Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Brigham Young University http://www.archive.org/details/treebookpopularg1914roge VOLUME THREE — PART ONE THE TREE BOOK \ ' '^ ^. K.-Mfe'- -^ %i Copyrifjht, 1905, by Doubleday, Pasre & Company SUGAR MAPLE SCARLET OAK CHESTNUT THE GLORY OF AUTUMN TREES YELLOW BIRCH "^ THE NEW NATURE LIBRARY VOLUME THREE — PART ONE THE TREE BOOK, a popu- lar GUIDE TO A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TREES OF NORTH AMERICA AND TO THEIR USES AND CULTIVA- TION. BY JULIA ELLEN ROGERS WITH SIXTEEN PLATES IN COLOUR AND ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY IN BLACK-AND-WHITE FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY A. RADCLYFFE DUGMORE Garden City New York DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 1914 Copyright, 1905, by Doubleday, Page & Company All rights reserved, including that of translation into Joreign languages^ including the Scandinavian To %ioma0 H^Mton Q^acbrilie UNDER WHOM IT WAS MY GOOD FORTUNE TO BEGIN THE STUDY OF THE TREE FAMILIES THIS BOOK IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 1 HOW TO KNOW THE TREES I How to Know the Trees II The Names of Trees III The Tree Families . IV The Conifers . , o . V The Pines VI The Larches o o o . VII The Spruces . « . . VIII The Hemlocks IX The Firs X The Big Tree and the Redwood XI The Arbor Vitaes . . . XII The Incense Cedar XIII The Cypresses XIV The Junipers .... XV The Torreyas . XVI The Yews .... XVII The Palms and the Palmettos , XVIII The Yuccas .... XIX The Walnuts and the Hickories XX The Poplars .... XXI The Willows . . . . XXII The Hornbeams XXIII The Birches .... XXIV The Alders .... XXV The Beeches .... 3 6 II 17 20 58 63 72 79 86 91 94 96 104 118 123 125 155 162 167 177 182 Vll Table of Contents Part {—Continued CHAPTER PAGB XXVI The Chestnuts . . . , 186 XXVII The Oaks .... 190 XXVIII The Elms and the Hackberries 229 XXIX The Mulberries, the Osage Orange and the Figs 239 XXX The Magnolias and the Tulip Tree 246 XXXI The Papaw and the Pond Apple 261 XXXII The Laurels and the Sassafras 264 XXXIII The Witch Hazel and the Sweet Gum . 270 XXXIV The Sycamores 278 XXXV The Apples .... 284 XXXVI The Mountain Ashes . 292 XXXVII The Service Berries 296 XXXVIII The Hawthorns 299 XXXIX The Plums and the Cherries 321 XL The Pod Bearers 332 XLI The Lignum Vitaes 341 XLII The Prickly Ash and the Hop Tree . . 348 XLIII The Paradise Tree and the Ailant hus . 351 XLIV The Mahogany and the Gumbo Limbo . }^} XLV The Sumachs and the Smoke Tre e . . 355 XLVI The Hollies .... 360 XLVII The Burning Bush . . . 365 XLVIII The Maples . 367 XLIX The Buckeyes . . 38^ L The Buckthorns . . . 389 LI The Lindens 393 LII The Gordonias 399 LIII The Mangroves 401 LIV The Hercules' Club 404 LV The Tupelos and the Dogwoods 407 LVI The Heaths, the Rhododendron a nd the Mountain Laurel 417 LVII The Persimmons . 424 vm Table of Contents Part I — Continued LVIII The Silver Bell Tree and the Sweet Leaf LIX The Ashes and the Fringe Tree LX The Catalpas , .... LXI The Viburnums and the Elders I II III IV PART III THE USES OF W^OOD The Uses of Wood .... Wood Preservation .... The Finishing of Wood Wooden Paper 428 451 445 449 PART II FORESTRY I Forestry in the United States .... 453 11 A Lumber Camp of To-day 462 III Profitable Tree Planting 470 IV The Woodlot That Pays 481 V Transplanting Trees . . = , 486 VI How Trees Are Multiplied . 492 VII How Trees Are Measured , 501 VIII The Pruning of Trees . 506 IX The Enemies of Trees . 513 527 536 340 543 PART IV THE LIFE OF THE TREES I The Work of the Leaves II The Growth of a Tree III The Fall of the Leaf . IV How Trees Spend the Winter Appendix Index ...... ix. 562 566 573 579 LIST OF COLOURED PLATES The Glory of Autumn Trees White Pine Grown in Open Ground (Pinus Strobus) Dogwood Tree in Full Bloom (Cornus florida) Fruiting Branch of Chestnut (Castanea dentata) Swamp Magnolia {Magnolia glauca) Prairie Crab Apple {Mains loensis) Scarlet Haw {Cratcegus coccinea) Clammy Locust {Rohinia viscosa) Scarlet Haw {Cratcegus Arnoldiana) Mountain Laurel {Kalmia lati folia) Flowers of Silver Bell Tree {Mohrodendron tetraptera) Fruit of Elder-leaved Mountain Ash {Sorbus sambucijolia) Fruit and Autumn Leaves of Dogwood {Cornus florida) Flower of Tulip Tree {Liriodendron Tulipijera) Flower and Bud of Great Rhododendron {Rhododendron maximum) ....... Big Trees in the Giant Forest of the Sequoia National Park California (Sequoia JVellingtoniaJ . Frontispiece Facing Page 24 124 186 250 284 304 346 390 420 430 452 480 512 542 562 Zl LIST OF OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS The White Pine (Pinus Strobus) The Mountain Pine (Pinus monlicola) The Sugar Pine {Pinus Lambertiana) The Foxtail Pine {Pinus Balfour tana) The Table Mountain Pine {Pinus pungens) The Pitch Pine {Pinus rigida) . The Shortleaf Pine {Pinus echinata) . The Red or Norway Pine {Pinus resinosa) The Jersey Pine {Pinus Virginiana) The Red Spruce {Picea ruhens) The Grey Pine {Pinus divaricata) The American Larch {Larix Americana) . The White Spruce {Picea Canadensis) The Black Spruce {Picea Mariana) . The Engelmann Spruce {Picea Engelmanni) The Blue Spruce {Picea Parry ana) . The Douglas Spruce {Pseudotsuga mucronata) The Hemlock {Tsuga Canadensis) The Balsam Fir {Abies balsamea) The Balsam Fir {Abies balsamea) The Balsam Fir {Abtes lasiocarpa) . The Balsam Fir {Abtes Fraseri) The White Fir {Abies concolor) The White Fir {Abies grandis) The Big Tree (Sequoia IV ellingtonia) The Arbor Vitae (Thuya occidentalts) The Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) The White Cedar (Chamcecyparis ihyoides) The Sitka Cypress (Chamcecyparis Nootkatensis) The Lawson Cypress (Chamcecyparis Lawsoniana) The Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) The Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) The Juniper (Juniperus communis) The Red Cedar (Juniperus Virgtniana) . Facing Pagc 26 27 27 38 39 39 44 45 50 51 51 60 61 61 64 65 72 73 80 81 84 85 85 85 90 91 98 99 99 99 102 103 1 10 110 ^Ul List of Other Illustrations The Western Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) . The Lodge-pole Pine (Pinus conioria, var. Murrayana) The Desert Palm {IV ashingtonia filamentosa) The Cabbage Palmetto {Sahal Palmetto) The Butternut (Juglans cinerea) The Black Walnut {Juglans nigra) . The Pignut {Hicoria glabra) The Pignut {Hicoria glabra) The Bitternut Hickory {Hicoria minima) The Big Shellbark {Hicoria laciniosa) The Shagbark Hickory {Hicoria ovata) The Shagbark Hickory {Hicoria ovata) The Pecan {Hicoria Pecan) The Water Hickory {Hicoria aquatica) The Cottonwood {Populus deltoidea) The Silver Poplar {Populus alba) The Great-toothed Aspen {Populus grandidentata) . The Narrow-leaved Cottonwood {Populus angustifolia) The Cottonwood {Populus Fremontii) The Swamp Cottonwood {Populus heterophylla) The Balm of Gilead {Populus balsamijera) The Quaking Asp {Populus tremuloides) . The Quaking Asp {Populus tremuloides) . The Golden Osier Willow {Salix alba, var. vitellina) The Golden Osier {Salix alba, var. vitellina) . The Silky Willow {Salix sericea) .... The Pussy Willow {Salix discolor) .... The Pussy Willow {Salix discolor) .... The Hop Hornbeam {Ostrya Virginiana) . The American Hornbeam {Carpinus Caroliniana) . The American Hornbeam {Carpinus Caroliniana) . The American White Birch {Betula populifolia) The American White Birch {Betula populifolia) The Canoe Birch {Betula papyri f era) The Yellow Birch {Betula lutea) .... The Yellow Birch {Betula lutea) ., . . c The Cherry Birch {Betula lenta) .... The Red Birch {Betula nigra) .... The Seaside Alder {Alnus maritima) . e = The Speckled Alder {Alnus incana) , ; ; Facing Page \l Ik" 20 21 28 29 34 35 35 38 39 [42 i43 i43 146 47 47 147 147 '47 '47 50 51 56 57 57 60 61 164 165 66 67 68 69 70 71 74 75 82 182 XIV List of Other Illustrations The Beech (Fagus Americana) The Beech {Fagus Americana) The Chestnut (Castanea dentata) The Chestnut (Castanea dentata) The Chinquapin (Castanea pumila) The CaHfornia White Oak (Quercus lohata) The Live Oak {Quercus Virginiana) The Cahfornia Live Oak {Quercus agrijolia) The White Oak {Quercus alba) The White Oak {Quercus alba) The Bur Oak {Quercus macrocarpa) The Chestnut Oak {Quercus Prinus) The Overcup Oak {Quercus lyrata) The Live Oak {Quercus Virginiana) The Willow Oak {Quercus Phellos) The Swamp White Oak {Quercus platanoides) The Post Oak {Quercus minor) The Blue Jack {Quercus brevifolia) The Cow Oak {Quercus Michauxii) . The Black Jack {Quercus Marilandica) . The Water Oak {Quercus nigra) The Yellow Oak {Quercus acuminata) The Red Oak {Quercus rubra) . The Pin Oak {Quercus palustris) The Pin Oak {Quercus palustris) The Red Oak {Quercus rubra) . The Red Oak {Quercus rubra) . The Scarlet Oak {Quercus coccinea) The Scarlet Oak {Quercus coccinea) . The Black Oak {Quercus veluiina) The Black Oak {Quercus veluiina) . The Bear Oak {Quercus nana) The Bear Oak {Quercus nana) The Shingle Oak {Quercus imbricaria) The Shingle Oak {Quercus imbricaria) The Shingle Oak {Quercus imbricaria) The Lancaster Elm {Ulmus Americana) . The American Elm {Ulmus Americana) . The American Elm {Ulmus Americana) . The Slippery Elm {Ulmus fulva) Facing Page 183 184 185 188 189 194 195 195 198 199 200 201 204 204 205 205 208 208 208 208 208 208 209 210 21 I 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 228 229 232 234 XV List of Other Illustrations Facing Page The Rock or Cork Elm (Ulmus Thomasi) . . . 235 The Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) .... 238 The Red Mulberry (Morus rubra) 239 The Osage Orange {Toxylon pomijerum) .... 244 The Ear-leaved Magnolia {Magnolia Fraseri) . . . 245 The Large-leaved Cucumber Tree {Magnolia macrophylla) 245 The Great Laurel Magnolia {Magnolia jcetida) . . 245 The Swamp Magnolia {Magnolia glauca) . . . 256 The Umbrella Tree {Magnolia tripetala) .... 256 The Cucumber Tree {Magnolia acuminata) . . . 256 The Tulip Tree {Liriodendron Tulipifera) . . . 257 The Sassafras {Sassafras Sassafras) .... 268 The Sassafras {Sassafras Sassafras) .... 269 The Witch Hazel {Hamamelis Virginiana) . . . 274 The Sweet Gum {Liquidambar Styraciflua) . . . 275 The Sweet Gum {Liquidambar Styraciflua) . . . 278 The Sycamore {Platanus occidentalis) .... 279 The Wild Crab Apple {Malus coronaria) .... 286 The Prairie Crab Apple {Malus loensis) .... 287 The Narrow-leaved Crab Apple {Malus angustifolia) . 287 The Mountain Ash {Sorbus Americana) . . . . 294 The Service-berry {Amelanchier Canadensis) . . . 295 The Service-berry {Amelanchier Canadensis) . . . 298 The English Hawthorn {Cratcegus Oxyacantha) . . 299 The Cockspur Thorn {Cratcegus Crus-galli) . . . 306 The Red Haw {Crataegus mollis) 306 The Dotted Haw {Cratcegus punctata) .... 307 fhe Scarlet Haw {Cratcegus pruinosa) .... 307 The Haw {Cratcegus Boyntoni) ..... 308 The Haw {Cratcegus apiomorpha) . . . . . 308 The Scarlet Haw {Cratcegus Arnoldiana) .... 309 The Parsley Haw {Cratcegus apii folia) .... 309 The Scarlet Haw {Cratcegus coccinea) . . . . 312 The Red Haw {Cratcegus mollis) . . . . . 312 The Haw {Cratcegus coccinioides) . . . . . 313 The Washington Thorn {Cratcegus cordata) . . . 318 The Long-spine H2CW {Cratcegus macracantha) . . . 319 The Pear Haw {Cratcegus iomentosa) . . . . 319 The Canada Plum {Prunus nigra) . . . . . 322 The Canada Plum {Prunus nigra) 323 XVI List of Other Illustrations The Canada Plum (Prunus nigra) . The Wild Red Plum (Prunus Americana) The Wild Goose Plum {Prunus hortulana) The Beach Plum (Prunus maritima) The Wild-Goose Plum (Prunus hortulana) The Alleghany Sloe (Prunus Alleghaniensis) The Bird Cherry (Prunus Pennsylvamca) The Choke Cherry (Prunus Virginiana) The Canada Plum (Prunus nigra) . The Beach Plum (Prunus maritima) The Red Bud (Cercis Canadensis) . The Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) The Yellow Locust (Robinia P seudacacia) The New Mexican Locust (Rohinia Neo-Mexicana) The Clammy Locust (Robinia viscosa) The Yellow-wood (Cladrastis luted) The Staghorn Sumach (Rhus hirta) The Poison Sumach (Rhus Vernix) . The Dwarf Sumach (Rhus copallina) The Smooth Sumach (Rhus glabra) The Swamp Holly (Ilex decidua) The Mountain Holly (Hex monticola) The Evergreen Holly (Ilex opaca) . The Burning Bush (Evonymus atropurpureus) The Red Maple (Acer rubrum) . The Red Maple (Acer rubrum) . The Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) The Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) The Sugar Maple (Acer Saccharum) . The Sugar Maple (Acer Saccharum) The Mountain Maple (Acer spicatum) The Striped Maple (Acer P ennsylvanicum) The Striped Maple (Acer P ennsylvanicum) The Striped Maple (Acer P ennsylvanicum) The Vine Maple (Acer circinatum) . A Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum, var. dissectum) The Dwarf Maple (Acer glabrum) The Black Maple (Acer nigrum) The Box Elder (Acer Negundo) The Ohio Buckeye (/Esculus glabra) . Facing Page 326 326 326 327 328 329 332 332 333 336 337 342 342 343 356 356 356 357 364 364 364 365 368 369 372 373 374 375 376 376 377 378 379 379 379 384 384 385 xvu List of Other Illustrations The American Linden {Tilt a Americana) . The Red Mangrove (Rhi^ophora Mangle) The White Mangrove {Laguncularia racemosa) The Black Mangrove (Avicennia nitida) . The Hercules Club {Aralia spinosa) The Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) .... The Tupelo or Pepperidge {Nyssa sylvatica) . The Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) The Alternate-leaved Dogwood (Cornus alterni folia) The Western Dogwood {Cornus Nuttallii) The Sourwood {Oxydendrum arboreum) . The Persimmon {Diospyros Virginiana) . The Silver Bell Tree {Mohrodendron tetrapiera) The White Ash {Fraxinus Americana) The Black Ash {Fraxinus nigra) The Red Ash {Fraxinus P ennsylvanica) . The Blue Ash {Fraxinus quadrangulata) . The Red Ash {Fraxinus P ennsylvanica) . The Green Ash {Fraxinus lanceolata) The Fringe Tree {Chionanthus Virginica) The Sheepberry {Vthurnum Lentago) The Rusty Nannyberry {Viburnum rufidulum) The Black Haw {Viburnum pruni folium) The Red-berried Elder {Sambucus pubens) The Hop Tree {Ptelea trifoliata) The Catalpa {Catalpa Catalpa) The Eucalyptus {Eucalyptus viminalis) The Eucalyptus {Eucalyptus robusta) The Eucalyptus {Eucalyptus globulus) Facing Page 400 401 401 401 406 407 410 411 416 416 426 427 434 435 435 435 442 442 443 450 450 450 451 451 472 473 473 473 Tvm GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS Abortive, Not developed. Acuminate. Tapering to apex. Acute. Pointed. Adventitious. Out of the natural order, as buds that are formed where the bark is bruised, or about a stub. Anther. The pollen-producing part of the stamen. Apetalous. Without petals. Apex. The tip. Arbourescent. Having tree form. Arboretum. An assemblage of living trees of many kinds. Aril. Loose bag around the seed. Axil. Angle between leaf and twig. Axillary. Arising from the angle between stem and leaf. Baccate, Berry-like. Bast. Inner fibrous layer of bark. Bloom^ A pale film covering some ripe plumsj grapes, etc. Bract. Modified leaf in flower cluster. Budding. Setting a bud upon a stock so it shall grow fast. Burs. Woody, irregular excrescences upon trunks and roots. Spiny husks of nuts. Calyx. The outer whorl of a flower. Cambium. The mucilaginous living layer between wood and bark. Capsule. A dry, dehiscent seed ca&° of more than one compartment. Carpel. A single pistil, or a division of a compound pistil. Catkin. A slender spike of minute, crowded flowers, as m willows. Chlorophyll. The green colouring matter in leaveso Ciliate. Fringed with hairs. Cion. See Scion. Coalesce. To grow together. Collar. The place where trunk and roots meet. Compound. Of several units on a common stem, as the leaflets of a locust leaf. Cone. A fruit made up of overlapping scales, as of pines. Coppice. Woods made up of sprouting stumps. Cordate. Heart-shaped. Coriaceous. Leathery. Corolla, The whorl of petals. Cotyledons. Seed leaves. Crenate. Scalloped. Cross. To produce seed by fertilizing the ovules of one flower with pollen from flowers of another species. Crustaceous. Dry; horny. Cutting. A piece of root or twig by which certain species are able to reproduce them- selves. Cyme. A flat flower cluster. Deciduous. Falling in autumn. Dehiscent. Opening when ripe, as the husks of hickory nuts. Deltoid. Triangular, Disuse. Loosely spreading. Dioecious. Bearing pistillate and staminate flowers on separate trees. Disk. Base of flower to which all floral parts are attached. Drupe. A stone fruit, as a plum. Duct. A tube. Elliptical. Evenly and narrowly oblong with rounded ends. Entire. Without teeth or lobes, as leaves of magnolias^ Exotic, Not native. Falcate. Sickle-shaped. Fascicle. A crowded cluster, as seen in the leaf arrangement of larches. Fertilisation. The union of pollen grain and ovule. The setting of seed. Filament. The slender thread that supports the anther. Fungi. Low vegetable organisms, including mushrooms, mildew, rust and decay in wood. Genus (PL genera). Subdivision of a family. Germination. The sprouting of seeds. Glabrous. Smooth. Glaucous. Covered with a pale, powdery film. Grafting. Inserting a cion in a stock so it will grow fast. Habitat. Chosen situation of growth. Heartwood. The dead wood in the trunk under the sapwood. Humus. Vegetable mould. Hybrid. A seedling resulting from a cross. Indehiscent. Not opening to discharge seeds at maturity. See husks of walnuts. XIX Glossary of Technical Terms Involucre. Whorl of green leaves or bracts below flower or flower cluster. Leader. A terminal shoot or bud. Lateral. On the side. Lenttcels. Corky slits or dots on bark for admission of air. Liber. The inner, fibrous layer of bark. Linear. Long and narrow, like a grass blade. Membranaceous. Thin and pliable. Monoecious. Bearing both staminate and pistillate flowers on one tree. Monotyptc. Having but one representative. as the genus Cladrastis. Nutlet. Small, hard seed case, as in haws, Oblanceolate. Lance-shaped, but broadest toward apex. Obovate. Ovate, with broadest part toward apex. Obtuse. Blunt. Osmosis. The passing of liquids and gases through cell walls and other continuous membranes. Ovary. Base of pistil containing ovules. Becomes the seed vessel. Ovule. A rudimentary seed. Palmate. With leaflets all arising from the end of the petiole, as in the horse chestnut leaves. Panicle. Spreading, conical flower cluster as in yellow-wood. Parasite. Any organism that is supported and nourished by another one. Pedicel, Secondary flower-stalks; branches of the peduncle. Peduncle. Main flower-stalk. Perfect. Having both stamens and pistils, as the flowers of apple and magnolia. Pericarp. The matured ovary. Persistent. Remaining longer than ordinary. Evergreen. Petiolate. Provided with a petiole. Petiole. Stem of a leaf. Pinnate. Feather-like. With leaflets along sides of main leaf-stalk, as in ash and walnut leaves. Pistil. Central, seed-producing part of the flower, consisting of ovary, style and stigma. Pistillate. Having pistils. Pollen. The fertilising dust formed in the anther. Polygamous. Bearing (i) staminate, (2) pistillate, and (3) perfect flowers on the same tree, as in hackberry. Pome. Fleshy fruit with a core. Procumbent. Sprawling. Pubescent. Covered with fine, short hairs. Raceme. Loose flower cluster with flowers arranged on short pedicels along peduncle, Ai wild black cherry. Receptacle. Base to which parts of the flower are attached. Resin. Viscid exudation of the wood of conifers. Rhombic. Diamond-shaped. Rosin. Hard, brittle substance left after distilling turpentine from the resin of cer- tain pines. Rufous. Red or tawny. Samara. Key fruit; a winged seed case, as of elm, ash and maple. Sapling. Any young tree. Sapwood. The living wood near the bark. Scton (Cion). The budded twig that is set in the stock in grafting. Seedling. A tree that has come from a seed. Serrate. Saw-toothed. Sessile. Without a stalk. Simple. Of one part, as the pistils and leaves of elms and cherries. Sinuate. Winding. Stnus. Bay between lobes, as in black oak leaf. Slash. Branches and defective material discarded m lumbering. Species. Subdivision of a genus. Spike. Pencil-like receptacle crowded with small flowers. Stamen. Pollen-producing organ of the flower, .consisting of filament and anther. Staminate. Having stamens. Stellate. Star-shaped in branching. Stigma. The tip of the pistil which receives the pollen. Stipule. Leaf-like growth, at base of petiole. Stomates. Breathing holes on under side of leaves. Stratified. Spread out in layers, alternating with sand and gravel. Strobile. A cone. Style. Slender part of pistil between stigma and ovary. Subterminal. Near the tip. Sucker. Sprout from root or stub of branch. Suture. A seam where parts are united until maturity. See burs of chestnut and beech. Symmetrical. Well proportioned. Terete. Cylindrical. Tomentose. Velvety. Umbel. Flat flower cluster in which many pedicels rise from the end of the peduncle. Unisexual. Lacking either pistils or sta- mens. Valves. Divisions, as of a pod or husk. Variety. Subdivision of a species. XX PART I. HOW TO KNOW THE TREES THE TREE BOOK CHAPTER I: HOW TO KNOW THE TREES "And surely nobody can find anything hard in this; even the blind must enjoy these woods, drinking in their fragrance, listening to the music of the winds in their groves, and fingering their flowers and plumes and cones and richly furrowed boles. The kind of study required is as easy and natural as breathing." — -John Muir. Occasionally I meet a person who says: '*I know nothing at all about trees." This modest disclaimer is generally sincere, but it has always turned out to be untrue. **0h, well, that old sugar maple, I've always known that tree. We used to tap all the sugar maples on the place every spring." Or again: "Every- body knows a white birch by its bark." ''Of course, anybody who has ever been chestnutting knows a chestnut tree." Most people know Lombardy poplars, those green exclamation points so commonly planted in long soldierly rows on roadsides and boundary lines in many parts of the country. Willows, too, everybody knows are willows. The best nut trees, the shag- bark, chestnut and butternut, need no formal introduction. The honey locust has its striking three-pronged thorns, and its purple pods dangling in winter and skating off over the snow. The beech has its smooth, close bark of Quaker grey, and nobody needs to look for further evidence to determine this tree's name. So it is easily proved that each person has a good nucleus of tree knowledge around which to accumulate more. If people have the love of nature in their hearts — if things out of doors call irresistibly, at any season — it will not really matter if their lives are pinched and circumscribed. Ways and means of studying trees are easily found, even if the scant ends of busy days spent indoors are all the time at command. If there is energy to be- gin the undertaking it will soon furnish its own motive power. Tree students, like bird students, become enthusiasts. To understand their enthusiasm one must follow their examples. 3 How to Know the Trees The beginner doesn't know exactly how and where to begin. There are great collections of trees here and there. The Arnold Arboretum in Boston is the great dendrological Noah's Ark in this country. It contains almost all the trees, American and for- eign, which will grow in that region. The Shaw Botanical Garden at St. Louis is the largest midland assemblage of trees. Parks in various cities bring together as large a variety of trees as possible, and these are often labelled with their English and botanical names for the benefit of the public. Yet the places for the beginner are his own dooryard, the streets he travels four times a day tc his work, and woods for his holiday, though they need not be forests. Arboreta are for his delight when he has gained some acquaintance with the tree families. But not at first. The trees may all be set out in tribes and families and labelled with their scientific names. They will but confuse and discourage him. There is not time to make their acquaintance. They overwhelm with the mere number of kinds. Great arboreta and parks are very scarce. Trees are every- where. The acquaintance of trees is within the reach of all. First make a plan of the yard, locating and naming the trees you actually know. Extend it to include the street, and the neighbours' yards, as you get ready for them. Be very care- ful about giving names to trees. If you think you know a tree, ask yourself how you know it. Sift out all the guesses, and the hearsays, and begin on a solid foundation, even if you are sure about only the sugar maple and the white birch. The characters to note in studying trees are: leaves, flowers, fruits, bark, buds, bud arrangement, leaf scars and tree form. The season of the year determines which features are most promi- nent. Buds and leaf scars are the most unvarying of tree characters. In winter these traits and the tree frame are most plainly revealed. Winter often exhibits tree fruits on or under the tree, and dead-leaf studies are very satisfactory. Leaf arrange- ment may be made out at any season, for leaf scars tell this story after the leaves fall. Only three families of our large trees have opposite leaves. This fact helps the beginner. Look first at the twigs. If the leaves, or (in winter) the buds and leaf scars, stand opposite, the tree (if it is of large size) belongs to the maple, ash or horse- chestnut family. Our native horse chestnuts are buckeyes, if 4 How to Know the Trees the leaves are simple the tree is a maple; if pinnately compound, of several leaflets, it is an ash; if palmately compound, of five to seven leaflets, it is a horse chestnut. In winter dead leaves under the trees furnish this evidence. The winter buds of the horse chestnut are large and waxy, and the leaf scars look like prints of a horse's hoof. Maple buds are small, and the leaf scar is a small, narrow crescent. Ash buds are dull and blunt, with rough, leathery scales. Maple twigs are slender. Ash and buckeye twigs are stout and clumsy. Bark is a distinguishing character of many trees — of others it is confusing. The sycamore, shedding bark in sheets from its limbs, exposes pale, smooth under bark. The tree is recognis- able by its mottled appearance winter or summer. The corky ridges on limbs of sweet gum and bur oak are easily re- membered traits. The peculiar horizontal peeling of bark on birches designates most of the genus. The prussic-acid taste of a twig sets the cherry tribe apart. The familiar aromatic taste of the green twigs of sassafras is its best winter character; the mitten-shaped leaves distinguish it in summer. It is necessary to get some book on the subject to discover the names of trees one studies, and to act as teacher at times. A book makes a good staff, but a poor crutch. The eyes and the judgment are the dependable things. In spring the way in which the leaves open is significant; so are the flowers. Every tree when it reaches proper age bears flowers. Not all bear fruit, but blossoms come on every tree. In summer the leaves and fruits are there to be examined. In autumn the ripening fruits are the special features. To know a tree's name is the beginning of acquaintance — not an end in itself. There is all the rest of one's life in which to follow it up. Tree friendships are very precious things. John Muir, writing among his beloved trees of the Yosemite Valley, adjures his world-weary fellow men to seek the companionship of trees. *To learn how they live and behave in pure wildness, to see them in their varying aspects through the seasons and weather, rejoicing in the great storms, putting forth their new leaves and flowers, when all the streams are in flood, and the birds singing, and sending away their seeds in the thoughtful Indian summer, when all the landscape is glowing in deep, calm enthusiasm — for this you must love them and live with them, as free from schemes and care and time as the trees themselves." 5 CHAPTER II: THE NAMES OF TREES Two Latin words, written in italics, with a cabalistic abbrevia- tion set after them, are a stumbling block on the page to the reader unaccustomed to scientific lore. He resents botanical names, and demands to know the tree's name "in plain English." Trees have both common and scientific names, and each has its use. Common names were applied to important trees by people, the world over, before science was born. Many trees were never noticed by anybody until botanists discovered and named them. They may never get common names at all. A name is a description reduced to its lowest terms. It consists usually of a surname and a descriptive adjective : Mary Jones, white oak, Quercus alba. Take the oaks, for example, and let us consider how they got their names, common and scientific. All acorn-bearing trees are oaks. They are found in Europe, Asia and America. Their usefulness and beauty have impressed people. The Britons called them by a word which in our modern speech is oaky and as they came to know the dif- ferent kinds, they added a descriptive word to the name of each. But "plain English" is not useful to the Frenchman. Chene is his name for the acorn trees. The German has his Eichen- baum, the Roman had his Quercus, and who knows what the Chinaman and the Hindoo in far Cathay or the American Indian called these trees ? Common names made the trouble when the Tower of Babel was building. Latin has always been the universal language of scholars. It is dead, so that it can be depended upon to remain unchanged in its vocabulary and in its forms and usages. Scientific names are exact, and remain unchanged, though an article or a book using them may be translated into all the modern languages. The word Quercus clears away difficulties. French, English, German hearers know what trees are meant — or they know just where in books of their own language to find them described. The abbreviation that follows a scientific name tells who 6 The Names of Trees first gave the name. " Linn." is frequently noticed, for Linnaeus is authority for thousands of plant names. Two sources of confusion make common names of trees un- reliable: The application of one name to several species, and the application of several names to one species. To illustrate the tlrst: There are a dozen iron woods in American forests. They belong, with two exceptions, to different genera and to at least five different botanical families. To illustrate the second: The familiar American elm is known by at least seven local popular names. The bur oak has seven. Many of these are ap- plied to other species. Three of the five native elms are called water elm; three are called red elm; three are called rock elm. There are seven scrub oaks. Only by mentioning the scientific name can a writer indicate with exactness which species he is talking about. The unscientific reader can go to the botanical manual or cyclopedia and under this name find the species described. In California grows a tree called by three popular names: leatherwood, slippery elm and silver oak. Its name is Fremontia. It is as far removed from elms and oaks as sheep are from cattle and horses. But the names stick. It would be as easy to eradicate the trees, root and branch, from a region as to persuade people to abandon names they are accustomed to, though they may concede that you have proved these names incorrect, or meaningless, or vulgar. Nicknames like nigger pine, he huckle- berry, she balsam and bull bay ought to be dropped by all people who lay claim to intelligence and taste. With all their inaccuracies, common names have interesting histories, and the good ones are full of helpful suggestion to the learner. Many are literal translations of the Latin names. The first writers on botany wrote in Latin. Plants were described under the- common name, if there was one; if not, the plant was named. The different species of each group were distinguished by the descriptions and the drawings that accompanied them. Linnaeus attempted to bring the work of botanical scholars to- gether, and to publish descriptions and names of all known plants in a single volume. This he did, crediting each botanist with his work. The ''Species Plantarum," Linnaeus's monu- mental work, became the foundation of the modern science of botany, for it included all the plants known and named up to 7 The Names of Trees the time of its publication. This was about the middle of the eighteenth century. The vast body of information which the "Species Plantarum" contained was systematically arranged. All the different species in one genus were brought together. They were described, each under a number; and an adjective word, usually descriptive of some marked characteristic, was written in as a marginal index. After Linnaeus's time botanists found that the genus name in combination with this marginal word made a convenient and exact means of designating the plant. Thus Linnaeus became the acknowledged originator of the binomial (two-name) system of nomenclature, now in use in all sciences. It is a delightful coincidence that while Linnaeus was engaged on his great work, North America, that vast new field of botanical exploration, was being traversed by another Swedish scientist. Peter Kalm sent his specimens and his descriptive notes to Linnaeus, who described and named the new plants in his book. The specimens swelled the great herbarium at the University of Upsala. Among trees unknown to science before are the Magnolia, named in honour of the great French botanist, Magnol. Robinia, the locust, honours another French botanist, Robin, and his son. Kalmia, the beautiful mountain laurel, immortalises the name of the devoted explorer who discovered it. Linnaea, the little twin flower of the same mountains, is the one which the great botanist loved best. It is inevitable that duplication of names attend the work of the early scientists, isolated from each other, and far from li- braries and herbaria. Anyone discovering a plant he believed to be unknown to science published a description of it in some scientific journal. If someone else had described it at an earlier date, the fact became known in the course of time. The name earliest published is retained, and the later one is dropped to the rank of a synonym. If the name has been used before to describe some other species in the same genus, a new name must be sup- plied. In the " Cyclopedia of Horticulture " the sugar maple is written : '' Acer saccharum, Marsh. {Acer saccharinum,^2ing. Acer barbatum, Michx.)" This means that the earliest name given this tree by a botanist was that of Marshall. Wangheimer and Michaux are therefore thrown out; the names given by them are among the synonyms. 8 The Names of Trees Our cork elm was until recently called *' Ulmus racemosa, Thomas." The discovery that the name racemosa was given long ago to the cork elm of Europe discredited it for the Am.eri- can tree. Mr. Sargent substituted the name of the author, and it now stands ''Ulnms Thomasi, Sarg." Occasionally a generic name is changed. The old generic name becomes the specific name. Box elder was formerly known as '' Negundo aceroides, Moench." It is changed back to ''Acer Negundo, Linn." On the other hand, the tan-bark oak, which is intermediate in character between oaks and chestnuts, has been taken by Professor Sargent in his Manual, 1905, out of the genus Quercus and set in a genus by itself. From ''Oner cms densiflora. Hook, and Arn.," it is called "Pasama densiflora, Sarg.," the specific name being carried over to the new genus. About one hundred thousand species of plants have been named by botanists. They believe that one-half of the world's flora is covered. Trees are better known than less conspicuous plants. Fungi and bacteria are just coming into notice. Yet even among trees new species are constantly being described. Professor Sargent described 567 native species in his " Silva of North America," published 1 892-1900. His Manual, 1905, con- tains 630. Both books exclude Mexico. The silva of the tropics contains many unknoivn trees, for there are still impenetrable tracts of forest. The origin of local names of trees is interesting. History and romance, music and hard common sense are in these names — likewise much pure foolishness. The nearness to Mexico brought in the musical pifion and madrona in the Southwest. Pecanier and bois dare came with many other French names with the Acadians to Louisiana. The Indians had many trees named, and we wisely kept hickory, waahoo, catalpa, persimmon and a few others of them. Woodsmen have generallv chosen descriptive names which are based on fact and are helpful to learners. Botanists have done this, too. Bark gives the names to shagbark hickory, striped maple and naked wood. The colour names white birch, black locust, blue beech. Wood names red oak, yellow-wood and white-heart hickory. The texture names rock elm, punk oak, and soft pine. The uses name post oak, canoe birch and lodge- pole pine. 9 The Names of Trees The tree habit is described by dwarf juniper and weeping spruce. The habitat by swamp maple, desert willow and sea- side alder. The range by California white oak and Georgia pine. Sap is characterised in sugar maple, sweet gum, balsam fir and sweet birch. Twigs are indicated in clammy locust, cotton gum, winged elm. Leaf linings are referred to in silver maple, white poplar and white basswood. Colour of foliage, in grey pine, blue oak and golden fir. Shape of leaves, in heart-leaved cu- cumber tree and ear-leaved umbrella. Resemblance of leaves to other species, in willow oak and parsley haw. The flowers of trees give names to tulip tree, silver-bell tree and fringe tree. The fruit is described in big-cone pine, butternut, mossy-cup oak and mock orange. Many trees retain their classical names, which have become the generic botanical ones, as acacia, ailanthus and viburnum. Others modify these slightly, as pine from Pinus, and poplar from Populus. The number of local names a species has depends upon the notice it attracts and the range it has. The loblolly pine, important as a lumber tree, extends along the coast from New Jersey to Texas. It has twenty-two nicknames. The scientific name is for use when accurate designation of a species is required ; the common name for ordinary speech. " What a beautiful Otiercus alba ! " sounds very silly and pedan- tic, even if it falls on scientific ears. Only persons of very shal- low scientific learning use it on such informal occasions. Let us keep the most beautiful and fitting among common names, and work for their general adoption. There are no hard names once they become familiar ones. Nobody hesitates or stumbles over chrysanthemum and rhododendron, though these sonorous Greek derivatives have four syllables. Nobody asks what these names are 'Mn plain English." lO CHAPTER III: THE TREE FAMILIES It is quite possible for a person who has never had any par- ticular interest in trees to acquire by himself a general knowledge of the tree families represented in our American forests, and to form an intimate and delightful acquaintance with particular species and individual trees, as his personal preferences dictate. And it is not to be undertaken as a herculean task, a duty to be performed, a means of grace, or an ill-tasting medicine that does one good. True, there are half a hundred families or more, and over six hundred distinct species of trees, if we wander from Key West to the far Aleutians, and from Maine to Mexico, and count every species any botanist has discovered and named. But the average forest contains comparatively few families. Different families have traits in common that indicate their relationship. Within the family closer kinship still is revealed. The discovery of these family ties and family groups comes easy and as naturally as breathing, once it is begun. The neces- sary botany is unconsciously imbibed. One borrows that from the books as need is. Every acorn-bearing tree is an oak. The needle leaves set in scaly sheaths at the base distinguish the pines from all other evergreens. The hickories have close rela- tives in all the nut trees. The sycamores have no near relatives at all. The willows and poplars are alike in catkin flowers and fluffy seeds. All locusts bear pods. The key that follows is a simple tool. It unlocks mysteries that are largely imaginary as to the common tree families by setting them forth in brief, descriptive terms, giving a bird's-eye view of them, and emphasising their chief points of similarity and difference. Botanical terms have been avoided, and such characters selected as shall be obvious to the inexperienced observer. The plan of construction is easily grasped. A and AA are the two grand divisions into which trees naturally fall. Being co-ordinate, these have the same letter of the alphabet, and are set on the extreme left margin of the page. The second has an 1 1 The Tree Families added letter; if there were a third division it would have three A's. The subdivisions of A are always B, BB, etc., according to their number. B is divided into C, C into D, and so on down the list. In every instance co-ordinate letters are set at the same distance from the left margin, forming a vertical line down the page. They are also grouped by their "catch words" — as will be seen. A includes the chief families of the evergreens. Under A are two groups, B and BB, based upon the character of the fruit. Under B there are two subdivisions, based upon the general shape of the leaf. The cone-bearing evergreens, B, show two types of foliage, described under C and CC. The former is divided into three groups, D, DD, and DDD, on "Arrangement of leaves." The catch word of B and BB is "Fruit"; of C and CC, "Foliage." D and DD each describes a family; DDD includes more, and must be subdivided. E and EE are the headings and "Leaves" the catch word. E contains F and FF, based on the cones and other characters. EE, CC, and BB are undivided, as each describes a single family. The next step is to learn how to use the key. It is worthless unless it unlocks closed doors and reveals hidden things worth finding. Go out with the key and approach the first evergreen in sight. It belongs in the group A, your common sense tells you. Very well. Which B does it agree with ? Look for signs of fruit on and under the tree. Are they cones or berries ? Cones ? Then this tree belongs in B. All right. Is its foliage needle-like, etc., or scale-like — C or CC ? Needle-like. Now you must study the arrangement of leaves on the twigs, and decide which one of the three D's fits. Perhaps the leaves are solitary and scattered. Still closer study of them is necessary. If they agree with EE you know that the tree is a spruce. Suppose at the start your tree has borne blue berries instead of cones. You would have dropped to BB at once and found your tree to be a juniper. Now the beauty of a key is that you so soon outgrow the need of it. There are seven great families of the native ever- geens. To make it as simple as possible, the rare and local evergreens, like the sequoias, the bald cypress and the yews, have been omitted. It should take but a single encounter with 12 The Tree Families a tree to run it down to its family in the key. The intentness of this exercise will fix on the mind the characters that distinguish the family. You find yourself rolling a leaf between thumb and finger to see if it has the four sharp edges that set the spruces apart from all the others.* Or you look intently for the tiny leaf stem of a pale-lined flat leaf, to know whether it is a hemlock or a fir. In the grand division AA the broad-leaved trees are set in their proper families. There are more of these than of the ever- greens. They are best studied while leaves are to be had for identification. Often the seeds remain in winter, and we can get on with only the evidence of dead leaves. There are few weeks in the year when the key may not be effectively used on any tramp in the woods. As in the evergreens, the local and rare families of broad- leaved trees have been omitted, that the key may not discourage beginners by its complexity. In all, the thirty-three families given include between four and five hundred species, and a large proportion of those left out are esteemed chiefly by the botanists. Many of these will be found described later in this book. The key to the families introduces the reader to the more intricate distinctions between trees of various genera and species in the family. The keys to species are made on the same plan. Having determined that a certain tree belongs to the maple family, the inquirer is able to turn to ''The Maples," and by the key to decide which of the various species this individual tree represents. This is the final end of any key — to lead the student to discover the name of the individual tree. 13 KEY TO THE PRINCIPAL TREE" FAMILIES. A. The Evergreens, or Conifers. B. Fruit, a cone. C. Foliage needle-like, conspicuous, spirally arranged. D. Arrangement of leaves, few^ in sheathed bundle. The Pines DD. Arrangement of leaves, many in unsheathed tufts, deciduous The Larches DDD. Arrangement of leaves, solitary and scattered. E. Leaves flat, blunt, pale beneath, 2-ranked on twig. F. Cones erect, large; branches stiff; bark smooth, with resin blisters. The Firs FF. Cones pendant, small ; branches sup- ple ; bark rough ; leaves on minute stalks. The Hemlocks EE. Leaves 4-sided, sharp at tip, not pale be- neath; standing out in all directions. The Spruces CC. Foliage scale-like, minute, 4-ranked, close pressed to twig; cones small. The White Cedars BB. Fruit, a blue berry; foliage spiny or scale-like, or both. The Junipers, or Red Cedars AA. The Deciduous, Broad-leaved Trees. B. Position of leaves opposite. C. Leaves simple. D. Fruit winged, i -sided keys in pairs. The Maples DD. Fruit clustered berries. E. Flowers 4-parted; berry 2-seeded; leaves not saw-toothed on margins. The Dogwoods EE. Flowers 5-parted; berry, i -seeded; leaves finely saw-toothed on margins. The Viburnums DDD. Fruit long, rod-like pods, with thin seeds. The Catalpas CC. Leaves compound. D. Fruit slender, winged darts in thick clusters; leaflets set along central leaf stem. The Ashes DD. Fruit large nuts in leathery husks; leaflets clustered on end of leaf stalk. The Buckeyes BB. Position of leaves alternate. i4 Key to the Principal Tree Families C. Leaves simple. D. Bases of leaves symmetrical. E. Fruit fleshy, globular, more or less edible. F. Seeds solitary. G. Margins of leaves saw-toothed. Tht Plums and Cherries GG. Margins of leaves not saw-toothed. The Tiipelos FF. Seeds several in walled cells. G. Cores papery. H. Fruit small, berry-like. The Juneherries HH. Fruit large. The Apples GG. Cores bony; fruit thin fleshed. The Hawthorns EE. Fruits dry. F. Seeds borne in protecting cups or burs. G. Burs scaly, not opening when ripe; nut conical. The Oaks GG. Burs spiny, 4-valved, opening when ripe. H. Nuts triangular, small. The Beech HH. Nuts conical, larger. The Chestnut FF. Seeds borne in swinging balls. G. Leaves star shaped; branches corky ridged. The Sweet Gum GG. Leaves broad, 3 to 5-lobed, bark shed in sheets, leaving pale, irregular patches. The Sycamore, or Buttonwood FFF. Seeds borne in cone-like heads. G. Bark in horizontal sheets. The Birches GG. Bark smooth; leaves large, leathery. H. Leaves pointed at tip; seeds scarlet, berry-like, on elastic threads. The Magnolias HH. Leaves truncate at apex; seeds dry, with long, flat wing. The Tulip Tree FFFF. Seeds borne in 2-valved pods on elon- gated catkins; minute and hid in cot- tony down. G. Leaves narrow; branches supple. The Willows GG. Leaves broad; leaf stalks flat, branches stiff, angular. The Poplars 15 Key to the Principal Tree Families DD. Bases of leaves unsymmetricai. E. Fruit, a berry; leaves with three main veins; bark warty. The Hackberries EE. Fruit dry with circular wing; leaves oval with prominent, straight veins. The Elms EEE. Fruit a woody ball on leaf-like blade; leaves large, distinctly one-sided. The Lindens, or Basswoods CC. Leaves compound. D. Fruit, a flat pod. The Locusts DD. Fruit, a nut. E. Flusk opening when ripe by four valves. The Hickories EE. Husk not opening when ripe. The IValniiis iO CHAPTER IV: THE CONIFERS The distinguishing feature of this great tree group is the cone-bearing habit. The overlapping scales of the cone are at- tached to a central stem, and each scale bears one or more naked ovules when the time of flowering comes. Pollen from the staminate flowers falls on the exposed ovules, fertilising them, and thus seed is set. The fertile scales are favourably situated near the middle of the cone. Here the best seeds are found. The terminal scales crowd at both ends of the cone, and their seeds usually fail utterly or are stunted in development. The coalescence of scales to form soft berries characterises the junipers,. but the cone-like flowers indicate that the modification in fruit is more apparent than real. The scale tips are there on the outside of the berry to indicate the close kinship of these trees with other conifers. The yews are not conifers, but are set in a family by them- selves. A single ovule stands erect in the pistillate flower, and becomes in fruit a i -seeded drupe, or soft berry. Two genera of yews, with two species of trees in each, constitute the family in the United States. The conifers include thirteen genera and a great number of species, quite overshadowing the yews in im- portance. Together the two families form the botanical grand division of the Gymnosperms, resinous plants (mostly trees) whose flowers have no true pistils, but bear their ovules naked — on a cone scale in the conifers — without even a scale to lean upon in the yews. The Ginkgo or Maidenhair Tree (Salisburia adiantifolia), of Japan and China, is a tree whose botanical affinities seem to be with the conifers on one side and the ferns on the other. The leaves are fan-shaped, usually cleft with one deep suture to the petiole. The venation is the strange character. Unbranched veins extend in radiating lines to the upper border of the fan, just as in the leaf of maidenhair fern. The texture is leathery, and the leaves are fascicled on the ends of very short side twigs. Bright yellow green in summer, they turn to gold, and fall in the autumn. 17 The Conifers The ginkgo is a narrow, tapering tree when young, very trim and pretty, widening to pyramidal form with years. It grows rapidly and has been planted as a street tree, notably in Wash- ington, D. C. A serious drawback appears in the fruit, which is a soft, plum-like, oily drupe with an unpleasant odour. While they are dropping they keep sidewalks in a bad state, disgusting people with the tree. The ginkgo has had a great vogue among planters, though until recently none have been old enough to bear fruit. The Chinese esteem the pits a great delicacy. They roast the nuts as we do almonds and use them as a confection or an appetiser at dinners and banquets. KEY TO THE GENERA A. Fruit a woody cone. ^ . B. Cone scales each in axil of a bract; seeds 2, inverted, on each scale. C. Foliage needle-like, fascicled. D. Cones requiring 2 to 3 years to mature; leaves evergreen, i to 5 in papery basal sheath. Genus Pinus, The Pines DD. Cones annual; leaves deciduous. Genus Larix, The Larches CC. Foliage linear, solitary, scattered. D. Leaves flat, borne on short petioles ; cones pendant. E. Twigs set with projecting leaf bases. Genus Tsuga, The Hemlocks EE. Twigs smooth. Genus Pseudotsuga, The Douglas Spruce DD. Leaves 4-angled, or flattened, without petioles. E. Twigs rough; cones pendant. Genus Picea, The Spruces EE. Twigs smooth; cones erect. Genus Abies, The Firs BB. Cone scales without bracts. C. Leaves linear, alternate; cone scales many. D. Seeds many under each scale; leaves evergreen. Genus Sequoia, The Sequoias DD. Seeds 2 under each scale; leaves 2-ranked, decidu- ous. Genus Taxodium, The Bald Cypress CC. Leaves scale-like, usually of two forms; cones small. D. Cones elongated, thin scaled, annual, with 2 seeds under each scale. 18 The Conifers E. Scales of cone 6; seed wings unsymmetrical. Genus Libocedrus, The Incense Cedar EE. Scales of cone 8 to 12; seed wings symmetrical. Genus Thuya, The Arbor ViT^ts DD. Cones globular, thick scaled^ E. Seeds many under each scale; cones biennial. Genus Cupressus, The Cypresses EE. Seeds 2 under each scale; cones annual. Genus Cham/ecyparis, The Cypresses AA. Fruit a berry; by union of scales of the flower; leaves scale-like or awl shaped, 3 to 4 ranked. Genus Juniperus, The Junipers 19 CHAPTER V : THE PINES Family Conifers Genus PINUS, Duham. Leaves evergreen, of two forms: primary, short, broad at base, scattered; secondary, needle-like, in sheatlied bundles. Flowers monoecious, naked; staminate, clustered; pistillate, lateral or subterminal, with spirally arranged scales; ovules, 2 on each scale. Fruit, a woody cone, maturing in 2 or 3 years. " What the apple is among the fruits, what the oak is among broad-leaved trees of the temperate zone, the pines are among the conifers, excelling all other genera in this most important family in number of species, in fields of distribution in extent of area occupied, in usefulness and importance to the human race." — B. E. Fernow. Six hundred species and varieties have been described and named in the genus Pinus. They are distributed in vast forests over the northern half of the globe, reaching into the tropics by following mountain chains. The East and West Indian Islands have each their own pines. Out of the hundreds of named kinds about eighty distinct species are now recognised. Half of this number are found in North America. Forests of pine still cover mountain slopes in the western and northern parts of the conti- nent. Lumbering has been going on for a century in the Eastern States; more recently the Great Lakes region and the pine forests of the Southern States have been exploited to supply the demand for pine. The foremost lumber trees in this country, pines have still other important uses. They offer a great variety of trees for pro- tective and ornamental planting. Windbreaks from the seashore to the semi-arid prairie, from the low seaboard plain to the mountain's crests, may all be of pine. Arid soil or rich, cold or warm climate, swamp and desert sand — all offer congenial con- ditions for some native pine. In the parks of cities, in private 20 The Pines grounds of the rich and the poor, pines are planted for shade and shelter and ornament. Only in very smoky cities, St. Louis and Pittsburg, for instance, do pines with other conifers decline after a few years of growth. It is believed that sulphur and other substances in the noxious gases that constantly pour from great chimneys choke the evergreens. Nobody is able yet to give a final answer to the question. It is now under investigation. The by-products of pine trees include oil, pitch, turpentine, and rosin, products of the resin that impregnates the wood of pitch pines. Minor products are the seeds of the nut pines, used as food; pine wool, spun from the leaves of certain species; and pine shoots used for Christmas decoration. All pines are evergreens and cone bearers. They are dis- tinguished from other genera of the family Coniferae by bearing their needle-like leaves in clusters of i to 5 leaves, each of which is enclosed at its base by a sheath made of papery scales. No other conifer has this sheath. The soft pines, so called from their soft, light wood, shed their leaf sheaths as soon as the young leaves are fully developed. The pitch pines, so called be- cause their heavy, dark-coloured wood is full of resin, retain the leaf sheath until the leaves are shed. In the lumber trade there is a certain fine scorn of ** techni- cal names," and a consequent confusion in the use of local and trade names of the kinds of pines. This is unfortunate, for woods that resemble each other so closely as to deceive experi- enced men have often very different ways of behaving in use. Lumbermen and carpenters are misled by dependence on trade names, and so are engineers and architects, to the great disad- vantage of those whose interests they are supposed to serve in- telligently. "Hard pine" is a carpenter's term applied to pines whose wood is heavy, close and resinous. It includes everything but soft pine among staple lumber pines. The '' hard pines " are P. palustris, P. taeda, P. echinata and P. heterophylla in the South ; P. ponderosa, and P. ponderosa, var. Jeffreyi, in the West, and P. resinosa in the East and North. " Yellow pine/' a very vague and general colour designa- tion, includes the Southern hard pines named above, also P. rigida in the East, and P. ponderosa in the West. "Pitch pine" is a term applied to species whose wood is 2\ The Pines rich in resin. Chief among these is P. palustria. It includes the other Southern lumber pines and P. rigida in the Eastern States. " Georgia pine " is P. palustris. " North Carolina pine " is P. echinata. The "soft pines" have soft, light wood, with little resin, easy to work — the carpenter's delight. The principal ones are P. Strobus, in the North and East, P. Lambertiana, of the Pacific coast, and two Rocky Mountain species, P. monttcola and P. flexilis. "Jack pines," used locally for ties and timbers, but not in the regular lumber trade, are small or medium-sized trees : P. rigida, P. Virginiana and P. divaricata in the East and North ; P. contorta, var. Miirrayana, one in the West. THE SOFT PINES Leaf bundles in loose, deciduous sheaths. Cone scales usually unarmed. Wood soft, light coloured, close grained. KEY TO SPECIES A. Leaves 5 in a bundle. B. Cones long stemmed; scales thin; leaves 3 to 4 inches long. C. Leaves slender, flexible; cones 5 to 8 inches long. D. Cone scales not recurved at maturity; leaves bluish green. {P. Strobus) white pine DD. Cone scales recurved at maturity; leaves pale green. {P. strobiformis) Arizona white pine CC. Leaves stout, stiff. D. Cones 5 to 12 inches long; limbs grey. (P. monttcola) mountain pine DD. Cones 12 to 18 inches long; limbs green. {P. Lambertiana) SUGAR pine BB. Cones short stemmed; scales thick; leaves i to 2 inches long. C. Leaf bundles scattered; cones 3 to 10 inches long, opening at maturity. (P. flexilis) ROCKY mountain white pine CC. Leaf bundles in crowded clusters. D. Leaf clusters at ends of twigs; cones not open- ing; bark pale. (P. albicaulis) white-bark pine 52 The Pines DD. Leaf clusters along sides of twig; cone scales with spiny beaks. E. Spines of cone scales minute, incurved. {P. Balfouriana) foxtail pine EE. Spines of cone scales, long, slender. {P. aristata) bristle-cone pine AA. Leaves i to 4 in a bundle, i to 2 inches long; cones globose; seeds nut-like. B. Bundles 4-leaved, pale, glaucous green. {P. quadrifolia) nut pine BB. Bundles 2 to 3-ieaved, dark green. C. Leaves slender. {P. cembroides) nut pine CC. Leaves stout. {P. edulis) nut pine BBB. Bundles i-leaved, pale, glaucous green. {P. monophylla) nut pine White Pine {Pinus Strobus, Linn.) — A stately tree, 100 to 120 feet high, conical, with spreading, horizontal branches in whorls of five. Bark grey, furrowed, thick, with broad, scaly lidges. Wood light, soft, close grained, resinous, easily worked. Buds, a strong, terminal, set round by five lateral ones in whorl \ \io ^ inch long, pointed, with thin, pale-brown scales. Leaves evergreen, needle-like, in fives, sheathed at base of bun- dle, 3 to 5 inches long, slender, 3-sided, flexible, blue-green. Flowers m June, monoecious; staminate, clustered at base of sea- son's shoots, § to I inch long, catkin-like, yellowish ; pistillate, subterminal, single or in twos, stemmed, elliptical, pink or pur- plish, and scaly, 2 ovules on each scale. Fruit biennial, 5 to 10 inches long, slender, stalked, with thin, unarmed scales ; seeds winged. Preferred habitat, good soil, moist woodlands, or up- lands. Distribution, Newfoundland to Manitoba; south through Iowa, Illinois and Ohio to northern Georgia ; southern Canada and Eastern States, along Alleghanies to eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. Uses : One of the best ornamental conifers and formerly the chief lumber tree in this country. Pines bear their evergreen leaves in sheathed bundles set on little projecting shelves along the twigs. The sheaths are shed during the spring in all the white pines, and the number of leaves in a bundle is always five. Certain pitch pines have leaves in fives, but the sheaths will be found at the bases of the bundles throughout the season. These 5-leaved pitch pines are all Western trees. In Eastern woods a 5-leaved pine is a white pine, P. Strobus, whether it is a flourishing little sapling, with 23 The Pines only three or four v/horls of branches coming out from its central stem, or a great forest tree towering above its broad-leaved neighbours, noble and picturesque, though storms have destroyed the symmetry of its youth. Stroke the leaves of a white-pine branch — they are soft and llexible. As they sway in the wind they are graceful and light; the tree seems decked with plumes of dark blue-green. The young shoots, pale yellowish green, lighten the sombre pine woods, and the clustering catkins, shaking out their abundant pollen, sift gold dust through the whole forest. The pistillate flowers show themselves clustered about the terminal bud, which keeps on growing, leaving them to ripen, through two seasons, into long, slender green cones. The pinkish purple of these tiny cone flowers adds a rich colour to the upper twigs, where they stand erect until autumn. Below them, hanging down with their weight, are the half-grown cones, slim, finger-like and green, with tight, smooth scales, that will turn brown and discharge their ripened seed at the end of their second summer. This white pine of ours is built on a semi-decimal plan, which it is quite worth our while to notice. In the gracefully winged seed, that reminds us of the samara of a maple, there are ten cotyledons, or seed leaves, that mount the stem, and sur- round the precious terminal bud when the seed germinates. This bud is the " leader." If anything happens to it the central shaft is maimed for life, and either one side bud will have to bend upward and take the leader's place, or two will divide the honour, and a forked pine is the result. The buds on the crown of a baby white pine cluster at the top — a circle of five around the central bud. In spring the leader grows upward, and at its base five branches radiate. Next year the crown repeats the same story, and the tips of the side branches divide and elongate in the same way. The best growth is generally made by the crown buds in the very top of the tree. So it happens that we may count the years of our sapling by the whorls of branches it bears. In the early years the growth is beautifully symmetrical, if there is room for sun and air to reach the little tree. Later the branches crowd each other, and some are killed. In deep woods where trees interfere, the stems are bare of living branches almost to the top. This is the lumberman's pine, a tree whose limbs die so 24 ■^Ih^^' '^' 0^A Copyright, 1905, by Doubleday, Page & Company WHITE PINE GROWN IN OPEN GROUND {Pinus Strobus) Forest-grown trees have no branches on lower part and upper branches are shorter. The Pines young that there are practically no big knots in the lumber. He cuts clear, beautiful boards out of such a tree, and there is very little waste. Or he squares the trunk for a big bridge timber whose value and strength would be greatly lessened by large knots. The great pine forests of lower Canada and the Northern States seemed inexhaustible to the early settlers. New York and Pennsylvania had pineries that promised a lumber supply for generations to come. But alas! for human foresight. The avarice of lumber companies and the blindness of politicians have squandered the heritage of the people. The virgin forests are gone except in areas too scattered and small to tempt the lumber- men. Second growth covers some of the territory that was stripped, but it will be hundreds of years before another such crop can come to maturity. The wanton wastefulness in the original slaughter of the pines is the greatest pity of it all. Forest fires, once started, eagerly fed on the ''slash" the loggers left behind, and devoured untold acres of virgin woods. The soft, white, resinous wood of P. Strobus is remarkably easy to work. It was used in all kinds of construction — from masts of ships to matches — it was shipped over the country for house building, for furniture, fencing and the like. Now its scarcity has led to the substitution of other woods, notably the hard pines of the Southern States. The white pine has considerable vigour, reseeding lumbered areas, where poplars or other short-lived trees come in and furnish shade for the young seedlings. Careful forestry will restore pines to many tracts too broken for agricultural use. In fact, work to this end is being carried on to a considerable extent in the Northeastern and Middle States. Much of this work is under the direction of the Bureau of Forestry. White pine is one of the most profitable timber crops to plant at the present time. Horticulturally considered, P. Strobus is one of the best of the pines. It is quick growing, symmetrical, and handsome in its early years ; later it becomes more irregular, but full of character, and beautiful in clean limbs and the plume-like tufts of blue-green leaves. The tree is picturesque, even in decrepit age, towering in stately dignity over the heads of neighbour trees, adding distinction to all sylvan scenery A white pine grown in the open has a broad crown that often keeps its lower branches, 25 The Pines and these are borne to the ground by their own weight. Such a tree is a joy the whole year through to all tree lovers, including people and birds and squirrels. The Arizona White Pine (P. strobiformis,) Engelm., is scattered scantly over gravelly ridges and on canon sides in the southern part of New Mexico and Arizona, and on into Mexico. Its pale-green leaves and glaucous, downy branchlets blend it with the semi-arid landscape. Its scarcity and the inaccessibility of its habitat and range defend this tree from the lumberman, though it occasionally reaches the height of 80 feet or more, and a trunk diameter of 2 feet. Mountain Pine, Silver Pine {Pimts monticola,) D. Don. — A spreading, pyramidal tree with stout trunk and slender, pendulous branches. Bark light grey and thin, becoming checked into square plates, with purplish scales and cinnamon- red under bark. Wood light brown or red, soft, fine grained, easily split, weak. Buds pointed, scaly, large, hoary, clustered, terminal. Leaves ij to 4 inches long, thick, stiff, blue-green with pale bloom. Flowers similar to those of P. Strobus. Fruit biennial, cones slender, 10 to 18 inches long; scales thin, broad, tipped with abrupt beak; seeds winged. Preferred habitat, sub-alpine valleys of streams. Distribution, Vancouver Island and southern British Columbia to northern Idaho and Montana, and south into California. Elevations 7,000 to 10,000 feet. Uses: Not equal to P. Strobus in cultivation. Locally used for lumber in Idaho and Montana. The mountain white pine is the Western counterpart of P. Strobus, which it resembles in general appearance and in the qualities of its wood. Its foliage is denser and its cones nearly twice as large as those of our Eastern white pine, with a beak on each scale that the latter species lacks. It is unusual, even in the Sierras, to find a tree of gigantic size climbing mountains. This one at the elevation of 10,000 feet shows specimens 6 to 8 feet in diameter and 90 feet high, apparently '* growing nobler in form and size the colder and balder the mountains about it." The tree companions of this pine crouch at its feet; whatever they may be at lower levels, here they are dwarfs, and only the white pine keeps its noble proportions unmindful of the blasting winds and cold. P. monticola surprises and delights the Eastern lover of noble 26 THE WHITE PINE (P/««5 Strobtis) This tree has plume-Uke tufts of blue-green leaves in bundles of fives. The twigs have five buds around the central one, so the trunk and limbs send out whorls of five branches each spring. The pistillate flowers are near the top of the twig and hidden among the leaves. The staminate cones cluster behind the new shoot and are yellow when ripe. The cones are slender, curved, pendant, with thin, unarmed scales. The tree is chief among the soft pines in the lumber trade Winter bmls (leaves cut to show buds'! THE MOUNTAIN PINE (Pinus montkola) Silvery, stiff leaves in bundles of fives distinguish the white pine of the Western mountains n Winter buds leaves cut to show buds) THE SUGAR PINE {Pinus Lamhertiana) "The largest, noblest and most beautiful of all the pine trees in the world." The leaves, in bundles of fives, are stiff and very dark green. The soft wood is creamy white The Pines trees, for it submits gracefully to a complete change of altitude and location. Seedlings from veteran trees in their native fast- nesses are growing to-day in Eastern nurseries, and thriving on lawns in New England villages. At the Arboretum in Boston the young trees form a narrower pyramid than saplings of P. Strobus at the same age. No Western pine makes as vigorous growth in the East as this one does. A tree 12 feet high bore several cones last year. The species has long been grown in Europe. Great Sugar Pine {P. Lamberttana, Dougl. ) — A majestic tree, 200 to 220 feet high, 6 to 10 feet through, pyramidal, be- coming flat topped, with spreading, pendulous branches. Bark thick, furrowed, breaking into plates; dark grey, becoming purplish or cinnamon-red. Wood brownish, straight grained, soft, light. Buds pointed, scaly, clustered at tips. Leaves stout, stiff, 3 to 4 inches long, in fives, sheathed, serrate, needle-like, dark green. Flowers much like those of P. Strobus. Fruits 12 to 18 inches long, heavy, scales 2 inches long and i-J inches wide; seeds ripe in second autumn, edible. Preferred habitat, mountain slopes and canon sides. Distribution, coast region in mountains from Oregon into Lower California. Uses: Unsuc- cessful in cultivation; lumber used in carpentry, for doors, blinds, sashes, shingles and in cooperage. Sap yields sugar. "The largest, noblest, and most beautiful of all the seventy or eighty species of pine trees in the world " — thus writes John Muir, who knows the sugar pine of the Sierras as he knows his other neighbours, the mountains and the glaciers, with which he has kept fellowship all his life. Fortunately these gigantic pines do not go down to the sea, nor overhang the banks of seaward- tending streams to tempt the lumberman. The hungry mills would have swallowed the best of them long ago had not Nature fenced them in by barriers too great to be overpassed, and the Government has now, by the reservation of the Yosemite National Park, insured the preservation of these mighty pines in sufficient number to remind those who visit the region of what all the Sierra forests were before they were laid waste. The cones of the sugar pine are the longest known. In spring cone flowers an inch in length stand upright in clusters; they thicken, lengthen and turn down on the coming of the second spring. They are now 2 or 3 inches long, and quite 27 The Pines heavy. By September they are close to 2 feet in length and 3 or 4 inches in diameter, pale green, flushing to purple on the side exposed to the sun. High above the earth these cones hang like dangling tassels, none too large for the giant arm that holds them forth. Now the scales spread, and the cone's diameter is doubled. The seeds fall, and are frugally hoarded by squirrels, bears and Indians, for their food value is no secret to any creature that has tasted them. The empty cones hang on the trees until the new crop is ready to harvest, and hard on its heels are the half-grown yearlings, sealed tight to encounter the untried winter weather. The wood of the sugar pine is the apotheosis of pine lumber. Soft, golden, satiny, fragrant — inviting the woodworker through every one of his senses to handle it. Crystals of sugar accumu- late at the end of a stick when it is burning — the bleeding of the heart wood, which gives the trees its name. White masses, crisp and candy-like, gather at axe wounds. It tastes like maple sugar, but one is soon surfeited in eating it. Up the mountain side, where these trees grow to greatest size, the shingle maker climbs and pitches his tent in spring. He fells the biggest tree he can find, never caring whose it is, saws out a few blocks of shingle length (often only one), above the stump, and splits it into shingles. Why should he discard the rest of that great trunk and fell another, leaving the first to rot and to invite forest fires.^ There might be a knot in the next section, and who is he that he should worry himself over knotty lumber.^ So he does not stay his axe and saw all through the season, and has bundles of shingles to sell in the valley, all made from straight-grained sugar pine from the butts of logs. For every bundle he has to sell he has destroyed thousands of feet of lumber. He and thieving mill owners are companions in crime, and should be in the state prison together. For each has been preying upon the public forest lands for years. The sugar pine is various in form, spreading its slender arms like feathery drooping plumes. Like the crown of a palm tree, but far broader than the royalest of palms, it rises above a feath- ering of shorter branches, and above all neighbour trees. Or with more room, the tapering spire of a fir tree is imitated. The average tree tapers to the top, and is feathered half way down with short horizontal branches. 28. The Pines "The old trees are as tellingly varied and picturesque as oaks. No two are alike, and we are tempted to stop and admire every one we come to as it stands silent in the calm, balsam- scented sunshine or waving in accord with enthusiastic storms. No traveller, whether he be a tree lover or not, will ever forget his first walk in a sugar-pine forest."— John Mtiir. Rocky Mountain White Pine. — {P. flexilis, James.) — A broad, stout-trunked tree, 40 to 75 feet high, with ascending branches in a diffuse head. Bark very dark, furrowed and broken into square plates; younger stems smooth, pale grey or white. Wood light, soft, close grained, yellow to red. Buds scaly, pointed, clustered at branch tips. Leaves in fives, thick, rigid, ij to 3 inches long, dark green, sheathed and tufted on end of branches; shed during fifth or sixth years. Flowers like P. Strobus, but rose coloured. Fruit annual, cones 3 to 10 inches long, purple; scales rounded and abruptly beaked at apex; seeds with narrow wings all around; ripe in September. Preferred habitat, mountain slopes, at altitude of 7,000 to 12,000 feet. Distribution, Rocky Mountains, Alberta (British Columbia), Mon- tana to Mexico and California. Uses: Important timber tree of semi-arid regions. Used in construction as P. Strobus is. It is a fortunate region that has its own white or soft pine for all sorts of construction. This " limber pine " is notable because it thrives where other pines fail. It grows on the sides of the desert ranges of mountains in Nevada and Arizona, it is t,he chief dependence of builders on the eastern slopes of the Rockies in Montana. Lacking this pine, the lumber problem in these regions would be serious. It is true that trees growing in scat- tered groups and open forests as these do produce knotty timber; but the important fact is that P. flexilis does grow in these re- gions, and the trees are appreciated, knots and all. The best specimens grow in New Mexico and Arizona — sturdy trees, as broad as they are high, with trunks 5 feet through, and limbs of exceeding length, flexibility and tough- ness. From these characters the tree takes its specific name and the common name given above. The Rocky Mountain white pine grows where the wind tests the fibre of its long arms, which reach out and up as if eager to meet the challenge and prove themselves. The foliage is thick and beautiful, even where the tree crouches a prostrate 39 The Pines shrub at the timber line. The tree's blossoms are its most striking feature. The staminate clusters are tinged with rose colour. On the tips of the branches the slim cones glow from their first appearance like tips of flame. The summer deepens them to purple, and as they turn down they fade to cinnamon-brown, before the springing of the scales releases the almost wingless seeds. In the most favourable locations the branchlets are stout and the cones approach a foot in length. Farther north, and at higher levels, the twigs are slim and the cones considerably shorter. The White-Bark Pine (P. albicaulis, Engelm.) shouts its name at the traveller who climbs the snow-clad peaks where it rims the forests at the timber line. The snowy bark glistens in the sun as if it reflected the icy mantle that blankets the roots for a large part of the year. Its range is from British Columbia to Montana and Wyoming, south into California. It keeps near the timber line, but goes down to 5,000 feet level, becoming a tree 40 feet high in some places. Usually it is flattened and broad topped; its matted branches, cumbered with needles and snow, make a platform on which one may walk with perfect safety. Travellers sometimes spread their blankets upon the branches and sleep as comfortably as on a spring bed. These gnarled, shrubby trees are often astonishingly old. John Muir measured one care- fully. It was "Three feet high, with a stem 6 inches in diameter at the ground, and branches that spread out horizontally as if it had grown up against a ceiling; yet it was 426 years old, and one of its supple branchlets, about J of an inch in diameter inside the bark, was seventy-five years old, and so tough that I tied it into knots. At the age of this dwarf many of the sugar and yellow pines and sequoias are 7 feet in diameter and over 200 feet high." The Foxtail Pines include two species whose branchlets are clothed with crowded leaf bundles, while the branches are bare. P. Balfoiiriana, M. Murr., has stiff, stout, dark-green leaves lightened by pale linings. The tree forms an open pyra- mid of more or less irregularity when old, but picturesque, whether a tree of 40 to 80 feet on the higher foothills of the Cali- fornia mountains or a straggling shrub at the timber line. P. aristata, Engelm., the other species, has the same brush- of-a-fox leaf distribution, and it is distinguished by the long, 30 The Pines slender prickles which arm the scales of its cones, giving the tree its common name, "prickle-cone pine." The tree is bushy, with whorls of short branches, regular at first, but unsymmetri- cal when old. Its range extends from western Colorado to southern California and includes Nevada and Arizona. It keeps as close as possible to the timber line, and varies from a stocky tree 40 feet high to a prostrate shrub. In cultivation in the East- ern States it is a handsome, bushy shrub. The Nut Pine (P. qttadrifolia, Sudw.) is easily distin- guished by its leaves, which are usually in fours. No other pine has this number of leaves in a bundle. The tree inhabits the mountains of southern and Lower California, growing to the height of 40 feet in favourable localitier. It is a desert pine, fur- nishing the Indians an important article of food in its rich, nut- like seeds. Its cultivation is confined to southern California. The Nut Pine {P. cembroides, Zucc), a bushy tree of the canon sides in Arizona and Lower California, may also be men- tioned as an important source of food. The nuts are sold in most towns in northern Mexico. Its scaly bark distinguishes this tree from other nut pines. The Nut Pine, or Pinon {P. ediilis, Engelm.), of Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, is an important source of food to Mexi- cans and Indians. The tree grows in forests on the high South- western table lands, and follows the mountains into Mexico. Its leaves are very short, stiff, and in clusters of threes, its globular cones, scarcely over an inch in length, are woody, and the wing- less seeds, two on each scale, about the size and shape of honey- locust seeds, are sweet and nutritious. The one-leaved Nut Pine fP. monophylla, Torr. ) is small and irregular, with the form of an old apple tree. Its single, cylindrical leaf, pale greyish green (in a cluster evidently intended to have two), sets it apart from other pines. Its plenteous little cones invest the tree with its greatest human interest. "It is the commonest tree of the short mountain ranges cf the Great Basin. Tens of thousands of acres are covered with it, forming bountiful orchards for the red man. Being so low and accessible, the cones are easily beaten off with poles, and the nuts procured by roasting until the scales open. To the tribes of the desert and sage plains these seeds are the staff of life. They are eaten either raw or parched, or in the form of mush or cakes 3» The Pines after being pounded into meal. The lime of nut harvest is the merriest time of the year. An industrious squirrelish family can gather fifty or sixty bushels in a single month before the snow comes, and then their bread for the winter is sure."—/ Muir, THE PITCH PINES L^j/ bundles in persistent sheaths. Cone scales thick, usually armed. Wood heavy, resinous, coarse grained, usually dark coloured. KEY TO SPECIES A. Leaves 5 in a bundle, stout, dark green. B. Cones 4 to 6 inches long; leaves 9 to 13 inches long. (p. Torreyana) torrey's pine BB. Cones 2 to 2^ inches long; leaves 5 to 7 inches long. {P. Ariionica) Arizona yellow pine AA. Leaves 3 in a bundle. B. Length of leaf, more than 6 inches. C. Colour of foliage pale green. D. Cones 6 to 14 inches long; leaves 8 to 12 inches long, bluish, stout, flexible. (A Sabiniana) digger pine DD. Cones 3 to 5 inches long; leaves 6 to 9 inches long, slender, stiff, twisted. {P. Tceda) loblolly pine CC. Colour of foliage dark green. D. Cones 2 to 3 inches long; leaves 6 to 8 inches long, yellowish, slender, flexible. {P. seroiina) pond pine DD. Cones 6 to 10 inches long; leaves 8 to 18 inches long, slender, flexible. {P. palustris) longleaf pine DDD. Cones 10 to 14 inches long ; leaves 6 to 12 inches long, bluish, stout, stiff. • (P. Coulteri) big-cone pine BB. Length of leaf less than 6 inches. C. Leaves 3 to 5 inches long, stiff, yellow green; cones I to 3 inches long, opening when ripe. {P. rigida) pitch pine C. Leaves 4 to 5 inches long, slender, stiff; cones 3 to 6 inches long, unsymmetrical, not opening when ripe. {P. attenuatd) knob-cone pine AAA. Leaves 2 or 3 in a bundle. The Pines B. Length of leaf more than 6 inches; stout, dark green. C. Leaves 8 to 12 inches long; cones 3 to 6 inches long, lateral. (A Cariba'o) cuban pine CC. Leaves 5 to 1 1 inches long; cones 3 to 15 inches long, terminal. {P. ponderosa) yellow pine BB. Length of leaf less than 6 inches; slender. C. Leaves 3 to 5 inches long, bluish green; cones I J to 2-J inches long, symmetrical. {P. echinata) shortleaf pine CC. Leaves 4 to 6 inches long, bright green ; cones 3 to 5 inches long, unsymmetrical. (A radiaid) Monterey pine ^AAA. Leaves 2 in a bundle. B. Length of leaf 4 to 6 inches; colour, dark green. C. Cones about 2 inches long, scales unarmed. (P. resinosa) red pine CC. Cones about 3 inches long, scales armed with stout beaks. {P.mtiricata) prickle-cone pine BB. Length of leaf i to 3 inches; cones i to 3 inches long. C. Leaves blue-green, stiff, twisted. {P. pungens) table-mountain pine CC. Leaves dark green, slender. D. Cones oblique, set with stout, recurved prickles. E. Branches dark brown. {P. contorta) scrub pine EE. Branches ashy grey. {P. claiisa) sand pine DD. Cones not oblique, set with minute prickles. {P. glabra) spruce pine CCC. Leaves grey-green, stout, in remote clusters. D. Cones 2 to 3 inches long; scales armed with sharp prickles. {P. yirginiana) jersey pine DD. Cones ij to 2 inches long; scales unequal, unarmed. {P. divaricaid) grey pine Torrey's Pine {P. Torreyana, Parry) grows on a strip of territory eight miles long and less than two miles wide along the mouth of the Soledad River in southern California, and on the neighbouring Island of Santa Rosa. It is a nut pine with large, thick, edible seeds upon which Indians and Mexicans formerly subsisted, eating them raw or roasted. The tree is distinguished by its dark-green, tufted leaves, which are 9 to 13 inches long, and cluster in fives in close sheaths. The cones are abundant, oval, woody and heavy, the scales set with stout recurving beaks. 33 The Pines Though driven to the wall, as it were, this pine seems dis- posed to make the most of its chances. Seedlings are numerous and vigorous among the elder trunks, and as there is little demand for its wood, the species is likely to hold its own. The Yellow Pine {P. Art^onica, Engelm.) is the Southern counterpart of its close relative, P. ponderosa. They are both lumber trees of importance in the Rocky Mountain regions. The Arizona yellow pine is often inaccessible, as it grows on steep declivities and in deep canons from which the logs cannot be taken, even after the trees are felled. This tree is one of the y leaved pitch pines, with leaves 5 to 7 inches long, and small spiny cones. The bulk of the forests of this tree grow across the Mexican border, at elevations 6,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea. The Digger Pine [P. Sabiniana, Dougl.), growing only on the sun-baked foothills of western California, deserves mention here on account of its peculiar sparse foliage, pale, bluish green, and 8 to 12 inches long, that in no wise conceals the angular limbs, and the great cones, 6 to 10 inches long, which fairly load the tree, and are carried for several years. The thickened scales protrude separately as two-edged, thick projections that end in a beak shaped like a shark's tooth. The Digger Indians once gathered the seeds of this pine for food. The nuts are as big as lima beans, and rich in oils and other food elements. Loblolly, or Old-Field Pine {P. Tcvda, Linn.)— A tall, straight, deep-rooted tree, 80 to 100 feet high, with short, much- branched horizontal limbs. Bark bright red-brown, broadly ridged, scaly; branchlets smooth, yellow-brown, thickly set with the recurved inner scales ot the branch buds. Wood resinous, weak, coarse grained, pale brown. Buds obovate-oblong, with pointed brown scales. Leaves in threes, slender, stiff, twisted, pale green, glaucous, 6 to 10 inches long; sheaths close, thin, persistent. Flowers: staminate, crowded on short spikes, in- curved, cylindrical, in scaly involucres; pistillate, lateral, one to three in a cluster, below apex of new shoot, with yellow scales, oval on short, scaly stalks, April. Fruits ovate-oblong, 3 to 5 inches long, ij to 2 inches broad; ridged, purplish knobs, with prickles on scales; seeds, rhomboidal, with wing } inch long. Preferred habitat, swampy lands near tidewater; low ground, J4 The Pines Sterile and worthless. Distribution intermittent, New Jersey (Cape May), south along coast to Tampa Bay and Texas. Inland, from the Carolinas to Arkansas and Louisiana. Uses : Lumber not distinguished from longleaf or yellow pine — shipped north in quantities. Used in heavy construction — building of docks, ships, cars and houses. Valuable tree for reforesting waste land, and for fuel. There is probably no pine tree that has more nicknames than this, nor one more variable in its habits of growth and in the quality of its wood. " Old-field " and '' meadow pine " refer to its habit of invading land abandoned by farmers. **Sap," ''frankincense " and " torch pine " mean that it is rich in resin. Several local names refer to its long leaves; others to the dark colour of its bark. Some names are meaningless. The loblolly pine is one which Nature seems to have favoured in the race for life. It bears seed copiously every year. It has remarkable vitality of seed and seedlings. It chooses low, water- soaked ground, or rolling upland terraces where soil is light and sandy, though wet, and where there are comparatively few trees to contend with. The young trees grow with tremendous vigour for the first ten years, crowding so that animals cannot get in to harm them. After that they are beyond this danger, and their struggle is among themselves. Fires do little harm in the marshy regions, so that these forests have a great advantage over others. The trees are deep rooted, and in spite of fungus and insect attacks, thrive throughout the Southern States. In Michaux's travels he noted that three-fourths of the houses of lower Virginia were built of loblolly pine. Giant trees grew there, and down in the rich marsh lands that reached back from Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds the finest specimens of these loblolly pines furnished the navies of many countries with masts unsurpassed in quality and size. These were of the famous ''rosemary pine," heavy, hard, fine-grained heart wood, with a thin rind of sap wood. Now they are all gone, practically, and there are left the slash pines, coarse grained, with half their diameter sap wood. Virgin woods and second growth furnish the mills with lumber which is not distinguished in the trade from longleaf pine, though inferior to it. The third grade of lumber, with sap wood three times as thick as heart wood, and exceedingly coarse grained, is known to lumbermen as old-field 33 The Pines pine, and is locally consumed as lumber and fuel in the coast regions. Its poor quality is the result of very rapid growth. ''Kiln-drying" of the lumber has greatly improved its quality by adding to the durability and hardness of it. Heat kills a fungus which in ordinary seasoning turns the wood blue. Loblolly timbers are made durable by the " creosoting " process. Though rich in resin, the tree is not one which yields resinous substances, such as turpentine and pitch, for when tapped there is scarcely any flow, and contact with the air hardens the little resin that starts. As a fuel tree the cheap lobloHy pine is un- excelled. It gives a quick, intense heat when dried, and is used in bakeries, kilns and in charcoal burning. The Pond, or Marsh Pine {P. serotiiia, Michx. ) is the water-loving, round-headed pine, with yellow-green leaves from 6 to 8 inches long, and sturdy cones that open only after they have hung, matured, for a year or two. In the flat, peaty and sandy swam.ps from North Carolina down the coast to the St. John's River in Florida, the traveller finds this pine with the longleaf. It supplies some turpentine and some lumber in North Carolina, but is not an important commercial tree. Longleaf Pine {P. palustris, Mill.) — A tall, slender trunk, 90 to 120 feet high, with deep tap root and short, stout, twisted limbs, which form an elongated open head. Bark furrowed, and crossed by deep fissures into thin, scaly plates; colour red- dish brown, with blue tinge. Wood heavy, strong, yellowish brown, resinous, durable. Excels that of all other pines. Buds elongated, large, silvery, with linear scales. Leaves in threes, in long, pale sheaths, tufted on ends of branches, 12 to 18 inches long, pendant, flexible, . dark green, shining, persistent 2 years. Flowers', staminate, 2 inches long, cylindrical, crowded at base of new shoot, anthers purplish; pistillate, subterminal, clustered, oval, with broad purple scales. Fruits narrow, tapering, reddish brown; scales thickened, and keeled crosswise at tip, and set with small recurved spine; seed triangular, with long, lustrous wing. Preferred habitats: (i) low coast sands, imperfectly drained; (2) uplands, rocky and well drained, with marl and limestone deposits; (5) upland pine barrens. Distribution, Vir- ginia to Florida (Tampa Bay), west to Mississippi River; a belt about 125 miles wide somewhat back from coast; isolated forests in northern Alabama, in Louisiana and Texas. J6 The Pines The average Northerner probably first sees this Southern yel- low pine as lumber in the woodwork and floors of a dwelling house or in the arches that support the roof of a church. The rich orange wood, with its pale, soft spring wood and the darker, harder summer wood in alternating bands, produces patterns of exquisite beauty and variety, to which the "natural finish" is generally given. A coat of oil is all sufficient, and time deepens and enriches the colour of this wood. The '' curly pine " — high- est in value because of finest and most intricately waved grain — grows slowly in hard, sandy soils, on the damp, flat plains of the Gulf coast. Within the past few years this Southern pine has come North in another form. The seedling trees just tall enough to show themselves above the forest floor are cut by thousands and shipped North for Christmas greens. No palm or Ficiis elasticus is more effective in formal decoration than these tufted stems, standing erect with all their long, flexible leaves bending out- ward like a fountain of shining green. The enthusiasm with which the longleaf pine has been received by florists and the general public has already become a menace to the life of the species in sections of the South. Lumbering is going on at a ter- rible rate, taking the trees of merchantable size for an infinite range of uses. Now that the saplings 2 feet high have a prrce set on their heads, wherewithal shall the forests be renewed } It is a momentous problem, for a great part of the wealth of the South is in these hard-pine tracts. The longleaf pine is second to none in the qualities that adapt lumber to building. Masts and spars, great timbers for trestles of bridges and aqueducts are made by simply squaring or dressing the slender, tall trunks. There are few knots, for the limbs are small and clustered at the top. In European dockyards there is an ever-increasing demand for these great timbers. Smaller ''sticks," squared lox 12 inches and 36 to 42 feet long, free from blemish, are used in the building of railroad cars. Great quan- tities of small timber are used every year for railroad ties all over the country. Their durability in soil also commends these young trees for posts. Building and manufacture consume billions of board feet every year. Quite independent of the lumber industry, the resinous prod- ucts of the longleaf pine are of momentous importance to the 31 The Pines United States and to foreign countries. The colonists tapped these trees for resin (crude turpentine), and boiled it down for £ar and pitch. Out of these beginnings grew the industries that supply naval stores to the world. -The "orcharding" of long- ieaf pines is reducing to a science the wasteful processes of earlier years. ''Naval stores" include all the products of the resin of coniferous trees. The consumption of these is greatest in ship- yards and on shipboard. The products include turpentine, rosin, pine tar and pitch. Turpentine is extensively used in the arts and industries. The methods of *' orcharding" the longleaf pine and preparing its products for market are described in the chapter, ''The Uses of Wood." Proper tapping does not injure the lumber nor shorten the life of the tree; but the resin-covered wounds feed the fires that so easily and frequently break out where careless workmen are deal- ing with inflammable substances. The terrible destructiveness of these fires raises one of the gravest problems of the forester. It is common to set fires to rubbish on the beginning of work among the pines so as to obviate dangers of later conflagrations. Fires often get beyond control, and sweep on till Nature puts them out. Settlers, burning underbrush to start the grass for their cattle, damage the woods irreparably in early spring. Seedlings and young growth which escape fire are injured by trampling, browsing cattle, sheep and goats. Squirrels gnaw the green cones and eat the unripe seeds. So between the care- less wastefulness of men and the inconsiderateness of lower ani- mals, the vast forests of longleaf pine dwindle. The leaves of Piniis palustris yield by distillation an essential oil of balsamic odour that closely resembles oil of turpentine. The weaving of florists' baskets from the long, shining needles is just beginning, and is an industry that ought profitably to employ women and children in neighbourhoods. ' ' Pine wool " is made by boiling the leaves in strong alkali, and then carding the fibres thus released. It is woven into a brown carpet somewhat like cocoa matting, and into other textile fabrics. It is an im- portant stuffing for upholstery, and is a natural antiseptic dress- ing for wounds. The most conspicuous character of the longleaf pines is the great length of its flexible leaves. Next to this is the great sil- very "bud "at the tip of each shoot. This is the cluster of 38 o -a u M Vk to 3 i O "« c M > _C o Ul u bO l_ Crt o O B u C Cli .- e« -t3 ^ OS C > 3 W tiz; flj <^ ^ t: <3 H.2i C ly^ .2 ,A *^ k. CO (M c -S C5 O c^ f o ^ ^ cu a o o ^ j-i * r^- a c-t? )_ a^ "2 «> ^~^ ^ i w o S z; (1h c J >-H < C9 '-H tJ '^ CQ ^ »-' t— « i-M 4J '-a U O X • ,mm CO a, « U CO 3 3 ^i '2 (o 3 4J o j: j= (J ■" a c 2 a -Q <-i_ »-" O c^ 4i So Winter buds (leaves cut away to show 1m , THE TABLE MOUNTAIN PINE {Pinm pungens) The leaves are in z's, short, stout, twisted and blue green. The tree makes a scraggly growth on the barren slopes of thf Appalachian mountains Winter buds (leaves cut away to show buds) THE PITCH PINE {Pinus rigida) This picturesque pine of the swamps and arid coast plains of the East has leaves in 3's in persistent black sheaths. The bark is in reddish-brown plates The Pines young leaves enclosed in their subtending scales, before these crowded scales fall. Of late a new and profitable industry has sprung up in the wake of lumbering. Stumps are cut into small sticks for kindling- wood, and sold in small bundles. These sticks are rich in resin, and bring good prices. Roots, branches and other waste pieces are gathered and converted into tar or into charcoal. The profits that come from gathering up the fragments after the lumbermen and turpentine distillers give one an idea of what enormous values are being squandered by wantonness and ignorance. The South is rich in natural resources, but its noblest patrimony, the pine forests, seems doomed soon to be spent. The Big-Cone Pine {P. Coiilteri, D. Don.) is chiefly remark- able for the size and weight of its cones, which are the heaviest of all the fruits of the pines. They hang like old-fashioned "sugar loaves " on the stout branches, which carry them with apparent ease, though they reach 15 to 20 inches long, and weigh 3 to 8 pounds. The scales are so thickened as to stand out from the central axis; the stout, curved beak and the thick part which it surmounts remind one strongly of the head of an eagle. The seeds, which reach h inch in length, not counting the thin wing, are rich in oil and sugar. They are gathered for food by the Indians in southern California. The leaves of this pine match the cones. They are stout and stiff, with saw-tooth edges, dark blue-green, and 6 to 16 inches long. The sheaths at the bases of the leaves are an inch or more long, and persistent. They are tufted on the twigs and are not shed for three or four years. This fact gives the tree a luxuriant crown, and though it does not grow over medium height, it is always a striking and picturesque figure on the western slopes of the California coast mountains. The wood is indifferent in quality, and the tree is cut only for fuel. It is planted for its great golden-brown cones. In Europe it makes rapid growth, and fruiting trees of good size are not uncommon in France and Germany. Pitch Pine {P. rigida, Mill.) — A gnarled, irregular tree 50 to 75 feet high, with short trunk and rigid, rough branches. Bark thick, broken into plates by deep, irregular fissures; scales thin; bark red or purple. Wood light red, soft, durable, brittle, coarse. Buds 4 to J inch long, reddish, with fringed scales. 39 fhe Pines Leaves in threes, rigid, stout, 3 to s inches long, dark yellow- green; sheaths becoming black, persistent. Flozvers monoe- cious; staminate short, densely clustered at base of season's shoot; pistillate lateral, in clusters, rosy tinged, oval, short stalked. Fruits biennial, i to 3^ inches long, ovate, scales with sharp, recurving beaks. Preferred habitat, sandy uplands and cold swamps. Distribution, New Brunswick to Georgia; west to Ontario and Kentucky. Uses : Fuel and charcoal mak- ing. Reforesting worthless land. Sparingly used as lumber. The pitch pine carries picturesqueness to extremes, and be- comes in old age grotesque, even absolutely ugly. It has the look of a tree that has been hounded by untoward circum- stances. In youth the tree has a rounded, symmetrical head, formed of successive whorls of branches. In its subsequent struggles symmetry is lost, and the contorted limbs, tufted with scant, sickly-looking foliage, and studded with the squat, black, prickly cones of many years, reach out with an expression of mute appeal that tempts one to cut the tree down and end its sulTerings. If it is cut, however, it sends up suckers from the roots, a strange habit among the pines; and its winged seeds spread the species over barren and shifting sand dunes, and otherwise hopelessly treeless areas. This work is so well done on the island of Nantucket and the desert soil of Cape Cod, even those areas which are washed by the spring tides, that the pitch pines have earned the regard of men. The inferior lumber is forgiven. Pitch pines are rich in resin; the knots especially accummu- late it, and "pine knots" and " candlewood " are useful and familiar household words in the regions where this pine grows. Kindling wood and torches for midnight coon hunts are never lacking. The '' pitchie kinde of substance" which makes hand- ling of these sticks unpleasant business for tidy folks, gums the saws and makes trouble in the mills. Sills and beams of houses were formerly got of pitch-pine logs, but now other kinds are preferred, and these trees go into charcoal and fuel. The turpen- tine gatherer, too, has left these trees to seek the richer pineries of the South and West. There is small excuse for the pitch pine to stay on, were it not for the one thing it does better than any other — it makes glad the wilderness and the solitary place. The Knob-Cone Pine {P. attenuata^ Lemm.) is another 40 The Pines tree of Striking habit. Its cones are woody, armed with stout beaks, and from 3 to 5 inches long. There is nothing peculiar in these cones, nor in the pale yellow-green foliage in its 3-leaved clusters. The tree is slim and tall, and grows on the hot, dry fire-swept foothills of California mountains. A stranger notes how dense and uniform in size is the growth of these trees, and how thickly studded are the limbs with clusters of cones. Close examination shows them sealed up tight — not a scale sprung on the oldest cone, though the branch that bears it may have actu- ally swallowed the cone by the increase of its diameter. A fire sweeps over the slope, and every tree gives up its cones. The scales are unsealed at last and the seeds, whose vitality has been preserved, apparently, in anticipation of this day, germinate at once, and soon a new forest takes the place of the old one. With such an abundance of seed, is it wonderful that the trees stand close and even like wheat in a field ? Cuban Pine, Swamp Pine (P. Caribcea, Morelet.) — Tree, 100 to 120 feet, with tapering trunk and dense, round crown, above large horizontal limbs. Bark in broad, scaly, irregular plates, reddish brown, showing orange in the shallow fissures. Wood heavy, very hard, strong, tough, durable, coarse, dark orange, with thick, nearly white sap wood. Buds, elongated, scaly, f to li inches long, light brown; lateral buds smaller. Leaves in clusters of twos and threes; stout, dark green, 8 to 12 inches long, persistent 2 years; sheaths thin, brown. Flowers in January, before new leaves, subterminal; staminate clustered, incurving, purplish, i to i-J inches long; pistillate oval, 2 to 3 in cluster, pinkish, J inch long. Fruits elongated, 3 to 7 inches long, narrowing to blunt apex, pendant, with beaked, thickened scales and winged seeds. Preferred habitat, damp, sandy soil of swamp borders, with even moisture supply. Dis- tribution, coast region, South Carolina to Florida and Louisiana. Also Bahamas, Cuba and other islands, and Central America. No more beautiful pine grows in the Southern States than this stately tree that skirts the swampy coast land, forming great forests and casting a goodly shadow under its thick, dark, lustrous foliage mass. Beside it the other pines seem to have very ragged and loose crowns. Here in the humid air that flows from sea or gulf, the Cuban pine promises to replenish our depleted forest areas even as the shortleaf does back from the coast. The same 41 The Pines vigour characterises thousands which endure the shade and soon spring to a height that resists the fires that menace them. The wood of the Cuban pine is not distinguished in the markets from longleaf pine, and it serves the same uses. Spars of the hirgest dimensions, straight and free from blemish, come out of these coast pineries. The wide, porous sap wood and the coarse grain once counted against this tree, but they are now con- sidered distinct advantages, for this kind of wood more readily absorbs creosote and other preservatives by infiltration, and kiln- drying converts the sap wood into good lumber. Turpentine of higher quality than that of longleaf pine is derived from these trees, which also abound in other resinous matters. Young trees are ready for tapping at forty years; and in this time a new forest has replaced the one stripped by lum- bermen. A large part of the turpentine exported by Georgia and South Carolina to-day is from land thus spontaneously reforested. The future of our naval stores depends to a large extent on the perpetuity of the forests of Cuban pine. Western Yellow Pine {P. ponderosa, Laws.) — Spire-like tree with stout, short horizontal branches; loo to 230 feet high, with trunk 5 to 8 feet thick. Bark thick, cinnamon-red, some- times black, becoming furrowed and broken into large plates. Wood light red, strong, hard, very heavy, not durable, fine grained. Buds ovute, brown, scaly, terminal the largest. Leaves in threes, or in tv/os and threes, stout, rigid, shiny, 3 to 15 inches long, yellow-green, tufted on ends of naked branches; last till third season; sheath persistent. Flowers: staminate yellow, in crowded spikes; pistillate dark red, oval, subterminal, clustered or paired. Fruits green or purple when full grown; scales conspicuously beaked, with recurved point. Preferred habitat, deep, well-drained soil on mountain slopes or elevated plains. Distribution, British Columbia and Black Hills south through Rocky Mountains and coast ranges to Texas and Mexico. Uses: Principal lumber tree of Northwestern and Southwestern states. Used in building, for railroad ties, fencing and fuel. The most extensive pine forests in the world are those of the yellow pine in the mountainous West of our own country. Tht hardihood of this tree is the wonder of foresters and botanists, and the admiration of everybody who knows anything about it. Pines are particular trees, as a rule. They like one type of soil 42 The Pines and climate, and out of their chosen range are unhappy and unhealthy. But here is a species which seems to have forgotten family traditions, and become a citizen of the world, as far as that is possible. It grows to great size in the arid foothills of southern Oregon, where the soil is volcanic in origin. In the Black Hills it roots itself solidly in sterile rocky soil, and is the dominant tree of these mountain forests, in the arid Southwest, on mountain and mesa, this tree is the principal source of lumber. It is the only pine tree native to Nebraska that thrives in the droughty western counties. This is the tree that inhabits the western slopes of the coast mountains from British Colu.mbia to Lower California, as if the moisture-laden winds from the Pacific were the very breath of life to it. Finally, the same tree is found wading into swamps on the slopes of the Cascades. Its elevation ranges from 2,500 feet to the timber line. A tree that clambers over mountains and meets so much variety of soil, elevation and climate must show variations in character to adapt it to its life. In the old lake basins on the Sierra slopes it reaches the height of 200 feet and more — with a trunk diameter up to 8 feet. These are the giants of the species, var. Jejfreyi. In swamps, and near the timber line the trees are stunted, and have black bark, in distinct contrast with the bright-red rind of the typical tree. Several species have already been made out of the forms this tree assumes in various situations. Closer study will doubtless lead to still finer distinc- tions. The common origin of these forms is not doubted; they are all P. ponder osa. Knowing something of the extensive range of this tree, we are ready to appreciate the beauty of a single specimen. The central shaft rises like a spire, rugged if old, and massive at the base, lifting its head far into the blue and clothing itself with short, leafy branches most of the way down, if there is room. The young trees, under 100 feet high, are pictures of tree vigour, still "having the dew of their youth and the beauty thereof," waving their arms, that catch and reflect the light upon burnished needles. Against the dark-green mantle the ruddy flowers and purple cones glow in their season, and new leaVes lighten the whole tree throughout the summer. The habit of breaking off its cones and leaving the stem and the first few scales still hanging is one of the characteristics of 43 The Pines the various forms of P. ponderosa. On this the botanists leaned content, until, alack! somebody breaks the reed by announcing an exception! The wood is so heavy that the logs have to dry for a while before they can be floated down stream to the mills. Hence, ponderosa. The name is not the point of greatest interest. If there is to be a re-christening by the botanists we shall hear of it in good season. Let us take a hand, though, in blotting out the name, ** bull pine," absurd and meaningless as it is misleading. It has been given variously by ignorant frontiersmen to any pine that attains large dimensions. The yellow pine was first discovered by the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, in 1804, while they were going up the Missouri River. Twenty-two later, David Douglas found the trees growing near the Spokane River. He suggested then the name they now bear, because of their ponderous bulk, and sent seeds and young plants to European gardeners. In cultivation the tree does fairly well in the Eastern States and in Europe, though slow of growth and liable to disease. The best form in cultivation is var. Jeffreyt. The Indians of the West long ago discovered that though the seeds of the yellow pine are inedible, yet the inner bark in spring is sweet and nutritious. So they stripped and scraped the bark for its mucilaginous living layer. The branchlets are fragrant, giving out when crushed an odour as of orange peel. Shortleaf Pine {P. echinata, Mill.) — A slender trunk, with loose, round or pyramidal head, 80 to 120 feet high. Bark thick, cleft into square plates, with cinnamon-red scales. Young shoots violet. Wood orange or yellow-brown, hard, heavy, durable, strong, coarse grained, with broad bands of small sum- mer cells in each annual layer. Buds plump, blunt, scaly. Leaves in clusters of twos or threes; dark blue-green; acute, slender, soft and flexible, 3 to 5 inches long, in silvery white sheath which turns brownish. Flowers: staminate crowded, subterminal, purplish; pistillate 2 to 4, stalked, subterminal or terminal on adventitious spurs; purplish or rose pink. Fruit biennial, abundant, i-J to 2-i inches long, ovate, tapering, scales thickened, 4-angled at tip, with or without short, recurved prickle, seeds winged. Old cones persist several years. Pre- ferred habitat, well drained, gravelly soil with clay intermixed; 44 3 O -2^ rt <_( 3 — T O ns CO C ^ S c ._ C3 ^ <-> TD u ^ 1> O ^ c s ^1 > »> 4-» c =: > « ? •!-> O ir u- O ^ O. c S ii •'' 2 « J3 _c *-> o 15 "o Q ^ a> CO G ^ ^ O ^ <*» •1-' * ^ nS CO . -t-j >> c Ui "^ W flj o 7^ I— 1 •-^ u. PH K- 3 < 6C O w o •- J — . 4J H to 3 «J 0 Pi ^ j3 O ffi — ^ CO LO i_t O ° W -t-j »-' ffi t-..t: H 31= ■^ S «j t: =C oj -a CO G ^ CTS oS ^ ^ ^-^ — g" f'3 a; G « ctS u 1 tJO 'i- 3 >» ^ -a -Q o o -^ ^ CIS i^ -o O #« A CO 60 V, c u, 'i^ ° ^ CO c4 '^r< *^ G M '- G tj O H THE RED OR NORWAY PINE (Pinus rcunosa) The leaves are slender and long, dark green and lustrous, in 2'k, rising out ot long sheaths. The cones have thick, woody scales, destitute of prickles. The pale-red wood is used for masts and bridge timbers The Pines Uplands of scant fertility. Distribution, Connecticut to Florida; west to Illinois, Kansas and Texas. Not continuous. Uses: Lumber used as P. palustris is. Young trees yield turpentine and pitch. Rarely planted. Reforests adjacent fields and lum- bered areas by copious seeds and vigorous suckers. The shortleaf pine is short leaved only in comparison with the exceedingly long needles of P. palustris. The leaves are about the length of those of the Austrian pine, so familiar in cul- tivation, and beside which the Scotch and white pines are short-leaved species. Next to the longleaf in rank, the shortleaf pine is one of the most important lumber trees in the Eastern and Southern states. Just a shade inferior to the former in quality, this species is likely by its vigour and wide range to become greatest of them all in economic importance as the exploitation of the timber lands of the South progresses. Against the destructive agencies at work the longleaf cannot hold its own. Its ultimate extinc- tion must follow present methods of lumbering and orcharding. But the shortleaf pine, less sensitive to injuries, more prolific of seeds, able to renew itself indefinitely by throwing up suckers from the stump, and to survive shading of its saplings better than the longleaf and Cuban pines, has a distinct advantage over these, its compeers in the South and East. The distribution of the species is over a vaster area, and each grove is the centre of a growing and widening territory. It industriously colonises adja- cent land abandoned by the farmer or the lumberman. In a free fight with hardwood trees this pine is the winner, and the young forests it is planting will be marketable in 80 to 100 years. The forest centre of this species is west of the Mississippi and below the Arkansas River. This great tract was practically untouched at the time the tenth Census Report, issued in 1880, estimated its merchantable timber then standing at 87,000,000,000 feet, board measure. This counted only the area in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, and left out the forests in Missouri and Oklahoma. There is little of the vast Eastern territory once covered by the shortleaf pine that has not been worked to some extent by lumbermen, especially where railroads make possible the dis- tribution of the lumber. In the past twenty-five years astonishing inroads have been made upon the Southwestern forests. While inferior to P. palustris, lumber of P. echinata is often 45 The Pines preferred, because it is less resinous and softer and so more easily worked. Doors, sash and blinds are made of it and interior finish of houses. It is the common ** yellow pine" of the Middle West, brought north on the river. It is the ''North Carolina pine " which the kiln-drying process cured of its " black sap " and made a beautiful finishing lumber. . The Monterey Pine {P. radiaia, D. Don.), like its com- panion, Torrey's pine, is restricted to a very narrow range. They occur together in Santa Rosa Island, and each has a narrow strip of territory on the mainland of southern California. On Point Pinos, south of Monterey Bay, P. radiata is most abundant and grows to lOO feet in height, with trunks occasionally 5 or 6 feet in diameter. Its wood is soft and weak. The bright rich green of the leaves, which never linger more than 3 years to dull the freshness of the new ones, and a silvery sheen the young growth wears, make this tree one of the handsome pines. Its quick growth also destines it for pop- ularity with landscape gardeners wherever the climate is mild enough in winter. It is a favourite park tree from Vancouver Island down the coast to its natural range. It has long been planted in pleasure grounds of western and southern Europe, and occasionally in our Southeastern States. Red or Norway Pine {P. resinosa, Ait.) — Large, broadly pyramidal tree, 75 to 120 feet high, branched to the ground, with stout twigs. Bark shallowly furrowed into fiat, scaly ridges, reddish brown, rich in tannin; branches rough, glabrous. Wood pale red, light, hard, resinous; sap wood yellow or white. Buds conical, tapering, with loose, red scales. Leaves in clusters of twos, from close, persistent sheaths, \ inch long; needle- like, dark green, 6 inches long, sharp pointed, flexible semi- circular in cross section, toothed near tip, with rows of pale dots lengthwise. Flowers: staminate red, abundant, clustered at base of season's shoot; pistillate i to 3, terminal,, peduncled, red- dish, oval. Fruits ovate, 1 to 3 inches long, standing at right angles with stem; biennial; scales thickened, 4-angled at apex, unarmed; seeds winged. Preferred hahiiai, dry, sandy plains and rocky ridges. Distribution, southern Canada, Northern States from Maine to Minnesota; south to Pennsylvania. Uses : Most picturesque and desirable of pitch pines for ornamental planting in the North; grows rapidly from seed; free from insect 46 The Pines and fungous injuries. Lumber used in heavy construction; for bridges, piles, docks, buildings, masts and spars. The red pine is the only American member of a group of Old- World pines of which P. sylvestris, the Scotch pine of Europe, is a familiar example. The paired leaves and red bark are signs of kinship. Both are common in cultivation in America, and we shall distinguish the native tree by its longer leaf and the heavy tufting of its twigs; the short leaves of P. sylvestris are thinly and evenly scattered along its branches. An early Spanish explorer erroneously described this tree as identical with the variety of the Scotch pine that grows in Norway. In this way it came by its second name. There is a lustiness and symmetry of growth and an expres- sion of hardiness and health in the red pine which makes the other pitch pines look ragged and discouraged, and the graceful white pines delicate and unequal to the struggle of life. No handsomer pine than this one is found in the Northeastern States. The wood of red pine is not what we might expect from such a tree. Rich in resin and fine grained, yet its durability is not to be depended upon. Its height gave masts and spars of great size and free of blemishes. It was once shipped in quan- tities to England out of the Canadian woods to be used at the dockyards, and for piles and bridge timbers. Of late years better pine has been substituted. Turpentine and tar are not derived from this tree, despite its name, resinosa, ''full of resin." Less pitchy than P. rigida, soft like P. Strobus, the wood seems intermediate between the two. The living tree is more valuable than its log; when the lum- berman scoffs at the red pine the landscape gardener takes it up. It grows on exposed and sterile coasts, where it rapidly forms effective windbreaks and beautiful groves. It adds a distinct type of beauty to parks and private grounds. Its hardiness and ra- pidity of growth commend it to the colder states. Not the least of its good points in the home grounds is that its two leaves in their close, deep sheaths furnish children exactly the right ma- terial for chains, the making of which is one of the most absorb- ing pleasures of childhood. The Prickle-Cone Pine {P. muricata, D. Don.) is a handsome round-topped evergreen, covered with dense tufts of 47 The Pines Stiff, yellow-green leaves. It is the dominant pine of the coast of Mendocino County, and follows down in sight of the ocean into Lower California. The oblique cones, whose thickened scales are armed with sharp, strong beaks, are conspicuous by their persistence for years unopened on the branch. It is rare for them to fall, even after they open and discharge the seed. They usually remain throughout the lifetime of the tree, but strangely are never swallowed up by the growth of the branch that bears them. The Table-Mountain Pine (P. pungens, Michx.), with cones quite as formidable as those of the preceding species, and closely resembling them in appearance, has the same tardy habit of opening and casting its cones that marks P. muricata. But P. pungens is Eastern, growing on gravelly ridges o< \he Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania and New Jersey to North Carolina and Tennessee. It has clustered blue-green foliage of sombre hue, and forms a flattened, irregular head, its long, horizontal branches often drooping, but the twigs erect. The wood is used for fuel and for charcoal in some localities. Its dingy colour, barren habitat and scraggly growth earn it the name, "poverty pine." The thin bark, breaking into loose, scaly plates, is probably responsible for the name, ''hickory pine." There is no quality of the brittle, coarse-gained wood to account for it. It is interesting to note in Bulletin lo of the Kansas Agricul- tural College, which is located at Manhattan in the western part of the state, that P. pungens is one of the hardiest and best pines for that region. The leaves are a decided yellow-green there, a cheerful contrast to the sombre Austrian pines so generally planted. The waywardness of the tree's habit is made a virtue. The terminal shoot bends strongly out of the vertical, producing a grotesque leaning tree, which breaks the monotony of the prim and formal European species with which it is successfully grouped in grounds of considerable extent. The following Western species and varieties were tried and failed on the college grounds: P. contorta, eduliSy Jejfreyi and ponderosa. Besides P. pungens, other Eastern pines that were successfully grown wererigidadnd echinata. P. Strobus grew often into handsome, shapely speci- mens, but died young in the hot winds. The Scrub Pine {P. contorta, Lond.) is one of four stunted, gnarly, round-shouldered trees that are prostrated by exposure to 48 The Pines the ocean winds. They are the beach pines. This one grows from northern California into Alaska in bogs and sand dunes, bearing its cones when only a few inches high in the bleakest situations. These trees form a windbreak behind which many sorts of tender plants thrive in quiet security. The bark is thin and pale and gummy on these dwarfs, and once a fire is started it devours all within reach. Now a very interesting habit of the tree comes into prominence. The cones hang on the trees for years without opening, but their seeds are safely sealed up and retain their vitality. The burned trees drop their cones, which, opening, free the seeds. From them young trees spring up to take the places of those wiped out by the fire. It is hard to believe that the tall, slim lodge pole, or tamarack pine is but a variety — Murrayana — of P. contorta, but so it is considered on good authority. The mountains of Wyoming, Colorado and the states further west are clothed with dense forests of this tree. They grow as thick as wheat in a field, and so are all delicately tall, but in favoured situations iso- lated trees reach the height of loo feet, and a trunk diameter of li feet. An average forest specimen is 5 inches through and 40 to 50 feet high. The Indians cut poles for their lodges or tepees. These pines, flexible, slender and always abundant, seemed designed by Nature to serve this need. The name re- mains, though the lodge of the Indian is rapidly disappearing. There is great variation in this species and its variety, Murrayana, as the trees meet very different conditions. The leaves are in twos, and i to 3 inches long, dark green in contorta, yellow-green and quite wide in the variety. The wood of contorta is hard, brownish red, and strong; oi Murrayana, soft, pale yellow, and weak. The Matter is used for lumber to a limited extent, and both are cut for fuel. While it is not a promi- nent commercial tree, it is the main reliance of the pioneer in many regions. It supplies mines with supporting beams, fences the settler's homestead, and furnishes ties for the pioneer railroads. The Indians cut the trees down and strip out the inner bark. This is broken into pieces by the patient squaws, who mash it in water into a pulp which they mould into large cakes. Then a hole is dug in the ground and lined with stones, and a fire kindled. When the stones are hot the embers are removed, and the cakes packed in with leaves of the Western skiink cabbage 49 The Pines between. A fire of damp moss is built on top, and the baking takes an hour or more. Then the cakes are laid on slat frames and smoked for a week in a close tent. Now they are ready to put away for future use, or to carry in canoes or on ponies to distant places. This "hard bread " is prepared for use by breaking it in pieces and boiling them until soft. The pieces are skimmed out and laid on the snow to cool. " U'likou " fat is used on this strange Alaskan bread as we use butter. The Indians make berry baskets out of the bark of the lodge- pole pine. Nuttall, in his extension of Michaux's "Sylva of North America," calls this the twisted-branched pine. I well recall the curious rustic chairs and seats at the Dome Lake Club House in the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming, made of the extravagantly twisted branches of this tree. They called it "screw pine," I remember. The name contorta may allude to this characteristic, too, although it is not constant in the species. It may rather be regarded as a freak of nature, the cause of which is not understood. However, the hard life of the species on the bleak, wind-swept coast and unprotected sand dunes may easily earn it the name there. The Sand Pine (P. clausa, Sarg. ) has a striking habit of swallowing its persistent woody cones by the growth of the stems that bear them. Chopping frequently reveals cones in the solid wood — a peculiar kind of modified knot. The tree is unim- portant to the lumber trade, being inferior in quality and scant in quantity. It grows near the coast on either side of northern Florida and west into Alabama. It is used locally as masts for small vessels. The Spruce Pine {P. glabra, Walt.) is a close relative of the shortleaf, P. echinata. It grows from South Carolina to Louisiana, in lowlands, solitary or in considerable groves. It attains the height of 120 feet, and spreads over a considerable territory in northwestern Florida. Little use is made of its light, soft wood beyond the local fuel supply. It is known as "cedar pine" in Mississippi. Its foliage is soft, and bright, dark green, being shed when but two years old. The Jersey or Scrub Pine {P. Firgmiana, Mill.) is another of those unfortunate trees whose lot seems to be to extort a meagre and miserable living out of worthless soil. A tortuous 50 A. Winter hud (<;ninc leaves cut awny to show bud) THE JERSEY PINE {PInus Virginiana) This also is a scrub pine; it grows on the pine barrens of New Jersey, a pendulous, discouraged tree. Its grey-green leaves are in bundles of twos. It does as well as a tree can on worthless soil. In Indiana it becomes a p)'ramidal tree forty feet high. The cones are dark-red, curved, and armed with sharp prickles THE RED SPRUCE {Picea rubens) Bright red downy twigs, red wood and reddish bark give this tree its name. Short, stiff, pointed, 4-angled leaves sci all around the twig prove this tree a spruce. The wood is used for the sounding boards of musical instruments Winter bud (some leaves cut away to show bud; THE GREY PINE '{Pinus divaricaia) Its flat, grey-green leaves are in clusters of 2's on the yellow twigs. The cones are strongly curved and taper to along point. Among the pines this is a straggling good-for-little species, that clothes barren sand dunes and arctic bogs with straggling free growth The Pines low tree, pendulous and discouraged looking, with grey-green leaves, that are yellowish as they first appear, stubby, i to 3 inches long, in clusters of twos. This is the tree of the Jersey pine barrens — the tree that clothes these waste places and gets little credit for it. Peter Kalm observed that cattle, in the heat of the day, choose the shade of this tree rather than of any other, though its foliage be much thicker. He judges that this strange choice arises ''from the gratefulness of the fragrance" of this tree. Another author comments on the delightful fragrance exhaled by the exuding balsam of the despised Jersey pine. The oppor- tunity to point a moral here is almost irresistible. But 1 stay my pointer. The range of P. Virginiana is wide ; from Long Island to Georgia and Alabama, and west to Indiana, where it rises to the height of 100 feet Its average height is one-third of this maxi- mum limit, with a trunk diameter rarely over 18 inches. The wood has been locally used for making tar, and for pump logs, water pipes, for fencing and fuel. It is not an economic tree, unless considered so in its work of covering quickly large areas of sterile soils in the Eastern States. The Grey or Scrub Pine (R divaricata, Sudw.) is an out- cast, strangely spurned and superstitiously feared in many places where it grows. It ventures farther north than any other pine. From the northern tier of states it ranges into the cold of frigid regions, following the Mackenzie River even to the Arctic circle. It grows only on barren ground — rocky slopes and in cold, boggy stretches. In Michigan it dips down to the southern point of the lake, scattering over the sand dunes, and clothing the barren stretches of the lower peninsula, which are known as the "Jack Pine Plains." The grey-green leaves, scant, stubby, in twos, and the crouching, sprawling habit of the tree, which wears its old cones for a dozen years or more — all tend to preju- dice the casual observer against this pine. Only the thoughtful will consider what the desert and the cold North would be with- out it. North of Lake Superior it rises to the stature of a tree, reaching 70 feet in height, and spreading along the valley of the Mackenzie River, the only pine, it forms forests of considerable area, an immeasurable boon to the scant population of that region. The wood makes fuel and lumber, frames for the Indian's canoe, posts and railroad ties. 51 The Pines From Michigan to Minnesota the grey pine acts as a nurse tree to the seedlings of P. resinosa on denuded lands. Later the scrub "cleans" the young trees of lower hmbs, greatly adding to their timber value. Strange notions prevail in certain sections concerning tnis weird-looking pine tree. Women dare not pass within ten feet of a tree, and men also give it a wide berth. Cattle browsing near it are fatally stricken; the tree is believed to poison the ground it shadows. One who believes current reports of this tree will destroy every one growing on his land; but he dare not chop them down. Each must be burned like a witch, by making a funeral pyre all around it. Every misfortune that overtakes a family is laid at the foot of the grey pine, as long as there is one left on the place. EXOTIC PINES We are all European immigrants, once or twice removed. Our craving for things imported is an appetite inherited from our Colonial ancestors. Our horticulture owns its European paren- tage. The early settlers brought trees and flowers from the old country. They transplanted the old home, as far as could be, to the New World. European evergreens came in as a matter of course. Even species native to our west coast were brought into Eastern gardens first by way of European nurseries. Oriental pines are coming in, making valuable contributions to the list in cultivation from Europe. Our native pines are be- ing "discovered," horticulturally, and dissemination of species is widening the range of all. It is a small and unpretentious park indeed that does not show pines from every northern continent. The European pines most widely planted in the eastern United States are the Scotch and Austrian pines. They are de- pendable trees, hardy, vigorous, not particular as to soil and ex- posure— good for protective and ornamental planting even on the prairies where hot, dry winds blow and for weeks no rain may fall. The Austrian Pine is a hardy variety, Austriaca, of the Corsican pine (P. Laricio, Poir.), of southern Europe. It is a sombre tree, darker green than any other evergreen except tne 52 The Pines red cedar. In youth it is a compact cone or globe, resting on the ground. The leaves, two in a sheath, are 6 inches long, and inclined to twist stiffly. They persist several years. Cones ripen in the second autumn, and do not open until another crop is ripe. Large trees are transplanted safely, even in the height of the growing season. The Scotch Pine {P. sylvestris, Linn.) is one of the most important timber trees of Europe. In this country it was fre- quently planted about homes, where it has grown to great size. By no means as handsome a tree as our own white pine, it has certain advantages over its companion, the Austrian variety. Its habit is less compact and formal, and its foliage (also in bundles of twos) is shorter, looser and more cheerful looking in spite of its blue tinge. It grows more rapidly, and neatly sheds its cones as soon as ripe, while the Austrian pine shows its bare limbs laden for years with empty cones. The Swiss Pines {P. Cembra and moniana) are all pictur- esque and hardy, as if they crouched under Alpine blasts, even in the most comfortable situations. Any flat-topped, irregular ever- green growing wild is attractive to the eye of the nurseryman who has a landscape-gardening department and facilities for moving large trees. He is able to get the tree at a bargain from the farmer in whose woodlot or pasture it stands. There is very little cordwood in it. The new owner cuts a big circle around the tree the depth of a spade, severing the roots outside this boundary. A year later a thick mat of rootlets has resulted from this root pruning, and in the winter the tree is easily taken up and planted in just the right place on Mr. 's new country place. He points out to his friends the striking "Swiss-pine effect " of this tree etched against the sky. It is a good thing, and worth the price, even if he never heard of a Swiss pine before in his life. The Mugho Pine has a shrubby habit, spreading twice its height. It is one of several dwarf varieties of the Swiss moun- tain pine (P. montana, Mill.), and is very effective as a speci- men tree or grouped with others to cover rocky hillsides. The Stone Pine {P. Pinea) and the Aleppo Pine {P. Hale- pensis) are natives of southern Europe and so not hardy. The Macedonian Pine {P. Pence) and the Cluster Pine {P. Pin- ister) have the same climatic limitations in this country, though 53 The Pines hardy in England, where the Aleppo and cluster pines are much used for seaside planting. China and Japan and Korea have furnished some excep- tionally handsome pines that are hardy and vigorous in American parks and gardens. The Korean Pine {P. Koraiensis), is a handsome, narrowly pyramidal tree when young, becoming very picturesque when old. It is a slow-growing pine, well adapted to small gardens. The foliage is thick, and dark green with pale linings. From China comes the Lacebark Pine {P. Biingeand), with light-green foliage and white, intricately netted bark, slow of growth and hardy north. From Japan we have three species. The little P. parvijlora, often dwarfed by potting at home, is charming in its abundance of red cones in the dense pyramid of bluish-green leaves. It is one of Japan's forest trees, growing to 80 feet in height. The Red Pine {P. detisiflora), also a great tree at home, attains a goodly size in cultivation, grows rapidly, with long branches spreading into a broad head. The foliage is bluish green. Many forms with variegated leaves have been derived from this species. The Black Pine {P. Thunbergi), another large tree from Japan, has bright green foliage, and grows in a handsome broad pyramid. Himalayan Pines, two in number, both large trees at home, are cultivated here. Their other points of beauty are all secondary to the charm of their long, drooping leaves. The Bhotan Pine, P. excelsa, has blue-green leaves, 6 to 8 inches long, and cylindrical stalked cones of about equal length. It is hardy to the neighbourhood of Boston. P. longifolia is a tender species cultivated in California. Its leaves are pale green, 8 to 12 inches long, slender and pendulous. No more beautiful pine can be im- agined than a young and vigorous Himalayan longleaf with the wind playing among its drooping leaf clusters. The Mexican V^hite Pine {P. Ayacahuiie), a near relative of our Northern white pine, and resembling the Himalayan species in the pendulous leaf habit, is unknown to any but a few spe- cialists. But it is sure to be recognised and widely planted where it is hardy. The tree is graceful and symmetrical, its whorls of slender branches held well apart and horizontal The droop is in the leaves themselves, pale green, bluish and 4 to 6 inches long. The handsome cones are 9 to 15 inches long, 54 The Pines tapering, often curved, and brownish yellow. Though not counted hardy in the North, this Mexican species grows behind the protecting Scotch pines on Mr. Dana's place, Dosoris, on Long Island. The Umbrella Pine {Sciadopitys verticillata) is a Japanese conifer, a beautiful conical evergreen, whose glossy green leaves are needle-like, 3 to 6 inches long, and set in umbrella-like whorls of 15 to 35 leaves at the ends of all the twigs. The tree is a puzzle to botanists and a delight to horticulturists. It is hardy to Portland, Maine, grows slowly, but is thrifty in many soils, and is strikingly decorative at any age. A dwarf variety and one with variegated foliage are offered by dealers. The normal type of this species grows to the height of 100 feet, losing gradually its compact, spire-like form, its limbs becoming pendulous and more spreading. NATIVE PINES VALUABLE AS ORNAMENTALS Hardy V^hite Mountain Sugar Rocky Mountain White Pitch Shortleaf Norway or Red Foxtail Digger - Big-cone Jeffrey's Yellow Cuban Monterey . Prickle-cone - Not Hakdy P. Strobus and vars. mont/cola Lambert/ana flexilis rigida e chin at a resinosa P. Balfouriana Sabtntana Coulteri Jeffrey! ponderosa Caribcea radiata miiricata EXOTIC PINES VALUABLE AS ORNAMENTALS Swiss Stone Austrian Scotch - Swiss Mountain Mugho - Hard y — Eu rope a n P. 55 Cembra Laricio, var. Aiistriaca sylvestris montana ** var. Mughus The Pines Hardy — Asiatic Korean Chinese Lace-bark Himalayan White Japanese Black - ''Red ** Small-flowered P. Koraiensis " Bimgeana " excelsa " Thunbergi '' densijiora " parviflora Not Hardy — European Cluster Stone _ _ - Aleppo Macedonian - P. Pinaster '' Pinea - " Halepensis " Pence Mexican White -P. Ayacahuite Asiatic Himalayan Longleaf P. longifolia PINES PICTURESQUE WHEN OLD Native Red Monterey White Big Cone Pitch Nut - Table Mountain P. resinosa radiaia Strobus Coitlteri rigida quadrifolic. pungens Stone - Swiss Stone Scotch - - - Corsican European - P, — .. — " — m. ^ ** Asiatic Pinea Cembra sylvestris Laricio Japanese Red - *' Small-flowered - P. densiflora parviflora PINES VALUABLE FOR COVERING STERILE GROUND P. montana, var. Mughus divaricata Mugho - Swiss Mountain Grey Pitch Scrub Foxtail rigida Virginiana aristata 56 The Pines FOR SEASIDE PLANTING Cluster Aleppo Pitch Monterey P. Pinaster ' ' Halepensis " rigida " radiata SLOW-GROWING HARDY PINES ADAPTED TO SMALL GARDENS Exotic Korean Macedonian Lace-bark - Small-flowered Swiss Stone Nut - Foxtail Foxtail Rocky Mountain White Native P. Koraiensis " Pence '' Bungeana ** parviflora ' * Cembra P. edulis " Balfouriana ** aristata *' flexilis 97 CHAPTER VI : THE LARCHES Family Conifer/e Genus LARIX Adans. Tall pyramidal trees, with few horizontal branches. Leaves linear, deciduous ; fascicled except on new shoots. Flowers solitary, monoecious, naked. Fruit annual, woody cones, soli- tary, erect and sessile on the twig. Wood hard, heavy, resinous. KEY TO SPECIES A. Cones less than i inch long, almost globular; smooth; leaves, 3-angled ; bracts not visible between scales. (L. Americana) tamarack AA. Cones more than 6 inches long, oblong, with prominent pointed bracts between scales. B. Leaves 3-angled ; twigs downy at first. [L. occidentalis) western larch BB. Leaves 4-angled, blue-green ; twigs hairy. {L. Lyallii) alpine larch The distinction of the genus Larix is its deciduous habit. One other conifer sheds its leaves every autumn. The clustering of the leaves in fascicles on short lateral spurs is unique also. Only the terminal shoots bear scattered leaves. Beside the three North American species there are six Old- World larches — all in the colder latitudes of the Northern Hemi- sphere, except a single Himalayan species. The native species are inferior to exotics in cultivation. The handsomest larch for lawns is L. lepiolepis, Murr. (L. Ka^mpferi, Sarg.), a Japanese species with pale blue-green, white-lined leaves. The common larch of Europe, L. decidua, Mill., is most frequently met with in cultivation here. It is a graceful, pyramidal tree, slender and supple limbed, with a fresh cover of feathery leaves every spring. In autumn the foliage turns yellow before it is shed. The Hima- layan L. Grifflthi is not hardy in the North. It is cultivated in its handsome pendulous forms. 58 The Larches Larches are cultivated as timber trees in Europe and to some extent in America. The European species is chosen for this pur- pose. Larch wood is very durable, heavy and hard. Rich in resin, yet not easily ignited. It does not splinter, and hence was preferred for the building of battleships before the day when steel came in to replace wood. Larch timbers built into the old- est of French castles are sound when the stones that support them are crumbling. It is believed that larch will outlast oak. The wood of L. occidentalis ranks higher than any other coni- ferous kind. Larches are readily grown from seed and easily transplanted, even when quite large, if the work is done while the trees are dormant. They are admirable for windbreaks and shelter belts, to which uses they are put in the Middle West and along the coast in Massachusetts. They grow rapidly and profitably for posts, railroad ties and telegraph poles, as they are straight and free from large knots, being pruned by close contact with neigh- bours in the plantation rows. In the fine arts larch wood has had its place. Raphael painted many of his earliest pictures on larch boards. Other painters of his time followed his example. Canvas had not then been generally adopted as a safe foundation for a painting. Old, dry larch wood from trees growing on the high Alps and Apennines looked almost transparent when polished. It was made into tables and cabinets of rare workmanship, and brought extravagant prices. From those superb larch forests it was not unusual to take out a ship's mast 120 feet high! Minor products of larches are turpentine and an extract of tannin obtained from the European species. Tamarack {Larix Americana, Michx.) — A slender, pyra- midal tree, 50 to 60 feet high, with feeble horizontal branches, becoming pendulous. Bark thin, broken into reddish scales. Wood heavy, hard, light brown, strong, coarse grained, resin- ous, durable in wet soil. Buds small, globular, red, shining. Leaves soft, deciduous, fascicled on side spurs, scattered on terminal shoots ; linear, triangular, \ to i inch long ; autumn color, yellow. Flowers: monoecious, sessile, borne on short branchlets ; pistillate rosy, ovate, with conspicuous finger-like points on bracts ; staminate yellow, squat. Fruit small cones with concave, plain scales, bearing winged seeds ; annual. Pre- 59 The Larches f erred habitat, cold swamps and northern slopes of mountains. Distribution, Newfoundland and Hudson Bay west across the Rocky Mountains ; south into Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania. Uses: Posts, telegraph poles, railroad ties and ships' timbers. The tamarack loves the Northern mountain slopes and the cold swamps of Labrador and Canada and our Northern States. It is the bravest of all the conifers, standing erect, a pitiful minia- ture of its true self, on the very edge of the Arctic tundras, a line that no tree dares overstep. Its companions, the black spruce, Balm of Gilead and an Arctic willow, are prostrate at its feet. In American lawns trees 60 feet high are often seen. But compared with the European tree this one is not a horticultural success. The mark of its life struggle with adversity is on the species. Even seedlings coddled m nursery rows have sparse crowns of unsymmetrical growth. In rich soil and among lux- uriant oaks and pines and thick-leaved maples the tamarack looks ragged and forlorn. It is homesick for the cold, wet soil and the bleak wind and the valiant company of its kinsmen. It is an artistic and an ethical mistake to set one of these trees by itself. Plantations of it are justifiable. Mountain bogs too deep to measure are covered with tama- rack. The fibrous roots were the Indian's thread ; tough and fine as a shoemaker's "waxed end," it sewed the canoe of birch, making a seam that scarcely needed the wax of the balsam to make it water tight. Hiawatha sang : **Give me of your roots, O Tamarack I Of your fibrous roots, O Larch Tree I My canoe to bind together So to bind the ends together That the water may not enter That the water may not wet me." The flowers of the tamarack are not conspicuous, but they repay the one who looks for them. The yellow staminate clus- ters, like little powdery knobs^ soon fall, but the pistillate ones, conical, with green bracts alternating with rosy scales, are beau- tiful along the twig against the lettuce green of the opening foliage clusters. Erect and with scales spread, they catch the fving pollen; then close their scales and *'hang their heads" tnrougfhout the summer. Under the rosy scales the seeds ais 60 U, Q u '- r. •-• ^~ wj Ij C V, «« ^ 4J <0 C ■^ t-i o *; " t) 3 «J '•::; c ^ ■&,"-» -o «J fc rt ^ > • <<-• E> 119 ^ O «J 7 '^ k- o n; t) i -ii U' < < u w < w W H 4J U u «; H ^ .Sag 5 G 'J tc 4J »^ w _c -^ ^ ., -f5 pa ^ *" a «> ^ =^ a o ^- c a . ra (J 4, V (9 «5 <-> o •- Q fc s I o 2 w u w w H T3 V a & o G « > i >-% 4J (/> 4j b 5^ V 3 -a > 00 c '-* ri cn o -o CO U J3 The Spruces Black as its name is, the wood is almost white, and the paper needs little or no bleaching. The Engelmann Spruce {P. Engelmanni, Engelm.) is the white spruce of the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade range in Washington and Oregon. It crowns the lower and higher peaks, climbing to altitudes between one and two miles above the level of the sea. In the rocky sides of glacier-polished ravines these hardy trees find foothold, and set their spires like serried ranks of spearsmen to cover the bare cliffs. Snow loads them down for many months of the year ; they can survive that, but their destruction comes when a fire sweeps over them, killing all it touches, for the cambium of these trees is protected by a very thin bark. The seeds and seedlings go. There is no repro- duction of forests thus destroyed. They give way to the lodge- pole pine and other more fortunate species. The Engelmann spruce is planted in the Eastern States, where it thrives. The disagreeable odour of the leaves counts against it. But the finest trees cannot be seen unless a journey be taken by the northernmost route to the Canadian Rocky Mountains, where snows protect the forests from devastating fires, and these spruce trees grow to 150 feet high, with diameters of 4 or 5 feet. In late spring the blue-green foliage is jewelled with the flowers, purple and scarlet. In autumn the showy cones, with their shining brown, pointed scales hang out on the highest twigs and fling down their black, winged seeds. Here is a vastly different tree from the tame little seedling that began life in a nursery row. The lumber value of the Engelmann spruce is high. It is used for general building purposes, for fuel and charcoal. The bark is sometimes used in tanning. The Red Spruce {P. rubens, Sarg.) is the most cheerful of our Eastern species, because its foliage is yellowish green and shining, the others blue-green. The colour in this tree's name is derived from the wood, so the lumberman gave it, without doubt. The slender, downy twigs are also bright red during their first winter, and there is a distinct tinge of red in the tree's browm bark. The flowers are rich purple and the cones glossy reddish brown. It wears its colour in plain sight the year round. This tree forms considerable forests from Newfoundland through New England, and follows the Alleghany Mountains 65 The Spruces into North Carolina. It has the spruce habit, but it rarely sacri- fices its lower limbs even when crowded. In height these trees range from 75 to 100 feet, with trunks 2 to 3 feet in diameter. The wood is used for lumber and paper pulp. It is peculiarly adapted for sounding boards of musical instruments, and makes excellent flooring. It is occasionally cultivated, but other species are usually preferred. Its twigs are boiled to make spruce beer. White Spruce {Picea Catiadensis, B. S. & P.) — Broadly pyramidal tree, 60 to 150 feet high, with stout branches, smooth twigs and bad-smelling foliage. Bark greyish brown, break- ing into scaly plates. Wood light, soft, yellow, brittle. Buds ovate, scaly. Leaves spread on upper side of twig, bluish, sharp, hoary when young, i to f inch long. Flowers both kinds cone -like, pale red, turning yellow. Fruit oblong- cylindrical, stalked cones, blunt ; scales blunt or notched at broad apex, shiny, thin, falling soon after seeds ripen. Preferred habi- tat, rocky slopes, banks of rivers or lakes. Distribution, Labra- dor to Bering Strait ; south to Montana, northern Dakota, Michigan and Wisconsin, New York and New England. Uses: Lumber for building and interior finishing, and for paper pulp. Tree planted for ornament and shade. Variety ca^nilea most common in cultivation. The pale bark and pea-green foliage of the white spruce en- able one to account for its name without difficulty and to identify it in the woods. The whitish wood is not distinctly paler than that of the black spruce. The ill-smelling foliage and the smooth twigs better distinguish it, and the cones, which are twice as long as the black spruce's. They are shed almost as soon as they open, a tree habit that keeps the branches clean and thrifty in appearance. White spruce is the pulp manufacturer's delight. He owns thousands of acres of it. As lumber the wood is used only in Alaska and Canada in lieu of better kinds. The inferiority of spruce lumber has saved it for the comparatively new enterprise of pulp manufacture. Blue Spruce {Picea Parry ana, Sarg.) — Handsome tree, 80 to 125 feet high, broadly pyramidal ; branches rigid, horizontal, in remote whorls. Bark grey, thick, broken into rounded, scaly ridges ; on young trees often reddish, in oblong plates. Wood light, fine grained, soft, weak, pale. Buds stout, blunt, 66 The Spruces large, with reflexed scales. Leaves dull blue-green to silvery white, variable ; rigid, stout, curving, horny pointed, striped on both sides with white, J to ij inches long, shorter on fruiting twigs. Flowers: staminate reddish yellow ; pistillate green, the scales square at end, and bracts pointed. Fruit, stalked cones, pendant on upper limbs, 2 to 3 inches long, oblong, brown, shining ; scales flat, narrowing to finger-like blunt point ; seeds winged. Preferred habitat, elevation 6,000 to 10,000 feet, banks of streams. D/5//77?^///o;/, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Uses: Ornamental tree planted in Europe and United States. Hardy, and grows well in Middle West ; conspicuous in the East. We have come to feel well acquainted with the blue spruce of Colorado through the beautiful blue or silver-leaved specimen trees so common on lawns everywhere we go. It is a cool, crisp-looking tree, of perfect symmetry, the whorls of branches well apart, insuring the full developmer't of leaves and branch- lets. It is a disappointment to its owner that the growing tree loses at length its lower limbs and the symmetry of its top. Yet this is a far-off event, and there are years of satisfaction ahead for the buyer of a handsome little blue spruce for his garden. Shrubbery can be tucked in around the tree when it begins to age, and other trees so placed as to hide its shortcomings. Weeping Spruce {Pice a Breweriana, Wats.) — Tree 75 to 125 feet high, with swollen base and tapering shaft; branches drooping and crowded, to the ground; twigs remarkably long and slender. Bark brick red, thin, scaly. Wood soft, close grained, satiny, pale brown, heaviest of native spruces. Buds conical, small, scaly, brown. Leaves flattened on the upper side only, blunt, pale above, dark green and lustrous beneath, } to i J inches long. Flowers: staminate rich purple; pistillate oblong; scales broad, rounded, turning out at edge, with cut-toothed bract under each. Fruit slender cones, 2 to 4 inches long, tapering, stalked, purple turning to orange-brown, opening in autumn, but hanging a year empty; scales broad, entire, thin, turning backward; seeds winged. Preferred habi- tat, dry ridges on mountains near timber line. Distribution, elevation 4,000 to 7,000 feet, California and Oregon. In isolated groves in coast ranges. It is somewhat embarrassing to the hard= working horticul- turist in the East to be asked his opinion of the weeping spruce. 67 The Spruces He regards it as one of the most distinct of the spruces, admirable in habit and beautiful in foliage— an ideal tree for ornamental planting — but he cannot make it grow! His most careful efforts have brought only failure. A tree that belongs to "dry mountain ridges and peaks near the timber line " has a good excuse for languishing in gardens on the wrong side of the continent. And such a range puts the species out of reach of lumbermen for a decade or two yet. The uses of this tree must be put down with- out reference to man's ineffectual yearnings to claim it for his own. It fulfils Nature's plan, lifting its graceful spire into the clouds and hanging out its purple flowers where there is no human eye to see. Tideland Spruce, Sitka Spruce {Picea Sitchensis, Carr.) — Tree with tapering trunk and enlarged base, loo to 200 feet high, with broadly pyramidal head of drooping branches. Bark red- dish brown, thin, scaly. Wood light, soft, straight grained, satiny, light reddish brown. Buds lustrous, scaly, conical, \ to i inch long. Leaves silvery white above, green beneath, J to I inch long, flattened, twisted, pointed, horny tipped, all around the twig. Flowers : staminate on side twigs, abundant, dark red, conical, } to ij inches long; pistillate on terminal twigs of upper branches, smaller, oblong. Cones annual, stalked, pendant, 3 to 5 inches long, with elongated scales toothed at tips, fall in winter. Preferred habitat, moist, sandy soil; swamps. Distribution, coast region, Alaska to Cape Mendocino in Cali- fornia. Uses: Important lumber for interior woodwork in buildings, boat building, woodenwares, cooperage and fencing. Ornamental tree in Europe, and in the warmer parts of the eastern United States. Most important lumber in Alaska. Used for fuel, construction of buildings, boats, and fencing, wooden utensils and boxing. The swamps of the tidewater regions of the Northwest, the rocky slopes (if well watered) of the Alaskan ranges of moun- tains facing the sea, are clothed with forests of this remarkable tree. Like the bald cypress of the Southeast and the pump- kin ash of the valley of the Arkansas, this lover of swamps is buttressed and much enlarged at its base. The indomitable hardihood of the species is shown where it climbs from sea level to an altitude of 3,000 feet, and follows the coast to the northern- most point reached by any conifer. The tree dwindles to a 68 The Spruces Starveling shrub when the limits of its range are reached, but in the coast regions of Oregon and Washington it is one of the largest and most beautiful of the Western conifers. The graceful sweep of its wide-spreading lower limbs gives a constant and delightful play of light and shadow, owing to the lustrous sheen on the upper sides of the leaves. In spite of all efforts to grow it in the East, it seems to suffer from summer heat and drought and winter cold. It grows in Boston if protected, but needs a great deal of coddling there. Genus PSEUDOTSUGA, Carr. Pyramidal trees with thick bark and hard, strong, durable wood. Leaves linear, flat, spreading at right angles from the twig; evergreen. Flowers solitary, cone-like, bright coloured. Fruit heavy, drooping annual cones, with thin unarmed scales. KEY TO SPECIES A. Leaves blunt, dark green; cones small, with long bracts. {P. mucronata) douglas spruce AA. Leaves sharp, blue-grey, cones large, with shorter bracts. {P. macrocarpa) big cone spruce The genus Pseudotsuga stands intermediate between the hemlocks and firs, but the common name, as well as family traits, link it with the spruces, hence I have joined it to Picea under the common name spruce. The genus has two representatives in America and one in Japan. The name is a startling combination of the Japanese word Tsuga with a Greek prefix. Douglas Spruce, Red Fir {Pseudotsuga mucronata, Sudw.) — Pyramidal or flat-topped tree, 150 to 250 feet high, with long, bare trunk in forest; in the open, a broad-based pyramid. Branches slender, crowded, long, drooping. Spray finely divided. Bark thick, deeply furrowed, with rounded irregular ridges coated with red scales. Wood pale red or yellow, durable in water and soil; variable in quality, usually tough and hard. Buds scaly, acute. Leaves straight, linear, blunt at apex, i to i J inches long, yellowish or bluish green, shed in eighth year. Flowers cone- like, staminate orange-red, pistillate red. Fruit a long-stemmed cone, 2 to 4 inches long, drooping, scales thin, with entire margins; 69 The Spruces bracts ending in recurved, whip-like points. Preferred habitat, moist soil of coast plain. Distribution, Rocky Mountains from British America into Mexico; west to Pacific coast, except in the Great Basin (between Wasatch and Sierra Nevada Mountains). Uses: Valuable lumber tree for shipbuilding, piles, posts and rail- road ties. Bark used to some extent for tanning. He who would see for himself the most magnificent forests this continent holds to-day must go to the redwoods in California. When these groves have awed him with the tremendous bulk of timber in board feet they can yield in a single acre, let him move up the coast to where the moist Japan current breathes upon the evergreen forests of the Cascade's western slope. There are giant cedars and firs and hemlocks; and dominating all of them is the Douglas spruce. " It is not only a large tree, the tallest in America next to the redwood, but a very beautiful one with bright green, drooping foliage, handsome pendant cones, and a shaft, exquisitely straight and round and regular." The trees make a very even growth and stand together as closely as the stalks in a well-tilled field of grain. Excluding other kinds, these trees stand with their heads together, making the forest dark as night below. Far up the Alaskan coast the Douglas spruce extends, and eastward across mountain ranges, where it mingles with yellow pines in sunny, open forests, where the trees have opportunity to show the grace of their pendant limbs and the beauty of their red cone flowers and the ruddy cones adorned with pale green bracts. A small cone it is for so large a tree, yet one to remember for its beauty. The Douglas spruce is known as "Oregon pine" in the lum- ber markets of the coast. The Puget Sound region furnishes spars of it to every great shipyard in the world. They are used as piles in wharves in Western harbours. Shipbuilders, bridge- builders — everybody who needs heavy timbers of great durability, toughness and hardness — desire this kind if it can be had. The best grades of it are stronger than the wood of any other large conifer in America. Its faults for general lumber purposes are its hardness and its tendency to warp in boards. The Douglas spruce as seen in nurseries is the quickest- growing evergreen of all. Immense quantities of seed are sent to Europe, where the tree is grown both for ornament and for tim- 7^ The Spruces ber. The seed produces a large percentage of vigorous seedlings, .and they transplant well. In the eastern and northern parts of the United States the trees do well from seed gathered in the Rocky Mountains. Failures in seedlings imported from European nurseries are traceable to the fact that seeds came from the Pacific coast plain, and the seedlings therefore are not hardy in the more rigorous climate of the East and North. In the seeds furnished by high mountain trees this difficulty is overcome. Even in the droughty regions of Kansas and Nebraska these trees planted in sheltered situations and in clumps grow into trees of exceeding beauty. Exposed in windbreaks the foliage is damaged, the trees lose their '' leaders," and acquire bad shapes thereafter. Big- Cone Spruce {Pseudotsuga macrocarpa, Mayr.) — A broadly pyramidal tree, 40 to 80 feet high, with stout trunk, pen- dulous lower Hmbs, and erect upper cones. Branchlets slender. Bark scaly, thick, reddish brown, furrowed, with rounded ridges. Wood brown, hard, heavy, strong, not durable. Buds ovate, small, scaly. Leaves linear, sharp pointed, spreading or 2-ranked, dark bluish grey, f to i J inches long. Flowers cone-like, staminate yellow in shining, scaly involucre; pistillate green tinged with red. Fruit usually on upper branches, 4 to 7 inches long, oblong- cylindrical, scales often 2 inches across, thin, entire; bracts scarcely as long as scales. Preferred habitat, mountain slopes. Distribution, southern California, in San Bernardino Mountains, at altitude of 3,000 to 5,000 feet. Uses: Wood used for fuel; sparingly for lumber. CHAPTER VIII: THE HEMLOCKS Genus TSUGA, Carr. Tall, graceful trees of pyramidal form, with flexible tip shoots and pendulous, much-divided horizontal limbs. Leaves evergreen, petioled, flat and 2-ranked (except one). Flowers monoecious, solitary, in early spring.- Fruit annual cones, small and oval (except one), with thin, entire scales. JVood soft, pale, cross-grained, stiff. ♦ KEY TO SPECIES A. Leaves flat, 2-ranked, pale beneath; cones about i inch long, oval. B. Cones stalked. C. Scales as wide as long, not flaring at maturity. (7. Canadensis) hemlock CC. Scales longer than wide, flaring at maturity. (7. Caroliniana) Carolina hemlock BB. Cones sessile, scales constricted in middle. (7. heterophylla) western hemlock AA. Leaves 3-angled, whorled, pale blue-green; cones 2 to 3 inches long, oblong-cylindrical. (7. Mertensiana) mountain hemlock Hemlocks are distinctly graceful and symmetrical trees. Japan has two native species, the Himalayas one, our Eastern States one, the Western States three — seven in all — and Tsuga is the Japanese name for hemlock. The prostrate, shrubby "ground hemlock," familiar to many of us who have eaten its aromatic scarlet berry, is not a hemlock but a yew. The hem- lock that Socrates drank was the deadly infusion cf an herb, Coniuni maculaium, related to our wild carrot. The best character by which to recognise the hemlocks is the tiny petiole of the leaf. No other cone bearer has leaf stalks. Of our native species, all have white lines on the under side of each leaf: the mountain hemlock has them above and below. The 72 § H 5 "^ G O — o 13 ^ v> u ^ •§ S3 ^ ^ ^ «. J3 1) "J .ti c ■? c C • •c g ^ - m o -^ t^'" a T3 "i) 1| £ W 4> oi lAl Ph '2 .•« C/O oo >^ «9 < o ;ii * (L) o M^ Q w 4; i-i K ^ -s H •5 « t) 0 'So ^ "3 4J 4-> CQ 4J 3 0 -0 d ^ 3 -d H B. C. Staminate flowers in two stages A. Pistillate: flower cone THE HEMLOCK {Tsuga Canadensis) This is the only conifer whose leaves are provided with petioles. The flat, blunt blades, have narrow lines of white beneath. The pistillate flowers are erect on the tips of twigs. The staminate flowers are many in the axils of leaves. Each is a yellow ball made up of globular anthers. The cones are purplish and small. Hemlock bark and wood are both important flemlnck woods are sombre, but wonderfully lightened when seen from below. The leafy spray is light and graceful The Hemlocks first three species have leaves 2-ranked and flat and cones under an inch in length; the fourth has leaves 3-angled, whorled on the twigs, and cones 2 to 3 inches long. Cones are pendant, and thin scaled in all the species, and are borne annually. Hemlocks are important ornamental trees. They come readily from seed, if shaded, and transplant safely, owing to their dense fibrous root system. They submit to severe pruning of roots or tops. They are not particular in regard to soil, if only it be moist. The two Japanese species are propagated from cut- tings, or are grafted on our Eastern hemlock. All hemlocks have bark rich in tannin. The west American species are all large trees, except at high altitudes. Hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis, Carr.) — A broadly pyramidal tree, 60 to 100 feet high, with tapering leading shoot and pen- dulous horizontal limbs. Bark cinnamon red to grey, thin, fur- rowed, scaly. IVood light, soft, coarse, cross-grained, not durable. Buds small, obtuse. Leaves flat, blunt, pale beneath, dark, shining above, on short petioles jointed to projecting bases, 2-ranked, shed in third year. Flowers in May, moncEcious, soli- tary; pistillate terminal on short shoots. Fruit small, annual cones, falling in spring, oval, thin scaled, red-brown, turning to grey. Preferred habitat, rocky uplands near streams. Dis- tribution, Nova Scotia to southern Michigan, central Wisconsin and Minnesota; southward to Delaware, and along Appalachian Mountains to Alabama. Uses: Wood, in building and for rail- road ties; bark, in dyeing and in tanning leather. Cultivated as an ornamental tree and hedge plant. " Hemlock Hill " in the Arnold Arboretum is a shrine at which the true tree-loving Bostonian worships at least once a year. It is a remnant of the forest primeval that clothes a steep promontory just inside one of the gates. In winter the hemlocks look black in contrast with the snow that hides the paths and smothers the brook into silence. It is awesome — this solitude of winter on the hill. But in summer all is different. The severity of its winter aspect is gone. Every twig waves in welcome a yellow-green plume, the new growth of the year, and up the hillside climb the well-remembered paths. The brook goes singing along between borders of laurel and rhododendron. The gloom of the hemlocks is wonderfully lightened, when one is actually under them, by the pale linings of the individual leaves. Just two parallel lines 73 The Hemlocks of white on each narrow blade, but the aggregate makes a mighty difference in the atmosphere of the place. Throughout New England one fmds generous appreciation of this native hemlock. The slender terminal shoot, "the leader," lifted into the sky is a weather vane that never gets out of order. Where hemlocks of considerable size are scattered among pines or other trees, they are guideposts to the ''timber cruiser" or the hunter in trackless woods. Each treetop has its own individuality ■ — the scars of storms outridden, or other modifying influences at work. The specimens of hemlock to be seen in parks and on private grounds exhibit the fitness of this species for ornamental planting. The symmetry and grace of the "dark green layers of shade," spreading into intricate sprays of remarkable delicacy, are familiar in forest and lawn. The pale bloom on the under sides of the leaves is punctuated by the little violet cones, pendant from every spray. There are many horticultural forms of this species, but, to my mind, none are as handsome as the wild species. In winter the red squirrel finds a stable base of supplies in every fruitful hemlock tree. The litter of cone scales on the snow will convince any doubter, if, indeed, the squirrel does not him- self appear and scold the intruder. In hedges the young trees are thrifty, and even the shears cannot subdue the grace that renews every spring the delicate, flexible new shoots. They seem more like wavering tendrils of a vine than branches of a sturdy conifer. The seeds of hemlock are slow to germinate on burned-over ground, but in the leaf mould, overshadowed by larger trees, they start in great numbers. For four or five years they average scarcely an inch a year, but they produce a good root system. After this they rapidly mount upward to independence. They supply a valuable protective cover for seedling white pines. The two species grow together often in large forests. Canada offers the best soil and climate for hemlock. It requires cool air with rich, loamy soil, moist but well drained. It is found plentifully in our Northern and Eastern States, and follows the mountains to Alabama. Hemlock wood is coarse and splintery, likely to be cross- grained and full of knots. It warps in seasoning, and wears rough ; moreover, it is brittle and weak. It has two cardinal virtues that 74 The Hemlocks adapt it for railroad ties and the large beams used in the frames of houses and barns. Hemlock timbers are stiff, and the wood has a firm grip on nails and spikes. The wood never loosens its hold upon the nail, nor does it split in nailing. Hemlock is used for the outside of cheap buildings, but it fmds its greatest useful- ness as the unseen props of a house, its faults covered up by woods of more uniform and attractive appearance. The bark of hemlock abounds in tannin, which makes it a standard tan bark. It is not uncommon to see young hemlock woods felled and stripped for the bark alone. The waste of the wood is very bad forestry, but as hemlock is poor fuel, and ugly to saw and split, sometimes cordwood costs more to cut and haul than it brings in market. If the trees were left to attain proper age for mill stuff, the lumber would be salable, and there would be a much larger crop of bark. The logs are cut for tan bark only in the summer. The bark "slips" from May until August. After that, peeling is impos- sible. The logs are girdled every four feet from the butt well up into the tops. Two or three cuts are made at equal distances apart, lengthwise of the trunk. This makes of each four-foot cylinder of bark two or three rectangular sheets, easily removed with a special bark-peeling tool. The sheets are stacked on end to dry, and are later laid in solid four-foot piles to be measured by the cord. The hemlock bark is usually mixed with some oak bark at the tanneries. A side of sole leather tanned with hemlock alone is a brighter red than is desired. The oak darkens it. Dye works consume some hemlock bark in making certain shades of brown. Oil of hemlock is distilled from the leaves. "Canada pitch," formerly much used as a drug, is extracted from leaves and knots. In the practice of the Indians, the bark of young hemlocks, boiled and pounded to a paste, made a poultice for sores and wounds. Josselyn noted also: "The turpentine thereof is singularly good to heal wounds and to draw out the malice of any Ach, rubbing the place therewith." The antiseptic action of the oil and resin was recognised then as now. The Carolina Hemlock (Tsuga Caroliniana, Engelm.) occurs most abundantly about the headwaters of the Savannah River in South Carolina. It grows on the mountains from Vir- ginia into Georgia, and was long confused with the common 75 The Hemlocks Northern hemlock by botanists and other observers. It has found favour with landscape gardeners, because it is more graceful though more compact than T. Canadensis. Its leaves are longer, darker green above, and a more pronounced white underneath. It rarely grows over 70 feet high, but has a better head when old than its Northern relative. It is a hardy, handsome tree in New England parks, and its popularity is growing. Western Hemlock {Tsuga heterophylla, Sarg.)— Noble pyramidal tree, 100 to 200 feet high, 6 to 10 feet in diameter, with drooping, horizontal branches and feathery tip. Bark reddish brown, with broad, scaly, interrupted ridges and shallow fissures. IVood tough, durable, hard, light, strong, brown. Buds brown, ovate, small. Leaves grooved on top, lustrous, pale below, rounded at tip; petioles slender. Flowers : monoecious, terminal, solitary; staminate yellow; pistillate purple. Fruit oval, pointed cones I inch long; scales often constricted in the middle, broad, thin. Preferred habitat, moist valleys and uplands from tidewater to 6,000 feet elevation. Distribution, southeastern Alaska to Cape Mendocino in California; east to Montana and Idaho. Uses: Wood used chiefly in building; bark for tanning. Indians eat a cake made from the inner bark. Successfully used for ornamental planting in Europe. Not hardy in our Eastern States. This greatest of all the hemlocks dominates the magnificent forests of the Pacific coast plain, in size as well as in numbers. It extends east into Idaho and Montana, and north into British Columbia. The tideland spruce is its companion in the lowlands. Superb trees are found on the mountains at an altitude of 6,000 feet, but only in moist situations. On dry, high ridges, the tree is stunted. But in the rich river valleys, with the breath of the Japan current to make the ai-r humid, this hemlock is a giant — handsome, graceful, the delight of the artist and the lumberman; the most superb and the most useful of the hemlocks. The root system of this tree is remarkably copious and aggressive. Mosses often a foot in thickness and saturated with moisture clothe the fallen trunks and other rubbish in those deep forests in the neighbourhood of Vancouver. The light seeds of the hemlocks often germinate on some elevated arm of a giant tree long dead. Such a mistake will first be discovered by the roots which go down until they anchor the tree in the earth. The dead trunk rots away, and the growing tree stands on stilts 76 The Hemlocks of its own Sturdy roots, as confident and thrifty as any of its neigh- bours. The little cones of the Western hemlock have scales like scallop shells, marked with radiating lines. This is before they loosen. Afterward each scale shows a narrow neck behind this *' shell," and a long blade extending backward. This tree has the strongest and most durable wood of all the hemlocks. It is a staple commercial lumber on the coast, lum- ber authorities claiming that it is harder, heavier and otherwise superior to the Eastern hemlock. Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga Mertensiana, Sarg.) — A broad, open pyramidal tree, 75 to 100 feet high, with much-branched, often prostrate limbs. Bark cinnamon red, furrowed, scaly. PVood light, soft, brownish red, close grained, weak. Buds brown, small, pointed. Leaves not 2-ranked, rounded below, flat, often grooved above, petioles set on prominent bases, colour, blue-green. Flowers : staminate blue, pendant on stalk; pistillate erect, with purplish or yellow bracts. Frmt oblong cones i to 3 inches long, borne on upper branches; scales broad, entire, striate, yellow or purple, turning out and back at maturity. Preferred habitat, high, rocky ridges in exposed situations. Distribution, south- eastern Alaska to British Columbia; south to central California, Montana and Idaho. Uses: Wood occasionally used in building and bark in tanning. This hemlock, which has been variously called a spruce, a fir and a pine by botanical explorers, is not likely to be exterminated by lumber companies, for it grows in inaccessible mountain fast- nesses, and battles with storms to the very timber line. " Between 5,000 and 7,000 feet above the sea on ridges and along the margins of alpine meadows in groves of exquisite beauty, and pushing the advance guard of the forest to the edge of living glaciers" — thus Sargent describes the habitat of the tree which he considers "the loveliest cone-bearing tree of the American forest." During the larger half of each year the mountain hemlocks are buried in snow, their tough limbs cramped beneath their burden; but with summer comes freedom, and these limbs are flung out again with singular grace to brave the lashing of the winds. A tall tree in the humid lowlands, the trunk diminishes with the ascent of the mountains. At an altitude of almost 77 The Hemlocks 10,000 feet the treetop rests upon the ground, a flattened mass of graceful limbs, the trunk practically eliminated by natural selection. John Muir, describing the forests of the Yosemite Park, tells how the young trees of the lower levels receive the light burden of the first snow in the early autumn, and gradually bending under the load left by succeeding storms, at length form graceful arches, and are buried from sight for five or six months. He has ridden for miles over a smooth snow bank that covered in this fashion trees 40 feet high. They return to their normal position, un- harmed, when the snow goes off. The blue-green foliage, the whorled leaf arrangement, the triangular leaf itself, pencilled with white on all sides, and the large cones — all set this hemlock in a class by itself. The spray, exceedingly beautiful, even for a hemlock, bears flowers that are unusual in their rich colouring. The pistillate blossoms are royal purple; the staminate, blue as forget-me-nots — "of so pure a tone that the best azure of the high sky seems to be condensed in them." — Muir. Seeds of this alpine hemlock planted in England and in our Eastern States grow slowly, and show none of the grace and vigour of the wild sapling trees. It is the old story of the hardy moun- taineer, languishing in luxury, dying of homesickness for the life of abstinence and struggle to which its race is born. 7R CHAPTER IX: THE FIRS Genus ABIES, Link. Trees of pyramidal habit with wide-spreading horizontal fimbs bearing thick foHage masses. IVood weak, coarse grained. Bark smooth until quite old, pale, thin and blistered with over- flowing resin vescicles; later, deeply and irregularly furrowed. Leaves usually flat, blunt, 2-ranked, persistent for 8 to lo years, leaving circular scars. Flowers in axillary, scaly cones, pistillate erect on upper branches; staminate on under side of branches lower down on the tree. Fruit annual, erect cones whose scales fall off at maturity; seed resinous. KEY TO SPECIES A. Leaves flat and grooved down the middle. B. Colour of leaves dark green, shining, with pale linings. C. Scales concealing the bracts of the cones. D. Cones purple. E. Leaves straight, 2-ranked, not crowded; bark smooth, brown. (A. halsamea) balsam fir EE. Leaves curved, erect on twigs, crowded; bark rough, grey. {A. amabilis) white fir DD. Cones green; leaves about 2 inches long. {A. grandis) white fir CC. Scales not concealing the pale green, reflexed bracts of the purple cones. {A. Fraseri) balsam fir BB. Colour of leaves pale blue-green. C. Cones purple. {A. lasiocarpa) balsam fir CC. Cones purple, green or yellow. D. Bracts of cone scales concealed; leaves uniformly glaucous. {A. concolor) white fir DD. Bracts of cone scales extending into long, whip- like projections; leaves yellow-green, pale below. {A. venusta) silver fir AA. Leaves mostly 4-angled, thick, blue-green; cones purple. B. Cone scales covered by pale green, reflexed bracts. {A. nohilis) red fir BB. Cone scales covering bracts. {A. magnifica) red fir 79 The Firs Twenty-five species of Abies are widely distributed over the Northern Hemisphere, including the northern highlands of Africa. Nordmann's fir {A. N ordmanniana) has come from the Caucasus into extensive cultivation in our Eastern and Northern States. It is supplemented by four European and two Japanese species of recognised merit for ornamental planting. The beauty of our native firs has been pointed out in the names botanists gave them. But they do not thrive, as a rule, in cultivation. For the lawn, we wisely choose exotic species. Balsam Fir {Abies halsamea, Mill.) — A broad, pyramidal tree, 50 to 60 feet high, with slender pubescent branchlets. Bark brown, thin, broken into scaly plates with dried balsam in white blisters. Wood soft, weak, coarse, brown with yellow streaks, not durable. Leaves blunt, dark green, lustrous above, with pale linings, ^ to i ^ inches long, spreading in 2-ranked order. Flowers axillary, staminate, yellow shaded to purplish; pistillate purple. Fruit erect, rich purple, oblong-cylindrical, 2 to 4 inches long, blunt at ends; scales broad, entire, closely overlapping. Pre- j erred habitat , swamps or hilly slopes. Distribution, Labrador through Canada and New England, to Minnesota; south along mountains to southwestern Virginia. Uses: Wood used for box material; bark furnishes oil and Canada balsam, used in medicine and in the arts. Fresh leaves cut for balsam pillows. In the North Woods the hunter cuts the fragrant boughs of the fir balsam to make his bed, and the ladies of every camping party industriously shear balsam twigs in order to fill sofa pillows later with the leaves. The native finds it profitable to collect the limpid balsam by draining the white resin bhsters that occur plen- tifully on the smooth bark of young trees, and on the limbs of older ones. Wounding the tree produces increased flow. Whole families are often employed in this enterprise. The resin thus obtained is the ''Canada balsam" employed in every laboratory for the mounting of microscopic specimens. It is used also in the practise of medicine and in other useful arts. "Oil of fir" is also obtained from the bark. The erect cones of this tree distinguish it from the spruces with which it grows, and the hemlocks whose leaves are also pale beneath and 2-ranked in arrangement. Balsam fir leaves are blunt and stemless. Hemlock leaves have minute petioles. The cultivation of balsam fir has been rather stupidly con- 80 THE BALSAM FIR (Abies hahamea) Blunt, flat leaves, pale beneath and 2-ranked on the twig, characterise this species. On the old branches the leaves »re more sparse and scattered. The oblong cones are erect on the stem. The bark of young trunks and branches are marke4 bj pockets, which discharge clear balsam when tapped THE BALSAM FIR {Abies halsamea) The leaves persist for eight years. Hence the twigs are covered. The blunt leaves are 2-ranked by the twisting of their bases. The lower figure shows leaves all around the twigs. It is so on fertile shoots, shows young, leafy shoots coming out below, A pistillate cone-flower is held erect This picture also The Firs tinued in the Northeastern States, despite the fact that the tree is short Hved and early loses its lower limbs-. There are other firs that may be as easily obtained and grown, and these are chosen by wise planters for their greater beauty and longer life. The \A^hite or Lovely Fir (A. amabilis, Forbes), of the high mountain slopes of British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, comes to its greatest estate in the Olympic range. Here it dominates other fir trees, a giant 1 50 to 250 feet high, with a trunk 4 to 6 feet through. The spiry pyramid is formed of limbs that strike downward and outward in curves of remarkable grace and symmetry. In open groves the trees are clothed to the ground. In dense forests the trunks are bare except for a tufted crown. The bark is thick and broken into irregular plates on very old trees; on younger ones it is silvery grey and smooth. The wood is light brown or white, weak, hard and close grained. It is occa- sionally used in interior finish of houses. In cultivation the tree forgets its wild beauty and becomes commonplace. It grows in Europe, but not in our Atlantic States. Only in its natural range is it truly the "lovely fir" of the mountains. The White Fir {A. grandis, Lindl.) earns its name by the silvery linings of its leaves. It grows from Vancouver Island south to middle California, and eastward into Idaho. It climbs from the sea to elevations of 4,000 to 7,000 feet, mingled with other conifers, but keeping along the borders of streams. This white fir is grand indeed in the coast region, where it mounts upward with slender trunk to the height of 200 to 300 feet. Its limbs sweep outward in curves of the utmost grace, and the contrast of dark green with silvery white in the foliage makes the tree cheerful in the extreme. The flowers are yellow and the cones brilliant green, the broad, entire scales quite concealing the bracts. The wood of this fir is pale brown, soft, light and coarse, used to a limited extent in interior house finishing, cooperage and boxing and for woodenwares. The tree grows rapidly in European parks. The Balsam Fir (A. Fraseri, Poir.) is a tree 40 to 60 feet high which grows in forests at an altitude of 4,000 to 6,000 feet on the Appalachian Mountains from southwestern Virginia into Ten- nessee and North Carolina. It forms an open pyramid of rather stiff limbs, ending in twigs crowded with dark, lustrous foliage. The purple cones are ornamented by pale yellow-green bracts with 81 The Firs toothed margins which turn back over the scales. The wood of this tree is rarely used as lumber. It has the faults of fir wood in general, and the trees are inaccessible to lumbermen. The tree is short lived and has little ornamental value. The Balsam Fir (A. lasiocarpa, Nutt.) grows in the high, mountainous regions from Alaska south along the Cascades of Washington and Oregon, and follows the Rocky Mountains from Idaho to Arizona. The trees are tall, narrow spires with thickly crowded branches, the oldest of which droop slightly. They range from 80 to 180 feet high, with trunks 2 to 5 feet in diameter. The bark of the limbs changes from the reddish pubescence of the twigs to pale grey or almost white. Aged trees have shallow-fissured bark covered with cinnamon-coloured scales. The blue-green of the leaves is intensified by the striking indigo colour of both kinds of flowers in their season. The cones are rich, deep purple, and plain, the broad scales quite concealing the ruddy bracts. White Fir {Abies concolor, Lindl. & Gord.) — A narrow pyramidal tree, 1 25 to 250 feet high, with trunk 3 to 6 feet through ; branches short, stout with long, stout, much-divided side branches extending forward; twigs stout, smooth. Bark 3 to 6 inches thick, broken into rounded ridges by deep, irregular furrows, and the surface into plate-like scales. IVood soft, light, pale brown to white, coarse and weak. Buds globular, I inch thick. Leaves 2-ranked by crowding; erect, pale blue to whitish, becoming dull green when old; on fruiting branches often thickened into a keel above, curved and short; on lower branches flat, straight, 2 to 3 inches long. Flowers : pistillate on upper branches, with striking greenish bracts; staminate dark red, on middle limbs. Fruit erect oblong-cylindrical cones, 5 to 6 inches long, green, purple or yellow; scales broad, rounded at apex, concealing bracts; seeds J to I inch long with shining red wings. Preferred Itabiiat, moun- tain slopes. Distribution, Colorado west to Oregon and California, south to New Mexico and Arizona, including the Great Basin. Uses: Wood for butter tubs and boxing. Best of Western firs for planting in the Eastern States. A favourite ornamental in Europe. This white fir is known as a silver fir, from the pale foliage and from the grey bark of its branches. The forests of ^. magnifica coming down the high slopes meet those of A. concolor coming up. 82 The Fir^ The trees are gigantic in the Sierras; scarcely of more than medium height and girth among the Rockies. The leaves are unusually long for a fir tree, on lower limbs often 2 to 3 inches. The flowers are conspicuous, the staminate rich red, the pistillate ornamented with backward-turning, fmger-lobed bracts. The cones are stout, various in colours, with broad, short scales that quite cover the bracts. The seed wings are rose coloured and lustrous. The tree is often planted in Europe; it is the most vigorous native fir tree met in cultivation on the Atlantic side of this con- tinent. The best trees in Eastern nurseries come from seeds col- lected in the Rocky Mountains. Another Silver Fir {A.venusta, K. Koch.) has leaves almost willow-like in form, so broad are the flat, pointed blades. They are i to 2^ inches long, yellow-green with silvery linings, especially bright on the newest shoots. The spray is flat by reason of the 2-ranked arrangement of the leaves, which stand out at right angles to the twig. The tree habit is peculiar. A slender trunk 100 to 150 feet high bears a broad pyramid of pendulous limbs, which is surmounted by a narrow spire for the last 20 feet of the tree's height. The cones are 3 to 4 inches long, and striking in ornamentation. The long, stiff whip of a pale yellowish brown bract extends an inch or two beyond each purple scale. This fir is confined to elevated canon sides in the mountains of Monterey County, California, and has no commercial signifi- cance. Seeds sent to Europe produce handsome ornamental trees in North Italy and in warmer sections of England. Red Fir (Abies nohilis, Lindl.) — A broad, round-headed tree i 50 to 250 feet high, with trunk 6 to 8 feet through; branches stiff; twigs red velvety. Bark 1 to 2 inches thick, irregularly furrowed, red-brown. Wood hard, pale brown, streaked with red, light, strong, moderately close in texture; sap wood darker. Buds small, blunt, reddish. Leaves blue-green, often glaucous when young, flat, grooved above, crowded to upper side of twigs, and curved backward, i to ij inches long, on fertile shoots, 4-angled, sharp. Flowers: staminate reddish purple; pistillate scattered on upper limbs, bracts ornate with recurved tips. Fruit oblong, thick, biunt at apex and base, 4 to 5 inches long, purplish or brown, pubescent; scales covered with thin toothed bracts which end in recurving, pencil-like projections. Preferred habitat, mountain slopes at 2,500 to 5,000 feet elevation. Distribution, 83 The Firs mountains of western Washington, Oregon and California. Uses: Lumber for interior finish of houses and for boxing. Rarely planted in Eastern States. Needs shelter at Boston. Cultivated in Europe. The red fir, another giant of the Northwest, attains its best development in the Cascade Mountains of Washington and Oregon on elevated slopes facing the sea. An old tree is often 200 to 250 feet high, with a trunk 6 to 8 feet in diameter, crowned with a broad, round head, quite distinct from the spire form usual among firs. There are forests of this tree which furnish, at present in limited quantities, wood for boxing and house finishing. The wood is brownish red, with sap wood of a darker colour. The lumber dealer calls it "larch." As long as better lumber is to be had, these forests will be allowed to wait. The distinctive features of this tree are its glaucous, blue- green foliage and the stout brown or purple cones, 4 to 5 inches long, and richly ornamented by the bracts which turn back like little pale green scallop shells over each scale. Red Fir (Abies magnifica, A. Murr.) — A pyramidal tree which becomes round-topped with age, 150 to 200 feet high; trunk 6 to 8 feet through; limbs pendulous. Bark red-brown, 4 to 6 inches thick, scaly and broken into ridges and deep fissures that cross and join; twigs reddish, becoming silvery white. JVood soft, light, weak, durable, red. Buds scaly, ovate, red, lustrous. Leaves 4-angled, pale at first, then blue-green, crowded to erect position on the twig. Flowers: conspicuous; staminate reddish purple; pistillate green with red tips on scales. Fruit oblong- cylindrical cones, 6 to 9 inches long, purplish brown; scales plain, I inch broad at apex, closely overlapping and concealing the bracts. Preferred habitat, mountain slopes, at 5,000 to 7,000 feet elevation. Distribution, Cascade range in southern Oregon, throughout the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Uses: Wood makes packing cases and cheap buildings. Tree planted as an ornamental in western Europe. Scarcely hardy in our Eastern States. "The magnificent silver fir," as John Muir calls it, is one of the noblest trees of the Northwest, a lover of the mountain slopes, which it climbs to two miles above sea level before it reaches its limit. On moraines, at an elevation of 7,000 to 8,000 feet, it grows to a height of 200 to 250 feet and a diameter of 5 to 7 feet 84 •iX-*^' -r^v^ Winter buds (some leaves cut away to show buds) THE BALSAM FIR {Abies lasiocarpa) The blue-green leaves and the pale or white bark of twigs give this tree a spectral expression. The leaves are long, blunt and curved so as to stand erect. This giant tree of the Northwestern mountains is comparatively worthless, except for fuel ir.TMT:^ r*'v^ Winter buds (sume leaves cut away to show the buds) THE BALSAM FIR {Abies Fraseri) The lustrous dark leaves are pale beneath. They are blunt, even notched, at the tips. This is the fir of the Appalachian Mountains Winter bud (some leaves removed) THE WHITE FIR {Ahies concolor) This Colorado tree is often seen in Eastern gardens as a beautiful pale, bluish evergreen tree. In the mountains of California it becomes a mighty tree over 200 feet high. Its bark on old trunks is very thick and broken into broad ridges. The foliage is sometimes silvery white Bark and wood of another Western white fir {Abies grandis) The Firs With these noble dimensions there is a richness and symmetry and perfection of fmish not to be found in any other tree in the Sierras. The branches are whorled, in fives mostly, and stand out from the straight red-purple bole in level, or on old trees, in drooping collars, every branch regularly pinnated like a fern frond, and clad with silvery needles, making broad and singularly rich and sumptuous plumes. The flowers are in their prime about the middle of June; the staminate, red, growing in crowded profusion on the under side of the branchlets, giving a rich colour to nearly all the tree; the pistillate, greenish yellow tinged with pink, standing erect on the upper side of the topmost branches; while the tufts of young leaves, about as brightly coloured as those of the Douglas spruce, push out their fragrant brown buds a few weeks later, making another grand show. "The cones mature in a single season from the flowers. When full grown they are about 6 to 8 inches long, 3 to 4 inches in diameter, blunt, massive, cylindrical, greenish grey in colour, covered with a fine silvery down, and beaded with transparent balsam, very rich and precious looking, standing erect like casks on the topmost branches. If possible, the inside of the cones is still more beautiful. The scales and bracts are tinged with red and the seed wings are purple with bright iridescence." — John Muir. A variety, Shastensis, Lemm., oi A. magnifica, is distinguished from the type species only by the yellow bracts that protrude and partially cover the scales of the cones. This form inhabits high elevations in the region of Mount Shasta and also occurs at the lower end of the Sierra Nevada range. 85 CHAPTER X: THE BIG TREE AND THE REDWOOD Genus SEQUOIA, Endl. Trees of great size and age, resinous, aromatic. Leaves evergreen, alternate, of two shapes. Flowers in solitary cones, minute, monoecious, axillary. Fruit a pendant woody cone; seeds 5 to 7 under each scale. KEY TO SPECIES A. Leaves minute, ovate, usually compressed, buds naked; fruit biennial. (5. (Vellingtonia) big tree AA. Leaves mostly linear, or lanceolate, spreading, 2-ranked; buds scaly; fruit annual. (5. sempervirens) redwood The Big Tree (Sequoia Wellingtonia, Seem.) — A pyramidal tree when young, becoming round-topped; 275 to 325 feet high; diameter 20 to 35 feet; fluted trunk. Bark reddish brown, fibrous, fluted; i to 2 feet thick. Wood red, soft, coarse, light, weak, durable. Buds naked. Leaves ovate, acuminate, spreading at tips, ^ inch long. Flowers: monoecious, terminal, conical, scaly, profuse in late winter; staminate with broad scales and abundant pollen; pistillate with 25 to 40 needle-tipped scales, with 3 to 7 ovules under each. Fruit dark red-brown woody cone, biennial, 2 to 3^ inches long, with thickened tips; seeds 3 to 7 under each scale, each 2-winged, small, light, eaten by squirrels. Preferred habitat, rich woodlands. Distribution, narrow area on western slope of Sierras in California. Uses: Most majestic tree in the world. Rare and dwarfed in cultivation. Lumber used for shingles, fencing and in general construction. Sir Joseph Hooker and Asa Gray sat with John Muir around a campfire on Mount Shasta, and talked about the great forests of the Sierras they had just visited. Comparing them with Old- World forests, they agreed upon this statement: "In the beauty and grandeur of individual trees, and in number and variety of 86 The Big Tree and the Redwood species, the Sierra forests surpass all others." Conifers are supreme in these forests and among conifers Sequoia is king. Of the two species, the Big Tree, S. Wellingtonia, stands first, and the redwood second. The Old World has some trees of surprising girth and indefinite age — oaks, chestnuts, sycamores, and cedars of Lebanon — each with its history, the pride of the country it grows in. But these trees are derelicts — throwing out a wisp of foliage here and there, a truce to death, with each returning spring. The lime tree of Nurnberg and the chestnut at the foot of Mount /Etna are each famous; but these trees, with their tops dead and gone years before they were pronounced dead, their trunks honeycombed with decay, and leaning upon props and pillars, are scarcely to be compared with trees, hale, lusty-crowned, whose fluted trunks are a unit, and sound as a nut from the heart out. Granting a greater girth, if you please, to a few of these senile trees, and a greater height to one Eucalyptus that grows in Australia, we can truthfully declare that, excepting these, the Sequoias lead the world, past and present, in height and calibre. No other tree combines such massiveness of trunk with such height. And there is no doubt but that in age they can take rank with the oldest, for competent authorities estimate the age limit to be above 5,000 years. Muir thinks that some living trees have reached that age. Stumps now standing show 4,000 annual rings. It would be great good fortune to visit one of the ten groves of Big Trees once a month and so get the story of the tree's life as the year rolls around. In the late winter the flowers appear, showering the whole region with their golden dust, and tipping the sprays with the pale green fertile flowers by thousands. The cones that follow are small for such a tree, and each scale bears from four to eight seeds at its base. Millions of them are scattered each year, thin, little winged discs, no larger than a baby's thumbnail, looking like half-grown elm seeds. It is incredible that such a tree should have come from such a seed. Not only have they vitality, but some store of nutriment, for the squirrels journey up the trees and cut off the cones in order to put away for winter the little seeds they contain. If fresh cones are falling, you may be sure the squirrels are at work, for the trees hold their empty cones for years. It is strange that with such profuse seed production young 87 The Big Tree and the Redwood trees are so scarce in the Big Tree groves. Only in the southern range of this species do seedHng trees appear to reassure us that the race will preserve itself, if only the three agencies of destruc- tion, the axe, the saw and the forest fire, can be curbed. The tourist, hurrying through the Sequoia National Park, gets very little but an awed sense of the magnificence of these trees. It is worth while to have had the glimpse his limited ticket per- mits. Big stories told by friends who had been there before, actual dimensions of noted trees, and all the guide-book extrava- gance of description, have not prepared him for the things he sees. He is speechless with astonishment. He walks across an ample platform which is the flat top of a Sequoia stump. He sleeps, perchance, in a house which is a hollow log. He rides in a coach and four through a tunnel over which a standing trunk arches, like a mighty occidental Colossus of Rhodes. He lifts a fragment of bark, and it is 2 feet thick. It took three long weeks of steady labour for two men to cut down one tree! The living trees are green topped, but bare of limbs for two- thirds of their great fluted trunks. Our tallest Eastern oak, with the tallest sycamore or walnut atop of it, would not equal the height of one of these giants. Spruces and pines of majestic port standing around look like saplings. They are dwarfed by the company they keep. They look up, but the Sequoias look — not down but out, indifferent to all that is transpiring below them. They see only the limitless reaches of the eternal sky; their meat and drink, the sunshine and the leaf mould; their breath of life, the unwearying winds of heaven. There were great forests of Sequoias once in central and northern Europe and in mid-continental North America. They stretched away, even to the Arctic circle. This was just before the great climatic Reconstruction Period, when magnolias flour- ished in Greenland and all the plants and animals of the tem- perate zone found congenial habitation in near proximity to the North Pole. Then came the Age of Ice, and only those species survived which were able to keep ahead of the glaciers, and estab- lish themselves in regions not overwhelmed by the ice. The rocks of the Tertiary Period preserve the story of these times, and in the pages opened by the geologist's hammer, five distinct species of Sequoia are recorded. ''Pressed specimens" indeed, these fossil trees are, two of which are identical with the California trees. 88 The Big Tree and the Redwood The other three species are extinct, and America has the only sur- vivors of the noblest race of plants the world has ever produced. Trenches and ridges in the ground within the Sequoia belt contain the prostrate bodies of former generations of Big Trees. They are not found outside the range. This fact leads John Muir to believe that the area covered by these trees has not shrunken any since the Glacial Period — that Sequoia has held its own for 5,000 to 10,000 years. The devastation of the Big Tree groves by lumbermen is now checked in a few locations by Government purchase and reserva- tion. The lumber is put to such base uses as shingles and clap^ boards and fencing which lesser trees might better supply. It is the vast size and height of these trees, not the market value of the lumber per board foot, that make an acre yield such enormous profit. Seedling Big Trees grow slowly, and do poorly in the Eastern States. In Europe they are more successful, and are popular everywhere. Weeping forms, which are much grown, originated in a French nursery. The genus takes its name from Sequoiah, a wise Cherokee Indian, who made an alphabet of his tribal language by means of which the New Testament and a newspaper were published for his people. Redwood {Sequoia sempervirens, Endl.) — Resinous, aromatic trees, with tall, fluted trunks and short, horizontal branches; 200 to 300 feet high, 12 to 28 feet in diameter. Head small, irreg- ular. Bark thick, red, 6 to 12 inches thick, in ridges 2 to 4 feet wide, checked crosswise, showing brighter, close, inner layer. Wood light, soft, brittle, close, red, easily split, durable, satiny lustre. Buds oval, small, loosely scaly. Leaves of two forms: lanceolate and spreading, or awl shaped and shorter; evergreen, J to i inch long. Flowers : monoecious, in late winter, cone shaped, scaly; staminate on erect stems, scales 3-anthered, pollen copious; pistillate with 7 ovules on each scale. Fruit oblong, woody cone, f to I inch long, scales thick and grooved at tip; 3 to 5-winged seeds on each. Preferred habitat, moist, sandy soil. Distribution, southern Oregon on coast range slopes to Monterey County, California. Uses: Most valuable timber tree of Pacific coast; successful in European gardens. In many characters, the redwood is not different from the 89 The Big Tree and the Redwood Big Tree. Its spreading leaves on the terminal twigs give it a more graceful, feathery spray than do the awl-like blades of the other. The pistillate flowers have fewer scales, and the buds are scaly. The cones are smaller, and the seeds have more vitality. The redwood is only a trifle under the Big Tree in size, sometimes overtopping the highest of them, and reaching 400 feet. But the trunks are not so massive, and these trees average smaller than their cousins. In beauty the redwood is first; the lustrous leaves, the ruddy bark, and the gracefully curving branches of trees still in their prime will halt the passing stranger and compel his wonder and admiration. 1 he forests throng with young trees in every stage of growth, showing that Nature left to herself would mul- tiply and extend the range of this species. But the wood is beau- tiful, and light and easily worked. It is admirable in building, and durable beyond most woods. It receives a satiny polish, and it lasts indefinitely in the ground. Curly grain is common in Sequoia lumber, and this, as in other species, is eagerly sought after by the makers of fancy fur- niture and bric-a-brac. People want redwood, so the lumberman is stripping the redwood forests as fast as possible. "They'll come on again!" And it is true to some extent. The trees send up suckers from the stumps, which the Big Trees cannot do. But lumbering is wasteful and greedy in its methods, and more is wasted than saved. Forest fires lick up the kindling the lum- berman leaves, and young trees and old fall victims to this dis- aster. Redwoods are more easily accessible than Big Trees. They come down to the coast and thus tempt the avarice of lumbermen. The extent of these woods seemed great, at first. But on the map the region is very small indeed, and immediate protective meas- ures are demanded if any groves of big redwoods are to be saved from the sawmill. In cultivation the redwood has followed the Big Tree into European gardens, and at length it has shown itself hardy and fairly content in the Southeastern States. Near Charleston, South Carolina, it is growing successfully. 90 THE BIG TREE (Sequoia WelUngtonta) Spruces and pines of majestic port are dwarfed to saplings by the company they keep. They look up, but the sequoias look- not down^ but out — indifferent to all that transpires below them. They regard only the limitless reaches of the eternal sky •o a I ."^ -3 X C3 V — flj H > HX o > u o pq j3 ^ CHAPTER XI: THE ARBOR WITJES Genus THUYA, Linn. Evergreen resinous ornamental trees of slender, pyramidal habit, with intricately branched limbs, and flat, open spray. Leaves scale-like, 4-ranked, minute, closely appressecj to twigs. Flowers solitary, terminal, small aments, monoecious, scaly. Fruits erect, loose, ovoid cones, of few thin scales; seeds few, usually two. Uses: trees especially adapted for formal gardens, clipped hedges and shelter belts. Wood variously employed. KEY TO SPECIES A. Cone with 4 fertile scales, as a rule; bark orange red. (7. occidentalis) arbor vit/b AA. Cone with 6 fertile scales, as a rule; bark cinnamon red. {T. plicatd) GIANT arbor wxm Four distinct species of Thuya are recognised. Two are native to Japan and China. The Chinese 7. orientalis, one of the most popular decorative evergreens, is cultivated especially in Southern gardens. It is offered in several varieties. 7. Japonica is a hardy species of lusty growth with white spots on the dark green of its leaf linings. A Japanese genus, Thuyopis, with one species, is one of the handsomest of Oriental evergreens introduced into cultivation here. It is hardy to Massachusetts, but suffers from drought. Its flat, frond-like spray resembles arbor vitae, from which the genus is distinguished by having 4 to 5 ovules under each scale of the cone. Arbor Vitae {Thuya occidentalis, Linn.) — A conical, com- pact, resinous evergreen, 25 to 65 feet high, with short, ascending branches and flat, frond-like spray. Bark light brown, thin, cracking into ridges with frayed-out, stringy edges; branches smooth, red, shining. Wood soft, brittle, coarse, durable in the soil, light brown, fragrant. Buds naked, very small. Leaves, both keeled and flat, 4-ranked, to fit the flat twig, scale-like, blunt, 9» The Arbor Vitses or pointed, glandular, aromatic. Flowers, May, monoecious on tips of side twigs, but separate; staminate, a globose cluster of stamens ; pistillate, a red cone of 8 to 12 scales with ovules on lower or central ones only. Fruit oval, pale brown, erect cone, annual, with 6 to 12 oblong scales. Preferred habitat, low, swampy ground near streams. Distribution, New Brunswick to Manitoba; Min- nesota, Michigan and northern Illinois; south along Atlantic States into New Jersey, along Alleghanies to North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Uses: Valuable ornamental and hedge tree. Wood used for telegraph poles, posts, railroad ties and shingles. Bark rich in tannin. The flat leaf spray of the arbor vitae of the Northern States sets it apart from other evergreens, and its use in hedges makes it familiar to most people. Children as well as grown people gen- erally know it. Unfortunately the name, white cedar, has become attached to this tree, confusing it with another genus, Chamae- cyparis, in which this name reappears. Through years of cultivation this arbor vitae has produced a great number of garden varieties. Their slow growth and com- pact habit adapt them to use in formal gardens. They are hardy, they submit to severe pruning and late transplanting, and they are easily propagated from seed — these traits of character com- mend them to nurserymen and planters. They are planted with profit for telegraph poles and posts, as the wood, though soft, is very durable in soil. As windbreaks they do good service, and have unique ornamental value when massed on stream borders or grouped on rocky slopes. Giant Arbor Vitae, or Red Cedar (Thuya plicata, D. Don.) — A pyramidal tree, 150 to 200 feet high, with a stout, often corrugated and buttressed trunk. Bark scaly in narrow strips, thin. JVood light, brittle, reddish brown, soft, coarse, durable. Leaves minute, close, blunt, scale-like, with pale mark- ings, longer on leading shoots. Flowers dark brown, monoecious, very small. Fruit erect clustered cones, with 6 fertile scales, each bearing 2 to 3 winged seeds. Preferred habitat, rocky stream banks and rich bottomlands. Distribution, coast regions from Cape Mendocino in California north into Alaska; mountains east into Idaho and Montana. Uses: A handsome ornamental tree, grown in Europe and occasionally in the Middle and North Atlantic States. Wood used for interior finish of houses, sashes, doors, 92 The Arbor Vitses furniture and cooperage. Indians use it for totem poles, frame- work of lodges and war canoes. Inner bark furnishes fibre for blankets, ropes and nets; sheets of it thatch their cabins. Beside this giant of the Northwest, our Eastern arbor vitae is a pygmy. Solitary, or in small groves, it climbs the mountains to a level more than a mile higher than the rich river bottoms at sea level, where the noblest specimens and the greatest number are assembled. The Indian cuts the biggest specimen he can fmd foi the totem pole that he carves into his family tree. The war canoes are dugouts made of the enormous butts which often measure 1 5 feet in diameter. Inside of the cabins the great rough-hewn rafters and joist of these primitive dwellings are of this arbor vitae, whose soft wood the crude implements of the tribes can work with comparative ease. The walls that enclose the Indian's house, the blankets that keep him warm, and the ropes, indispensable in fishing, in the harnessing of his dog teams, and in various other enterprises — all come from the fibrous inner bark of this tree. Truly it is a "tree of life" to the Alaskan aborigines. In cultivation, this species far exceeds the other native in beauty and rapidity of growth. It is coming into popularity in the United States. CHAPTER XII; THE INCENSE CEDAR Genus LIBOCEDRUS, Endl. Tall, aromatic, resinous trees. Leaves scale-like, 4-ranked, in flat sprays. Flowers monoecious, solitary, minute, terminal. Fruit an annual cone, oblong, few-scaled. (L. decurrens) incense cedar This single representative of its genus in America has seven sister species, chiefly in the Southern Hemisphere. Formosa and southwestern China, New Zealand, New Guinea, and South Amer- ica from Chili to Patagonia — these have their incense cedars, dis- tinguished by the flat, frond-like spray of bright green scale leaves. Our species is grown in parks in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia and New York, and in protected situations about Boston. In Europe it is often planted for ornament. It is native to the slopes of the Cascade and other coast ranges and the Sierra Nevada. It extends from Oregon into Lower Cali- fornia, and reaches its best estate and greatest numbers in the central part of California, betv/een 5,000 and 7,000 feet above the sea. Its lumber resembles that of arbor vitae, and is used for furniture, fencing, lath and shingles, for interior woodwork, and for flume building. John Muir's description of it is most illuminating: ''The incense cedar, when full grown, is a magnificent tree, 120 to nearly 200 feet high, 5 to 8 and occasionally 12 feet in diameter, with cinnamon-coloured bark and warm, yellow-green foliage, and in general appearance like an arbor vit^e. It is dis- tributed through the main forest from an elevation of 3,000 to 6,000 feet, and in sheltered portions of canons on the warm sides to 7, 500 feet. In midwinter, when most trees are asleep, it puts forth its flowers. The pistillate are pale green and inconspicuous, but the staminate are yellow, about one-fourth of an inch long, and are in myriads, tingeing all the branches with gold, and making the tree as it stands in the snow look like a gigantic golden- rod. Though scattered rather sparsely amongst its companions in the open woods, it is seldom out of sight, and its bright brown shaft and warm masses of plumy foliage make a striking feature 94 The Incense Cedar of the landscape. While young and growing fast in an open situation, no other tree of its size in the park forms so exactly tapered a pyramid. The branches, outspread in flat plumes and beautifully fronded, sweep gracefully downward and outward, except those near the top, which aspire; the lowest droop to the ground, overlapping one another, shedding rain and snow, and making fme tents for storm-bound mountaineers and birds. In old age it becomes irregular and picturesque, mostly from accidents — running fires, heavy wet snow breaking the branches, lightning shattering the top, compelling it to try to make new summits out of side branches, etc. Still it frequently lives more than a thousand years, invincibly beautiful, and worthy its place beside the Douglas spruce and the great pines." 95 CHAPTER XIH: THE CYPRESSES Coniferous trees having pyramidal habit. Very popular for ornamental planting. Some species have coasiderable lumber value. All have light, graceful leaf spray and small, globular, woody cones. Wood usually soft. KEY TO GENERA A. Leaves, minute, scaly, thick, evergreen. B. Seeds under each cone scale many. I. Genus Cupressus, Linn. BB. Seeds under each cone scale i to 5. 2. Genus Cham/ecyparis, Spach. AA. Leaves linear, deciduous. 3. Genus Taxodium, Rich. I. Genus CUPRESSUS, Linn. Resinous trees with naked buds, stout, ascending branches, which become horizontal. Leaves minute, scale-like, 4-ranked. Flowers minute, monoecious, yellowish. Fruit biennial, globular, woody cones. KEY TO SPECIES A. Branchlets stout. B. Foliage dark green. (C. macrocarpd) Monterey cypress BB. Foliage pale green; twigs glaucous. (C. Ari{onica) Arizona cypress AA. Branchlets slender; foliage dark green. B. Leaves obscurely glandular. (C. Goveniana) cypress BB. Leaves plainly glandular. (C Macnahiana) cypress Monterey Cypress {Cupressus macrocarpa, Gord.) — A broad pyramidal tree when young, 40 to 75 feet high, becoming gnarled and flat topped when old. Trunk short, 3 to 6 feet thick. Bark brown to pale grey, broken into irregular ridges, covered with elon- gated, persistent scales. Wood brown, hard, strong, heavy, durable, fine grained. Leaves ovate, minute, closely appressed to twigs. Flowers minute, monoecious, separated, terminal, yel- low. Fruit clustered, erect, globular cones, of few woody scales, 96 The Cypresses seeds 1 8 to 20 under each middle scale. Preferred habitat, exposeo coast bluffs. Distribution, around Bay of Monterey, California. Uses: Planted for windbreaks and hedges, and for ornament. The Pacific coast forests thrill the heart of the Easterner, unless that heart be petrified by commercialism. Even then, the thrill is there, though it be a materialistic vibration, accompanied by a mental estimate in terms of board feet. The thrill changes from wonder to pity as the tree lover looks upon that small remnant of its race, the Monterey cypresses, that cling to the wind-beaten promontories about Monterey Bay. They look like battle-scarred veterans making a stubborn though hopeless stand in the last ditch. And that, literally, is the state of their fortunes. Wide as their gnarled roots range for foothold, the crumbling bluffs are gradually undermined by the waves, and one by one those in the front rank go down. The hungry waves will never give up the siege, and the last of the trees in their native soil will in time be swept out of existence. Fortunately the species is hardy and happy in cultivation far from its native land. It is known in several horticultural forms as well as the type species in temperate South America, Australia and New Zealand. In southern and western Europe it is in great favour, and at home it is planted very generally for ornament and for hedges up and down the Pacific coast. Lately it is coming into use in the Southeastern States. Hence, the tree is saved to a larger life by man's intervention, although Nature ruthlessly lets extermination overtake it in the struggle for exist- ence. It is to be hoped that age will bring these cultivated cypresses to something like the picturesque habit that distin- guishes the trees that grow wild. No pine of the Alps ever took on such grotesqueness as marks the Monterey cypresses. The Cypresses of Monterey Staunch derelicts adrift on Time's wide sea. Undaunted exiles from an age pristine! Your loneliness in tortured limb we see; Your courage in your crown of living green; Your strength unyielding, in your grappling knee; Your patience in the calmness of your mien. Enrapt, you stand in mighty reverie. While centuries come and go, unheard, unseen. — Anna Botsjord Comstock. 97 The Cypresses The Arizona Cypress (C. Ari^onica, Greene) extends as a small or medium-sized tree of pyramidal habit from Arizona into California and Mexico. Forests of it are found at 5,000 to 6,000 feet elevation. The trees are occasionally broad with flattened tops. The leaves are pale green, and a glaucous bloom covers them after the first year of growth. The cones are also glaucous, and each thick scale has a sharp beak at the top. The tree is rare in cultivation, and as yet has no importance in the lumber trade. The Cypress (C. Goveniana, Gord.), of central and sou'thern California coast mountains, has dark green foliage on spreading branches that form a loose, open head. The tree is not at all rare within its range, but varies from a shrub to a tree 50 feet high. Horticultural forms, usually dwarfs, are cultivated. The Macnab Cypress (C. Macnabiana, Murr.), also a Cali- fornian limited to the northern mountainous part of the state, is a small spreading tree, rarely 30 feet high, often with many stems. Its leaves are dark green, sometimes whitened by a glaucous bloom, always distinctly set with glands. In cultivation the tree is the hardiest of the genus, although restricted to California and the Gulf States in this country and to the warmer parts of Europe. The classic Cypress (C. sempervtrens, Linn.) of the Old World gives distinction to Italian gardens to-day, and as the symbol of mourning has been planted in the burial places of Europe from the earliest recorded times. It is mentioned more fre- quently in classical literature than any other conifer.* Its som- bre foliage was the badge of grief. It is one of the trees noted for longevity; its age limit is estimated at 3,000 years. Not hardy in our Northern States, it is cultivated in the South and in Cali- fornia. The species submits to severe pruning, so it is often planted for hedges. 2. Genus CHAMiECYPARIS, Spach. Trees of tall, narrow pyramidal habit, with short, spreading side branches, and flat branchlets spray. fVood pale, fragrant, durable. Leaves scale-like, sharp, opposite in pairs. Flowers monoecious, minute, globular, lateral. Fruit annual, erect, globular cones of few woody scales; seeds i to 5 under each fertile scale. * " Nor, when you die, shall any of the trees you have planted, save only the mournful cypresses, follow their master." — Horace. 98 THE MONTEREY CYPRESS {Cupressus macrocarpa) A small remnant of their race are the aged, flat-topped veteran cypresses that cling with gnarled and far-reaching roots to the crumbling soil of rocky promontories about Monterey Bay in California. The leaves are minute, but the foliage mass is thick and casts a sombre shade. In cultivation the species thrives, and makes a beautiful hedge tree and ornamental evergreen «-v a V 4-1 u Q 00 CO V O *-> % ce O CO *•> l-H s: CO 00 4-> -2 13 <3 ^ u ^ 4^ , C4 O) G V CO <-• IS .2 -^ a 1 .s CO C\J kl 3 O c C Cli a3 O >../ o C J3 H u O , CO C/3 'a E o ft CO Pi CO o CO >• CO 13 *-> U a C CIS o -O -C c g o CO CO V 2 o 13 'rt _c >-M CO C -M ^-^ +j" 1 J3 a o CTJ ^ CO 3 _<» H iT CO c4 ^ CO c a. w H 4-> to C .Z c ffi CJ '^ "O CO c O C J= r-" W .« v «-> TJ CO C/3 -5 Pl, -ft; O U2 I^^ CO CO 3 u. ^J CO ^ ^ s i<-i 13 O 4> ^:5 4> ►< U 4> O CO O o «- .*^ — m O C > CO C CO o t I 4.> I •r* a> u 1- qs U J3 S o .t: r5 rt J2 — CO C .52 Vj CS 13 C 4) 3 O V .2 3 60 « a c 3 •- TS CO O ^ D. CO CO Xi < w u He- ■»-'(-' •M .3 CO O. O o i: O M ^ a; W j5 0) H a 13 ^ O O ^ CO 43 CO 3 ° -^ (J CO 4> - « ti Ui 3 w. 'r CO O 00 P The Cypresses KEY TO SPECIES A. Bark of tree thin; ridges flat; leaves blue-green. B. Twigs slender; leaves dull, glandular. (C thyoides) white cedar BB. Twigs stout; leaves bright, not glandular. (C. N ootkatensis) sitka cypress AA. Bark of tree thick; ridges rounded, leaves bright green, glandular. (C Lawsoniana) lawson cypress This genus of six species is distributed in North America and Japan and on the Island of Formosa. White Cedar (Chamcecyparts thyoides, Britt.) — A fast- growing, pyramidal tree, 40 to 80 feet high, with flat, graceful spray on erect, spreading branches. Bark pale, reddish brown, furrowed, stringy, often terminal. JVood light reddish brown, soft, light, weak, aromatic, close grained, easily worked, very durable in soil. Buds naked, very small. Leaves dull blue-green, minute, scale- like, opposite, 4-ranked, lateral pairs keeled, others concave, fitting compressed twigs. Flowers, April, monoecious, small, terminal, made of 4 to 6 scales; staminate red or yellow, abundant; pistil- late few, greenish. Fruit woody, spherical cone, J inch in diame- ter, annual, glaucous, blue-green, becoming brown; scales with beak in centre; seeds winged, i to 2 under each scale. Preferred habitat, deep swamps near seacoast. Distribution, seaboard states, Maine to Mississippi. Uses: Important ornamental evergreen. Wood used for interior fmish of houses, for boats, fence posts, rail- road ties, buckets, barrels, shingles, and small woodenware. The Atlantic seaboard from Massachusetts Bay south has a cypress whose common name, ''white cedar," is unfortunate. There ought to be distinct names enough to go around. All the species of a genus ought to have the same generic name in English as well as in Latin or Greek. However, white cedar is the trade name of the lumber, and there is little chance that the cedar mud- dle will be cleared by calling this tree a cypress. The tree is a lover of swamps and doesn't get far back from the coast. In cultivation it thrives in any sandy loam, if not too dry. It is lumbered to some extent and devoted to uses that test its durability in contact with water and exposure to sun and wind. The Sitka Cypress (C N ootkatensis, Lamb.) grows over 100 feet tall, with a trunk over 5 feet through, near the coast of Alaska. Its yellow branchlets lighten the gloom of its blue-green 99 The Cypresses foliage, and the treetop is warmed by the ruddy colour of the oldest leaves, which remain for some time on the tree after they are dead. The range of the species is from Alaska into Oregon, climbing the mountains to the altitude of 3,000 feet, where the tree is reduced to a shrub. The hard wood is very close of texture and pale yellow. It is durable and pleasantly aromatic. Carpenters employ it in the interior finishing of houses. It is made into furniture, and used in boat building. Horticultural forms of this species are astonishingly numerous. Sudworth gives sixty-eight varieties in his "Check List." Lawson Cypress {Chamcecyparis Lawsoniana, A. Murr.) — A spire-like tree, 1 50 to 200 feet high, with short horizontal branches ending in a flat spray. Bark very thick, with rounded scaly ridges, dark red. Wood hard, light, strong, pale yellow, close grained, resinous, fragrant, easily worked. Leaves minute, bright green, in opposite pairs. Flowers: minute, numerous; staminate bright red; pistillate dark coloured. Fruit clustered cones, pea sized, of few scales; seeds 2 to 4 under each scale. Preferred habitat, mountain slopes. Distribution, coast mountains of Oregon and California. Uses: A valuable ornamental tree. Wood used in house finishing, flooring, and in boat building and for railroad ties and fence posts. Matches are made of it. Somewhat of the beauty of those Western cypresses can be appreciated by looking in gardens and nurseries at the multitude of varieties of each of them in cultivation in this country and abroad. In their own country the parents of these precocious ornamental offspring are to be seen. No horticultural substitute for the original will suffice the tree lover. To go to Oregon is his fondly cherished plan. To see that twenty-mile forest belt of Lawson cypresses that stretches from Point Gregory to the mouth of the Coquille River — only this will satisfy. There are men who name as ''the handsomest of the conifers" trees outside of this genus, but the visitor to this splendid grove of Lawson cypresses will be inclined to deny it. It is hard to keep to a sliding scale and avoid superlatives in judging those Western trees. The Japanese Retinosporas, beautiful evergreen of this type, widely cultivated in many horticultural forms, were assigned to a separate genus by Siebold and Zuccarini, but other authorities consider them all to be juvenile forms of the genus Chamascyparis, 100 The Cypresses or Thuya. These evergreens have in youth different foHage from that of the adult trees — a sufficient reason for confusion, especially before the trees bear cones. Whatever botanical affinities are eventually established, the trade name will probably remain Retinospora, and people will plant these handsome evergreens in increasing numbers. In his Manual, 1905, Professor Sargent includes two Japanese Retinosporas in the genus Chamaecyparis. 3. Genus TAXODIUM, Rich. The bald cypress has two sister species in the genus Taxodium. One, a shrub, is native to China; the other, a large tree, to Mexico. Forests of bald cypresses covered large areas of Europe and central North America during the Tertiary Period, but they perished in the Glacial Era. The rocks tell the story. Bald cypresses rank among the oldest and largest trees in the world. The Mexican species, T. mucronatum, is estimated to live 4,000 years. The far-famed "Cypress of Montezuma," in Che- pultepec, is nearly 200 feet high and its trunk has a diameter of 1 5 feet. It is believed to be less than 800 years old — a tree still in the vigour of youth. The largest trunk known in this species is 40 feet in diameter at base. Beside this giant our own bald cypress seems small and short lived, but among our native trees it ranks high in size and age. Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum, Rich.) — A tall pyra- midal tree, 75 to 1 50 feet high, with pendulous branches, becoming broad and round headed when old. Trunk Icbed above, strongly buttressed and usually hollow at the base. Roots long, horizontal, with vertical anchor roots. Bark pale reddish grey, scaly, divided by shallow fissures. Wood soft, light, brown, easily worked, durable. Buds minute, globular, scaly, silvery. Leaves decid- uous with the branchlets linear, i to f inch long, 2-ranked, spreading or scale-like, closely appressed. Flowers: monoecious, small; staminate in loose, drooping panicles, 4 to 6 inches long; pistillate globose, scaly, scattered near ends of twigs. Fruit annual, globular, woody cones, in pairs or solitary, i inch in diameter; seeds winged, 2 under each scale. Preferred habitat, swamps of coast or river bottoms. Distribution, Delaware to Florida; west into Texas; north along Mississippi to Missouri, Indiana and Illinois. Uses: Lumber for buildings, doors, shingles, lOI The Cypresses cooperage, fencing and railroad ties. Planted as an ornamental tree in Northern States and in Europe. Familiar to the traveller through our Eastern and South- ern seaboard regions are the cypress swamps, dismal, but pic- turesque withal, and exhibiting characteristics that set this tree quite apart from others. A conifer is ordinarily an evergreen tree. This one establishes its family claims by the brave array of button-like cones it ripens every autumn. But it is deciduous, shedding not only its yew-like leaves, but, surprisingly, most of the little twigs also that bear the leaves. So the winter finds the trees bare and dead looking, the tall, corrugated trunks of old ones often supporting heads as broad as the height, and hopelessly unsymmetrical. In the soft muck of deep swamps the trees spread out abruptly at the base into flying buttresses, each becom- ing hollow in course of time, as the base of the trunk is long before. Out on all sides stretch long, thick roots whose branches go down and anchor the tree, while the main ones seem designed to balance it on its uncertain foundation. The "knees" that rise up at inter- vals from the main roots and are distinguished from stumps by their smooth, conical shapes, are still a physiological puzzle. Many people believe that they gather air for the submerged root system. Others declare that they strengthen it. The cypresses keep their secrets from the prying investigator, and the solemn cormorants that build in the treetops will never tell. I shall not forget an excursion on foot into one of the large bald cypress swamps of southern Florida in May. The dangerous part of the jaunt was the passage forced through a jungle of young pines, palmettoes and scrubby live oaks interlaced with wiry vines and creepers. Here rattlesnakes hide, and show fight when dis- turbed. Emerging at length into comparatively open timber, we stood surrounded by young cypresses with pale grey trunks, smooth, slender, and flaring widely at the bases. Among the trunks were stumps, and also knees, the latter smooth, as if the fibres went up one side and on down the other. Overhead was a feathery canopy of pale sage-green leaves. On rugged old trunks air plants found ample roothold. Orchids of sorts I had admired afar off in florists' windows held out great cataracts of bloom which were ours for the plucking. Vivid amaryllis flowers were similarly growing out of the trunks of these trees, with delicate ferns to keep them company. Under foot, the dry, sandy soil bore a crop 102 o o o " CO (U CLm C O o ^-2 £ °.S ^ £; << „ ^ a< u 4J oT O "^ s _s « t) c > •- 5 3 00 C/5 W (^ Ph >^ u < W e>o CO C "* -CI ..^ >> tuO 3 W O c ■" I Cu s 4> •i-i M-1 o c/3 e^ !r! r! 4J t4^ C^ O ;j3 . ^ O c« I"- t; i« "t; (J ^ d o .t; i-i w p: -^ S -^ <" ^1 ^ g CI n 1, « *^ :h^ b c b .- •r' O fi-^ p, C« 4J 4J -C W) H r ^ o 2 (A (J ■-^% "■Jv' THE BALD CYPRESS {Taxodium dhtichum) The base of the trunk flares abruptly into lobed buttresses. Pointed "knees" rise from the long horizontal roots of old trees. They are supposed to be means of aeration to the inundated roots. The leafy, lateral twigs are deciduous. Cypress swamps are found in the maritime regions of the Southeastern states The C3^resses of unfamiliar flowers. The rainy season which opens in May inundates this land for fully half of the year. The wood of bald cypress is very important in the lumber trade, being soft, handsome, easily worked and durable in water and in the soil. Buckets and bowls are made by hollowing out knees of suitable sizes. Lover though it be of Southern swamps, yet there is no hand- somer spire of living green in any Northern upland park than this same bald cypress. In its early years the tree is perfectly sym- metrical, trim and beautiful in the feathery lightness of its leafy spray. The roots keep out of sight and there is no hint of the out- landish hollow buttresses and bare knees that characterise the tree at home. Among strangers, the bald cypress puts on its best manners; there is no more conventional and fastidious tree in the park. The tree is cultivated also in a number of varieties, some dwarfs, some weeping forms, others of stricter spire forms that lend themselves to formal effects in gardens. The heads of cypress trees grow broad in moist soil, and assume narrower form in soil with scant moisture supply. 103 CHAPTER XIV: THE JUNIPERS Genus JUNIPERUS, Linn. Evergreen trees or shrubs with pungent sap, thin, ragged bark, and short, much-divided ascending branches. Leaves usually of two kinds, linear, spiny, free, in whorls of 3 at each joint, or scale-like, blunt, in pairs, 2-ranked, opposite, and closely appressed to twigs. Flowers in small, inconspicuous aments, dioecious or rarely monoecious. Fruit berry-like, by coalescence of fleshy scales; seeds i to 6, wingless, bony. IVood soft, close grained, durable. KEY TO SPECIES A. Leaves free, 3 in a whorl, awl shaped, spiny ; flowers axillary; berry bright blue with pale bloom; seeds 3. (/. communis) dwarf juniper AA. Leaves appressed to twig, in threes or opposite, scale-like, minute; flowers terminal; berry brown or dark blue; seeds i to 12. B. Berry large, brownish red, with dry, sweet flesh. C. Seeds few or solitary. D. Fruit oblong, i to 2-seeded; leaves in threes; twigs stout. (/. Calif ornica) California juniper DD. Fruit round, i -seeded; leaves in twos or threes; twigs slender. (J. Utahensis) utah juniper CC. Seeds 4 to 12; berry with tubercles projecting. D. Bark shed in thin, red, papery scales. (J. flaccida) drooping juniper DD. Bark shed in squarish plates. (/. pachyphloBu) checker-barked juniper BB. Berry small (except occidentalis), dark blue or black, resinous, juicy; seeds i to 4. C. Twigs slender, pendulous. D. Seed solitary, dark ashy grey. (j, monosperma) one-seeded juniper DD. Seeds 2; berry flattened, J inch in diameter; bark light reddish brown; twigs 4-angIed. (y. Barhadensis) soutrern red juniper DDD. Seeds i to 4; berry round; bark bro\mish red, of loose scales, (y. sabinoides) mountain juniper 104 The Junipers CC. Twigs slender, stiff, erect; berry bright blue. {J. scopulorum) rocky mountain juniper CCC. Twigs stout; berry dark blue with pale bloom; seeds 2 to 3. D. Leaves in threes, grey-green; tree a broad, low crown of large horizontal branches. (/. occidentalis) western juniper DD. Leaves in twos, blue-green; tree a tall, narrow pyramid. (/. Virginiana) red juniper — red cedar The junipers are distinguished from most other evergreens by the fact that they are not cone bearers. The flowers are incon- spicuous, and similar to a true conifer's, but in course of develop- ment tne scales thicken and grow together, forming a sweet, berry-like fruit. On many of these berries the tips of the cone scales may be distinctly seen on the outer surface. Junipers usually show two kinds of leaves: (i) stiff, spiny, narrow ones, channelled and free; (2) minute, scale-like ones, opposite in pairs and pressed close to the twig. The sap is resinous and aromatic. The wood is hard, reddish, durable and light — in certain species pleasantly fragrant. Thirty-five species of junipers are distributed over the North- ern Hemisphere, contributing to the wealth of the world valuable wools and ornamental trees and shrubs. Our own red juniper has over thirty cultivated varieties. The narrow, tapering spire, the globe of compact green and the pigmy forms — all are well adapted to formal gardening. The effects produced by the classic cypress m warmer climates may be reproduced in Northern gardens by the use of junipers. The junipers are hardy over wide stretches of territory, and will grow on sterile soil. They resist unfavourable climates and thrive, as a rule, when transplanted. They love the sun and the wind. Better trees could not be provided for windbreaks against sea breezes, on a barren, exposed coast. They are multiplied by seeds, cuttings and layers, as well as by grafting. Seeds take two or three years to germinate. Several Asiatic and European junipers are cultivated in America in various horticultural forms. Naturally, a tribe so submissive to the gardener's shears has long been under his care. Our native species are often seen in European gardens, and /. com- munis, Linn., of Europe is often planted here in its narrow, spiny 105 The Junipers form. A much-prized Himalayan species, /. recurva, D. Don., is a dwarf with long, spreading or trailing limbs. Of similar habit is J. Sabina, Linn., native of Europe and Asia, parent of many horticultural forms. Dwarf Juniper (Juniperus communis, Linn.) — Shrub of sprawling habit, or small tree 20 to 30 feet, with short trunk and irregular, open head of erect branches. Bark loosely scaly, thin, reddish brown. JVood hard, fme textured, light brown, durable in soil. Buds loosely scaly, small, pointed. Leaves in threes, boat shaped, lined with a white bloom on the concave (upper) side, spiny, spreading, dark green, shiny below; J to J inch long; in winter, bronze green; persistent for many years. Flowers monoecious, axillary, in cone-like aments. Fruits ripe third autumn; berries bright blue with pale bloom, flesh mealy, soft; seeds i to 3. Preferred habitat, dry limestone hills; waste land. Distribution, Greenland to Alaska; south to Pennsylvania and Nebraska, in Rocky Mountains as far south as Texas, New Mexico and Arizona; Alaska to northern California. Uses: Planted for hedges, windbreaks and as a cover for waste land on seashore. Berries used to flavour gin. This indefatigable little tree colonist has not only settled in most of the colder parts of this country, but it is found in the Eastern Hemisphere from the broad stretches of the North even to the mountains of southern Europe, northern Africa and the Himalayas. In America it assumes a definite tree habit only in southern Illinois. It would seem as if the limestone of these uplands gave the procumbent, .incapable sprawler backbone enough to stand up and take its place among trees. In another particular this species lacks energy; it requires three years to ripen a crop of berries. Out of /. communis has sprung a race of low junipers — impor- tant horticultural varieties, including graceful weeping forms, compact globose ones, some spire-like and some with golden foliage. The Irish juniper, one of the most popular varieties, has a tapering habit, very narrow, like a miniature Lombardy poplar. /. com- munis is the only species whose leaves are spreading throughout. On the remaining ten native species the leaves are minute and closely appressed to the stem, except a few whose new shoots imitate the dwarf juniper. In Europe, much more than in Amer- ica, the berries are gathered and consumed in the making of giiL 106 The Junipers From time immemorial the flavour of the juniper berry has been the sine qua non to quahty in this beverage. California Juniper (Juniperus Calijornica, Carr.) — Conical or broad and open-headed tree, 20 to 40 feet high, with irregular, fluted trunk and twisted limbs. Bark thin, pale grey, hanging m loose plate-like scales. Wood soft, fme grained, reddish brown, durable in soil. Leaves in threes, on older twigs, thick keeled, set close to twig, pale yellow-green; on new shoots, linear, pale lined, spiny, spreading. Flowers, January to March, monoecious, in scaly aments. Fruits ripe second season, oblong or round, J to | inch long, brown, with pale bloom; seeds i to 2, large. Preferred habitat, dry plains and slopes of mountains. Distribution, coast mountains from the lower Sacramento Valley to Lower California; east into Sierra Nevada. Uses: Wood for posts and for fuel. Fruit eaten by Indians. Locally planted to some extent on semi- arid land. The Utah Juniper (Juniper Utahensis, Lemm.) takes the place of the California species in the arid regions between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. It is called the desert juniper, is gnarled like its Western relative, and has much the same habit, though its round berry, with a solitary seed, and its slender twigs distinguish it. This little tree serves the settler and the Indian just as the California species does. The Drooping Juniper (Juniperus flaccida, Schlecht.) has long, flexible branchlets that give it grace beyond the portion allotted to its kindred. The bark of this little tree is bright cin- namon and is shed in papery scales. It is a pity that this dainty juniper, which is met in gardens of Algiers and in the south of France, should be unknown to horticulture in its own country. It wastes its beauty on uninhabited slopes of the Chisos Mountains in southv/estern Texas, and is common at high altitudes across the Mexican border. The Checker-barked Juniper (Juniperus pachyphloea, Torr.) also inhabits southwestern Texas, following arid slopes between 4,000 and 6,000 feet in altitude, and invading New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico. It is a considerable tree, 40 to 60 feet high, with short, stout trunk and broad, horizontal spread of limb — a lusty tree to be produced on arid soil. The peculiar checkered bark gives it distinction in the genus. It is often 3 to 4 inches in thick- ness, and the regularity of the deep, vertical furrowing seems 107 The Junipers Strikingly artificial. The tree is called ''alligator juniper" in Ari- zona. The thickness of the bark is exceptional among junipers. The Indians gather the fruits, which are large and copiously borne by mature trees, and put them away for winter. Though resinous in taste, the cake made out of these berries ground into meal is by no means unpalatable to white folks. Baked in the sun, it is light, sweet and easily digested. The large and plentiful berries of the other mountain junipers are used in the samie way. The One-seeded Juniper {JvMiperus monosperma, Sarg.) is easily distinguished by its ashy grey bark in seasons where the berry is not there to tell the tale. This thin bark is stripped into its fibres and woven into cloth and mats by Indians. Girths of their saddles are woven of it. The berries also furnish food. The tree grows to 50 feet high, with a strongly buttressed trunk 8 or 10 feet in girth. The limbs are short, with clustering grey-green foliage of the minute, scale-like sort. This is a tree of the mountain slope or the high plateau, ranging from Colorado to Texas, and west to Arizona, forming forests in southern Colorado and Utah. Fencing and fuel consume some wood each year. The Rock Cedar (Juniperus sahinoides, Nees.) is a consider- able tree in the lowlands of the central counties of Texas, but dwindles in size as it ascends the mountains and arid regions to the west and south. This tree has distinctly quadrangular twigs by the paired, opposite arrangement of its strongly keeled leaves. The foliage mass is loose and irregular, with a dark blue-green cast. Young shoots bear linear, free, spiny leaves J inch long. The bark is reticulated by an intricate network of furrows leaving flat plates between. This juniper furnishes much fuel as well as a considerable supply of fence posts, railroad ties and telegraph poles in a region where wood is not plenty. Red Juniper, Red Cedar {Juniperus Virginiana, Linn.) — Conical tree, compact when young, becoming loose and cylindrical or irregular when old; from a shrub to a tree 100 feet high and 5 feet trunk diameter; branches short, slender, ascending, becoming horizontal. Bark red, stringy, persistent; branches smooth. Wood soft, weak, close grained, red, fragrant. Buds minute, green. Leaves opposite, on old stems, 4-ranked; scale-like, blue- green, closely appressed to twigs, which seem 4-angled; on new shoots, scattered, spiny, loose, awl shaped, 4 to f inch long, pale yellow-green. Flowers in April, May; terminal on side twigs, 108 The Junipers dioecious, rarely monoecious; staminate of 4 to 6 scales, each bear- ing several pollen sacs; pistillate of minute, paired, bluish, fleshy scales, bearing two ovules. Fruit a blue, glaucous berry, the size of a pea, ripening the first or second season and containing i to 4 seeds; flesh sweet, resinous. Preferred habitat, dry soil or peaty swamps. Distribution, east of the Rocky Mountains. Uses: Wood used largely for pails, pencils, chests and closets, sills and interior finishing, railroad ties and fence posts. It is unfortunate that, whereas the true cedars are all in the Old-World genus Cedrus, the American genera. Thuya, Libocedrus, Chamaecyparis and Juniperus, each have one or more species to which the name is loosely applied. It would take a long while to unlearn the name ''red cedar" for this familiar tree — to write with a juniper pencil; to put furs and woollens away in moth- discouraging juniper chests. So hard it is to break a habit. The logical tiling is to call this tree a juniper, as well as the other species of Juniperus, and so far reduce the confusion involved now every time the word cedar is mentioned. This vagabond tree, familiar in abandoned farms and ragged fence rows of New England, is the same that grows from Nova Scotia to Georgia, and west to where the hills lift and the arid ridges become the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. A stunted tree covering the limestone plateaus of Tennessee, it is a towering pyramid of luxuriant green in the lower Mississippi Valley. Sea- shores of the East and South, and sterile soil on foothills of Eastern mountains, all show these scattered trees, small and bushy, or tall and compact. The berries are borne in profusion and are distributed by birds. The leaves are 2-ranked, spiny, channelled, lined with white on new shoots and on young trees. The older parts of twigs show closely appressed scale-like leaves. Both types are found on every tree. In winter a rusty brown comes over the dark blue- green of the foliage mass, but spring revivifies it. The trunks are columnar and corrugated; they bare them- selves by shedding the stringy brown bark in longitudinal strips. In lower Pennsylvania this is a shade tree of considerable popular^ ity. It forms windbreaks in exposed situations, on the coast or inland, where most trees fail. The tree is planted profitably for posts and railroad ties in the Mississippi Valley States. Where trees can be had large enough for telegraph or telephone poles 109 The Junipers they command the highest prices, for the wood is one of the most durable. The Fabers have for generations maintained their own forests of this species in Germany to supply their pencil factories. An interesting "fruit" of the red juniper, much larger and more luscious looking than the diminutive berries, is familiar to boys and girls under the name "cedar apple." A remarkable thing about these pulpy, jelly-like masses, with their yellow spurs, is that they come out on the twigs as suddenly as mushrooms. Still more astonishing is the fact that this parasitic fungus that makes itself at home on the red cedar utterly ignores all red cedars when its spores are germinating to produce the next generation. Only those that fall on apple trees live. They do not produce "apples" of any sort, but patches of yellow "apple rust" on leaves and fruit. Spores wafted away from these blotches germinate only when they fall on twigs of red cedar. They grow inside, and at fruiting time throw out the gelatinous cedar-apple mass whose spurs contain the spores. This capricious "alternation of generations" is interestingly seen in wheat rust, whose alternate host is the common barberry. A third rust goes from birches to poplars and back again to birches each alternate year. The Red Juniper of the South (Juniperus Barhadensis, Linn.) has long been considered by good authorities a variety of the preceding species. It furnishes the highest grade of "red cedar" for pencils. Western Florida has many swampy forests of these trees. The Fabers, of pencil fame, own vast tracts here. The West Indies and the Gulf States all contribute a considerable quantity to commerce each year. Growing naturally in swamps like the bald cypress, yet it thrives when planted in parks and cemeteries. It is the most beautiful of the junipers in cultivation. Its slender, spreading branches clothed with pendulous twigs, give unusual grace to the tree habit. The berries are silvery white and abundant. Its susceptibility to frost confines this tree's range to the Southern States. The Rocky Mountain Juniper {Juniperus scopulorum, Sarg.) has stout twigs and limbs, usually a short trunk with several main limbs carrying the top. Its foliage is often pale grey-green —a fashionable colour on the Western plains and foothills. It climbs to elevations of over 5,000 feet, and few soils are too poor and too arid to support it. It follows the Rocky Mountains from 1 10 «J 'T3 TS 1-. as C V -o 4-1 C c rt o c» Im ■!-> 3 0 u o c j2 U5 D 4; ■> > « B V -a ^ 0 v 0 u > c ►* V oT ji bu H ■^ 4-1 • >, >> >_ ■1-' '^ c 3 V 0 j= u 4-1 CO c *r- 0 13 a •-H-t 3 0 ■w' _aj "rt tc c C K 0 u 'ij !--■ .■^ u ■(-> 1) ::^ it. l-< ->- rt 0 ^ — -' rt (^ < 2 H _W ■g u 4J nj y Ml Q ■-7 CO H ^ ^ Pi OS (J c 3 U3 u W OS G M W > nS 0 ^ Ih' -Q 'rt 4; 03 1+-H Cli CO 'c -r 0 CO ^ 0 •Si rt Ui *c a CJ J: +-> 0 S 3 s CO ■l-J ^ 0 CiC >4-i aj u> c tuO C) 'Eh l-> cx, cj « (J 4; '" (5 ^ w G 0 0 0 to — < , SO -< 3 z; ■" 0 ^ -0^ -J ii « L^ 3 ■"" a 1— 1 •a ^ 0 >^^ "13 w ■^ J3 U W TD-^ -c H 3 >- G t^ - 0 • S § tL t^ s c 0 1 IS n The Junipers Alberta to Texas on the eastern slopes; on the western slopes it enters Washington, Oregon and California. The l^ger fruit, requiring two years to ripen, the broader head, the stouter branches and twigs, the paler foliage, and the shreddy bark distinguish this species from the true red juniper which meets it on the hither boundaries of the Rockies, and from which it was but recently separated by botanists. Western Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis, Hook.) — Low, broad-headed tree, 20 to 65 feet high, with unusually thick trunk and stout, horizontal branches. Bark ^ inch thick, bright crimson- red, in broad, scaly ridges, with shallow irregular interlacing fur- rows. Wood soft, light, pale reddish brown, fme grained, very durable in the soil. Leaves in threes, minute, closely appressed to twigs, grey-green, tapering, sharp pointed. Flowers cone-like, monoecious, inconspicuous. Fruit a blue-black berry with pale bloom, I to J inch long; seeds 2 to 3. Preferred habitat, mountain sides and elevated plains, 6,000 to 10,000 feet. Distribution, western Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California, following the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the San Bernardino range. Uses: Wood for fencing and fuel. Bark woven into mats and cloth by Indians. Fruit an important article of food among California tribes. Here is one of the patriarchal trees of America — one whose age ranks it with the Sequoias, dating the birth of the oldest back, assuredly, more than 2,000 years. It is impossible to fmd a giant with trunk sound to the core and telling the whole story in its annual rings. John Muir is probably the only man who has made serious inquiry into this matter. On the bleak ridges of the Sierras, with no soil but crumbs of disintegrating granite, these trees make scarcely any gain from year to year. Two of Muir's measurements are given below, the years being determined by the number of annual rings. Diameter of Trunk Age 2 feet II inches 1,140 years I foot 7 J inches 834 years Being a poet as well as a scientist, John Muir was deterred from the killing of one of the elders, merely to appease his curiosity. Beside, dry rot and scars of ancient hurts confuse the reader of tree rings, and throw him upon estimates, after all. The difficulties in The Junipers of chopping down a tree lo feet in diameter would discourage the most ardent searcher after treasures of fact hid in a tree trunl^. A chip a foot deep chopped out of a medium-sized tred^ — 6 feet in diameter — showed an average of fifty-seven years of growth required to make an inch of wood. On soil deposited in the high valleys by glacial rivers these junipers grow about as fast as oaks. They are the well-fed, commonplace members of the family, growing tall and straight under favouring skies. I cannot forbear a quotation from John Muir's "Forests of the Yosemite Park," for he knows these mountain trees person- ally, and has interpreted them to the world as no other man has done: ''The sturdy storm-enduring red cedar (Juntperus occi- dentalis) delights to dwell on the tops of granite domes and ridges and glacier pavements of the upper pine belt, at an elevation of 7,000 to 10,000 feet, where it can get plenty of sunshine and snow and elbow room, without encountering quick-growing, overshadowing rivals. They never make anything like a forest, seldom come together even in groves, but stand out separate and independent in the wind, clinging by slight joints to the rock, living chiefly on snow and thin air,, and maintaining tough health on this diet for 2,000 years or more, every feature and gesture expressing steadfast, dogged endurance. . . . Many are mere stumps as broad as high, broken by avalanches and lightning, picturesquely tufted with dense grey scale-like foliage, and giving no hint of dying. . . . Barring accidents, for all I can see, they would live forever. When killed, they waste out of existence about as slovvly as granite. Even when overthrown by avalanches, after standing so long, they refuse to lie at rest, leaning stubbornly on their big elbows as if anxious to rise, and while a single root holds to the rocks, putting forth fresh leaves with a grim never-say-die and never-lie-down expression/' 112 CHAPTER XV: THE TORREYAS Family Taxacev^ Genus TUMION, Raf. Ornamental evergreens, with spreading, usually whorled branches and ill-smelling sap. Leaves 2-ranked, linear, with paler linings. Flowers dioecious (rarely monoecious), scaly at base. Fruit like a plum; seed large, solitary. Wood hard, durable, strong, close grained. KEY TO SPECIES A. Leaves linear; branches spreading, pendulous. B. Length of leaves } to ij inches, bark brown, tinged with orange; fruit dark purple, obovate, i to ij inches long. {T. taxi folium) Florida torreya BB. Length of leaves J to J inch, bark brownish grey; fruit pale green, streaked with purple, oval, i to ij inches long. (T. Calif ornica) California torreya AA. Leaves lanceolate, spiny pointed; branches spreading, compact; bark bright red; fruit ovoid, less than i inch long. (Exotic.) (T. nucifera) Japanese torreya The Torreyas, close relatives of the yews, are yet little known outside their native ranges, though they are coming into cultiva- tion in the warmer parts of the country. They are objectionable only on account of the bad odour of their leaves when bruised. The tree habit is symmetrically pyramidal, the whorled limbs pendulous, and the foliage handsome. The trees furnish some fence posts. The wood is very durable in wet soil, which is their chosen habitat. Torreyas are propagated from seeds and by cuttings. The latter grow slowly, producing plants that remain low and bushy for years. The Florida species has proved hardy in sheltered situations as far north as Boston, but the Californian cannot sur- vive the cold of this high latitude. 113 The Torreyas The Japanese Torreya promises more hardiness than our native species, and more beauty in cultivation. In habit it is compact with erect Hmbs, quite different from the pendulous- Hmbed natives. The bright red bark adds to its beauty, as also does the breadth and fme shape of the lanceolate leaves. In Japan this tree is highly prized for its wood, which is used in cabinet work and building. A Chinese species, T. grandis, resembling the Japanese, is said to lack the disagreeable odour of the other species. The Florida Torreya (7. taxijolium, Greene) is very local in the northwestern part of that state, growing on bluffs along the Appalachicola River. It is rarely 40 feet high, and is called the "stinking cedar.'* The California Nutmeg (T. Calijornicum, Greene) is a larger tree, handsome in its youthful vigour, in age losing its pyramidal form and becoming round-topped. It is a striking evergreen at any age, with its pale grey bark and its fruits hanging like half-ripe plums among the sprays of prickly, sickle-shaped, linear leaves. The pit of the fruit resembles a nutmeg. A fme grove of these trees is within the borders of the Yosemite Park. Nowhere common, they occur on slopes of the Sierras and Santa Cruz Mountains between 3,000 and 5,000 feet above sea level T14 CHAPTER XVI: THE YEWS Family Taxace/E Genus TAXUS, Linn. Evergreen trees and shrubs, with spreading, horizontal branches, and purple, scaly bark. Leaves linear, spiny, 2-ranked, pale beneath. Flowers minute, dioecious, in axillary heads. Fruit berry-like, fleshy, sweet, scarlet. KEY TO SPECIES A. Foliage yellow-green, short. {T. hrevijolia) pacific yew AA. Foliage dark green, long. (7. Floridana) Florida yew There are six known species of yew, all confined to the North- ern Hemisphere. The fruit is farther away from the coniferous type than that of any true member of the Family Coniferas. Yet careful analysis of flowers and fruit show that the parts are there — the scales and the naked ovules — though development obliterates the signs of relationship to the pines and hemlocks. The Old-World Yew (7. haccata, Linn.) is native to Europe, Asia and Africa. Its history is interwoven with the growth of civilisation. In the folk lore of the English cottagers the yew was saddest of all trees except the cypress. Branches of yew were gathered to deck the house where a body lay awaiting burial. The heads of mourners were bound with chaplets of yew. The sombre yew tree drooping over a grave was a favourite symbol in our great-grandmother's samplers, even so late as a century ago, "Pluck, pluck cypress, O pale maidens, Dusk, O dusk the hall with yew! Weep, and wring Every hand; and every head Bind with cypress and sad yew For him that was of men most true.'* 115 The Yews Yews were planted in churchyards, especially in the south of England. Could any dirge be sadder than the lines above quoted, or any tree a better symbol of inarticulate grief? There was another idea that probably was considered to lighten the gloom of funereal thoughts. The yew is one of the long-lived trees. It was regarded in some quarters as the emblem of immor- tality. The name, yew, is believed to come from the same root as ewig, the German word meaning ''everlasting." In the early wars the yeoman drew a long bow made of the tough wood of his native yew. Spenser called the tree "the shooter eugh." The English soldier hent his bow; the Frenchman drew his. The former was too heavy to lift. Bishop Latimer describes its use by the soldier on the battlefield: " Keeping his right hand at rest upon the nerve, he pressed the whole weight of his body into the horns of his bow." Beside its toughness and elasticity, the wood has other admirable qualities. It lasts indefinitely in soil and exposed to the weather. Its grain is often as handsome as mahogany. The roots often show wavy areas, which when polished and made into tables vied in beauty with the ancient and precious citron wood. Burs of yew were a favourite veneer for tea caddies. The best soil for yew trees is chalk, hence the tree grows its best in the Channel counties of England. Yet even in Scotland famous trees of remarkable age are recorded. The Fotheringal (Fortingall) Yew, 57 feet in circumference, proved by the rings of its stump that it had lived almost 3,000 years — *'a world-old yew tree." "Addison's Walk," at Glasnevin, Ireland, lies between two rows of ancient yews. A close-bodied, compact tree, and tonsile beyond any other, the yew has always been a tree to cut into gro- tesque and geometrical forms for the adornment of gardens in England and on the Continent. In the United States it is similarly employed where formal effects are desired. The tree is also grov/n and allowed to take its normal shape and reach what size it will. It is offered by nurserymen in many varieties. The Pacific Yew {Taxus hrevijolia, Nutt.) — A tree with broad head, of long, horizontal, pendulous limbs, and trunk irreg- ularly lobed and flattened. Bark thin, covered with purplish scales. Wood heavy, hard, strong, red. Leaves short, linear, 2-ranked, pale beneath, yellowish. Flowers dioecious, minute, in leaf axils. Fruit a translucent, scarlet berry. Preferred 1 16 The Yews habitat, ravines and stream banks. Distribution, mountains of coast, from Alaska to southern California, east to Montana. Uses: Wood for posts, paddles and bows. The cheerful green of its foliage relieves this yew of any funereal suggestion. It is a beautiful, if rarely a symmetrical evergreen tree, surprising tourists and delighting the birds with its brilliant berries in autumn. The Indian of Alaska cuts spear shafts, bows, paddles and other articles out of its wood. The settler uses it for fencing. The Florida Yew {T. Floridana, Chapm.) is a small tree of bushy habit, often of many stems not 20 feet high. It has the dark green of its European relative, and the same mournful expression. It is found only along the east bank of the Appa- lachicola River in the northwestern corner of the state. Our Eastern yew {Taxus minor, Britt.), commonly, but incor- rectly, called ground hemlock, never assumes tree form, but is a sprawling shrub, its dense foliage forming in autumn a rich back- ground for the bright scarlet berries. In cultivation this species becomes less straggling in growth. It is oftenest planted where an undercover is desired on irregular wooded ground. Its foliage takes on a warm tinge of red in winter. The berries are the delight of birds and boys. This is the hardiest yew. 117 CHAPTER XVII: THE PALMS AND THE PALMETTOS Family Palm.^ The Palm family is a large group of tropical flowering plants, related to lilies on one side and grasses on the other. Like both of these, palms have but one cotyledon (seed leaf) in the embryo, and the stem is composed of a hardened outer layer within which is a mass of felt-like tissue in which longitudinal bundles of tough wood cells are irregularly distributed. Growth is internal, about these bundles as centres — not external, from a cambium. The parts of the flowers are regularly in threes, as in the lilies. The leaves are parallel veined, and they sheathe the stem, as in the grasses. They are fan shaped or feather shaped. Palms are allied closely to the Arums, of which our jack-in- the-pulpit is a familiar representative. Both families have monoecious flowers borne separately on different parts of a central spadix, surrounded by a conspicuous spathe, or sheath. Both families have berry-like fruit, sometimes hard- ened outside. Of palms there are now recognised over one hundred genera and about one thousand species. Botanically, the family is an old one, and on the decline. Fossils of Tertiary rocks show what it was in its prime. Three hundred and sixty distinct and impor- tant uses are credited to palms by Evelyn. No human need but they supply in the primitive life of tropical people. In the com- merce of the world they play no mean part. In the tropics, houses are built and furnished throughout from the native palms. Their leaves thatch the walls and roofs. They supply thread for weaving cloth, ropes, fish nets and lines, mats, fans, shields and hats. Spines furnish needles and barbed fishhooks. Sap gives wine, sugar and wax. Stems give fresh salads and sago for food, and wands for basketwork and furniture. Fruits of palms include cocoanuts, dates, and some of these yield chocolate and valuable oils. 118 The Palms and the Palmettos KEY TO GENERA A. Leaves long, feather shaped. B. Fruit blue, below leaf cluster. I. Genus Roystonea, Cook BB. Fruit orange-scarlet, among leaves. 2. Genus Pseudophcenix, H. Wendl. AA. Leaves round, fan shaped. B. Leaf stalks spiny. C. Leaves 5 to 6 feet long; petioles 4 to 6 feet long. 3. Genus Washingtonia, H. Wendl, CC. Leaves 2 feet long; petioles i^ to 2 feet long. 4. Genus Serenoa, Hook, BB. Leaf stalks not spiny. C. Fruit white. 5. Genus Thrinax, Sw. CC. Fruit black. D. Calyx and corolla united into a cup. 6. Genus Coccothrinax, Sarg. DD. Calyx and corolla separate. 7. Genus Sabal, Adans. I. Genus ROYSTONEA, Cook The Royal Palm {Roystonea regia, Cook) is one of the noblest of tropical trees, bearing its abundant crown of foliage, each leaf 10 to 12 feet long, and bending gradually outward and downward, with a grace peculiarly its own. The tall trunks, 80 to 100 feet in height, rise from abruptly flaring bases, and are enlarged in the middle. The rind is pale grey tinged with orange, except for the upper 10 feet or more, which is always green. The flowers of this tree are borne in branched spikes, about 2 feet long, and clustered at the base of the leafy crown. They bloom in January and February, and are succeeded by oblong berries, violet in colour and J inch long. The trees grow from Bay Biscayne around the southern point of Florida and on Long's Key, the vanguard of a host that inhabits Central America and the West Indies. They are also found on hummock lands up the Rogers River, east of Collier's Bay. A famous avenue tree in tropical cities, the trunks are used for piles of wharves, and walking sticks are made from the dense outer rind. 119 The Palms and the Palmettos 2. Genus PSEUDOPHCENIX, H. Wendl. The Sargent Palm (Pseudophcenix Sargenti, H. Wendl.) is found only on Key Largo and Elliott Key. A slender tree with white rind tapering from the middle to the leafy top and the flaring base, it is distinguished from the royal palm by the shorter leaves which stand erect, and the orange-coloured fruits that hang ripe among the leaves in May and June. The tree is found in a considerable grove on Key Largo. The flowers have not been described. Young trees are sometimes met with now in Florida gardens. 3. Genus WASHINGTONIA, H. Wendl. The Desert Palm of California {Washingtonia filamentosa, O. Kuntze) is a striking feature of the Colorado desert and of canon sides in the neighbouring mountains. It is found in groves or in isolated clumps in wet alkali soil, where it rises to the height of 50 to 75 feet, a crown of spreading, fan-like leaves above. a stout trunk clothed almost to the ground with a dense thatch of the dead leaves, which, bending back upon each other in succession, form a broad basal cone. The black berries are pro- fusely borne on the branching spikes in September. They are dry and thin fleshed, but Indians use them for food. The Wash- ington palm has come into extensive cultivation in California and southern Europe. 4. Genus SERENOA, Hook. Serenoa arborescens, Sarg., grows on hummocks in swampy lands along the southwestern coast of Florida. It is a slender tree 30 to 40 feet high, often with more than one arching or prostrate stem. The fan-like leaves are pale yellow-green above, blue- green below, and about 2 feet across. The flower stems are branched and about a yard long, thickly set with minute yellowish flowers, which are followed by resinous black drupes. 5. Genus THRINAX, Sw. The Thatch, or Silk-top Palmetto (Thrtnax Floridana, Sarg.) has a silver lining in its glossy green fan leayes, making 120 '■%. r'syi^ THE DESERT PALM {fVashingtonia filanentosa) vSeventy-five feet above the ground is the fountain of fan-shaped leaves. Dead leaves turn back and hang in an over- lapping thatch upon the upper part of the trunk. This clothes short trees to th; .ground. Indians use as food the dry, black ber- ries that ripen in September. Native to the Colorado desert; this palm has "oi 2 into extensive cultivation in California and southera Europe oiki^HOii p--^-i.;:' "^ ^I^^M^B^^^^^^^^^^^^BbI i ■ : .'i'jt' , , li^'/. \\ . .A ■ m ' ^^/ ■ THE CABBAGE PALMETTO {Sahal Palmetto) A globular crown of fan-like leaves surmounts a columnar stem, which is bare and smooth only when old. The average tree fifteen feet high has its trunk covered with a basket work, which is the natural interlacing of leaf bases whose fans have fallen away. The "cabbage" is the crown bud which is chopped out of the end of the stem. The trunks are used as piicv for wharves The Palms and the Palmettos it a beautiful and showy tree. It mounts its leaf crown 20 or 30 feet high on a slender white stem which is clothed half way down in the sheaths of dead leaf stalks. The branched flower stems are pendant from among the leaves; the fruit is a white berry with bitter juice. The tree inhabits coral reefs and the mainland coast between Cape Romano and Cape Sable. Another silver-leaved Thatch (T. Keyensis, Sarg.) rises on a supporting framework of its own roots 2 or 3 feet above the beach sand of the Marquesas Keys, Crab Key and the Bahamas. The Silver-top Palmetto {T. microcarpa, Sarg.) has its leaves coated when they unfold with dense white down. Flowers and fruit are abundant but minute. The tree rarely exceeds 25 feet in height. It inhabits No Name and Bahia Hondo Keys, south of Florida. The leaves of the three species are used for weaving hats, baskets and ropes. The trunks are used as piles for wharves. 6. Genus COCCOTHRINAX, Sarg. The Brittle Thatch {Coccothrinax jucunda, Sarg.) is a SiCnder tree, 20 to 30 feet high, with a gradually tapering blue trunk. It inhabits the shores of Bay Biscayne, and follows the Keys to the Marquesas group. The round leaves furnish fibre for baskets and hats. The stems are used in construction, chiefly for wharves. 7. Genus SABAL, Adans. The Cabbage Palmetto (Sahal Palmetto, R. & S.) is one of the characteristic features of the southeastern coast. It attains its largest size on the west coast of Florida. Its western limit on the Gulf is the mouth of the Appalachicola River. It extends north to the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. A crown of spreading, fan-like leaves surmounts a stout stem which is covered for a considerable distance from the top with the broad concave petioles of the leaves. These are finally split by the enlargement of the growing stem, giving the trunk the appearance of being encased in a kind of regular basketwork. Trees 20 feet high are common along sandy shores. Less frequently North, but often in Florida, one sees these trees 30 to 40 feet tall, I2i The Palms and the Palmettos with bare, slender stems crowned with round, leafy heads, looking almost like the royal palms. The great clusters of small yellow flowers followed by black berries hang from among the leaves, ripe in autumn but persisting into the following summer. The cabbage palmetto grows, as do all palms, from a central terminal bud. This bud is the "cabbage" in this genus, a tender, succulent vegetable which is cut out of the middle of the stem, cooked and eaten. It is said to be "the very quintescence of cabbage." It is, of course, the death of the tree to lose this growing point. The fibrous roots are matted in an intricate fashion under these trees, and long, tough rootlets go out on all sides for twenty feet or more. The wood is soft and spongy, with many hard fibro-vascular bundles running lengthwise of the stem. The outer rind is thick and much lighter than the centre. The trunks are used as piles and manufactured into canes and other small articles. The fibrous bark in cross section is made into cheap scrubbing brushes, and fibres of leaf sheaths make the bristles of more permanent ones. Houses are thatched with the adult leaves. Baskets, hats and mats are made from strips of the white, immature leaves. In Southeastern cities palmettos are used as a street and ornamental tree to a considerable extent. "Palmetto scrub" is the bane of hunters, surveyors and others who are obliged to go on foot through regions covered with the tough young growth of these trees. The Mexican Palmetto {Sabal Mexicana, Mart.) grows in the valley of the Rio Grande in Texas and down the coast to Mexico. Its height somewhat exceeds that of the cabbage palmetto, which it strongly resembles. The trunks are used for wharf piles, and leaves for the thatching of houses. It is a favourite street tree in many Texas towns. 322 CHAPTER XVIII: THE YUCCAS Family Liliace/e The traveller who is a close observer of trees will be astonished to find the lily family well represented in our Southern silva. Now, a lily is formed by the rule of three, as shown in the flower and in the seed pod. It has parallel-veined leaves and a stem with bundles of fibres distributed through its softer substance, much like the stems of corn or bamboo. The yuccas are our arborescent lilies. There are nine species that attain the form and stature of trees. They are beautiful flowering trees, especially prized in countries of scant rainfall. They are planted for hedges. The fibrous leaves furnish material for ropes, mattings and baskets. The fleshy roots are used as a substitute for soap. The Spanish Bayonet {Yucca aloijolia, Linn.) grows along the coast from North Carolina to Louisiana, preferring the borders of swamps or sand dunes, and moving inland on sandy soil. It is a low tree, rarely 25 feet high, with three or four main branches above the short, thick trunk. The leaves clothe the trunk until it is quite well grown, when they are found only on the branches, the newest ones clustered in rosettes at the ends. These bayonet-shaped leaves are smooth, dark green, about 2 feet long, stiff pointed, and saw toothed on each edge. The base of each widens into a crescent. Large panicles of flowers, leathery, white, purple tinged, are followed in autumn by green, soft, cucumber-like fruits, 3 to 4 inches long, which turn black and dry up on the stem. They are eaten by birds and occasionally by people. This yucca is very common in gardens. It is a fairly hardy species. The Spanish Bayonet, or Spanish Dagger {Yucca Trecu- leana, Carr.), of Texas, has blue-green leaves, which are lanceolate and rough on the under side. The flowers of this species are brightly flushed with purple. It grows wild in considerable U3 The Yuccas areas, a striking feature of the landscape, and is common in Texas gardens. By these two species the characters of the genus are exem- plified, and the remaining seven species will readily be referred to the genus. There are no other trees likely to be confused with yuccas. THE CACTI Allied to the mangroves and the myrtles, but like the yuccas in some particulars, and in choosing desert regions to live in, are the cacti, two genera of which have tree-like species in the United States. The soft stems of these trees are storehouses of moisture, as are also the fleshy branches. All green surfaces perform the functions of leaves. The spiny processes are the character by which most people recognise a cactus. The flowers are large and showy, formed into a tube by many overlapping sepals and petals. The fruit is a fleshy, many-seeded berry. The tree cacti are found in desert regions near the boundary between the United States and Mexico. 124 Copyright, 1905, by Doubleday, Page & Company DOGWOOD TREE IN FULL BLOOM ( Cornus florida^ CHAPTER XIX: THE WALNUTS AND THE HICKORIES Family Juglandace/e Genera, JUGLANS and HICORIA Resinous, aromatic trees with hard wood. Leaves deciduous, alternate, pinnately compound. Flowers monoecious: staminate lateral, in catkins; pistillate terminal, in spikes, or solitary. Fruit, a bony nut enclosed in a spongy husk. KEY TO GENERA AND SPECIES A. Pith of twigs chambered; husk not opening at maturity; nuts not smooth. I. Genus JUGLANS, Linn. B. Fruit elongated, clammy, in racemes; heart wood light brown. (/. cmerea) butternut BB. Fruit globular, not clammy; solitary or paired; heart wood dark brown. C. Nuts deeply and irregularly ridged, large. (/. nigra) black walnut CC Nuts deeply furrowed, small, thick shelled. (/. rupestris) Mexican walnut CCC Nuts faintly furrowed, small, thin shelled. {j. Calif ornica) California walnut AA. Pitii of twigs solid; husk opening by 4 valves; nuts smooth. 2. Genus HICORIA, Raf. B. Bud scales many, overlapping, leaflets 3 to 9. C. Buds small, J to J inch long; husk of nut thin. D. Twigs and leaf stalks smooth. (H. glabra) pignut DD. Twigs and leaf stalks silvery pubescent. (H. villosa) PALE-LEAF HICKORY CC. Buds large, J to i inch long, husk of nut thick. D. Bark shaggy; twigs smooth. E. Branchlets stout, orange red; nuts large, thick shelled. (H. laciniosa) big shellbark EE. Branchlets stout, grey; nuts small, usually thick shelled. (H. ovata) little shellbark 121; The Walnuts and the Hickories EEE. Branchlets slender, reddish; nuts 4-angled, thin shelled. {H. Carolinae-septentrionalis) shagbark hickory DD. Bark not shaggy; twigs downy. (//. alba) MOCKERNUT BB. Bud scales few, not overlapping; leaflets 7 to 13. C. Nuts elongated. D. Kernel sweet. E. Leaves silvery and lustrous beneath; nuts solitary, or few in a cluster; leaflets 7 to 1 1 . (//. myristiccejormis) nutmeg hickory EE. Leaves not silvery beneath; nuts 3 to 10 in cluster; leaflets 13 to 15. {H. Pecan) pecan DD. Kernel bitter; leaflets 7 to 11, twigs and husks hairy. {H. Texana) bitter pecan CC. Nuts not elongated; bitter. D. Buds yellow; nuts smooth; leaflets 7 to 9. {H. mimina) bitternut DD. Buds red; nut angled; leaflets 9 to 13. (//. aquatica) water hickory THE WALNUTS The walnuts (genus Juglans) form a noble family of ten species, in which there are no ''black sheep" — and this is remark- able in any family. Each species yields valuable wood, and sweet, edible nuts. Each one deserves planting as an ornamental and shade tree. Our American forests show four species — two spread over the eastern half of the continent, one grows in the Southwest, and one in California. To these have been added valuable exotic species. The English or Persian walnut {Juglans regia) is grown in the Southern States and in California; and two Japanese species, /. Sieholdiana and /. cordiformis, both of the butternut type but vastly superior to it, thrive m the regions where the English walnut is not hardy. There is also a Manchurian species in cultivation here. One or more walnuts belong in the West Indies and South America. Butternut, Oil Nut, White Walnut (/. cinerea, Linn.) — A short-trunked, spreading tree, 50 to 75 feet high, with broad, rounded dome. Bark grey, rough, with broad furrows and narrow ridges, showing paler under bark. Shoots covered with clammy down. Wood light brown, light, soft, coarse grained, with 126 The Walnuts and the Hickories satiny lustre. Buds often one above another in axils, hairy, flattened, terminal largest; inner scales later becoming leaf-like; flower buds naked. Leaves alternate, compound, of 1 1 to 19 leaflets, hairy, taper pointed, serrate, sessile, except terminal leaflet, 15 to 30 inches long, yellow-green, turning yellow in autumn; leaflets 3 to 5 inches long; petioles and veins pubescent and clammy. Flowers, May, with leaves, staminate in catkins, 3 to 5 inches long, yellow-green with copious pollen; pistillate in 6 to 8-fIowered racemes, covered with glandular hairs; stigmas 2, bright red, spreading; ovule solitary at base of pistil. Fruit, October, an oblong nut in spongy, clammy, sticky, indehiscent husk, with pungent odour; shell thick, deeply sculptured; nut oily, sweet, edible. Preferred habitat, deep, rich loam of river valleys, or well-drained hillsides. Distribution, New Brunswick to Delaware, and along mountains to Georgia and Alabama; westward through Ontario to Dakota, south to Arkansas. Uses: Planted for shade and for nuts. Wood used for interior finish of houses and for cabinet work. Inner bark and husks yield yellow dye and medicinal substances. Sap sweet, sometimes added to maple sap in making sugar. Nuts pickled when green; locally sold when ripe. The butternut is a short-trunked, low-headed tree, with far- reaching arms that make a crown wider than it is high. There is a tendency to develop the under buds on each twig. This gives a horizontal rather than an upward trend to the limbs. The foliage, trunk and wood are lighter in colour than those of the black walnut. It is a cheerful tree, but unfortunately short lived, and it is rare to see a tree of considerable size that is not diseased by fungi and blemished by insects. The wind breaks the long limbs, whereupon enemies enter and take possession. The winter buds of the butternut are full of character. The leaf scars are prominent, and two or three buds stand in a vertical row above each one. The first bud, just above the hairy ''beetling brow" of the leaf scar, is to produce the leafy shoot next spring. Those higher up at the same joint are bare little green pineapples — the staminate catkins in an immature state. The grey-green downy twigs are clammy to the touch, and inside is the wonderful chambered pith that distinguishes all the walnuts. One need only crush a twig or leaf of a walnut tree to have revived the memory of long-forgotten experiences in brown 127 The Walnuts and the Hickories October's woods. O the smell of those juicy brown husks as we cracked the green nuts on a convenient stone, and wiped our damp fmgers ineffectually on the grass! The stains wore off at length, but the memories are indelible. The Shakers of Lebanon, Massachusetts, got a rich purple dye by adding something to the brown extract of those husks. The wood of butternut is not so hard nor so strong as black walnut, but for the interior finish of houses it has a distinct ad- vantage. Black walnut is sombre compared with the cheerful browns and fawn colours which this wood shows. The ''natural wood finish" brings out these quiet tones and imparts a soft lustre to the grain. It is a pity that this wood is not more common and more widely employed for this particular purpose. It is made into wooden bowls, and used for veneering bureaus, for carriage panels, and for coffins, posts, rails and fuel. The frugal housewife in the country looks with interest upon the butternut when it is half grown — when the pale green, clammy, fuzzy fruit hangs in clusters, surrounded by its umbrella of leaves. If a knitting needle goes through husk and nut without hindrance, it is not too late to make "pickled oil nuts," which are a delectable relish with meats in winter. The husk and all are put down in vinegar, sugar and spices. The unpleasant part of this process is the rubbing off of the "fur," after scalding the nuts. This task usually falls to the children. Butternut husks and bark have long been used in home remedies, and in dyeing woollen cloth. The backwoods regiments in the Civil War were clad in "butternut" jeans, a home-made, home-dyed uniform that worthily stood the hardest service. Black Walnut {Juglans nigra, Linn.) — A majestic, spread- ing tree, 80 to i 50 feet high, with tall trunk, 4 to 6 feet through. Bark dark brown, furrtDwed, scaly. JVood dark purplish brown, with silvery lustre; hard, fine grained, heavy, strong, durable in contact with soil. Buds: terminal, flattened, silky, tomentose; axillary, small, globose, silky; flower buds naked. Leaves alter- nate, 12 to 24 inches long, odd pinnate of 13 to 25 leaflets, ovate- lanceolate, serrate, pubescent beneath, 3 to ^^ inches long, sessile on leaf stem; yellow-green, becoming yellow in autumn; petioles downy. Flowers, May, with leaves, greenish, monoecious, stam- inate in catkins 3 to 6 inches long on wood of preceding year; pistillate on new shoots, in axillary few-flowered clusters, or 128 A, Pistillate flowers S aminate flower B. Pitch chambers Winter buds THE BUTTERNUT {Guglans CinercB) A clammy down covers new shoots and leaf stalks. Aromatic sap and chambered pith characterise all walnuts. The winter buds and leaf scars are peculiar. The flowers appear in May with the leaves. The staminate are in pendulous catkins; the pistillate in terminal racemes. The wood is brown with a satiny lustre ^^ The Walnuts and the Hickories solitary; Stigmas red, prominent. Fruit i to 2 in almost sessile clusters, globose ij to 2 inches in diameter; husk yellow-green, pitted, strongly aromatic, spongy, indehiscent; shell hard, deeply sculptured, kernel convoluted, oily, sweet, edible. Preferred- habitat, rich woods. Distribution, southern Ontario to Florida, west to Nebraska and Texas. Uses: Fine shade and park tree; lumber valuable for veneering furniture, interior finish of houses, gun stocks and coffins, and for boat and shipbuilding. Nuts locally commercial. Husks occasionally used for dyeing and tanning. The early settlers did not realise the folly they committed by chopping down black walnut trees, rolling them together and burning them. They were clearing the land to make farms, and trees were weeds they had to conquer. They did not discriminate between species in the general holocaust. They knew that black walnut was durable, so made fence posts and rails of it. Besides, this wood split easily. The peculiar fitness of black walnut wood for gun stocks and for furniture was realised later. Trees were sacrificed by thousands to supply the home and foreign markets, and only Nature planted for the generations to come. The result is the present shortage of walnut lumber, and its excessive price. Enterprising individ- uals go into cleared ground and pull the stumps of trees long dead. They are still sound, and there is valuable veneering stufi" in the most of them. Old and worn furniture of solid black walnut is bought and sawed thin for the same purpose. Do we realise yet the usefulness and the beauty of black walnut wood? The silvery grain, the rich, violet-purple tones in the brown heart wood, the exquisite shading of its curly veinings, and the lasting qualities of the wood? If we did, we would plant groves of it. As a fruit tree the black walnut has limitations. The oil in the kernel soon becomes rancid, so that there can be but a local market for the nuts, though they are very good for a time, when carefully dried. The black walnut is majestic as a shade tree — a noble orna- ment to parks and pleasure grounds. It needs room and distance to show its luxuriant crown and stately trunk to advantage. Then no tree excels it. " It unites almost all the qualities desirable in a tree: beauty, gracefulness and richness of foliage in every period of its growth." The bark and husks may be employed in 129 The Walnuts and the Hickories Ithe important arts of dyeing and tanning. The fruit is a food, and yields a valuable oil. The wood is one of the most useful and most elegant. The growth of the black walnut is rapid and sure from the seed. Nuts gathered in the autumn should be stratified in gravel over winter, and planted next spring. The way to restore what we have lost is to plant walnuts wherever there is a place suitable for such a tree. The Walnut (/. rupestris, Engelm.) of the far Southwest grows on canon sides and stream borders, climbing the mountains to an elevation of 6,000 feet — a shrub in the high semi-arid regions, a spreading tree where its thirsty roots can fmd water in unfailing supply. The limbs are covered with white bark, and the twigs are cottony. This makes the leafless tree a striking and beautiful feature of winter landscapes, especially where there is a dark background. The little nuts have deeply grooved and very thick shells, but the Indians and Mexicans are glad to take trouble to get at the sweet kernels within. The hard shell is, however, a commercial impediment. The wood is rich dark brown in colour and takes a satiny polish; but it is weak and coarse grained, and is not im- portant in the lumber trade. The California Walnut (/. Calijornica, Wats.) has small, sweet, thin-shelled nuts, faintly creased and somewhat flattened at each end. The tree is graceful and symmetrical, with luxuriant foliage, of cheerful light green. It grows to medium height on the bottom lands of the coast region from the lower course of the Sacramento River to the foothills of the San Bernardino Moun- tains, where it climbs to an elevation of 3,000 feet and becomes a stunted shrub. The chief value of this tree is that it serves as a hardy stock for the cultivated /. regia, and as such has extended nut culture north to central California. Seedlings of the native tree are root grafted with cions of French varieties, and old trees are success- fully top grafted. Independent of this signal service to horti- culture, the California walnut is a fme ornamental and nut tree. The English or Persian Walnut (Juglans regia, Linn.) — a royal tree and nut indeed! — is the walnut of classical literature, beloved of gods and men. From the hillsides of Persia and the regions far East this species was carried into southern Europe, 130 The Walnuts and the Hickories whence it spread to England and finally to America. The tree is grown for lumber, for ornament, and for its fruit in the countries that feel the warm breath of the Japan Current and the Gulf Stream. The best nuts come from France and Italy. In England the nuts are generally pickled green, as the season is too short to insure their ripening. The English walnut, like the English elm, came to us via England, and got its name en route. Neither species is a native of that island. Importations of the nuts came to us also through England until recent years. The wealth of Europe has been increased by the enforced planting of walnut trees. In the seventeenth century in certain countries there was a law requiring a young man to produce a certificate of his having planted a certain number of walnut trees before he could obtain permission to marry! The names of this tree are full of tradition and poetry. The English had the nuts before they introduced the trees. *'lValnuf' means "a nut brought from a foreign country." "Juglans" is a contraction of Jovis glans, "the acorn of Jove" — for so the Greeks and Romans esteemed it. To extend its culture through allied countries was a work that rulers busied themselves about. Nux regia was the growers' name for the new tree, ''because these nuts were brought to them by kings." Through centuries of cultivation, many improved varieties of these Persian walnuts have arisen. Parkinson describes in 1640 a kind of "French wallnuts, which are the greatest of any, within whose shell are often put a paire of fine gloves neatly foulded up together." Another variety he knew "whose shell is so tender that it may easily be broken between one's fingers, and the nut itself is very sweete." The culture of /. regia in southern California is highly special- ised and very profitable. Irrigation and tillage are practised in these orchards. Frost and walnut blight are the nut-growers' chief enemies— unless the brokers who control prices may be listed as a third. The nut crop of 1901 in four counties was about 6,000 tons, worth more than a million dollars. The tree grows in the Southern States, and has proved hardy even in Massachu- setts, but it is not cultivated commercially outside of California. Walnut lumber (of /. regia) has had a variable and interesting history in Europe. The brown heart wood, always beautiful, often waved and watered in lovely patterns and shadings, yet The Walnuts and the Hickories sruffered long in comparison with oak, as it had not the strength and durabihty of the latter, and its greyish sap wood was com- monly ''subject to the worm" — liable to become worm eaten. The best lumber came from Italy, the next best from the Black Sea regions, next from France, and the poorest grew in England. In the early part of the eighteenth century a craving for walnut furniture struck the fashionable world. Oak became second in popularity. Then came a cold winter which killed the walnut trees. The Dutch Government bought the dead trees and cornered the market for a time. France prohibited the exportation of walnut; then mahogany began to be imported from tropical America and became the popular wood for fine furniture. In the turmoil of international wars, each country wanted walnut for gun stocks. In 1806 France used 12,000 trees. The English Government is said to have paid before the battle of Waterloo ^600 for a single walnut tree! In the height of the walnut vogue, cabinetmakers paid as high as £60 per ton for roots and burs, which were sawed very thin and used for veneering pianos and other elegant furniture. No wood excels this curly walnut in beauty. In later years the importation of black walnut from America relieved the stress in the lumber trade. This tree grows well in Europe, and is an important species in the government forests of various countries. It has doubled in price in the past fifty years, and American walnut is now in greater demand abroad than the native species. THE HICKORIES Hickories are North American trees — none now inhabit any other part of the world. There are twelve known species, one of which is Mexican; the remaining eleven are restricted to the states east of the Rocky Mountains. Arkansas assembles the whole group within her borders and ofl'ers a great opportunity to the student of the genus Hicoria. Once Europe had numerous species of this genus, and there were others in Greenland and in the west of North America. The ice cap wiped them all off the face of the earth; the only 132 The Walnuts and the Hickories record of them is in the Tertiary rocks. After a century of effort, only a few good specimen trees are to be found growing in Europe. The species thrive only in their natural range. There are reasons for believing that these trees will grow well in Japan and eastern China. No group of trees has higher qualities than the hickories. The wood of most species is tough, strong and flexible — especially valuable for farm implements, tool handles and the like. There is no other fuel that excels dry hickory for heat and brilliancy of flame. No other of our trees bear such valuable nuts. No finer tribe of shade and ornamental trees is to be found. With all their positive good qualities, the hickories have scarcely a bad one. The worst thing you can say of any hickory is that it is not quite up to the family standard. The Indians knew the value of these trees before the white man came. "Hickory" is an Indian name. The Creeks and Algonquins gathered the nuts into their storehouses in the autumn. The squaws pounded shells and all in water, until the latter became a milky emulsion. This became the Indian drink,'' powcohickora," after it had fermented. Added fresh to venison broth it made a rich food, very agreeable to European palates. (Of course the shells went to the bottom of the pot.) The "hickory milk," strained of its shell fragments and thickened with meal, made corncakes fit for a king! It was used also in cooking hominy. An oil pressed from these nuts was staple in early cookery in the colonies. The Virginians learned its use from their Indian neighbours. It was considered equal to olive oil in flavour, though no attempt was made to refine it. Many insects prey on hickory trees. None of these unfit them for dooryard planting, if one keeps close v/atch to poke out early the nests of fall web-worm and kindred pests. Many of its enemies are borers which work in the wood. The twig pruners are an interesting tribe; and some of our most beautiful silk spinners and underwing moths live their youthful days out on the foliage of hickory. What can that sound be that comes out of the backlog, like the creaking of the old rocking chair in the chimney corner? It has been heard every night when the family gather around the fire, and it has a weird, ghostly sound. A plump young hickory borer, deep in the wood, is whetting his teeth on the walls of his 133 The Walnuts and the Hickories burrow. He is safe, for hickory burns very slowy, and the back- log is good for many a day yet. Probably before the stronghold of the youngster is reached he will have ceased his gnawing, and fallen asleep in a chrysalis. Then of a sudden, some March night in the midst of a thrilling tale told by the firelight, a strange visitant will appear, startling the whole company, and interrupt the story. It is an elegant grey beetle, with horns of surprising length, made of jointed rods. After a long and arduous youth spent in the dark channel of his own making, he has come forth into the light equipped with wings, and ready to mingle with his kind in a life of which he has probably not dreamed before. Who would be so inconsiderate, so inhuman, as to cast this handsome creature into the fire! Certainly nobody who knows anything about the old life he has left behind him, and the new life that lies before. Take him, rather, to the window, and as he flies forth into the night take up the story where it was broken off. Pignut, White Hickory {Hicoria glabra, Britt.) — A stately, round-headed tree, 50 to 100 feet high, with narrow head of pen- dulous contorted branches. Bark grey, coarse, rough, not scaling off in plates. Wood brown, tough, elastic, hard, heavy. Buds terminal ones, globular, blunt, shedding outer scales early in win- ter; inner scales expand, and recurve as leaves unfold; lateral buds small, pointed. Leaves alternate, 8 to 12 inches long, odd- pinnate, of 5 to 7 leaflets, oblong or obovate-lanceolate, smooth, dark yellow-green; lighter and sometimes tufted with hairs in axils of veins beneath; upper leaflets much larger than lower ones. Flowers: staminate catkins, axillary, 4 to 7 inches long, in threes; pistillate spikes, 3 to 5-flowered, terminal, greenish. Fruit pear shaped, or globose; variable, thick or thin shelled, reddish brown, somewhat hairy, cleft into 4 valves, partially or wholly opening; nut obscurely 4-angled, smooth; kernel sweet or slightly bitter, small. Preferred habitat, dry ridges and hillsides. Distribution, Maine to Florida; west through Ontario and Michigan to Nebraska, south to eastern Texas. Uses: Wood used as that of shagbark is. A valuable ornamental and shade tree. The pignut is unfortunate in its common name. A fine park and shade tree is under a severe handicap. For who would wish a "pignut'' planted in his front yard? A "smooth hickory" will rather be chosen, every time — though it is the very same tree, H, glabra. In the early days pigs turned into the autumn woods 134 A. Sterile flowers B. Fertile flower THE PIGNUT {Hicoria glabra) The tree is draped with green fringe— the staminatc catkins — in May. The first leaves usually have but five leaflets. Later ones have seven, rarely nine. They are smooth and turn yellow in autumn. The buds are plump, and small for a hickoryj the outer scales are shed early in winte.% The bark is furrowed and gray. This twig has no pistillate flowers THE PIGNUT {Hicoria glabra) Thr nuts are variable in form and size. They are often obovate or pear-shaped — the thin husk opens but pare way down. The nut is smooth and round or angled. The yellowish kernel is insipid. The leaves and shoots are smooth from the first' THE BITTERNUT HICKORY {Hicoria minima) The bright, yellow, angled buds are the best identification sign. The bark is greyish brown. The leaves are thin and have an apple-like fragrance when crushed. The leaflets are often narrow and small The Walnuts and the Hickories crunched these hickory nuts which nutters, looking for shellbarks, scornfully left under the trees. The insipid meats were distasteful to human palates — fit only for pigs. Yet here is one of the finest of the hickories. Its bark is close textured like that of a white ash. Its leaves and shoots soon lose their down and become smooth and lustrous. The small winter buds are ovate, and during autumn their outer scales drop. The nuts are roundish and smooth shelled. The thin husks split but half way down, and are there grown fast to the shell. These characters mark the typical Eastern pignut. West of the Allegha- nies is a form that sheds its husks, and has angled, ovoid nuts. The bark of this variety — odorata — is rough, like an American elm, but not shaggy. Variety microcarpa is a pignut with bark of the H. ovaia type, stripping into narrow, thin, springy sheets. The roundish nut is white or grey, and thin shelled. The kernel is sweet. There are reasons for believing this to be a natural hybrid between H, ovata and H. glabra. Its branches are likely to be pendulous, and the head more oblong than the ordinary pignut. It is commonly called ''false shagbark." The extreme variability of the species glabra, and the good quality of fruit in var. microcarpa make horticulturists believe that the pignut is worthy of cultivation. Experiments are now in progress looking toward the improvement of the fruit for com- mercial purposes. The signs are hopeful. With wood equal to the best in its genus, exceptional merits as a shade and ornamental tree, and promise of developing orchard varieties that will rival the shagbarks as nut trees, the pignuts seem to be one of the ''coming trees" in the Eastern States. It is to be hoped that the popular name will be abandoned and the more suitable one, "smooth hickory," substituted. This is a literal translation of its scientific name. The Pale-leaf Hickory (//. villosa, Ashe) has tomentose slender twigs, with silvery scales, and very pale leaf linings. The nuts are thick shelled and faintly angled like the mockernut, and the bark is very deeply furrowed and rough, but not shaggy. It grows, a small, narrow-headed tree, in barren soil from New Jersey to Florida, west to Missouri and Texas. Big Shellbark {H, laciniosa, Sarg.) — A tall tree loo to 120 feet high, with narrow, oblong head. Branches small, spreading. 135 The Walnuts and the Hickories Bark thick, grey, shedding in long thick plates that hang on for years. Twigs orange yellow. IVood heavy, hard, strong, tough, very flexible, dark brown, close grained. Buds terminal, very large, ovate, obtuse; scales silky, outer ones, brown, keeled and pointed; inner ones grow to 3 inches long and i inch wide and recurve as leaves appear, turning rosy or yellow on inner, lustrous face; lateral buds small. Leaves 15 to 22 inches long, of 5 to 9 obovate or oblong-lanceolate leaflets, dark green and lustrous above, pale yellow-green or bronzy pubescent below; petioles stout, enlarged at base, recurved and persistent during winter. Flowers: staminate in catkins 5 to 8 inches long, smooth, or rufous pubescent ; pistillate in spikes, terminal, 2 to 5-flowered, pale tomentose, angled, green. Fruit solitary or paired, in woody, 4-valved husk, sutures opening half way at maturity, downy, orange brown, if to 2^ inches long; nut compressed, with 4 to 6 ridges, \\ to 2^ inches long; hard, bony, thick, enclosing sweet, fme-flavoured kernel. Preferred habitat, rich, deep bottom lands. Distribution, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas, eastern Kansas and Oklahoma; Illinois and Indiana to Tennessee, New York and Pennsylvania. Uses: Nuts commercially valuable. Wood not distinguished from that of H. ovata. A worthy ornamental tree. In the markets we often see nuts of large size — more flattened than English walnuts and fully as large — which the dealer calls " shellbarks." They look like a larger form of the little shellbarks ; but we hesitate. They are strangers, and their flavour is an unknown quantity. These are the "king nuts" — not equal to the little shellbarks in quality, yet sweet, edible nuts, though in thick shells. They are distributed from the cities along the Mississippi, and are appearing in increasing quantities in Eastern markets. In winter the tree may be recognised by its dead petioles, curving back on the twigs which bore leaves the past summer. The very large terminal buds are another winter trait. At any season the orange-coloured twigs are the best distinguishing feature of the species. This tree has shaggy bark, though this character is less pronounced than in H. ovata. It is hardy in the Arnold Arboretum, near Boston, and seems to grow more rapidly than other hickories in cultivation. In the wild it grows in bottom lands, but does well on dryer, sloping ground. A hybrid between the pecan and laciniosa is reported by Dr, 136 The Walnuts and the Hickories Trelease, and named for its discoverer the "Nussbaumer Hybrid.'* It is not especially promising. Shagbark Hickory, Little Shellbark Hickory (Hicorta ovata, Britt.) — A ruggedly picturesque, stately tree, 75 to 120 feet high, with long tap root, straight trunk and angular, short branches, forming an irregular, oblong head. Bark light grey, shedding in thin, vertical strips, or plates. Branches smooth, twigs shining, grey. Wood brown, close grained, tough, hard, elastic, heavy. Buds terminal ones, large, broadly ovate, with dark, narrow-pointed pair of outer scales persisting through the winter; inner scales silky, elongating to 5 to 6 inches and curving back in spring; lateral buds small, globular. Leaves alternate, deciduous, 12 to 20 inches long, compound, of 5 (rarely 7) leaflets, all sessile but terminal one, smooth, leathery; smallest leaflets at base; all serrate, broadly obovate, abruptly acuminate, dark yellow-green above, paler beneath, becoming brownish yellow in autumn; petioles stout, smooth, swollen at base, and grooved. Flowers, May, with leaves; monoecious, greenish; staminate in slender, hairy, flexible catkins 4 to 6 inches long, in threes from common stem, at base of new shoots; pistillate single or few in terminal cluster, hairy, greenish with spreading, divided stigmas. Fruits solitary or paired; husk smooth, leathery, dividing to base into 4 valves, J inch thick, and separating from nut at maturity; shell hard, 4-angled, flattened, pale, smooth; kernel large, sweet, edible. Preferred habitat, deep, rich, moist soil. Distribution, Maine and Quebec to Delaware and along mountains to Florida, northern Alabama and Mississippi; west to Minnesota and Ne- braska; south to Texas. Uses: Lumber used extensively in the manufacture of vehicles, agricultural implements, wheels, sled runners, axe handles, baskets, chairs and for fuel. Nuts valuable in commerce. Tree planted for ornament and shade. The vertical sheets of shaggy bark give this tree its name. The springiness and toughness of the wood is prophesied in these thin, narrow flakes, so obstinately clinging to the trunks for years. From the close-knit covering of the utmost twig down to the ground the gradual evolution of this bark is a fascinating study. The character of the shagbark is also expressed in the angular twigs and the lithe arms of the tree, etched with perfect distinct- ness against the sky of winter. Strength, symmetry and grace are there, but never a look of heaviness. 137 The Walnuts and the Hickories As a fruit tree the shagbark deserves our best attention, No other hardy nut tree compares with it in commercial importance. The value of its lumber has led to the sacrifice of the large trees in the woods. The nuts are diminishing as a wild crop, but the demand is ever increasing. Hickory-nut orchards are being planted. Nurserymen are studying how best to propagate the trees, and to improve the varieties. "Hales' paper-shell hickory nut" was discovered on a single tree in New Jersey. The nuts are unusually large and plump, with thin shells. The kernels have superior delicacy and richness of flavour, and remarkable keeping qualities. A shrewd man began to propagate this excep- tional strain. Grafted trees of this variety are beginning to be sold by nurserymen. Several other choice kinds from selected seed are offered. As transplanting is attended by con- siderable loss, it is best to plant the nuts where the orchard is to stand. Hickory flowers are not conspicuous in colour or size, but the tree is a wonderful spectacle throughout the spring. First, the buds drop their two black outer scales, and the silky inner ones glisten like lighted tapers on every upturned twig. They grow in breadth and length as they loosen, and a cluster of leaves, small but perfect, and clothed in the softest velvet stand revealed. Then the great scales turn back like sepals of an iris, displaying rich yellows and orange tones, softened and blended by their silky coverings. The opening leaves, delicate in texture and colouring, may easily be mistaken for parts of a great flower. But the leaves soon declare themselves, and the scales fall. The tree is then draped in long chenille fringes of green. The wind shakes the pollen out of these staminate catkins, and the incon- spicuous green nut flowers, clustered in the tips of leafy shoots, spread their stigmas wide to catch the vitalising golden dust. The fringes now strew the grass under the tree; the bloom is past. Summer matures the crop of nuts. The first frost hastens the opening of the thick husks. The nuts fall, and schoolboys, who have marked the tree for their own weeks before, are on hand to bag the crop to the last sweet nut, if squirrels do not thwart them. In the open space in the barn loft alongside of the bin where pears are spread out to mellow, the nuts dry and sweeten. In the dead cold of winter evenings the story of "Snow Bound," in rnodern settings, perhaps, but still the same 138 T3 a 3 ?:; o bC u M n ra u. ja n M ii 4-1 >^ cs u ja ^ fS u E u o 3 r3 -a re ■ - .Ti -^ o 1. J •5H lU l-> r3 (U m W M a ■^ i5 -a -Si «j r:3 b a 3 S o ja "o H;^ u . Ix •2 bO (4 t^ G t/i o O u. Vj — ■ lU fe u Ui ^ 2 c < I-; *^ tf ij ^H '^ w w "i H en C/5 > • o 7^ u t— ( ^ > pq ^J W ffi c-i . (3 in t^ 3 ki V- ^ u o u ^ ^ o u A *- 4-* ; 5 o t^ b — -c3 H I Fertile flowers (leaves cut off) 2 I^eaf 3 Fruit THE SHAGBARK HICKORY (Hicoria ovata) The bark springs away from the trunk in thin, narrow strips. The thick husk parts and falls away from the angled nut m October. In June the nuts and next spring's buds may be seen. This hickory leaf has five leaflets, the basal pair small The Walnuts and the Hickories in spirit, will be re-enacted in farm homes in widely distant parts of the country. Nuts and apples and cider in the firelight! We have been setting fuel down as the last of a tree's uses. Naturally, burning is the end of things, and it is often an ignoble end. But fire is one of the great elemental forces in nature. A great conflagration is magnificent; a smouldering rubbish heap is not. Some kinds of wood sputter peevishly in burning. The most splendid wood fire is made of seasoned hickory. Wake up the old backlog, charred by half a hundred fires. Lay in the kindling and feed the growing flames at last with shagbark cord- wood. There is no flame so brilliant as this; no wood burns with a more fervent heat. No wonder " the great throat of the chimney laughs." The passing of hickory wood in flames back to its primal elements is the fitting end of a noble tree. The North Carolina Shagbark (f/. Carolince-septentrionalis, Ashe) differs from the preceding species in its smaller size and slen- derer habit throughout. The twigs are dark red and slender and the leaflets are small, lanceolate, with long, tapering points. The buds are scarcely \ inch long, thin inner scales lengthening to i to 2 inches and becoming bright yellow as they unfold. The little nuts have thin shells and the kernels are sweet. The bark of this tree is much like its more burly cousins. The strips are equally tough and persistent, but not quite so large. The range of this shagbark covers the limestone uplands of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, and extends south along river bottoms into Georgia and central Alabama. Mockernut, Big Bud Hickory {Hicoria alba, Britt.) — A slender, tall, pyramidal tree, 50 to 80 feet high. Bark grey, thick, hard, close, rough, scaly; twigs pubescent, resinous, dotted. Wood dark brown (sap wood white), heavy, hard, strong, elastic, close. Buds: terminal ones large, ovate; outer scales ovate, acute, often keeled, falling in autumn; lateral buds small, yellow- ish brown. Leaves alternate, 1 5 to 20 inches long, of 7 to 9 leaflets, sessile, except end one, serrate, oblong-lanceolate, downy, yellow- green, russet or yellow in fall; petiole downy, swollen, large. Flowers: staminate in catkins 4 to 8 inches long, hairy; pistillate 2 to 3 on terminal spike. May. Fruit, October, i to 3 nuts, globose or oblong, often long-pointed; ij to 2 inches long, red-brown, strong scented; sutures opening to middle or nearly to base; nut globular, 4-ridged near top, thick shelled; kerne! small, sweet, 139 The Walnuts and the Hickories edible; often replaced by spongy mass. Preferred habitat, rich soil, on hillsides, North; near bogs and swamps South. Dis- tribution, Ontario to Florida; west to Kansas and Texas. Uses: Lumber confused with shellbark hickory; nuts edible, but small, and very thick shelled. Tree planted for ornament and shade. The mockernut has downy buds in winter — this alone will distinguish it from the two smooth-budded shellbarks, which have buds even larger than this species. The outer scales are almost black on the buds of H. ovata and H. laciniosa; on H. alba they are yellowish, for the darker outer scales fall early in autumn. The bark of the mockernut looks more like that of an ash than a hickory. It is broken by shallow fissures into intersecting ridges, and is coated with silvery scales. The branches are stout and curved, giving the tree in winter an expression of strength and grace. The heart wood is dark brown, but the white sap wood largely predominates, to the advantage of the lumber. The elasticity of hickory wood is somewhat lost in the mature heart wood, so sap wood is best. For this reason second-growth hickory, which is almost all sap wood, is especially valuable. The names alba and white heart both refer to the colour of the sap wood. The nut is truly a mockery to anyone who considers his thumbs. The husk is thick and stubbornly adherent at the base. The shell is almost invulnerable. When at last it is shattered by a blow, the kernel, though sweet, is small, and poorly repays the trouble. Oftentimes there is no kernel at all. The mockernut is the commonest hickory tree in the South. It is believed to hybridise with the pecan, possibly with H. ovata and some varieties of H. glabra. The parentage of trees inter- mediate between one species and another can only be surmised; never proved. If artificial crossing produces duplicates of the questionable trees, then surmises may be considered well founded. Nutmeg Hickory (H. myristicceformis, Britt.)— A tall, straight tree, with narrow, open head, 80 to 100 feet high; branches stout, spreading. Bark reddish brown, broken into small, scaly plates; branchlets with golden scales. fVood heavy, hard, tough, light brown. Buds brownish, silky, hairy, small. Leaves 7 to 1 1 inches long, odd pinnate, of 5 to 1 1 leaflets, ovate-lanceolate to oblong-obovate, thin, firm, dark green, lustrous, silvery white beneath, sometimes pubescent; change to bronze in autumn. 140 The Walnuts and the Hickories Flowers: staminate in catkins, 3 to 4 inches long, brownish pubes- cent, densely flowered, in threes; pistillate terminal, greenish, solitary or few, scurfy "pubescent. Fruit small, with sweet kernel, in very thick shell, smooth, rounded, pointed at both ends, in thin, scurfy, hairy, 4-valved husk, with winged sutures that open almost to base at maturity. Preferred habitat, rich, moist soil of swamps, or river banks; sometimes dryer hillsides. Distribution, coast regions of South Carolina, central Carolina, central Alabama and Mississippi, southern Arkansas. Uses: Cultivated sparingly in Eastern States. Beautiful ornamental tree. Locally used as fuel and lumber. It is the lustrous foliage that makes this tree the most beauti- ful of all the hickories. The deep, perpendicular roots that make transplanting a difficult matter among all the hickories have prob- ably kept this one from the full recognition it deserves at the hands of nurserymen and planters. Its narrow range in sections that do not lack beautiful trees is another cause. In fact, the tree itself was not really discovered by a competent observer until 1890, although the nuts were seen by Michaux as early as 1802. The tree is rare in the Southeast, but is common in southern Arkansas. The fme specimen in the garden of the Department of Agriculture at Washington proves its hardiness in that latitude, and brings its good qualities to the attention of the public. Since we have all the hickories here in our Eastern States, it certainly behooves us to foster them, and share them with the rest of the world. The first step is to learn how best to propagate and transplant the various species. The next is to plant them freely, and so set forth their superior merits to all who see these plantations. There are few species which do not repay the cost in returns substantial as well as aesthetic. Hickory nuts and lum- ber are in constant demand, so each year adds to the value of the trees. Pecan (Hicoria Pecan, Britt.) — Large, thick-trunked tree with broad top; 100 to 170 feet high, 4 to 6 feet in diameter at base. Bark light reddish brown, broken into small, scaly plates; branches smooth, twigs pubescent, with orange-coloured lenticels. IVood light brown, compact, heavy, hard, not strong. Buds small, yellow, pointed, pubescent, with narrow scales that elongate slightly in spring. Leaves 12 to 20 inches long, of 9 to 17 leaflets, short petioled, often falcate, lanceolate, serrate, bright yellow- 141 The Walnuts and the Hickories green above, paler below; petioles yellow. Flowers: staminate in catkins, profuse; pistillate terminal, in spikes; each flower greenish, scurfy, 4-angied, tapering. Fruit 3 to 11 in cluster, pointed at both ends, elongated, husk thin, 4-angled, winged at sutures which open at maturity; nut smooth, reddish, cylindrical, thin shelled; kernel sweet, with red, astringent, granular coat. Preferred habitat, low, rich ground near streams. Distribution, southern Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, and Southern States bordering the Mississippi River to central Alabama. Range extended by cultivation into all Southern States. Uses: Most valuable native nut tree. Wood not much used in construction; excellent for fuel. Fine shade and ornamental tree. One of the things that solaced Evangeline's people, homesick for their lost Acadia, and wandering in a new and unknown region, was the wealth of sweet, nutritious nuts that grew on trees the Indians called pecans. The "Cajons" called the trees, Pecanier, translating the name into their own language. Twice it stood between them and famine before they became established along the lower courses of the Great River. The salvation of the pecan tree is the inferiority of its wood. Being brittle, it does not commend itself to the makers of wagon tongues and axe handles. Many a superb specimen adorns the roadside and more than pays its way at nut harvest, while other hickories have all been felled and dragged off to the factory. No finer tree adorns the avenues of Southern cities than the pecan, furthermore, the value and importance of the nut crop is an ever- increasing quantity Orchards of pecans are being planted, large thin-shelled nuts being chosen for seed. Grafting and budding have been attempted, but usually failed. Success in this is coming and will quickly improve the character of the nuts, only the trees with the best nuts being used for propagation by enter- prising growers. Good seed cannot be depended upon to repro- duce itself in the fruit of the seedling trees. Cions and buds produce the same sort of nuts, when they come to bear, as the parent tree. Pecans are, 95 per cent, of them, still gathered in the woods. Buyers pay nut gatherers from 3 cents to 5 cents per pound for them at the railroad. The retailer gets 15 cents to 75 cents per pound. The yield varies with the years, and quantities are kept over in cold storage against a nut famine. The prices fluctuate surprisingly, and offer great opportunities for speculation. 142 U tH p5 O w u Pi < m o < W •— CO O «) **- "S. l-l c o rt nJ (J U _ '*' "O o C -. rj a. 4J •" w O Ji o (J i/i o .s 1) I' c - CO CO ,-C 13 3 J3 WATER HICKORY (IJuorni aquatuci) THE PECAN {Hicoria Pecan) The crown spreads into a broad dome in open situations. Tlie foliage mass is of graceful, lustrous, sickle-shaped leanets of variable numbers. The wood is of little value, compared with other hickories. The bark is furrowed but not shaggy The Walnuts and the Hickories The shiny red pecans in the grocer's box owe their pohsh and fresh colour to rapid friction with other nuts in revolving barrels. Unfortunately this process restores the bloom of youth to the shells of stale nuts which are commonly mingled with the fresh ones. In many places the nuts are cracked and shelled, the meats sold at 50 cents to 60 cents per pound. There is economy of time, at least, in this for the confectioner and the cook. The ''get-rich-quick" man is sure to be interested in pecans and pecan culture. Large, thin-shelled nuts, for seed, bring from 50 cents to $2.50 per pound. Budded and grafted trees, one or two years old, cost from 50 cents to I1.50 each at the nursery. An orchard of thrifty, prolific trees, whose nuts have thin-shelled, plump kernels, with delicate flavour and the minimum of the astringent red shell lining, is certainly as good as a gold mine on any farm. Of the seventy and more varieties that have been described, not twenty are worth considering. Anyone interested in the subject should get the Report on Nut Culture, Division of Pomol- ogy, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Bitternut, Swamp Hickory (Hicorta minima, Britt.) — A tall, handsome tree, 60 to 100 feet high, with straight trunk, stout branches and slender twigs, forming a broad, symmetrical head. Bark greyish brown, smooth, close; branches smooth; twigs yellowish brown, pale, dotted. Wcod brown, heavy, hard, close grained, tough. Buds slender, pointed, yellow, granular. Leaves alternate, compound, 6 to 10 inches long, of 7 to 1 1 narrow, almost willow-like leaflets, bright green, paler beneath, leathery; yellow in autumn; petioles downy, slender. Flowers in May, with leaves; monoecious, staminate catkins, 3 to 4 inches long, in threes, stalked; pistillate on terminal peduncles, i to 3 flowers, f inch long, with spreading stigmas, green. Fruit globular, or pear shaped, f to i inch long, wider; husk thin, with 4 prominent winged sutures, reaching half way to base; sometimes 2 go to base, never 4. Golden scurf on husk. Nut thin shelled, com- pressed, marked with dark lines; kernel bitter, white. Preferred habitat, low wet woods; swamps. Distribution, Maine and Ontario to Florida; west to Minnesota, Nebraska and Texas. Uses: Valuable ornamental and shade tree, not yet appreciated. Wood used for ox yokes, hoops and for fuel. The bitternut is known among the hickories by its flattened, 143 The Walnuts and the Hickories tapering, yellow buds, which it always carries, no matter what the season. There are always dormant buds in spring, even when growth is at its height. One needs only to follow along any twig to discover several of such lateral ones of the previous year. Very soon the new buds thrust their little yellow noses up from the axils of the leaves, and you have there the sign which remains until growth begins next spring. The bark of H. minima is close and thin; the habit of the tree is like a hard maple's; its leaflets are the smallest among hickories, and the twigs are the slenderest. One need not depend on the fruit as an identification sign. The smooth, round nut comes easily out of the thin shell. But the kernel, white and plump, is bitter as gall. No woodland creatures eat it. This is one of the reasons why the trees are so numerous. Nuts roll away from the parent tree, and are privileged to grow, while edible nuts are devoured. The bitternut has all the good qualities of an ideal park tree, and excels the other hickories in rapidity of growth. The land- scape gardener of the coming generation will know and appreciate it, for the native trees are receiving more and more consideration, and their names are appearing, in increasing numbers; in nursery- men's catalogues. The Bitter Pecan, or ^A^ate^ Hickory (/-/. aquatica, Britt.), is least in size and value among the hickories, though it shoots up occasionally to the height of loo feet. It grows in inundated districts — in swamps of the coast region from Virginia to Texas,, and along the Mississippi River to southern Illinois. There is little to regret in its comparative uselessness, for the trees are practically inaccessible. The bitter little nut is roughly sculptured and ridged, reminding one of the butternut shell. This probably led Michaux to call it a walnut. The kernel is thickly coated with a bitter red powder, like that of the pecan. 144 CHAPTER XX: THE POPLARS Family Salicace/e Genus POPULUS Quick-growing trees with angled or round twigs, set with scaly buds, soft, light wood, and bitter bark. Leaves deciduous, simple, alternate, usually broad, on long petioles. Flowers dioecious, both kinds in crowded, pendulous catkins; each flower subtended by a bract with deeply cut, hairy margin. Fruit pendulous racemes of 2 to 4-valved pods; seeds minute, with dense, silky float attached. KEY TO SPECIES A. Leaf stalks flattened. B. Buds smooth, resinous. C. Leaves triangular, coarsely serrate. D. Blades of leaves 3 to 5 inches long. (P. deltoidea) Cottonwood DD. Blades of leaves 2 to 2^2 inches long. E. Twigs slender, pubescent, yellow. (P. Fremontii) cotton wood EE. Twigs stout, smooth, orange. (P.. Wisliieni) cotton wood CC. Leaves roundish, finely serrate. (P. tre'miiloides) quaking asp BB. Buds downy; leaves ovate, coarsely toothed. (P. grandideniata) great-toothed aspen AA. Leaf stalks round; buds resinous. B. Foliage green on both sides. C. Shape of leaves lanceolate. (P. angusiijolia) narrow-leaved cottonwood CC. Shape of leaves rhombic or deltoid, with long- pointed apex. D. Margins finely serrate. (P. acuminata) lance-leaved cottonwood DD. Margins coarsely and crenately toothed. (P. Mexicana) Mexican cottonwood 145 The Poplars BB. Foliage pale, silvery or rusty below; margins finely serrate. C. Buds thickly covered with yellow resin. {P. halsamijera) balm of gilead CC. Buds somewhat resinous. D. Bark pale grey. {P, trichocarpa) black cottonwood DD. Bark reddish brown. {P. heterophylla) swamp cottonwood Trees of the genus Populus form extensive forests in low, rich land and on high slopes of mountains. They attain large size, are quick of growth, and have exceeding tenacity of life, striking roots from twigs and sending up suckers from under- ground. Seeds are also a reliable means of reproduction, as they are produced in great numbers, and are widely scattered by the wind. The wood is one of the best materials for pulp making, and for a multitude of cheap wares for which a wood easy to work is demanded. The trees are largely planted for shade and ornament, for windbreaks, and to hold the banks of streams. There are twenty-five species of Populus known, eleven of which are native to America. European species are often planted in this country, where they usually thrive as if at home. Some Russian varieties are successful on the Western prairies. China and Japan each have representative poplars here. Cottonwood {Populus deltoidea, Marsh.) — Much-branched tree, 60 to 1 50 feet in height ; diameter 5 to 7J feet. Bark deeply furrowed, grey-brown, becoming greenish; often ashen grey on old trees. Wood dark brown; sap wood white; weak, compact, light. Buds large, pointed, resinous. Leaves broadly ovate, taper pointed, 3 to 5 inches long, margin wavy and coarsely toothed, thick, shining, paler beneath, yellow in fall; petiole long, slender, flat, red or yellow. Flowers, March, in pendant catkins, 3 to 5 inches long, loosely flowered; staminate red, numerous; pistillate green, sparse on trees. Fruits, May, aments 6 to 12 inches long; capsules ovate, often curved, 2-valved; seeds in white, cottony mass. Preferred habitat, moist soil along streams. Distribution, Quebec to Northwest Territory; south to Florida; west to Colorado and New Mexico. Uses: Much planted for shade and windbreaks in the prairie states. Wood has recently come into use in making packing cases. 146 THE COTTONWOOD {Populus deltoidea) The quick-growing tree assumes dignity with age, though wind breaks its limbs. The leaves keep fresh despite the smoke and dust. The catkins appear before the leaves in March. On pistillate trees the seeds ripen in green balls, which open to dis- charge their fluffy contents in May. The buds are sealed with wax. The wood is now being used for boxes _:<^?t«'S= SILVER POPLAR {Populus alba) GREAT-TOOTHED ASPEN NARROW-LEAVED {Populus grand'tdentata) COTTONWOOD {Populus angustijolia) COTTONWOOD {Populus Fremontii) SWAMP COTTONWOOD {Populus heterophylla) BALM OF GILEAD {Populus hahamijera) :J^i^J The Poplars We all concede that the cottonwood has faults. The brittle wood cannot withstand the winds, the leaves drop untidily through the summer, the cast-ofT staminate catkins are a nuisance in spring, and the fluffy cottony seeds shed so deliberately in early summer by the fertile trees fill the air and the meshes of door and window screens to the exasperation of the whole neigh- bourhood. But go out into one of the little breaihuig spaces calle^l parks in a great city like New York in the early spring days when the children of the tenements and the stuffy flats are brought out for a first breath of the spring air. The old cottonwood has its buds all a-glisten with promise, and in a few days longer the dainty little leaves twinkle all over the treetop with the most cheerful green. In the late summer, in spite of its losses, the tree still carries a bright green crown of shade which turns yellow before it falls. With all its faults, it endures the heat of cities, and the dust and soot with commendable patience. In the protection of great buildings it does not suffer by winds as it does in exposed situations. There are better, 'longer-lived trees for the open country, but in cities the cottonwood has a use and a message of cheer for rich and poor who look up and learn to know the tree. Unlike the variety next described, the cottonwood takes on dignity with added years. The Carolina Poplar, considered a variety {Carolinensis) of the cottonwood above, is a strict pyramidal tree of vigorous and surprisingly rapid growth. ' In cities the varnish on the leaves evidently protects them from dust and smoke. Nurserymen have exploited this tree in America and Europe far beyond its merits, for though useful as a temporary tree, giving shade very soon, poplars should give way gradually to more permanent species planted with them. This poplar soon outgrows the beauty and luxuriance of its youth, and becomes broken and ugly. The immoderate planting of these trees gives a cheap character to many an otherwise handsome town or country place. New summer resorts and city ''additions" show poplars in great numbers about their premises. The ''poplar habit" is a very short-sighted one and expensive in the long run. J. Wilkinson Elliott, of Pittsburg, persuades his clients to plant Balm of Gilead, a much more satisfactory species. 147 The Poplars The Cottonwood (P. Fremontti, Wats.) grows in western California, from Sacramento south, and eastward to Colorado and Texas. It is a favourite shade tree, and an important source of fuel. Cut back systematically, the trees produce abundant crowns of suckers in a very short time. Fremont's cottonwood is distinguishable from the preceding species by the smaller size of its leaves and the pubescence of its buds, its leaves are sometimes kidney shaped. The bark of old trees is reddish brown. The trees reach loo feet in height. The Cottonwood (P, fVisli^ent, Sarg.) of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and New Mexico, is a large, wide-crowned tree, with stout, smooth, orange-coloured twigs and leathery, yellow- green leaves. Without these distinguishing characters it might easily be confused with the two species last described. The tree is not met with outside its natural range. Aspen, or Quaking Asp (Populus tremuloides, Michx.) — Slender tree, 40 to 80 feet high, with angular, scarred twigs, and large, vigorous roots. Bark rough, dark on base of trunk, be- coming pale greenish brown or nearly white, and marked with broad, dark bands below the limbs. Wood light brown, sap wood white, soft, close grained, light, weak, not durable. Buds waxy, conical, scaly, brown. Leaves alternate, simple, i^ to 2^ inches long, ovate or almost round, with straight base and apex acute; margin faintly toothed; thin, shining green above, dull yellow- green beneath; autumn colour yellow; petiole flattened, flexible, slender. Flowers in April, dioecious; catkins pendulous, i J to 24 inches long, each flower on notched 'bract, fringed with hairs; stamens 6 to 12 on disc; ovary conical; stigmas 2-lobed; disc broad, persistent. Fruits, May, borne in drooping aments, 4 inches long; capsules oblong-conical, 2-valved, pale green; seeds oblong, covered with brush of long white hairs. Preferred habitat, sandy or gravelly .soil, dry or moist. Distribution, Newfoundland to Hudson Bay and Alaska; south to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Nebraska; also high altitudes throughout the Rocky Mountains and coast ranges. Uses: Most valuable cover for forest land devastated by fire. Comes up from seed scattered broadcast by wind, and acts as nurse to hardwoods and conifers that later succeed them. A pretty shade and ornamental tree, though short lived. Aspen is a general term applied to trees of this genus whose 148 The Poplars leaves have flattened stems. The round-stemmed ones are poplars, proper. The Russian adage: "There is a tree that trembles without even a breath of wind," might well fit this most apprehensive of all the aspen trees. Its dainty round leaf blades twinkle in the sun, a grove of the trees together pro- ducing at a little distance the appearance as well as the sound of rippling water. It is the gayest of trees. That was a lugubrious wight who imagined it accursed by being the tree on which Judas Iscariot hanged himself, and doomed ''ever afterward to shudder and tremble on account of its connection with the tragedy of Calvary." The same legend attaches to the pretty little redbud, the Judas tree. "The green wood moved, and the light poplar shook Its silver pyramid of leaves." We might easily adapt these graceful lines to our quaking asp, but that the word "silver" will not apply accurately. The English poet, Barry Cornwall, was describing the white poplar with white leaf linings. There is no mystery in the trembling of these aspen leaves. Examine one. The stem is long and flexible. It is flattened in a plane at right angles with the blade of the leaf. Now, given a leaf that is dangling from its twig, and has four flat surfaces exposed, it is a cautious breeze indeed that is able to get by without disturbing the leaf's unstable equilibrium. Given, a treetop of leaves similarly made and hung, and you have a quaking asp. It waves you an invitation to examine, and see if the explanation above is not correct. Homer's famous simile based on the leaves of poplar trees is not ungallant as that of Gerarde, who compares them to "women's tongues which seldom cease wagging." The most delicate colouring is found in this aspen tree. The pale bark takes on a cool, greenish tinge in earliest spring. The furry catkins flush pink with their silvery grey silk. The opening leaves unroll, soft and white, like flannel — "ju' luk a kitten's ear," each one of them, to quote Uncle Eb. They pass through various tones of rose and olive on the way to their lustrous adult stage. Every day from early March till May it is worth while to go by a copse of trembling aspen and look up to see what new phase of the trees' life history has opened since last we passed that way. 149 The Poplars Large-toothed Aspen {Populus grandidentata, Michx.) — Narrow, round-headed tree, 50 to 75 feet high, with stout, angular branchlets, roughened by leaf scars. Bark dark brown and deeply fissured between broad ridges on old trunks; grey-green on limbs. Twigs smooth, pubescent at first. IVood soft, weak, pale brown; sap wood white. Buds ovate, pointed, scaly, waxed. Leaves ovate to roundish, heart shaped at base, acute, with sparse, irregular-rounded teeth; 3 to 4 inches long, 2 to 3 inches wide, thick, green, with pale somewhat tomentose linings; petioles slender, laterally flattened, 2 to 3 inches long. Flowers, April, dioecious, in pendulous catkins, 2 to 3 inches long; staminate red from anthers; pistillate green from spreading stigmas; bracts deeply cleft. Fruits, hairy capsules, 2-valved, thin walled, slender, crooked, filled with minute seeds, each with white, hairy float; May. Preferred habitat, rich, sandy loam, on borders of streams. Distribution, Nova Scotia to Minnesota; south to New Jersey, and on Alleghanies to North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. The coarse, thick leaves with large, rounded teeth on the margins, distinguished this great-toothed aspen from its dainty cousin, the quaking asp, with which it is often associated in the woods. In fact, the tree is coarser throughout, the branchlets stout and the buds downy, so no one who is interested and ob- servant will have any trouble to tell them apart. The Narrow-leaved Cottonwood (P. angustifolia, James) has lanceolate leaves, more like a willow's than a poplar's. The margins are finely saw toothed, the petioles short, and the texture thin and firm. It is easy to see that the tree is a poplar, the flattened petiole alone being a sufficient clue. The tree lines the banks of mountain streams of the Rockies, 5,000 to 10,000 feet in elevation. It grows from 40 to 60 feet high, a narrow pyramid of slender limbs. The Lance-leaved Cottonwood {P. acuminata^ Rydb.), with scarcely wider leaves than the preceding species, is a compact, round-headed little tree that grows on stream borders and arid foothills of the Rocky Mountains from British Columbia to southern Nebraska and Colorado. Its distribution is not fully ascertained. It is used for fuel and planted for shade in com- munities within its natural range. The Mexican Cottonwood (P. Mexicana, Wesm.) grows, a graceful, wide-spreading tree of medium size, along mountain 150 '^-3 ■a ^ -« c n3 u eS ^ re jQ ^ ^ ^ ^ CQ 3 "O CO 3 tc u ^ 0) o ^ u c •a D 0) ;c ^ -!-> 73 C o ^" M A a> JU (U '«-> ic (U ^ C «c J? o bfj ^ ^ ^" B a 3 o CL, >^ o o >- p ^ ^ cfl -rrj Ifi a D C _t/i cy "" ^ u ^ 03 E Q, x: H < x; >>. 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It is an unmeasured advantage to a region to have its shifting sands and mud banks estabHshed thus, and covered with green. There are comparatively few willows that grow into large trees. The rank and file of trees even in these species are small. From Europe we have naturalised two large species, S, alba and S. jragilis. The golden osier, whose yellow limbs are bright in early spring in many a fence row, is called var. vitellina of S. alba, the white willow of Europe. The Babylonian willow, Salix Babylonica, is the much-planted weeping willow of the Eastern States. Var. dolorosa is the popular " Wisconsin Weeping Willow." One of the best ornamental willows is S. pentandra, the laurel willow, whose crown of glossy, broad, green leaves adorns many parks. This species is coming into well-deserved popular favour. The Kilmarnock Willow is a weeping horticultural variety, pendula, of 5. Caprea, Linn., the European goat willow. The staminate tree is loaded in spring with catkins which are coarse and ugly compared with those of our own pussy willow, S. discolor. Black Willow {Salix nigra, Marsh.) — Medium-sized tree, 50 to 100 feet high, but usually smaller. Twigs slender, brittle at base. Bark dark brown, flaky, deeply furrowed, often shaggy. IVood light reddish brown, weak, soft, fine grained. Buds small, acute, red-brown. Leaves narrowly lanceolate, acuminate at apex, finely and evenly serrate, green ^ on both sides; petioles short, 2j to 5 inches long; stipules leaf-like, semi heart shaped or crescent shaped, deciduous or persistent. Flowers with leaves, on short lateral twigs, dioecious; catkins i to 3 inches long, pencil- like, erect; ovaries short, distinct, smooth; stamens 3 to 7; scales oval, hairy, deciduous. Fruit loose racemed capsules, ovoid, tapering; seeds minute. Preferred habitat, borders of lakes and streams. Distribution, Newfoundland to Florida, west to Rocky Mountains, reappearing in California. The black willow earns its name by the black bark of old trees. An interesting feature of the foliage is the pair of leaf-like, heart- shaped stipules that persist throughout the summer, as a rule, at the base of each leaf. Among narrow-leaved willows this is the only one with foliage uniformly green on both sides. The leaves are often curved like a sickle. No willow has a wider distribution than this intrepid species, which takes possession of stream borders, climbs mountains and crosses arid plains to plant itself 157 The Willows in new territory. It is one of the largest of our native species when it comes to maturity. The Black ^A^illow (S. longipes, Anders.) differs from S. nigra in the wider, more typically lanceolate leaf and the silvery lining which lightens the foliage mass wonderfully as the wind plays among the leaves. The two heart-shaped stipules are usually persistent; they can always be found near the tips of growing shoots, even in midsummer. The centre of this tree's distribution is in the Ozark Mountains. Rocky banks of streams are its preferred habitat. It grows, a small tree, from Washington, D. C, to Florida, and west to Missouri and New Mexico. Sandbar Willow {Salix ftuviatilis, Nutt.) — Slender tree, 20 to 30 feet high, or much-branched shrub. Leaves silky, becoming smooth, linear-lanceolate, coarsely toothed, tapering at both ends, often falcate, 2 to 4 inches long, thin yellow-green, paler beneath; petioles short; midrib raised, prominent; stipules minute, leafy, deciduous. Flowers in slender, silky aments on leafy side twigs. Fruits ovoid-conic, sessile, scales smooth. Preferred habitat, moist soil along streams. Distribution, Quebec to Northwest Territory: south to Virginia, Kentucky and New Mexico. The sandbar willow, like 5. nigra, does a good work in holding in place a body of drift which without them would be moved by floods. The beautifying of rivers by embowering the mud flats and sandy shoals in billowy green is a distinct claim this tree has to the gratitude of communities. A little tree, indeed, but widely distributed, it is one of the most useful. A variety, argyrophylla, with silky, downy leaf, is found from Texas west to California and north to British Columbia. The Silver - leaved Willow {Salix sessilifolia, Nutt.), with scarcely any stem for its narrov/ silky-lined leaves, is a little tree that follows stream borders from Puget Sound south to the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. It is one of the commonest willows of the coast region of southern California. The hoary tomentum that clothes the opening leaves is never quite lost from the under sides of the leaves. They are pale yellow-green on the upper sides at maturity. Peach-leaf Willow (Salix amygdaloides, Anders.) — Erect, straight-branched tree, 30 to 40 feet high, rarely 70 feet high. Bark brown, scaly, on thick plates. Wood soft, weak, pale brown. 158 The Willows Buds ovate, lustrous, brown. Leaves broadly lanceolate or ovate, serrate, taper pointed, 3 to 5 inches long, i inch wide, glabrous, paler, and glaucous beneath; petioles slender, compressed; stipules kidney shaped, broad, serrate, soon dropping. Flowers with the leaves; catkins loosely flowered, i to 2 inches long. Fruits narrowly Dvoid capsules, taper pointed, smooth on stem of equal length. Preferred habitat, borders of streams and lakes. Distribution, Quebec to British Columbia, south through New York, Missouri and New Mexico. The resemblance of the foliage of this tree to that of peach trees is striking. The leaves curl slightly, and hang pendant on their slender, flexible stems. It is one of our few willow trees that rise above medium height. Rare in the East, it is common in the valley of the Ohio, and along streams that flow down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It is often met in cultiva- tion in the Middle West. The Black Willow (5. laevigata, Bebb.) is recognisable by its pale blue-green, leathery leaves, which are pale and glaucous beneath and finely serrate or almost entire on the margins. It is a native of California, following streams on the western slopes of the Sierras. It is rarely more than 40 feet high, averaging a little over half that height. The Shining Willow (S. lucida, Muehl.) is an inhabitant of the North. From Newfoundland it ranges westward to Hudson Bay and the Rockies, and southward only as far as Pennsylvania and Nebraska. A small, round-headed tree, its distinction is the lustre of its ruddy twigs and the beautiful sheen of its dark green, leathery leaves. It is coming to be recognised by landscape gardeners and nurserymen as a species of consider- able horticultural value. The Western Black Willow (S.'lasiandra, Benth.) grows to be a tree 60 feet high on river banks and lake shores from British Columbia to California and east into Montana, Colorado and New Mexico. The type becomes modified in the remote limits of its range. The leaves are 4 or 5 inches long, lanceolate and finely cut-toothed; they are a dark, lustrous green above, paler or glaucous below. Missouri Willow (Salix Missouri en sis, Bebb.) — Tree, to 50 feet high, with trunk to il feet thick. Twigs pubescent. Bark grey, thin, with small scales. Wood dark brown. Leaves 159 The Willows lanceolate, acuminate, finely serrate, with rounded bases, 3 to 6 inches long, J to ij inches wide; pubescent at first, becoming smooth, green above, pale and glaucous below; stipules leaf-like in pairs, often persistent; petioles about ^ inch long. Flowers before leaves; aments slender, long; scales persistent, hairy; stamens 2; style short. Fruit capsules, stalked, narrowly ovoid, smooth, above hairy oval scale. Preferred habitat, river banks. Distribution, northern Missouri, northeastern Kansas, Nebraska and western Iowa. Pussy Willow (Salix discolor, Muehl.) — Shrub, or small tree, to 25 feet high, with stout branchlets, purplish red with pubescent coating. Buds reddish, flattened, pointed. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute at both ends, irregularly serrate, often crenate, thick, 3 to 5 inches long, bright green, with pale or silvery lining; midribs broad, yellow; stipules leaf-like, half-moon shaped; petioles slender. Flowers, March, often showing earlier, before the leaves; aments silky, oval, grey, turning yellow as flowers open. Fruits aments of beaked capsules, each long pointed, on long stem, with broad, hairy scale. Preferred habitat, swamps and moist hillsides. Distribution, Nova Scotia to Manitoba; south to Delaware and Missouri. This is the familiar bog willow which we rarely recognise in leaf. The twigs are usually cut when the little furry catkins peep out in late winter. Florists in Eastern cities buy large quantities of these twigs in winter, and force them out for the early spring trade. The Heart Willow (S. cordata), a shrub in the East, has a Western variety, Macken{ieana, Hook., that assumes the tree habit and size. It extends from the far North to the Rocky Mountains in Idaho and west into California. The narrow leaves are acute at the apex and bear minute kidney-shaped stipules throughout the summer. It is an extremely variable willow. The Hooker Willow (5. Hookeriana, Hook.) has broad, oblong leaves, blunt at apex, and white below, with hoary tomen- tum. It is the little willow of sand dunes and salt marshes from Vancouver Island to southern Oregon. Its hoary twigs further identify it. It rarely grows above 30 feet in height. Bebb's Willow (Salix Bebbiana, Sarg.) — Small tree, with short trunk, 10 to 20 feet high, with downy twigs and smooth. 160 J. i^ V'!.r i a i^j ••^3^ ?-v^t^Jiig'.y' THE PUSSY WILLOW {Salix discolor) This is the familiar bog willow whose grey, silky catkins appear in earliest spring. People rarely see this tree in summer 1 ^ 2 << » 3 ^ 0 ^- 1 ii'^K R^S w > \^sP ■"4&'^ IHi ^H ^^H^^> ^^yi^t-Jb^>y[;^3 ■s30^'^ •'^'ii # ill ■ -*i^ r ^E~ ' 'u i^^K. «ys I •^ ►'^ I Mature staminate flower 2 Immature staminate flower 3 Mature pi'-tillate flower 4 Fruit unripe 5 Fruit ripe THE PUSSY WILLOW (6^^//^; discolor) On staminate trees the catkins turn yellow by the ripening of the pollen in the anthers. On pistillate trees the catkins we made up of pistils, each on a silky, entire scale. In late spring these matured pistils form beaked, 2-valved pods. The seeds are minute, and each has a silky float The Willows reddish bark. Leaves i to 3 inches long, oblong-obovate, acute or blunt at apex, sparingly toothed or entire, dull green and downy above, distinctly veined and pale blue or silvery, hairy beneath; petioles short; stipules semi-cordate, acute, deciduous. Flowers with leaves, sessile, erect, terminal; staminate silkv white, becoming golden; pistillate silky, with yellow stigmas which spread in pairs. Fruits pubescent, beaked capsules; stalk much longer than scale. Preferred habitat, dry soil or stream borders. Distribution, throughout British America and south to New Jersey, Nebraska and Utah. The Balsam Willow (5. balsamijera, Barr.) is dressed in spring, like the Balm of Gilead, in young shoots that glisten in a coating of balsam. The broad, ovate leaves are blunt at the apex, and look scarcely willow-like, but the flowers and seed pods maintain the family traditions and leave us no doubts. The tree is found in the northern tier of states and ranges far north, becoming a prostrate shrub. In its best estate it grows into a long stem crowned with a small clump of branches bearing the foliage. It is an inhabitant of cold bogs, and extends no farther west than Minnesota. Golden Osier (Saltx alba, Linn., var. vitellina) — Venerable- looking tree, with short trunk and regular, spreading top, 40 to 60 feet high. Twigs golden yellow. Bark grey, rough. Leaves elliptical, sparingly serrate, tapering at both ends, 2 to 4 inches long, silky hairy, becoming smooth; lining white and somewhat hairy ; stipules ovate-lanceolate, deciduous ; petioles short. Flowers with leaves; scales deciduous; stamens 2; stigmas sessile. Fruits flask shaped, sessile, smooth capsules. Preferred habitat, moist, rich soil. Distribution, eastern North America. This American derivative of the white willow of Europe deserves mention among native trees. It is truly naturalised. Its yellow twigs are its best identification. It is far more common in cultivation than its parent, although the latter is occasionally seen. This variety is one of the most vigorous and useful of all the willows grown in this country. 161 CHAPTER XXII: THE HORNBEAMS Family Betulacet^ I. Genus OSTRYA Scop. Small trees with very hard wood and scaly bark. Leaves simple, alternate, ovate, deciduous. Flowers small, monoecious, both in catkins. Fruits conical, hop-like, of many nuts, each one in an inflated sac. KEY TO SPECIES A. Leaves 3 to 5 inches long, tapering to point. (0. Virginiana) hop hornbeam AA. Leaves i to 2 inches long, rounded at point. (0. Knowltoni) iron wood 2. Genus CARPINUS, Linn. Sm^all tree, with smooth, grey bark, showing swellings like veins. Leaves simple, alternate, oblong-lanceolate. Flowers, both sorts in aments, monoecious. Fruit, paired nutlets, each with a 3-lobed wing. (C. Caroliniana) Hornbeam The hornbeams, or ironwoods, are little trees hiding in the shadows of the forest. They are of slow growth; their wood is very hard. They bear their flowers in catkins, the two sorts upon the same tree: the staminate axillary, the pistillate terminal. The seeds are formed for wind distribution. Birches, alders, and that shrubby genus Corylus, the hazels, are associated by family characters. America has five of the six genera that compose the family. As a rule the hardest woods come from tropical forests. Witness the lignum vitae, hardest of woods, which grows in Florida, the West Indies, and northern South America; the mahogany of Central America; the rosewood from Brazil; and 162 The Hornbeams. the ebony from Ceylon, tropical Africa and Cuba. Northern forests, too, furnish some species with exceptionally hard wood. The hornbeams are the best proof of this statement; the strength, hardness and flexibility of their wood rival steel. In durability they excel the best oak. The name, ironwood, is locally given to any tree whose wood is hard. I. Genus Ostrya, Scop. Hop Hornbeam, Ironwood (Osirya Virginiana, Willd.)— Small, slender tree, with round head of stiff, wiry branches. Bark greyish brown, furrowed into narrow, scaly ridges, which break into small, oblong plates. Wood reddish brown, heavy, cross grained, tough, strong and hard to work. Buds lateral, ovate, acute, small, brown. Leaves ovate, acuminate, sharply and doubly serrate, 3 to 5 inches, thin, tough, dull yellow-green above, paler beneath; yellow in autumn; petioles short, hairy. Flowers with leaves, April and May, monoecious; staminate in catkins formed previous season; pistillate erect, loose catkins, each flower surrounded by three united bracts. Fruit a hop-like cluster of inflated bags, formed of bracts, each containing a hard little • seed. ^Preferred habitat, shady forest ground. Distribution, Nova Scotia to Black Hills; south to Florida and Texas. Uses: Wood used for mallets, levers and tool handles. Desirable for orna- mental planting, but rarely used. The hop hornbeam looks like a relative of the birches. Its leaves convey this impression, and slender limbs in winter bear green catkins that cluster in threes on the ends of twigs and wait for spring, just as the birch catkins do. The bark of this hornbeam is thin and scales off in narrow strips whose surfaces are covered with squarish scales. The pale colour and the stripping of the bark reminds us of the shell- bark — its shaggy strips reduced to a small scale. Among the branches the bark is smooth and close, and the twigs look like fine wires, springing out at right angles from the stem. In spring the staminate catkins swing out, even as the birch flowers do, but the pistillate clusters have to be looked for. The red, forked tongues thrust out for pollen may be seen at the ends of leafy side shoots. Here the midsummer show^s a hop- 163 The Hornbeams like cluster of little pale green sacs, each with a shining seed inside. The hop hornbeam is of a retiring disposition, preferring to hide in the shadows of taller trees. But there is nothing dark or funereal about it. The leaves, bright and green, are held out in level platforms where they can get the sunbeams that trickle down to them. Then comes summer, and the pale green "hops" make the tree a centre that seems to shed light into dark places. The little hop tree, Ptelea irijoliata, is shining in its corner, and at a short distance the two trees might be confused. Each one is a blessed sight on a hot day, for pale green against dark green is always a cool colour scheme. In the late autumn, after the leaves turn yellow and fall, the hops still hang, grudgingly giving up one little seed balloon after another to the insistent wind. There is likely to be a long sail for each one, and perhaps more than one, for until the bag is punctured and the seed covered, the wind gives it no rest. The wood of the hop hornbeam is vexatious stuff for the turner, and whoever else tries tool upon it. But once it takes shape it lasts indefinitely. Sled stakes, levers, rake teeth, tool handles, wedges, do not soon need replacing if made , of this material. It is equally satisfactory when used for fence posts. The parks about Boston have beautiful specimens of the hop hornbeam, showing that its merits as an ornamental tree are being recognised by the best judges. The next step will be its increasing popularity for private grounds. The Western Iron wood (O. Knowlioni), which was dis- covered in Arizona but a few years ago, is smaller in every way than the Eastern species, but every trait proclaims it a hop hornbeam. The leaves, catkins and hops are short and blunt pointed. The protective pubescence which belongs to desert plants is on the young shoots and the leaves and fruits of this tree. Its limbs are often gnarled, but it forms a rounded sym- metrical top, and is sometimes 30 feet high. The tree is probably one of the rarest in the country, for as far as known it has not been found except in one locality, where it has formed a considerable grove. How this species has been cut off from its near relative in the East is a problem worthy of investigation. 164 ij> i2 c:t a, o '/> ^ r a d^ -,— , w c \~ I- w do w H 4-> ^ 03. 4— ■ -T3 "? 3 "" XI , ^ c 2 ^ rt -T3 v3 — _4; c;S . "^ *•-< W Si 'C (J ^ C JC ~ o o ;3 o a — "^"^ S) '■M U5 ij ^ 'a < ^ . 4> The Hornbeams 2. Genus Carpinus, Linn. American Hornbeam, Blue Beech {Carpinus Carolini- ana, Walt.) — Small, shapeless tree with irregular limbs, often pendulous, and slender, wiry twigs. Bark furrowed at base of trunk on old trees; smooth, bluish grey above, swollen as by veins underneath the bark; twigs brown. JVood light brown, heavy, hard, strong, fme, hard to work. Buds all lateral, ovate, small, brown. Leaves ovate-oblong, long pointed, irregularly doubly serrate, often unequal at base, dull green, pale beneath, orange or scarlet in autumn: hairy petiole and veins. Flowers monoecious, with leaves, in April; staminate catkins, i^ inches long, pendulous, lateral; pistillate flowers in racemes, terminal, loose flowered, with forked red stigmas under green scales. Fruit racemed, hard nutlets in pairs, each supported by a large, leaf-like, 3-lobed bract. Preferred habitat, swampy rich soil near streams, in shade of taller trees. Distribution, Georgian Bay (southern Canada) to Florida; west to Minnesota and Texas; also in Mexico and Central America. Uses: Curious and inter- esting tree for planting along watercourses, but rarely seen in landscape gardening. Wood used for tool handles, levers and ox yokes. The American hornbeam has no "hop" in its name because its fruit has none. Each little seed in the terminal cluster has a mate on the other side of the stem, and all summer they have grown close together, back to back, generally crowding for more room. Each seed sits in the prow of a little boat, shaped like a red maple leaf, but hollowed like a scallop shell. The wind finally loosens the hold of each, and for a time seed and boat hang by a thread. This breaks at last, and the little nut sails ofi" at the will of the wind, to grow, if it falls in wet ground. This hornbeam resembles Ostrya in many particulars — its leaves, its flowers, its delicate wiry twigs, its foliage, and the hard- ness of its wood. 1 1 grows, too, in the shadows of other trees. The bark it is that sets the trees apart. This tree has bark like a young beech, a thin, smooth, blue-grey rind, that has strange flutings or vein-like swellings coursing up. the trunk and out on the larger limbs. They remind one of the veins of a blacksmith's sinewy arm, or an athlete's. A trunk a foot in diameter at the 165 The Hornbeams base generally shows a few furrows, and some minor roughness near the ground, but above, the smoothness is unbroken. The hornbeam grows often in thickets, sometimes as scattered, single trees, in marshy ground and along streams. It is a pretty tree, with blue-green leaves that turn to orange and scarlet in the autumn. It is coming into notice as an ornamental tree, now that people are learning that the best way to make a park is to do less levelling and filling, and plant in the lower ground trees and plants that choose such situations naturally. The anguish of working in this wood was experienced by the early colonists, who appreciated its value. "The New England Prospect" says: "The Home bound tree is a tough kind of wood that requires so much paines in riving as is almost incredible, being the best for to make boll-es and dishes, not being subject to cracke or leake." Heads of beetles, stocks, mill cogs, yoke timbers, levers — for such uses it is ideal wood. The European Hornbeam (Carpinus Betulus, Linn.) ranges from Scandinavia and England to the Caucasus, and is a beautiful tree of no small note. The "hornbeams" of ancient ox yokes wore indefinitely, becoming as hard and smooth as horn. The trees grow in cold, forbidding situations, where most trees fail, and so serve as windbreaks and as covers of barren clay soil. The wood makes excellent fuel and charcoal, beside its special uses to the turner. In the old days of formal gardens, the horn- beam was popular, for it suffered itself to be clipped with as much patience as the linden, the beech or the yew. It was a famous hedge tree. The Germans made fences by planting rows of the saplings leaning so that each two plants formed a cross. The bark was scraped at the point of intersection, and then the two were bound together with straw, until they grew fast to each other. Careful pruning made of this in a short time a beautiful and impenetrable wall. Miles of this fencing were seen in Evelyn's day. The Germans also planted the trees near the gates of the great cities, training their branches to cover arbours "for con- venience of the people to sit and solace in." Travellers in Europe will fmd the hornbeam still much used as in earlier centuries. China, Japan and India have native hornbeams; there are nine or ten species in all. The race is old — the rocks show fossils of extinct species that once inhabited western America. i66 ^ -1 i-< (fl x> (U «l > -i ra •r s *J J^»e M o o e iSl 4J ,'a< -fl rj O 2^ r X u: > _,...^ O 4J 2 4J J3 ^ --^ " d ■-2, _^ _2 .- 'o 5, C5 13 ■> Ci. ^. • - 4_, bO ^ -0 3 C 2 <^ 4J ffi •5 X ci. u .^ XI . oi 00 rr; 05 1 ^-4 i-* w § -2 -c < ° 0 >. Oh ^ w G u 0 .5 £i c I- 3 ■« ■^ CC *-. • S'o 1. 3 >ro 4j 2 c C^C-co ,, w 4J Ji 0 ^ 1) -c w "^ ^ 4-i >- • -< « ra r2 '" -Q •£ ■^ 4J ^.'^■5 aj „ C! (V 0 (J u; « _c: (U u -O ' ' L-< •. (/i ^ J^ X s s ^ e ^ 1- 3 aj « -Q •S.S 13 ^•^t „ OJ >- C ^ >-> 1— I 03 OJ •L) > 0 . c .i2 0 ** CHAPTER XXIIi: THE BIRCHES Family Betulace.^ Genus BETULA, Linn. Trees with smooth bark marked with conspicuous horizontal sHts (Jenticels), usually curling back in thin horizontal layers. Leaves simple, alternate, deciduous, serrate, stalked. Flowers monoecious, in catkins. Fruit cone-like, scaly; seed flat, winged. KEY TO SPECIES A. Bark chalky white, yellow beneath. B. Leaves triangular, bark close. {B. pOpultjolia) WHITE BIRCH BB. Leaves ovate; bark separating freely into layers. (B. papyrijera) canoe birch AA. Bark grey, curling back, yellow beneath. (B. lutea) YELLOW birch AAA. Bark red, curling in thin ribbons; cones ripe in June. {B. nigra) red birch AAAA. Bark dark brown, lustrous. B. Twigs aromatic; bark separating into thick plates. {B. lenta) sweet birch BB. Twigs not aromatic; barkseparatinginto thin, papery layers. {B. occidentalis) western black birch There is no denying the inferiority of the wood in most species of birch. The toughness and durability of the bark prevent the prompt evaporation of the abundant sap, which ferments and breaks down the wood cells. It is not uncommon to find in the woods a birch trunk with the bark intact, but the wood crumbling like chalk when touched. When the trees are stripped of their bark immediately after being cut down, the wood seasons properly and lasts fairly well as lumber. There are twenty-eight known species of the genus Betula distributed over the Northern Hemisphere, and a fugitive species 167 The Birches grows in Terra del Fuego! Ten of these are North American, seven or eight Asiatic, and six European. The white birch of Europe extends through Asia to Japan, and is cultivated in many varieties in America. American White Birch, Aspen-leaved Birch (Betula populifolia, Marsh.) — Small, short-lived tree, 25 to 40 feet high, with slender horizontal branches and tremulous foliage. Bark chalky white or greyish, with triangular dark patches where branches are or have been; not easily separated into layers; white does not rub off on clothing; branches dark brown. IVood light, soft, weak, close grained, not durable in contact with soil; light brown; takes good polish. Buds slender, brown, | inch long. Leaves alternate, simple, triangular, 2 to 3 inches long, long pointed, double saw toothed ; dark green above, paler beneath, yellow in autumn; teeth of margin glandular; petioles long, slim, twisted. Flowers before leaves, April, monoecious; staminate in terminal catkins, single, or paired, formed in previous summer; pistillate catkins, ^ inch long, pale green, scales ovate. Fruits cylindrical cones, i inch long, blunt at both ends, drooping; scales downy, 3-lobed, side lobes large, spreading; nut oval, pointed, with broad wing. Preferred habitat, dry, gravelly soils, or borders of swamps. Distribution, Nova Scotia along coast to Delaware; northwest to Lake Ontario. Uses: Graceful and hardy ornamental tree; thrives in any soil, but rarely planted. Wood used for spools, shoe pegs, wood pulp and fuel. Valuable nurse trees to hardwoods and conifers on land Nature is reforesting. The only native species with which this white birch might be confused is the canoe birch. Look first at the bark. It is chalky white and yellowish beneath, but the chalk does not rub off. it is hard, close bark, which does not part into thin layers. It is cracked in growth, and the short crevices are dark, making the trunk look grey at a distance. Wherever a bud or branch has been, a large, ever-widening black V brands the trunk and limbs. Near the base of the trunk, the white bark is about all gone, leaving a black, furrowed area that grows gradually higher. The foliage mass of the American white birch is much thinner and lighter than that of the canoe birch. The leaves are small and dainty, triangular, taper pointed, suggesting in shape and tremulous poise the aspens or poplars. This is the one of our birches that most nearly resemble? 168 Fruiting branch Staminate flowers C. Iruit D. Detail of fruit THE AMERICAN WHITE BIRCH {Betula populijoUa) The narrow, taper-pointed, triangular leaves are very glutinous when they unfold. They tremble like aspen leaves, and form a thin foliage mass. The long, pendulous staminate catkin shown has a slim green pistillate one above it. The flowe 'S appear in April before the leaves are half-grown. The narrow, oblong cone has scales with two spreading side lobes. I s wings are broader than the seed. The bark is dirty white and marked with a conspicuous black triangle or an inverted V undf r pach branch. The bark can with difficulty be stripped horizontally. It is not easily separable into thin sheets. The bases A old trunks become dark and furrowed C. Fr it A. Pistillate flowers B. Staminate flowers D. Details of fruit and fruit scales THE CANOE BIRCH {Betula papyrifera) The bark of this tree is a dull, chalky white, and curls away from its few furrows in horizontal plates. On old trees the bases of the trunks are dark-coloured. The winter twigs often end in three stiff catkins, the staminate flowers sealed tight to paps the winter. In April the ovate leaves come out with the flowers, the green pistillate catkins erect to catch pollen, seeds fall away from the 3-lobed scales in the pencil-like cones. Each seed has a pair of broad wings Id autumn the The Birches the European white birch. It is not a large tree, and the woods- man scorned it, until the manufacturer of wood pulp, shoe pegs and spools sent forth a demand for it. Now the owner looks with satisfaction upon the graceful, bending birches that bow to each other in the swamps along the streams, over abandoned fields and deforested mountain sides. The harvest is his in due season. This threatened doom of the white birch casts no warning shadow across these sunny, thick-set acres. The trees are all young together, and no matter how scant a living the sterile soil yields, these gypsy trees never seem to languish. Their silken ribbons of dirty white bark are flaunted gaily against the sombre back- ground of evergreens, and they "lean out over the stream," as Doctor Van Dyke puts it, "Narcissus-like, as if to see their own beauty in the moving mirror." Life is short — but it is care free and joyous. There is a philosophy in the lives of these vagabond birches we may well ponder upon. Do they not clothe with beauty the most uninviting places? Do they not come again, after a general slaughter, promptly and abundantly, from stump and from scattered seed? A noble persistence and patience under adverse conditions is revealed for our contemplation in the parable of the white birch. Canoe Birch, Paper Birch (Betula papyrtfera, Marsh.) — Large tree, 60 to 80 feet high, with few erect, large limbs and numerous horizontal branches with flexible twigs, forming a broad, open head. Bark dull, chalky white, when exposed to the sun, stripping horizontally into thin sheets, with frayed edges; chalk rubs off. IVood light brown, reddish, light, hard, tough, close grained. Buds resinous, dark brown, sharp pointed. Leaves 2 to 3 inches long, ovate, abruptly pointed, finely and irregularly serrate, thick, dull, dark green, with paler lining, yellow in autumn; midrib raised and marked with black dots; petioles grooved, downy, slender. Flowers monoecious, April, before leaves; staminate catkins, 3 to 4 inches long, pendulous, clustered or paired; pistillate catkins, i to i^ inches long, on stalks I inch long; scales tapering; pistils red. Fruit slender cones i^ inches long, cylindrical, stalked; scales smooth, 3-lobed, two outer points smaller than middle one; seed oval, with broad wings. Preferred habitat, river banks and rich slopes of mountains. Distribution, Labrador to Alaskan coast; south to Long Island, 169 The Birches northern Pennsylvania, central Michigan and Minnesota, northern Nebraska, Black Hills, northern Montana and northwestern Washington. Uses: Picturesque, graceful ornamental tree; hardy, rapid grower, vigorous, easily transplanted; wood used for spools, shoe lasts, wood pulp and fuel. Starchy cambium furnishes lood to Indians and trappers. Bark used for canoes, letter paper and a great variety of articles, useful and decorative. The Indians easily proved their ingenuity in the uses of the paper birch. They framed their tents of it, and built canoes, ribbing them with cedar, and covering them with large sheets of birch bark. They sewed the seams with threads made of spruce or cedar roots, and closed the chinks with pitch or gum of the Balm of Gilead. These small craft were graceful and durable, and the Indian managed them with consummate skill. An early letter writer from the colonies described these "delicate canowes so light that two men will transport one of them overland whither they list, and one of them will transporte tenne or twelve Salvages by water at a time." Hunters and trappers, following clumsily the Indian's example, are able to supply their camps with all necessary utensils, such as baskets, buckets, dippers, dishes — all made of this material. The weather is never so wet but that fragments of birch burn merrily to start a campfire. The range of the canoe birch is remarkable. It reaches a higher latitude than any other deciduous tree, and covers a wider territory. It is a noticeable feature of the almost continuous forest that once stretched from Newfoundland to Washington state, south to Nebraska and Pennsylvania and north to within the Arctic circle. The bark, which gives name and character to this tree, is distinguishable from the white bark of other species by its pearly surface and chalky whiteness which rubs off on clothing. It strips readily into thin horizontal sheets, marked with elongated lenticels, or breathing holes. The feminine tourist in Northern woods loses no time in supplying herself with birch-bark note paper. The bark is usually removed in thick plates, from which the thin sheets may be stripped at leisure. These sheets are orange coloured, with a faint purplish bloom upon them, and darker, purplish lines. Alas! for the zeal of these tourists. They usually cut too deep, and the strip that tears off so evenly, girdles and kills the tree, because nothing is left to protect the living 170 U3 a. .a H a (50 ^ -~. -o _2 ~5 ti ^; (U CS5 -£v bO 3 X O u CO ^ 1— 1 ^ pq ^ ^ U O iJ w ti. >^ _.y '> • .H w IS ffi H >% Jal o o tl rj d o -T3 d (« o> -o d (« ^-4 "O o o ^ .3 4-> • -4 -Q nj Jd i I ■""?<*", I 'Wfiiil I Fruit and leaf a Fruit j Section of fruit 4 Seeds 5 Seed on scale 6 Upper side of scale 9 Flowering branch : A, Sterile or staminate flower; B, Fertile or pistillate flower 7 Under side of scale 10 Bark and wood 8 Flower buds THE YELLOW BIRCH {Betula lutea) (Upper.) A flowering twig in early April. Staminate catkins pendulous at tip. Pistillate catkins smaller, solitary, erect, lateral. (Lower.) Leaf, cones, 3-lobed cone-scales and heart-shaped, winged seeds, ripe in autumn. Twig with staminate catkinF half grown and sealed up for winter The Birches cambium. A black band (of mourning) soon marks the doomed tree, and it eventually snaps off in the wind. The strain of the growing wood breaks the bark here and there and it curls back at the broken edges. Strips gradually come off, on trunk and branches, leaving black bands. But this is not a very shaggy birch. The pearly lustre of its clean white bark and the density of its lustrous foliage make B. papyri f era one of the most beautiful, as it is one of the largest, of our native birches. Yellow Birch, Grey Birch (Betula lutea, Michx.) — Medium- sized tree, 50 to 75 feet, rarely 100 feet high, with broad, round top with slender, drooping branchlets ending in fme, leafy spray. Bark aromatic, bitter, dark grey, rough, with deep, irregular furrows, and thick plates; younger stems silvery yellow, peeling horizontally in ribbons; remnants of this lustrous bark seen on plates of *old trunks; twigs pubescent the first season. IVood reddish brown, pale, heavy, hard, strong, close grained, satiny. Buds pointed, } inch long, brown, shiny. Leaves ovate, 3 to 4 inches long, sharply and doubly serrate, pointed, oblique at base; veins conspicuous, hairy beneath, midrib stout; petiole short, hairy; colour dull dark green, with yellow-green lining; autumn, pale yellow. Flowers before leaves in April; staminate catkins, 3 to 4 inches long, brown above, yellow below the middle; pistillate catkins f inch long, reddish green, hairy. Fruits : cones oblong or ovoid, stout, I inch long, erect, scales 3-lobed, narrow, tapering, hairy; nut oval, with narrow wings. Preferred habitat, rich, moist uplands. Distribution, Newfoundland south to Delaware, North Carolina and Tennessee; west to Minnesota. Uses: A desirable ornamental tree, but rarely planted. Wood valuable for imple- ments, furniture, wheel hubs, button moulds, boxes, and for fuel. The bark again gives the name to a large birch that grows here and there in the forests of the Northern States. The fringed and tattered outer bark, dingy grey with pearly lustre, and showing gleams of gold at every rent, is unlike the other birches. The twigs are aromatic, but not to compare with the black birch. In grace and lustiness the two trees are well matched. The yellow birch leads in size, of its catkins, fruiting cones, and the tree itself. The leaves are not larger, but they are more distinctly toothed, the double serrations being regular and clear cut. The yellow birch is one of the best of timber trees. The 171 The Birches frames of sledges are made of it in the North. An infinite number of small articles employ it. The burs make good mallets; the fantastic arching roots sometimes show curly grain. Often a great yellow birch, shaggy with age, stands long in the woods after it is dead. Such a specimen was lighted on a dark night by a camping party. The flames swept the trunk in a flash, turning the whole tree into a magnificent pillar of fire which consumed it utterly before it had time to fall! So a veracious camper declared. The safety and morals of such a bonfire were evidently not considered by the party. Doubtless this is a common tempta- tion to camping parties in the north woods. It might be quite justifiable if the fire could always be controlled. But here, as elsewhere, playing with fire is dangerous business, and responsible and law-abiding citizens will abstain from it. Red Birch, River Birch {Beiula nigra, Linn.) — Tree 60 to 90 feet high, numerous pendulous branches forming round head; trunk usually dividing into a few main limbs which spread slightly. Bark dark reddish brown, furrowed, with scaly surface; on branches cinnamon red to silvery, curling back in sheets, fringed with tatters throughout. Lenticels prominent. Wood light brown, strong, close grained. Buds chestnut brown, shining, \ inch long, ovate. Leaves alternate, i to 3 inches long, oval, pointed, twice saw toothed, thin, tough, shining dark green above, pale yellow- green beneath; dull yellow in autumn; petioles short, flattened, fuzzy, slim. Flowers before leaves, March or April; staminate catkins in threes, 2 to 3 inches long, yellow and brown mottled, pendulous; pistillate catkins J inch long, erect, green, fuzzy, stalked. Fruit ripe in June, erect, cylindrical cones, i to 2 inches long, bracts 3-lobed, hairy, divisions narrow, spreading, central one longest; nut oval, v/ith broad wings, hairy. Preferred habiiat, along rivers, ponds and swamps inundated part of the yean Distribution, Massachusetts to Florida, west to Texas, north along Mississippi to Minnesota, southern Wisconsin, eastern Nebraska, and in Ohio. Uses: Desirable ornamental tree; planted in copses to hold stream banks from washing. Wood used for fuel, furniture, ox yokes, shoe lasts, shoes and small woodenwares. Branches make hoops for rice casks. The red birch earns its name by its bark, which is reddish or chocolate coloured from root to twig. The tree is a tall, graceful fountain of leafy spray; the central stem breaks into two or three 172 The Birches divergent limbs that support the pendulous horizontal branchlets. No birch loves the stream borders more ardently than this Southern member of the family. The lustrous leaves do not conceal the flying silken tatters of bark which cover the tree to its leafy twigs the year round. It is foolish to call this tree nigra, for it is not black but red, from top to bottom. It is at its best along the bayous of the lower Mississippi, where its roots and base of trunk are inundated for half the year. The fruits of the red birch are ripe in June, and the wind, shaking the erect cones, scatters the seeds on the rich land from which the water has subsided. Here they germinate at once, and are rooted, vigorous little seedlings by the time the floods return, able to keep their heads above water, and to thrive like their parents, adding colour and grace of line and motion to the land- scapes of many different regions. It is a surprise to fmd this, our semi-aquatic and southern- most birch, growing in apparent complacency and comfort in dry, upland soil in the New England States and Minnesota. But so it behaves in cultivation. It well exemplifies the versatility of the family. Cherry Birch, Sweet Birch, Black Birch (Betula lenta, Linn.) — Handsome, round-headed tree, 50 to 80 feet high, symmetrical, with slender, often tortuous but graceful limbs, lower ones drooping; twigs delicate, polished. Bark dark brown, broken by furrows into thick irregular plates which show frag- ments of the smooth, silky bark that covers young limbs. Lenti- cels prominent as horizontal lines; inner bark aromatic, spicy. IVood dark brown, reddish, heavy, strong, hard, close grained. Buds slender, acute, brown, J inch long. Leaves ovate, 2 to 6 inches long, pointed, doubly serrate, dull, dark green above, yellow-green below; midrib yellow: veins prominent, straight, downy; petioles short. Flowers before leaves, April; staminate catkins, 3 to 4 inches long, purplish yellow, pendulous; pistillate, erect, sessile, J to i inch long; bracts hairy, ovate. Fruit, June, erect cones, sessile, scales broad, of three equal, rounded lobes; nuts with narrow wings, tapering at base. Preferred habitat, fertile soil, moist and well drained. Distribution, Newfoundland to western Ontario; south to Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Kansas. Uses: Occasionally cultivated for shade and ornament; wood used for wheel hubs, furniture and fuel; inner bark yields 173 The Birches salicylic acid and wintergreen oil, used in medicine; sap made into birch beer. The cherry birch has several common names, and each one has a good reason for being. The bark is very dark, and it breaks into rough, square plates with edges curling stiffly back but not fraying into ribbons at all. The smooth outer layer, with its prominent horizontal lenticels, remmds one of the bark of cherry trees. This epidermis finally disappears from the large trunks, but it may always be found covering the limbs. This birch is one of the handsomest trees of the woods. In winter the grace of the pendulous branches and the symmetry of the round head are best revealed. On the bark, from dark brown trunk to golden-brown twig, a satiny sheeji gives brilliancy and depth to the colours. The tree seems aglow with life even in its winter sleep, and the plump buds and the impatient catkins, already nearly an inch long, promise what the spring fulfils. The abundant sap which mounts upward in early April forces out the catkins into tassels that hang, all purplish yellow, and very large, from near the ends of the branches. Erect among them are the green pistillate ones, rising on the ends of short side shoots. The abundance of its leaves and their glossy sheen and brightness set this birch apart from others in midsummer. In autumn they turn to gold. The small boy pulls a twig off the sweet birch sapling, and chews it sedulously as he fares through the woods. The stimu- lating flavour of wintergreen, which is in the bark the year round, is especially strong in spring. Wintergreen oil, used in flavouring medicines, and esteemed in the treatment of rheumatism for the salicylic acid it contains, is extracted from the bark of this species. Birch beer is brewed from the sweet sap. The spicy fragrance extends to the leaves also, and a twig enables one to identify the tree at any time of year. In Kamchatka the natives strip the inner bark of B. lenta into long shreds like vermicelli. This is done in spring, when it is richest in starch and sugar. These strips are dried for winter use as food. They are boiled with caviar and with fish. The wood of cherry birch is stained to imitate mahogany and cherry. This is a pity, for it has character of its own and beauty that deserve recognition. It has its own good colour, reddish brown, and this in "natural finish," well rubbed., is lustrous and ^74 Fruit and details of iruit A. Pistillate flowers B. Stamiiiate flowers THE CHERRY BIRCH {Betula lenta) The brown bark has a silky outside layer marked with horizontal slits, just as cherry trees have. On old trunks this smooth layer is replaced by rough, broken plates. The wood is like black cherry. The twigs have a pleasant- aromatic taste, quite unlike the rank, bitter taste of cherry bark. The leaves come out in pairs from side buds in late April. The staminate catkins are in evidence in winter, sealed up tight at the ends of twigs. In early April they shake out their golden pollen on every breeze, and the erect green catkins of pistillate flowers show themselves close at hand. In early summer the oval, erect cones shed their seeds. One figure shows the 3-lobed bracts still hanging by threads from the central cone stem Fruit A. Pistillate flower B. Staminate flower THE RED BIRCH {Betula nigra) This tree blossoms in March, before the leaves, and its winged seeds are falling in June from the erect, oblong cones. The trees are pyramidal, with many drooping, horizontal branches. The bark of limbs and old twigs frays into ribbons. Through- out, its colour is red. The glossy foliage turns to yellow before falling Ihe fiirchea satiny, often showing what the cabinetmaker calls "landscape" or clouded areas of unusual beauty. The Western Black Birch (B. occidentalis, Hook.) grows from the Black Hills westward, widening its range to south and north, into Alaska and California along the coast, and following the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico. It is widespread, but nowhere common. This graceful little tree is a true birch in habit and in the lustrous, horizontal lenticelled bark, the bronze colour of which is quite sufficient to justify its name and to identify the tree. Unlike the cherry birch, this tree sheds its bark in thin, papery layers. The brown wood is locally used for fencing and fuel. It is too small a tree to be important for its lumber. It commends itself to planters in the Western States, especially where its roots can get water, for it is as thirsty as an alder, following streams always, or the borders of lakes. The White Birch of Europe (Betula alba, Linn.) we rarely see. The weeping and cut-leaved varieties of this species adorn American parks and gardens — their only fault, that they are short lived. ''Like a fair lady in a far country" is the white birch here, and we cherish our specimen trees with profound solicitude. In its own country the peasants depend upon the birch forests in a great many ways. In the north of Europe birch is the principal fuel in houses and smelting works. It makes good charcoal. The Russians eat with wooden spoons, and wear wooden shoes, both made of birch. They live in houses furnished with birch furniture, and shingled with slabs of birch bark. They strip and grind the soft inner bark, and mix it with meal in their bread. Even the tiny winged seeds serve a useful purpose. Birds, especially the white ptarmigan in Lapland, feed upon them through the long, cold winters, when deep snows cover all other foods. Lopped trees send up suckers which are cut and bound into birch brooms. The inner bark is stripped into sheets and serves for paper. The famous books of Numa Pompilius were written on birch bark, if Plutarch is to be believed. Birch wood contains abundance of sap. In spring a tree will often yield its weight in sap in a fortnight. Birch mead and wine are most refreshing beverages. Birch bark yields tannin, a yellow dye, and an oil which gives Russia leather its characteristic 175 The Birches colour and odour. Swedish farmers look for the opening leaves of the birch as a sign to sow their barley. In England the elm is watched for the same reason. In Parkinson's day the ''physicall uses'' of birch were few. But he adds: "Many other civill uses the Birch is put unto, as first to decke up Houses and arbours, both for the fresh greennesse and good sent it casteth; it serveth to make hoopes to binde caskes withall; the young branches being fresh are writhed, and serve for bands unto faggots: of the young twiggs are made broomes to sweepe our houses, as also rods to correct children at schoole, or at home, and was an ensigne borne in bundles by the Lictors or Sargeants before the Consulls in the old Romans times, with which, and with axes borne in the like manner, they declared the punishment for lesser, and greater offences, to their people." In the very end of their swift decay birch trees served the fashionable world in the heydey of the powdered wig. ''The whitest part of the old wood of doattng birches is made the grounds of our effeminate farined Gallants' sweet powder." American birches are more valuable lumber trees and more graceful for ornamental uses than the forest birches of Europe. Let us cease to compare them with oaks and hickories, and set ourselves to appreciate those peculiar virtues and charms that the birches alone possess. 176 CHAPTER XXIV: THE ALDERS Family Betulace/^ Genus ALNUS, Linn. Small water-loving trees of rapid growth. Leaves simple, deciduous, alternate, short stemmed. Flowers apetalous, monoe- cious, in catkins. Fruit woody, cone-like, oval, with 2 seeds on each scale. KEY TO SPECIES A. Flowers in autumn. {A, maritima) seaside alder AA. Flowers before leaves in winter or early spring. B. Staminate catkins becoming 4 to 6 inches long. C. Bark smooth, pale grey or white; tree with nar- rowly pyramidal head. {A. Oregona) red alder CC. Bark ridged, dark brown; tree with wide, open head. {A. rhomhijolia) white alder BB. Staminate catkins becoming 2 to 3 inches long. C. Leaves narrow, tapering to base and apex. {A. ohlongijolia) lanceleaf alder CC. Leaves broad, oval, papery. {A. tenuifolia) paperleaf alder AAA. Flowers after the leaves in spring or summer. (A. Sitchensis) Alaska alder The genus Alnus includes twenty species of shrubs and trees, nine in North America, six of which are trees in habit and size. The largest and most important timber tree is the black alder of the Old World. Widely distributed by Nature and by man, this genus is the source of many hardy ornamentals adapted to damp soils. "Alder, the owner of all waterish ground/' Seaside Alder (Alnus maritima, Nutt.) — A round-topped tree 15 to 30 feet, with slender branches. Bark thin, smooth, light brown; twigs greyish. IVood soft, light brown, close grained. >77 The Alders Buds acute, dark red, } inch long, with silky pubescence. Leaves 3 to 4 inches long, oblong, ovate or obovate, acute at both ends, shining dark green above, pale green and dull beneath, edges set with fine incurving teeth; petioles short. Flowers autumnal, from buds of previous spring; monoecious; staminate catkins, golden, I to 2 inches long; pistillate, oblong, J inch long, with red tips of stigmas protruding from scales. Fruit, a woody, oval strobile, ripe a year after blooming; scales thick, shiny, each bears two flat, obovate, pointed nuts or seeds. Preferred habitat, borders of streams and ponds, near, but not actually on, seacoast. Distribution, eastern Delaware and Maryland, Indian Territory. Uses: Rarely planted, but deserving of cultivation for its glossy foliage and the beauty and unusualness of its golden catkins, appearing in September. The seaside alder divides with the witch hazel the distinction of bearing flowers and ripening fruit simultaneously in the fall of the year. They do not compete for popular favour, because the alder comes first, hanging out its golden catkins in clusters on the ends of the season's shoots in August and September. Nothing is left of them when the witch hazel scatters its dainty stars along the twigs in October and November. The tiny pistillate cones of the alder are scarcely larger than the buds that keep them company. The seaside alder grows well in the Arnold Arboretum, at Boston, flowering profusely, thus proving itself hardy in New England, and comfortable in dryer soil than it naturally chooses. It is quite worthy of the attention of those who seek for beauty and novelty of habit among little native trees. The Oregon, or Red Alder (A. Oregona, Nutt.), is a large tree for an alder, sometimes 80 feet in height, with a narrow pyramid of drooping branches about a trunk that may exceed 3 feet in diameter. The smooth, pale grey bark of this tree sets it apart from other alders. The flowers and strobiles are large to match the tree; the ovate leaves are crenately lobed and finely cut toothed. They are lined with rusty pubescence, and are usually smooth and dark green above. This is the alder of the Western coast that climbs mountains until it leaves the spruces behind, but reaches its greatest size about Puget Sound. From Sitka south through Washington and Oregon it lines the stream borders, and along the mountains it 178 The Alders. reaches as far as Santa Barbara in California. It loves also the canon sides in the coast range. The reddish-brown wood is beautifully satiny when polished. It is light and easily worked, and though weak and brittle is made into furniture. The Indians make "dug-outs" of the butts of large trees. The \A^hite Alder (A. rhombijolia, Nutt.), equal in size to the preceding species, grows along the mountain streams from northern Idaho to southern California. It has a white scurf on its new shoots and the opening leaves are clothed with white hairs. Its wide sap wood is also white. The tree's spring appearance probably justifies its name. The irregularly diamond-shaped leaves are sharply and finely cut on thin wavy margins. The wonderful thing about this tree is its blooming in January or February, hanging its conspicuous yellow catkins out while yet all other trees are asleep. Even in California this is a striking phenomenon along the mountain streams fringed with these trees. The bark of the trunks of white alder is furrowed and dark brown. The trees need not be confused with the Oregon alder, if the trunk be examined. The Lanceleaf Alder {A. ohlongijolia, Torr.), whose name describes it well, comes up from the Peruvian Andes through Mexico, and is found a!: high altitudes along canon sides in New Mexico and Arizona. The Paperleaf Alder {A. tenui folia, Nutt.) — A small tree with thin, firm-textured leaves, ovate in shape with laciniate lobes, twice saw toothed, one of the prettiest of the alders, is abundant in thickets along the headwaters of streams that rise in the Western mountains. It follows the various ranges from British Columbia to Lower California, Colorado and northern New Mexico. Poets do not always realise their responsibility. The one who characterised the trees that fringed the sluggish streams and cover the "water galls" in England as "the water spungie alder, good for naught," put into rhythmic form, too easy to remember, a stigma that brands a really picturesque and useful tree. The alder's primary virtue is that it will thrive in places so boggy that even willows and poplars cannot grow there. Can any lover of English landscapes spare the alders from unsightly places whose lines they soften and whose baldness they conceal with billows of I7Q The Alders living green? "He who would see the alder in perfection must follow the banks of the Mole, in Surrey, through the sweet vales of Dorking and Wickleham, into the groves of Esher." The English people cherish an affectionate regard for their native black alder, a description of which follows. The hawthorns of their hedgerows are not more a part of the life of the people. John Evelyn expresses the sentiment when, after recounting the many practical uses of the tree and its wood, he adds two more: "The fresh leaves alone applied to the naked sole of the foot, infinitely refresh the surbated traveller"; and "The very shadow of this tree doth feed and nourish the grass that grows under it." The Black Alder {Alnus glutinosa, Gaertn.), native of Europe, Asia and North Africa, is the most picturesque of water-loving trees, with its dark green, round or oblong leaves glutinous when they unfold in the spring. The trees are tall and erect, with dark trunks. The tallest sometimes reach 70 feet and have a trunk diameter of 3 feet. These giant alders are dignified, indeed, but the rank and file of the species are smaller trees. They hang out their long yellow catkin fringe on the bare twigs in earliest spring, a sight to repay a visit, even if it involved the wearing of rubber boots; and the little green knobs on the branching side stems grow by autumn into ripe cones, out of whose slits fall the little flat seeds. Compared with oak and ash timber, alder is indifi^erent in quality and does not interest the lumberman, but there are special uses to which alder is always put. Growing in water, it seems to recognise its element; alder piles, water pipes, pumps and watering troughs kept always saturated last indefinitely. The piles of the Rialto in Venice and those of Amsterdam, ac- cording to ancient authorities, are of alder. Exposed to conditions of alternate wet and dry, the wood soon rots. It was a canny Scot who buried alder boards in a peat bog, in which lime was also thrown. This prevented the invasion of destructive insects, and turned the pinkish brown wood to the colour and hardness of mahogany. The grain of alder is smooth, fine and lustrous. It does not warp nor splinter. In the old days it was a wood for the boatbuilder. "Excepting Noah's Ark, the first vessels we read of were made of alder." Virgil gives a pretty glimpse of northern Italy in one of his Georgics: "And down the rapid Po light alders glide." 180 The Alders Alder wood serves many cheap and common uses: for sabots and clogs, and wooden heels; truncheons, kneading troughs, barrel staves, bobbins, trays, hop poles, and the like. The bark and cones yield tannin used in tanning leather and in medi- cine, and a yellow dye which is also used in the making of ink. The best charcoal for gunpowder is made from willow and alder. Warty excrescences on old trees and twisted roots furnish the inlayer with small but beautifully veined and very hard pieces. Articles made of this once brought high prices. One of the best uses to which alder is put is planting in hedges along borders of streams where their roots, closely inter- lacing, hold the banks against crumbling. The black alder is most often met in horticultural forms in America. There is a variety with large, shining leaves and red veins and petioles. The daintiest varieties are those with finely cut leaves, of which imperialis, with fingered leaves like the white oak, is a good example. The Hoary or Speckled Alder {Alnus incana, Willd.), native of both hemispheres, is a handsome tree of medium size in Europe and Asia, but it rarely rises above a shrub in America. It is second only to the black alder, from which it is easily dis- tinguished, for its branches are speckled with white spots. Its leaves are pointed and lined with a hoary bloom; and there is nothing glutinous about the opening leaves and shoots. The wood is very similar to that of the other species. Two Japanese species of alder have come into American gardens, both vigorous, large-leaved trees, of good size and excellent habit. Alnus Japonica has a pyramidal head of shining dark green foliage; Alnus tindoria is round headed, with handsome foliage, and is proving hardy and rapid of growth in New England. A cardinal merit of these cultivated alders is that they thrive in ordinary garden soil. i8i CHAPTER XXV: THE BEECHES Family pAGACEyt Genus FAGUS, Linn. Trees valuable for their timber and nuts, and also for shade and ornamental planting. Leaves simple, alternate, feather veined, deciduous. Flowers monoecious, small, crowded into spikes or heads. Fruit a pair of triangular nuts in a 4-valved bur. The great family of the cup bearers includes the beeches, chestnuts and oaks — trees of profound im.portance to the human race. They are the mast trees, whose fruit has fed man and beast from the days when they both depended upon Nature's bounty. Times have changed, and men have less primitive appe- tites, but their need of these trees is not diminished, but rather broadened with the advance of civilisation. Mast of oak, beech and chestnut remain the chief reliance of many wild animals. There are in all five species of beech, three of which are Asiatic. America has one species and Europe one. Two are native to China and Japan. The so-called beeches of the Southern Hemi- sphere form a genus, Nothofagus, of twelve species. They differ in habit and in flowers from Fagus, and the leaves, often ever- green, are very small. Nevertheless, the two genera are closely related. Beech {Fagus Americana, Sweet.) — A round-topped or conical tree, with horizontal or drooping branches, and dense foliage; 50 to 75 feet high. Bark close, smooth, pale grey, or darker, often blotched; branches grey, twigs brov/n, shining. Wood light red, close grained, hard, strong, not durable, tough; lustrous when polished. Buds alternate, tapering, f to i inch long, brown, in silky scales. Leaves oblong-ovate, strongly feather veined, saw toothed, pointed, smooth, silky or leathery, green on both sides; autumn colour, pale yellow, persistent till late. Flowers monoecious. May, staminate in pendant balls, few at base of leafy shoot, yellow-green; pistillate, solitary or paired, in axils of upper l32 B. Statninate flowers A. Pistillate flowers C. Fruit THE SEASIDE ALDER {Almus maritima) Flowers and ripe cones occur together on this tree in August. The pistillate flower spikes are little green-stalked knobs, while the staminate catkins are yellow and brown THE SPECKLED ALDER {Alnus incana) This is known by the white dots on its branches. A tree in Europe and Asia, it is rarely more than a shrub in America. The second trunk is of the shrubby Alnus rugosa s ^ w ■a a o u rt O .s CO 3 (i CO S ^ 2 o «i! o „ CO «« » ja O J=! U, 4-> !> 4^ CO o w ir > v- 1-1 43 U o J5 1-1 o c: o e 3 The Beechee leaves, short-stemmed, in scaly involucre. Fruit, October, a prickly bur containing 2 triangular, pale-brown nuts, sweet, edible, in thin shells. Preferred habitat, rich river bottoms. Dis- tribution, Nova Scotia to Lake Huron, and northern Wisconsin; south to Florida, Missouri and Texas. Uses: Beautiful orna- mental and shade tree. Wood used for chairs, tool handles, plane stocks, shoe lasts, and for fuel. Nuts fatten hogs, and feed wild animals and birds. We have but one native beech, and it is a clannish tree. Find me a single specimen in the woods, and I will show you a miniature forest of beeches springing up around it as soon as the tree comes into bearing. Squirrels carry the nuts, so do the bluejays, and the wind helps to scatter them. Beech nuts have much vitality, and the seedlings grow well, even in dense shade. This gives them a distinct advantage over the young of many other trees. Seeds of sun-loving species must fall in the clearings if they hope to grow. In a few years there is a dense beech thicket, with only large trees of other kinds. When these are cut out the area comes to be called ''the beech woods." In April and May we may see the germination of beech nuts. The gaping burs and three-cornered nut's lie in plain sight under the tree. A nut splits along one sharp edge and a slender root protrudes. It grows downward and burrows in the leaf mould. The stem emerges at the same time and place and extends in the opposite direction. It is topped by a crumpled green bundle, which unfolds directly into a pair of short and broad seed leaves, totally unlike the leaves of the beech tree. « In this case the triangular shell clings but a little while to the growing plantlet. Oftener, however, the opening is just wide enough to let the root out. Then the stem carries the shell up and wears it like a helmet until the leaves within spread themselves and cast it off. Young beech trees are very weak and pale and twisted at first. They lean helplessly against dead leaves and twigs for support. But when the roots get a grip on the soil and the leaves turn a brighter green they become quite independent. A shoot bearing true beech leaves rises from the bud between the two seed leaves, which soon wither away. In the fall a long whip set with winter buds represents the first season's growth. From now on the life of a little beech is just like that of a 183 The Beeches * - . twig on an older tree. The opening of the long, pointed buds is a sight worth watching. If one has not time to go to the tree every day in spring he may bring in some lusty twigs, put them in a jar of water in a sunny window, and see the whole process exactly as it happens on the tree. Each bud loosens and lengthens its many thin bud scales and a leafy shoot is disclosed which elongates rapidly. Daily measure- ments will show a wonderful record for the first few days. As the scales drop off a band of scars appears on the base of the shoot, like the thread of a small screw. When the last of the scales has fallen this band may be half an inch wide. Each such band on a twig means the casting off of the bud scales — the begin- ning of a year's growth. Counting down from the tip of any twig, the age may be accurately read. Add one year as each scar band is passed. Often the band is quite as wide as the length of the season's growth. It is plain to see that the leaves in the opening buds were all made and put away over winter, and that they have only to grow. As the shoot lengthens the outer scales fall, and each leaf is seen to have its pair of special attendant scales, each edged with an overhanging fringe. The leaf itself is plaited in fme folds like a fan to fit into the narrow space between the scales. Each rib that radiates from the midrib bears a row of silky hairs which overlap its neighbour's, so that each side of each leaf is amply protected by a furry cover. As the leaf spreads itself it gradually becomes accustomed to the air and the sunshine, and the protecting hairs disappear. Occasionally a leaf that is in a shaded and pro- tected situation on the tree may keep its hairs on the ribs until midsummer. As the leaves lift themselves into independent life the blossoms of the beech appear. Few people see them. The staminate ones are in little heads swung on slender stems. When they shed their yellow pollen they fall off. In twos the pistillate flowers hide near the ends of twigs. Those which catch pollen on their extruded tongues ''set seed" and mature into the triangular nuts, two in each of the burs. Early in the autumn the burs open and the nuts fall, to the great delight of boys and girls as well as the little people of the woods. Though small, the nuts are very rich and fine in flavour. The beech is the most elegantly groomed of all the trees of the 184 A. Staminate flower B. Pistillate flower THE BEECH {Fagus Americana) The fine-textured bark varies from dark gray to almost white. The buds are long and pointed and shining golden brown. The prickly 4-valved pod remains long after the two triangular nuts have fallen out. The opening shoots are beautiful in May, the pendant staminate heads are as soft and silky as rhe baby leaves. The pistillate flowers, solitary or paired, stand in the angles of the uppermost leaves l^ <.; THE CHESTNUT {Castanea dentata) A-side from its value as a nut tree, many a fine specimen tree is saved from the sawmill because the community cannot spare it from the landscape The Beeches woods, its rind is smooth, close knit and of soft Quaker grey, sometimes mottled and in varying shades, and decorated with delicate lichens. The limbs are darker in colour, and the brown twigs, down totheirbird's-claw buds, shine asif polished. Through the long^summer the beech is beautifully clad; its leaves are thin and soft as silk. Few insects injure them, and they resist tearing by the wind. In the autumn the first touch of frost turns their green to gold, and they cling to the twigs until late in winter. Young trees in sheltered places hold their leaves longest. The European Beech (K sy/vatua, Linn. ) is one of the most important timber trees of Europe, and the parent of the purple and weeping beeches and other ornamental horticultural forms in cultivation in European and American parks and private grounds. It grows to noble size and form in America, distin- guished chiefly by the darker colour of its bark from the native species. At home from middle Europe south and east to the Caucasus, the beech is much used as a dooryard tree; it grows famously in England, their beeches being the pride of many English estates. Pure forests of beech are often seen in Germany and Den- mark. The lumber is hard and heavy, one of the most important hard woods of the Continent. The multitude of its uses prevents a complete list. Beech bark with hieroglyphics cut in it bore messages between tribes, friendly and belligerent, in the earliest times. Beechen boards preserved the first records. These were the primitive dooks of northern Europe. From deeck to duck is not a long etymological step in the Teutonic languages. Book is a lineal descendant of the Anglo-Saxon word dece, the name of this tree. There are those who derive the words beaker through Becker, a drinking cup, from the same old tree root. Justification is found in the fact that bowls and other household utensils were made of beech wood because they could be depended upon not to leak. Beech nuts furnished, in ancient times, a nutritious article of human food and an oil used for lamps, quite as sweet and good for cooking and table use as olive oil. Fagus {Gr.pkageht, to eat) means ''good to eat." Beech leaves furnished forage for cattle, and were dried and used to fill mattresses. Evelyn vows he never slept so sweetly as on a bed of beech leaves. The idea is certainly an attractive one, and worth carrying out. 185 CHAPTER XXVI: THE CHESTNUTS Family Fagace/e Trees of ornamental and timber value. Leaves simple, oblong to lanceolate, strongly ribbed, alternate, leathery. Flowers monoecious, in spikes, showy. Fruit, nuts in spiny burs. KEY TO GENERA AND SPECIES A. Leaves deciduous; fruit annual. 1. Genus Castanea, Adans. B. Trees large; leaves smooth and green on both sides; nuts 2 to 3 in 4-valved, spiny bur. (C. dentatd) chestnut BB. Trees shrubby, leaves pale and pubescent beneath; nuts solitary in 2-valved bur. (C. pumila) chinquapin AA. Leaves evergreen; fruit biennial. 2. Genus Castanopsis, Spach. (C. chrysophylla) golden-leaved chestnut I. Genus CASTANEA, Adans. There are five known species of the true chestnuts, three of which are American. One of these is a shrub, C. alnijolia, Nutt. The European species (C. saliva, Mill.) is the well-known sweet chestnut of Italy and Spain, as important in the diet of the peas- antry as are potatoes in Ireland. This species extends its range to Eastern Asia. The Japanese C. crenaia, Sieb. & Zucc, has been introduced into American gardens. The trees begin to bear when very young. The nuts are not sweet like our native chestnuts, but they are good when cooked. Chestnut {Castanea dentata, Borkh.) — Oblong, thick-topped, symmetrical tree, 60 to 100 feet high, of rapid, vigorous growth. Bark grey-brown, cut into broad irregular ridges by shallow fissures; branchlets reddish, smooth. Wood brown, light, coarse, soft, weak, durable, easily worked. Buds dark brown, ovate, 186 X^' -opyright. 1905, by Doubleday, Page & Company FRUITING BRANCH OF CHESTNUT ( Castanea dentatd) The Chestnuts pointed, small, lateral. Leaves alternate, 6 to 8 inches long, tapering at both ends, strong ribbed, toothed, shining above, paler lining; autumn colour yellow; petioles short, stout. Flowers monoecious, in July; staminate catkins, slender, 4 to 6 inches long, clustered at bases of leafy shoots, spreading, pollen abun- dant; pistillate, solitary or few, short stalked on base of staminate catkins or in axils of leaves; involucre, prickly, green, styles thrust out, stigmas branched. Fruit 2 to 3 compressed nuts, thin shelled, in 4-valved spiny bur, 2 to 4 inches in diameter, globular, opening after frosts. Preferred habitat, strong, well-drained soil; pastures, hillsides, rocky woods. Distribution, southern Maine to Michigan; south to Delaware and Indiana; along mountains to Alabama and Mississippi. Uses: Valuable lumber tree, used for interior woodwork of houses, furniture, railroad ties, fence posts and fuel. A handsome shade and ornamental tree. Nuts com- mercially important. The elegance of chestnut foliage must strike the most casual observer. Each leaf is so long and tapering, so regularly veined and toothed, so polished, and finally so admirably set among the others as to make it a beautiful and useful part of the great green dome that hides the limbs in summer time. Buds of the chestnut are small and plump set askew on the smooth winter twigs. They open late in spring. The fresh leaves make the neighbour oaks look dingy. The other trees have all done blooming but the lindens and the catalpas when the chestnut dome on the hillside gradually brightens from green to pale gold, and each twig holds up its feathery plume, and waves it, pollen laden, in the wind. July has come, and the fields of grain have passed into stacks and stubble. The chestnut takes on its flower crown to harmonise with the golden midsummer landscape. It is the most beautiful thing in the woods at this time. A solitary tree on a lawn or in a lonesome pasture is a joy to every beholder. A near view of the tree shows along the bases of certain scantily furnished spikes a few green scaly flowers, with pale yellow threads extended at the tips. These are the chestnuts in embryo, with stigmas reaching out for the pollen that "sets seed." Two or three, or sometimes only one, of these flowers are fertilised. They develop rapidly, and by the middle of August the tree bristles with spiny green globes. The first frost is the signal for the splitting of the husks into 187 The Chestnuts four velvet-lined valves, from which the smooth brown nuts fall. The over-anxious small boy who beats the nuts off earlier wounds his fmgers painfully in attempting to force open the stubborn husks. The nuts are not nearly so sweet and rich flavoured as those that wait until the frost unlocks their cells. But boys will never believe this. The chestnut tree turns to gold again in autumn, and the naked tree stands "knee-deep" in its own leaves all winter. Then its massive trunk, with deep furrowed bark, and the multitude of horizontal branches, striking out from the short central shaft, are distinctly etched against the sky. The small limbs are numer- ous and contorted, the lower boughs often drooping. Few trees are more attractive in winter. Chestnuts are among the trees of longest life and greatest trunk diameter. The famous giant at the foot of Mount /Etna, the "Chestnut of a Hundred Horsemen" (because it sheltered them all at one time), had a diameter of over 60 feet, and lived to be 2,000 years old. Though hollow, and with its shell in five parts when measured, records showed that a century before it had been a continuous cylinder. Each year these decaying stems wore a crown of green, until an eruption of the volcano destroyed the tree. In our woods old chestnut stumps 6 feet in diameter and more stand covered with moss and lichens and crumbling to decay, while a circle of fme young trees, each tall and slender, with a diameter of a foot or less, have sprung up from the roots of the old tree. Specimens 10 feet in diameter were not unusual in the virgin forests, though the tallest ones were usually more slender. The tannic acid in chestnut wood is what preserves it from decay in contact with the soil. Because of its durability it is largely cut for railroad ties and posts. It is well worthy of culti- vation as a lumber tree. In woodwork and furniture chestnut is almost as handsome as oak. The chestnut is a valuable nut tree. Had it none of these merits it would still be saved from the saw in many instances because the landscape can ill afford to lose a fme old chestnut tree. The Chinquapin (C pumila, Mill.) is the chestnut in minia- ture— rarely a tree of medium height and spreading habit — usually a shrub that seizes the land by its suckering roots, and forms thick- ets on hillsides and bare ridges or on the margins of swamps. It is found from Pennsylvania to Florida, and west to Arkansas and 188 Flowering orascu fi. vtsinrntcnDwei's •^ ti* %$tainniate nowers THE CHESTNUT \Cast^vea dentata) Two or three flat-sided, silky nuts are exposed when the 4-valved spiny burs open in October. In July the green leaves are gilded by the profusion of staminate flower spikes that are waved like plumes of yellow chenille fringe at the ends of the twigs. Very inconspicuous green spikes, sparsely flowered, bear solitary green pistillate flowers at their bases. The yellow threads extruded from the tip of each spiny ov.-.l cone are the st'gmas eager to catch pollen 60 ^ C ■ ^ O^ >» *« Xi ^ o i-i CO (Xi Ui 4> o ti « c |5 4) bo 0) CO j:: 4-1 3 o C 4-> «J V _ "^ u -tJ c -ra c« c 3 c« a Texas. It grows to be a tree west of the Mississippi River, reach- ing its greatest size and abundance in Arkansas and Texas. The leaves, flowers and nuts proclaim this tree's close kinship with the chestnut. A single ovoid nut with sweet kernel is contained in the globular spine husk. These are found in autumn in the markets of Southern cities. The chinquapin grows lustily and fruits abundantly on a rocky bank in the Arnold Arboretum at Boston. This proves its hardiness far north of its natural range, and a sight of this thicket (or any other like it) must convince anyone that it is an orna- mental shrub worthy of introduction into parks and private estates. Where the chinquapin grows large it is used for railroad ties and fence posts. Its wood has the qualities of chestnut lumber, but is heavier. 2. Genus CASTANOPSIS, Spach. The Golden - leaved Chestnut (Castanopsts chrysophyUa, A. DC), also called chinquapin, seems to be a connecting link between chestnuts and oaks. One American species represents the large genus which is widely distributed through Asia. Our tree grows from Oregon south along the mountain slopes that face toward the Pacific Ocean. In northern California it is one of the splendid trees of the coast valleys, often above loo feet in height, with sturdy trunk supporting a broad, dense, rounded dome. The glory of the tree is its dark, lustrous foliage, lined with a yellow scurf. The leaves persist for two or three years, turning yellow before they fall. Thus the twigs are always decked with green and gold. The flowers are much like those of the chinquapin of the South; the sweet nut protrudes from a cup, or saucer, thickly set with long spines. One hardly knows whether to call it a chest- nut bur or a spiny acorn cup. It is both — and neither. The coarse wood which resembles chestnut is sometimes used for ploughs and other implements. The bark is rich in tannin. i8» CHAPTER XXVII: THE OAKS Family pACACEy^ Genera PASANIA and QUERCUS Trees of great lumber and horticultural value. Leaves sim- ple, alternate, entire or lobed. Flowers monoecious, inconspicuous ; staminate, in pendulous catkins; pistillate, solitary or few in a cluster. Fruit, a dry nut in a scaly cup (an acorn). KEY TO GENERA AND GROUPS A. Plowers of two sorts borne in the same cluster — an erect, crowded spike; leaves evergreen, chestnut-like. I. Genus Pasania, Orst. AA. Flowers of two sorts borne in separate clusters; staminate in pendant catkins; pistillate, few or solitary on short stalks. 2. Genus Quercus, Linn. B. Fruit annual; leaves with rounded lobes, not spiny pointed; bark usually pale. The White Oak Group BB. Fruit biennial; leaves with lobes spiny pointed; bark usually dark. The Black Oak Group The oaks form one of the largest and noblest of the tree families. There are 300 species recognised by botanists, and this probably does not include them all. They are distributed widely over the continents of the Northern Hemisphere, and follow the mountains through Central America and across the equator along the Andes. All but a very few species are large trees, important features of the landscape and the commerce of the countries in which they grow. Among broad-leaved trees they hold a pre- eminent place, and have held it from ancient times, in house and naval architecture and in bridge building. In durability, strength and toughness oak has few superiors. Fifty species of oak are native to America; half of them dis- tributed in the Eastern and mid-Continental regions, half on the Western slopes. The backbone of the continent, the main chains 190 The Oaks of the Rocky Mountains, have no indigenous oaks. No Pacific coast species is distributed also in the Eastern States, and vice versa. No European, Asiatic or American species is found outside its own continent, except as it is introduced by man. The acorn distinguishes oaks from all other trees. It is the characteristic fruit of the family, and is found nowhere outside of it. All oaks bear acorns when they are old enough. Few begin bearing under twenty years of age. The leaf of an oak is also characteristic. People usually learn to know an oak leaf from those of other trees without realis- ing exactly how or why. There is great variety in the lobing of the leaves, but they are all simple, alternate and almost always oval m outline, leathery, and cut by deep bays, called sinuses. The flowers of oaks are separate, but near together on the new shoots. The staminate are in fringe-like catkins; the pis- tillate few-Towered clusters in the axils of leaves; except in the genus Pasania. The acorns are either one or two years in ripening. It happens that annual-fruited species have rounded lobes and sinuses in their leaves. Quercus alba is the type of this class, and as these trees generally have pale bark, they are known as the white oak group. Biennial-fruited species have dark-coloured bark and the lobes of their leaves end in angles tipped with bristly points. They form the black oak group. Their type is Quercus velutina. I. Genus PASANIA, Orst. The Tan-bark or Chestnut Oak of California {Pasania den- si flora, Orst.), formerly included in the genus Quercus, is now set apart as our sole representative of an Asiatic genus of trees that stand half way between oaks and chestnuts. It is a handsome oak, decked the year round in evergreen foliage, similar in form to the chestnut. The leaves are coated, when young, with yellow pubescence, which lights up the tree as if with golden blossoms. In summer the crown of the tree shines again with gold. The profuse staminate spikes stand erect with greenish pistillate flowers at their bases. The latter are scaly, but the nut finally rises out of a densely fringed cup, declaring itself an acorn, which takes two years to mature. 191 The Oaks The wood of the tan-bark oak is used for fuel, but has little lumber value. Its bark, however, is more valuable to the tanner than any other. So the tree is threatened with extinction by the irresponsible bark peelers, and by forest fires carelessly set. This tree grows along dry hillsides and in mountain ravines in California and Oregon, keeping along the coast range, and flourishing especially among the redwoods. Government pro- tection of the latter would save from utter annihilation another remnant of former times, for the tan-bark oak is scarcely less interesting to the botanist than the redwood itself. 2. Genus QUERCUS, Linn. I. THE WHITE OAK GROUP Acorns annual; leaf lobes rounded; bark usually pale. KEY TO SPECIES A. Pacific coast species. Deciduous. B. Foliage blue with silvery lining. (Q. Douglasii) blue oak BB. Foliage green. C. Acorns slenderly conical; branchlets slender, pendu- lous; leaves white lined. {Q. lobata) California white oak CC. Acorns oval; branchlets stout, erect; leaves not white lined. (Q. Garryana) pacific post oak AAo Eastern species. B. Foliage evergreen. {Q. Virginiana) live oak BB. Foliage semi-persistent, blue. {Q. brevtloba) durand oak BBB. Foliage deciduous. C. Leaves pinnately lobed by deep sinuses. D. Under sides of leaves smooth. (Q. alba) white oak DD. Under sides of leaves downy. E. Branches corky; acorn large, in fringed cup. (Q. macrocarpa) bur oak EE. Branches not corky; acorn medium in size. F. Acorn globose, enclosed by scaly cup. (Q. lyrata) overcup oak FF. Acorn ovoid, half hid in scaly cup; leaf lobes and sinuses broad, squarish. (Q. minor) post oak CC. Leaves sinuately dentate with shallow sinuses; linings pale, downy. 192 The Oakr, D. Lobes of leaves acute. (Q. acuminata) yellow oak DD. Lobes of leaves rounded. E. Bark dark brown, deeply furrowed. (Q. Prinus) chestnut oak EE. Bark light grey, scaly. F. Limbs shedding bark in large flakes; acorns on long stalks. (Q. platanoides) swamp white oak FF. Limbs not shedding bark in flakes; acorns sessile or on short stalks. (Q. Michauxii) basket oak The Blue Oak, or Mountain White Oak (Quercus Doug- lasii, Hook, and Arn.), is a striking and beautiful feature of the landscape of northern and central California. Silvery grey bark and pale blue foliage, deepened by greenish leaf linings, and lightened by their silvery pubescence! No wonder the blue oak attracts attention whether it stands among the scattered groves of California white oak in the broad valleys — a fme, round-headed tree — or climbs the western slopes of the Sierras till it dwindles to a shrub at an altitude of 4,000 feet. It is strangely variable in the shape of its leaves and fruit. Its leaf may have deep lobes like other white oaks, or it may have scarcely any noticeable waves; some leaves are entire, some have pointed, even spiny-tipped lobes like those of the black oaks. The blue of them, however, is a dependable characteristic; also the silky leaf linings. The acorns are very numerous, and so vividly green in summer that they often overcome much of the blue of the foliage until they take on their rich, chestnut brown. The nut often bulges above the saucer-like cup as if too large for it; often it is elongated into a pencil shape. The wood is too brittle and the sap wood too thick for use in building. It is an excellent fuel. California White Oak {Quercus lobata, Nee.) — A large, graceful tree with stout trunk dividing near the ground, with spreading top and pendulous branches, making a broad dome 80 to 100 feet high, and 1 50 to 200 feet in diameter. Bark brown- ish grey, scaly, with shallow furrows, and ridges broken into plates; twigs hoary, grey or reddish brown. IVood hard, fme grained, brittle and hard to season. Buds ovate, small, pubescent. Leaves alternate, variable, oblong or obovate, 2 to 4 inches long, deeply 7 to i i-lobed, thin, firm, pubescent, paler beneath; petioles '93 The Oaks short, broad, hairy. Flowers with half-grown leaves, February to April, staminate in hairy, yellowish catkins; pistillate, solitary and sessile, as a rule; stigmas broad. Acorns ij to 2^ inches long, annual, sessile (rarely stalked), solitary or in pairs, conical, elon- gated, with sharp, horny, hairy tip; cup shallow, tomentose, with thick scales that become finer toward fringed border; kernel, sweet, edible. Preferred habitat, rich, sandy loam. Distribution , valleys in California west of Sierra Nevada Mountains. Forms open groves, never forests. Uses: Splendid feature of natural scenery, but never successfully cultivated outside of its range. Wood useless except for fuel. Fruit used as food by Indians. It is a happy circumstance for Californians and for all people who visit ''the Land of the Setting Sun" that this valley oak is scorned by all lumbermen. The tree is practically worthless for timber, therefore gigantic individual trees stand scattered o^ grouped in the spacious valleys of western California, helping to make a landscape that cannot be duplicated this side of England. Indeed, Vancouver, journeying around the world in 1792, was astounded at the park-like Santa Clara Valley, set round with mountains, diversified with hills and intervales, covered with a carpet of verdure, and adorned with majestic oaks. Writing home of this landscape untouched by the hand of man, he says; "It required only to be adorned with the neat habitations of an industrious people to produce a scene not inferior to the most studied effect of taste in the disposal of grounds." The California white oak is the largest and most graceful of the Western oaks. Its branches end in long shoots that are pendulous like those of the weeping willow. The trunk branches near the ground and rises and spreads out like a great fan. A British elm often has the same habit — our American elm, some- times. The dome is broader even than that of our Eastern white oak. The twigs are willowy at first, but there is a surprising tortuousness acquired with added years. The limbs are gnarled in the most complex way. " Picturesqueness gone mad" well characterises the expression of the tree in its bare winter aspect. "The Sir Joseph Hooker Oak," 100 feet high, 7 feet in diam- eter of trunk and 1 50 feet in spread of dome, on General Bidwell's farm in Butte County, California, was named after the great English botanist on the occasion of his visit with Asa Gray in 1877. The tree is always broader than it is high, and bears a pro- 194 WM 1 1 ""■>■ '.'^^ |n^/'^R^H^^H ■Kii^^^^^^^^^^l ■^ f- 3' ^y ^^■^ r^. 'v' -^5 ?^- 1^ ■H¥ i8>!? ?=^ A THE CALIFORNIA WHITE OAK {^uercus lohata) The largest and most picturesque of the Western oaks. The dome is broader than high ; the outer twigs droop like a weeping willow's, but acquire a wonderful tortuousness later. Lumbermen have spared this tree because its wood is not strong. Gigantic individuals stand in the park-Vke valleys, set round by mountain peaks, making a landscape which is unrivalled in any country THE LIVE OAK {Quercus Virginiana) The thick trunks of old trees break into horizontal limbs of great length and size, forming a broad dome not unlike a picturesque old apple tree. The small leaves remain on the twigs all winter THE CALIFORNIA LIVE OAK {Quercus agrifolia) i This evergreen oak has holly-like leaves with bristly tips upon its lobes, but its acorns are annual. Nevertheless it belongs to the black-oak group. The staminate catkins are delicate and numerous. The red-headed woodpeckers store the acorns away for winter in holes they drill in the bark furrows The Oaks fusion of acorns of extraordinary length. These resemble the acorns of Quercus alba in other respects. The Digger Indians store them for winter use, and depend upon them as the source of their bread. They are roasted and hulled, then ground into a coarse meal, which is made into loaves and baked in rude ovens in the sand. The leaves of Quercus lohata are of the true white oak type, with squarish lobes and pale linings. They vary in size and form, some being almost cut in two like those of the bur oak. Attempts to introduce this tree into cultivation outside of its own range have proved unsuccessful. It is believed that the climate of Australia might be agreeable to the species, which is too exacting in its demands to thrive in Europe or in Eastern America. Pacific Post Oak, Oregon White Oak (Quercus Garryana, Hook.) — Large tree (or a shrub) 60 to 100 feet high, with stout erect or spreading branches forming a compact head. Bark orange brown or greyish, with shallow fissures and broad ridges; twigs rufous, hairy. Wood light yellowish brown, hard, firm, strong, tough. Buds large, pointed, coated with red fuzz. Leaves obovate or oblong, 4 to 6 inches long, coarsely 7 to 9-lobed, with shallow sinuses and blunt lobes, leathery, dark green, shining, with pale or orange-brown hairy lining and conspicuous veins. Flowers: staminate in hairy catkins; pistillate sessile, solitary. Acorns annual, J to i inch long, pointed, in shallow, fuzzy cup with small, thin, loose scales. Preferred habitat, dry, gravelly slopes.. Distribution, Vancouver Island and the valley of the lower Eraser River, along coast valleys to Santa Cruz Mountains, Best and most abundant in western Oregon and Washington Shrubby on mountains. Uses: The most important timber oak on the west coast. Wood of young trees especially tough and valuable. Used in construction of ships, buildings, vehicles, agricultural implements, barrels and in finer cabinet work; excellent fuel. This oak has leaves and rusty twigs that bear a striking resemblance to the post oak of our Eastern coast barrens. The bark, however, is pale grey, and often broken into squares by transverse fissures. The acorns are quite distinctive, being large, often over an inch long, nearly twice as long as wide, and set in a small cup, often shallow as that of Quercus rubra, 195 The Oaks Upon the mountain slopes this oak .s scrubby in growth. but in the rich loam of the lower valley land it is a lofty tree, which often loses its lower limbs by the crowding of young conifers about it. The crown expands, the outer branches become pendulous, and the tree assumes the shape of a tall Etruscan vase — a common form of our American elms. The whiteness of the wood makes it popular for the interior finish of houses, as well as for the coarser staple uses to which white oak is devoted. Its fault is checking as it dries. It takes two years to season properly. Robert Douglas, the great botanical explorer, named this tree in honour of Nicholas Garry, secretary of the Hudson Bay Company, in recognition of the courtesies and substantial aid rendered by him to scientists studying the flora of the Northwest. Live Oak (Quercus Virginiana, Mill.) — Evergreen tree, 50 to 75 feet high, with thick trunk and horizontal limbs of great length forming a low, spreading dome, like an old apple tree. Often shrubby. Bark reddish brown, scaly, with shallow fissures; twigs rigid, slim, hoary at first. Wood light brown or yellow (sap wood nearly white), close grained, lustrous, compact with hardly distinguishable annual rings, heavy, tough, strong, durable, easy to split, hard to work. Buds globose, brownish, small. Leaves evergreen, leathery, elliptical or oblanceolate, entire, rarely wavy margined, and spiny tipped above the middle, 2 to 5 inches long, dark green above, paler beneath, brownish yellow in Jate winter, falling when new leaves appear. Flowers in March, April; staminate in hairy catkins; pistillate 3 to 5-flowered on long spikes with bright red stigmas. Acorns annual, brown, stalked, pointed, i inch long, in thin cup with tapering base and small, closely appressed scales; nut sweet, J to § of it embraced by the cup. Preferred habitat, dry sandy soil near the coast. Dis- irihution, islands and coast from Virginia to Florida, west to Mexico, and in Lower California. Uses: Superb avenue and ornamental tree in the South. Grows rapidly and is easily transplanted. Lumber better in all respects than that of Quercus alba, even. The evergreen live oak of the South is one of the handsomest of all our native trees in cultivation. Specimen trees in New Orleans, Charleston and other cities certainly challenge the observer to mention a more perfect example of all that is to be 196 The Oaks desired in tree form. The dome is low, but exceedingly broad, often spreading to twice its height and more. The trunk breaks near the base into horizontal limbs of incredible length and size. It seems as if the weight of these great arms must split the trunk, especially under the force of the wind. But the fibre of the wood is equal to resisting the strain put upon it. The leaves are not as showy and beautiful in form as many Northern oaks. They are plain dull green beneath, lustrous above, and they last all winter until the new leaves appear in the spring. The acorns are dainty and dark brown, set in a hoary long- stemmed, top-shaped cup. They are a profuse crop, and very sweet and pleasant to taste. The Indians gathered them "to thicken their venison-soop" with, and also cooked them in other ways. "They likewise draw an Oil, very pleasant and whole- some, little inferior to that of almonds." So wrote Mark Catesby, a century and a half ago. Live-oak timber ranks highest among the white oaks. Ship- building depended upon it in this country until the era of steel construction. Reservation of tracts of these trees in western Florida for the use of the navy was made in the early days. "Knees of oak" still brace the sides of vessels, if they can be obtained. The beauty of the wood when polished would make it in great demand for furniture and for decorative purposes, except that it is extremely difficult to work, and it splits easily when nailed. The short trunk prevents the getting out of timbers of large size. As an avenue and shade tree the live oak deserves especial attention. It grows rapidly and is easily transplanted. It is not particular as to soils. The trees are becoming scarce in the wild. They should be saved for the landscape's sake and planting should go steadily on. To our Northern poet, these trees "Stand like Druids of old, with voices sad and prophetic; Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms." Live oaks without their draperies of moss would lose much of their charm. However, there is a great difference of opinion as to the beauty of the moss. It generally looks well in a picture, but some people think its grey straggling clusters give the oaks an unkempt and uncomfortable look, as if a parasite were choking its host. 197 The Oaks The Durand Oak {Quercus hreviloha, Sarg.) is a Southerii, blue-leaved white oak, 80 to 90 feet high, with bark and leaf linings as silvery as its California cousin's. These leaves, which are leathery and scarcely 3 inches long, have indistinctly wavy margins, and tend to broaden at the tip, ending in three lobes. An ovate nut of moderate size sits in a thin saucer with hairy scales. In the bayou region of the South, and on the dry prairies of Alabama it is a fme, tall tree, with lumber equal to the best white oak; but west of the middle of Texas it decreases in size and becomics an almost evergreen shrub which is worthless except for fuel. It grows in thickets on sterile bluffs, even across the Mexican border. White Oak {Quercus alba, Linn.) — A large tree, 60 to 150 feet high, 3 to 8 feet in trunk diameter, tall in the forest, low and broad domed in the open fields. Bark pale grey, broken into small, thin plates. Wood tough, strong, heavy, hard, durable, light brown, with prominent medullary rays. Buds short, round, smooth, clustered at tip of twigs. Leaves alternate, 5 to 9 inches long, obovate or oblong in outline, with 7 to 9 rounded or fmger- shaped lobes with deep, rounded sinuses between; petioles stout; colour red at first, with white silky lining, then bright green above, paler beneath; in autumn deep red, pale purplish beneath. Flowers in May, with half-grown leaves; staminate catkins, hairy, 2-| to 3 inches long, yellow; pistillate, i to 2 on short stems, stamens bright red. Acorns annual, on short or long stems; cup shallow, thin, with closely appressed scales; nut of long, shiny, brown, f to I inch long, sweet, edible. Preferred habitat, rich, well- drained soil. Distribution, southern Maine to Florida; west to Minnesota, Kansas and Texas. Uses: A lumber tree of highest rank. Its bark is used in tanneries in the making of leather. The wood is used in naval architecture, in house building and inside finishing, for furniture, agricultural implements, cooperage, railroad ties and fuel. The white oak is the noblest tree of its race; king by common consent, in our forests of broad-leaved trees. It is the embodi- ment of strength, dignity and independence. The Briton has but one native oak on which to spend his loyalty and devotion. We have fifty kinds — all American — but the white oak is chief among them all. In this opinion the lumberman and the tree lover 198 ^ % V■■'/^- Ip^ J* eX i^' < ^!^"'"^ .l''^':^ f ^ V ,~£x ^m^ ^/^. "v THE WHITE OAK {^luercus alba) We know this tree by its broad, round dome above a short, pale-grey trunk; by its finger-lobed leaves, its rounded buds and its large, sweet acorns. It embodies our ideals of strength, dignity and independence in tree form I Winter Dua a .^tatuii.aie noweis THE WHITE OAK {^uercus alba) liie leaf lobes are finger-like, and the linings white. The twigs are slender. The flowers appear with the new leaves. bark is pale gray. This species is the type of the annual-fruited oaks. It is one of the nobles of our ixative oaks The Oaks generally concur, and each, as he gazes on a fine old tree, feels the smouldering fires of ancestral tree worship flame once more in his breast. There is something in Anglo-Saxon blood that remembers. We shall know the white oak in the winter woods by its pale grey bark, with shallow fissures and scaly ridges. It is a tall, narrow-headed tree where it is crowded among its forest neighbours. In the open it has a sturdy, low-branched trunk that flares into buttresses at the base and supports a rounded dome of great breadth and dignity. The mighty arms reach toward the horizon or the sky, breaking into tortuous limbs and these into dense thickets of twigs. Over these is the luxuriant thatch of fingered leaves, through whose narrow sinuses the light sifts so freely that even the inner framework of the dome bears leafy twigs. The characteristic arrangement of these leaves is a tuft of them on the end of a twig, spread out like the divisions of a horse-chestnut leaf. In spring a shimmering veil of rose and silver covers the grey old tree. The edges are fringed with the yellow tassels of the staminate flowers. From the axils of the opening leaves the forked tongues of the pistillate flowers are thrust out into the pollen-laden air. All summer the leaves are bright green with pale linings. In autumn the red comes back again with bluish tones that blend into beautiful vinous reds and violet purple. Gradually the colour fades out, but the leaves usually hang on until pushed off, even as late as the following April. We shall find no acorns on white oak trees in winter, for they mature in a single season, and fall without delay. The crop is usually a light one, and it is hard to find acorns even under the tree. The sweet-flavoured nut is a favourite food of animals, wild and domestic. The Indians and the early colonists ate them. These shrewd and provident ancestors of ours discovered also that this "ackorne" had other good qualities. "By boyling it long, it giveth an oyle which they keep to supple their joynts." They skimmed this oil from the water before they ate the acorns in the pot. White-oak lumber is becoming rare and correspondingly high priced. Its quality is of the first order. Clear, quarter- sawed oak exhibits a higher percentage of the ''mirrors" (pith 199 The Oaks rays) than any other species. Its durability, hardness and fine colour are exceptional among oaks. So great is the demand for it in the fmer decorative arts employing wood that it is going out of use in general construction where inferior woods can be sub- stituted. Roots of white oak, sawed, planed and polished, present a wood of extraordinary beauty. It is pale yellow in colour, tinged with olive, and shows a feathered grain of intricate and graceful pattern. The lustre of it is equal to that of mahogany or rosewood. Fifty years ago Nuttall cited an instance of an English cabinetmaker paying five pounds sterling for the roots of a single tree, counting that furniture veneered with it would vie with the finest. Bur or Mossy-cup Oak (Quercus macrocarpa, Michx.) — A large tree, 75 to 160 feet high, with spreading branches, and irregular, round head. Bark greyish brown, deeply furrowed, becoming scaly; branches roughened with thick, corky ridges; twigs winged or smooth, stout, and pubescent at first. Wood brown, with paler sap wood, close grained, heavy, hard, durable in soil; medullary rays conspicuous. Buds small, blunt pointed, pubescent. Leaves obovate, alternate, 6 to 12 inches long, 3 to 6 inches wide, 5 to 7-lobed; sinuses rounded, shallow or deep, middle ones often wider, opposite and nearly reach the midrib; petioles short, grooved; summer colour lustrous dark green, with pale, or silvery pubescent lining; autumn colour yellow or brown. Flowers with half-grown leaves in May; staminate in hairy yellow catkins; pistillate, with hairy red scales and bright red stigmas. Acorns annual, J to 2 inches long, ovoid, variable in size and shape, pubescent, in deep (rarely shallow) cup, brown, hairy, with loose scales and mossy fringe. Kernel white, sweet. Preferred habitat^ rich, well-drained soil. Distribution, Nova Scotia to Montana; south to Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas. Uses: Same as Q, alba. Picturesque park tree. Easily transplanted when young. The bur oak is a rugged-looking tree, more picturesque than its near relative, the white oak, which is conventional and sym- metrical when it has its own way in growing. The bur oak flings out its antlered arms without regard for balance and sym- metry, and casts off the bark of its shaggy limbs with utter indifference to any law of neatness. Broad corky wings are seen even on young twigs, and these are stout and curiously gnarled. 200 «3 < o Pi M W K H Q. 3 1 O li 1- ex, .S -^ lo is o -« "^ s :s o o I- -o 9 " J3 r« o 3 ^ CO c ■^ "So c «o THE CHi.oiiNUT OAK (^uertus r>,nu^j The dark-coloured bark and pointed buds would class this species among the black oak group, but the wavy-margined leaves and the annual acorns decide the case. This is one of the important tanbark oaks The Oaks The leaves are of unusual length and deeply cut into irregular fingers, or broader lobes. Often two opposite sinuses, wider than the rest, almost cut the leaf in two in the middle. Bright and shining above, these leaves are woolly lined and thick. The acorns are very striking in appearance. The brown nut is often 2 inches long and set in a thick, hairy cup, covered with coarse, pointed scales that become elongated toward the rim, and form a loose, fringed border. The nut is half covered by the cup as a rule. Sometimes it is quite swallowed up in it. From this the species is sometimes, but erroneously, called the overcup oak. This tree is one of the most widely distributed and valuable of North American oaks. It has an astonishing power of adapta- tion to different regions and climates. It grows from Nova Scotia to western Texas; there are forests of it in Winnipeg; it forms the "oak openings'' of Minnesota and Dakota. It seems as much at home in the hot and arid stretches of the West and Southwest as in the cold, damp air of the coast of New Eng- land, or the fertile valley of the Ohio, where it reached nearly 200 feet in height in the virgin forests. The sturdiness of the bur oak, its rapid growth in good soil, its rugged picturesqueness, winter and summer, all commend it to planters. It is one of the m.ost ornamental of American oaks in cultivation; and the raising and transplanting of it are fairly easy. People who do not plant oaks because they take so long to become big trees miss much pleasure they have not counted on. It may be children's children who see the aged tree, beautiful in its expression of massiveness and rugged strength. But the planter enjoys the grace of the sapling, the rich foliage of the young tree which is always larger than on the old ones; and there is very early seen in any bur oak the stocky build and the shaggy bark that mark the adult tree. 1 1 grows rapidly, and soon blossoms and fruits freely. Every year shows gains, and the cycle of the year in the treetop is worthy of close attention. The wood of white oaks is of highest quality, the English oak itself being one of this group. The bur oak is counted even better than that of Quercus alba, when grown in rich soil. The planting of bur oaks on the prairie is especially recommended by those who understand the conditions prevailing there. It is grown for shade and for lumber. 201 The Oaks Overcup Oak, Swamp Post Oak (Quercus lyrata, Walt.) — Large tree, 70 to 100 feet high, with small pendulous branches forming a symmetrical round head. Bark grey or reddish, fur- rowed and shedding in thick plates. IVood dark brown, strong, heavy, hard, durable. Buds small, blunt pointed, hairy, brown. Leaves obovate, narrowed at base, 6 to 8 inches long, with 3 to 5 pairs of oblong or pointed lobes, with wide sinuses, especially the middle pair, bright green above, shining, with dense white down beneath. Acorns annual, short stalked; nut flattened and almost or entirely enclosed by the round, rough-scaled cup; 5 to ij inches across. Preferred habitat, coast or river swamps. Distribution, Maryland to Florida; west to Missouri and Texas. Rare except in the Southwest. Uses: Rare in cultivation. Wood confused with white oak in the trade. The distinguishing feature of this oak is its button-like acorns. The scaly cup quite swallows up the nut, as a rule. The grey of bark and leaf lining, the narrow, deeply cut leaves, and the strong, durable wood are all characteristics that show this tree's close kinship with the bur oak on one side and the post oak on the other. It grows to majestic proportions in watery ground and wears a luxuriant crown of shining foliage. Post Oak, Iron Oak {Quercus minor, Sarg.) — A dense, round-topped tree, scrubby or 40 to 50 feet high, with low, crooked branches and stubby, rough twigs. Bark greyish brown, deeply furrowed, scaly wide ridges; branches brown; twigs brownish with yellow fuzz. Wood pale brown, close grained, hard, strong, heavy, durable in contact with soil. Buds small, round, rusty, downy. Leaves 4 to 5 inches long, clustered, abundant, stiff, rough, dark, shining above, brown woolly beneath, obovate, with 5 to 7 unequal, square-tipped lobes separated by wide sinuses, hanging on all winter, turning yellow or pale brown. Flowers in May with half-grown leaves; staminate catkins, 3 to 4 inches long, yellow, hairy; pistillate flowers, almost sessile; stigmas bright red. Acorns annual, f to i inch long, ovoid, brown- ish, in shallow cup of loose, blunt-pointed scales, enclosing only J to ^ of the nut. Kernel sweet. Preferred habitat, dry, sandy or rocky soil. Distribution, southern Massachusetts to northern Florida; west to Missouri and Texas. Especially common in the Southwest. Uses: Hardy ornamental oak; grows well in dry, rocky soil. Lumber used largely for railroad ties, fuel and 202 The Oaks fencing; also for cooperage and construction. Seldom distin- guished in the trade from white oak. The post oak looks like a tree with its trunk buried in the ground. Its head is broader at the top, no matter how it is crowded in the woods, and the multitude of stubby branches are "full of elbows," i. e., the angles between limb and branch are all wide open, giving the tree a distinct character. The foliage is another means of knowing the post oak. At a distance it looks almost black in summer. Come nearer. The leaf lining is coated with greyish pubescence. The texture of a leaf makes you cringe as you crumple it in your hands. It is thick and leathery, and roughened above by wonderfully branched hairs, that are star-like under a magnifier. Three broad, squarish lobes form the top, and the blade tapers from these to the stubby petiole. Sometimes there are five lobes altogether; sometimes only the three at the top. Each twig holds out a cluster of these leaves, like a fan. In the autumn they turn yellow or brown, but the twigs will not let them go. A characteristic post oak is densely leafy all winter, and until the opening shoots push the stubborn old leaf stalks out of the way. This habit gives the post oak much of its picturesqueness in winter, for the foliage does not entirely conceal its ruggedness and crookedness of limb. The acorns are trim and dainty. The annual crop rarely fails. They are very sweet, and in the old days were devoured by wild turkeys. Then people knew it as the turkey oak. The names of this species, iron oak and post oak, indicate the reputation of its wood for durability in contact with the soil and with water. Post-oak staves from Baltimore were preferred in the West Indian trade in sugar, rum and other barrelled com- modities. ** Knees" of post oak are always in demand, and, where trees attained sufficient size, the timbers are used in the framework and sides of ships. Chestnut Oak, Tan-bark Oak (QuercMS Prinus, Linn.) — A forest tree with broad, irregular head on a short trunk, 50 to 100 feet high. Bark dark brown, deeply furrowed, rich in tannic acid; twigs smooth. IVood dark, reddish brown, close grained, with conspicuous medullary rays, tough, heavy, hard, strong, durable in contact with soil. Buds pointed, long, smooth, greyish red. Leaves alternate, 5 to 9 inches long, obovate, with coarse teeth rounded at the tops, thick, yellowish green above, paler, usually 203 The Oaks , , pubescent beneath; autumn colour yellow and brown. Flowers in May, solitary or paired; staminate yellow; pistillate on short spurs ; stigmas short, dark red. Acorns usually solitary, peduncled, annual, i to i^ inches long, shining, brown; cup thin, downy lined, covered with smaU tubercular scales. Kernel sweet, edible. Preferred habitat, rocky upland soil, like the sides of ravines and stream borders. Distribution, southern Maine to western New York; south to Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee; along mountains into Georgia and Alabama. Uses: A handsome tree for parks; grows well in dry ground; lumber used for railroad ties, fencing and fuel; bark, in tanning leather. The chestnut oak is the type of a group of white oaks whose leaves are like those of a chestnut tree. This group has sweeter nuts than any other oaks. All but this species have pale bark. Quercus Prinus has bark so dark in colour and so deeply furrowed that it has often been mistaken for one of the black oak group, although its wavy leaf margins and annual fruit deny the insinuation most emphatically. It is a vigorous tree, and grows very rapidly in dry soil. Its acorns in their fuzzy cups often sprout before they fall to the ground! The tree is handsome, and, worthy a place in any plantation. It finally m.akes the best of fuel. The name, ''rock chestnut oak,'' refers to the hardness of its wood. "Tan-bark oak" calls attention to the tannin which makes this tree the prey of ''peelers" throughout its range. Only the black oak yields as good bark to the tanner. The Yellow Oak {Quercus acuminata, Sarg.) has smaller and narrower leaves than Quercus Prinus, and the margins are coarsely and sharply toothed. They closely resemible chestnut leaves in form, but are lined with pale pubescence. The tree reaches i6o feet in height in the lower Ohio Valley and extends from Vermont to Minnesota, and south to Alabama and Texas. It prefers dry soil, and is a worthy shade and ornamental tree. The silvery grey bark and handsome leaves, shining yellow-green above and J white beneath, trembling on slender petioles, make it a beautiful object in any landscape. The yellow-green of the foliage mass gives the tree its common name. The Chincapin Oak {Quercus prinoides, Willd.) is a shrub, which spreads by underground stems. Its opening leaves are silvery below and orange-red above. In autumn they turn 204 THE OVERCUP OAK (^uercus lyrata) The narrow leaves broaden toward the apex ; the largest of the lobes are above the middle, ite down. The wood is confused with other white oak. The bark is gray, tinged with red. )rn, which is usually entirely enclosed by tb" \p The leaf lining is dense The best character is the THE LIVE OAK {Uuc /nana) hese leathery leaves are individually small and characterless, as oak leaves go, but the mass of them keeps the treetop green glossy until spring produces a new crown of foliage. The slender acorn seems too big for its thin little cup. The 'vood ks higher than any other species of oak. THE WILLOW OAK {^uenus Phellos) The leaves are like a willow's, but the acorns prove this southern tree an oak. Though its leaves lack spiny lobes, the tree is biennial in fruiting THE SWAMP WHITE OAK {Quercus platancides) The ler.ves are obovate, with wedge-shaped bases and white, downy linings. They are green when they open, acorns are sweet. The wood is not distinguished in the trade from other white oak The annual The Oaks bright red again. The httle sweet acorn probably suggested the common name. From its leaves and habit this oak is called the scrub chestnut oak. It occurs from Maine to Minnesota, and south to Alabama and Texas. In the West it seems to in- tergrade with the preceding species. Horticulturally it is a desirable species for covering dry, sterile areas. Swamp "White Oak (Quercus platanoides, Sudw.) — A shaggy picturesque tree, 70 to 100 feet high, with pendulous branches, and crooked twigs forming a narrow, round head, bushy with dead twigs that hang on. Bark pale greyish brown, peeling in thin flakes from branches and trunk. Wood pale brown, coarse grained, heavy, tough, strong. Buds short, blunt, brown, hairy, clustered at tips of twigs. Leaves alternate, obovate, 5 to 7 inches long, wedge shaped at base, wavy toothed or lobed regu- larly, dull, dark green above, white-downy beneath. Flowers staminate, hairy, yellow catkins; pistillate few on long peduncles, hairy with red stigmas. Acorns annual, paired, on long stems; nut oval, I to I J inches long, brown, hairy at tip, in rough cup with thickened scales, sometimes fringed at border; kernel sweet, edible. Preferred hahiiat, moist or swampy soil. Distribution, southern Maine to southern Iowa; south to Maryland, Kentucky and Arkansas; along mountains into Georgia. Commonest about the Great Lakes. Uses: Picturesque tree in landscape, but rarely planted. Lumber not distinguished commercially from other white oak. Used in construction of houses, boats, agricultural implements and vehicles; also, for fencing, railroad ties and fuel. The swamp white oak loves the waterside, and many a noble specimen has been swept away by spring floods or by the gradual undermining of the bank on which it grew. Such was the fate of the famous Wadsworth oak, a landmark in the Genesee Valley in New York State, even when the Indians were the only people there to admire it. A young tree of this species is generally pyramidal and quite symmetrical in form, its stout branches short and horizontal, the lower ones tending to droop. The strength of character, however, the ruggedness that make so strong appeal to us in this tree, comes when it has put by the comeliness of youth and the stern battle of life has left its scars on the veteran. Look at a swamp white oak against a winter sky. I mean 205 The Oaks that old one which has stood there with its feet in the water as long as you can remember. In fact, it seemed to be grown up when first you were told its name. The head is narrow for an oak, the limbs short and tortuous, especially on the lower half of the tree where they have a downward tendency, seeming to sprawl as widely as their grizzled and stubby length permits. Storms have cut gashes in the outline of the top. A weird grey pallor heightens the expression of age. The bark strips off of the branches somewhat after the sycamore's mode of moulting. Nothing contributes more to the picturesqueness of a tree than ragged bark. In spring the rough coat of the tree is concealed by the open- ing leaves. The black oaks flush crimson when they wake in the May sunshine. The young leaves of the swamp white oak are green, with a silvery scurf that lines them the summer through. Even in its autumn colour the foliage turns yellow and never red. All through the summer the brilliant foliage, lustrous yellow- green above, turns its silvery linings out in every breeze, and fairly illuminates the duller trees that stand about. One authority calls it Quercus hicolor, for the two colours of its leaves. This is one of the chestnut oak group. The leaf proves it by its shape and margin. The long, sweet nut in its fringed or plain cup is worthy the attention of any hungry man or beast. The swamp white oak is easily transplanted and it grows rapidly, but because it is known to be a hard drinker people do not plant it, forgetting that trees sometimes are happy out of their normal habitat. This oak flourishes as a street tree, and does well in any moist, rich soil, graciously waiving, for our satisfaction, its natural preferences. But he who would have this tree in its grandest state will wish it set at some distance from his house, and where it is made very comfortable. While we transplant small saplings into our grounds, let us exert ourselves to cherish the old ones and help the community to realise what a precious thing one of these veteran trees is — the natural heritage of all who can see it. Basket Oak, Cow Oak {Quercus Michauxii, Nutt.) — A large handsome tree, 60 to 100 feet high, 3 to 7 feet in diameter at base, with stout ascending branches forming a round, dense head. Bark scaly, silvery or ashy grey, with reddish tinge. Wood 206 The Oaks hard, strong, tough, durable, close grained with large medullary rays and spring wood ducts, separating it into annual layers. Similar to other white-oak lumber. Buds pointed, J inch long, scaly, with red hairs. Leaves 6 to 8 inches long, broadly obovate, regularly undulate on margins, sinuses equal to the lobes in size and shape, shining, dark green above, pubescent, often silvery white below. Crimson in autumn. Flowers with half- grown leaves, March to May. Acorns annual, solitary or paired, on short stem i to ij inches long, oval, pointed, bright brown, in shallow, scaly cup, which is flat bottomed and lined with down; kernels sweetest of Eastern acorns, eaten by children, negroes and domestic animals. Preferred habitat, swamps and bottom lands liable to inundation. Distribution, northern Delaware to Florida; west to Illinois, Missouri and Texas. Uses: Important timber tree, lumber ranking with white oak. A handsome ornamental tree, worthy of cultivation in wet ground. The common names of trees are interesting, always, and often confusing. It is sometimes diificult to trace their origin and to explain their meaning. This beautiful tree, the most valuable annual-fruited oak of the Southeastern States, differs from others of the group in that its wood separates like that of the black ash into annual layers. The toughness and strength of these sheets adapt them to basket making — the most durable bushel baskets, china crates, etc., are made of strips of this oak. It is easy to see why the name "basket oak" came into use. But who shall explain the name "cow oak"? Perhaps it is enough that the acorns are sweet and cows eat them. Perhaps if I lived where the cow oak does I might give an answer that is more than simply a guess. The basket oak is one of the best mast trees in the country. The trees are very prolific, and each year hogs are fattened upon the acorns wherever the trees are common in the woods. There would be an appearance of heaviness, perhaps, in this handsome oak, if it were not that the lustrous leaves are lined with silver that seems to catch and hold the light, reflecting it to the inner parts of the treetop. When the wind blows the contrast of light and shade is strikingly beautiful. In many particulars the basket oak resembles the swamp white oak, and some author- ities hold that Quercus Michauxii is the Southern form of Quercus platanoides, for their ranges meet and do not overlap. 207 The Oaks X II. THE BLACK OAK GROUP Acorns biennial; leaf lobes spiny tipped; bark dark. KEY TO SPECIES A. Pacific coast species. B. Leaves holly-like, evergreen. C. Young growth golden tomentose; branchlets pen- dulous. (Q. chrysolepis) mountain live oak CC. Young growth hoary; branchlets erect. D. Acorns elongated ; leaves pubescent ; fruit annual. (Q. agri folia) California live oak DD. Acorns ovate; leaves smooth. (Q. JVisli{eni) highland oak BB. Leaves not holly-like, deciduous. (Q. Calijornica) kellogg's oak AA. Eastern species. Deciduous. B. Leaves pinnately toothed and cleft by deep sinuses, petiole slender. C. Acorn cup shallow, broader than high. D. Tree pyramidal; branches with pin-like spurs. {Q. palustns) pin oak DD. Tree spreading; acorn large, in smooth, shallow saucer {Q.. rubra) red oak DDD. Tree of oblong head; acorn cup greyish, downy. {Q. Texana) texan red oak CC. Acorn cup hemispherical, as high as broad. D. Leaves thin, glabrous beneath; acorn cup drawn in at top. {Q. coccinea) scarlet oak DD. Leaves coarse, tufted with rusty hairs below; acorn cup not drawn in at top. {Q. velutina) black oak DDD. Leaves firm, pale greyish downy beneath; acorn cup drawn in at top. E. Lobes 5 to 7, lanceolate or sickle-like. F. Leaves thin, 6 to 7 inches long; lobes entire {Q. digiiata) Spanish oak FF. Leaves thick, 3 to 12 inches long; lobes toothed. {Q. Cateshcei) turkey oak EE. Lobes 3 to 5, broad, spiny tipped. (Q. nana) bear oak BB. Leaves 3 to 5-lobed at apex or nearly entire, on short petioles, becoming glossy. C. Tree squat, contorted, spreading. {Q. Marilandica) black jack CC. Tree slender, tall, graceful. {Q. nigra) water oak 208 THE POST OAK (^uercus minor) The leaves are leathery, lined with brown wool, and they cling to their twigs all winter. Three large square lobes above le middle form the broadest part of the leaf; below the middle sinuses is a triangular basal portion and the short petiole. The ood is peculiarly adapted for use as posts, railroad ties and barrel staves lHe blue jack |(^werctts hrevijoUa) THE COW OAK THE BLACK JACK THE WATER OAK THE YELLOW OAK {^uercus Michauxit) {S^uercus Marilandica) (^Quercus nigra) (^uercus acuminata) o < o Q o t3 TS •r ti « ^- « > V. OS . -o ^ c ctf O O O ^^ « > >.:h ns o ^ 3 (u 1:) c 3 ,'?^.^' \.m->^- s.t The Oaks BBB. Leaves entire, elongated, rarely toothed. C. Foliage willow-like, shining. (Q. Phellos) willow oak CC. Foliage laurel-like, shining. D. Tree pyramidal, pendulous. {Q. imbricarid) shingle oak DD. Tree round, thick topped. {Q. laurijolia) laurel oak Mountain Live Oak, Maul Oak, Gold-cup Oak (Quer- cus chrysolepis, Liebm.) — A low, broad tree, with drooping limbs, scrubby in high altitudes, 40 to 50 feet high, rarely 100 feet, and 100 to I 50 feet across; trunk 2 to 6 feet through. Bark pale grey or reddish brown, flaky. Wood pale brown, close grained, tough, strong, hard to work. Buds broadly ovate, small, scaly. Leaves evergreen, oblong, entire, acute, i to 2 inches long, bright green, shining above, yellowish pubescent below. Flowers, ]unt', stami- nate catkins profuse; pistillate, sessile, solitary or few in a cluster; scales golden tomentose. Fruits solitary, J to ij inches long; cups shallow, thick, of triangular scales, concealed by yellow tomentum. Preferred habitat, canon sides and rocky gulches. Distribution, southern Oregon to Lower California, on western slopes of Sierra Nevada and coast mountains, mountains in south- ern Arizona and New Mexico. Uses: Most valuable timber oak of the Pacific coast. Used for wagons and farm implements. The mountain live oak is not a horticultural tree, beautiful as it would be in the broad, rolling valleys of California. It is a wild thing, untamable as the mountain goat, loving the rocky canon sides and the high terraces on which earthquake and avalanche have left mighty indelible scars. Two thousand feet above sea level these trees begin to appear. On these heights they rear their sturdy, buttressed trunks which soon break into limbs that spread into broad, low domes. The width of these trees is often twice their height, and their resemblance to the live oak of the Southeastern States is striking. Instead of the Spanish moss that decks these Southern trees and gives them such a funereal look, here is nothing to droop but the tree's own long, flexible twigs clad in leaves all yellow-green and shining, which brighten the sun- shine that sifts through them. They are lined all summer with yellow down, and the spring catkins and autumn acorn cups give an extra Midas touch to the tree at both ends of the growing season. 209 "'*^ ^\.^i^' The Oaks There is a wonderful story of struggle and victory mutely but eloquently told by this tree, as it contends with the adverse con- ditions of soil and weather, grappling the rocky ground with its spreading roots and losing nothing in dignity and character as its size dwindles and it reaches its limit — 5,000 feet. This low, knotty oak chaparral that the mountain climber grasps so thankfully as he faces toward the summit is fringed with yellow tassels in the spring and set in autumn with golden acorn cups, even as are its brethren, the gnarled giants he passed on the terraces 3,000 feet lower down. In the highest elevations, 8,000 to 9,000 feet above the sea, this oak is reduced to a foot in height. This is the "huckle- berry oak" of the Sierra Nevada range, wsiriety vacant folia, of the parent species. Another dwarf variety, Palmeri, called the Pal- mer oak, grows on the boundary between California and the lower peninsula. The California Live Oak (Quercus agri folia, Nee.), with holly-like leaves, is a ponderous tree with a low, wide dome, very common in California, extending to the coast and farther to the islands of the southern half of the state. The wood of this species is of a hard, durable sort, but can be got out only in short boards, as the trunk is not tall. It is excellent for fuel. The Highland Oak (Quercus lVisli{eni, A. DC.) is a large tree on the elevated foothills back from the coast in California. Its dark green, shining evergreen leaves resemble those of holly, Ilex opaca, except that they are more finely toothed, and some- times entire. The acorn is long and slender. The wood is of especial value in mechanical construction, being hard, tough, strong and durable. It is also valuable as fuel. The Kellogg Oak, or California Black Oak {Quercus Cali- fornica, Coop.), is large and beautiful, spreading wide its pictur- esquely gnarled branches covered with smooth, bright green leaves, much like those of the Eastern red oak. It has also stout twigs and rough dark-coloured bark, and the reddish coarse- grained wood strengthens still farther the resemblance of the two trees. The acorns of the Western tree, however, sit in deep cups that half conceal them; the red oak holds its nuts in shallow saucers. The uplands only satisfy this Western black oak. It holds aloof from the plains and keeps back from the sea. Sunny open 210 *-> 3 rt M) W _C M rt 'B C "e >. rf "7> ^-t « <« v v "u tn^ c U OS > J2 — U ■i-J s K 'o rt ^ en +-< ■fv. _M -(-> (o C ■(-' s ' '^ 1) o ^ U a 1 C o. Ui C3 '5. < «5 M o o 15= E u •I-' -Q H J2 « +-> ^ 4—* H '5- 03 ^ J-i ♦-J 3 « 0 ^-j *j 0 XI ^ nS (« ^ « _ -C OS ■(-' -o 0 s OS .1:: >. TO 0. U -. i: . ^. The Oaks habitat, rich, well-drained stream borders. Distribution, Nova Scotia to Minnesota; south to Georgia, Tennessee and Kansas. Uses: A handsome, quick-growing shade and ornamental tree, easily transplanted and free from insect pests. Wood used in cooperage, cheap furniture, in construction and finish of buildings and for fuel. It is inferior to white oak. Bark rich in tannic acid, used in tanning leather. There is no American oak more highly prized in Europe than the comhion red oak. It has been cultivated there for two cen- turies, and splendid specimens are pointed out with pride, espe- cially in Belgium, Germany and England. It is the "champion oak" which flames in English parks when the foliage of native species falls without a hint of the brilliant colouring which we always expect in autumn woods. The red oak is so common in our Eastern forests that we have not realised its worthiness as a street and ornamental tree. Surely it is a stately tree in the forest, and as noble and benignant a figure as the white oak where it has ample room to develop its round dome. It grows faster than any other native oak and in a greater variety of soils. It can be transplanted, even when 15 feet high, from the woods to a lawn, and not notice the change. After it becomes established a growth of a foot or more in height may be expected yearly, and an increase in diameter of an inch of wood in five years. The shining leaves of red oak, though they are variable in form, are always cut oval and into triangular lobes which point forward, rather than outward. The sinuses are angled or rounded, but are not so broad as those of the black oak. These leaves are leathery and smooth, those of black oak are rougher. The bloom of red oak is more luxuriant than that of other oaks. The tree is fairly draped with its long yellow catkins, and the red stigmas shine out against the silvery pink of opening leaves. The acorns of the red oak are unique. They are large, in pairs, on very short stalks, and the nut sits in a broad, shallow saucer covered with small, close-fitting scales. The acorn crop is two years in ripening, but the tree is so vigorous that there are usually nuts, or at least saucers, in evidence to identify the tree, if the leaves do net determine it with certainty. The under bark is red, while that of black cak is orange-yellow. This is another 21^ The Oaks way to tell the two species apart at any time of year by the aid of a pocket knife. Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea, Muench.) — Slender, sym- metrical tree, 70 to 160 feet high, with graceful, curving branches and twigs, tapering trunk and round head. Eark brown or grey, rough, scaly, shallowly fissured; inner layers reddish; twigs green, scurfy, becoming red and smooth. IVood pale brownish red, hard, coarse grained, strong, heavy, of rapid growth. Buds pointed, hairy at tip, small, reddish. Leaves oval or obovate, thin, smooth, shining above, paler beneath, sometimes hairy tufted on veins, 3 to 6 inches long, 2 to 5 inches broad, with 5 to 7 spreading bristly pointed and subdivided lobes, with deep, rounded sinuses between; autumn colour scarlet; petioles slender, long. Flowers staminate catkins slender, reddish before maturity; pistillate with long stigmas bright red. Acorns biennial, i to | inch long, half covered by short-stalked cup, smooth, triangular, close-pressed scales, rounding in at the top; kernel white, moder- ately bitter. Preferred habitat, dry, fertile loam. Distribution, Maine to Florida, west to Minnesota, Nebraska and Missouri. Best development in lower valley of Ohio River. Uses: A favourite ornamental oak in this country and in Europe. Lumber used for same purposes as that of Q. rubra. The splendour of our autumnal forests owes much to the foliage of the scarlet oak. The tree blazes like a torch against the duller reds and browns in the woods, and often keeps its brilliancy until after snow covers the ground. There is no reason for confusing the black, red and pin oaks with this species. They are all heavy and coarse beside it. Their leaves are leathery compared with the papery thinness of these. In summer the scarlet oak lifts its young shoots, delicately pink above the last year's growth, and waves them like long, tapering plumes, set with skeleton leaves. Break a twig, and the smoothness and delicacy of the leaves strike you. Just a pale trace of fuzziness remains along the veins on the under side. The wide, rounded sinuses are cut nearly to the midrib, and the leaf flutters airily on a long petiole. The acorn differs from the black oak's in having its cup drawn tightly in at the top. Though we have planted this tree less often than the red •)ak and pin oak in this country, it is coming to be recognised as 214 THE SCARLET OAK (Jluercus coccLea) No oak leaf is more exquisite in form and finish than this one. The tree becomes a torch of scarlet in the late autumm The wood and the furrowed bark are tinged with red. The broad leaf on the budded twig is a freak .r^ '.: # 7''t bo rt -i-i O 4-> <-|-c ^ V -t-J t-i c 4-» £ 3 *-> -T3 3 vj -r- 3 .1-i 'I O ^_^ ?s (U Vj CJ c a 0 S O o o J^ CO J3 V H i4 ^ § O jj 13 3 H C ii W nS rt to > OS G < C/2 a> V _c _c w +-> •u ffi c CIS r_, «J t— ' -0 t 4-> u, 0 "S C > ^ v 4^ . rt u. c u >v ll U _c o o The Oaks superior to both, while in hardiness and rapidity of growth it is the equal of either. The Texan Red Oak (Quercus Texana, Buckl.), tallest of American oaks, and one of the handsomest, grows from Iowa to Indiana and south to Texas and Florida. It is closely related to the red and scarlet oaks, showing the characteristic acorns of the former and the leaves of the latter. Possibly the giant red oak that stood on the borders of the Bayou St. Barb in Louisiana, fifty years ago, ''44 feet in girth and tall according," was of this Texan species. Quercus rubra does not grow so far south. Black Oak, Yellow Oak {Quercus velutina. Lam.) — A tree 70 to 90 feet, rarely 1 50 feet high, with narrow, open head of slender branches, occasionally wide spreading and short trunked. Bark usually very dark grey or brown, thick, with rough broken ridges and deep furrows; inner layers orange yellow, rich in tannin. Wood light reddish brown, coarse grained, with annual layers strongly marked and thin medullary rays, hard, strong, heavy, not tough. Buds large, pointed, angled, downy. Leaves alternate, 4 to 10 inches long, 2 to 6 inches wide, deeply cut into 7 to 9 broad, bristly toothed lobes with rounded sinuses, thick, almost leathery texture, lustrous, dark green above, smooth, or somewhat hairy, brownish beneath; petioles long, yellow, flattened; autumna! colour brownish yellow, rarely reddish. Flowers, May, with half- open leaves; hairy, reddish, stigmas bent back. Acorns biennial, solitary or in pairs, short stalked; nut ovoid, smooth, in cup of loose scales; rim fringed, not incurved; kernel yellow, bitter. Preferred habitat, rich, moist soil. Distribution, Maine to Florida; west to Minnesota, Kansas and eastern Texas. Uses: Rarely planted for ornament and shade. Wood used in cooperage, for furniture and in general construction ; bark in tanning and dyeing. Since early spring I have been watching life kindle and glow in the top of a grim old black oak. I knew the tree then by its black bark and its large, downy winter buds, and the velvety scurf on its young shoots. Still another sign, constant the year round, proclaimed this tree a black oak beyond question. Under the rough outer bark is an orange-yellow inner layer, easily reached by a little digging in one of the furrows. No other oak need be confused with this species if the observer carries a pocket knife. 215 The Oaks This tree, though it was late March, was still holding some of its old leaves. On twigs destitute of leaves I found a leaf stem, here and there, frayed into many threads, showing how tough its fibres are. My black oak leans up against a bluff, and thrusts its giant arms out over the wide roadway. One sided as the situation compelled it to grow, it is yet a majestic tree, "framed in the prodigality of Nature." From the path below I can just touch its lower limb with the ten-foot pruning shears; but by climbing the bluflF I walk right into the treetop. Here I go to see things happen in the spring days. The buds open and the shoots set with leaves push rapidly out. The whole treetop flushes crimson in the morning sunshine, and there is a "pale moonbeam's light" gleaming through it. Can it be dewdrops pearling the young leaves? 1 ask the question, and the tree answers it as soon as I get near enough to examine a spray. The red glow is from crinkly, half-awake, baby leaves, and their brilliance is softened by a silky covering of white hairs. This is especially thick on the under side, but the silver}' mist over the treetop lasts only a day, or until the leaves are grown large and self-reliant enough to get on without such protection. Then the fuzz is suddenly shed from the upper sides of the leaves, but the under surfaces are more or less coated throughout the summer with a dull scurfy down. The coarseness of the leaves is one trait that distinguishes the species from the red and scarlet oaks, whose leaves it often imitates in form. Crumple a leaf of each in your hands. The red oak is intermediate between the leathery, harsh texture of the black, and the thinness and delicacy of the scarlet. The incisions in black oak leaves are rounded and deep, their bristly lobes point outward as often as they incline forward. The bloom of black oak may be profuse or scant; the tree has its "off years." As the leaves lose their red the flowers take up the theme, and glow with ruddy stigmas and fringed tassels of stamens among the half-grown foliage. The lustiest shoots set acorns — sometimes a pair under each leaf. While the new ones are swelling and forming their little basal cups, on twigs a year older ambitious acorns of a larger growth are hurrying through their second summer to be ready to fall in October. This species is the type of the black or biennial-fruited oaks— 2i6 THE BLACK OAK (^uercus veht'tna) The leaves have squarish lobes, coarse, rough texture and often brownish linings, with tufts of rusty hairs in the angles of the veins. They turn to dull red or brownish orange. The under bark is orange-coloured. The acorns sit in cups of loosely shingled scales which form a fringe at the margin. The buds are large, ovate, with a hoary covering of fine hairs ■■r W: XA<^1 ^ i: t^ M c» '^Jsctfl Flowering branch ; A, Staminate flowers ; B, Pistillate flowers THE BLACK OAK {^uercus velutina) Tac opening leaves are crimson, with silvery velvet linings and long white hairs above. Half-grown acorns are seen below the fringe of staminate catkins. The pistillate flowers are in the leaf angles The Oaks a large group which takes two years to ripen an acorn crop. As a rule, these trees always show half-formed acorns on their terminal twigs in winter. The white or annual-fruited oaks never carry any over; they ripen their fruits and cast them in the autumn. Black oaks have bristly pointed leaves; white oaks have only curved lines on their leaf margins. These facts are well worth remembering. Most people know an oak "just by the looks of it." Ask them which oak it is, and they can't be sure. The bark of the black oak, with its orange lining, is the key to its name. The woodsman knows that this oak leads the country as the source of tan bark. Only the chestnut oak comes near it in percentage of tannin. Beside tannin, there is in the inner bark the yellow dyestuff called quercitron, which, before the discovery of aniline dyes, was largely used in the printing of calicoes. The yellow bark was dried, then ground, and the powdery citron-yellow colouring matter sifted out of it. Besides the yellow tints and shades, it gave, with the addition of salts of iron, various shades of grey, brown and drab. Black oaks would doubtless be planted oftener for shade and ornament but that there are so many other beautiful oaks to choose from. In the wild they are noble ornaments to the natural landscape. For my giant black oak on the hillside I have developed a kind of personal regard that surprises me. It is the result of getting acquainted with the tree at successive seasons of the year. It has taken on individuality. It ought to have a personal name, not merely its tribal cognomen. I have learned to read the answers to my questions. I have acquired, therefore, the rudiments of a new language — for tree language is a code of signs which anybody can learn. It is astonishing how much of inter- esting personal and family history a tree will freely give in one year of friendly intercourse. The Turkey Oak (Quercus Cateshcei, Michx.) grows most abundantly, and reaches 60 feet in height, in the high lands bordering bays and river mouths, along the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia. It follows the Gulf coast to Louisiana, but is rare west of Florida. It is an important fuel in the regions it inhabits, but is little known to lumbermen. Generally a small tree, 20 to 35 feet high, it may be distinguished from the 217 The Oaks Spanish oak by the greater size and breadth of its leaves, and by the teeth that generally adorn the tapering, triangular lobes. The leaves are thick and stiff; those of Spanish oak are thin and flexible. The Spanish Oak {Quercus digitaia, Sudw.), of the Southern States, is a distinguished-looking tree, with tall trunk and broad, open head covered with downy-lined leaves of peculiar forms. The lobes are elongated, often curved, sickle-like, rarely toothed, and separated by deep, wide sinuses. From this extreme they often vary widely, showing broadly obovate blades, often with no lobes at all. The leaves droop from the twigs, giving the tree an unique expression. It is a pity that this tree is not hardy north of lower New Jersey and Missouri. It is one of the handsomest of shade trees. The old plantations of the South are likely to show a few aged Spanish oaks. There are two forms of the tree. Beside the upland type, a white-barked one abounds in swampy land. This tree has leaves very deeply cut, which turn a splendid yellow in autumn. Lumbermen count its wood nearly equal to white oak. The upland form yields far less durable timber. The range of the Spanish oak is from New Jersey to Florida and west to Missouri and Texas. It is most common in the South Atlantic and Gulf States, on the hills back from the coast. The Bear, or Scrub Oak (Q. nana, Sarg.), is a shrubby tree that creeps in thickets over rocky barren ledges from Maine to Virginia and Kentucky. Its downy-lined leaves vary greatly in their size and lobing. They are obovate, with the three largest lobes at apex, and tapering to the base, with at least one pair of lesser lobes below the broad middle sinuses. There is a resem- blance between these and the leaves of the post oak, although the sharp, holly-like spines that tip each lobe and the two sizes of acorns each tree shows in summer prove this species to belong in the black-oak class. The little acorns, which are bitter and set in shallow saucers, are abundantly produced, and bears fatten on them. The species is often effectively planted to adorn rocky areas in parks. The Black Jack, or Barren Oak {Q. Marilandica, Muench.), is a black-trunked, contorted, spreading shrub, or a tree reaching the height of 50 feet. Its leaves are leathery, with brown fuzzy linings, and the upper surfaces are set with rough, stellate hairs. 218 ^3 J2 .»r-x'^:^^-**v .•\;&-^.. .■ ^.^^«^.^*■■..■ 1> TJ T c r- eg u ^ c o en r> l-i vJ C3 3 « -Q ^ C! ^ I • X CO o 2 (J ^ c J3 The Oaks The leaf broadens to its apex and ends in three indistinct lobes of variable size and form, whose ribs protrude into the bristly points that characterise the black oak group. The obovate or pear-shaped outline is constant, however the lobing may vary. The function of this ragged little tree is to clothe sterile ground from New York to Nebraska, and south to Florida and Texas. What it lacks in beauty it makes up for in a certain admirable ruggedness of character. The leaves are not as other oak leaves, and the tree's habit is as handsome as one could expect considering the worthless ground assigned it by Nature. The Water Oak {Quercus nigra, Linn.) is a good-sized tree, with a leaf of somewhat similar outline, but thinner texture than those of the black jack. It is a favourite shade tree in the Southern States. It grows naturally along the borders of streams and swamps, but is easily transplanted, grows rapidly and thrives in cultivation. Its shining leaves, blue-green above, paler below, vary from entire margins to lobing as deep as the average red oak shows. The acorn is a squat little nut in a shallow cup, set with fine scales. Willow Oak (Quercus Phellos, Linn.) — A graceful, quick- growing tree, 60 to 80 feet high, with slender branches that form a conical, round-topped head. Bark rather rough, reddish brown, with scaly surface; young trees, smooth. JVood pale, red-brown, coarse grained, strong, soft, heavy; sap wood lighter in colour. Buds small, acute, brown. Leaves alternate, leathery, short petioled, 2 to 5 inches long, linear like willow leaves, but obtuse at apex and base; upper surface bright green and glossy; lower pale green, dull, smooth; autumn colour yellow. Acorns biennial, not numerous, solitary or paired on short stalks; nut J inch across, hemispherical, downy, yellowish brown, set in shallow saucer- shaped cup; scales thin, ovate, dark reddish brown, hairy; kernel orange, bitter. Preferred habitat, low, wet borders of swamps. Distribution, New York to northeastern Florida (in the low maritime region just back from the coast); along the Gulf into Texas; north in low ground into Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. Uses: A fine shade and ornamental tree for Southern cities. Wood used in construction. We think of oaks as being sturdy and rugged in their ex- pression, leaving grace and delicacy to willows and birches, and such. Here is an oak whose leaves are willow-like in form, size 219 The Oaks and texture; and they hang on supple, pendant branches, Hke a willow's. The dainty acorns in their saucers are often needed to convince observers that the tree is truly an oak. But only the young trees are willowy in habit. The oak characters soon assert themselves. Naturally, willow oaks grow on the margins of swamps, but they thrive as a street and shade tree, and are especially beautiful in the autumnal yellow of their foliage. A large tree grows in John Bartram's garden in Philadelphia; a small one seems to be holding its own without protection in the Arnold Arboretum at Boston, though its shoots are often nipped by frost. The Shingle Oak, or Laurel Oak (Q. imhricaria, Michx.) — A tree 60 to 100 feet high, pyramidal, becoming round headed at length; branches slender. Bark pale brown, scaly; twigs smooth. IVood reddish brown, heavy, hard, coarse grained. Buds small, acute, brownish. Leaves deciduous, alternate, oblong, usually entire, 4 to 6 inches long, i to 2 inches wide, shining, dark green above, paler and pubescent beneath; petioles short. Flowers in May, with opening leaves, tomentose, greenish. Acorns biennial, i to § inch long, stalked, solitary or paired; nut broad, short, pointed; cup shallow, scaly, reddish; kernel bitter. Preferred habitat, rich bottom lands. Distribution, Pennsyl- vania to Georgia; west to Nebraska and Arkansas. Uses: Lumber for clapboards and shingles. A hardy and beautiful park tree. The pyramidal shape of the young shingle oak and the hori- zontal and drooping postures of its slender branches remind us strongly of the pin oak. The "pins," however, are missing, as we will observe when the tree is bare; and the foliage in summer quickly corrects any Talse impressions. Even from a distance the foliage masses of the two trees differ distinctly. The clefts and angles that make so large a part of pin-oak leaves are all missing in those of the shingle oak. Willow or peach leaves are more like these plain-margined ones. The wayfaring man will never imagine this tree to be an oak until he sees the acorns. The shingle oak grows quickly, as the long, leafy shoots in early summer prove. The star-shaped arrangement of the leaves on the short branches is most interesting, and there is a wavy curl in the margins, as if they would each turn aside to let the sunlight in to the branches less favourably situated. So little interference 220 < o w O a a 00 o u CO i-i 4> ^ o « U J3 H ex, T (A 2 br C« ,— t 4; a JD J3 4J J= 0 •S c « Q^ 2 8 « « 4-> r»> O THE SHINGLE OAK {Quercus imbricaria) he glossy, elliptical leaves are unlike the typical oak leaf. The plump little acorns leave no doubt as to the family name of the tree. Half-grown acorns appear above the mature ones The Oaks is there that the tree is leafy to its central shaft, but the head is still open. The shingle oak has a fashion of crossing with related species, and thus producing hybrids from seed. The black oak and this one are believed to be the parents of a rather widely distributed form, now called Quercus Leana. Crosses with the pin oak and the jack oak also occur. The summer beauty of this tree is quite sufficient to commend it to all planters. It is covered in spring with pink and silver, the leaves before they expand are curled in tight little tubes. In sum- mer they are leathery and shining. In autumn they change to rich reds, and the veins and midrib are touched with a more fiery hue. Truly, there is no season when the shingle oak is not hand- some in any congregation of trees. Another Laurel Oak {Quercus laurijolia, Michx.), with leathery leaves like laurel, grows to large size in swamp borders, and along streams in the coast regions, from Virginia to Louisiana. It is the common "water oak" of streets and yards, adorning them with its graceful columnar trunks and lustrous dark green, almost evergreen, foliage. Only the live oak, its near associate, exceeds it in beauty. It is commonest in eastern Florida, and here it reaches its greatest height. Unfortunately, it is not hardy in the North. THE HISTORY OF OAKS The oak was held sacred by the Greeks, Romans, Teutons and Celts. They venerated the living tree for its fruit which fed them, and for its lumber which housed them and served as their defence against their enemies. " Hearts of oak" were built into the Norsemen's ships that storms could not wrench apart. The triremes of the great navies of Greece and Rome were of oak tim- ber. So were their great bridges, aqueducts and buildings — triumphs of architectural art and engineering skill. The very columns, with their flaring bases and capitals, were modelled from the trunks of oaks. The curves of the branches suggested their arches, and the leaves and acorns gave them designs for ornamentation. The Druids held their most solemn rites under the sacred shade of their oak groves. The mistletoe was gathered on the ^21 The Oaks coming in of the new year, and only a hook of gold was fit for this ceremony. Their Yule log was an oak tree cut down, drawn home and offered on the rude hearth as a sacrifice to Yaioul, the Celtic god of fire, in the feast of midwinter. It was through his favour that winter's icy grasp loosened, and the days began to lengthen. Sleeping under the shade of an oak was counted a sovereign cure for paralytics. The benefits of such treatment must have depended upon* the weather, for oaks in thunderstorms seem very prone to "draw the stroke." Shakespeare's famous apostrophe in "Measure for Measure" seconds the popular belief in his time; the opinion prevails among woodsmen to-day: "Merciful heaven! Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt Split'st the unwedgeable and gnarled oak Than the soft myrtle." There is a whole thunderstorm crowded into these lines. Durability is a prime merit in oak timber. The oldest houses in England show their oak beams and panelling as sound to-day as ever. Shrines of the early kings carved in oak have not yet begun to show signs of age. "Antique oak " is imitated by staining to very dark colour the stock used in furniture manufactories. Genuine "antique oak" is a priceless treasure. Bog Oak. — This oak, a favourite wood in the decorative arts, is obtained from trunks which have lain and blackened in the peat bogs of Ireland and England for untold centuries. These logs, exhumed, seasoned, and sawed into lumber, bring extrava- gant prices. Wholesale inundation of forests, due possibly to earthquakes, produced some of this bog oak. Tradition has it that, in 55 B. C, Caesar's army, wintering in the land of the Britons, was set to cutting down the forests and dragging the logs into boggy districts. This was to keep the army under strict discipline, and to spite the unfriendly Britons. The camps and bridges the Romans built consumed many of the sacred oak groves, and the surplus, maliciously buried in the swamps, has been discovered and dug up centuries later. This wood is described by Evelyn as taking on a colour and hardness "emulating the politest ebony." Structure of Oak ^A^ood — Oak wood shows distinct annual rings, each made of a band of close grained, pale summer wood, and dark, open, porous layer of spring wood. Broad, shining bands of 222 The Oaks fibres extend in vertical plates from centre to bark in the tree. When the wood is properly sawed these shining medullary, or pith rays, show as irregular patches on the surface. Much of the beauty of polished oak depends upon these "mirrors," which are the largest when the wood is ''quarter sawed" — that is, when sawed toward the centre of the log. Gnarled roots and tortuous branches of old oak trees furnish wood of curly grain which is highly prized for veneering. Uses of Acorns. — Acorns vary in sweetness and edibility. They all contain food elements, and primitive peoples have used them as food. The Californian white oak (Quercus lohata) has a sweet acorn which the Indians bake, shell, and then grind into a coarse meal out of which bread is made. The New England Indian tribes ate the acorns of white oaks of various species, as did the tribes farther south. The Japanese and Chinese have species with edible acorns. In Europe the acorn crop is watched with great solicitude. The ancients believed that ". . . men fed with oaken mast The aged trees themselves in years surpassed." Quercus esculus was especially esteemed for food. The mast was also depended upon for the fattening of swine. English villagers still enjoy in many places the ancient "right of pannage," the privilege, granted them by some early king, of turning their hogs in autumn into the royal forests. The acorn cups of Quercus Valonia are exceptionally rich in tannin, and are sifted out from the nuts and sold under the trade name, Valonia, to the best tanneries in Europe. Oak bark is a staple tan bark the world over. The black and chestnut oaks in this country and the English oak in Europe are richest in tannin. Spent bark from the pits holds heat. It was formerly used in private greenhouses under the soil to force exotic fruits, especially pineapples, in England. It is now spread on race tracks, roadways, paths and sidewalks. Insect Enemies. — Numerous insects and fungi prey upon oaks. Great caterpillars of our most beautiful night-flying moths devour the young foliage. Weevils infest the acorns, gall insects distort the leaves and twigs, scale insects suck the juices from the young branches. Certain of these enemies of the oaks have been turned to good account by man. The scale, Kermes, is a soft- 223 The Oaks bodied creature, diminutive in size, but infinite in numbers. Its eggs are gathered and dried, much as the cochineal insects are, and a valuable scarlet dye is made of them. This industry belongs to the countries of southern Europe and northern Africa, where the Kermes is used for dyeing leather and wool. In France cosmetics are tinted with it. Oak Galls. — "Oak apples" are abnormal growths on the leaves or twigs of oaks due to the presence of the larvae of certain insects whose eating seems to poison the tissues and distort their development. An entomologist knows by the form of the gall what insect produces it. In ancient times people knew little of their causes — the "apples of Sodom" and "Dead Sea fruit" of history, sacred and profane, were galls of oaks. The "flea seed" of California oaks contain the young of a species of the genus Cynips. A glance into almost any oak tree just as the buds are opening will show delicate, wasp-like insects resting lightly for a moment on one leaf cluster after another, depositing eggs, one in a place, within the leaf substance. The beginnings of oak apples may be found as large as peas on leaves scarcely an inch long. John Gerard, the herbalist, writing in 1 597, naively expresses the misconceptions and superstitious beliefs of his day in England. "The gall tree," he explains at the outset, "is a kinde of oke." Then proceeding: "The oke apples being broken in sunder about the time of their withering doe foreshew the sequell of the yeare, as the expert Kentish husbandmen have observed, by the living things found in them: as, if they fmde an ant, they foretell plenty of graine to ensue; if a white worm like a gentill or maggot, then they prognosticate murren of beasts and cattell; if a spider, then (say they) we shall have a pestilence or some such like sickness to follow amongst men; these things the learned also have observed, and noted that before they have an hole through them they contain in them either a flie, a spider, or a worme; if a flie, then warre ensueth; if a creeping worme, then scarcities of victuals; if a running spider, then foUoweth great sicknesse or mortalitie." Oak galls are rich in tannin, sometimes yielding as high as 77 per cent. They have always been used in various countries in tanning the fmest skins, and in making inks and dyes. The Aleppo galls from northern Italy rank highest. The oldest docu- ments in America show the ink still bright on the yellowing parch- ment, for it was made of oak galls and is practically permanent. 224 The Oaks Dyes are equally lasting, in distinct contrast to the cheap aniline dyes in use nowadays, and the inks that fade in a year or two. Here is something startling. A writer in England three centuries ago thus recommends these galls to horse jockeys: "A handful or two of small Oak buttons, mingled with Oats given to Horses, which are black of colour, will in a few days eating alter it to a fme Dapple grey." Truffles. — The truffles of commerce, famous in the French cuisine and well known to the gourmands in Rome's palmiest days, are edible fungi, somewhat like puff balls in texture and mode of growth. They grow as parasites upon the roots of various trees, including the Holm oak and the English oak. Limy soil is required by these fungi. They are produced in southern England and on the Continent, reaching their highest perfection in France and Italy. ''The reputation of the truffle of Perigord is as old as the world!" In an impassioned ode to this delicacy, a fam.ous Frenchman uttered this apostrophe: "Noir diamant, perle de la Gascogne, Tous les gourmets venerent ton pays!" Truffles bring astonishing prices in the markets of Europe. This fact alone quite justifies the planting of chalky lands to oaks. Yield of truffles is expected when the trees are a dozen years old, and it continues without abatement for twenty-five years if con- ditions remain favourable. The truffle hunter, often a peasant woman, goes into the woods with a basket, a spading fork, and a dog or a pig, trained to help her. The truffle has a rich, strong odour which these animals detect by their keen sense of smell. The hunter keeps close to the animal, which soon begins a vigorous digging or rooting. It is at once interrupted. The eager quadruped is sorely disappointed, for he is a truffle connoisseur and a gourmand. His duty is to "point" the truffle only; the spading fork carefully unearths the precious tuber and it goes into the basket. Unless carefully tied or penned at night, these ill-used servants fare forth, and help themselves to these subterranean delicacies by the light of the moon. Truffles are doubtless present on roots of beech and oak in our own woods. We have not yet taken time to discover and exploit them. Our epicures are satisfied with the canned and 225 The Oaks imported article. The delectable "beefsteak" fungus, which grows on the trunks of certain of our native oaks, is highly esteemed by those who know it, but most people cautiously despise all "toadstools," great and small. The Cork Oak (Quercus Suher), native to the peninsulas of southern Europe, and to northern Africa, is a small evergreen oak, rarely over 30 feet high and 2 feet in diameter, which grows in forests on broken, unproductive land. The importance of these forests has never waned, because nobody has discovered or in- vented a satisfactory substitute for cork. In France and all other vine-growing countries the importation of cork is a great business. What wonder then that the people in the grape and wine belt of California rejoiced to fmd that the cork oak can be successfully grown on the otherwise unproductive foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is a vast saving to raise their own bottle stoppers instead of importing them from the other side of the globe. What a novel experience it would be to visit at harvest time one of those forests in Spain or Algeria which have for centuries furnished cork to the world ! We should not say the business was carried on in a very economical or economic way, as we Americans count those things. There is not the rush and bustle of the Western World in those sleepy countries. Haste makes waste in growing cork and stripping it. The slowest-growing trees pro- duce the best grade of cork, and they are not at their best till fifty years old. For the next fifty years they yield a thick coat of cork every ten years. Then the quality deteriorates, and the trees are cut down, the bark sent to the tan pit, and the charcoal burner takes the wood. When the age of twenty-five years is reached it is time to strip off from the trunk the "virgin bark," a thin, hard, outer layer, which is rich in tannin, but bears no resemblance to cork. The removal of this layer sets the tree to forming a spongy layer, thick and entirely different from the first. This grows eight or ten years, when it is removed, and a second layer produced. The first is practically useless. The second stripping gives cork used by fishermen to float their nets with. The stripping goes on, each decade showing improvement in the quality of the cork until the fiftieth year brings it to its best state. The stripping of cork is a particular job. Two opposite vertical cuts are made the full length of the trunk; then circular 226 The Oaks cuts at top and bottom are made, and the two rectangular plates of bark, each covering one-half of the whole trunk, are attached to it only by the alburnum, or "mother bark." It is a delicate matter to get the cork oft and yet leave this under layer uninjured. Cork never grows again on spots that are bruised. Very carefully the wedge-shaped handle of the hatchet creeps along the edge of the plate and lifts it gradually off. The skill and patience required to do this must challenge our admiration. The harvest time comes in July or August. The curved plates of cork are scraped smooth, heated and flattened for transportation. The flowering period of cork oaks is practically continuous in the warmer sections of Portugal. The acorns are annual from the early flowers, but the later ones are carried over, ripening in the second season. There are no less than three distinct crops of acorns, as the farmer folk well know. The fattening of hogs depends largely upon these acorns. There seems to be no distinct line drawn between annual and biennial cork oaks. There is only one tree in the world whose bark ranks commer- cially with the cork oak, and it takes second place. It is the Cinchona, or Peruvian-bark tree, which is the source of quinine and related drugs. Exotic Oaks in American Gardens. — The English oak (Quercus Robur) is the only oak native to the British Isles. It is the patriarch of the forest, noblest in any company of trees, fostered in its youth, cherished and revered in its old age, depended upon in its prime for its valuable products. The Briton to-day is as fervent a tree worshipper as his Druid ancestors v/ere, but his love for the oak is stripped of superstition and tempered by intelligence. He is a practical man, and while he cherishes the gnarled oaks that adorn his private grounds and public parks, he has his oak forests for timber as his grain fields for bread. Sense and sentiment are both strong in him, but there is a proper balance between them. The English oak is by no means confined to England. It is found all over Europe, where in earlier times it formed extensive forests. It is known in two forms, sessili flora and pedunculate, varieties dependent upon the absence or presence of stalks of flower and fruit. With age these trees increase in breadth, more than in height, grow stout in trunk and limb, and the branches become extravagantly gnarled and twisted. The 227 The Oaks prevailing belief as to the age of these oaks is expressed in Dryden's lines: "Three centuries he grows, and three he stays Supreme in state; and in three more decays/' There are trees still hale in England to-day which were old enough to cut for their lumber when William the Conqueror landed in 1066. Scientists estimate the limit of longevity among oaks at about 2,000 years. The British oak grows indifferently in the United States except in California. Here it finds conditions most favourable and grows with great rapidity and vigour. Acorns planted in 1878 were grown into large trees in 1890 — to the amazement of everybody. The Holm Oak (Quercus Ilex), which skirts the Mediter- ranean coast of Europe, and seems to thrive best, even in England, when exposed to sea breezes, is the Ilex, famous in classical literature. Its evergreen leaves resemble those of the holly, whose generic name is Ilex. This is one of the most ornamental of the oaks, compact and regular in form, and beautiful in its glossy foliage the year round. Its acorns form one of the im- portant edible sorts in Europe. The value of its mast alone would justify the planting of the Holm oak. It is also one of the truffle oaks, and its bark and the galls of one of its varieties are of the highest value in dyeing and tanning. Turkey Oak (Quercus cerris), of Europe, is planted in our Southern States. It has somewhat the form and symmetry of the beech in its lusty youth. Its foliage is dark, with greyish linings; the acorn \\ inches long, with a large mossy cup that half- way swallows it. This is the "wainscot oak" of English builders. Japanese and Chinese oaks feel at home in the Eastern States of America, and are now coming in, to the enrichment of our horticulture and the delight of landscape gardeners. The crispness and vigour of the foliage make these trees strikingly handsome. Quercus variabilis has leathery, dark green chestnut- like leaves, with white woolly linings. Quercus dentata, with toothed margins, in one variety cut into narrow fingers almost to the midrib, is notable for the size of its leathery, lustrous leaves. They are often a foot in length. Another Japanese favourite is Quercus glandulifera, a half-evergreen shrub, whose chestnut-like leaves are set with glandular teeth. This is half hardy when planted in New England. 228 & £2 o o qa o u (A m U ^"^ 12 to ' Ui 'a- a o r* •: c a •- 2 " I I- bO r} I > K < O w o t— ( W W H c ^ 13 ■" "-• rt I- ^ (^ ja (LI t-" •£ ^ "5.'" o c a o •" O « O THE LANCASTER ELM {Ulmus Americana) This noble specimen of our common white elm grows in a field near Lancaster, Massachusetts. The objects around it em- phasize its great size. It shows what a roadside tree may become if it is let alone and given time and elbow room. It is the pride of the state it grows in. May the insects spare it long! CHAPTER XXVIII: THE ELMS AND THE HACKBERRIES Family Ulmace/e 1. Genus ULMUS, Linn. Trees of horticultural and lumber value. Leaves alternate serrate, unequal at base, with strong ribs and short petioles Flowers greenish, inconspicuous, perfect. Fruit a dry nutlet with thin encircling wing, bearing two hooks at apex. KEY TO SPECIES A. Blooming before the leaves in spring. B. Twigs smooth. C. Branches corky winged. {U. alatd) wAHoo or winged elm CC. Branches not corky winged. {U. Americana) American or water elm BB. Twigs pubescent. C. Branches corky. {U. Thomasi) cork elm CC. Branches not corky; leaves rough above; twigs and buds with coarse, rusty hairs. {U. fulva) SLIPPERY ELM AA. Blooming late in summer or autumn. B. Leaves over 2 inches long, thin. (U. serotina) red elm BB. Leaves i to 2 inches long, thick. {U. crassijolia) cedar elm 2. Genus CELTIS, Linn. Valuable shade trees. Leaves simple, 3-nerved, serrate. Flowers polygamo-monoecious, axillary, small. Fruit sweet, succulent berry. A. Leaves coarsely and sharply serrate; fruit large. (C. occidentalis) hackberry AA. Leaves entire or obscurely serrate; fruit small. (C. Mississippiensis) sugarberrv 229 The Elms and the Hackberries 3. Genus PLANERA, Gmel. Water-loving trees of small size. Leaves elm-like, smalL unsymmetrical. Flowers polygamo-monoecious, axillary, small. Fruit a dry drupe in crustaceous husk. (P. aquatica) planer tree I. Genus Ulmus, Linn. The genus Ulmus has sixteen known species, distributed in all north temperate countries except western North America. Five .species are native to our Eastern States and one to the Southwest; Europe has three, two of which extend to eastern Asia and northern Africa. Southern and central Asia have representatives. Elms are valuable timber trees, and have always been planted for shade and ornament. Many varieties have arisen in cultivation among the European species. So far the American species have shown few horticultural forms. The elms are distinguished by their simple, unsymmetrical, 2-ranked leaves, and their thin, circular, winged samaras. Their wood is tough, heavy and hard, with interlacing fibres which make it difficult to split. White Elm, American Elm (Ulmus Americana, Linn.) — A tall, graceful, wide-spreading tree, 75 to 125 feet high, usually of symmetrical, vase shape, with slender limbs and pendulous twigs. Bark dark or light grey, rough, coarsely ridged; branches grey; twigs reddish brown. Wood reddish brown, with pale sap wood; coarse, hard, heavy, strong, cross grained, difficult to split, durable in water and soil. Buds acute, flattened, smooth; flower buds lateral, large. Leaves alternate, 2 to 6 inches long, obovate, doubly serrate, acuminate, unequal at base; smooth above when mature; ribs parallel. Flowers, March, before leaves, on slender, drooping pedicels in umbel-like clusters, perfect, greenish red, inconspicuous. Fruit, May, smooth, oval with thin ciliated circular wing, notched above to the nutlet. Preferred habitat, rich, moist soil. Distribution, Newfoundland to Florida; west to Rocky Mountains. Uses: Favourite shade and orna- mental tree. Wood used for hubs, saddle trees, barrels and kegs, flooring, in boat and shipbuilding, flumes and piles. Indians used bark for canoes and ropes. Up and down New England the trolley cars ply in a maze 230 The Elms and the Hackberries of systems that becomes more complex every year. Buzzing like msistent and inquisitive bumblebees, they awaken the sleepiest hamlet, haling its inhabitants to the cities and unloading weary, city-bound mortals in the green country. They stir the torpid, stagnant pool of existence; they wake the old nomadic cravings of the primitive race. The most indignant farmer or villager, once he gets thoroughly awake, ceases to grumble; for his feet of clay the trolley gives him the wings of a bird. I am not an idolater, I hope, and 1 would chiefly scorn to worship the almighty dollar. But the vast extent of picturesque country one can see for this sum by trolley in New England fills me with a surprise akin to awe. The striking ornament of New England landscapes is the American elm. The countryside abounds with splendid speci- mens. They are the pride of cities and villages. Down fine old avenues arched over with their mighty arms the trolley cars take their noisy way. The Westerner stands astonished at the giant size of these trees, and wonders why he cannot match them at home. It is largely a matter of time. In the early days our ancestors took up the trees from the woods and planted them by their roadsides and about their dwellings. Memories of elm.s at homes — the beautiful Ulmus campestris in England and on the Continent — guided their choice. Trees twenty years old were transplanted with safety, for this elm has fibrous roots that keep near the surface of the ground. Then the busy home-makers let the trees alone. They had no time to prune and cultivate. The trees needed no such attention. The roots ranged freely in the virgin soil. The spreading tops were self-pruning — the strong limbs choked the weak ones, keeping an open, symmetrical head. Every year added to the tree's stature. It is a race of giants now, against whom insect hosts have come — the tussock moths, the elm-leaf beetle and the brown tail. No wonder the people have made the fight their own. The elm is familiar to everybody — its vase-like form is in sight whenever we look out of a window. It grows everywhere east of the Rocky Mountains, and ignorance of it is a mark of indifi'erence or stupidity. No village of any pride but plants it freely as a street tree. The Etruscan vase form — a base gradually flaring to a round dome — is most common. The trunk soon divides into 231 The Elms and the Hackberries three or four main limbs with slight but constant divergence as they rise. Their branches follow their example. The divisions are drawn downward by their increasing weight, and the extremi- ties are pendulous, sweeping out and down with loads of foliage, luxuriant, but never heavy looking or ungraceful. There are narrower elm forms: tall trunks whose limbs form a brush at the top, not unlike a feather duster. Such trees often replace lost outer limbs by a multitude of short leafy twigs, covering the trunks with foliage, thus forming what are known as "feathered elms." The "oak-tree form" — wider and broader than the vase form — reminds one of the ample crown of an oak. But only the outline is suggestive. The limbs are curved, never angular and tortuous like the oak. Grace rather than strength is invariably the expression of the American elm. In good soil the terminal shoots attain great length, and it is not unusual to see an elm of vase shape with the droop of a weeping willow. The leaves of the elm are two-ranked, the twigs plume-like. Every chink is filled with a leaf. Break off a branch that faces the sun, and you will be astonished at the twisting and contriving of the leaves, to present an unbroken surface of green. This is known as a 'Teaf mosaic," and is by no means confined to elms. Any roadside thicket shows the same habit in all its species. I think, with all due regard for its summer luxuriance, and the grace of its framework in winter, the greatest charm invests the elm of the roadside in the first warm days of spring. The swelling buds are full of promise. A flush of purple overspreads the tree, while snow yet covers the ground. A tremendous "fall of leaves" ensues — for the tiny leaf scales that enclose the elm flowers are but leaves in miniature. The elms are in blossom; they are among the first in the flower procession that silently passes till the witch hazel brings up the rear in October. Then come the little green seeds, winged for flight. These ripen and are scattered before the leaves are open, and the growth of the season's shoots really begins. How much they miss who never see the elms in flower and fruit! The English elm {U. campestris) is a strikingly different tree from its American cousin. Boston Common gives ample opportunity to contrast large specimens of the two species. Dignity is a characteristic of each. Each bears a luxuriant 232 H o c 5 S s < u o is "13 « « O u — ' V c *^ c: 5f £ -c3 a o B -3 J3 H ^*»^«<^^a<^^:. Winter buds B. Fruit A. Flowers not fully open THE AMERICAN ELM {Ulmus Americana) The leaf is unsymmetrical at the base, and has strong parallel ribs. The winter twigs show plump, blunt flower buds, larger than the slim, pointed leaf buds. In March the flowers appear, giving the bare tree top a warm, purplish colour. The pale- green seeds dangle in profuse clusters in May, falling before the leaves are full grown. Each seed has a circular wmg with two incurving hooks at the top. Elm lumber is hard, tough, heavy and cross-grained. The bark is grey and divided by deep furrows into scaly ridges The Elms and the Hackberries burden of leaves. The Briton is stocky; the American, airily graceful. One stands heavily ''upon its heels," the other on tiptoe. One has a compact crown, the other an open, loose one. In October the English elm is still bright, dark green; the Amer- ican elm has passed into the sere and yellow leaf. The elm is the favourite tree of the hang bird, or Baltimore oriole, in America. In winter the deserted nests swing from the high outer limbs, where the leaves concealed them in nesting time. The English elm at home is the red-breast's tree. These birds build, not in the upper limbs, but in those that grow down near the trunk, and come earliest into leaf. Classical literature proves the antiquity and the great im- portance of the elms of southern Europe. The Romans used elm leaves as forage for cattle. In the vineyards elms were planted to support the vines. The trees were well pruned so they should not overshadow the grapes. It was counted danger- ous to give bees freedom to visit blooming elms, lest they become surfeited, and sicken as a result. In this opinion the early observers were evidently mistaken. Virgil discourses upon the successful grafting of oak upon elm, and describes swine eating acorns that dropped from the fruiting branches of this wonderful tree. Experiment long ago proved the fallacy of this report. In England the rustic still watches the elm for signal to sow his grain, relying on the old saw: "When the elme leaf is as big as a mouse's ear. Then to sow barley never fear/' The witch hazel (Hamamelis Virginiana) does not grow in England, but the wych elm was known in some regions by this name, because its leaf is hazel-like. Long bows were anciently made of its wood, and it was mentioned in the "Statutes of England." Slippery Elm, Red Elm {U. julva, Michx.) — Fast-growing tree, 60 to 70 feet high, with erect, spreading branches, forming a broad, open head. Twigs stout, rusty, downy. Bark brown- ish, rough, scaly. Wood strong, hard, heavy, coarse, reddish brown, durable in soil. Buds densely rusty, pubescent; large, blunt. Leaves alternate, deciduous, 2-ranked, brcmdly oval, 4 to 7 inches long, irregularly heart shaped at base, acuminate at apex, doubly serrate, strongly ribbed; on short, stout petiole; 233 The Elms and the Hackberries surface rough both ways, stiff, harsh. Flowers, April, before leaves, fascicled, numerous, Fruits, May, rounded, hairy, only on seed, wing not ciliate, margined. Preferred habitat, fertile soil along streams. Distribution, lower St. Lawrence River, through Ontario to Dakota and Nebraska; south to Florida; west to Texas. Uses: Wood used as fence posts and railroad ties; for wheel hubs, sills and agricultural implements. Mucila- ginous inner bark used to allay fever and inflammation. The slippery elm disregards the laws of symmetry. Each limb strikes out for itself. It is not unusual to find a tree quite one sided in form. Shoots 6 feet in length are often seen as the growth of a single season, where a broken lim.b gives an ambitious bud a chance. The roughness of its foliage to the touch is one of the striking characteristics of this tree. The leaves are covered with harsh, tubercular hairs, and the crumbling of a leaf grates most unpleasantly on the ear. Then, there is a tawny pubescence on young shoots, and especially on the bud scales of this elm. In winter this is the best distinguishing mark of the red elm. The large flower buds are below the pointed leaf buds on the youngest shoots. The bark is brownish grey, and rough alike on trunk and branches. Everything, in fact, about the slippery elm seems coarser than in its relatives. The leaves are often 8 to lo inches long on vigorous shoots. Under the bark is a mucilaginous, sweet substance that gives this elm its common name. What man lives who in the heydey of youth has not had the spring craze for slippery-elm bark, as surely as he had the chicken pox and the measles! The trees in every fence row show the wounds of many a jack-knife, for in the spring its cambium waxes thick and sweet and fragrant — to growing boys, a delectable substance that allayed both hunger and thirst. Fortunate for the longevity of the individual trees, the bark of the limbs is most easily stripped ofi", so many a veteran supplies boys to-day, which served as well a former generation. The bark, dried and ground, mixed with milk, forms a valuable food for invalids. Poultices are made of it to relieve throat and chest troubles. It is also useful in allaying fevers and acute inflammatory disorders. This bark, first used as a home remedy, has now an established place on the apothecary's shelf, and is used by physicians of both schools. The problem of the supply 234 THE SLIPPERY ELM (Ulmus fulva) Note the bud at the tip of the upper twig. Its scales are coated with tawny hairs. The obovate or circular samaras arf ripe in May. They are hairy only on the seed body; the wing is smooth. The belated buds produce leafy shoots. The leaves are large and very harsh when crumpled or stroked with the finger. They have the characteristic shape, straight ribs and saw« toothed margin of all elms. The bark is reddish brown and cleft into narrow, loose flakes by shallow fissures -a o u o u o H 3 c ^ 3 . h! « u O The Elms and the Hackberries is a serious one. The tree grows fast and vigorously if only the boys give it a chance. The trees are becoming scarcer each year. The Rock or Cork Elm {Ulmus Thomasi, Sarg.) has shaggy stout limbs like a bur oak's, and a rugged, stiff expression quite unusual in an elm. A look at the foliage is reassuring, for elm leaves vary but slightly in the different species. In spring the type of inflorescence is the best botanical character to depend upon. The cork elm was discovered in the woods of western New York by David Thomas, who noted its corky bark and habit of bearing its flowers and fruit in racemes. He named the species Ulmus racemosa, as was most reasonable. It was discovered later that this name had previously been applied to a European corky elm; whereupon the name of its discoverer was substituted. "Rock elm" and "hickory elm" refer to the hardness of its wood. It has in greater degree the good qualities of white elm lumber, and is counted the best of all elms by the wheelwright. Compact, with interlacing fibres, there is spring, strength and toughness in this wood which adapts it for bridge timbers, heavy agricultural implements, wheel stocks, sills, railroad ties and axe handles. The best trees, 60 to 90 feet high, with trunks 2 to 3 feet through, grow in dry soil in lower Ontario and Michigan. The species occurs also in scattered localities west to Nebraska and Tennessee, and east as far as Vermont. The Winged Elm, or Wahoo (U. alata, Michx.), is not an important timber tree, though its wood is used in the localities where it grows. Its leaves and the two thin, corky blades that arise on the branches are dainty, as befits the smallest of the elm trees. There is none of the ruggedness of the cork elm in the appearance of this pretty, round-headed tree. It rarely grows over 40 feet high, and is distributed from Virginia to Florida, and west to Illinois and Texas. Its small, winged samaras are each prolonged into two prominent incurving hooks at the apex. They hang in pendulous racemes. The tree is occasionally planted for shade in Southern cities, but it is not hardy in the North. "Wahoo" seems to be a term rather indiscriminately applied to elm trees in sections of the South. "Mountain elm" and "small-leaved elm" are significant popular names. Two elms have leathery, almost evergreen leaves, and 235 The Elms and the Hackberries bloom very late in the summer. One, found in Georgia and Tennessee, was confused with U. Thomasi until its flowers were found opening in the axils of the season's leaves in the month oi September! Ihis discovery set it apart as a separate species, and it was named from its red-brown wood, the Red Elm {U, scrottna), by Professor Sargent. The specific name means late. The Cedar Elm (L^. crassijolia, Nutt.), of Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi, blooms in August. Occasionally this tree reaches a height of 80 feet, with broad, spreading limbs and slender, pendulous branches. It is a beautiful, graceful tree; its tiny leaves, close set on the winged twigs, form a dense head of lustrous foliage. Occasionally a second crop of flowers appears in October. There seems to be no better reason for its common name than that it grows with cedars on the dry limestone hills of Texas. It is the common elm tree of that great state, and is sometimes planted as a shade tree. Its lumber is used for fencing and for wheel hubs, the better qualities being cut in the moist lowlands. In dryer situations it is scarcely worth cutting even for fuel. 2. Genus CELTIS, Linn. The hackberries include fifty or sixty tropical and temperate zone species. Two are trees in North America, but future inves- tigations may still further divide the group. They are trees of considerable value for shade and ornamental planting. Beside the two natives, three exotic species are in cultivation in the south, and a hardy Japanese species farther north. Of the former, one is from South Africa, one from the Mediterranean basin, and the third from China and Japan. Hackberry, Nettle Tree, Sugar Berry (Celtis occidentalis, Linn.) — Tree, 50 to 125 feet, with slender trunk and round head, of very slender, bushy twigs and pendulous branches. Bark light brown or pale grey, broken into thick warts or scales by deep fur- rows; branches often corrugated and warty. Wood light yellow, heavy, soft, coarse, weak. Buds axillary, never terminal; acute, ovate, small. Leaves simple, alternate, ovate, 2h to 4 inches long, often fulcate, oblique at base, serrate above widest part, entire below it; thin, deep green, with downy lining; 3-nerved, fi'om slim petiole; autumn colour yellow. Flowers, May, monoecious, 236 The Elms and the Hackberries or mixed, greenish, axillary staminate, clustered at base of sea- son's shoot; pistillate solitary, in axils of leaves, green, with spreading, 2-horned stigma. Fruits, September, oblong, thin, fleshed berry, J to -J inch long, purple, sweet; hangs all winter. Preferred habitat, moist soil along streams or marshes. Distribu- tion, Southern Canada west to Puget Sound; south to Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, Texas and New Mexico. Uses: Planted for shade and ornament. Wood used for cheap furniture and fencing. It is easy to mistake the hackberry for an elm. The habit of the two trees leads the casual observer astray. It takes a second look to note the fmer spray of the hackberry twigs, its more horizontal, less drooping branches. The warty bark is characteristic. The little axillary sugar berries are very different from elm samaras. There are few months in the year when fruits are not to be found, green or ripe, on the tree. They are the delight of birds throughout hard winters. A peculiarity of the foliage is the apparent division of the petiole into three ribs instead of a single midrib. Otherwise the leaf is elm-like, though smaller and brighter green than that of the American elm. The hackberry is not familiarly known by people in the regions where it grows. Else it would be transplanted more com- monly to adorn private premises and to shade village streets. There is no danger in digging up well-grown trees, for the roots are fibrous and shallow, and carry an abundance of soil with them. The beauty of the hackberry's graceful crown is sometimes marred by a fungus which produces a thick tufting of twigs at the ends of branches. These are called "witches' brooms." Growths of similar appearance are produced by insects on other trees. Celtis Mississippiensis, Bosc, is the warty-barked, round- topped hackberry of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys; a graceful tree, and much like C. occidentalis, but smaller. Its leaves are narrow and entire on the margins. The warts of its bark are very noticeable. The berries are orange red. This tree is quite as worthy of cultivation as its larger relative, and the people of Texas know it. The chief virtue of this species as a shade tree is that its foliage hangs on, with little dimming of its brightness, to the very edge of winter. The European nettle tree (C. Australis) is supposed to have been the famous lotus of classical literature. Homer tells of the 237 The Elms and the Hackberries lotus eaters, who, when they tasted the sweet fruit, straightway forgot their native land, or could not be persuaded to return. This innocent little tree, against which this charge has never been proved, bears a better reputation for the qualities of its wood. It is as hard as box or holly, and looks like satinwood when pol- ished. Figures of saints and other images are carved out of it. Hay forks are made of its supple limbs. Rocky, worthless land is set apart by law for the growing of these trees. A seven-acre tract in the south of France yielded, according to Landon, 60,000 hay forks per annum, worth 15,000! Suckers from the roots, cut while small, make admirable ramrods, coach whip stocks, and walking sticks. Shafts and axle trees of carriages are made of the larger sticks; oars and hoops from these coppiced trees. This tree is widely scattered, from northern Africa through Europe, and on to India, where it is a shade tree and is planted for its leaves, which furnish fodder for cattle. 3. Genus PLANERA, Gmel. Planer Tree, Water Elm (Planera aquatica, Gmel.) — Small tree, 30 to 40 feet high, with short trunk and slender, crooked branches forming a low, round crown. Twigs reddish. Bark thin, scaly, grey; inner layers red. Wood light, soft, fme grained, brown. Buds small, ovoid, scaly. Leaves, February to March; dull green, paler beneath, 2-ranked, elm-like, 2 to 2j inches long, unilateral. Flowers with leaves, monoecious or polygamous, axillary, in fascicles, small. Fruit i -seeded drupe in dry, thin, horny, pericarp; seed shiny, black. Preferred habitat, inundated swamps. Distribution, North Carolina to Florida; west to Missouri and Texas. Rare. This tree is interesting chiefly as a botanical remnant of its family. Several species of this genus once grew in Alaska and in the Rocky Mountains. Closely related forms are preserved in the tertiary rocks in Europe. 238 ^^ A. Pistillate flower B. Staminate flower THE HACKBERRY {Cehis occidentalh) The leaf has three midribs instead of one, and many swollen, reticulated veins. Note the wide-spreading stigmas o* e solitary axillary fertile flowers. The staminate flowers cluster at the base of the twig. The sweet, i-seeded berries ripen tc irk purple in late September and hang all winter, to the delight of the birds. Strange, warty excrescences are on the bark o^ unks and limbs. The second trunk is of the smaller species, Celtis Mississippiensis. The third is var. reticulata of the latter specie; THE RED MULBERRY {Morus rubra) The short trunk sustains a broad crown of ascending limbs with zigzag twigs. The leaves are bluish green and thin. K complex system of nbs and veinlets makfe a prominent network of the leaf linings, and roughen the uppfcr surfaces. The terries are purple and pleasantly sweet CHAPTER XXIX: THE MULBERRIES, THE OSAGE ORANGE AND THE FIGS Family Morace/e Trees of small or medium size, with milky sap. Leaves sim- ple, alternate, deciduous, variable. Flowers minute, in axillary spikes or heads, dioecious or monoecious. Frmt compound, of many small fleshy drupes. KEY TO GENERA AND SPECIES A. Leaves toothed or lobed, with swollen, netted veins; fruit an edible, oblong berry. I. Genus MORUS, Linn. B. Fruit purple; leaves 3 to 5 inches long. (M. rubra) red mulberry BB. Fruit black; leaves i to 2 inches long. (M. celtidijolia) Mexican mulberry AA. Leaves entire; fruit globular. B. Fruit 4 to 5 inches in diameter, inedible. 2. Genus TOXYLON, Raf. (7. pomtjerum) osage orange BB. Fruit size of pea, ovate; tree habit parasitic. 3. Genus FICUS, Linn. C. Leaves thick, yellow-green; fruit short stemmed. (F. aurea) golden fig CC. Leaves thin, dark green, fruit long-stemmed. (F. populnea) poplar-leaf fig The mulberry family comprises 55 genera and 925 species of temperate zone and tropical plants, of which the fig, genus Ficus, includes 600 species. The hemp, important for its fibrous inner bark, and the hop, are well known herbaceous members of the mulberry family. Hemp is a native of Europe and Asia, but has run wild here, and is now in cultivation throughout both tem- perate zones. Hops are used in the brewing of beer, and in the Old World as well as the New are raised as a staple field crop. The plant is native to both hemispheres. 239 The Mulberries, the Osage Orange and the Figs Botanically, the mulberry family lies between the elms and nettles — strange company, but justified by fundamental charac- teristics. Three genera of this family have tree forms in America: Morus, the mulberry; Toxylon, the osage orange; and Ficus, the fig. Two native species of mulberry and three exotic species are generally cultivated for their fruit, their wood, and as ornamental trees. Weeping forms are much planted. I. Genus MORUS, Linn. Red Mulberry (Morus rubra, Linn.) — Large tree, 60 to 70 feet high, with dense, round head, fibrous roots and milky juice. Bark light brown, reddish, dividing into scaly plates; branches reddish; twigs grey, downy. IVood orange yellow, light, coarse grained, soft, weak, very durable in soil. Buds ovate, blunt, small. Leaves alternate, variable in form, 3 to 5 inches long, broad, acuminate, serrate, very veiny, often lobed and palmately veined ; usually rough, blue-green above, pale and pubescent beneath, yellow in early autumn; petioles stout, long. Flowers monoecious or dioecious, variable, in stalked, axillary spikes, staminate flowers with flat, 4-lobed calyx and 4 incurved stamens that spread sud- denly and lie flat on calyx, forming a cross as they mature; pis- tillate flower, a vase-shaped, 4-lobed calyx, with two stigmas protruding. Fruit fleshy calyx lobes, surrounding single seed; whole spike unites to form an aggregate fruit, sweet, juicy, dark purplish red. Preferred habitat, rich well-drained soil. Dis- tribution, western Massachusetts to southern Ontario, Michigan, Nebraska, Kansas; south to Florida and Texas. Uses: Wood used in cooperage and for fencing. A worthy tree for ornament, but rarely planted. The Chinese mulberry (Morus alba), with white fruit, holds a unique economic position, as its leaves are the chosen food of silk- worms. No substitute has ever robbed this tree of its pre-eminence maintained for centuries, in its own field of usefulness. The hardy Russian mulberries are derived from Morus alba. The red mulberry, discovered in Virginia in great abundance, inflamed the minds of early colonists who counted it one of the chief resources of the colony. A tree "apt to feede Silke-worms to make silke" promised truly ''a commoditie not meanely profit- 240 The Mulberries the Osage Orange and the Figs able" in a new colony — made up of gentlemen. A Frenchman, reporting the abundance of these trees, mentions "some so large that one tree contains as many leaves as will feed Silke-wormes that will make as much silk as may be worth five pounds sterling money." But their sanguine hopes were not realised. The red mulberry is no substitute for the white species. Silk culture is still an Old World industry, even though white mulberries grow in this country. Indians discovered that ropes and a coarse cloth could be woven out of the bast fibre of mulberry bark. The berries have some medicinal properties, and are eagerly devoured by hogs and poultry. The chief value of the tree lies in the durability of its wood, which commends it to the boatbuilder, the cooper, and to the man with fences to build. One of the mulberry's chief characteristics is its tenacity to life. Its seeds readily germinate, and cuttings strike quickly, whether from roots or stems. Evelyn's instructions for propa- gating the European mulberry by cuttings are quaint and worth hearing. "They will root infallibly, especially if you twist the old wood a little or at least hack it; though some slit the foot, inserting a stone or grain of an oat to suckle and entertain the plant with moisture." The Mexican Mulberry (M.celtidi folia, H.B.K.), with small, ovate leaves, somewhat like the hackberry's, and small black fruit, is found from western Texas to Arizona, and follows the moun- tains to Peru and Ecuador. It is a small tree whose wood fur- nished the early Indians with bows; and the Mexican often sets it out in his garden, for the inferior fruit is grateful in the hot, dry sections where berries are scarce. The Black Mulberry (M. nigra), native of Persia, is the one cultivated in Europe for its fruit. It is occasionally grown in California and the Southern States, but is not hardy in the North. It has its name from its dark red, fleshy fruit, as well as its sombre foliage. No mulberry is ranked among profitable fruit trees. The berries rarely appear in the markets, though the trees are common in gardens. The fruits are too sweet, and they lack piquancy of flavour. They ripen a few at a time, and may be gathered on sheets by shaking the trees. Planted in hog pastures, the fruit is highly appreciated as it falls. As an attraction for birds the tree 241 The Mulberries, the Osage Orange and the Figs justifies planting in towns, and in country yards and gardens. Some of our most desirable song birds build near mulberry trees which promise summer fruit for their families. When a bird basin is added with promise of water supply for drink and bath, the place will be chosen by many birds. The Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera, Vent.) is one of two or three oriental species of its genus. Its inner bark has long furnished a good grade of paper in its own country, Japan. In the United States it has a southern range, and is an ornamental of considerable popularity owing to the luxuriance of its foliage. But as a street tree it is less planted than formerly, for its habit of throwing up suckers makes it troublesome. It has escaped from cultivation in many places. In sheltered situations it is hardy to the citv of New York. 2. Genus TOXYLON, Raf. Osage Orange {Toxylon pomiferum, Raf.) — Handsome, round-headed tree, 40 to 60 feet high, with short trunk, sharp spines, fleshy roots and milky, bitter sap. Bark dark, scaly deeply furrowed; branches orange brown; twigs pubescent, IVood orange-yellow, hard, heavy, flexible, strong, durable in soil, takes fme polish. Buds sunk deep in twigs, blunt, all lateral; Leaves alternate, simple, 3 to 5 inches long, ovate, entire, taper, pointed, thick, dark green, polished above, paler and dull beneath, yellow in autumn; petioles slim, hairy, grooved; thorns axillary. Flowers dioecious, in June; staminate small, in peduncled racemes, terminal on leafy spur of previous season; greenish; pistillate in globular, many-flowered heads, axillary. Fruit globular, 4 to 5 inches in diameter, green, compound by union of i -seeded drupes, which are filled with milky juice; seed oblong. Preferred habitat, deep, rich soil. Distribution, southern Arkansas, southeastern Indian Territory and southern Texas. Naturalised widely. Uses: Indians used wood for bows and clubs. Now used for posts, piles, telegraph poles, paving blocks, railroad ties; sometimes for interior woodwork of houses. Trees planted in parks and grounds for shade and ornament, also for hedges. Roots and bark yield yellow dye and tannic acid. The Osage orange hedge marked one period in the pioneer's 242 The Mulberries, the Osage Orange and the Figs work of taming the wilds of the Middle West. Farms had to be enclosed. Board fences were too costly, and were continually needing repairs. Fencing with wire was new and ineffectual, for barbed wire had not yet come into use; so hedges were planted far and wide. The nurserymen reaped a harvest, for this tree grows from cuttings of root or branch. All that is needed is to hack a tree to bits and put them into the ground; each fragment takes root and sends up a flourishing shoot. It is a pity that this stock mostly came direct from Arkansas and Texas. A cold winter with little snow killed miles of thrifty hedge, just as it reached the useful stage. Sometimes the roots sent up new shoots, sometimes they didn't, and gaps of varying widths spoiled the appearance and the effectiveness of hedges throughout Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. Then barbed wire was introduced, and wicked as it was, it defended the growing crops from free-ranging cattle as no other fencing had done. In most places the hedges were let alone on farm boundaries. These old hedgerows have become an important source of fence posts. No timber furnishes better ones. A row often produces twenty- five posts to the rod. These bring from lo cents to 20 cents each in local markets, a fact which makes them a very profitable crop. The native Osage orange timber is all exhausted now; and as the old hedgerows are passing, systematically maintained plantations of Osage orange, grown for posts, promise to pay increasingly well. They ought to be largely planted in the tree's natural range. Occasionally a remnant of the first planting is met with as a fine roadside tree, glorious in its lustrous foliage, formidable thorns, and the remarkable green oranges that hang on the fruiting trees. It is a tree well worth planting for both ornament and shade, for it harbours few insects and has withal a unique character. It is a ''foreign-looking" tree. I had a personal experience with the Osage orange. **The leaves are food for silkworms" — so the nurseryman had told us — and we could have silkworms' eggs from Washington for the asking. Now, gingham aprons were the prevailing fashion for little girls on the Iowa prairies — princesses in fairy tales seemed to wear silks and satins with no particular care as to where they came from. Silkworms and Osage orange offered a combination, and suggested possibilities, which set our imaginations on fire. Lettuce leaves sufficed for the young caterpillars — then the little mulberry 243 The Mulberries, the Osage Orange and the Figs bushes, but the lusty white worms so ghastly naked and dreadful to see, and so ravenous, we fed with Osage orange leaves, cut at the risk of much damage from ugly thorns and with much weari- ness. But what were present discomforts compared with the excellency of the hope set before us! Not Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as we expected to be. And the worms — while we loathed them, we counted them, and ministered to their needs. At last our labours ended. They began to spin, and soon the denuded twigs were thickly studded with the yellow cerements of the translated larvae, to the relief and wonder of all concerned. But even as we wondered, the dead twigs blossomed with white moths whose beauty and tremulous motion passed description. We were lifted into a state of exaltation by the spectacle. ''Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad." A hard-hearted but well-informed neighbour told us that the broken cocoons were worthless for silk. "You'd ought to have scalded 'em as soon as they spun up." Clouds and thick darkness shut out the day. We refused to be comforted. This explains why the mere, mention of the Osage orange tree, or the sight of a hedge, however thrifty, brings to my mind a haunting suggestion "of old unhappy far-off things." 3. Genus FICUS, Linn. Figs belong to a genus of 600 species scattered over all tropical countries. The trees have peculiar flowers lining the inside of a fleshy receptacle so that the "fig wasps" that fertilise them have to crawl in through a small opening. Dried figs are an important commercial fruit. These are from varieties of Ficus Carica, an Asiatic species. Smyrna figs are best for drying. They are extensively raised in California, and cured for market. Other varieties, better adapted for use as a fresh fruit, are grown in many Southern States. The figs we buy are mostly from Asia Minor. The dependence of the fig upon the ministrations of the little wasp is one of the most interesting and baffling chapters in the romance of science. The rubber plant, vastly popular in this country as a pot plant, is a Ficus. So is the famous banyan tree of India, and the 244 >-^' THE OSAGE ORANGE {Toxylon pomiferum) This handsome hedge tree has stout thorns and foliage of unusual lustre. The staminate flowers are borne in loose, head-like :emes. The pistillate flowers are in globular heads. Theyappear in June, after the leaves, on separate trees. The green, orange- e fruit is 4 to S inches in diameter, with many seeds and bitter, milky iuice. The wood is very durable in contact with the soil :^ ^ la .^ cj ^ ^*^ «j o .2 JZ *-' «3 p9 o CuC s: c 1j txc o a ^^ c o C- nj 3 < U O a 3 -a ^ o « % :^ c «j < rt M 1^ s <5 U3 4^ -73 (/3 W 3 l; PC 03 rs < u a h:; 3 1^ % H h ed-ofT" ends of the leaves of the tulip tree set it apart from others at any season. Sometimes there are two shallow basal lobes, like those the maples have. Occasionally the apex is concave. Always the surface is shining, and turns to gold with birch and chestnut and hickory in the autumn. The flowers are showy and handsome, with dashes of orange on their greenish-yellow corollas to attract the bees. The plan of the flower is much like the magnolias' until the central spike reveals its seeds. Magnolia seed vessels split up the back at maturity. Tulip capsules are dry and do not open, A flat wing rises above the angular, 2-celled seed box. The outer keys loosen and fly away on the early autumnal breezes. These seeds are rarely fertile. Before winter is fairly come the shingled seeds that formed the tulip cone have all been carried off, and the pencil-like receptacle remains erect on the end of the twig. The tulip poplar is a beautiful lawn and shade tree. It is a favourite in Europe. Only far-away China has a sister species in the genus Liriodendron. It is a pity that this stately native tree is not better known in cultivation in its own country. It needs the same care we bestow on magnolias in transplanting, for its roots are fleshy and tender. There is no season when the tree is not full of interest and beauty, no matter what its age. 260 CHAPTER XXXI: THE PAPAW AND THE POND APPLE Family AnonacE/'e The custard apple family contains fifty genera, all tropical and mostly confined to the Old World. 1 he family characteristics are exemplified by the two genera with a single species in each, which invade the warmer parts of the United States — vanguard of the West Indian host of many species. These trees have small use as ornamentals in a region rich in handsomer species. Their fruits have small horticultural value. KEY TO GENERA AND SPECIES A. Trees with straight trunks; fruit simple, banana-like. I. Genus ASIMINA, Adans. (A. iriloha) pa paw AA. Trees with trunks bulging at base; fruit compound, of many united pistils. 2. Genus ANONA, Linn. {A. glabra) pond apple I. Genus ASIMINA, Adans. Papaw {Asimina iriloha, Dunal.) — Slender, spreading trees or shrubs, 20 to 30 feet high. Bark thin, fibrous, dark brown, blotched with pale grey, beset with warts and a network cf shallow grooves. Branches grooved, reddish brown. Wood light, coarse grained, weak, soft. Winter buds small, flat, pointed, densely hairy, red. Leaves alternate, simple, clustering near ends of branches, obovate, tapering slenderly to base; 8 to 12 inches long, 4 to 5 inches broad, thin bright green above, paler beneath, on short petiole. Flowers in April, solitary in axils of last year's leaves; stamens in globular mass; pistils, many, 261 The Papaw and the Pond Apple on disk; sepals 3, green, downy; petals, 6, veiny, purplish red, ill-smelling. Fruit, 3 to 5 inches long, like a thick, shapeless banana, skin wrinkled and brown; flesh yellow, sweet, insipid. Ripe in September and October. Seeds, large, hard. Preferred habitat, rich bottom lands. Distribution, Southern States and north into Kansas, Michigan, western New York and New Jersey. Uses: Planted for ornament and for a curiosity. Fruit, in- different. Wood, inferior. Bark, used for fish nets. This dainty little "wild banana tree" of the North is more interesting than it is useful, I am bound to confess. Its great leaves spread in umbrella whorls like certain magnolias, covering the upturned branches with a dense thatch of green. These leaves give the tree a tropical look, hinting at the fact that this is a fugitive member of a large family that belongs in the regions of no winter. The papaw is not devoid of beauty in its blossoming time, though the flower resembles, and is not more conspicuous than that of the wild ginger that cowers in the woods. In April, the opening leaf buds have scarcely cast their scales when the wine- coloured flowers appear, set at intervals upon the twigs. Then the leaves come out lined with a red fuzz, which intensifies the rich colour of the whole tree. The bees find the flowers worth visiting, but their odour is unpleasant to most people. Twigs and leaves share this disagreeable characteristic, and the fruits repeat it in autumn. The papaw's soft pulp, in its green banana-like envelope, is delighted in bv the Negro of the South. It is sold in the markets, but is too sweet and soft to be really enjoyed by more fastidious people. One must get used to the pungent papaw taste, and then only the yellow-fleshed fruits are fit to eat. These are improved by hanging on the tree until they get a sharp bite of frost. The name, Asimina, means ''^leeve-shaped fruit," and triloba refers to the three-parted flower. The Melon Papaw {Carica Papaya, L.), which has had its name borrowed by the species just described, is a tropical tree that grows wild in southern Florida, and is often seen in green- houses farther north. It grows like a palm, with tall stem and leaves rosetted at the top. The bark is silvery white, the leaves lustrous, long stalked, deeply cleft, and often a foot across. The flowers are waxen and yellow, and on the pistillate trees are 262 The Papaw and the Pond Apple succeeded by melon-like fruits, sometimes as large as a man's head, clustered at the base of the leaf rosette. This is the papaw exploited in certain patent medicines. It belongs to the passion- flower family. The botanical explorer, William Bartram. wrote in 1790: "This admirable tree is certainly the most beautiful of any vegetable production I know of." The fruits are eaten raw, or made into conserves. The leaves are used by the Negroes as a substitute for soap in washing clothes. But they are especially valued as a means of making tough meat tender. The fleshy leaves are bruised, then wrapped up with the meat and laid aside. A solvent called papain, which the leaves contain, soon breaks down the tough connective tissues. 2. Genus ANONA, Linn. The Pond Apple {Anona glabra, Linn.) is our only other arboreal representative of the custard apple family. It grows in the swamps of southern Florida, and in the West Indies. Its fruits are heart shaped, 4 to 6 inches long, smooth, and when ripe the thick stem pulls out, leaving the creamy, custard-like flesh set with hard seeds next to the large central cavity. The fruit is fragrant when ripe, but not of such quality as would war- rant the cultivation of the little tree. The West Indian Anona muricata is the Soursop sold on Southern fruit stalls. Some hopeful horticulturists believe the pond apple may in time rival the soursop as a fruit. 26-5 CHAPTER XXXII: THE LAURELS AND THE SASSAFRAS Family Laurace/e Aromatic trees with handsome wood. Leaves simple alternate, punctate, entire. Flowers small, unconspicuous, yel- lowish green, clustered. Fruit, a i -seeded berry. KEY TO GENERA AND SPECIES A. Leaves evergreen, entire. B. Calyx lobes persistent on the fruit. 1. Genus PERSEA, Linn. C. Flower stalks short, smooth; bark red. (P. Borhonia) red bay CC. Flower stalks long, pubescent; bark dull brown. {P. puhescens) swamp bay BB. Calyx lobes not presistent on the fruit. C. Flowers in long-stemmed, sub-terminal panicles; berry small, blue-black. 2. Genus OCOTEA, Aubl. (0. Caieshyana) lancewood CC. Flowers in short-stemmed axillary umbels; berry large, yellow-green. 3. Genus UMBELLARIA, Nutt. {U. Calijornica) California laurel AA. Leaves deciduous, entire or 2-3 lobed. 4. Genus SASSAFRAS, Nees. (5. Sassafras) sassafras The laurel family has forty genera, most of them tropical. Of the six North American genera, four are arbourescent. Three of these have broad evergreen leaves; the fourth is deciduous. All have i -seeded berries, following inconspicuous, yellowish- green flowers. Three of these genera are monotypic; one has two 264 The Laurels and the Sassafras species. All but the sassafras produce handsome, ornamental wood, used in inlay work and for interior finish of houses. I. Genus PERSEA, Linn. Red Bay (Persea Borhonia, Spreng.) — A shapely, narrow headed tree, 50 to 70 feet high, with numerous stout, erect branches and angled branchlets. Roots yellow, fleshy. Bark thick, red, furrowed and cut into broad, flat, scaly ridges; branches greenish. Wood hard, heavy, strong, bright red. Buds woolly, red, small. Leaves evergreen, 3 to 4 inches long, broad, entire, oblong to lanceolate, tapering at base and apex, thick, bright green, lustrous, gloucous beneath, turning yellow; petioles stout, short, brown. Flowers small, white, axillary, in few-flowered clusters. Fruit blue or black, shiny berries, -| inch long, i -seeded, with persistent calyx lobes. Preferred habitat, stream and swamp borders. Distribution, Virginia to Texas near coast; north to Arkansas, The red bay is a handsome tree deserving more extensive cultivation for its clean, leathery foliage, which is red when it opens and yellow before it dies. The brilhant dark green mass is lightened in summer by the pale leaf linings. The red bark probably gives the name its distinguishing adjective. The leaf is not unlike that of Laurus nobilis, the familiar tub laurel of hotel verandas. This lover of rich, wet soil is occasionally discovered growing wild among long-leaf pines in dry, sandy loam — a most encourag- ing fact for anyone who wishes to grow the tree in ordinary well- drained soil. The berries are handsom^e but not showy. The wood was once used for boatbuilding, but is now devoted to interior house finishing and fancy articles of furniture. It is comparatively rare in use. The Swamp Bay {P. pubescens, Sarg.) is a slender tree, rarely 40 feet high, that frequently crowds out all other under- growth in pine barren swamps along the coast from North Carolina to Mississippi. Its densely woolly opening shoots and leaf veins, and the dull brown bark distinguish it from the previous species, as do also the long stalks on which the flowers and berries are borne. The Avocado, or Alligator Pear (P. gratissima, Gaertn.), 265 The Laurels and the Sassafras grows wild in the West Indies, Brazil, Peru and Mexico. It is cultivated in Florida and southern California. The berry in this species has the size and the shape of a Kieffer pear. It has smooth, greenish-purple skin, and a yellow pulp, soft and oily like marrow, surrounds the single giant seed. The flavour is peculiar, and strangers to it have to acquire a liking for it. When this preliminary step is taken, they often become extremely fond of it. It is usually cut in two like a melon, and eaten as a salad, dressed with vinegar, salt and pepper. The abundant oil expressed from these pears is used in soap making and for illumination. The seeds yield a black dye that is converted into an indelible ink. The growing of the trees is easy and profitable. They begin to fruit in about five years from seed. 2. Genus OCOTEA, Aubl. The Lancewood (Ocotea Cateshyana, Sarg.) is a little ever- green laurel tree 20 to 30 feet high, much like the swamp bay in flower and fruit. But its shoots are smooth, its leaves thin and lanceolate, and the lobes of the calyx have dried away under the berry. The flower stalks are bright red. The reddish-brown bark is warty. This tree is common on the shores and islands of the lower end of Florida, from Cape Canaveral on the east around to Cape Romano. It is abundant and of largest size near Bay Biscayne. 3. Genus UMBELLARIA, Nutt. The California Laurel (JJmhellaria Calijornica, Nutt.) is frequent among the broad-leaved maples in the forests of south- western Oregon. It is a lover of wet soil, growing 80 to 90 feet high in rich bottom lands. It climbs the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada and extends to the San Bernardino Mountains in southern California, reaching altitudes of 2,500 feet, but keeping generally along waterways. The beauty and stateliness of this tree impress all those who look with eyes that see upon the varied forest flora of California. It is strikingly handsome in a land full of handsome trees. Its 266 The Laurels and the Sassafras willow-like leaves are lustrous and rich in an aromatic oil, which causes them to burn even when piled green on a campfire. The flowers, small but fragrant, bloom in December and January. The plum-like purple fruits which fall in autumn have the peculiar habit of keeping their integrity long after the pit has germinated in the leaf mould under the tree. The plantlet has the distinction of being provided with a fresh fruit lunch which does not decay and disappear until well into the following summer. The tree is planted in parks and gardens of California, and in southern Europe. Its wood is esteemed one of the most beautiful and valuable in the forests of the Pacific coast. It is used for interior finish of houses and for furniture. It is close, firm, hard and strong, rich brown, with pale thick sap wood. From the leaves an aromatic oil is extracted, and a fatty acid from the fruit. 4. Genus SASSAFRAS, Nees. Sassafras (Sassafras Sassafras, Karst.) — Tree, 30 to 50 feet high; rarely, in the South, 100 feet high with trunk 6 to 7 feet in diameter; top, flat or round, loose, open, irregular. Roots fleshy, aromatic, deep, throwing up suckers. Bark spicy aro- matic, thick, dark brown, reddish, scaly and broken by shallow fissures into broad flat ridges; twigs, smooth, striated, green, mucilaginous. IVood dull brownish yellow, soft, weak, coarse, brittle, durable in the soil. Buds ovate, acute, greenish, aromatic. Leaves alternate, petiolate, sometimes opposite, 4 to 6 inches long, dull yellow-green, pale beneath, with entire margin; autumn colour orange; shapes vary: (a) ovate, (b) mitten shape, with one side lobe only, (c) 3 lobed, with a thumb on each side — the three shapes all on the same tree. Flowers in May, dioecious, pale yellow, in corymbose racemes on separate trees; staminate, with 9 stamens mounted in 3 rows on the 6-lobed calyx, minute glands, orange coloured, at base of inner whorl of 3 stamens; pistillate, with 6 abortive stamens in one row about single erect pistil. Fruit soft, oblong, smooth, dark blue, on thickened scarlet calyx and pedicel. Preferred habitat, rich, sandy loam, borders of woodlands and peaty swamps. Distribution, southern Vermont west through Michigan and Iowa to Kansas, south to Florida and Texas. Uses: Wood makes posts and rails, boats and ox 267 The Laurels and the Sassafras yokes. Bark of roots used as medicinal tea. Oil of bark used to flavour medicines. Valuable ornamental for its berries and brilliant autumn colouring. Attracts birds. Who has not nibbled the dainty green buds of sassafras in winter, or dug at the roots for a bit of their aromatic bark? Or who ha^ not searched among the leaves for ** mittens"? Surely they are people whose youth was spent in regions that knew not this little tree of the fence corners and woodland borders. And they have missed something very much worth while out of their childhood. Then there is the great green caterpillar with the Cyclopean black eye transfixing the culprit who dares disturb him on the soft silk mattress he has spun for himself on a sassafras leaf. When he is hung up like a mummy we have dared to carry him home, to learn that the "eye" is only a big black spot made to scare away birds, no doubt, which are looking for worms. Did you never see the glorious swallow-tail butterfly that comes out of that plump chrysalis in a day or two? Then you have, indeed, missed another joy, for no tiger of the jungle is more richly banded with black and yellow than this ranger of the meadows; in form and colouring and motions he is as beautiful as the flowers that supply him with nectar. But there is the sassafras tree. When the butterfly is still in its tiny green eggshell, hidden by a provident mother in plain sight on the face of an opening leaf, the delicate greenish yellow flowers come out. The starry calyxes are alike on all the trees. But the stamens are all on one tree, nine in each flower, prominent, with bunchy glands at the bases of the inner ones. Plainly these flowers have pollen making for their duty. The pistillate flowers, with a row of abortive stamens at the base of the central style, grow in numbers on another tree. Here in autumn come the birds, even before the blue berries have softened on their coral pedestals. To leave them till they ripen would be to lose them to some other bird. The glory of the autumn foliage of the sassafras is like the glory of a sunset — all mingled with purple and red and gold. The three form^ of leaves that fascinated us in summer time are here yet, but the shining treetop is the unit now, and we do not look for individual leaves. The wood of sassafras is light and tough, and makes good 268 f^sgiEssmfgsf^mismmm I n r. SASSAFRAS {Sassafras Sassafras) roadside specimen is often shrubby, but it rises in favorable situations into a stately tree. In autumn the foliage tuns to scarlet and gold > B. Pistillate flowers A. Staniinate flowers THE SASSAFRAS (Sassafras Sassafras) The leaves show three different shapes, all on the same twig. The yellow flowers are borne on separate trees. The blue berries are handsome on their coral-red stems, the delight of birds in late September. The plump green aromatic buds are good to nibble on a winter's walk The Laurels and the Sassafras fishing rods. Durable in the «oil and in water, it is used for posts and rails, and for boats and barrels. The bark, especially of the roots, is strong in a volatile oil used to flavour medicines. The bark itself is sold in drug stores, and people buy it in spring and make sassafras tea "to clear the blood." The leaves and twigs yield a mucilaginous substance which is used in the South to give flavour and consistency to gumbo soups. The useful properties of its various members are as nothing when compared with the beauty and desirability of the living tree, which is beautiful throughout the year — as a towering tree or a roadside sapling. afi? CHAPTER XXXIII: THE WITCH HAZEL AND THE SWEET GUM Family Hamamelidace.^ Trees with slender twigs and fibrous roots. Leaves simple, opposite, deciduous. Flowers with parts in four's, perfect or unisexual. Fruits woody 2-valved, i, to 2-seeded capsules. KEY TO GENERA AND SPECIES A. Leaves obovate, unequal at base; flowers perfect, autumnal. I. Genus HAMAMELIS, Linn. (//. Virginiana) witch hazel AA. Leaves star shaped, symmetrical at base; flowers monoe- cious, staminate in terminal racemes, pistillate in axillary long-stalked heads, in early summer. 2. Genus LIQUIDAMBAR, Linn. (L. Styraciflua) sweet gum The relationship of the witch hazel and sweet gum is not obvious to the general observer. In fact, the common characters are such as only the keen eye of the botanist detects. The 2- horned woody capsules joined together in the sweet gum seed ball is morphologically the same type as the solitary woody 2- lipped seed capsule of the witch hazel. Eighteen genera compose the subtropical family, Hamame- lidaceae. Two genera, each with a single species, are native to North America. There are two or three species of Hamamelis in Eastern Asia. The four species of Liquidambar include one Mexican and two Asiatic species beside our own sweet gum. I. Genus HAMAMELIS, Linn. The Witch Hazel (Hamamelis Virginiana, Linn.) — A small tree, or usually a stout shrub, rarely 25 feet high. Bark 270 The Witch Hazel and the Sweet Gum light brown, scaly or smooth. JVood close grained, hard, heavy, brownish red, with thick, white sap wood. Buds sickle shaped, pale brown, hairy, enclosed in leafy stipules. Leaves alternate, unsymmetrical, strongly veined, oval or obovate, wavy margined, or coarsely serrate, 4 to 6 inches long, rusty-hairy at first, yellow in autumn, often hanging all winter. Flowers in autumn, clus- tered, greenish, with 4 yellow ribbon-like petals. Fruits ripe in autumn, a 2-beaked, 2-celled, woody capsule that opens ex- plosively; seeds, 2, black, shiny. Preferred habitat, low, rich soil or rocky stream banks. Distribution, Nova Scotia to Nebraska, south to Florida and Eastern Texas. Uses: Valuable orna- mental. Bark, twigs and leaves used in making extract for rubbing bruises. There is nothing in the forest west of the Mississippi Valley that quite compensates the Easterner for the absence of the witch hazel, familiar to every lover of the woods in his half of the continent. Not that it is a very important tree, in any practical sense, but it is an integral : and familiar part of the woods it frequents, filling in the bare places with undergrowth and exhibiting interesting and unusual habits. It is the most inconspicuous tree in the woods in spring. Its opening leaves are coated with rusty hairs, which the botanist finds interesting because they branch into star-shaped tops. But to the casual observer these leaves look old and dingy, compared with the bright green foliage about. And no sign of bloom adorns the witch hazel while the impressive flower pageant is passing. Only the curious, lifting a branch and looking in the axils of last year's leaves, will see little curved stems each capped by a cluster of green-grey cups, dull from their winter's contact with the elements. On the newer shoots, and at the bases of leafy side spurs cluster tiny green balls no larger than pin heads. A few brown pods, dry and empty, drop to the ground, as the wind shakes the tree. All through the summer the witch hazel tells its secrets only to the thoughtful and keen-eyed observer. The side branches send out twigs of varying lengths. The longest and thriftiest of these are near the extremity of the limb, where the best light is, and the most room. Here the broad leaves spread their faces toward the sun, and under them little green buttons assert them- selves, rending apart the cups that easily contained them in spring. 271 The Witch Hazel and the Sweet Gum Every tree has its supreme moment of beauty. This usually comes when the foliage is in its prime, or when the flower buds burst in spring. The witch hazel is an exception to all rules. When the crisp autumnal atmosphere warns all plant life to get ready for winter the witch hazel trees put a new construction on the message. As if by magic, all up and down through the woods they burst into bloom, each flower bravely flaunting four delicate petals like tiny yellow streamers. The woods are fairly sprinkled with these starry, gold-thread blossoms, and a rare fragrance breathes upon the languid October air. The ripening leaves second and intensify the colour of the flowers, which often thickly fringe the outstretched twigs, and cover up the green buttons. Ah! here is another surprise the witch hazel has to oflPer. These buttons, so precious to the tree, contain the seeds developed from the flowers that bloomed last year. It has taken a full year to ripen them. Each pod has two cells, with a shiny black seed prisoner in each. The frost gives the signal, and the pods fly open with a snap, freeing the seeds, and ejecting them with surprising force. Dry, cold weather will discharge the whole seed crop in a few days. They shoot in every direction, and to a distance sometimes of twenty feet from the foot of the tree. But warm, wet weather delays their game. The pods are close and glum. There is no spring in them till they are dry again. It is a far cry from March to October; from furry tassels of blossoming aspens and willows to the witch hazel in its yellow blossoms bringing up the rear in the great annual procession of the flowers. In fact, the witch hazel practically bridges the chasm of winter, for at no time does the cold cause all the flowers to fall. Their yellow petals curl up like shavings; but they often stay till spring. A witch in old days was a person who did or said things not conventional. Our witch hazel has defied the ancient laws of the calendar — a very dreadful thing! So it comes honestly by its name; and one is inclined to ignore the accepted etymology that the word "witch," or "wych," in Old English, means "weak," and refers to the sprawling habit of the tree. Surely the observer cannot miss seeing little weazen witch faces grinning at him from all possible angles of the tree, their yellow cap strings flying in the wind, as if in defiance of the rumour that the days of witchcraft are past. 272 The Witch Hazel and the Sweet Gum The English "wych hazel" is an elm. In the mining regions it would be counted the height of folly to sink a shaft without first determining with a hazel wand where the rich veins of coal or metal are. No more would one think of digging a well until the same divining rod pointed to the hidden springs. Our American witch hazel is credited with all the occult powers of the Old World tree from which it gets its name. In hamlets and country neighbourhoods not too close to the currents of modern life we may still meet old fellows who can "water witch," and a goodly number of neighbours who believe in his powers. Billy Thompson's well goes dry and he sends in haste for Old Andy. Promptly, but with no undignified haste, the old man goes out into the woods that join his "clearin'." He chooses a forked twig whose Y stands north and south, for the rising and setting suns must have sent their rays through its prongs as it grew. Carefully the leaves are removed, as they drive to Billy's place, where the whole family and a neighbour or two await them. A solemnity settles on the company as the supple twig is grasped by its two forks, thumbs out, knuckles down, and the stem of the Y is thrust forward. Holding it as rigid as his trembling old hands are able, Andy paces with dignity over the ground that Billy has chosen as a convenient site for the new pump. He shakes his head as the stubborn wand keeps its position. "There's no use diggin' thar." Billy is disappointed, but convinced. Old Andy stumbles along and the wand points downward. It is most emphatic. Back he comes across the same spot, and down goes the wand again. He moves away — even to the other side of the barn — then returns and the sign is repeated over the exact spot indicated before. "D'ye see his wrist move?" asks a doubter, nudging his neighbour, and speaking under his breath. But it is not a time for levity. All eyes are on the seer who announces with proper dignity: "Thar's the place, Billy. The signs is plain. You'll git a good spring-fed well if you go deep enough." And nobody has the hardihood to dispute his word. Hamamelis water, or extract of witch hazel, in a variety of brands, is for sale in every country and city drug store. There is widespread faith in its soothing and curative powers when rubbed on bruises and sprains, and applied to burns. Strangely enough, the Indians taught white folks to use it. But chemical analysis has failed to discover any medicinal properties in bark or 273 The Witch Hazel and the Sweet Gum leaf. Druggists will concede that the alcohol in these decoctions is the most effective agent. The patented preparations cost more than the ordinary witch hazel that the druggist makes up, and there is an impression that the higher-priced kinds are "stronger." They probably have a higher percentage of alcohol. Below is given the ''national formulary" which manufacturing druggists follow in the United States. It is published that anyone may know just how the extract is extracted, and what is added to the witch hazel. (Aqua Hamamelis) extract of witch hazel Hamamelis roots and twigs lo lbs. Water 20 pts. Alcohol — 6 per cent li pts. Place Hamamelis in a still, add the water and alcohol, and allow the mixture to macerate twenty-four hours. Distil ten (10) pints by applying direct heat, or preferably by means of steam. 2. Genus LIQUIDAMBAR, Linn. The Sweet Gum (Liquidamhar Styraciflua, Linn.) — A large tree 75 to 140 feet high, with straight trunk and short, slender branches, forming a pyramidal or oblong head. Bark reddish brown, furrowed, scaly, on old trunks; on young trees, ashy grey, with hard, warty excrescences; twigs, pale, usually with corky wings, which continue to grow for years. Wood bright reddish brown, striped with black, straight, close grained, lustrous when polished, hard, heavy, not strong. Buds acute, reddish and hairy at tips, small. Leaves 5 to 7 inches, long and broadly cleft into 5, rarely 7, triangular-pointed lobes, which are fmely saw-toothed; with resinous sap, lustrous when mature, streaked crimson, and yellow in autumn. Flowers after leaves, monoecious; staminate in terminal, hairy racemes, 2 to 3 inches long, set with head-like stamen clusters; pistillate in solitary swinging balls from axils of upper leaves; stigmas conspicuously twisted. Fruits dry, swinging balls, ij inches in diameter, of the hardened, 2-horned capsules. Single seed, winged, ^ inch long in some cells. Most of the cells filled with minute, aborted seeds. Preferred habitat, low wet woodlands. Distribution, Connecticut to Missouri; south to Florida and Texas; also in Mexico and Central America. Uses: 274 •c THE WITCH HAZEL {Hamamelis Virginiana) The gold-thread blossoms appear with the ripeni ig fruits in October and November. The 2-valved capsule flies open and explosively discharges the two seeds. The leaves are unsymmetrical and strongly ribbed, and turn yellow in autumn. In spring the undeveloped fruits appear clustered on side shoots, awaiting the summer, which will mature them. The buds are naked, the outer covering becoming the first leaf. The spiny galls are produced by an insect ■iiM &0 a 'a .3 o CO a It O M cu a •- ja e « 'wS CO .§•1 ^ CO o, o "" CO -o .Cr- O H CO H w ftuO c .2 » CuOS ^ 3 O — u o o '^■:. The Witch Hazel and the Sweet Gum Valuable ornamental and shade trees. Lumber used for railroad ties, paving blocks, shingles, fruit boxes, spools; choice pieces known as "satin walnut," used for veneering furniture and for interior finishing of houses. Dyed black, it imitates ebony, in picture frames and cabinet work. The sweet gum is probably more closely linked with planta- tion life in the South than any other tree. It grows in the swamps, and many a slave hugged the slender shaft of a leafy gum tree while he waited all day for the north star to point him the way to freedom. Here the 'possum and the 'coon found similar refuge from hunters and their dogs; and it was a hollow gum tree that old "Nicodemus, the slave," was buried in to be waked in time for the great jubilee! As a child, I lived in a state north of the range of the most intrepid liquidambar tree. I recall with great vividness an old ex-slave's description and eulogy of the tree, and the song he sang, full of the exaltation his dearly bought freedom always roused in him — especially the thrilling chorus: **Da's a good time comin', 'tis almos' heah, Hit's bin long, long on de way: Run 'n' tell 'Lijah t' hurry up. Pomp', Meet us at de gum tree, down in de swamp; Wake Nicodemus to-day!" Travellers in the bayou country of the Mississippi Valley can easily verify the statement that a hollow gum tree is large enough to entomb a man. Giants exist there to-day, standing in rich bottom lands, or on soil that is inundated a part of the year, whose trunks, 1 5 feet or more in girth, carry their tops 1 5c feet into the air. These trees, often bare of branches for half their height, look like great columns set amid the tropical vegeta- tion, and towering high above most of their neighbour trees. in its northern range the tree sacrifices size but not beauty. It is good to take a whole year to get acquainted with the sweet gum, and it doesn't really matter when one begins. The seed balls swing on the trees in winter, looking like the button- balls of the sycamore. A second glance shows the paired "cows' horns" above the gaping pods, and the crowded, undeveloped seeds shake out like sawdust. An easier way to identify the tree is by the narrow blade-like ridges of bark that in most cases adorn the twigs. Strangely, these are on the upper side of horizontal twigs, and all around the vertical ones. The shading of olives 275 The Witch Hazel and the Sweet Gum and greys and browns in these corky ridges reminds one of the banding of an agate. Now and then you come upon a gum tree whose twigs are all smooth. Farther down, the branches have warty bark, broken into rough, horny plates. This gives the tree its name, '* alligator- wood." Then the grey of the big branches gives way to the red- brown of the trunk; the shallow fissures and scaly ridges give a finer texture to this oldest bark than the limbs give us reason to expect. In summer time the leaves of the sweet gum are our sure guide to its identity. "Star-leaved gum," it is often called. There is no other tree whose leaf so closely resembles a regular, six-pointed star with one point missing where the petiole is fastened on. These leaf stems are long and flexible — a very important fact in analysing the beauty of the sweet gum tree in full leaf. The large shining blades flutter on their stems, ''Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle in the Milky Way." They fairly dazzle the beholder, as the polished leaves of the tulip tree always do. But the summer garb of the sweet gum tree is pale and monotonous compared with the radiant beauty of its October foliage. Wherever gum trees grow, there the autumn landscape is painted with the changeful splendour of sunset skies. The leaves do not seem to dry and wither as maples and dogwoods do. They give up their bright green for the most gorgeous shades of red. "The tree is not a flame — it is a conflagration!" Often one sees a fence-row thicket of young gum trees all burning low with dull crimsons as if their fires sullenly smoulder, and might at any moment burst into the clear orange-red flame that consumes a neighbour tree. Afterward, the foliage may turn to those browns and lilac tones assumed by ash trees, but as a rule the ground is littered with the leaves before they fade — they "die like the dolphin." The sap of the sweet gum is resinous and fragrant. It is easy to find this out by crushing a leaf or bruising a twig. Chip through the bark of a tree and an aromatic gum accumulates in the wound. In the Northern States this exudation is scant, but it becomes more plentiful as one proceeds south. The most 276 The Witch Hazel and the Sweet Gum copious flow is from trees in Central America. This gum is known to commerce as "copalm balm," large quantities of which are shipped to Europe from New Orleans and from Mexican ports each year. A Spanish explorer in Mexico described in 1651 "large trees that exude a gum like liquid amber." This was the beginning of the trade. Linnaeus later gave the name "liquid- ambar" to the whole genus, which contains four species. Be- sides our American tree there is a species in eastern Asia, not yet well known, and a very important species, L. orientalis, which forms forests in Asia Minor. Long before the Christian era the fragrant gum storax, or styrax, of these trees was used as incense in the temples of various oriental religions. Later it had its place also with frankincense and myrrh in the censers of the Greek and Roman Catholic churches. It was used then, as it is now, as a healing balm, as a medicinal drug and as a perfume. The American gum is believed to have the same properties as the oriental storax, and it is manufactured into medicines, perfumes, and incense. As a dry gum, it is the standard glove perfume in France. First and last, it is not the products of the sweet gum tree that should first commend it to the American people. It is the tree itself, beautifying by its growth the landscape of which it is a part. More and more we are realising the value of native things in landscape gardening. There is a lesson for the American (who would not learn it at home) as he hunts in European gardens and nurseries for trees to plant on his estate. Among the finest and most valued trees abroad is his own native Liquidambar Styractflua, all the more esteemed because there is no European species. The name *'gum tree" is also applied to our tupelos, and to certain species of Eucalyptus, natives of Australia. 277 CHAPTER XXXIV: THE SYCAMORES Family Platanace/e Genus PLATANUS, Linn. Large, ornamental, deciduous trees with smooth limbs from which whitish bark peels in irregular flakes. Leaves simple, alternate, palmately lobed. Flowers monoecious in pendant heads. Fruits swinging, many-seeded balls, hanging all winter. KEY TO SPECIES A. Fruits solitary, rarely 2; leaves with shallow sinuses, broader than long; seeds blunt. {P. occidentalis) sycamore AA. Fruits 4 to 6 on each stem; seeds pointed. B. Leaves with triangular lobes and deep sinuses. (P. racemosa) California sycamore BB. Leaves with variable lobes, often fmger-like and 8 to 10 inches long. (P. Wrightii) Arizona sycamore AAA. Fruits 2 to 4 on each stem; seeds pointed; leaves deeply lobed, broader than long. (Exotic.) {P. orientalis) oriental plane There are six species of the genus Platanus found in the Northern Hemisphere, and equally divided between the Old and New Worlds. The geologist finds evidences of much wider distribution for our sycamore than it now enjoys. The Arctic regions from Greenland west bore forests of these trees, and so did central Europe before the Glacial Epoch. The plane tree of Europe extends east to India. The trees are all characterised by brittle, smooth bark of light colour, except on old trunks. The flaking off of this bark in irregular plates, leaving the white under layer exposed, enables the most casual observer to recognise the trees of this family by sight. The broad leaves, lobed like a maple's, and the hanging seed balls are striking characteristics. 278 "1 m rf'^Egg^"^ '!/^ A. Pistillate flowers Staminatc flowers THE SWEET GUM {Llqu'tdambar Styracipa) The star-shaped leaves and the corky ridges on the twigs are distinguishing characters. The flowers appear in ivlap after the 'eaves. The staminate are in racemes at the ends of the twigs. The pistillate are in heads on long stems from leaf axils A. Pistillate flowers B. Staminate flowers C. Fruit of previous year THE SYCAMORE {Platanus occidentalis) The broad leaf is strongly veined and toothed, yellow green with a pale lining. Its petiole has a conical hollow base which protects and conceals the growing bud. Winter shows the bud and its encircling leaf scar. The flowers are in heads, staminate dark red, lateral ; pistillate greenish red and terminal. They open in May with the new leaves. The stipules form a sheath with a leaf-like frill around the top. The seed balls dangle on flexible stems. A central, bony cone is covered with dart-like seeds, each flying away on a hairy parachute. Sycamore bark is reddish brown on the lower part of the trunk, and broken into small plates. Above and on the limbs it comes off in thin, irregular flakes of considerable size, exposing the pale-green or white under-bark. This gives the tree a mottled and weird appearance, especially in winter The Sycamores Sycamore, Buttonwood, American Plane Tree {Plata- nus occidentalis, Linn.) — A large, stately tree, 75 to 150 feet high, with tall trunk and loose, broad head and mottled green and white limbs. Bark dark reddish brown on trunk, breaking into small scaly plates; smooth and thin on branches, olive green, flaking off in irregular plates, exposing whitish inner bark. Wood light reddish brown, hard, heavy, with prominent satiny pith rays. Buds conical, with hood-like scales, covered by hollow base of leaf stalk, and encircled by a single leaf scar. Leaves deciduous, alter- nate, simple, 5 to 6 inches long, 7 to 9 inches broad, 3 to 5 lobed, with broad, shallow sinuses and wavy-toothed lobes; yellow green above, paler beneath, and fuzzy on veins; yellow in autumn and papery; petiole short, with hollow, dilated base; stipules, a sheath, tubular, flaring into ruffle-like border. Flowers, May, monoecious, in globular heads on flexible stems; staminate axillary, deep red; pistillate terminal, pale green tinged with red, with long stems. Fruit, dry pendulous balls, solitary or rarely two on a single pedun- cle, I inch in diameter, made of a close-set, pointed akenes. Pre- jerred habitat, borders of streams and rich bottom lands. Distribution, southern Maine to north shore of Lake Ontario; west to Minnesota and Nebraska; south to Florida and Texas. Uses: Excellent shade and ornamental tree, especi- ally in cities and towns. Wood is used for furniture and inside woodwork of houses; also for butchers' blocks and tobacco boxes. The *' hoary antlered sycamore" in our damp woods is a tree that the stranger will never forget after his first introduction to it. There is only this one native tree with such strange, crazy patch- work on its branches. These patterns in dull olives and dingy white show themselves from any reasonable distance in winter, and the grey balls dangling from the twigs are another sure means of identification. In the summertime the thickest foliage never quite conceals the scarred trunk and excoriated branches, splotched as if with whitewash to the utmost twigs. Moulting is a continuous performance during the buttonwoods' growing sea- son. Even in winter flakes of bark may be picked up on the snow blanket that protects the roots. This tree seems utterly lacking in the power to stretch its bark fibres and fill in the chinks to fit the growing limbs. Instead, with the first rift sycamore bark loosens separates, and lets go, leaving only the inner layers 279 The Sycattiores between the tender cambium and the cold outdoors. It is the sycamore's way. Have you ever looked out of a car window at the sycamores and white birches that streak the dull winter woods with light? It is a strange sight, calculated to stir the dullest imagination. The birches stand together, and keep each other in countenance. They do not seem to mind being looked at, but flaunt their tattered ribbons of bark without self-consciousness. The sycamores stand alone, as a rule. Except in young trees, the limbs are tortuous, reaching out in many directions without much regard for sym- metry. One often stands on the verge of a stream, and leans far out as if contemplating a plunge. The rush of the train makes of these solitary trees pallid, spectral figures, that dart past the win- dows—hunted outcasts, lepers in the tree community, fleeing before invisible pursuers. It is a satisfaction to fmd each tree back in its place when we come again that way. Quite a different tree, from the distressed-looking specimen in colder New England is the buttonwood of more congenial soil and clime — a stalwart, large-lim.bed tree of colossal trunk, which lifts its head high above its forest neighbours, and shelters great oaks and maples under its protecting arms. The weird, irregular top is singularly free from small branches, but in summer the broad leaves are so disposed as to soften the harsh lines. The open-boughed buttonwoods of the little city of Worcester, Massa- chusetts, noted for their stately beauty early in the century just finished, well illustrate this kindly ministry of the leaves. The buds of the sycamore deserve our close attention in the autumn. Leaves are fading; at first glance we note that there are no buds in their angles. How is next year's growth provided for? Look again! The leaf loosens in your hand and lets go its hold on the twig. Its stem ends in a hollow cone. There on the twig is a plump bud that grew all summer under the protecting base of that leaf. Two or three little hoods each bud wears to protect it, now the leaf is gone. The outer one is of leathery texture, without seams, and the delicate inner ones fit close, so there is no danger. The leaf never abandons its ward until it is safe to do so. The little frilled sheathing stipules are well worth looking for on young shoots of the sycamore in spring. So are the balls that hang in the treetop, first in May as the two separate kinds of flower heads; later when the surviving pistillate ones change to 280 The Sycamores hard brown seed balls, banging against neighbouring hmbs until the flexible stems are worn to shreds, and the pointed seeds are loosened and wafted away on their hairy parachutes. Most of the seeds die, of course, but Nature sees to it that here and there a sycamore seed falls on good ground; and a young sapling lifts its broad palms next year above the spot. Some people object to sycamores because the leaves as they unfold cast off their fuzzy covering of branched hairs, which are irritating to the mucous membrane of the eyes and throat. Most of us have never heard of this trouble before, and have lived com- fortably in the neighbourhood of sycamore trees for years. Hap- pily, this moulting period of the leaves is very brief. A more serious obstacle to the planting of these trees is their susceptibility to a fungous disease. The young leaves often look scorched imme- diately upon opening. A second crop of inferior size and vigour may replace them. Examine an affected leaf, and you find black specks along the veins. These are the outward signs of inward trouble, which is too deep-seated to be reached by any fungicidal spray. Let us hope that time will show a cure, for the sycamore is one of the trees that grows rapidly and flourishes amid the dust and smoke of city streets. How few kinds of trees there are, after all, that stand by to shelter and encourage city-bound humanity through the hot summer days, making fresh green oases in burning brick-and-mortar deserts! The California Sycamore (P. racemosa, Nutt.) bears its but- ton balls in a series of four to six strung on the tough, fibrous stem. The leaves have the same general outline as those of its Eastern relative, but the lobes are slenderly triangular, and deeply cleft by sinuses of about the same size and shape. This beautiful Western tree was long confused with P. occidentalism for its bark is white, and in habit and size the two are similar. A comparison of the leaf and the fruit easily enables one to dis- tinguish them. The Arizona Sycamore {P. Wrightii, Wats.) is a sycamore which looks like P. racemosa in fruit and leaf, but the lobes of the latter are much more finger-like, and measure often 8 to lo inches in length. These trees are strikingly beautiful objects, growing to large size on canon sides and stream borders, rising far above the evergreen oaks and pines of the semi-arid regions, each tree a refreshing dash of verdure in a weary land. 28 » The Sycamores The Oriental Plane Tree (P. orienialis, Linn.) is the species best known in Europe, and is coming to be very popular in this country. It is a shapeUer tree than our own, more compact in habit, with larger leaves, and three or four seed balls are strung on each long stem. So far it seems almost immune to fungous diseases, a very important consideration to the planter. This is the plane tree of the Greek writers, in groves of which Plato walked and discoursed — a tree held in worshipful esteem by the ancients for its stateliness and beauty. On occasions they poured wine upon its roots and decked its limbs with jewels and gold. Xerxes halted his unwieldy army for days that he might contem- plate to his satisfaction the beauty of a single tree. He had its form wrought upon a medal of gold to help him to remember it the rest of his life. Xerxes never did things by halves. Certain venerable plane trees in Europe are estimated to be 4,000 years old. Very few species of trees attain a greater age. These patriarchs are giants as well. They measure as much as 40 feet in trunk diameter, though they are so perforated by decay that counting rings is impracticable even when the tree falls. These old trees are at best but shattered ruins, supported in their senile age by columns and braces — melancholy figures, indeed, renewing feebly each spring by their few leaves the youth they had spent and quite forgotten centuries before the dawn of civilisa- tion. It is almost pitiful that they should live on. Quaintly does John Parkinson, "Apothecarye of London," write of plane trees in the year 1640: ''They are planted by the waysides and in market places for the shadowes sake onely." Quite sufficient justification for any tree in any age, that it tem- pers the heat of the sun in places where men must congregate. "For the shadowes sake" is a phrase worth remembering! John Parkinson seems to have been a poet as well as an apothecary. The generic name of these trees comes from the Latin plains, which means ''broad." It refers to the breadth of the leaf. A species platanoides is found in many genera; it means 'Tike the sycamore." The swamp white oak sheds its bark in sheets. In the Norway maple the shape of the leaf is much like that of the sycamore. The common name of this tree has had an interesting history. The original sycamore was a fig tree of the ancients — Pharaoh's fig, they called it in Egypt. Their strong mummy cases were 282 The Sycamores built of its wood. Its scientific name is Ficus Sykomonis. In Europe, the great maple, Acer Pseudo-platanus, is called sycamore. In America, our sycamore is Platanus occidentalis. Botanists try to teach Europeans to call their tree the sycamore maple and Americans to call theirs the buttonwood; but in spite of their efforts the old names stick. The traveller who meets abroad all three of these sycamores — a fig, a plane, and a maple — all different but known by the same common name, is ready to side with the botanists, for his head is in a whirl. Common names may do well enough till all the trees are met with in the same region^ Then trouble and confusion are constant. 2S5 CHAPTER XXXV: THE APPLES Family Rosace/e Genus MALUS, Hall. Trees which are parents of cultivated apples. Leaves simple, alternate, deciduous. Flowers showy, perfect, fragrant, in terminal cymes. Fruit fleshy, enclosing papery 5-celled core. KEY TO SPECIES A. Leaves smooth at maturity; flowers rose pink. B. Blades of leaves ovate, blunt, minutely serrate, thin. (M. coronaria) wild crab apple BB. Blades of leaves narrow, pointed, coarsely toothed, leathery. (A/, augustijolia) narrow-leaved crab apple AA. Leaves tomentose beneath; flowers pale. B. Fruit flattened, 2 to 4 inches in diameter. C. Stems slender. (Exotic.) (Af. Malus) COMMON apple CC. Stems stout {M. Soulardi) soulard's apple BB. Fruit not flattened, 4 to ij inches in diameter. C. Flowers white. (M. rivularis) Oregon crab CC. Flowers pink. (Af. loensis) iowa crab The genus Malus is native to the whole of eastern Asia. We have four native species. Our cultivated crab apples and the hundreds of orchard varieties have their ancestral home somewhere in Asia Minor. For centuries horticulturists have been at work improving wild apples. In Europe and in America the effort is to get better fruit. In the Far East the aim has been to produce the finest flowering trees. The results are both ad- vantageous to the horticulture of the world. Closely allied to apples are the other pome fruits, pears and quinces. Neither are native to America, though they are widely cultivated here. 284 Copyrig'ht, 1905, by Doubleday, Page & Company PRAIRIE CRAB APPLE (Malus loensis) The Apples Wild Crab Apple (Mains coronaria, Mill.) — A low, bushy tree, ^with thorny angular twigs, rarely 30 feet high. Bark reddish brown, scaly. Wood heavy, fine grained, weak, reddish brown. Buds small, blunt, bright red. Leaves ovate or trian- gular, 3 to 4 inches long, half as broad, velvety beneath, blunt pointed, sharply serrate, often lobed near base; petioles ij to 2 inches long. Flowers May to June, after the leaves, in 5 to 6 flowered umbels, perfect, white to deep pink, spicy, fragrant — I to 2 inches across. Fruit flattened, yellow, i inch in diameter; flesh hard, sour. September. Preferred habitat, upland woods, in moist, rich soil. Distribution, Ontario to Minnesota; south along Alleghanies to Alabama; Nebraska to eastern Texas; New York to South Carolina. Uses: An ornamental, flowering tree. Fruit made into jellies and preserves. Wood used for levers, tool handles, etc. The wild, sweet-scented crab apple! The bare mention of its name is enough to make the heart leap up, though spring be months away, and barriers of brick hem us in. In the corner of the back pasture stands a clump of these trees, huddled together Hke cattle. Their flat, matted tops reach out sidewise until the stubby limbs of neighbouring trees meet. It would not occur to anyone to call them handsome trees. But wait! The twigs silver over with young foliage, then coral buds appear, thickly sprinkling the green leaves. Now all their asperity is softened, and a great burst of rose-coloured bloom overspreads the treetops and fills the air with perfume. It is not mere sweetness, but an exquisite, spicy, stimulating fragrance that belongs only to wild crab-apple flowers. Linnaeus probably never saw more than a dried specimen, but he named this tree most worthily, coronaria, "fit for crowns and garlands." Break off an armful of these blossoming twigs and take them home. They will never be missed. Be thankful that your friends in distant parts of the country may share your pleasure, for though this particular species does not cover the whole United States, yet there is a wild crab apple for each region. In the fall the tree is covered with hard little yellow apples. They have a delightful fragrance, but they are neither sweet nor mellow. Take a few home and make them into jelly. Then you will understand why the early settlers gathered them for 285 The Apples winter use. The jelly has a wild tang in it, an indescribable piquancy of flavour as different from common apple jelly ^s the flowers are in their way more charming than ordinary apple blossoms. It is the rare gamy taste of a primitive apple. Well-meaning horticulturists have tried what they could do toward domesticating this Malus coronaria. The effort has not been a success. The fruit remains acerb and hard; the tree declines to be ''ameliorated" for the good of mankind. Isn't it, after all, a gratuitous office ? Do we not need our wild crab apple just as it is, as much as we need more kinds of orchard trees? How spirited and fme is its resistance! It seems as if this wayward beauty of our woodside thickets considered that the best way to serve mankind was to keep inviolate those charms that set it apart from other trees and make its remotest haunt the Mecca of eager pilgrims every spring. The wild crab apple is not a tree to plant by itself in park or garden. Plant it in companies on the edge of woods, or in obscure and ugly fence corners, where there is a background, or where, at least, each tree can lose its individuality in the mass. Now, go away and let them alone. They do not need mulching nor pruning. Let them gang their ain gait, and in a few years you will have a crab-apple thicket. You will also have succeeded in bringing home with these trees something of the spirit of the wild woods where you found them. The Narrow-leaved Crab Apple (Malus angustifolta, Michx.), smaller in all its parts than the common wild crab apple, but closely resembling it in all but its leaf, is found on the Atlantic coast from New Jersey to Florida, and west to the Mississippi. It extends also to western Pennsylvania and eastern Tennessee, overlapping the range of the other species in these regions. Its leaves are leathery, almost evergreen, dark and shiny, with dull, often fuzzy linings. They are small, narrow, and blunt pointed at both ends. The Oregon Crab (Malus rivularis, Roem.), a white- flowered species with ovate, taper-pointed leaves, grows in dense thickets along streams in the coast region from northern California well into Alaska. Its young growth is covered with a grey pubescence. The apples are oblong, rarely over f inch long, and few people beside Indians consider them worth gathering for food. 286 r THE WILD CRAB APPLE {Malus coronaria) In late May the tree is a mass of pink, spicy, fragrant flower clusters and bright green leaves. The flat little apple ripens in September, but it is not mellow. It is waxy to the touch, and has the gamy taste a wild apple ought to have .i: o w ^J <- S^ ^ ">*-. -^ 0C[-| 00 c w 3 TD J CIh CLh •5 S < _, o OQ < oi u w h— 1 c^ :jj: o 1— ( "— dj < rt S: •5 > H (/; r- C = «; ° §-^t^ > u rt > V ^ 4J CU S ■- « r. • — C-> H .^ S -= o iO, The Apples The Prairie Crab Apple (Malus Joensis, Britt.) is the species found from Wisconsin to Oklahoma. It has only recently been distinguished from M. coronaria, which its flowers closely resemble. Its leaves are shorter and oval in shape, with deep, irregular teeth, and linings of silky white down. The dull green apples are of good size, larger than the other native crabs, and are not at all flattened. It is the woolliness of all the young growth in summer that will chiefly distinguish this tree. The double-flowered form of this crab apple, Malus loensis flore pleno, is one of the most beautiful of ornamental trees. Its flowers are not so numerous as to overload the tree, and each blossom, in its setting of green leaves, has all the delicacy of a pink tea rose, exquisite in form, in shading, and in fragrance. The Soulard Apple (Malus Soulardi, Britt.) may con- fuse us. It is a hybrid of M. loensis and the common apple, as- caped from orchards — the trees that come from apple seeds and are not grafted. Such are our good-for-nothing roadside '' wilding " trees, with gnarly fruit nobody can eat. The Soulard apple occurs locally from. iMinnesota to Texas. It is large leaved and stout of stature, with pink-flushed blossoms, like an orchard apple tree. But its woolly surfaces are often roughly rusty; its fruit is a flat crab apple on a stout stem, larger, sweeter and more edible than one expects it to be. Because this species is hardy and disposed to vary and improve in the quality of its fruit in cultivation, horticulturists consider it a distinctly promising apple for the coldest of the prairie states. Several varieties have already been produced from it. The Wild Apple {Malus Malus, Britt.), native to southern Europe and Asia, is the parent of our cultivated apples. It is the apple of classical literature, inseparably associated with the growth of civilisation, and cultivated for the improvement of its fruit for unnumbered centuries. Our orchard trees, which renew their youth every spring in fuzzy leaves and fragrant pink and white blossoms, are direct descendants of this ancient species. Myth and folk-lore and written history all tell how this fruit, more than any other — the simple, wholesome, uncloying fruit of the north temperate zone — is interwoven with the life of the people. Read in the Song of Solomon: ''As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons." And as a symbol of exquisite joy attained through the senses, "the smell 287 The Apples of apples" is named with the odours of spikenard and camphire and bundles of myrrh. Read the classics, ancient and modern. Fancy the story of the fall of Troy or the legend of William Tell with the apple left out! If we would know v/hat this wild European apple is like we may get a good idea by planting an apple seed, and watching the tree that springs from it. Or we may save time by examining a wilding tree in the fence corner, planted perhaps by the hand that threw away an apple core years ago. Suppose it was the seed of a fme desert variety of apple. Its offspring will not bear the same variety and quality of fruit. It is almost sure to "revert to the wild type." That is, the fruit of it will be small, sour and gnarly, just such apples as the orchard tree would have borne if it had not been grafted or budded while it stood in the nursery row. But there are exceptions to every rule. There are varieties of apples — a very few — that ''come true from seed." Such is La Belle Famense, the ruddy-cheeked, white-fleshed "Snow" of the Northeastern States — the domestic apple of the Canadian French. Up and down the valley of the St. Lawrence this apple tree grew in the gardens of the early settlers. The seeds were carried and distributed by neighbours, by migrant traders, but chiefly by the Jesuit missionaries whose hope was that the home- sick habitant should grow to love the land of his adoption. And they were not disappointed. Generations passed, and the tree became an intimate part of the home life of New France. Drum- mond, poet of the habitant, describes the old-fashioned garden, modelled on the typical one of precious memory in sunny France: ''Dat house on de hill, you can see it still, She's sam' place he buil' de firs' tam' he come; Behin' it dere's one leetle small jardin. Got plaintee de bes' tabac Canayen, Wit Fameuse apple, an' beeg blue plum." It was a hard life, and the touch of poetry and luxury brought into it by these fruit trees was not lost on the appreciative habitant. He had his domestic animals, and the home flowers about his door — "the leetle small jardin" — and he was comforted in the land of the long, cold winters. His apple trees were as much a part of his establishment as the dog and cow and team of horses. He cherished them next to his family and his religion. In fact. 288 The Apples they were a part of both, if he could have analysed his feeling for them. While the French in Canada were still planting seeds of their beloved Fameuse apple as their fathers had done before them, noting no change in the character of the fruit except when a tree bore handsomer and finer-flavoured apples than any tasted before, a strange and interesting story was unfolding itself in the valley of the Ohio River, A picturesque character calling himself Johnnie Apple Seed wandered up and down, with no apparent object in life but to pbnt apple seeds. Queer as he was, the motive that actuated him was nobly altruistic. He was doing what he could to turn the desert into a garden. He had the strange notion that grafting and pruning trees was a wicked practice. He lived to see his trees in bearing over a vast territory. But it is to be hoped that he never realised to what a degree his philanthropy failed. They were mostly ''Apples of Sodom" that came as a harvest. Where he had planted seeds of Baldwins and Greenings and Bellflowers grew trees bearing apples with strange, crabbed looks, mongrels of varying degrees of insipidity. They were largely seedling trees of varieties that did not come true. They stubbornly exemplified the rule of which the Fameuse is an exception. Do you know the romance of the Newtown pippin? If you have seen one of these matchless apples and sunk your teeth into its mellow substance I need not tell you of its sprightly flavour, its absolute fulfilment of your ideal of what an apple ought to be. What is its pedigree? Two centuries ago a chance seed fell near a swamp on the outskirts of the village of Newtown, Rhode Island. A seedling tree came up, and was ignored, as such trees are, until some vagrant passing by saw and tasted the first apples it bore. And the very golden apples of Hesperides they were for the village and the countryside! Cions of this tree became the parents of great orchards in the Hudson River Valley. Up and down the coast among the colonies they were scattered. In the year 1758, Benjamin Franklin, our representative in England, received a box of Newtown pippins, and he gave some to his distinguished friend, Peter Collinson. Thus were American apples introduced with eclat to the attention of the English. The trees did poorly in English orchards, but the fruit in London 289 The Apples markets grew in popularity. In 1845 the orchard of Robert Pell, in Ulster County, New York, which contained 20,000 pippin trees, yielded a crop which brought in the London market |2i per barrel. The tables of the nobility were supplied with these apples at the astonishing price of a guinea a dozen — forty-two cents apiece! And yet, almost within the memory of men now living, the old tree still stood on the edge of the swamp, and men came from far and near — even from over seas — to cut cions from the original Newton pippin tree. Here and there in the history of horticulture are other instances where Nature seems to rise superior to her own laws by creating valuable seedling varieties. The "Wealthy" apple was a chance discovery in a Minnesota nursery row. It is the parent of one of the noblest varieties of the Northwest States — a worthy mate for the Newtown pippin. Other sorts of apples have sprung iTom crosses between known varieties. These are hybrids — seedlings, one of whose parents contributed the pollen that fertilised the flower on another tree. From the seed thus set the new tree comes, different from each parent tree, but having some traits of each. In these two ways — by seedlings and by hybrids — new varieties have arisen, and others will come on. But each is uncertain — a problem for the scientist, not the apple grower. To plant seeds for an orchard would be the utmost folly. The quick and sure way to get and keep a good variety is to graft other trees with cions of the desired kind. Fertilising the soil, and thorough tillage, greatly improve the health of a tree, and the quality and size of its fruit. But they do not change a Baldwin into a Greening. It may be possible, however, to produce a superior individual tree, whose characters, perpetuated, give rise to an improved "strain" of the variety. Soil, climate and treatment all emphasise individual differences in trees and in their fruits. There is no law in Nature so inexorable as the law of Constant Variation. Our little hard-fleshed, slender-stemmed garden crab apples are an interesting race. The Siberian crab (Malus haccata), of northern Asia, is the parent species. The larger sorts are prob- ably from crosses of this with Malus Malus in some of its varieties. Japan has given us some wonderful flowering apples, small 290 The Apples trees and shrubs. Malus florihunda is probably as glorious a sight in bloom as any tree that ever grew. After these splendid blossoms we can but marvel again at the crop of fruit that succeeds them. Some of these apples are handsome and good to eat, but of the various species I have seen no fruit grows larger than a cherry ! The Pear (Pyrus communis, Linn.), also a native of Europe and Asia, is a close relative of the cultivated apple, and ranks high among orchard fruits. We have no native species, but numerous valuable varieties have originated in this country. The Quince {Cydonia vulgaris, Pers.) is a dwarf tree from Europe, whose hard-fleshed, apple-like fruit has been used for centuries in marmalades and jellies. It is seen in old gardens in the East — one or two trees are the customary number. Occa- sionally one sees a quince orchard. It is an old-fashioned fruit, indeed; the demand for it is small, but steady. The Japanese quince, C. Japonica, is a splendid flowering shrub, with inedible fruit. Hedges are often seen of it, ablaze with great rose-coloured flowers before the leaves are out in spring — a sight, indeed, worth going miles to see. The Medlar (Mespilus Germanica, Linn.), a pretty tree native to central Europe, is occasionally planted in gardens for the curios- ity aroused by its peculiar, apple-like fruits. The core is exposed at the blossom end, as if the flesh had not quite reached around it. After frost has bitten them, and they have lain all winter, these medlars soften, and are not unpleasant to eat. They also are made into preserves. a^i CHAPTER XXXVl: 7HE MOUNTAIN ASHES Family Rosace/e Genus SORBUS, Linn. Small trees of good habit, with ornamental foHage, flowers and fruit. Leaves alternate, 7 to 17 leaflets, serrate. Flowers small, white, in many-flowered flat corymbs. Fniit small, red, berrv-like. KEY TO SPECIES A. Buds sticky; shoots smooth. B. Leaflets taper pointed, pale green. [S. Americana) American mountain ash BB. Leaflets abruptly pointed, dark green. {S. samhiicijolia) elder-leaved mountain ash AA, Buds woolly; branchlets and petioles pubescent; leaflets blunt pointed, dull green. (Lxotic.) (5. Aucuparia) European mountain ash or rowan tree The handsome foliage and showy clusters of flowers and fruits make this a favourite genus of trees and shrubs for orna- mental planting. There are about thirty species of Sorbus, widely distributed over the Northern Hemisphere and chiefly inhabitants of mountain slopes. Their contentment with poor soil and exposed situations make them valuable for the covering of broken ground, where they show to the best advantage. In autumn the red berries are matched by the ruddy foliage. Birds aften depend on the berries for food in snowy winters. On a lawn a mountain ash is a neat and very decorative little tree at all seasons. Mountain Ash (Sorhus Americana, Marsh.) — A small tree, attaining 30 feet, with slender spreading branches, forming pyram.idal head. Bark smooth, brown or grey, with. large lenticels like those on cherry; taste bitter. Wood pale brown, close grained, weak. Buds reddish, pointed, glutinous. Leaves pinnate, 6 to 12 inches long, alternate; petioles red; leaflets 13 to 17, lanceo- The Mountain Ashes late, dark yellow-green, pale beneath. Flowers creamy white, perfect, small, in broad, compound, flat-topped corymbs, after the leaves in May and June. Fruit small, scarlet, berry-like, with thin flesh and bony seeds. Ripe in September and hang on all winter. Preferred habitat, rich, moist soil. Distribution, New- foundland to Manitoba; south along mountains to Tennessee and North Carolina. Uses: Planted for its red berries and fern-like foliage. Fruit used in home remedies. The way to see our American mountain ash at its best is to take a leisurely October drive through the wooded uplands of New Eng- land or lower Canada. Along the borders of swamps, or climbing the rocky bluffs, with the wild plums and the straggling beeches, this frail scarlet-berried ash leaps up like a yellow flame, and the broad discs of its fruit gleam among the leaves like red embers in a grate. There is no handsomer leaf at any season than this one, on its red stem, its pointed leaflets dainty and slim as a willow's. I have wondered that people prefer to plant in their gardens the European species. But I fmd it is not all the deep-seated craving for imported things. The American tree languishes in warm, dry climates and in the protected situations we are apt to choose. It shows a distinct preference for cold, unsheltered places, exposed to winds, where its growth is stunted. Though its range extends into the Southern States, it always keeps to high altitudes. The Elder-leaved Mountain Ash (Sorhus sambucifolia, Roem.) is even more daring in its fight with the elements. It climbs higher on the mountains, and ranges from Labrador to Alaska, following the Rocky Mountains to Colorado. In the East, it goes no farther south than Pennsylvania. The same species inhabits Japan and eastern China, This species has showier flowers and fruit clusters than S. Americana. In the large area where their ranges overlap, these two can be best distinguished by their leaves. This Western moun- tain ash has darker green foliage, of abruptly pointed leaflets. The fruits have five large, erect calyx points at the blossom end. These points are small on the berries of the other species, and are bent inward until they lie flat. All through the summer the graceful, elder-like foliage of the Western mountain ash makes it a tropical-looking tree among its 293 The Mountain Ashes north temperate forest neighbours, though it is rarely more than 15 feet in height. Its open, pyramidal head gives each leaf a chance. After the leaves have fallen, the twigs still hold up their broad discs of scarlet berries that cling until winter is well past. The Rowan Tree or European mountain ash (Sorhus Aucu- parzdy Linn.) is the one people usually plant on their lawns in this country. This trim, round-headed tree is very conventional and well-behaved compared with its country cousins back in the hills. Long discipline at the gardener's hands has made it what it is. In the craggy highlands of Scotland and Wales it leads a wild life, and is there quite different from the familiar garden tree. Strange legends and superstitions, centuries old, cluster around the rowan in all rural sections of Europe. They are preserved in the folk- lore and the literature of many languages. The tree, its berries, a leafy spray, or a bit of its wood — all were considered to be effectual charms to exorcise evil spirits, and to undo their work. The rowan was planted at the gates of churchyards, and by cottage doors; and leafy twigs were hung over the thresholds. Crosses of " roan" wood, given out on festival days, were worn as amulets, and were tacked up over the doors of houses and barns. Milkmaids, espe- cially, depended on them for the defeat of the "black elves" who tried to make their cows go dry, and, unless prevented, got into the churns, and then the butter would never come! We shall look upon this pretty tree with new interest, and perhaps a mild kind of awe, knowing how it has been regarded by our ancestors. 1 1 may be known at any season by the woolly fuzz that whitens buds, twigs and the linings of leaves. The leaflets are small, dull green, with blunt |X)ints, and the margins have double teeth, large and small. The flowers and fruits are larger than those of our native species, and more showy. Mountain ash berries at best are a poor, insipid sort of fruit. But as they hang on the trees very late, birds eat them with apparent satisfaction. During periods of deep snow, these trees are often the sole reliance of our hardy winter residents — the one bar between them and starvation. The farther north a tree can grow, the more likely it is to have near relatives in the Old World. One mountain as! of Japan can be distinguished only with difficulty from our own; and some 294 THE MOUNTAIN ASH {So/bus Americana) The flat, crowded cluster of tiny white flowers is set in a whorl of the dark-green leaves in May or June. The red berries ripen in September and remain all winter. The foliage is bright yellow in autumn. The twigs are red; so are the waxy buds above the prominent leaf scars. The white breathing pores show distinctly on the smooth bark ^M THE SERVICE-BERRY TREE {Amelanchier Canadensis) This solitary tree grows on the edge of a plowed field. Tillage and elbow room enable it to spread out like a luxuriant cherry tree. Its bloom appears in April, when most trees are still bare. Its berries are the delight of the birds in June The Mountain Ashes authorities consider our two species but varieties of the rowan tree of Europe, which extends its range well into Asia. Inter- mediate forms, growing wild with the two American species, show how each is apt to vary, and how very close is their relationship. All species are supposed to have sprung from a common ancestor not very long ago. 295 CHAPTER XXXVIi: THE SERVICE-BERRIES Family RosACEy^ Genus AMELANCHIER, Med. Slender, pretty trees often cultivated. Leaves simple, alternate, deciduous, Flowers white, numerous^ in racemes. fruits small berry-like, with 4 to lo-celled core. KEY TO SPECIES A. Leaves ovate, fmely saw-toothed; fruit flattened, red to purple. B. Fruit J to i inch across; leaves sharp pointed. (A. Canadensis) service-berry BB. Fruit about J inch across; leaves blunt pointed. (A. obovalis) longleaf service-berry AA. Leaves broad, coarsely toothed on apical half, blunt; fruit ^ to I inch across, blue-black. (A. alnijolia) western service-berry The genus Amelanchier occurs in southern Europe, northern Africa, China and Japan, and in southwestern Asia as well as in eastern and western North America. It includes few species, all delicate and pretty in foliage and flower, planted for ornament in many countries. Dwarf varieties are raised for their fruit. The flowers cover the slender branchlets before the leaves appear. The sweet berries feed the birds. Our Western service-berry has especially large and juicy fruits. June-berry, Service-berry, Shad-bush {Amelanchier Cana- densis, T. & G.) — A slender, round-headed tree, rarely 40 feet high, usually less than 20 feet. Bark smooth, purplish brown, with pale lenticels. Wood heavy, hard, dark brown. Buds pointed, brown, inner scales elongate in spring. Leaves alternate, oval or oblong, serrate, tapering, smooth; 3 to 4 inches long, midrib grooved above and ridged underneath. Flowers, April, before leaves, white in loose, drooping racemes, with silky bracts, i inch across with 5 296 The Service-berries narrow, long petals. Fruit, June, a red, juicy, sweet berry, with lo-celled core. Preferred habitat, rich, upland soil, borders of woods. Distribution, Newfoundland to the Dakotas, south to the Gulf. Uses: A desirable park or lawn tree; wood occasionally used for tool handles, etc. Do you wait until you are sure of finding violets a-plenty before you take the time to go to the woods? Then you miss a rare and most delightful experience. Go two weeks earlier this year, and you may see the little June-berry tree put on her bridal veil. The larger trees which stand about with naked branches are but a background to set off the charms of this modest wood- land beauty. It is not simply by contrast with the barrenness around it that this tree delights the beholder. The soft, graceful, feathery clusters and the individual, starry blossoms would be attractive at any season. But that flowers so delicate should unfold so early, while yet winter lingers, is a marvel that goes straight to the heart. You break the sprays that lean toward you as if in invitation, and carry them home with a sense of personal gratitude. What makes one feel a glow of warmth when looking at this tree? The sharp spring air does not justify it. There is a faint undertone of colour that takes off the chill of the white cloud of blossoms. Looking close we see that the strap-shaped bracts are red, a pair of them below each flower, and the tinge is deepened by the red-brown of the silky infant leaves, which hang limp and helpless, their two halves folded on the midrib, and quite obscured by the mass of bloom. In summer the leaves are not distinctive. They are daintier than those of the apple and pear, and have not the hydrocyanic acid odour of the foliage of plums and cherries. The twigs lack the thorns characteristic of the hawthorns. So, by elimination, we may be able to identify this tree among the multitude of its relatives. The fruit cluster is a good clue all summer long, though the birds take the berries so promptly that it is exceptional good luck if you fmd a ripe one on the tree. But the long branching stems which bore the sweet morsels are held out empty, or with dry, undeveloped berries upon them, longer and looser in structure than the racemes of the cherry group. Showy as it is in blossom, the June-berry is never a self- assertive tree. Its flowers are gone as suddenly as they came, and 297 The Service-berries the little tree quite loses its identity when the forest wakes and covers itself with a dense thatch of green. Cloistered thus, and cut off from the benefits of wind and sun, no wonder that the tree ordinarily rises little higher than a thrifty shrub. The Dwarf June-berry, or Swamp Sugar Pear (A. oho- valis, Ashe), has its young leaves and tender shoots covered with dense white wool until quite matured. The flowers are smaller than those of its sister species, and crowded in shorter, denser racemes. The fruit is juicier and of richer flavour, and eagerly sought by children and birds. Tne tree bears the name, long-leaf service-tree in some localities, and in others, shad-bush. The Indians noted that these trees blossomed along the banks of tide- water streams about the time that the shad came up to spawn. The colonists adopted this name. Naturally, it is not used in the inland states, where shad are seen only in fish markets. This June-berry frequents swamps and stream borders, ranging from New Brunswick to Florida and Louisiana, and west to Minnesota and Missouri. The Western Service-berry {A. alnifolia, Nutt.) has a thick, roundish leaf, broad and toothed, which makes it a hand- some foliage tree. Its large, juicy, fine-flavoured berry commends it to horticulturists as worthy of cultivation. It grows over a vast territory which extends from the Yukon River south through the Western States, and east to Ontario, Michigan and Nebraska. Widely distinct as is this species from A. Canadensis when individuals from distant localities are compared, these differences become less marked as each species is studied nearer and nearer the regions where their ranges overlap. It is believed that in these two we have the offspring of a single species which came from the North, and, spreading east and west on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, became modified by climate into two distinct species as we see them to-day. Comparisons of specimens taken at regular intervals on both sides of the mountains form a most interesting chain of evidence to support the theory of a common origin. Fossils of the Glacial Period show clearly the charac- teristics of the ancestral type. 298 r" /./-■■v. , '' \.>!^ 1, THE SERVICE-BERRY {Amelanchtn Can,iden^,{) A well-tilled specimen spreads like an apple tree. The flowers appear in April before the leaves spread themselves. The fruit is a juicy berry, which the birds love. It is ripe in June 1-2 o o ^ 4-> (« 3 J5 ^ rj ^ (A a 53 4J na a 3 C X> ft Q *-' u ^ >^ £; >. <4 O c *o w u 3 rs ^ ?^ o ^ o qa Q u c o s pi, c b O o a K J 3 8 H "rt < CO X a (A " '^ i/i ffi 'S u u is en hJ -a _ O 4J c« iz; O u a ffi 4; J3 o H w C O o c« ^ fl ^ RJ efl "a ^ a> 4^ w CO TS O 4J E J3 C0 *S c« o 3 ■»-> !U 6 «« -3 CHAPTER XXXVIII: THE HAWTHORNS Family Rosace.^ Genus CRATAEGUS, Linn. Small trees or shrubs, with rigid, thorny branches. Leaves simple, alternate, deciduous, stipulate, serrate, often lobed. Flowers perfect, usually white, in corymbs on short side twigs. Fruits drupe-like pomes, with hard nutlets containing the seeds. JVood hard, tough, reddish, close grained. Uses: Ornamental trees and hedge plants; wood used for tool handles and mallets. KEY TO GROUPS AND TO SPECIES A. Nutlets not grooved in front. B. Leaf veins extending to points of lobes; not to sinuses. C. Petioles short; leaves obovate, wedge shaped at base. D. Corymbs many-flowered. E. Leaves leathery, dark green, shining above; fruit almost globular, nutlets i to 3, ridged on back. I. Group CRUS-GALLI F. Stamens 10, anthers rose colour; leaves thick, fruit dull red; spines stout, 4 to 6 inches long. (C. Crus-galli) cockspur thorn FF. Stamens 20, anthers yellow; leaves thin; fruit orange red; spines slender, i to I J inches long. (C. Mohri) haw EE. Leaves membranaceous or firm; veins strong; fruit usually dotted; nutlets 2 to 5, strongly ridged on back. II. Group PUNCTAT/E F. Fruit oblong, yellow or red, J to i inch long, with large, pale dots; stamens 20. (C. punctata) dotted haw 299 The Hawthorns FF. Fruit globose, § to J inch long, dull red, with small pale dots; stamens 20, yellow. (C. collina) haw DD. Corymbs few-flowered; flowers with leaves in February, stamens 20 to 25, with large, dark- red anthers. III. Group ^STIVALES (C cestivalis) may haw CC. Petioles long, slender, scarcely glandular ; leaves mem- branaceous to leathery, narrow at base; corymbs many-flowered; fruit oblong to subglobose, J to f inches in diameter. IV. Group VIRIDES Fruit flattened, under J inch in diameter, bright scarlet or orange. (C viridis) haw CCC. Petioles long, slender, glandular at apex. D. Leaves broad at base; corymbs many-flowered. E. Fruit flattened, ^ to f inch in diameter, green, with glaucous bloom, becoming dark purple-red and lustrous; leaves blue green, smooth. V. Group PRUINOS/^ Leaves elliptical (C. pruinosa) haw EE. Fruit short oblong or obovate, | to f inch long, scarlet to purple, leaves mem- branaceous. VI. Group TENUIFOLIA Leaves blue-green, rough. (C. apiomorpha) haw EEE. Fruit i inch in diameter, red or yellow, flesh thick, juicy; corymbs downy. VII. Group MOLLES F. Stamens 20, anthers yellow; leaves broad and thick; fruit scarlet, downy. (C. mollis) RED HAW FF. Stamens 10, anthers yellow. G. Fruit crimson, velvety, flattened. (C Arnoldiand) scarlet haw GG. Fruit orange red, lustrous. (C. suhmollis) red haw FEE. Stamens 10, anthers rose colour. Fruit short oblong, bright crimson, shining. (C. Ellwangeriana) scarlet haw 300 The Hawthorns EEEE. Fruit oblong, } inch long, red, pulpy, lustrous; leaves lobed; anthers red. VIII. Group FLABELLAT/^ ' Stamens 5, rarely 6 to 8; leaves yellow- green. (C Holme siand) haw EEEEE. Fruit nearly round, f inch long, greenish red, calyx prominent; stamens 20, anthers rose coloured. IX. Group DILATAT/E Flowers 1} inches across, few; leaves 2 to 3 inches long and broad, with deep side lobes. (C. coccinioides) haw DD. Leaves wedge shaped at base. E. Corymbs many-flowered; leaves dark green, lustrous above, fruit i to | inch long, nutlets 2 to 3, ridged on back. X. Group COCCINE/E Thorns ij inch long, brown, stout; fruit crimson, dry and sweet, leaves 2 to 3 inches long. (C. coccinea) scarlet haw EE. Corymbs few-flowered ; leaves membranaceous. F. Fruit I inch long, green or yellow; nutlets 3 to 5, rounded at ends, strongly ridged at back; leaves yellow-green. XI. Group INTRICATE Fruits 2 to 4 in clusters, erect, flat, rusty, reddish green, stamens 10, pale yellow. (C. Boyntoni) haw FF. Fruit \ inch long, red or orange; nutlets 3 to 5 but slightly grooved on back; stamens 20, anthers rose coloured; leaves thin, sharply lobed. XII. Croup PULCHERRIM/E Fruit bright red. (C opima) haw FEE. Fruit i to | inch long; nutlets 3 to 5, narrowed at ends, strongly ridged on back; bracts large; calyx lobes leaf- like; stamens 20, anthers yellow; leaves dark, lustrous, leathery. XIII. Group BRACTEAT/E Fruit bright red. (C Ashei^) haw 301 The Hawthorns CCCC. Petioles, leaves and corymbs conspicuously glandu- lar; corymbs few-flowered; fruit ^ to f mch long, flesh hard, dry; branches zizag. XIV. Group FLAV/E Bark deeply furrowed ; leaves diam.ond shaped, thick, shining, with short winged petiole; corymbs velvety, with 3 to 6 flowers, stamens 10, an- thers yellow; fruit late, dull orange red, flattened. (C. aprica) haw BB. Veins of leaves extending to sinuses as well as to points of lobes; corymbs many-flowered; stamens 20. C. Fruit flattened to oblong, pea size, scarlet; nutlets 2 to 5, prominently ridged at back; anthers rose coloured or purple. XV. Group MICROCARP/E D. Leaves round, deeply 5 to 7 cleft. (C. apiijolta) parsley. haw DD. Leaves heart shaped. (C cordata) Washington thorn CC. Fruit flattened, J to J inch long, red, blue or blue- black nutlets 3 to 5, obtuse at ends, slightly ridged at back; leaves dark and lustrous. XVI. Group BRACHYACANTH/E Leaves lanceolate; thorns stout; fruit bright blue. (C. hrachyacantha) pomette bleue AA. Nutlets grooved in front. B. Fruits \ to t^ inch long, erect, lustrous, orange or scarlet; nutlets 2 to 3, blunt at ends, ridged on back; leaves downy below. XVII. Group TOMENTOS^ C. Fruit pear shaped, translucent, orange red, leaves 2 to 5 inches long, grey-green, tomentose below; thorns ij inches long, slender. (C. tomentosa) pear haw CC. Fruit, pea-like, crimson, leaves 2 to 3 inches long, dark, lustrous, tapering; thorns 2\ to 4 inches long, curved. (C. macracanthd) long-spine haw BB. Fruit nearly globular, J inch long, black; nutlets 5, blunt at ends, faintly ridged on back; stamens 20; leaves leathery. XVIII. Group DOUGLAS I AN/E Leaves variable in form, fruit many in a cluster, lustrous, sweet. (C. Douglasii) black haw 302 The Hawthorns The hawthorns are a shrubby race of trees, under-sized, as a rule, with stiff, zigzag branches, set with thorns. The leaves are simple, alternate, deciduous, usually cut into sharp lobes, and saw teeth. The flowers are generally white, and set in terminal corymbs on side branchlets. The fruits are drupe-like pomes, with bony nutlets containing the seeds. As a rule fruits are red; in a few species they are orange; still fewer, yellow, blue or black. The flesh is generally mealy and dry. The nutlets are joined at their bases, and are variously grooved and ridged. The stamens are normally five in a circle, set alternate with the petals. There may be five pairs, similarly placed. Or fifteen may occur, in two rows, twenty in three, or twenty-five in four circles. These are the typical arrangements. When not in fives, some stamens have failed to develop. The number of stamens, their arrangement and the colour of their anthers, is considered by Professor Sargent an important clue to relationship. The grooves and ridges on the nutlets form another constant and significant character on which his classification is based. The generic name, Crataegus, is derived from kratos, the Greek word for strength, and refers to the hard, tough wood. The centre of distribution for the hawthorns is undoubtedly the eastern United States. From Newfoundland to Mexico they abound in great variety. A few species are found on the Pacific coast and in the Rocky Mountains. Europe and Asia have a few. It is remarkable that trees so conspicuous as these should until lately be so little known. Linnaeus named four American species. Professor Sargent described fourteen only in Vol. IV. of "The Silva of North America." In Vol. XIII., the supplement, issued in 1900, seventy-three species were added to those described in Vol. IV., bringing his total up to eighty-seven. In his '' Manual" published in 1905, Professor Sargent describes and gives rank as species to 128 hawthorns native to the United States. These are divided into eighteen groups by characters set forth in the key. I have chosen a typical species to illustrate each group, and added only such others as have distinction and horticultural promise. The fact that Professor Sargent knows this genus better than any- one else has been mxy reason for borrowing his key almost un- changed. The whole story of the hawthorns and their relationships can- not be told by any man now living. Nor can present knowledge The Hawthorns and opinion on the subject be considered as final. It takes time to test the stabiHty of species. Thousands of seeds have been collected from haws and planted in the nurseries of the Arnold Arboretum. Probably no such undertaking was ever projected and carried out. What is it all about? Take an example. A new kind of hawthorn was found growing wild on a hillside within the very gates of the Arboretum. It was evidently related to C. mollis, but was considered sufficiently distinct to deserve rank as a new species. Professor Sargent called it Cratcegus Arnoldiana. A keen-eyed scientist found the same species growing wild along the river banks at Medford, Massachusetts. Does it grow elsewhere? Nobody knows, yet. Seeds from both groups are growing in the nursery. They have shown their foliage. They will be set out in due time, and ultimately will produce flowers and fruit for comparison with the parent trees. If they are alike and ''true to type," the inference is that the species is distinct — set off by clear-cut characters from its near relatives. If, on the other hand, these seedling trees closely resemble C. mol- lis, rather than their own parents, the variability is evidence against their deserving a distinct name and a place among species. Their seeds must be planted, and seedling trees brought to bearing. What will their testimony be? How will they compare with their parents and grandparents? It takes years of careful study to find out these things. Accu- rate records must be kept; each tree has its pedigree and biography written in full in the card catalogue, and a prophecy of its value in cultivation. Perhaps there are not so many species as are now described. One student of the genus thinks that the virgin forests kept hawthorns suppressed. The clearing of the land gave them a chance. The multitude of forms now seen, he thinks may be seminal variations, due to the more favourable auspices under which the seedling trees now grow. Until recent years, nobody was making observations on the subject. Now, in many regions, this scientific study is being carried on — independently or in con- junction with Professor Sargent. The outcome will be a large body of knowledge regarding the genus. The horticulturist is beginning to realise the value of the hawthorns. The showy flowers and fruits, the vivid colouring of autumn foliage, and the striking character expressed in winter 304 Copyright, 1905, by Doubleday, Page & Company SCARLET HAW {Cratcegus coccinea) The Hawthorns by the rigid branches and their menacing thorns, give most of these Httle trees attractiveness at all seasons. Many species are handsome and effective as hedge plants. Fine individual trees for lawn planting are furnished by others. Hawthorns are quick to grow in any soil and situation, and they show the most remarkable improvement when encouraged by tillage and a little fertilising. They do well in heavy clay. They are trans- planted easily when young, from the wild; but having tap roots are hard to dig, and less sure to survive transplanting when older. They come readily from seed, though as a rule requiring two years to germinate. I. Crus-galli Cockspur Thorn (Crataegus Crus-gallt, Linn.) — A small, handsome tree, 15 to 25 feet high, with stiff branches in a broad, round head. Thorns axillary, stout, often curved, brown or grey, 3 to 4 inches long, often becoming 6 to 8 inches long and branched when old. Bark grey or brown, scaly, branchlets smooth, green, becoming brown, then grey. JVood brownish red, close grained, hard, heavy, takes satiny polish. Buds small, scaly, brownish red. Leaves thick, leathery, lustrous, dark green above, paler beneath, i to 4 inches long, obovate; acute or rounded and serrate at apex; entire below middle and tapering to the stout petiole; veins netted; stipules paired, strap shaped, or obliquely ovate, falling early. Autumn colours orange and scarlet. Flowers, May to June, after leaves, in racemose corymbs, loose, many-flowered, with smooth stems, blossoms spreading, white, I inch across; sepals and petals 5; stamens 10, with rose- coloured anthers; styles usually 2. Fruit, October, remain till spring, almost globular, ^ inch long, dull red, with dry, thin, mealy flesh; calyx lobes dry and spreading at apex; nutlets 2, deeply grooved on back. Preferred habitat, rich soil of low hill slopes. Distribution, Montreal region to southern Michigan; south to Delaware and Pennsylvania; along Appalachian foot- hills into North Carolina. Uses: Cultivated as an ornamental and in hedges in Europe and America. Wood used for tool han- dles, levers, etc. Wherever a cockspur thorn is planted, in open lawn with elbow room, or in a crowded shrubbery border, it keeps its char- acter, and gives the passerby a distinct impression of something 305 The Hawthorns new and different. It is like an interjectioii met in the even swing of a long sentence. There are vigour and strength expressed at any age by the tree's rigid, zigzag branches, armed with long, sharp spurs. The thorns strike downward, as a rule, on horizontal branches. The leaves stand up *'on tiptoe," as if to keep out of the way. Indeed, they might be taken for weapons themselves, they are so thin, and keen edged, and shining. From the ground up, on young trees, the bark is bright and polished, varying from red to brown and grey. The flowers are late, coming out in showy clusters when the full-grown leaves make a lustrous background. The fruits make little show until ripe, for the leaves are rarely touched by fungous or insect injuries, and in the fall, when the fruit begins to flush, the foliage takes on the colours of flame. The dull red clusters glow with a subdued warmth on the branches all winter. The birds let them alone. So all year long the cockspur is a beautiful ornamental tree, and a competent and popular hedge plant. It is the favourite American thorn in Europe and at home, known for two centuries, and named by Linnaeus, one of the proud old "first families'* of the genus Crataegus. Cratcegus Mohri, Beadl., is a slender thorn tree, close of kin to the other cockspurs, as we recognise by its shining leaves, slender spines and thin-fleshed fruits, with nutlets deeply grooved on the back. It belongs to the group of cockspur thorns whose flowers and fruits are borne on pubescent pedicels. There are twenty stamens, with yellow anthers, set in three rows. This straight thorn tree has spreading and rather pendulous limbs, and short, shiny, brown spines. Its range centres in Alabama, whence it extends into Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. Its favourite situations are moist, level wood- lands. It promises to be for the South what C. Crus-galU is in the Northeastern States — a handsome, useful ornamental and hedge tree. II. PuNCTATyt Dotted Haw (Cratcegus punctata, Jacq.) — A broad, round- headed tree, 20 to ^o feet high, with horizontal branches, and 306 I Leaf, under side 5 Seeds from one fruit s Leaf upper side 3 Fruit 4 Fruit cut to show seeds THE COCKSPUR THORN {Cratagus Crus-galli) Copious white bloom conceals the leaves in early June. The thorns are slender and strong, becoming 6 to 8 inches long and branched on old limbs. The leaves are leathery and polished, narrowl- obovate, i to 4 inches long THE RED HAW (Cratagus mollis) The large red haws, which ripen in early September, are fuzzy around the base of the incurving calyx tips. The fruit stems and leaf linings are pubescent. In spring the new growth is thickly coated with white hairs ■>>, TfW^'' THE DOTTED HAW {Cratcegus punctata) The pale dots on the fruit give this tree its name. The grey- green leaves taper narrowly to the petioles. The prominent, depressed veins and the long, straight spines are shown in the upper plate THE SCARLET HAW {Crataegus pruinosa) The lower right-hand picture shows the broad-based leaf with its lobed margin and the short, stout spines. The leaves are blue-green, and the unripe fruit has a hoarj bloom upon it The Hawthorns rigid twigs. Thorns straight, slim, 2 to 3 inches long, brown or grey. Bark thin, dark brownish red, in long, plate-like scales, branches brown to pale grey; twigs pubescent at first, soofa becoming smooth. IVood red-brown, hard, close-textured. Buds plump, small, scaly, shiny. Leaves obovate, acute or obtuse at apex, 2 to 3 inches long, narrowed to short petiole; sharply serrate, sometimes lobed, entire toward base; pubescent at first, smooth at maturity, except on veins below, leathery, grey-green, orange and scarlet in autumn, yeins prominent, depressed above. Floweis, May, when leaves are half grown, in thick, flat, many-flowered corymbs on pale tomentose stems; calyx hairy, corollas spreading, white, i to f inch across, stamens 20, with rose-coloured or yellow anthers, styles 2 to 5, hairy at base. Fruit falls in October, short-oblong to sub-globose, ^ to i inch long, yellow or red; marked by white dots; flesh thin, dry; calyx lobes flattened; nutlets 5, ridged on back. Preferred habitat, rich, moist upland soil. Farm thickets. Distribution, Quebec to Detroit; western New England, along mountains to northern Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina; west to Ohio and Illinois. Uses: Valuable ornamental hawthorn. The large, pale dots on the fruit of this haw give it its name, punctata. Very strangely, some trees produce yellow fruit, and have flowers with yellow anthers; while red is the rule in both anthers and fruit. The dotted haw is a handsome, long-thorned tree, with obovate, strongly veined leaves, whose colour in autumn is like fire. The fruit is brilliant, too, hanging in full clusters long after the leaves drop. Cratcegus collina, Chapm., which resembles C. punctata and C. Crus'galli in habit, has yellow-green foliage, and the dull red fruits are flattened globes, containing five grooved and ridged nutlets. Sometimes the branches are set with formidable, branched thorns, 6 inches long. It is quite common for the trunk to be corrugated and buttressed at the base. This tree grows along the foothills from West Virginia to central Georgia, and west half way across Tennessee and Alabama. It reaches an altitude of 2,500 feet. It is an early species, bloom- ing in April when the leaves are scarcely opening, and ripening its fruit in September. The flesh is yellow and thin, mealy and insipid. i 307 The Hawthorns III. /ESTI VALES May, or Apple Haw (C cestivalis, T. & G.) — A round- headed, compact tree, with stout trunk, 20 to 30 feet high. Thorns I to i^ inches long, stout, sharp; often absent. Bark thin, fissured and broken into plate-hke scales, dark reddish brown. Twigs rufous pubescent, soon becoming smooth and grey or brown. Wood heavy, Close grained, light brown, weak. Buds plump, small, scaly, brown. Leaves elliptical, irregularly wavy-toothed and serrate above the middle, entire and tapering to pubescent petiole; i^ to 2 inches long, dark green, leathery shining above, with rusty hairs on veins beneath. Flowers with the leaves in February or early March, 2 to 5 in simple corymbs, corolla i inch across, white; calyx tips ruddy; stamens 20 to 25, anthers large dark rose. Fruit, May, i to 3 in cluster, flattened globes, fragrant, pleasantly sub-acid, juicy, thick fleshed, calyx lobes large, curved back; nutlets 3 to 5, with deep grooves and ridges on back. Pre- ferred habitat, moist, sandy soil. Distribution, Florida to Texas and Arkansas. Uses: Handsome tree for ornamental plantingo Fruit sold in Louisiana markets, and made into preserves and jellies. IV. ViRIDES Haw (C viridis, Linn.) — A round-headed tree, 20 to 35 feet, with tall, often fluted trunk, and spreading branches. Thorns slim, pale, under i inch long; usually wanting. Bark brown, ashy grey or orange, checked into plate-like scales. Leaves ovate or obovate, acute at apex and base, serrate and lobed above middle, usually entire below; dark green, lustrous above, pale and dull beneath, scarlet in autumn; veins strong; petioles slender. Flowers, March to May, with leaves, in smooth corymbs, white, f inch across, stamens 20, anthers yellow, styles 5. Fruit bright scarlet in pendant clusters, flattened globose, pea-size, thin, dry flesh; nutlets 5, scarcely ridged. Preferred habitat, low ground along streams. Distribution, Savannah River to western Florida, through Gulf States to eastern Texas; north to St. Louis; forms thickets in Louisiana. Uses: Valuable ornamental tree, for the brilliance of its autumn foliage and winter fruits. The trunk of this species attracts attention, sometimes by its form, always by its colour. Its vivid fruit hangs throughout the 308 THE SCARLET HAW {Crataegus Arnoldiana) This tree is vigorous in habit; its new growth is downy. Even the ripe fruits are velvety. The flowers come out »Ji May after the broad, ovate leaves are spread THE PARSLEY HAW {Crataegus apiijoUa) The deeply cut leaves distinguish this tree The Hawthorns winter, making up in quantity what it lacks in size. Rare in the East and North, yet it is hardy in the Arnold Arboretum. V. Pruinos/E Scarlet Haw (C. pruinosa, K. Koch.) — Small tree, 15 to 20 feet high, spreading irregular head of horizontal limbs. Thorns numerous, stout, straight, i to \h inches long. Bark grey, thin, in loose scales. Wood hard, heavy, close grained. Buds small, blunt, scaly. Leaves ovate or elliptical, acute, lobed and serrate, except on entire base; dark blue-green, smooth, leathery, paler beneath; i to ij inches long, on slender petioles; autumn colour orange. Flowers, May, white, i inch broad, in few-flowered corymbs, stems long smooth; stamens 20, with long, rose-coloured anthers; styles 5, tufted. Fruit sub-globose, i to | inch in diameter, with erect calyx, green with hoary bloom until ripe, then purplish red and lustrous with pale dots. Nutlets 5, deeply ridged, enclosed in dry, thick flesh. Preferred habitat, limestone soil of slopes. Distribution, Vermont to southern slopes of Appa- lachian Mountains; west to Illinois and Missouri. Uses: Valuable ornamental tree over wide territory. There is a pale bloom on the green fruit of this tree, which wears off at length, and the skin becomes shiny and dark, purplish red. The leaves, too, have a bluish green cast through the summer, but turn to orange at last. This is one of the handsome native thorn trees, a long time confused with C. coccinea, VI. Tenuifoliv^ Haw (C. apiomorpha, Sarg.) — A pyramidal tree, 10 to 25 feet high, with short trunk. Thorns short, straight, slender, grey, i to i^ inches long. Bark dark grey, cracking into plates which show yellow under /ayer. Leaves oblong-ovate, pointed at apex, serrate almost to petiole, irregularly lobed above middle, thick, leathery, lustrous, blue-green, paler beneath, membrana- ceous and hairy when opening, ij to 2| inches long, petioles slender. Flowers, May, in many-flowered corymbs, with hairy stems, small, white, stamens 5, anthers pink, styles 3 to 5, tufted. Fruits, September, in drooping clusters of 3 to 5 ; pea size, obovate, bright, red-purple; calyx large, spreading, deciduous, flesh thin. 309 The Hawthorns acid, succulent; nutlets 3 to 5, with one low ridge on back. Pre- ferred habitat, dry borders of woodlands. Distribution, near Chicago. VII. MOLLES Red Haw (C mollis, Scheele.) — A tree 25 to 40 feet high, tall trunk; round head, branchlets stout. Thorns stout, brown, I to 2 inches long, shining. Bark grey to brown, thin, in plate- like scales; branches ashy grey; twigs coated with pale hairs. IVood hard, heavy, brown. Buds small, blunt. Leaves thick, firm, rough above, dark yellow-green, 3 to 4 inches long, broadly ovate, acute, serrate, with 4 to 5 pairs of pointed lobes above middle; base entire; lining, pale, pubescent; petioles slender, hairy, stipules leaf-like, toothed on vigorous shoots. Flowers, May, I inch across, in hairy, many-flowered corymbs, with prominent bracts; disc, red, calyx hoary, red-tipped, stamens 20, with pale yellow anthers, styles 4 to 5. Fruits, August and Sep- tember, few in a cluster, drooping, scarlet, downy, globular, or nearly so, f to i inch in diameter, marked with dark dots; calyx lobes large, erect, falling as fruit ripens, nutlets 4 to 5, faintly ridged, in thick, mealy yellow flesh. Preferred habitat, rich bottom lands. Distribution, Ohio to Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. This red haw is the type of a large group containing a dozen related species. Ample in size, fme in form and colouring, there is but one fault the landscape gardener can fmd. The red fruits fall early in the autumn. Scarlet Haw (C Arnoldiana, Sarg.) — A broad, open- headed tree, 15 to 20 feet high, with ascending branches and slender, zigzag, orange-brown branchlets, downy at first. Thorns stout, shining, brown, 2 to 3 inches long. Bark dark grey, with thick scales on trunk; branches pale grey, smooth. Leaves broadly ovate, with shallow lobes, sharply serrate almost to petiole; covered at first with matted white hairs, at maturity lustrous, dark green above, paler beneath and smooth except on slender veins, 2 to 3 inches long and the same broad; petioles f to I J inches long. Flowers, May, in broad, compound corymbs; stems velvety; corolla J inch across; stamens 10, anthers pale yellow, large; styles 3 to 4, densely tufted. Fruit, August, September, soon falling, few in a cluster, erect, nearly globular. 310 The Hawthorns bright crimson, } inch long, velvety, with large, pale dots; flesh thick, juicy, pleasantly acid; nutlets 3 to 4, ridged. Preferred habitat, dry banks. Distribution, Arnold Arboretum in Boston, and Medford, Massachusetts. The discovery of this handsome hawthorn, not long ago, growing wild within the gates of the Arnold Arboretum, was an event of considerable importance to horticulture; for this tree, laden with its large crimson fruit in August, is a wondrous sight. Added to their beauty, these fruits are juicy, and have a pleasant piquant flavour, for which they deserve especial mention. In winter, the tree may be known by the remarkable zigzag of its ascending branches. In habit and foliage it is thrifty and handsome. The fruit ripens and begins to fall in August, but a goodly quantity remains to brighten the fading leaves well on into October. The tree has been found growing wild near Medford, Massa- chusetts, and is now often seen in cultivation about Boston. Red Haw (C submollis, Sarg.) — ^Tree 20 to 25 feet high, with round, handsome head, branchlets slender. Thorns slender, curved, brown, shining, 2 to 3 inches long. Bark pale greyish brown, scaly; twigs, tomentose, branches orange brown. Leaves ovate, acute, with doubly serrate, pointed lobes above middle; base cuneate, serrate, becoming entire near slender, downy petiole; 2 J to 3 J inches long, almost as wide, pubescent at first, becoming smooth, except on veins beneath, and rough above. Flowers, May, in compound, pubescent corymbs, white, i inch across, with 10 stamens, anthers pale yellow, styles 3 to 5, tufted at base. Fruits ripe and falling in early September; in slender, copious clusters, lustrous orange red, pear shaped, with pale dots, f inch long, with prominent, erect calyx lobes; pedicels slender, velvety; nutlets 5, slightly ridged, in thin, mealy flesh. Preferred habitat, rich soil of woodland borders. Distribution, Quebec to Penobscot Valley in Maine; to eastern Massachusetts; also near Albany, New York. This Eastern species was long considered identical with the preceding one. It is now distinguished by well-defmed characters. It is not so densely downy as C. mollis. The leaves are smaller, more deeply lobed, and usually wedge shaped at base. The fruits are smaller and pear shaped. The branchlets are orange 311 The Hawthorns brown. The flowers have ten stamens; C. mollis has twenty, C suhmollis is one of the showiest and best species for ornamental purposes. Scarlet Haw (C Ellwangeriana, Sarg.) — A handsome tree, lo to 20 feet high, with ascending branches, forming a round head. Thorns i^ to 2 inches long, stout; tree often unarmed. Bark light grey, scaly; twigs green, with pale hairs. Leaves oval, acute, sharply serrate almost to base, with 4 to 5 acute lobes, rough above, paler beneath, light green, thin, 2^ to 3^ inches long; petioles pubescent, slender; veins strong. Flowers, May, in velvety-stemmed corymbs; calyx, hairy, with stalked glands; corollas i inch across, white; stamens 8 to 10; anthers small, rose coloured. Fruits ripe and falHng in September, on smooth stems, oblong, bright crimson, shining, i inch long, f inch wide, flesh thin, sour, juicy; nutlets 3 to 5, ridged. Preferred habitat, rich woodland soil. Distribution, about Rochester, New York. Uses: A handsome ornamental tree. The preceding species is worthily named in honour of the founder of the Arboretum. Another distinguished patron of horticulture and forestry, George Ellwanger, is remembered in the name of this species. A single tree which stands in the Mount Hope Nurseries of Ellwanger & Barry, at Rochester, New York, has been for years the wonder and admiration of visitors and the pride of its owners. In the woods about Rochester this species is quite common. It is counted by Professor Sargent "one of the largest and most beautiful hawthorns in the Northern States." VI II. Flabellat/e Red Haw (C. Holmesiana, Ashe.) — Tall tree, 20 to 30 feet high, with stout ascending branches; head irregular and open, or compact. Thorns thick, i^ to 2 inches long, scattered far apart. Bark grey or nearly white, scaly. Leaves oval or ovate, acute or acuminate, sharply lobed and doubly serrate; thick and firm, nearly smooth, distinctly yellow-green at maturity, ij to 2 inches long, with strong midribs and long petioles. Flowers, May, cup shaped, i to f inch across, in loose corymbs; stamens 5 to 8, anthers large, deep reddish purple. Fruits September, falling soon, crimson, oblong, i to § inch long, with reddish, incurved calyx lobes; nutlets 3, distinctly ridged, flesh mealy, acid, dis- 312 THE SCARLET HAW {CratcEgus coccima) This is one of the old, well-known, ornamental thorns which flowers copiously in early May and ripens its large red fruits in late August. Unfor- tunately, tfecj- soon fall THE RED HAW {Crataegus mollis) This handsome thorn tree is hoary in spring with white, matted hairs upon its new shoots. One flower cluster is shown below. Each flower has 20 pale yellow stamens ■Jo XI 4-» ^ _o o o X 'kJ ;s >. CO u. !5- c O < c X 1> w "Zj ~^ K -T3 r~* H rt O H The Hawthorns agreeable. Preferred habitat, rich, moist hillsides. Distribution, Montreal to southern Ontario; coast of Maine, central and western Massachusetts, Rhode Island, western New York, eastern Pennsyl- vania. Largest in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Uses: Handsome tree for ornamental planting. This is the largest hawthorn in eastern New England. Its scaly bark is often almost white. Its leaves are more distinctly yellow than green — greenish yellow, to speak accurately. The lustrous crimson fruit makes a gorgeous autumn contrast with bark and foliage. Scattered over pasture land, these lusty young trees are cropped by cattle, which manage to avoid the infrequent thorns. By degrees, the girth of the tree widens, in spite of the pruning thus administered. The terminal shoot finally rises above the reach of any yearning tongue. It branches, and lifts above the dome-like basal part a flourishing top that grows loose and free in striking contrast to the compact close-clipped base. Many of these pasture trees have this hour-glass form. IX. DiLATATit Red Haw (C coccinioides, Ashe.) — A tree lo to 25 feet high, with broad dome of stout, spreading branches. Thorns 14 to 2 inches long, straight, stout, purplish red. Bark dark brown, scaly; branches light grey. Leaves broadly ovate, acute, sharply serrate, with deep pointed lateral lobes, 2 to 3 inches long, lustrous yellow-green, at first; becoming dull, dark green later; thin, turning to orange and bright red in fall; petioles bright red, f to I inch long. Flowers, May, in compact corymbs, with prom- inent, serrate bracts, with red glands; corolla \\ inches across; stamens 20, anthers large, rose colour; styles 5. Fruits, October, falling gradually; clusters erect; haws globose, flattened at ends, lustrous, dark red, with pale dots; calyx conspicuous, red at base; flesh thick, reddish, pleasantly acid; nutlets 5, small, slightly ridged on back. Preferred habitat, dry woods. Distribution, St. Louis, Missouri, to eastern Kansas. Uses: Desirable orna- mental thorn tree. The very large leaves of this tree obscure the compact fruit clusters, and its ornamental character is not so obvious until the leaves turn. I recall one tree, a fine, lusty specimen, loaded with. The Hawthorns fruit in late September. There was a cockspur on one side, an Arnoldiana on the other. Both were bidding high for attention, one with its crimson fruits, the other with its splendid foliage and flashing thorns. A flush of rose pink covered the middle tree, the fruits turning to red. There was more delicacy of colouring and moderation here, which made the two trees alongside seem rather common and gaudy by contrast. Sometimes soft colours appeal strongly as a relief from more vivid ones. Out of this period the tree passes to its flaming October garb, in the midst of which the shining fruits are a dark crimson, and even the twigs and spines burn red or purple. X. CocciNE^ Scarlet Haw (C. coccinea, Linn.) — A shrubby round tree, I o to 20 feet high, with short trunk, and stout, ascending branches. Thorns stout, shining, i to i^ inches long, brown. Bark dark red-brown, scaly; branches grey. Leaves elliptical or obovate, acute at both ends, serrate and acutely lobed on sides; 2\ to 3 inches long; veins prominent; petioles i inch long, tinged with red. Flowers, May or June, in broad corymbs with downy stems; corollas i to f inch across; stamens lo, anthers small, yellow. Fruit, October, falling soon; sub-globose to oblong, J inch in diameter, deep crimson, with dark dots; calyx red, spreading; flesh sweet, dry, thin; nutlets 3 to 4, distinctly ridged on back. Preferred Habitat, well-drained soil, along low hills and banks of salt marshes. Distribution, Newfoundland to Connecticut, along the shore, and along St. Lawrence to western Quebec. Var. rotundifolia, a shrub. New England into Pennsylvania. This scarlet thorn, the one that Linnaeus named, has very uncertain botanical and geographical limits. Those forms found west of Quebec are now excluded, and many that were counted mere varietal forms are now promoted to specific rank. These changes in classification are the result of recent studies of the genus in various regions. The true coccinea is one of the old well-known ornamental thorns, a favourite in the Northeastern States. XL Intricat/e Haw (C. Boyntoni, Beadl.) — Narrow or round-headed tree, 15 to 20 feet high, with tall, straight trunk, often a many-stemmed 314 The Hawthorns shrub. Thorns numerous, slender, straight, i^ to 2 inches long, sometimes branched when old. Bark grey, often brownish, scaly. Leaves broadly ovate, acute, irregularly lobed, finely serrate, thin, firm, yellow-green at maturity; smooth, i to 2^ inches long; petioles stout, short, with red glands. Flowers, May, in 4 to lo-flowered corymbs, smooth, corrollas f inch across, stamens 10, anthers pale yellow; styles 3 to 5, tufted. Fruit ripe and falling in October, in erect clusters of 2 to 4; each a flattened globe, rusty reddish green, with dark dots, i inch in diameter; calyx spreading, falling off before fruit ripens; flesh thin; nutlets 3 to 5, distinctly ridged. Preferred habitat, stream borders and uplands. Distribution, Appalachian foothills, to 3,000 feet elevation; southern Virginia and southeastern Kentucky to northern Geoigia and Alabama. XII. PULCHERRIM.€ Haw (C. opima, Beadl.) — Small tree 20 to 25 feet high, with open, oval head, above a slender, spiny trunk. Thorns slender, straight, shining, i to ij inches long. Bark nearly black at base; ashy grey on limbs. Leaves ovate, acute, sharply saw-toothed, lobed above middle, thin, firm, pale beneath. Flowers, few in clusters § inch across, stamens 20, anthers purple. Fruit in October, persistent, small, few, bright red, mealy. Preferred habitat, clay soil in woods. Distribution, about Greenville, Alabama. XIII. Bracteat^ Haw (C. Ashei, Beadl.) — Tree 15 to 20 feet high, with pyra- midal head. Thorns slender, i to i^ inches long. Bark scaly, grey or brown. Leaves broadly ovate to obovate, about 2 inches long, finely serrate, blunt at apex, tapering to base. Flowers in May, 3 to 10 in cluster on hairy stems, | inch across, stamens 20, anthers yellow. Fruit, October, bright red, i inch long, dotted, thick fleshed. Preferred habitat, clay soil of fallow land. Distribu- tion, near Montgomery, Alabama. XIV. Flav.^ Haw (C. aprica, Beadl.) — ^Tree 15 to 20 feet high, or many- stemmed shrub. Thorns straight, slender, chestnut brown, The Hawthorns I to i^ inches long. Bark dark grey, deeply furrowed, with plate-like scales; branchlets brown to ashy grey. Leaves obovate or rhomboidal, acute or rounded, serrate, often faintly lobed at apex, entire at tapering base; thick, shiny, dark yellow-green at maturity, paler beneath, i^ to 2 inches long and wide; petioles short, winged. Flowers, May, 3 to 6 in corymbs, velvety stems, corollas j inch across, stamens 10, anthers yellow. Fruit late to ripen, 2 to 3 in cluster, 4 inch in diameter, slightly flattened, dull orange red; calyx spreading, red tinged at base; flesh juicy, yellow, sweet; nutlets 3 to 5, ridged. Preferred habitat, dry woods of foothills. Distribution, southwestern Virginia, through western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, northern Georgia and Alabama. Common at 1,500 to 3,000 feet above sea level. Its contorted branches and dark, furrowed bark give this tree a picturesque appearance that matches well the wild, broken foothills it covers in thickets of considerable extent. Inured to high altitudes and exposed situations, yet it grows thriftily in the Arboretum at Boston. It is a striking tree in late autumn, when its leaves turn to purple, and the twigs are illuminated by the thickly clustered, orange-red fruit. XV. MlCROCARP.^ Parsley Haw (C. apiifolia, Michx.) — Tree 15 to 20 feet, with horizontal, zigzag, twisted branches, forming irregular, wide, open head. Thorns stout, straight, brown, i to ij inches long. IVood hard, heavy, reddish brown, with satiny lustre. Leaves broadly ovate to round, with 5 to 7 lobes, separated by deep sinuses, and sharply toothed margins to the broad, entire base; bright green, smooth above, ijto 2 inches long; petioles slender, long. ' Flowers, March to April, J inch long, in hairy, dense corymbs; stamens 20, anthers bright rose colour, styles i to 3. Fruits, October, persistent for several weeks, oblong, J to J inch long, scarlet; nutlets i to 3, grooved. Preferred habitat, stream borders, hummocks in pine barrens and swamp margins. Dis- tribution, coast region from Virginia to Florida; westward to Arkansas and Texas. Uses: One of the finest and most abundant hawthorns in the valley of the Mississippi. Its graceful, parsley- like leaves at once distinguish it from other species. The flowers and fruit are small, but abundant and very handsome. 316 The Hawthorns ^Vashington Thorn (C. cordata, Ait.) — Vigorous tree, compact, 25 to 40 feet high. Thorns numerous, slender, i to 2 inches long. Leaves triangular, i to 3 inches long, with 3 to 7 acute lobes, serrate, cordate at base, thin, shining, vivid red in autumn; petioles slender, long. Flowers, May, many m corymb, J inch across, styles 5, stamens 20, anthers. Fruits, September, small, flat, scarlet, shining, hanging late into winter. Preferred habitat, moist woods. DtstrihiUion, Virginia to Alabama, to Illinois. Uses: A desirable ornamental and hedge thorn. This species comes nearer than any of its relatives to the typical heart-shaped leaf, hence its Latin name. As the upper course of the Potomac River is the northernmost limit of its natural range, we may guess that it takes its common name from the capital city. Very early, the Virginians sent the seed of this thorn to friends at home, so that it has long adorned European gardens. In the colonies, it was extensively planted for hedges. It proved hardy in all the Middle States, and is now naturalised by escape from old hedges in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The compact habit of the tree, and the great multitude of its slender spines make it useful as a hedge plant. Besides, it is thrifty and grows rapidly. The flowers and berries make up in numbers for their small size. When the bright green foliage turns to vivid reds in the fail, the tree has already been conspicuous for some weeks by its coral red berries, which persist often till spring. XVL Brachyacanth/e Hog's Haw, Pomette Bleue (C. brachyacantha, Sarg. & Engelm.) — Tree 40 to 50 feet high, trunk 18 to 20 inches in diameter, with handsome, compact head, of stout grey branches. Thorns numerous, short, stout, curved, J to | inch long. Bark dark brown, deeply furrowed, scaly. Leaves lanceolate to rhom- boidal, acute, serrate, sometimes distinctly lobed above middle, dark green, lustrous, firm, i to 2 inches long, on short petioles; stipules triangular, often i inch long. Flowerr,, May, J inch across, in compound corymbs; petals orange colour as they fade; stamens 15 to 20. Fruits, August, falling soon, flattened globes, \ to i inch in diameter, bright blue, with pale bloom; flesh thin; nutlets 3 to 5, faintly grooved on back. Preferred habitat, rich, moist 31? The Hawthorns soil of stream borders. Distribution, southern Arkansas to western Louisiana, and to the Sabine River valley in Texas. Uses: Handsome ornamental in south temperate regions; not hardy in Massachusetts. This is the only blue-fruited haw in the world. This unique character alone must commend it to planters. The stout, curving thorns, the lustrous foliage, the abundant flowers, and the large blue fruit — all make this one of the best ornamental species. On the wet prairies of western Louisiana, this tree forms dense thickets which are quite the dominating feature of the woods. XVI L TOMENTOS/^ Pear Haw (C. tomentosa, Linn.) — A tree 15 to 20 feet high, forming a flat, wide head. Thorns scattered, slim, straight, i to i^ inches long; or wanting. Bark dark brown, furrowed; branches grey, twigs hoary tomentose, becoming dark orange colour. Leaves ovate, acute at apex and base, 2 to 5 inches long, shallowly lobed and coarsely serrate, thin, firm, grey-green, persistently tomentose below; petioles stout, winged; veins prominent; autumn colour orange and scarlet. Flowers, March to June, J inch across, in broad, downy corymbs, ill-scented; stamens 20, anthers rose or yellow. Fruits, October, in erect, many-fruited clusters, persisting all winter, dull orange red, translucent, pear shaped, t inch in diameter; flesh thick, sweet, juicy; nutlets 2 to 3, ridged on back; grooved on ventral face. Preferred habitat, low, rich soil. Distribution, Troy, New York, to eastern Pennsylvania, central Tennessee and northern Georgia; west to southern Minnesota and south to southeastern Kansas. Uses: Valuable ornamental for its brilliant autumnal colours and persistent fruits. This is one of the most widely distributed of our native haws. It is cultivated to some extent, but not as it deserves. With the development of horticulture, it will get recognition from nurserymen and from the tree-planting fraternity in general. Long-spine Haw (C. macracantha, Koehne.) — Tree 10 to 15 feet high, or spreading shrub. Thorns numerous, curved, slender, 2\ to 4 inches long, shining. Bark pale, close textured; branchlets reddish, lustrous. Leaves oval or obovate, 2 to 3 inches long, I to 2 inches wide, acute at both ends, shallowly lobed, and 318 3 0/1 B 3 C ^ O *" § 8 O <^ -^ ^ C ex, bit P •I O H O H O :z; < W H J3 H o >*^ in ™ a. ui ' a "s 2 u -S Wi -G iJ ^~ u C3 U (« "^ c -o ^ ^ •- '- 1-1 "S 4; ca .t^ U m *-' "5 HbC *■> J3 '^j't^ayaa)- %Ji*, ■JSHKit rte:'^SBm.\» nr' W^ffi^yj--"!- -'1^ '-',1 -^ V; —, ■r^y-^V-^'--, ■■:v < < < 0.-C O <_, -O to <^ «J c ^ ^ Si • -n — -^ O C • — O '-M C . , c ^ o 3 (U t; -^ w .t: nj O V (_) fi O CO O s-^ s O 1, o -C > ^ •^ c« -^ 3-^ >. o S^ on > rs The Hawthorns sharply serrate; dark green, often red when opening, leathery, lustrous in late summer; petioles short, red, stout. Flowers, May, J inch across, in compound, velvety corymbs; stamens lo, anthers yellow. Fruits, September, falling before winter, in erect clusters, globular, pea size, hairy at tips, till ripe, then lustrous, crimson; flesh dry; nutlets 2 to 3, ridged on back, with irregular depressions on face. Preferred habitat, rich, uplands; limestone soil. Distribution, from Montreal region through New England south to eastern Pennsylvania; westward to northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Uses: For ornamental planting. Its many very long thorns make this a strikingly ornamental tree. The leaves are handsome, and the fruits though small are blood red and conspicuous. XVIII. DOUGLASIAN/E Black Haw (C Douglasii, Lindl.) — Round-headed tree, 30 to 40 feet high, or many-stemmed shrub, with slender, stiff twigs. Thorns stout, acute, J to i inch long, red, becoming grey. Bark red-brown in oblong, scaly plates. IVood hard, tough, heavy, rose coloured, with satiny grain. Buds blunt, J inch long, scaly, shining, brown. Leaves obovate to oblong-ovate, acute, finely serrate, on irregular incised lobes; occasionally with two deep sinuses nearly cutting the blade in two; base tapering to short, stout petiole; smooth, dark green, leathery, paler beneath; I to 4 inches long. Flowers, May, J to J inch across, in leafy cymes; stamens 20, anthers pale, small; styles 2 to 5, short. Fruits black, ripe in August to September, soon falling, globose or oblong, in many-fruited clusters, lustrous, J inch long; flesh thin, sweet; nutlets slightly grooved on back and front. Pre- ferred habitat, moist soil of coast and stream borders. Distribution, coast of Puget Sound, Oregon, and California; east on mountains to Montana and Idaho, and south to Colorado and New Mexico. Occurs also in the upper peninsula of Michigan. This black-fruited thorn tree of the West has been successfully introduced into cultivation in the Eastern States, and proves hardy along the Atlantic seaboard to Nova Scotia. It is well worth cultivating wherever it will grow. The English Hawthorn (C. Oxyacantha, Linn.) is the best known Crataegus in the world. I grows wild in Asia and Europe, The Hawthorns and when it first came into cultivation no man knows. English- men will tell you it has always formed the hedgerows of their snug little island, and the sweetness of the blossoms will be one of the last things to fade from the exile's memory. Snowy white, and pink and rose coloured, the "blossoming May" turns the whole countryside into a garden, with linnets and skylarks filling the fields and lanes with music. "Oh! to be in England, now that April's there!" Browning's poetry is sometimes obscure, but here is a line that needs no explanatory note for any of his countrymen. The leaf of the English hawthorn is deeply cut, like our parsley haw, in the type species. But this species we shall rarely see. It has been so long in cultivation that the improved horticultural varieties are legion. These are much in evidence in American gardens, where they are usually grown as single specimens, for their showy flowers and coral-red fruits. 320 CHAPTER XXXIX: THE PLUMS AND THE CHERRIES Family RosACEy^ Genus PRUNUS, B. & H. Trees with bitter, astringent sap, containing hydrocyanic acid. Leaves simple, alternate, generally serrate. Flowers in clusters, perfect, white, with parts distinct. Fruit a fleshy, I -seeded drupe, with smooth skin and stone. KEY TO SPECIES Ac Flowers axillary, in sessile umbels; fruit with oval, flattened stone. Plums B. Fruit red or yellow, without bloom. C. Leaves broadly elliptical, taper pointed, dull green, thick; twigs thorny. D. Petioles bearing 2 glands near base of leaf; pit much compressed. (P. nigra) Canada plum DD. Petioles without glands, pit thick. (P. Americana) wild red plum CC. Leaves broadly oval, finely serrate, leathery; pit grooved at back. {P. suhcordata) pacific plum CCC. Leaves lanceolate, thin, shining; petioles glandu- lar; pit thick. D. Twigs stout, stiff, usually thornless; leaves broad; fruit thick skinned. {P. horiulana) wild-goose plum DD. Twigs slender, supple, thorny; leaves narrow; fruit thin skinned. {P. angustifolia) chickasaw plum BB. Fruit blue or black, with pale bloom, small. C. Petioles not glandular at apex. D. Leaves lanceolate to ovate, long pointed. (P. Alleghaniensis) Alleghany sloe DD. Leaves oblong or obovate, blunt pointed. {P. umhellata) black sloe AA. Flowers axillary, in umbels; fruit small, red, shining, globular. Bird Cherries ^21 The Plums and the Cherries B. Leaves lanceolate, taper pointed; fruit sour. {P. P ennsylvanicd) wild red cherry BB. Leaves obovate, blunt pointed; fruit bitter. (P. emarginata) bitter cherry AAA. Flowers in terminal racemes; fruit globose. W^ild Cherries B. Trees small, blooming early; leaves broad, abruptly pointed. C. Fruit red, puckery; sap rank smelling. (P. Virginiana) choke cherry CC. Fruit purple, mild, edible. (P. demissa) western choke cherry BB. Trees large, blooming late, leaves oval to lanceolate, taper pointed; fruit black, sweetish. (P. serotina) wild black cherry AAAA. Flowers in lateral racemes; leaves persistent; fruit globular. Cherry Laurels B. Fruit thin fleshed, dry. C. Flowers in autumn; fruit brown. (P. sphcerocarpa) west-indian cherry CC. Flowers in spring; fruit black; leaves with entire margins. (P. Caroliniana) cherry laurel BB. Fruit thick fleshed, juicy; leaves ovate, entire, or obscurely spiny serrate. (P. integrijolia) entire-leaf cherry The genus Prunus includes trees with stone fruits, and has its representatives well distributed over the Northern Hemisphere. In its wild forms it is not as well known, perhaps, as in those varieties that horticulture has brought to high perfection and importance as fruit trees. There are over one hundred species, including many shrubby ones. Of this number about thirty occur in North America, only half of which assume tree form. All of these but the wild black cherry are small trees. Neverthe- less the wood of most of them is valuable, being close grained and durable. Their fruits furnish food and medicinal substances. Beside the cherries and plums of others countries, the peach, apricot and almond belong to this genus. Important flowering varieties of each are to be added to this list of valuable introduced stone fruits. THE PLUMS Wild Red, or Yellow Plum {Prunus Americana, Marsh.) — - A graceful little tree, 15 to 20 feet high, with thorny limbs. Bark 322 THE CANADA PLUM {Prunus nigra) Note the spurs and the broad, abruptly pointed leaves. The sour, hard-fleshed orange fruits have flattened pits. They are ripe in August n THE CANADA PLUM (Prunus nigra) The white, fragrant flowers open in early spring and turn pink in fading. The stiff zigzag branches beset with spiny stubs interlace, forming impenetrable thickets The Plums and the Cherries thick, grey. Leaves oval, taper pointed, sharply toothed. Flowers in April, before the leaves, in lateral umbels. Fruit globose, red or yellow, with pleasant taste, but covered with leathery, acid and puckery skin. Pit, with two sharp edges. Preferred habitat, moist woods and river banks. Distribution, New York to Texas and Colorado. Uses: Good stocks on which to graft less hardy varieties. Deserves planting as an ornamental, and cultivation to improve its fruit. In the woods that bordered the prairie watercourses were occasional open spaces, often swampy in times of high water. Here the wild plum took possession and spread into dense thickets. The timber land about was owned by farmers who lived on the prairies, but the plums belonged by common consent to the com- munity at large, just as did the nut trees and the wild grapes. In April these plum thickets were white with bloom. Bees hung over the nectar-laden blossoms, as if intoxicated. Indeed, the fragrance was so sweet it was overpowering; and in hot weather the nectar often fermented and turned sour before the petals fell. It was good luck if a brisk wind were blowing when plum blossoms opened, for experience had taught that " You need a breeze To help the bees To set a crop of plums." After the bloom, thoughts of plums were banished until the days grew shorter and the autumn haze settled on the woods. Then came a sharp frost one night, and everybody knew what the signal meant. ''Do you calculate to go a-plummin' this fall?" The question was quietly put in father's judicial tones, but it sent an electric thrill from head to toes of every youngster. Mother's reply sent an answering current, and the enthusiasm of the moment burst all bounds. ''Well, you'd better go this afternoon. I can spare the team and wagon, and I guess John is big enough to drive. There's no use in goin' at all if you can't go right off." So mother and the children rode out of the yard, she sitting with her young driver on the spring seat, the rest on boards laid across the wagon box behind. What a jouncing they got when the wheels struck a stone in a rut! But who cared for a trifle like that? John's reckless driving but brought nearer the goal of their heart's desire, 323 The Plums and the Cherries A lurid colour lightened the plum thicket as it came in sight. The yellow leaves were falling and the fruit glowed on the bending twigs. Close up the wagon is drawn; then all hands pile out, and the fun really begins. ''How large and sweet they are this year!" Mother knows how to avoid the puckery thick skin in eating plums. The youngsters try to chew two or three at once and their faces are drawn into knots. But they soon get used to that. Now the small folk with pails are sent to pick up ripe plums under the trees, and warned against eating too many. ''Remem- ber last year," says mother — and they remember. The larger boys spread strips of burlap and rag carpet under the fullest trees, in turn, and give their branches a good beating that showers the plums down. With difficulty the boys and girls make their way into the thicket; but torn jackets and aprons and scratched knuckles can be mended — such accidents are overlooked in the excitement of filling the grain sacks with the ripe fruit. How fine "plum butter" will taste on the bread and butter of the noon lunch when winter comes and school begins! (The Pennsyl- vanian's love for "spreads" on his bread leavened the West completely.) Other neighbours have come, and started in with a vim. It seems unreasonable to take any more. The bags are full, and there are some poured loose into the wagon box. Besides, everybody is tired, and John shouts that the hazel nuts are ripe on the other side of the log road. A great grapevine, loaded with purple clusters, claims mother's attention. There will probably be no better chance for grapes this fall, and the sun is still an hour high. John chops down the little tree that supports it, and the girls eagerly help to fill the pails with the fruit of the prostrate vine, while John goes back to command the hazel-nut brigade and see that no eager youngster strays too far. Mother's voice gives the final summons, and the children gather at the wagon, tired but regretful for the filled husks that they must leave behind on the hazel bushes. A loaded branch of the grapevine is cut off bodily, and lifted into the wagon. The team is hitched on, and the happy passengers in the wagon turn their faces homeward. Such was the poetry of pioneer life. Pleasures were simple 324 The Plums and the Cherries primitive, hearty — like the work — closely interlinked with the fight against starvation. There was nothing dull or uninteresting about either. The plums and grapes were sweetened with molasses made from sorghum cane. Each farmer grew a little strip, and one of them had a mill to which everyone hauled his cane to be ground "on the shares." Who will say that this "long sweet'nin'" was poor stuff, that the quality of the spiced grapes suffered for lack of sugar, or that any modern preserves have a more excellent flavour than those of the old days made out of the wild plums gathered in the woods? And this is also true: There is no more exhilarating holiday conceivable than those half days when mother took the children and "went a-plummin'." The Canada Plum (Prunus nigra, Ait.), which grows from Newfoundland to Manitoba, and extends its range into the northern tier of states, is called by Professor Waugh a variety, nigra, of our common wild plum, instead of a separate species, as the earlier authorities have set it down. The tree has a narrow head, formed of stiff, angular branches. The leaves are broad and large, with abruptly sharpened points. Flowers and fruit are larger than in the common plum; the petals turn pink before they fall. It is valuable to the North, furnishing the settler a relish for his hard fare until his orchard comes into bearing. It forms an excellent stock on which to graft cions of species which are not hardy on their own roots through long Northern winters. It is a tree well worth planting about one's premises, as in some bare fence corner that needs brightening in early summer, and in August and September when the bright orange- coloured fruit shows its colour against the leafy background. In winter the framework of the tree is picturesque by the angu- larity of its thorny twigs. The Chickasaw Plum (Prunus angustifolia. Marsh.) is the wild plum of the South. Its narrow leaves are shiny and strangely trough-like, instead of flat. The small, round fruit is soft and sweet, more like a cherry than a plum. One often sees it planted near houses, and the crop in the woods is marketed by the Negroes. It is unexcelled for jellies and preserves. The Wild-goose Plum (Prunus hortulana, Bailey) is a natural hybrid between the species, Americana and angustifolia. It is supposed to have originated in Kentucky. It grows wild 325 The Plums and the Cherries from Maryland to Texas — a tall, straight-limbed, thornless tree, with thin, oblong, flat leaves, and thick-skinned, juicy fruit. It is a better fruit tree than either of its parents, and has given rise to several varieties of garden plums of which the Miner and the Wayland are familiar types. The Miner group are commonly seen in Northern orchards; the Waylands in the South. The little beach plum of the Atlantic coast, the sloes of the Alleghanies and the South, the leathery-leaved Pacific plum, and the sand plum of the semi-arid plains are all distinct species. There is scarcely a region of the country that has not its own wild plum; and each species shows a tendency to improve under cultivation. The Alleghany Sloe (Prunus Alleghaniensis, Port.) is a black-fruited little wild plum found growing on the slopes of the mountains of this name wherever the soil is wet enough. The abundant fruit is gathered in fall to make preserves and jellies, and is often seen in local markets. The Black Sloe {P. umbellaia, Ell.) is highly esteemed for the same purposes farther south. It follows the coast from South Carolina to Mosquito Inlet, Florida, and from Tampa Bay into Louisiana, thence north into Arkansas. Exotic Plums The old-fashioned New England garden with its fme plums — damsons, green gages, and the like — points us back to the time when the colonists came to the New World and brought the fruit trees they had known in the Old. These common plums are varieties of the woolly-twigged, thick-leaved European Prunus domestica, and they still do well in the Northeastern States and on the Pacific slope. The native plums, improved greatly in the past half century have proved the best for the prairie states and for the South. Now a fine Japanese plum, Prunus tri flora, hardy, prolific and generally immune from the black knot, a fungous disease of native plums, gives promise of thriving in the South and in the Middle West. Its fruit is large and handsome and keeps well, though in quality it is not considered equal to the European varieties. Crosses between the Japanese and the native American plums promise well. Prune raising as an industry was old in 326 o o o Q Ph Q M P^ Q H ;3 fin d < u w H THE BEACH PLUM (Prunus maritima) The white flowers are succeeded by little globular, sweet fruits, coated with a pale bloom. always shrubby This scraggly seaside plum it THE WILD-GOOSE PLUM (Pr««Mi Wr«/flna) This is a natural hybrid between the wild red plum and the Chickasaw plum. The leaves are large, thin and flat, and the fruit is thick-skinned, sour and juicy. It is the parent of the Miner and Wayland groups of garden plums ALLEGHANY SLOE (Pruttus Alleghantensis) The winter buds of this little black-fruited plum The Plums and the Cherries Europe before it came to us. Now France ranks second to California. Prunes are dried plums. Only certain sweet and fleshy species can be profitably dried. Peaches, almonds, nectarines and apricots, all stone fruits, and Old World relatives of plums, have been introduced into cultivation here. The almond, with its dry, woody flesh, is commercially the most valuable species in the genus. Bitter almonds yield almond oil and hydrocyanic acid. The pit of the sweet almond is one of the most important nuts. THE CHERRIES The ^Vild Red Cherry, Bird, or Pin Cherry (Prunus Penn- sylvanica, Linn.) — A slender, narrow or round-headed tree, 20 to 40 feet high, with regular, horizontal branches. Bark smooth, shining, reddish brown, with conspicuous rusty lenticels on branches; on trunk broken into thin, curling, horizontal plates. Twigs red. Wood pale, close grained, soft. Buds small, brown, sharp, often clustered. Leaves slender, pointed, fmely saw- toothed, with wavy edges and shining, smooth surfaces. Flowers white, few in lateral clusters on long stems. Fruit globular, clear red, size of a pea, sour. Preferred habitat, rocky woods. Distribution, Newfoundland to Georgia; west to Rocky Mountains. Uses: Valuable nurse trees to hardwoods in the natural reforest- ing of burned areas. Fruit made into cough medicine. It is hard to find what a hard-headed, practical person would call a sufficient excuse for this tree's existence. It has no timber value, and the horticulturist has little interest in it as a fruit tree. But I consider that it has many uses. It is beautiful, with satiny bark and leaves that catch and reflect the light, providing itself with a sort of nimbus of glory, winter or summer. The wavy leaf margins, fluttering in every breeze, seem to shake the light off as they do the drops of rain. It is no small boon to a bleak ravine and to the people who live near it that this tree should spring up and clothe both sides with verdure. With the leaves come clustered, nectar-laden flowers, whitening the tree, and calling the bees. Then comes the harvest, and who can see without real emotion a bird cherry, gemmed on all its twigs with these clear, ruby fruits, and the birds holding high carnival among the shining leaves? The 327 The Plums and the Cherries cherries are small and sour, to be sure, but the birds pick every one. By them, the pits are scattered far and wide, and seedlings spring up each year, in fence corners, on rocky hillsides, and in the paths of forest fires. Wherever such a tree appears we may be sure it was planted by birds. This wild cherry, it is acknowledged by foresters, renders a distinct service to the country by furnishing shade under which valuable hardwoods and other kinds of timber trees can make a strong start. By the time the nurse trees are no longer needed they are gone, for the bird cherry is a fast-growing, short-lived tree. Wild Black Cherry, Rum Cherry (Prunus serotina, Ehrh.) — A large, spreading tree with oblong head and sturdy, rough trunk; branches drooping. Bark dark brown (grey in the South), checked into rough plates, shedding horizontally in curling sheets on branches; bitter taste. JVood reddish brown, hard, light, strong, easily worked, close, lustrous grain. Buds brown, slender, scaly. Leaves narrowly oblong, tapering, 2 to 5 inches long, alternate, fmely serrate; dark green, shining above, paler beneath; bitter; yellow in fall; petioles slender, short. Flowers, May, small, white, in racemes 2 to 4 inches long. Fruits, Sep- tember, flattened, pea sized, purple, bitter and sweetish aromatic; skin thick. Preferred habitat, moist, alluvial soil. Distribution, Ontario to Dakota; south to Florida and Texas. Uses: A most valuable lumber tree; handsome, quick-growing shade and orna- mental tree; the fruit, roots and bark yield a tonic drug. The black cherry is a substantial citizen in any community of trees. In an astonishingly short time the sapling becomes a tree, low trunked, great of girth, and crowned with a dome of graceful, pendulous branches. The satiny brown bark reminds us of the birches. It has the same slit-like horizontal ''breathing holes," and the birches* way of shedding its bark. But a taste, or even a sniff of a twig, or a bit of bark, will decide the point. The cherry birch, which is the species most likely to be confused with the black cherry, has a pleasantly aromatic flavour. The bark of the cherry is bitter as gall. In old-fashioned home remedies, in patent medicines, and in the prescriptions of regular physicians cherry extracts and decoc- tions are often met. No spring tonic is seriously expected to rid us of "that tired feeling" unless the tang of wild cherry is there. 328 THE BIRD CHERRY (Prunus Pennsylvanica) Thf; v/hite flowers spread a feast for the bees in May and the ruby fruits for the birds in June. The tree lover finds beauty in the dainty foliage all summer long, and in the satiny brown bark all winter THE CHOKE CHERRY (Primus Virginiana) Very broad leaves, rank, disagreeable smell of bark and bruised leaves, and puckery, harsh fruit that is red or yellow until almost dead ripe — these traits distinguish this species. The flowers are beautiful in May, and the fruits from June until they turn black in August. The Plums and the Cherries Cherry brandies and cordials are put away against an emergency, and cherry bounce is a good old-fashioned beverage that long ago got into the story books. Old settlers, frugal as they were wise, simply chewed the opening buds in the spring "to purify their blood," and to save doctors' bills at the same time. The chief value, however, of this cherry is its wood. It is beautiful enough when polished to compete in popularity with mahogany and rosewood. Its rich, lustrous brown deepens and softens with age. Woodwork in sumptuously built houses, parlour cars and steamships is often done in cherry. Fine furniture is made of it. Small pieces are used in inlay work, for tool handles, and the like. It is so costly that it is largely used in veneering cheaper woods. A sharp look on unfinished edges of chairs, bureau drawers and similar articles will detect this. Birch furniture, which is much cheaper and more crude in colour, is often sold under the name of "solid cherry" or "solid mahogany." As a shade and ornamental tree the black cherry is charmingly unconventional. It is somewhat wayward in habit and sparse in foliage, but it carries neither trait to extremes. The foliage mass is carried with the grace of a willow, for the leaves are narrow and pointed, and they hang on slender petioles. While the opening leaves are still red the flowers come on, in dainty, erect racemes that bloom from the bottom upward to the top. The heavy fruits invert the clusters, and remain until late summer. They are sweet and not unpleasant in flavour, eaten before they are thoroughly ripe by birds and by children. The Choke Cherry (Prunus Virginiana, Linn.) is a minia- ture tree, as a rule, rarely growing higher than a thrifty lilac bush except in the region between Nebraska and northern Texas. Its shiny bark, racemed flowers and fruit, and the odour of its leaves and bark may lead one to confuse it with a black cherry sapling. But this mistake need not occur. The leaves and bark of the black cherry are aromatic and pungent, and the taste is bitter. The choke cherry exhales an odour that is rank and disagreeable beside being pungent, and the taste is intensified in the same unpleasant way. The leaves of choke cherry are nearly twice as broad as those of P. serotina, and abruptly pointed; its fruit, until dead ripe, is red (or yellow), and so puckery, harsh and bitter that children, who eat the black cherries eagerly, cannot be persuaded to taste choke cherries a second time, 329 The Plums and the Cherried The birds are not so fastidious. They strip the trees before the fruit turns black. It is probably by these unconscious agents of seed distribution that the choke cherry has become so widely scattered. From the Arctic circle to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains it is found in all wooded regions. The 'Western Wild Cherry {P. demissa, Walp.) occurs west of the Rocky Mountains, and on to the Pacific. Closely related to the Eastern choke cherry, it differs in having thicker leaves and sweeter, scarcely astringent fruit. It is easy to believe that these Western trees belong to the Eastern species, but are modified by climatic conditions into a new form. Where their ranges meet, it is hard to distinguish the two species. The Cherry Laurels The cherry laurels are ornamental native species, so named because of their waxy green leaves. They have handsome but not showy fruits. They deserve and are receiving recognition by nurserymen. Californians bring their beautiful spiny-leaved evergreen islay and plant it in their gardens as an ornamental tree, or set it close for screens and hedges. The European cherry laurels, strange evergreen relatives of our plums and cherries, are often seen as tub plants for porch decorations in this country. They are easily mistaken for the Old-World sweet bay, Laurus nohilis, which is also set in tubs for the same purposes. Cultivated Cherries The Sour, Pie Cherry (Prunus Cerasus, Linn.), which often escapes from old gardens and spreads by suckers into roadside thickets, is a European immigrant. It is believed to be the parent of our cultivated sour cherries. It is a low-headed, spreading tree with no central "leader" among its branches, with grey bark, and stiff, grey-green, ovate leaves, and white flowers in scaly side clusters opening before the leaves are fully out. The cherries are soft, small and red. Two groups of these sour cherries are recognised in cultiva- tion: (i) The early, light-red varieties with uncoloured juice, t)f which the Early Richmond is a familiar type; and (2) the late, 330 The Plums and the Cherries dark-red varieties with coloured juice, of which the Enghsh Morello is a well-known example. The Sw^eet Cherry of Europe {Prunus Avium, Linn.), has given us our cultivated sweet cherries. Wild seedlings in fence corners are called Mazzards. * They have brown bark, and grow tall and pyramidal around a central stem, often attaining great age and size — very different in habit of growth from small, short-lived sour cherry trees. The leaves are broad, doubly toothed, sharp pointed, and limp in texture. The flowers are much like those of the preceding species, but they open later, when the leaves are out. The cherries are more or less heart shaped and generally sweet. Beside the Mazzards, which are inferior in fruit, there are the Heart cherries in cultivation, two groups of them: (i) Those with firm fiesh, and (2) those with soft, juicy flesh; and the Dukes, which have light-coloured, acid flesh. The Hearts are variously coloured — some red, some black, others yellow. Cherries in Japan Everybody admires, in a casual way, the crisp, dainty blossoms of our garden cherries, and the large, rosy ones of certain European ornamental varieties often seen in American gardens. But until one goes to Japan he cannot realise how beautiful a blossoming cherry tree can be, nor what it is really to love the flowers. The native species, Prunus Pseudo-Cerasus, has been specialised in the direction of beauty, according to the ideals of Japanese artists. Grace of line and delicacy of texture and colour have been patiently worked for — not in flowers alone, but in leaf, in branch, and even in bark. The whole tree crowned with its blossoms is the ideal toward which patience and artistic skill have successfully striven for centuries. "Spring is the season of the eye," says a Japanese poet. The third month is cherry-blossom time, and as the gardens burst suddenly into the marvellous pink bloom all eyes and thoughts are fixed upon them. The passionate love for Sakura, the cherry, symbol of happiness, lays hold on all classes alike. In a quiet ecstasy of joy the Japanese people turn out in holiday attire to view the wondrous spectacle. It is a great national fete, a time of universal rejoicing. 33 J ^ CHAPTER XL: THE POD-BEARERS Family LEGUMiNosyE Trees of high ornamental and timber value. Leaves com- pound (except in Cercis), alternate, deciduous. Flowers sweet, pea-like, or regular. Fruit, a pod. KEY TO IMPORTANT GENERA AND SPECIES A. Foliage simple; flowers rosy, pea-like. I. Genus CERCIS, Linn. B. Leaves heart shaped. (C. Canadensis) redbud BB. Leaves kidney shaped. (C. Texensis) Texas redbud AA. Foliage compound. B. Leaves twice compound; flowers regular. C. Branches thorny; foliage fleecy. 2. Genus GLEDITSIA, Linn. D. Pods 12 to 1 8 inches long, pulpy, many-seeded. (G. triacanthos) honey locust DD. Pods 4 to 5 inches long, without pulp, many- seeded. (G. Texana) texan honey locust DDD. Pods oval, i to 2-seeded, without pulp. j^,,,; .j-,j (G. aquatica) water locust CC. Branches thornless; foliage and pods coarse. 3. Genus GYMNOCLADUS, K. Koch. (G. dioicus) KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE BB. Leaves once compound; flowers pea-like, showy, in f'M^' racemes, pods thin. C. Leaves with spiny stipules. 4. Genus ROB IN I A, Linn. D. Blossoms white; shoots smooth. {R. P seudacacia) locust DD. Blossoms pink; shoots hairy. E. Shoots clammy. {R. viscosa) clammy locust EE. Shoots not clammy. {R, Neo-Mexicana) new Mexican locust 332 p u < w pq w H V ■^^ ^ 4) aj >-« o tn o (J _3 a, H 3 «« ^ C :5 -^ pm < Q < < u w a H J3 (A '>^ tuO -o G J3 3 O J4 -G H a o -a ^ •o d Oh W I X t "-I ^■^ ^a rt c ^^ w u y, -c w p* ^ H (A ^^ . "^ 4J -^ ^ ^ "m c ■•-^ *♦« <3 ^ ^ C « ^ =3 Ui *-" U ? 1- ^- PQ » . b-^ Q o .S« « aJ .■Sa ti) ^ 5 S — ■" H ■^2 < - w 4J >- -r f--< i-i >- 3 w ■— > c .e C (A •" 3 M M u a J= 3 O »*< c (« T3 u, C M ns Ji tJ (5 '>^ M .•S W) a