow
'UXICACE-'E consist of hut i genus, with i or possibly 2 species of
small trees or shmbs with opposite branches, native of Persia and
adjacent countries.
Plants of the Pomegranate Family have opposite or clustered
leather}' leaves. The perfect flowers are large and shov/y, on stout peduncles,
solitaiy, or in clusters of 2 to 5 in the axils of the leaves. The calyx is joined to
the ovar}-, 5- to 7-lobed, and leather}-. The corolla consists of 5 to 7 petals in-
serted in the throat of the calyx-tube; the stamens are numerous, in several series,
inserted with the petals; filaments stout, the anthers ovate, attached at the middle;
the pistil consists of several united carpels; ovar}' several-celled, inferior, the styles
united, the stigmas somewhat lobed; the ovules are numerous, superimposed, in
2 series. The fruit is a several-celled, hard-shelled, leather}' berr}', capped with
the enlarged calyx; its septa are membranous; the seeds are numerous, more or
less angular, in a water}' pulp, their coating leather}-; the embr}'o has spirally con-
volute auricled cotvledons.
POMEGRANATE
GENUS PUNICA [TOURNEFORT] LINN.EUS
Species Punica Granatum Linnaeus
S]\IALL tree, cultivated in all warm temperate countries for its fine
fruit as well as for ornament. It is frequently naturahzed in regions
where it has long been cultivated, and is so found in peninsular
^ Florida, where it occurs in sandy woods and waste places. It is a
much-branched small tree or shrub, reaching a height of 6 meters, and is also
known as the Punic apple or Garnet apple.
The bark is ver}' thin, about 1 mm. thick, brownish gray, verv' shallowly re-
ticulated, yellowish within; the twigs are slender, angular, becoming round, gray
to brown. The leaves are entire, leather}-, eUiptic, oblong or oblanceolate, i to 6
cm. long, blunt or pointed, rarely notched, tapering at the short-stalked base, light
green and prominently veined. The flowers are solitary- or in clusters; the calyx-
tube is bell-shaped, its lobes thick, leather}', triangular or triangular-lanceolate,
sharp-pointed; the petals are obovate to nearly orbicular, short-clawed, 1.5 to 2.5
cm. long, bright scarlet. The fruit, ripening in September, is globular or nearly
712
Pomegranate
l^Z
so, 5 to lo cm. in diameter, of a yellowish to garnet red color; the watery pulp is
reddish and agreeably acidulous.
The wood is hard, close-grained, light yellow; its specific gravity is about 0.93.
It has been used as a substitute for Boxwood, Biixus sempervirens Linnrcus, by
wood engravers.
Fig. 654. — Pomegranate.
As an economic plant it is of considerable importance. The fruit is especially
valuable in hot, dr}' regions. The rind of the fruit and the bark of both stem and
roots are vermifuge and taenifuge; its active constituent, pelletierine, is a specific
for the removal of tapeworm.
The generic name is Latin, derived from the Roman name for Carthage,
whence this fruit was obtained.
THE MANGROVE FAMILY
RHIZOPHORACE^ Lindley
HIS family consists of about 15 genera, with some 50 species of trees or
shrubs, many of maritime habitat, confined to the tropical and sub-
tropical regions of both hemispheres, probably most abundant in the
Old World. The wood of the larger growing trees of this family is
of some importance in marine construction on account of its durabihty in salt
water, and the astringent bark of some of them is valued for tanning; their chief
economic value, however, is in the habit of growth, which causes some of them
to protect land from the encroachments of the sea.
Plants of the Mangrove family have an astringent bark and round twigs; their
leaves are usually opposite, smooth, thick and leathery, stalked and stipulate.
The flowers are regular and perfect, solitary or variously clustered in the axils of
the leaves; the calyx is persistent, 3- or 4-lobcd; corolla usually inconspicuous, its
petals of the same number as the divisions of the calyx; stamens two to four times
the number of petals, seldom only as many, inserted at the base of a more or less
conspicuous disk, their filaments long or short, the 2-celled anthers opening length-
wise; pistil of 2 to 5 united carpels, the ovary i- to 5-celled, the styles short, united,
the stigma various, entire or lobed; ovules pendulous, 2, 4, or rarely more in each
cavity. The fruit is beriy-Hke and leather}^, capped with the persistent calyx,
indehiscent or tardily splitting. The seeds are various.
There is but one species in our area.
MANGROVE
GENUS RHIZOPHORA LINN^US
Species Rhizophora Mangle Linna?us
OMETIMES also called the Red mangrove, this tree is a characteristic
inhabitant of low, muddy shores, tidclands, and marshes of tropical
America, entering our area in southern Florida, where it forms large
dense thickets bordering the shores. It is said to attain its greatest
perfection in the streams flowing from the Everglades. Its miaximum height is
about 25 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.2 meters or more.
The bark is about 12 mm. tliick, shallowly furrowed into broad ridges and
scaly plates, brownish gray; internally it is red. The twigs are smooth, very stout
and pithy. The leaves are opposite, persistent, thick, leather}^ elhptic to obovate,
5 to 15 cm. long, bluntly pointed, tapering at the base into a stout stalk, entire-
714
Mangrove
715
>
-a
>
o
u
c
6
l-H
►1-1
7i6
Mangrove
margined, dark green, smooth and shining above, paler with prominent midrib
beneath; the elongated stipules are deciduous. The axillar}- peduncles are i to 4
cm. long, bearing 2 or 3 pediceled flowers; the calyx is sharply 4-lobed and leathery;
petals yellowish white, linear or nearly so, long hair}'; stamens 8, in 2 sets, with
short filaments; ovary partly inferior, conic, 2-celled, with 2 awl-shaped styles
with stigmatic tips. The berr)^ is conic, leather}-, 2 to 2.5 cm. long, rough, brown,
subtended by the persistent, reflexed calyx-lobes; the seed, usually solitar}', germi-
nates in the fruit while this is still attached to the tree, its radicle forcing its way
out and growing downward, suspended from the fruit, often until it becomes 2.5
to 3 dm. long before falling off and taking root in the mud, soon forming a new
plant; these with the arching aerial roots that develop from the trunk and branches
Fig. 656. — Mangrove.
of the older plants form a network, which not only prevents the trees from being
washed away by the waves, but affords a place of lodgment for all sorts of debris,
the constant accumulation of which in time raises the ground above the surface
of the water, thus increasing the land and literally making "islands grow."
The wood is hard, close-grained, strong, dark red-brown and satiny; its specific
gravity about 1.16. It is used for fuel, and for wharfs and docks, not being bored
by the marine worm-like mollusk Teredo. The astringent bark is used for tan-
ning leather.
The name is Greek, in reference to the atrial roots borne on its branches.
There are 2 other species loiown from the coasts of tropical Africa, the East
Indies, and Australia, their habits being very similar to the American tree, which
is the type species.
THE WHITE MANGROVE FAMILY
COMBRETACE.^ R. Brown
HIS family comprises some 15 genera, containing about 285 species of
trees, shrubs or vines. They inhabit all the tropical regions, but
are most numerous in the eastern hemisphere. Many of them are
plants of the seacoast; they are of no especial economic value, except
that the wood of the larger trees is used for construction and fuel. The astringent
bark and fruits of some are used for dyeing and tanning.
Plants of the White mangrove family have alternate or opposite simple, leathery
leaves, with petioles that are often glandular at the base, and without stipules.
The flowers are perfect or polygamous, regular, clustered in heads, spikes or
racemes; the calyx is 4- or 5-lobed, deciduous, or persistent; the petals are of the
same number as the calyx-lobes, or sometimes entirely wanting; stamens as many
or twice as many as the petals, rarely more, their filaments distinct, anthers fac-
ing inward; pistil mostly of i carpel, the ovary i-cclled with 2 to 5 suspended
ovules; style terminal; stigma entire or nearly so. The fruit is a drupe or berr}',
indehiscent, sometimes crowned with the enlarged persistent calyx; seeds solitary
and fining the cavity; there is no endosperm; the embryo is straight, its cotyledons
convolute. Our genera are:
Calyx deciduous; petals wanting.
Flowers spicate; fruit large, almond-like.
Flowers capitale; fruit small, cone-like.
Calyx persistent; flowers spicate; fruit small.
Petals wanting; leaves alternate.
Petals present; leaves opposite.
1. Terminalia.
2. Conocarpus.
3. Bucida.
4. Lagnnciilaria.
I. INDIAN ALMOND
GENUS TERMINALIA LINN.EUS
Species Terminalia Catappa Linnaeus
Lx^RGE tree with very large leaves and whorled, outspreading branches,
native of the East Indies. It is widely planted in tropical countries
for shade and is variously known as Catappa, Olive bark tree, Malabar
tree, Almond tree, Demerara almond, and West Indian almond. It
has become naturalized in America as far north as peninsular Florida. Its
maximum height is about 24 meters, with a trunk diameter up to 1.5 meters.
The twigs are ver\^ stout and pithy, dark gray and marked with numerous
7i8
Indian Almond
Buttonwood
719
leaf scars. The leaves are alternate, entire-margined, crowded at the ends of the
branchlets, thick and leathery, obovate, wedge-shaped at the base, i to 3 dm. long,
rounded, often abruptly tipped at the apex, short stalked, dark green and shin-
ing above, paler beneath. The small flowers are
perfect or polygamous, greenish white, in slender
spikes 5 to 15 cm. long, the staminate flowers toward
the top, the pistillate at the base of the spikes; the
calyx is hairy, its lobes ovate or triangular, about
as long as the tube; corolla none; stamens 10 to
20 in 2 series, exserted, the anthers heart-shaped;
style single, ending in a stigmatic tip. The fruit is
a woody drupe, somewhat ellipsoid, compressed, 2-
edged or shghtly winged, short pointed, 4 to 7 cm.
long; the seed is cylindric-ellipsoid, 3 to 4 cm. long,
6 to ID mm. in diameter, and is edible.
The wood is hard, close-grained, red-brown, with
a specific gravity of about 0.70. The ripe seeds are
used, especially in the West Indies, like almonds,
but the flavor is more Uke that of the filbert; a fixed
oil is also expressed from them. The unripe fruits ^'^- 658. -Indian Almond,
of this and other trees of the genus are highly astringent and are used in tanning
and dyeing; they are exported from the East Indies into England under the name
myrobalans. All parts of the plant are more or less astringent and tonic and
have been used in tropical medicine.
Terminalia is a large genus, about 100 species having been described, mostly
natives of the eastern tropics. T. Catappa is the type of the genus. The name
is Latin, with reference to the clustering of the leaves at the ends of the branches.
II. BUTTONWOOD
GENUS CONOCARPUS LINN^US
Species Conocarpus erecta Linnaeus
ONOCARPUS attains all manner of forms, from that of a prostrate
shmb, less than a meter high, to that of an upright tree 20 meters
tall, with a trunk diameter of 7 or 8 dm. It occurs on tropical sea-
coasts, either muddy, sandy, or rocky, often where exposed to spray.
It is known from the coasts of peninsular Florida and the Keys, throughout the
West Indies and tropical America, and is also reported from Africa.
The bark is broken by a network of fissures into irregular flat ridges and thin
scales of a dark brown color. The twigs are slender, angular, or sometimes
winged, smooth and shining or finely hair}-, green, becoming round and gray or
bro\Mi. The leaves are alternate, persistent, leather)', eUiptic to oval or obovate,
720
Black Olive Tree
2 to lo cm. long, mostly sharp or taper-pointed at both ends, entire on the mar-
gin, light green and smooth above, paler and sometimes hair)', with prominent
yellowish midrib beneath ; the leaf-
stalk is stout and broad, 5 to 15
mm. long, with 2 glands at the
top. The flowers, appearing at
all seasons, are perfect, very small
and green, in panicles of dense
globular heads 10 mm. in diame-
ter, on stout, hairy stalks; the
calyx-tube is funnel-shaped, about
I mm. long, its lobes triangu-
lar-ovate, about as long as the
tube, and hairy; coroHa none; sta-
mens usually 5, sometimes 7 or 8,
their exserted filaments elongated,
anthers heart-shaped; ovary infe-
rior, i-celled, 2-ovuled, style slen-
der, hairy at the base and terminated by a stigmatic tip. The fruit is a globular or
oval cone-like aggregation of small, flat, winged, scale-like drupes, purphsh green,
about 10 mm. in diameter; the seed is flattened and brown, without endosperm.
The wood is hard, strong, close-grained, grayish to yellowish brown, and about
the weight of water, its specific gravity being a trifle under i.oo. Its chief value
is for fuel and charcoal. The astringent bark is used to some extent for tanning,
and in tropical medicine.
The genus is usually considered monotypic, but the plant described as Cono-
carpus sericea Forster, which has densely white-silky foliage, appears distinct; it
grows with the typical form in Florida and the West Indies, usually shrubby.
The name is Greek, in reference to the cone-like fruit.
Fig. 659. — Buttonwood.
III. BLACK OLIVE TREE
GENUS BUCIDA LINN^US
Species Bucida Buceras Linnaeus
Terminalia Buceras C. Wright
HIS tree just enters our area by occurring on Elliott's Key, in south-
em Florida, but is widely distributed in the West Indies and in Cen-
tral America, reaching a maximum height of about 25 meters, with
a trunk diameter of 9 dm. or more.
The crooked branches are stout, spreading, the tree round-topped. The bark
is up to 2 cm. thick, scaly, gray. The twigs are round, regularly forked and hair)',
but become zigzag, quite smooth and light brown or gray, often with spines 2 to
Black Olive Tree
721
3 cm. long. The buds are naked. The leaves are alternate, usually crowded at
the ends of the branches, thick and leathery,
obovate to spatulate or eUiptic, 3 to 9 cm.
long, entire, blunt or shghtly notched, often
minutely tipped, gradually tapering to the
short petiole, bright green above, yellow-
ish green beneath, haiiy at first, becoming
smooth, except along the stout midrib be-
neath. The perfect small green flowers ap-
pear in spring, in slender, hairy spikes 3 to
10 cm. long; the calyx-tube is saucer-shaped,
hairy, 3 mm. high, its lobes broadly triangu-
lar, sharp-pointed; corolla none; stamens
10, conspicuously exserted, their anthers
arrow-shaped; style slender, hair}' at the
base. The fruit is a drupe, ovoid-conic, 7
to 8 mm. long, often slightly curved, capped
by the enlarged persistent calyx, thinly hair)-; the seed is ovoid, sharp-pointed.
The wood of the Black ohve tree is hard, close-grained, and yellowish
brown, is valued for construction and makes excellent fuel. Its specific gravity
Fig. 660. — Black Olive Tree.
Fig. 661. — Black Olive Tree, Inagua, Bahamas.
722
White Mangrove
is about 1.04. The bark is astringent and has been used in the West Indies for
tanning.
The generic name is Greek, based on the statement of Patrick Browne that
in Jamaica " on the flower spikes of this tree you may sometimes find fructifica-
tions something in the form of a bull's horn." There is but one species known.
IV. WHITE MANGROVE
GENUS LAGUNCULARIA C. F. G.ERTNER
Species Laguncularia racemosa (Linnaeus) C. F. Gaertner
Conocarpus racemosus Linnaeus
HE White mangrove, also called White buttonwood, is common on the
seashores of the West Indies, Mexico, and Central America, and is
also reported from western Africa. It enters our territon,' in penin-
sular Florida and some of the Keys, where it is commonly only a shrub,
but attains a maximum height of about 20 meters, with a trunk diameter of 8 dm.
The branches are stout and short, forming an oblong round tree. The bark
is about 6 mm. thick, fissured into
long reddish brown scales. The twigs
are round or slightly angular, dark
reddish brown and smooth, thickened
at the nodes. The leaves are oppo-
site, thick and leathery, oblong to oval
or obovate, entire-margined, 2 to 7
cm. long, rounded or notched at the
apex, rounded, narrowed, or shghtly
heart-shaped at the base, dull green
and smooth above, paler beneath, the
leaf-stalk stout, 5 to 20 mm. long,
with 2 glands. The flowers are pcr-
FiG. 662. — White Mangrove.
feet or polygamous, in few-flowered clustered spikes 3 to 6 cm. long, with small
hair)' bractlets; the persistent calyx is 5-lobed, the lobes semiorbicular, sharp-
pointed; petals 5, nearly orbicular, not longer than the calyx; stamens 10; fila-
ments awl-shaped, the anthers heart-shaped; ovary i-celled, style short, terminated
by a somewhat 2-lobed stigma. The fruit is a leather}', lo-ribbed, obovoid to
oblong, reddish drupe about 15 mm. long.
The wood is hard, strong, dense and yellowish brown; its specific gravity is
about 0.86. The astringent bark is sometimes used for tanning, and in medicine.
The genus is monotypic, but one species being known. Its name is Latin,
from the fancied resemblance of the fruit to a flask.
THE MYRTLE FAMILY
:MYRTACE^ R. Brown
HIS family consists of about 75 genera, comprising some 2700 sj)ecies
of trees and shrubs, nearly all natives of warmer temperate regions
and of the tropics, where they especially abound. They are of con-
siderable economic importance, especially in the southern hemisphere,
where the Australian genus, Eucalyptus, is of the greatest value for timber and
otherwise. Several edible fruits are produced by species of various genera, espe-
cially Psidium and Eugenia; the important spices; Cloves, and Pimenta or All-
spice, are also products of this family.
The Myrtacece have mostly opposite leaves, although in some genera they arc
alternate or whorled, usually pinnately veined, pellucid-punctate and abounding in
oil glands; there are no stipules. The flowers are regular and perfect, variously
clustered, the calyx-lobes 4 or 5 or more, valvate or imbricated, persistent, or cap-
hke and deciduous; the 4 or 5 petals are inserted on the margin of the disk or
wanting; the stamens are numerous, rarely as few as the calyx-lobes, their fila-
ments distinct or partly united near the base; anthers opening lengthwise; the
ovar}^ is inferior or partly so, and i- to several-celled; the style is terminal, rarely
lateral, and usually terminated by an entire stigma; ovules i or many. The fruit
is mostly indehiscent, often fleshy, usually crowned with the persistent calyx; the
seed is straight, round or angled, the coating paper}' or crustaceous; there is no
endosperm. Our arborescent genera are:
Petals present; calyx-lobes persistent.
Calyx-lobes separating regularly.
Inflorescence centripetal, racemose or umbellate, or contracted.
Inflorescence centrifugal, cymose.
Calyx-lobes separating irregularly.
Petals absent; calyx-lobes coming off like a cap.
American trees; seeds i or 2.
Introduced from Australia; seeds many.
1. Eugenia.
2. Anamomis.
3. Psidiuw.
4. Calyptranthcs.
5. Eucalyptus.
I. THE STOPPERS
GENUS EUGENIA [:MICHELI] LINN.EUS
UGENIA comprises some 600 species of tropical evergreen aromatic
trees or shrubs, common in America and Asia, less abundant in Africa.
^*^| Some of their fruits are large and edible; the bark and leaves of
ymrA^.,.uM[ gQj^g ^j-g medicinal; the fruits and flowers of others are used as spices,
and the fruit of the typical species, Eugenia uni flora Linna?us, the Surinam cherr}-,
is edible.
723
724
Stoppers
They have opposite, usually leather}-, feather- veined entire leaves, without stip-
ules. The inflorescence is centripetal, the flowers variously clustered, or soli-
tar}-, with small bracts and bractlets. The calyx-tube is globose to top-shaped,
the lobes 4 or 5 ; the petals are inserted on the margin of the disk, usually 4,
rarely 5, spreading; stamens many, their fllaments thread-like, separate, in several
rows, or sHghtly united at the base into 4 groups, the anthers versatile ; ovar}' ses-
sile, 2- to 3-celled, with several ovules in each cell; style simple and thread-Hke,
tciTninated by a stigmatic tip. The fruit a pulpy, dr}-ish, or leathery berr\% capped
by the persistent calyx; seeds i to 4, globose or variously flattened.
The name is in honor of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), an Austrian
general and patron of botany and horticulture.
The species that arc known to occur in our area all become arborescent.
Flowers in short racemes.
Leaves oblong to cuneate-obovate; fruit longer than broad.
Leaves ovate to elliptic; fruit broader than long.
Flowers solitar}' or umbellate.
Peduncles shorter than the leaves.
Leaves acute or subacuminate; fruit thicker than long.
Leaves abruptly acuminate; fruit about as long as thick.
Peduncles longer than the leaves.
1. E. buxijolia.
2. E. axillaris.
3. E. rhombea.
4. E. conjusa.
5. E. longipes.
I. SPANISH STOPPER — Eugenia buxifoUa (Swartz) Willdenow
Myrtiis buxijolia Swartz. Myrtiis axillaris Poiret, not Swartz
Also called Gurgeon stopper; this small tree or shrub of the West Indies enters
our area in southern peninsular Florida and the Keys, where it grows in sandy or
rocky soil and attains a
height of 6 meters, with a
trunk diameter of 3 dm.
The bark is about 3
mm. thick, light reddish
brown, and scaly. The
twigs are round, slender,
with reddish hairs, soon
becoming smooth, gray or
reddish grav. The leaves
are leather}-, oblong to
obovate, 2 to 3 cm. long,
blunt at the apex, taper-
ing at the base to the short
petiole, entire on the revo-
lute margin, deep green
above, yellowish green and black dotted beneath. The flowers expand at nearly
Fig. 663. — Spanish Stopper.
White Stopper
725
all seasons, in small short axillary or lateral racemes, on rusty-hairy pedicels.
The 4 calyx- lobes are blunt; the corolla is 3 or 4 mm. across, its 4 white petals
glandular-punctate and fringed on the margin. The fruit is oval or subglobosc,
somewhat obHque, 5 to 8 mm. long, black, and aromatic.
The wood is very hard, strong, close-grained, and dark reddish brown; its
specific gravity is 0.94, and it is used for fuel on the Florida Keys.
2. WHITE STOPPER — Eugenia axillaris (Swartz) Willdenow
Myrtus axillaris Swartz. Eugenia monticola Grisebach, not Willdenow
This small, slow-growing tree or shrub occurs in sandy or rocky soil in penin-
sular Florida and the Keys, and is widely distributed in the West Indian islands,
north to Bermuda, reaching a maximum height of 8 meters, with a trunk diame-
ter of 3 dm.
The bark is about 3 mm. thick, irregularly and shallowly fissured and broken
into small thin plates of a light
brovv'n color. The twigs are
rather stout, round and stiff, gray
or reddish gray. The leaves are
thick and leather}^, elliptic-ovate
or nearly elHptic, broadest just
below the middle, 3 to 7 cm.
long, narrowed at the apex into
a bluntish tip, tapeiing at the
base to the broad petiole, entire
and revolute on the margin, dark
green with a broad impressed
midrib above, paler, minutely
dotted and with elevated veins
beneath. The flowers, opening
in summer and autumn, are in
short axillary clusters, on stout
smooth or haiiy pedicels. The
calyx is punctate, its lobes rounded; corolla 3 to 4 mm. across, its petals larger
than the calyx-lobes, the many white stamens conspicuous. The fruit is a de-
pressed globular, glandular- punctate berry, 10 to 12 mm. in diameter and crowned
with the persistent calyx-lobes, its flesh sweet, pleasant to the taste and aromatic;
it usually contains but one globose brown seed.
The wood is hard, strong, close-grained and brown or reddish brov/n; its spe-
cific gravity is about 0.91. The foUage is unpleasantly scented, the odor dis-
tinctly mephitic, and \cry noticeable to leeward.
Fig. 664. — White Stopper.
726
Stoppers
3. RED STOPPER — Eugenia rhombea (Berg) Krug and Urban
Eugenia procera Nuttall, not Poiret. E. joetida rhombea Berg
This small West Indian tree is only known to occur in our area on several of
the Florida Keys, but is abundant in the West Indies, attaining a maximum height
of 8 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 dm. It is also called Spiceberry.
The bark is about 1.5 mm. thick, close and smooth, hght gray or reddish gray.
The twigs are slender, round,
purplish or reddish, becoming
gray or white. The leaves are
firm, scarcely leather}^ ovate to
elliptic, 3 to 6 cm. long, bluntly
taper-pointed, rounded or grad-
ually tapering to the short peti-
ole, thickened on the margin,
bright green, dull and smooth
above, paler and black-dotted be-
neath. The flowers, appearing
from spring to autumn, are in
small umbel-like clusters, each
on a slender pedicel 8 to 15 mm.
long. The calyx-tube is shorter
than its 4 rounded lobes; corolla
Fig. 665. -Red Stopper. ^^.j^-^^^ -^^ ^j-oadly ovate petals
twice the length of the calyx-lobes. The fruit is depressed-globose, 16 to 22 mm.
in diameter, slightly glandular, conspicuously crowned by the persistent calyx-
lobes, orange, reddish or black when ripe; the flesh is thin and dry; seed nearly
globular, brown, and shining.
This is one of the most beautiful trees of Florida when laden with fruit.
4. CAREER'S STOPPER — Eugenia confusa de Candolle
Eugenia Garberi Sargent
Garber's stopper is by far the largest native tree of its family, in our area.
It grows in hammocks in southern peninsular Florida and the Keys, also in the
Bahamas and Porto Rico and Jamaica; its maximum height is about 18 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 5 dm. It is also known as Red stopper.
The branches are spreading and ascending, forming a dense tree. The bark
is about 5 mm. thick, separating into many thin scales of a bro\vnish red color.
The twigs are slender, round, smooth and gray. The leaves are ovate, oval-ovate
or oblong-ovate, 3 to 7 cm, long, conspicuously taper- pointed, rounded or tapering
at the base, entire, revolute on the margin, dark green and shining above, paler,
Long Stalked Stopper
727
black dotted beneath; the rather stout leaf-stalk is 2 to 6 mm. long. The flowers
are 6 to 8 mm. wide and ap-
pear at nearly all seasons, in
several flowered, axillary clus-
ters, on smooth pedicels 6 to
15 mm. long; the calyx is
punctate, its 4 lobes ovate
and sharp-pointed ; corolla
white, its blunt petals ovate.
The fruit, which is sohtary,
or 2 to 4 together, is subglo-
bose, scarlet, 5 to 8 mm.
in diameter, glandular and
capped by the calyx- lobes; its ^^^^"^^^^^^^^ 3
flesh is thin and drj^ish; seed || 5
nearly globular, light brown
and shining. ^^^- ^^^- " Garber's Stopper.
The wood is ver\^ hard, strong, close-grained, and reddish brown; its specific
gravity is about 0.94. The dark green lustrous foliage is very striking, the leaves
characteristically drooping.
5. LONG STALKED STOPPER — Eugenia longipes Berg
Although usually a low shrub, this rarely becomes a small tree up to 4 meters
high, with a trunk i dm. in diameter. It grows
in sandy or rocky soil in southern Florida and
the Bahama islands.
The twigs are slender, shghtly hairy, reddish
brown to gray. The leaves are thick and leath-
er}', oblong to oval, i to 3 cm. long, sharp or
blunt-pointed, narrowed or rounded at the base,
entire and revolute on the margin, bright green,
smooth and shining, with prominent yellowish
midrib above, shghtly paler, finely netted and
black dotted beneath, the leaf-stalk stout and
short. The flowers are in axillar\', few-flowered
clusters on pedicels 2 to 6 cm. long ; calyx smooth
but glandular punctate, its 4 lobes ovate to
broadly ovate; the corolla is white, 8 to 10 mm.
broad, its petals oblong, much longer than the
lobes of the calyx. The fruit is a subglobose,
Fig. 667. — Long Stalked Stopper, ^i^^j-k red berr\', 6 to 9 mm. in diameter, crowned
with the very large persistent calyx-lobes.
728
Naked Stopper
11. NAKED STOPPER
GENUS ANAMOMIS GRISEBACH
Species Anamomis dicrana (Berg) Britton
Eugenia dicrana Berg. Anamomis dichotoma Sargent,
not Myrtiis dichotoma Poiret
HIS evergreen tree is also known as Nakedwood. It is a low, aro-
matic tree or shnib of sandy or rocky soil of peninsular Florida,
and the Keys, attaining a maximum height of 8 meters, with a trunk
diameter of 1.5 dm.
The bark is about 3 mm. thick, close, peehng off in thin scales of a red or red-
dish brown color. The twigs are round and slender, hairy and reddish at first,
soon becoming smooth and brown.
The leaves are opposite, quite
leathery, oblong or obovate, 2 to 4
cm. long, blunt or rarely sharp-
pointed, tapering at the wedge-
shaped base to the short petiole,
entire, revolute and somewhat
thickened on the margin, hairy
when unfolding, soon becoming
smooth and bright green, with
small dark dots and impressed
midrib above, paler and punctate
beneath. The flowers appear in
spring in the leaf-axils, in hairy
peduncled cymes of usually 3
flowers, the terminal flower sessile,
the 2 to 6 lateral flowers on pedi-
cels 5 to 12 mm. long; the flowers
are about 8 mm. across, perfect,
white; the calyx obovoid, hairy, its 4 lobes ovate and rounded; petals inserted
under the thick disk, about twice the length of the calyx-lobes, ovate and glan-
dular; stamens inserted with the petals, numerous, their filaments thread-like;
anthers versatile; ovary mostly 4-celled; ovules numerous; style fihform, exsertcd.
The fruit is berry-like, oval or subglobose, 6 to 7 mm. long, red, the calyx-lobes
persistent; the flesh is thin and dr)'ish; seed usually i, rarely 2, kidney-shaped,
brown.
The wood is hard, close-grained, light brown or reddish; its specific gravity is
about 0.90.
The genus is a West Indian one, containing in all about 5 species of woody
plants of probably no economic value, although it is stated that an edible fruit is
Fig. 668. — Naked Stopper.
G
uava
729
produced by a Haytian species. The name is Greek, in reference to the aromatic
foliage and fruits. The type is Anamomis jragrans (Swartz) Grisebach, native of
Jamaica.
III. GUAVA
GENUS PSIDIDM LINN^US
Species Psidium Guajava Linnaeus
HIS tropical American species has escaped from cultivation in peninsular
Florida and southern California, where it occurs as a small tree or
shrub, in fields and thickets, reaching a maximum height of 5 meters,
with a trunk diameter of 1.5 dm. It is sometimes called Lemon
guava, and is the type of the genus.
The bark is 1.5 mm. thick, close, smooth, and red-brown to gray. The twigs
are 4-angled and hairy. The leaves are quite persistent, opposite, firm in texture,
usually oblong, 4 to 8 cm, long, blunt or pointed, rounded or subcordate at the
base, entire-margined ; they are dark
green and quite smooth above, more
or less hairy and prominently veined
beneath ; the leaf-stalk is short. The
large flowers, appearing in early
spring and irregularly during the
summer, are white, solitary in the
axils; their 4 or 5 calyx-lobes separate
irregularly from each other, and are
I to 1.5 cm. long. The corolla con-
sists of 4 or 5 petals 1.5 to 2 cm.
long; stamens numerous, white, the
anthers small; ovary inferior, 2- to
5-celled; style filiform, longer than
the stamens; stigma capitate; ovules many in each cell. The fruit is a globular
or pear-shaped, leathery-skinned berry, yellow or pinkish, 3 to 6 cm. in diameter
with an aromatic, sHghtly acidulous pulp, and many small hard seeds imbedded
therein.
The wood is hard, strong and elastic, close-grained and brownish or reddish
gray; its specific gravity is about 0.69. It is used in the tropics in small amounts
for agricultural implements, tool-handles, and in carpentry. The fruit is largely
used in the manufacture of jelly and presei-ves, Guava jelly and Guava paste
being great favorites; the raw fruit, however, is rather insipid.
The genus consists of about 130 species of trees or shrubs of tropical America.
The name is Greek, in reference to the edible fruit of the typical species.
Fig. 669. — Guava.
730
Spicewood
IV. SPICEWOOD
GENUS CALYPTRANTKES SWARTZ
Species Calyptranthes pallens (Poiret) Grisebach
Eugenia pallens Poiret. Calyptranthes Chytraciilia West, not Swartz
HIS tropical tree or shrub, enters our area in southern peninsular Florida
and the Keys, where it occurs in hammocks near the coast. It is
common on many of the West Indian islands, attaining a maximum
height of 8 meters, with a trunk diameter of about i dm. and has
been confused with the similar Calyptranthes Chytraciilia (Linnaeus) Swartz, of
Jamaica and Cuba, the type of the genus.
The trunk is slender, its rather crooked branches short. The bark is about
3 mm. thick, close, smooth or some-
times scaly, hght gray or nearly white.
The twigs are slender, angular, and
finely hair}% becoming round, quite
smooth, and gray. The leaves are op-
posite, entire, elHptic to oblong, 3 to
8 cm. long, taper-pointed at each end,
the margin slightly thickened and
revolute ; they are hairy at first, becom-
ing dark ^reen, smooth, shining and
with impressed midrib above, paler,
finely hairy or smooth, and punctate
beneath; the leaf-stalk is 5 to 10 mm.
long. The flowers are numerous in
hairy panicles 5 to 10 cm. long and
about as broad, the flowers sessile,
about 3 mm. across; the calyx is hairy.
Fig. 670. - Spicewood. j^^ j^i^^g nmiQ