ATSKILE\FL_.„

L. Brooks

riBRARY

new YORK
BOTANICAL GAF

Bulletin No. 441

New York State Museu

The Univer^^ of the State of New York
THE STATE MUCATION DEPARTMENT
Alb^ New York 12230

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A CATSKILL FLORA AND ECONOMIC BOTANY

II. CONIFERALES

Karl L. Brooks

Bulletin No. 441
New York State Museum

The University of the State of New York
The State Education Department
Albany, New York 12230

1980

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Regents of The University (with years when term expire)

1981 THEODORE M. BLACK, A.B. , Litt.D., LL.D. , Pd.D. , D.C.L. ,

L.H.D. Chancellor........... ....Sands Point

1988 WILLARD A. BENRICH, LL.B. , L.H.D. , LL.D. Litt.D.

Vice Chancellor Buffalo

1986 KENNETH B. CLARK, A.B. , M.S., Ph.D. , LL.D., L.H.D.

C.Sc Hastings on

Hudson

1983 HAROLD E. NEWCOMB, B.A Oswego

1982 EMILYN I. GRIFFITH, A.B. , J.D Rome

1983 MARY ALICE KENDALL, B.S Rochester

1984 JORGE L. BATISTA, B.A. , J.D. , LL.D Bronx

1982 LOUIS E. YAVNER, LL.B New York

1986 LAURA BRADLEY CHODOS , B.A. , M.A Vischer Ferry

1980 MARTIN C. BARELL, B.A. , I.A. , LL.B Kings Point

1981 JOSEPH R. BONGIORNO, B.S., M.D Brooklyn

1984 LOUISE P. MATTEONI, B.A., M.A. , Ph.D Bayside

1981 J. EDWARD MEYER, B.A., LL.B Chappaqua

1983 ARLENE B. REED-DELANEY , B.A., M.D Albany

1987 R. CARLOS CARBALLANDA, B.S Arcade

President of The University and Commissioner of Education
GORDON M. AMBACH

Executive Deputy Commissioner of Education
JOSEPH J. BLANEY

Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education
ROBERT J. MAURER

Director, State Science Service
HUGO JAMNBACK

Chief, Biological Survey
RICHARD H. MONHEIMER

State Botanist
RICHARD S. MITCHELL

DEDICATION

My studies of the Catskill flora
are dedicated
to my good wife
MARGUERITE

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EDITOR’S PREFACE

This is the work of an amateur botanist whose many years of col-
lection and study of Catskill plants make him the person most qualified
to produce such a treatment in the tradition of the old herbals. We at
the Botany Office of the New York State Museum feel that this type of
publication is a useful adjunct to our efforts to produce a comprehensive
state flora. The author’s intimate knowledge of the area and its plants
makes this a valuable work for those who are native to the Catskills as
well as for the many summer visitors. Medical and food uses of plants,
though often only of historical Interest, round out the treatment, and
make this publication what it is intended to be--a source book for those
interested in reading and learning about the Catskill flora. Indeed,
since the vast majority of the plants discussed are widely distributed
throughout the northeastern states and adjacent Canada, this work should
also be of interest far beyond the narrow confines of the Catskill region.

IMPORTANT NOTE

All economic uses, folklore, medical and phar-
maceutical notes, uses as foodstuffs, etc., are com-
piled from the literature and do not represent an en-
dorsement by the author or the New York State Museum.
Some of the uses may, indeed, be dangerous if incor-
rectly employed. Some are not effective and are pre-
sented for historical interest only.

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PREFACE

The Catskills have long been known for their unusual beauty, health-
ful climate, and their natural resources for recreation, not the least of
which is their abundant wildlife and in some respects a unique flora.

While it is true that a large percentage of the plants growing naturally
in the Catskills also occur throughout most of the northeastern states
and adjacent Canada, many species are rare, only locally abundant, or do
not occur elsewhere in the eastern states. Some are northern elements
found only on the high peaks, and others appear to have been stranded in
isolated areas following the retreat of the last glacier some 10,000 years
ago. But whether rare in distribution or more abundantly widespread, no
plant is completely devoid of interest, and many have had a long and var-
ied association with man that goes back over many millennia.

A study of the flora of any region can be a richly rewarding ex-
perience, and that of the Catskills is no exception. Simply getting to
know what plants grow in a particular area brings one closer to an under-
standing of the wonders of nature, but it has long been my contention
that just knowing a plant by name is only the beginning. What is its re-
lationship to other plants, both wild and cultivated? Of what value is
it to man and to wildlife? Is it edible, a source of dye, useful as a
medicine, or is it just an obnoxious weed? How can it be prepared for
the table? For what was it prescribed? How can one get rid of it? An-
swers to such questions not only lead us down many intriguing paths, but
also contribute much to our understanding of the intricacies of the bio-
sphere .

My work on the Catskill flora during the last quarter of a century
has therefore a three-fold objective: (l) to determine precisely what
species grow in this area, (2) to chart the known distribution of each
species in the Catskills, and, (3) for each, to collect as much informa-
tion as possible concerning its value to man and to wildlife. These ob-
jectives have led to many hours of work in the field collecting specimens
and making observations of the plants seen plus countless others in li-
braries and herbaria to obtain information on their distribution and use.

This work was written primarily for the serious amateur with a de-
sire to know more about the plants growing in the northeastern states and
adjacent Canada, with particular emphasis upon those occurring in the Cats-
kills. In these times of increasing concern for man’s impact upon the en-
vironment, the dwindling food supply in relation to increased population
pressure throughout the world, inflation, and the rising desire of a large
segment of the people to return to fundamentals, as it were, it is hoped
that the emphasis given to economic botany, and to the importance of our
native flora to wildlife, will fill a basic need. So far as the writer is
aware, this is the first time that detailed information on food, drug, and
dye plants has been assembled in a compilation that includes the common
weeds as well as the more obscure components of our flora such as the
grasses and sedges, which most popular field guides ignore completely.

vii-

In addition, "plant biographies" summarizing basic data concerning
the name, t3rpe of plant, range, distribution, origin, and time of flower-
ing (or fruiting) are provided for each plant occurring in the Catskills,
together with some remarks on other salient facts of the plants in ques-
tion. Detailed distribution maps showing by township the localities where
each species has been observed are supported by data culled from the lit-
erature and an examination of herbarium specimens, in addition to many
thousands of observations in the field. The citation of observations is
a comparatively recent innovation in helping to determine the distribution
of the many species making up our flora; in addition, so far as the writer
is aware, never before have photographs been cited as evidence for the oc-
currence of a particular species in any given area, thus placing them al-
most on a par with herbarium specimens. In view of the number of rare and
endangered species now stringently protected by law, this practice is like-
ly to attain increased importance. These data, together with the keys,
illustrations, and detailed notes on each of the various species, should
help the serious student not only to identify the plants in question, but
to provide the basic knowledge that will enable him to view the plant
world as a vital part of the planet on which he lives.

In collecting and organizing this information, the writer has at-
tempted to proceed from the general to the more specific, starting with
the orders into which the various plant families are organized, then pre-
senting some ideas on their evolution and possible relationships to each
other, together with comments on both wild and cultivated plants, in the
hope that such an overview will provide a more meaningful picture of each
group of plants. The families making up each order of the Catskill flora
are then presented (in "manual" order), with an attempt to relate any cul-
tivated plants in that family to their wild cousins before going on to a
discussion of the wild species themselves. Where possible, information on
their economic value to man and to wildlife has been supplied. With few
exceptions, genera are arranged alphabetically under families, and species
are arranged alphabetically under genera. To aid in the identification of
the various species, keys to genera and species are included, and illustra-
tions of the various species have been chosen with considerable care.

Some may object that such an accumulation of material is not truly
a flora, but that is a matter of definition. In any case, such a study is
not only its own reward, but a knowledge of the world of plants and their
relationships to wildlife and to man, not to mention an enjoyment of the
natural world as opposed to the artificial concrete jungles of our modern
cities, brings a perspective not to be attained in any other way. This
may perhaps seem to be getting far afield, but all the world is an intri-
cately balanced biosphere, and man must not only understand its complex-
ities, but must also be able to accommodate himself to its demands if he,
himself, is to survive as a species.

A work of this nature could not have been completed without the help
and encouragement of a number of people. My wife. Marguerite, has borne
the brunt of my numerous idiosyncrasies, both as a constant companion in
the field and as a demanding editor and critic. The late Stanley J. Smith,
curator of botany at the New York State Museum, not only spent countless
hours checking my specimens and graciously permitted access to the state's

-viii'

records on plant distribution, but has also been mentor and companion in
the field on many occasions, to say nothing of his continuing advice and
encouragement for over a quarter of a century. In addition to supplying
moral support and companionship in the field, Paul Huth, -who fell heir to
the Domville-Dunbar records of the Ulster County flora, was kind enough to
check through several thousand cards to extract information pertaining to
collections and observations made in the Catskill region of that county.

More than thanks are due to Elizabeth G. Hall, formerly librarian at
The New York Botanical Garden, whose vast knowledge of botanical source
material seems inexhaustible and whose boundless enthusiasm is infectious.
She has been unfailing in digging out elusive books and suggesting sources
of information in addition to supplying many details concerning earlier
workers in the field. Librarians at both the Horticultural Society of
New York and at The New York Botanical Garden have also been most help-
ful. Last, but in no way least, thanks are due to Patricia Holmgren,
herbarium supervisor and administrator of the phanerogamic herbarium at
The New York Botanical Garden, and to George Kalmbacher, curator at the
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, for permission to check specimens in the herbaria
at those institutions.

The writer wishes also to express his appreciation for permission
to reproduce the illustration of Pinus svlvestris from The Book of Trees
by William C. Grimm, copyright, 19^2, by The Stackpole Company, Harris-
burg, Pa. Permission to quote from A Natural History of Trees of Eastern
and Central North America by Donald Culross Peattie, copyright, 19^8,

19^9, 1950, by Donald Culross Peattie, is likewise gratefully acknowledged.
Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.

Karl L. Brooks

Brooklyn, New York
16 April 1979

-ix-

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CONTENTS

SPEEMATOEffiTTA, 1
GYMNOSEEEMAE, 1
CONIFERALES, 1

TAXACEAEj the Yew Family 2

Taxus (Ye-w) 2

PINACEAE, The Pine Family 5

Abies (Fir) 5

Larix (Larch) 13

Picea (Spruce) 17

Pinus (Pine) 30

Tsuga (Hemlock) 51

CUPRESSACEAE 5 the Cypress Family 57

Juniperus (Juniper) 57

Thuja (Arborvitae) 68

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 73

GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TEEMS 75

BIBLIOGRAPHY 79

APPENDIX 85

INDEX

115

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SEEEMATOPHYTA

This division is made up of the seed plants. It has been differ-
entiated classically from the Pteridophyta and other taxa by the forma-
tion of pollen tubes and the production of seeds — criteria that have lost
their validity as distinguishing characteristics resulting from discov-
eries over half a century ago that certain ancient fernlike plants
bore seeds. It is now recognized that the seed character is insufficient
to set the angiosperms and gymnosperms apart from the ferns, clubmosses,
and horsetails. The Spermatophyta have traditionally been divided into
two subdivisions — Gyranospermae and Angiospermae , the so-called coniferous
plants and the flowering plants .

GYMNOSPEEMAE

The gymnosperms bear seeds, but they are not flowering plants.

The one character that is constant in this group of plants and until re-
cently has set it apart from the rest of the plant kingdom is expressed
in the term gvmnosperm. which means "naked seed," for by classical def-
inition the seeds of this taxon are produced from naked ovules borne on
the surface of the megasporophyll (cone scale or carpel). With these are
associated other characters, but exceptions are to be found to all these
characters in so far as distinctions between the Gymnospermae and the
Angiospermae are concerned.

The gymnosperms are an ancient group of plants, by many botanists
classified into 8 orders, of which 3 a^'e extinct. Of the living gyrano-
sperms, the more important groups are the cycads (including the Bread
Palm [actually not a true palm]), the Ginkgo or Maidenhair Tree (of which
there is only one species), and the conifers. They comprise a major for-
est group of primarily temperate regions of both northern and southern
hemispheres. Phylogenists consider them to be remnants of a once large
and diverse group that was dominant in the Mesozoic.

coniferAles

The Coniferales are widely distributed over the world, and many
of the species are important members of great forest communities. Seven
families of conifers are generally recognized, but the classification of
living conifers is by no means satisfactory. The pines and their rela-
tives are an ancient race, composed of proud old "first families," for
they were differentiated from a cordaitalean ancestry during late Carbon-
iferous times long before other modern tree families had evolved, since
there were then no broad- leaved trees. The conifers are now declining,
for they had reached their prime as a race when the broad- leaved trees
first appeared upon the earth. Nevertheless, they inhabit regions where
austere conditions discourage all but a few broad- leaved trees.

The conifers, like other taxa comprising the gymnospems, do not
bear flowers, though they reproduce by seeds and not by spores. There is
no ovary; the reproductive organs are found in the male and female cones.
The naked ovules are borne on the scales of the female cone, which are held
apart at blossoming time. They are pollinated by the wind, which dusts
them with pollen produced by the male cones clustered on the same tree.

-1-

The distinguishing trait of the higher living plants that form the divi-
sion known as angiosperms is that the ovules are borne in a closed
ovary, and the pollen lodges on the end of a stigma. ’’Pollen tubes"
growing down through the style finally reach the hidden ovule, and seed
is set.

Key to Local Species of Conifers

1. Leaves arranged in definite clusters, 2

2. Leaves evergreen, in clusters of 2-5, each cluster sur-
rounded at the base by a short membranous sheath Pinus

2. Leaves deciduous, numerous in clusters on dwarf branches
produced laterally on wood of the previous year, alternate

or scattered on branches of the current season Larix

1. Leaves not in definite clusters, 3

3. Leaves distinctly opposite or whorled, scalelike (if needle-
like, always opposite or whorled), 4

4. Fruit fleshy, berry- like, blue; leaves not dimorphic in

alternating pairs; leafy twigs not flattened Junioerus

4. Fruit a dry cone; leaves dimorphic in alternating pairs,
the lateral ones folded and often keeled, those of the
upper and lower sides flat or somewhat convex; leafy
twigs strongly flattened, a fourth as thick as wide or

even thinner Thu.1 a

3. Leaves alternate or scattered, 5

5. Leaves sessile on the twigs (branchlets persistent;
leaves eventually deciduous, leaving round or diamond-
shaped smooth scars on the twigs) Abies

5. Leaves jointed at base to a spreading or appressed
sterigma (a peglike structure) which is decurrent on

the stem and persistent after the leaves have fallen, 6
6. Leaves quadrangular in cross-section, sessile on

the sterigmata Picea

6. Leaves flat, petiolate on the sterigmata, 7
7. Leaves blunt or retuse, marked with 2 white

lines beneath Tsuga

7. Leaves sharp, green on both sides Taxus

TAXACEAE, the Yew Family

This is a family of 3 genera and about 13 species, with 2 genera
( Torreva and Taxus) occurring only in the northern hemisphere. This is
not a primitive family; the apparent gross simplicity of reproductive
elements represents a reduction of parts during a long evolutionary pe-
riod. Species of Torreva and Taxus are cultivated for ornament; the wood
of the latter is also used in cabinet work and for archery bows .

Taxus L. Yew.

Lawrence (l95l) states that there are 7 species of Taxus , ever-
green trees and shrubs native to North America, Europe, north Africa,
and Asia. The name of the genus is the old Latin name for Taxus baccata.,
the European Yew, although some authorities derive the name from taxes.

-2-

an ancient Greek work meaning bow, as archery bows were made from the
European species before the advent of firearms. Their leaves are flat,
nucronate, rigid, and scattered. They grow from all sides of the branch,
but, owing to a twist at the base of the leaf, they become arranged in
two ranks. They are small, and, in most cases, dark green on wild trees,
but they are variable in color on cultivated forms. Male and female
cones are usually produced on different trees in early spring. The male
sporophylls are yellow and produced in small strobili; the female cones
are greenish, very small, and difficult to find. The small, hard, dark
green or brownish seed is surrounded, except at the apex, by a fleshy
berry like cup (aril) that is red and Juicy when ripe.

Yews are among the finest evergreens for landscaping uses. Both
the European T. baccata ssp. baccata and T. baccata ssp. cuspidata of
eastern Asia are commonly cultivated and have given rise to many horti-
cultural forms, for, in addition to the wild kinds, numerous garden var-
ieties and hybrids show great variation in height, habit of growth, and
other important characteristics, making it possible to select from among
them those that best suit the gardener’s purpose. Yews allowed to grow
without clipping or shearing develop into magnificent plants, but they
stand pruning well and are among the finest of all evergreens for planting
as formal hedges and for topiary work. They can be transplanted without
undue difficulty even when quite large. Should they outgrow their al-
lotted space, they can be pruned back severely and will "break" (put forth
new shoots) even from thick old branches that have been cut back. In this
respect they differ from many other evergreens.

In most parts of North America the Japanese Yew, T. baccata ssp.
cuspidata . and its varieties and hybrids are the most valuable for horti-
cultural use. This subspecies is hardier than the English Yew and grows
more quickly. It is a native of Japan, Korea, and Manchuria and will
withstand the winters of New England. Several varieties are available,
including one with bright yellow leaves, a compact, slow-growing one with
deep green foliage, and a dwarf, erect columnar kind.

Taxus baccata L. ssp. canadensis (Marsh.) Pilger. American Yew.

Meaning of Species Name. With berries; ssp. name, of Canada.

Synonyms . T. canadensis Marsh in Fernald (1950) and in Gleason

(1952).

Other Names . Ground Hemlock, Dwarf Yew, Shinwood, Creeping Hem-
lock, Canadian Yew.

Type of Plant. A low straggling shrub.

Habitat. Rich woods, thickets, and swamps.

Range . Nf and Que to Man, s to Ct, Pa, Mich, and Minn, with
outlying colonies in Va , Ky, 0, Ind, 111, and la.

Distr in NYS . Common northw; not known on LI or SI; reported
from Westchester co; formerly on "New York Island"; rare or local
in the s tier of counties bordering on Pa.

Distr in the Torrev Range . NY: Throughout, except on LI and SI;
rare southw, increasing northw.

Elevation. Grows to 2500 ft in the Adirondacks; sea level- 3900
ft in the Torrey range .

Time of FI. Apr-May; Apr 20-May 10 at Cornell.

-3-

Taxus baccata ssp. canadensis — American Yew
[From Loudon (l844), Vol. 8, p. 355.]

Origin . Native.

Remarks . Pulp of fruit sweet and edible; seeds and wilted fo-
liage poisonous to humans and fatal to livestock.

American Yew is a native of eastern North America, occurring as
far north as Newfoundland. It attains a maximum height of about 6 feet
but is usually lower and forms a more or less straggling or nearly pros-
trate shrub. Its foliage does not usually possess the rich, dark green
coloring of other yews but tends to be yellowish or brownish, particu-
larly where exposed to sunlight; for these reasons it is less useful as
a garden plant. Nevertheless, American Yew can be used to good effect
as a ground covering under trees and in woodlands where sheltered con-
ditions can be provided; it is not suitable for planting in exposed,
wind swept locations.

In spite of the fact that this yew is poisonous both to humans
and to livestock, the American Indians frequently resorted to it for
medicinal purposes. The leaves of this species were brewed by the Pota-
watomis to make a diuretic tea, while the Penobscots employed the twigs
to make a tea for treating colds. The Montagnais also used the twigs of
this species for a tea used in the treatment of fever and debility asso-
ciated with flu disorders, but they added a clubmoss to the tea. Leaves
of the Pacific Yew, T. brevif olia . were supposedly found useful for in-
ducing menstruation. The Chippewas combined small twigs of this species
with those of Juninerus virginiana to make a decoction used in the treat-
ment of rheumatism. It was sometimes taken internally and sometimes
sprinkled on hot stones to create a steam bath.

The European Yew was sometimes used as a source of dye, from which
a "tarnished aurora" was obtained, made more brilliant by the addition of
a mordant of nitro-muriat of tin. Mordore (a cinnamon color) was obtained

-4-

from the roots and birch bark. In view of these facts, it might be worth
experimenting with our native plant, either alone or in combination with
other plants.

In Great Britain the European Yew is considered the most danger-
ous of all poisonous trees and shrubs growing in thab area, as the foli-
age, bark, and seeds are toxic and have proved fatal both to human beings
and all classes of livestock. The poisonous properties, referred to by
such classical writers as Caesar, Virgil, and Livy, reside chiefly in the
foliage and seeds (but not in the aril). If eaten by horses or cattle,
the foliage, especially when it has been cut and thrown in heaps so as to
undergo a process of fermentation, is very dangerous. Kingsbury (1964)
remarks that accidental poisoning from trimmings or prunings are rela-
tively common in Europe. Yew poisoning has not been reported in this
hemisphere with as much frequency as in Europe, but cases may occur when-
ever animals have access to the plant, as they do not seem to find it dis-
tasteful. The scarlet fruit is attractive to children; the pulp is not
poisonous, but the seed is very likely to contain dangerous concentra-
tions of a poisonous alkaloid. It is of note that the berries are eaten
by a number of birds and the foliage is a preferred food of deer and
moose .

PINACEAE, the Pine Family

This is a family of resinous woody plants, comprising 9 genera and
about 210-220 species of wide distribution, especially throughout the
temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. The largest genera are
Pinus, Abies, and Picea . In North America Pinus has the widest and most
general distribution of all, usually occurring at lower latitudes and
elevations in most provinces except the plains areas. In the northern
part of our area, in the Pacific states, and generally throughout the
cold temperate zone, members of this family constitute the dominant for-
est growth.

All genera of the Pinaceae are of considerable economic importance
for timber, pulpwood, and other forest products. They are important also
as a source of naval stores (pitch, turpentine, and resin), Venetian tur-
pentine, Canada balsam, edible seeds, and numerous other products of less-
er importance. About 165 species, representing all 9 genera, are culti-
vated domestically, and the number of horticultural forms and clones is
legion.

Abies Mill. Fir.

Fir is the Scandinavian name originally given to the Scotch Pine,
Pinus svlvestris. but it is now used in North America to designate mem-
bers of the genus Abies, all native to the north temperate zone, partic-
ularly in Europe, North America, northern Asia, and northern Africa; 9
species occur in western North America, attaining their maximum develop-
ment in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges. The flat, sessile leaves
of firs appear 2-ranked on the horizontal branches. They have a promi-
nent midrib on the whitened lower surface and leave a circular scar when
they drop off. The name of the genus is the ancient Latin name of the
fir, derived from abeo, to spring up or to rise, referring to the upright

-5-

growth of the trees. Many species furnish valuable lumber, and several
exotic species are common in cultivation.

The firs are distinguished from other genera of the pine family
by their sessile needles, which develop conspicuous circular leaf scars
upon falling. Their cones are erect at maturity and disintegrate soon
after ripening, leaving the erect, naked central axis attached to the
supporting branchlet. No other genus with large cones has this strik-
ing characteristic; all other conifers of the northeast have pendent
cones, except the small-fruited cypresses and arborvitaes.

Only a few firs thrive well in the climate of northeastern Amer-
ica, but many prosper in the moister Pacific coast area. Abies concolor .
White or Colorado Fir, is perhaps the best for the east, growing into a
tall symmetrical specimen, handsome with its soft grayish or glaucous
leaves. The smaller A. fraseri. Southern Balsam Fir or She-balsam, is
native to the mountains of Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee; it is
hardy in the north and is a better tree in cultivation than A. balsamea,
the common Balsam Fir of the north.

The wood of several of the firs is of considerable value. It is
odorless, from white to yellow or reddish-brown in color, coarse-grained
and brittle, but soft and easy to work; it finishes with a smooth surface
and takes paint well. It has many uses, being employed for the indoor
finish of houses, the commoner kinds of carpentry, match wood, box boards,
paper pulp, and wood wool. Its odorless character makes it an excellent
wood for boxes for absorbent products, such as butter, cheese, lard, and
bacon. The inner bark of the Southern Balsam Fir has been used medici-
nally as a stimulant, to treat intestinal worms, as an expectorant, and
as a diuretic to increase urine flow. Cuts and wounds were also treated
with a turpentine made from bark exudations. The Indians of British
Columbia ate the inner bark of the Grand Fir in the spring when it was
rich and juicy. The hardened sap of this and other firs was chewed as a
gum and the juice swallowed for the nutrient contained; a healing resin
was obtained from the bark blisters of young trees.

The importance of firs to wildlife is moderate. The evergreen
foliage of young trees is useful to mammals and gamebirds for cover,
especially in winter. Blue grouse and sharp- tailed grouse make fir
needles a major part of their diet. Browsers, particularly northern
deer and moose, resort to fir foliage as a large part of their winter
menu. The winged seeds are sought by squirrels and chipmunks as well
as being eaten from the cones by several kinds of birds. Firs planted
around homes are particularly useful for roosting and nesting sites.

Key to Local Species of Abies

1. Leaves of sterile branches flat and grooved above, rounded and
often notched, spreading, not crowded; winter buds nearly

globose, with lustrous dark orange-green scales A. balsamea

1. Leaves of sterile branches 4-sided; winter buds ovoid, acute,
their bright chestnut-brown scales with prominent midribs that
project as short tips A. magnifica

-6-

Abies balsamea (L. ) Mill. Balsam Fir.

Meaning of Species Name . Balsamic.

Other Names . Fir Balsam, Firtree, Fir Pine, Blister-pine, Sil-
ver Pine, Blisters, American Silver Fir, Single Spruce, Balm-of-
Gilead, BaLtn-of-Gilead Fir, Fir, Balsam, Canada Balsam, Eastern Fir,
Sapin.

Type of Plant . A slender tree, 40 to 60 ft high, with a trunk
12-18 in. in diameter; a low or prostrate shrub in exposed places.

Habitat. Moist woods and swamps.

Range . Nf and Lab to the Mack valley, s to NY, mts of Va and
WVa, 0, Mich, and Minn, with outlying colonies in la.

Distr in NYS . Common throughout the Adirondack reg, the n
counties, and the higher Catskills; elsewhere locally abundant in
deep swamps; not native on the coastal plain, the s range being the
higher elevations of Dutchess, Ulster, Delaware, and Otsego co,
westw to Onondaga, Ontario, and Livingston co.

Distr in the Torrev Range . NY; Greene, Delaware, and Ulster co;
"Highlands of the Hudson" record unverified (since collected near
Luddingtonville , Town of Kent, in Putnam co, 3428 KLB 26 Sep 54--NYS).

Elevation. Grows to 5000 ft in the Adirondacks; 1200-4100 ft in
the Torrey range .

Time of FI. May-Jun; May at Cornell.

Origin. Native.

Remarks . Wood soft, coarse-grained, weak, light brown; wt 24 lb
per cu ft.

Of the two firs occurring in the eastern United States and Canada,
the best known is the Balsam Fir. It is a widely branching but slender
tree with fragrant resinous leaves; in arctic regions and at higher ele-
vations it is small, often only a few feet high. It can be recognized
by its two-ranked leaves, lustrous and dark green above, pale- lined below,
one-half to one and one-half Inches long, sometimes notched on twigs near
the top of the tree. Rich, dark purple cones, 2 to 4 inches long, with
thin, plain-margined, broad scales, stand erect, glistening with drops of
balsam, on branches near the top of the tree. The same substance is ex-
uded from bruises in the smooth bark.

The Balsam Fir is a common and characteristic tree of the north
country; southward it occurs only along mountaintops or in cold swamps
and bogs. The wood is light, coarse-grained, and soft; it is neither
strong nor durable. It is occasionally utilized for lumber, but its
principal uses are for making excelsior, boxes, and boards for packing
cases, and, mixed with wood of the spruces, as pulpwood. Fire-by^fric-
tion sets have been made of this wood, and resinous fir knots were once
used as torches. John Josselyn wrote that "the Knots of this tree and
fat-pine are used by the English [colonists] instead of candles, and it
will burn a long time, but it makes the people pale."

Although it is a hardy tree and in its youth a handsome one. Balsam
Fir is not very desirable as an ornamental tree because it is short-lived
and frequently loses all its lower branches. It is also quite difficult
to grow outside its natural habitat. It is probably best known as the
typical Christmas tree of the northeastern states, for as a Christmas tree

-7-

the Balsam Fir is superior to the spruces; it retains its fragrant and
beautiful foliage for several weeks after the tree is cut; in addition,
the needles do not stab the hand when one is decorating the tree, since
they are not tipped with prickles . The Christmas tree industry is now
a large, though a seasonal, business. Raising trees from seedlings sup-
plied free or at cost by state forestry nurseries offers possibilities
for making a good profit on land not otherwise productive.

The Canada balsam of commerce, also called Canada turpentine and
balsam of fir, is derived from a resin in the blisters on the bark of
standing trees, a turpentine used in the manufacture of varnish (among
other things), the product coming principally from the fir forests of
Canada. Sargent (l891“1902) has given us a clear picture of gathering
Canada balsam in Quebec: "The gathering of Canada Balsam, which is
chiefly a Canadian industry ... is carried on in the province of Quebec
only by the poorest white people and by Indians, who camp in the woods
from the middle of June until the middle of August, the season when it
is usually gathered, the women cooking and keeping the camps, while the
men and children gather the balsam. This is done with small iron cans,
furnished at the top with iron tubes sharpened at the end. The tube is
pressed against the resin blister, punctures it, and the gum flows down
the tube into the can.... One man can gather about half a gallon of
gum in a day, but with the assistance of his children, who climb into
the upper limbs while the father works near the ground, the yield of a
day's work for the family is often a gallon. Canada Balsam can be col-
lected only on pleasant days when the leaves of the tree are dry, as the
water shaken from the branches, mixing with the gum in the cans, makes
it milky and unsalable."

Europeans were well aware of the medicinal properties of pitch,
tar, gums, resins, and turpentine, most of which came from various spe-
cies of pine, but in the popular mind they were very likely to confuse
pine with spruce, fir, and larch. It is therefore not surprising that
the early colonists took much interest in aboriginal uses of similar sub-
stances. John Josselyn in 1672 claimed that a tar made of the "Firr Tree,
or Pitch Tree," was "an excellent thing to take away those desperate
Stitches of the Sides which perpetually afflicteth those poor People that
are stricken with the Plague of the Back. . . . You must make a large
toast, or cake, slip or dip it in the tar, and bind it warm to the side."
He also remarked that the "clear liquid Turpentine" obtained from this
tree was "very good to be put into salves and oyntments, the leaves, or
cones boiled in beer are good for the Scurvie, the young buds are excel-
lent to put into Epithemes for Warts and Corns, and rosen is altogether
as good as frankincense." John D. Hunter in l823 called "Indian Balsam"
one of the most valuable articles among the aboriginal remedies and re-
ported its use by frontier doctors, who spoke well of it. It was given
for colds, coughs, asthma, and "consumptions," in substance or infusion,
"with the most happy effects . "

John Brickell, reporting in 173^ on the Indians of North Carolina,
maintained that they "never make either Pitch. Tar, or Tirrpentine, " and
that "they are scarce ever known to make use of any Gums or Rosins in
their Physick." (Balsam Fir was of course not common in that area, but
other sources of pitch and turpentine were available.) This was surely

-8-

Abies balsamea — Balsam Fir

[From Sargent (l891“1902), Vol. XII, Plate 610, p. 112.]

-9-

not true of the northern tribes, for they not only made medicinal use of
the resin, but also employed the needles, twigs, and inner bark (which
could be collected at any time during the year) of this species in a
number of ways. Some tribes covered burns, sores, and cuts with the
fresh liquid from bark blisters as a protective healing salve, while
others applied the gum as a poultice on the chest or back to relieve pain
in the heart or chest, and as an application for sore eyes. The gummy
sap was also taken internally in infusion in the treatment of consump-
tion, coughs, colds, gonorrhea, sore chest, as a remedy for constipa-
tion, and other internal afflictions. One tribe steeped the inner bark
to make a tea given for pains in the chest and some tribes steeped balsam
twigs for a strong laxative; others used the bark in a decoction to in-
duce perspiration. The leaves were sometimes placed on live coals and
the fumes were inhaled in the treatment of colds. Densmore (I928) re-
ports that the Chippewas placed the gum of this species on a warm stone
and inhaled the fumes to treat both headache and convulsions. They also
combined the gum with bear's grease for use as a hair ointment. A de-
coction of the root was sprinkled on hot stones to steam rheumatic joints,
especially of the knees, "the patient being covered closely and letting
steam warm" the joints. Several tribes steeped the inner bark in boiling
water, added tobacco leaves, and inhaled the rising steam to speed child-
birth, but in all probability this did little other than stimulate the
nasal passages .

In American medicine, the resinous exudation from the trunk and
branches of A. balsamea was often called Canada balsam, which Dr. Clapp
reported to be stimulant, diuretic, and possessed of properties similar
to other liquid turpentines. Given internally. Dr. Wooster Beach as-
serted, Canada balsam was stimulating and laxative; externally, it was
called emollient and cooling and useful for application to sore nipples,
cuts, and wounds. It was also found useful in treating throat afflic-
tions; in cough drops, it was considered "equal or superior to copaiba."
"Balsam traumatick," used in wound dressings, was part of the medicine
chest of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Canada turpentine, Canada balsam, or balsam of fir are official
pharmaceutical names for the substance defined as the liquid oleoresin
obtained from A. balsamea . It was an official medicine in the U.S .
Pharmacopeia . I820-I916. Because of its index of refraction, however,
it has been recognized in the U.S . Pharmacopeia since I916 and in the
National Formulary since I926 primarily as a medium for mounting micro-
scopic specimens and as a cement for lenses. It not only seals the
cover glass to the glass slide, but as a matrix for the specimen holds
and preserves it from drying and decay.

Woodsmen use the gum as a plaster and as a waterproof cement. The
foliage is also often used in the manufacture of balsam, or so-called "pine
pillows" sold to summer visitors touring the North Woods. Emerson (1878)
stated that a valuable varnish for water colors can be made from the res-
in. In the woods the boughs are often used for beds, the branchlets for
pillows .

Residents of the northern United States and Canada generally refer
to the hardened pitch of this species as "spruce gum." It has a resinous

-10-

but not disagreeable flavor and was much used for chewing before the days
of pleasantly flavored commercial chewing gums. In many places through-
out its range it was regularly bought and sold at the stores. For chew-
ing purposes, it was generally molded into short sticks. People used to
make a regular business of going into forests of fir trees, gathering the
gum and taking it to market. The inner bark, like that of the pines,
spruces, and other conifers, can be used as an emergency food. The bal-
sam or pitch, in extreme emergency, also forms a highly concentrated
though disagreeable food.

Several species of birds, including ruffed, spruce, and sharp-
tailed grouse, are known to eat the seeds of Balsam Fir, as do mice and
red squirrels. White-tailed deer and moose frequently browse on the
branchlets during the winter season, and the bark and branchlets are
eaten to some extent both by the varying hare and the snowshoe hare . The
bark is also gnawed by porcupines. Swamps where balsam thickets occur
are favorite winter "ya^rding" grounds of deer.

% ^

Abies magnifica A. Murr. Red Fir.

Meaning of Species Name. Magnificent, distinguished.

Type of Plant . A tall tree, in its native habitat frequently 200
ft high with a trunk 7“ 10 ft in diameter.

Habitat. Mountain regions of the western states.

Range . S Ore, s along the Cascade mts and the Sierra Nevadas of

Cal.

Distr in NYS. Not listed in House (1924).

Distr in the Torrev Range . Not listed in Taylor (1915) •

Elevation . Grows between 5000-10,000 ft in its native range.

Time of FI. Early summer.

Origin. Native to Ore and Cal.

Remarks . Esc from cult near Pine Hill, Ulster co.

John Muir called this species "the noblest of its race," its tall
shaft, sometimes reaching a height of 250 feet, as described by Rogers
(1926), having "a symmetry and perfection of finish throughout that is
achieved by no other tree. One above another in graduated lengths the
branches spread in level collars, the oldest drooping on the ground, the
rest horizontal, their framework always five main branches that carry
luxuriant flat plumes of silvery needles," for the four-sided needles are
decorated on all sides with pale lines "so wide as to make the new growth
silvery throughout the season." These leaves later become blue-green and
persist for about 10 years. The cones appear in mid-June, the male ones
in profuse bright-red clusters, the female, greenish- yellow tipped with
pink. They ripen into cylindrical cones 6 to 8 inches long and about
half as wide.

The wood of this species is light, soft, not strong, but compara-
tively durable. As Rogers remarks, "The best defense of this superb red
fir is the comparative worthlessness of its soft, weak wood. Coarse lum-
ber for cheap buildings, packing cases and fuel makes the only demands
upon it.” In European parks it is successfully grown as an ornamental
tree, and it has proved hardy in eastern Massachusetts.

-11-

Abies magnifica — Red Fir

[From Sargent (I89I-I902), Vol. XII, Plate 618, p. lUO.]

-12-

Larix Mill. Larch, Tamarack.

There are 10 species of Larix, all natives of the north temperate
and arctic zones, widely distributed in central Europe, Asia, and North
America. The most widely distributed of the four species of larch in
North America is the American Larch, L. laricina. commonly called Tam-
arack but toiown also as Hackmatack. They are among the most beautiful
of the deciduous trees in spring by reason of the delicate green of the
young leaves and the beauty of the female cones, which are often pink.

In autumn the plants are again very striking when the leaves turn pale
golden-yellow before dropping. The name of the genus is the classical
Latin name of the European species. Members of this genus are distin-
guished from the pines by their deciduous leaves, spirally arranged on
the young shoots of the season, but on all older branchlets growing in
whorls or rosette- like tufts, each surrounding the extremity of a rudi-
mentary or abortive branch commonly called a spur. Larches are widely
grown as timber trees, for the lumber is of good quality and variously
used for building purposes. Being very durable in contact with soil and
water, they also make excellent posts and have been widely used in the
building of small boats.

The common European Larch, L. euronaea. is a stately tree with a
tall erect trunk and horizontal branches springing at irregular inter-
vals from the trunk. A fine clear turpentine exudes in great abundance
from the trunks of trees exposed to the summer sun. In Savoy and the
south of Switzerland it is collected for sale, though not in such quan-
tity as formerly, when, being taken to Venice for shipment, it became
known in commerce as 'Venice turpentine." Larch turpentine is a thick
tenacious fluid, nearly transparent and of a deep yellow color, that
does not harden with time. In addition to resin, it contains 15 percent
of the essential oil of turpentine. The European Larch has long been
planted in the eastern United States for ornament and, to a limited ex-
tent, for timber. The largest North American species is the Western
Larch, L. occidentalis .

The record of wildlife use of larches is not impressive. Two
species of grouse consume its needles and buds freely, and the red
crossbill feeds on its seeds to some extent, as reported t)y Martin et al.

Larix laricina (DuRoi) K. Koch. Tamarack.

Meaning of Species Name . Like Pinus larix (Larix euronaea ) . the
European Larch.

Other Names . Larch, Black Larch, American Larch, Black Larix,
Hackmatack, Hackmack, Red Larch, Juniper Cypress, "Juniper," Eastern
Larch.

Type of Plant . A slender tree, usually not more than 50 ft high
with a trunk diameter of 1 or 2 ft.

Habitat. With us, chiefly in swamps, bogs, and swampy woods.

Range . Lab to Ak, s to NJ, Pa, WVa, 0, 111, Ind, Minn, Man,

Sask, Alta, and BC.

Distr in NYS . Common in swamps throughout the n part of the
state, common or frequent in the c and w counties (especially on

-13-

calcareous soils), rare in the Hudson valley, and not reported from
SI hut reported as formerly found at Wading River, LI.

Distr in the Torrev Range . NY: Throughout except in the lower
Hudson valley, LI, and SI, increasing northw.

Elevation . Sea level- 1933 ft in the Torrey range.

Time of FI. Mar-May; May 1-15 at Cornell.

Origin. Native.

Remarks . Wood hard, strong, very durable, resinous, light brown;
wt 39 Ih per cu ft.

This is a typical northern tree, reaching the northern limit of
tree growth in Canada; it is the most widely distributed larch in North
America, growing farther north than any other tree except dwarf willows
and birches. In early spring its pale green needles make it one of the
most beautiful of all native trees, but in winter one writer has de-
scribed it as "the deadest- looking vegetation on the globe." Its wood,
however, is much appreciated over vast areas where other timber is want-
ing. When spring comes, the cones are followed in a few weeks by the
renewing foliage, for the larches are the only conifers native in North
America (except the Bald Cypress of the south) which are deciduous. It
is the largest tree of Labrador, but it reaches its greatest size north
of Lake Winnipeg, where it may attain a height of 6o feet and a trunk
diameter up to 2 feet. In the far north, growth is extremely slow, but
in favorable situations the tree grows rather rapidly in its youth. It
is intolerant of shade, however, and is very likely to be suppressed in
competition with other trees. It resembles the European Larch but has
much smaller cones.

Long before white men came to North America, the Indians used the
roots of Tamarack for sewing the strips of birch bark in their canoes and
for weaving bags. The best roots came from trees in beaver ponds, for
they were especially tough, pliant, slender, and elongated. For this
purpose they were treated as described under spruce (below) . As for its
use by the early settlers and following generations, Emerson (1878) well
describes the esteem in which the native Larch was held a century ago:
"The wood of the larch is very compact and close-grained, remarkable for
its weight, its great strength, and durability.... Its durability is
even superior to the oak itself; and in old vessels, the timbers made of
hackmatack have been found entirely sound, when those of white oak were
completely decayed. On these accounts, it is preferred before all other
woods, for knees, for beams, and for top timbers [in the construction of
ships].... Its great hardness makes it valuable for steps in exposed
situations; and its great compactness gives it great power of resisting
the action of fire, and renders it nearly incombustible, except when
splintered." Because of its durability Tamarack is still used by build-
ers of small boats, and, in the days before creosoting rendered almost
any hard wood suitable, it was considered ideal for railroad ties and for
telegraph poles. It has also been used, to a lesser extent, for interior
finish and in cabinet making.

This tree is seldom used for ornamental planting, although it is
quite attractive and adapted to grow in soils which are ordinarily too
wet for most other trees. When grown as an ornamental, some pruning may

-lU-

Larix laricina — Tamarack

[From Sargent (1891-1902) ^ Vol XII, Plate 593, p. 10.]

-15“

be necessary in the early years in order to develop a single leading
stem. The American Larch is too sparse of limb and foliage, ho-wever, to
compete with the more luxuriant European Larch. Its fresh spring foliage
is lightened by the pale yellow of the globular male cones and warmed by
the rose-purple tips of the female cones. In early autumn the plain,
thin-scaled cones, erect and bright chestnut-brown, shed their small
seeds while the yellow leaves are dropping, and the bare limbs carry the
empty cones until the following year.

Densmore (I928) reported that the Chippewas used the roots of the
Tamarack for "weaving bags, etc." The inner bark, either fresh or dried,
was chopped fine and applied to burns; it was applied in the morning,
partially washed off at night, then renewed. The Indians of British Co-
lumbia chewed the gummy exudate of the trunk and branches of the Western
Larch for pleasure. Aside from the Ojibwa tribe, who drank a tea made
from the roots of American Larch, however, there were few Indian groups
who relied on the larches as a source of food. The inner bark no doubt
is edible, for in northern Siberia the natives are reported to grate this
layer from the native larch to make a broth with fish, meal, and milk.

The new shoots of the American Larch are nutritious and have been eaten
by woodsmen in emergencies. On the Continent the European Larch has been
used as a source of dye, a musk color being obtained from the leafy
shoots, brown from leaves gathered in autumn, and a yellowish-cinnamon
from the shoots without leaves, using a bismuth mordant. It might be
well worth experimenting with our native species as a source of dye ma-
terials .

It may have been the Indians who showed the first New Englanders
hidden virtue in the Tamarack. John Josselyn, first naturalist-histo-
rian of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, recorded: "The Turpentine that
issueth from the cones of the Larch-tree ... is singularly good to heal
wounds, and to draw out the malice ... of any Ach rubbing the place
therewith, and Strowing upon it the powder of Sage-leaves . " The gum that
exudes from the tree has been chewed to relieve indigestion, and a poul-
tice of the bark was considered useful in the treatment of bruises,
wounds , and hemorrhages . The bark of the European species was long used
medicinally on the Continent in a decoction as a laxative, tonic, astrin-
gent, diuretic, and alterative, useful in obstructions of the liver,
rheumatism, bronchitis, jaundice, afflications of the urinary passages,
and in some cutaneous diseases. A decoction of the leaves was also used
for piles, haemoptysis, menorrhagia, diarrhea, and dysentery. The dosage
was 2 tablespoonsful of the bark decoction. Tamarack bark also contains
tannin, which can be extracted and used in tanning leather.

The seeds are eaten by red squirrels as well as by several kinds
of birds, including ruffed grouse, and the branchlets sometimes are browsed
by deer. Also, the leaves contribute to the diet of sharp- tailed grouse,
the varying hare, and snowshoe rabbits. Seeds, needles, or inner bark
are eaten by ruffed and sharp-tailed grouse, snowshoe hare, red squirrel,
porcupine, and deer.

Sight records of Larix laricina in the Catskills in most instances
probably actually refer to one or more hybrids, much used by state and

-16-

other agencies for reforestation purposes. The only collection of Larix
bearing cones (the one positive means of identification) made by the
•writer -was determined by Stanley J. Smith to be L. x pendula Salisb. All
records of Larix are plotted under L. laricina on the distribution map
in the Appendix, but more careful study is necessary to determine what
taxa are actually represented in that area. L. decidua Mill., the Euro-
pean Larch, sometimes spreads from plantings in uplands and is to be
looked for in the Catskills; it has cones 20 to 35 mm long, and puberu-
lent, not glabrous, cone scales. The cones of the Tamarack, on the other
hand, are 15 to 20 mm long and the cone scales are glabrous.

Picea A. Dietr. Spruce.

This is a genus of some Uo species of the north temperate zone,
most numerous in Asia; in North America there are seven native species.

The name of the genus is derived from the Latin pix. pitch, and refers
to the resin or pitch obtained from the common European species. Se-v
eral species are commonly cultivated as ornamentals, especially P. abies .
the Norway Spruce.

The spruces have been confused with the firs, and the names of the
two genera have been badly mixed, but careful examination of the shoots
and cones reveals a number of distinguishing features. The 4- sided,
needle-shaped leaves of Picea are somewhat spirally arranged on the
branchlets, while the flat leaves of the firs appear to be 2-ranked (the
exotic Abies magnifies has 4-sided needles, but only one station is known
for it in the Catskill region). In addition, the leaves of the spruces
are raised on peglike pulvini. When a leaf falls from the shoot of Picea,
this small peglike base is left on the stem, which gives the bark a
roughened character almost like a nutmeg grater; but when the leaves fall
from Abies . no such peg is left — there is simply a disklike scar. More-
over, the base of the leafstalk of Abies is slightly swollen, but no such
swelling occurs in Picea . Also, in Picea the cones are pendulous from
the branches, except when very young, and they remain intact on the
branches for several months after the seeds are ripe. In Abies the cones
are erect on the branches and they break up as soon as the seeds are ripe,
leaving only a central core on the shoot.

£• orientalis. the Oriental Spruce, a native of the Caucasus and

Asia Minor, forms a large tree over 100 feet high. It is superior to P.

abies as a decorative tree but is not hardy so far north, although it
will grow in central New England. The Blue or Colorado Spruce, P. nungens .
native to the central Rocky Mountain region, is one of the most distinc-
tive American species. Its stiff, horizontal branches and rigid bluish-

green to silver-white leaves make it one of the most beautiful evergreens
for the garden. Several varieties with characteristically blue foliage
are widely grown for ornament.

The inner bark of the spruces has been used in spring and early
summer as an emergency food, for the Indians of Canada and the northern
United States ate the inner bark of the spruces as they did that of the
pines. Some tribes sucked on the small cones as a treat, but the Crees
used them medicinally, eating them to relieve the discomfort of sore

-17-

throat. The young shoots, stripped of their short needles, have also
served as food in emergencies. Most species of spruce were so used, but
the Black Spruce, as reported by Weiner (1972), was used to save an early
crew of explorers from scurvy; they boiled the bright green needles and
drank the decoction. Spruce gum is derived from the two black spruces,

P. rubens and P. mariana . for when of the proper hardness, the resinous
exudations from bark wounds are the woodman’s chosen chewing gum. The
young shoots of these two spruces were also important ingredients in the
formerly popular and still locally made spruce beer.

Spruces produce less commercial timber than pines, but in contrast
they have furnished much pulpwood for newsprint and other purposes. The
lumber of spruces is easily worked and much used in carpentry. That of
the Sitka Spruce is perhaps best of all, and, although light, it is
strong in comparison to its weight. Resonant properties of the wood make
it particularly useful in the manufacture of violins and other musical
instruments. Burgundy pitch is the purified resin extracted from P.
abies . and the bark of various species contains tannin. Although often
sold for Christmas trees, spruces have the disadvantage of rapidly losing
their leaves when brought into the house.

Although both seeds and needles of various species of spruce are
eaten by small mammals and several kinds of birds, Martin et ^ (I961)
remark that the wildlife value of spruces is largely confined to northern
animals. Several kinds of grouse obtain much of their food from spruce
needles. The foliage and twigs are browsed extensively by rabbits and
deer in winter, and the small winged seeds are a valuable food of the
white-winged crossbill and several other kinds of birds, as well as being
eaten by squirrels and chipmunks. When planted about residences, spruces
provide excellent nesting and roosting sites as well as winter cover for
birds .

Key to Local Species of Picea

1. Cones 1-1.5 (3m long (branches subglabrous, leaves slender,

sharp-pointed, dark green, glossy) P. abies

1. Cones much smaller, rarely exceeding 0.5 dm in length, 2
2. Branchlets glabrous; bark pale brown; cones nearly cylin-
drical, becoming pale brown; buds glabrous P. glauca

2. Branchlets pubescent; bark reddish- to blackish-brown;

cones ovoid to subglobose, reddish-brown, buds pubescent, 3
3. Leaves more or less glaucous, bluish- green, mostly 6-10
mm long; cones ovoid to subglobose, dark purple before
maturity, grayish-brown when ripe, usually 2-3 cm long,

remaining for some years P. mariana

3. Leaves not glaucous, green, mostly 12-15 mm long; cones
short-oblong, green or purplish green before maturity,
brown when ripe, usually 3“4 cm long, falling in one
year P. rubens

-18-

Picea abies (L.) Karst. iMorway Spruce.

Meaning of Snecies Name . The Latin name of a European species
of fir.

Habitat . Occasionally spreading from plantings, on uplands.

Distr in NYS . Not reported by House (1924) as a naturalized
species .

Distr in the Torrev Range . Reported as an estab esc.

Time of FI. May-Jun.

Origin. Native of Eu.

Remarks . Often planted as a shade tree; frequently spreads
northw from planted trees. Also used extensively in forest planting.

From an economic standpoint the most valuable species of spruce in
Europe is no doubt the Norway Spruce. It is native to northern and cen-
tral Europe and Asia, where it occurs up to an altitude of 6000 feet, al-
most the limit of tree growth in northerly regions. In favorable situa-
tions it becomes the tallest and one of the stateliest of European trees,
sometimes rising to a height of 170 feet and attaining a trunk diameter
of 5 to 6 feet at the base. On the Swiss Alps it is one of the most
prevalent and striking of forest trees, and in the lower districts of
Sweden it is the predominant tree in most of the great forests. In Nor-
way it constitutes a considerable portion of the dense woods of the
southern valleys, flourishing on mountain slopes and clothing the shores
of some of the fjords to the water's edge.

While less valuable than pine, the Norway Spruce is an important
timber tree. When grown in close stands, the white wood has a compact
and even grain suitable for a great variety of uses. Of this species
Michaux (185I) wrote: "The wood is essentially different from that of
the Wild Pine FPinus svlvestris] . being whiter, far less impregnated with
resin, and consequently lighter, to which is added greater elasticity.

The union of these qualities renders it peculiarly proper for the yards
of large ships. Besides this important use, it is much employed in Eng-
land in joinery ... It is brought principally from Norway, and forms a
large proportion of the commerce of that country in wood, which exceeds a
million and a half dollars annually. In the north of Europe its bark is
frequently substituted for that of Oak in tanning." Great Britain also
imported great quantities of younger trees as poles, used for scaffolding,
ladders, and mining timber. In Norway the wood is very extensively made
into wood pulp by hydroelectric power. It is also grown as a "nurse" tree
for other trees, cover for game, and for small stakes and poles. It
bears the smoke of cities better than most of the fir group, although it
is subject to blight, which gives it an unhealthy appearance after a cer-
tain age. In North America the Norway Spruce was introduced rather early
as an ornamental tree and is the commonest species in cultivation in the
Catskills, where large specimens are often seen about old farmsteads. In
some areas it has also been extensively planted for windbreaks, hedges,
and shelterbelts , where its long lower branches rest on the ground and
the upper limbs shingle over the lower ones, forming a thick leafy shelter
against drifting snow and winds. In more recent years it has likewise
been much cultivated for Christmas trees, and large numbers of Norway
Spruce seedlings are now also being used for reforestation purposes.

-19-

4

Picea abies--Norway Spruce
[From Burns & Otis (I916), p. 44.]

As a decorative tree it may be surpassed in beauty by some of the
rarer kinds, but this is one of the most generally useful of spruces. It
grows well on a wide variety of soils and adapts itself to various cli-
matic conditions. It grows rapidly, and, particularly in its youth, it
is very attractive, forming a broadly conical and dense crown with branches
persisting nearly to the ground. There are a number of varieties of dis-
tinct habit, the dwarf kinds being very useful for planting in rock gar-
dens and in foundation plantings, some of which make a dense, compact bush
of very slow growth. There are also varieties with colored leaves.

Though designated as the source of Burgundy pitch, it furnishes but
a part of the substance sold under that name by druggists. Tingley asserts
that the real Burgundy pitch is obtained from Abies picea. the European
Silver Fir tree. According to Geiger, who is probably correct, it is pro-
cured from both species. From various species of ’’pine'* in different
parts of Europe, a similar product is obtained and sold by the same name.
Applied to the skin in the shape of a plaster. Burgundy pitch acts as a
gentle rubefacient, producing a slight inflammation and serious effusion
without separating the cuticle. It is used chiefly in the treatment of

-20-

rheumatic pains and in chronic affections of the chest or abdomen. In
northern Europe sprays of Norway Spruce are used in making beer.

In Lapland a camel-hair color for wool or cotton is obtained from
the twigs of this species. Twigs free from lichens are gathered and
chopped into small pieces, then simmered for 12 hours in an aluminum or
enamel kettle. The yarn is then immersed in the dye bath and held at a
temperature of 176 F, stirring occasionally to obtain an even color.
Different shades result, depending on the time the yarn is kept in the
dye bath. When the desired shade is obtained, the wool is himg up to
dry without rinsing.

Picea glauca (Moench.) Voss. White Spruce.

Meaning of Species Name . Blue-green, from the foliage.

Other Names . Cat Spruce, Skunk Spruce, Canada Spruce, Single
Spruce .

Type of Plant . A handsome tree growing from 75 to 135 ft high,
somewhat resembling Balsam Fir in aspect; dwarf and depressed in
alpine and exposed habitats.

Habitat. Woods, usually in rich moist soils.

Range . Lab to Ak, s to n NE, ne NY, n Mich, Wis, Minn, SD, and

Wyo.

Distr in NYS . Common or frequent in the northern counties; a
rare tree s of the Adirondacks.

Distr in the Torrev Range . Reported as an estab esc.

Elevation. Collected at l400 ft in Delaware co.

Time of May-Jun.

Origin. Native in n NY; spread from cult in the Catskills.

Remarks . Often an important component of northern forests.

Peattie (1950) states that "ITie most beautiful approach to the
North American continent from Europe is up the St. Lawrence to Quebec,"
the white cliffs of the Gaspe peninsula contrasting sharply with the
vast coniferous forests of so dark a green as to appear almost black.

"In this forest," he continues, "are set the little villages of French
Canada, the inevitable white steeple and gold cross gleaming bright
against the evergreens and the raw, elemental blue of the sky. Each of
these villages seems, from the deck of the ship, a collection of toy
houses and churches pressed closely by Christmas trees. And of all the
Conifers there, the fairest is the White Spruce, the beauty of its fam-
ily." It was in this very setting that White Spruce was first seen by
Europeans when in the autumn of 1535 Jacques Cartier sailed up the Sag-
uenay river, where he "found as beautiful, a country and lands and views
as one could wish for, level as aforementioned, and the finest trees in
the world," Including "Oaks, elms, walnuts, cedars, spruces, ash trees,
willows and wild vines."

White Spruce Is a decidedly northern tree, attaining its largest
size on the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies, where it sometimes
grows 150 feet high with a trunk 3 to 4 feet in diameter. The bruised
shoots and foliage have a strongly disagreeable odor, whence the local
names Skunk Spruce or Cat Spruce, but not all trees have this ill-scented

-21“

Picea glauca — White Spruce

[From Sargent (189I-I902), Vol. XII, Plate 597, p. 40.]

-22-

odor. This northern species prevails throughout Canada to the very limit
of tree growth; it barely enters the United States along the northern bor-
der, but it is sometimes planted as an ornamental tree and is occasion-
ally used for reforestation purposes in the northern parts of the United
States. It is a handsome, long-lived tree of imposing appearance and
thrives on a variety of soils. It is excellent for use as a windbreak
and can be sheared to form a good hedge, but it cannot be expected to

grow well south of New York City. In former times the Indians used the

pliable roots for lacing their birch bark canoes and in making various
artifacts. The long slender roots of this and other spruces were gath-
ered, coiled, and placed for about an hour in hot wood ashes to steam.
They were then removed, split, and soaked in hot water just before using.

In the western provinces of Canada this species often becomes a

fine timber tree, much used for interior finish. Its wood is usually not
separated from that of Red Spruce in statistics of the lumber trade, how-
ever, and it is used for the same purposes. Its greatest use is in the
making of paper pulp, particularly in eastern Canada, where it is the
chief species utilized in the wood-pulp industry. Pulp manufacture re-
quires an abundant tree with soft fibers, qualities for which White
Spruce is unsurpassed, in addition to which it is a fast-growing tree.
Many newspapers in the United States own their own spruce forests in Can-
ada with the hope that by operating on successive tracts over a large
area they can be assured of a continuous supply. As Peattie (1950) ob-
serves, "To produce a ton of newsprint requires one cord of wood, 2800
tons of water, nearly 2000 kilowatt hours of electrical energy or 100
horsepower for twenty-four hours, and a capital up to $50,000 per ton of
daily output."

Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP. Black Spruce.

Meaning of Species Name . Of Maryland, the name originally used
by Miller as synonymous with North America.

Other Names . Bog Spruce, Bay Spruce, Eastern Spruce, Yew Pine,
Spruce Pine, He-balsam, Spruce Gum-tree, "Juniper," Blue Spruce,

Double Spruce, White Spruce, Cat Spruce, Swamp Spruce, Water Spruce,
Lash-horn, Shortleaf Black Spruce, Shortleaf Spruce, Spruce.

Type of Plant . With us, chiefly a small tree 15 to 30 ft high
with a trunk diameter of 6-10 in.

Habitat. In our area usually on cool slopes, in swamps, bogs, and
on mountain summits; northw also on drier soils.

Range. Lab to Ak, s to NJ, Pa, Va, WVa, Mich, Wis, Minn, Man,
Sask, Alta, and BC.

Distr in NYS . Common in the n part of the state and in bogs
throughout the c counties; less frequent or rare in the s tier of
counties and in the w part of the state; reported southw to Dutchess,
Sullivan, and Delaware co.

Distr in the Torrev Range. NY: Greene, Delaware, and Ulster co.

Elevation ♦ 740-2400 ft in the Torrey range.

Time of FI. May at Cornell.

Origin . Native.

Remarks . Wood soft, weak, pale red or nearly white; wt 28 lb per
cu ft. Picea rubens has longer needles and cones and occurs mostly on
uplands, while P. mariana grows primarily in bogs and on wet soil.

-23-

The Black Spruce is a northern tree, extending to the very limit
of tree growth in Canada. In the far north it occurs on barren and stony
slopes, but it makes its best growth on well-drained bottomlands, where
it often reaches a height of 100 feet. Southward it grows (along with
Tamarack) almost exclusively in swamps and bogs, where it is slow-growing
and attains a height of only 15 to 30 feet. It is therefore often re-
ferred to as Swamp Spruce or Bog Spruce. In bogs the lower branches of-
ten become embedded in sphagnum moss, take root, and in time become
erect, so that they look like separate trees, a process known as layer-
ing. Here growth is so slow that trees only a few feet high are found
to be 20 to 40 years old and often bear cones profusely--a sign of matu-
rity. It is a ragged, "unkempt," dingy tree, with short drooping
branches, downy twigs, and stiff dark blue-green foliage, scarcely half
an inch long. The cones of the Black Spruce, smallest in size of all the
native spruces, are about an inch long and remain attached to the branches
for years.

This is not a good ornamental species, since it grows slowly and
is of untidy appearance. Throughout most of the southern part of its
range, therefore, this scraggly, undersized spruce is ignored both by
horticulturists and lumbermen. But in the north it is cut for pulpwood,
as the soft, weak, yellow wood, converted into paper, needs very little
bleaching. In earlier days, however, this spruce was considered one of
our most valuable timbers, as Emerson (1878) noted; "The valuable prop-
erties of the wood of double spruce are strength, lightness, elasticity,
and durability. As combining these in a higher degree than any other
wood applicable to the purpose, it is used for the smaller spars of
ships, --for all, indeed, except the masts and bowsprits, --in preference
to any other except the white or single spruce, and in toughness it is
superior to that. It is also sometimes used, in place of oak, or mingled
with it, in the upper part of the hull, and is found to outlast the oak,
and to possess the requisite tenacity.... Knees, also, of great dura-
bility, are made of the lower part of the trunk and a principal root of
the spruce. It is much used for making ladders, and extensively employed
in building, being suitable for the smaller timbers in the frames, and
for shingles." Less than a quarter of a century later, however, Sargent
(1891"1902) stated that "It is probably never used, except in Manitoba
and Sasketchewan, for other purposes than the manufacture of paper pulp."

In his Medical Flora . published in 1828-3O, Rafinesque reported
of this and other American spruces that "The bark of spruce trees is
sudorific, and in extensive use for tanning leather, also to dye of a
brick-red color. The inner bark is used by empirics, in powder and tea,
for bowel and stomach complaints, rheumatism, and gravel.... The resin
exuding from the trees is nearly like frankincense. Josselin [sic] says
that it is very good in powder over wounds to reproduce the flesh."

One of the most famous of all Indian "cures" took place in 1535
when the French explorer Jacques Cartier lost 25 of his men to scurvy
after his party became icebound in the St. Lawrence river near the site
of modern Montreal and the rest were so sick that they thought they
"should never recover againe, only three or four excepted." One of the
Indians of that region then gathered the branches of "a certain Tree"

-24-

Picea mariana — Black Spruce

[From Sargent (I89I-I902), Vol. XII, Plate 596, p. 32.]

-25-

and showed the men how to use it, "boiling the bark and leaves for a de-
coction." There is some doubt as to exactly what tree was used to cure
the men in six days; some authorities think that it was either White Pine
or Eastern Hemlock (both of which grow in that area and either of which
would have been an effective remedy), but, in his work on American medic-
inal plants. Dr. Millspaugh (1887) lists this species as the antiscorbu-
tic tree and was positive that "The discoverers of Canada were cured of
scurvy by it, since which it has become in common use in Canada, the
Northern States, and even in Europe."

It has sometimes been asserted that the Indians of North America
had no knowledge of alcohol, but Sargent remarks that "The preparation
of a fermented beverage made by boiling spruce branches with honey was
probably familar to the northern Indians before the settlement of the
country by Europeans, who learned the art from them ..." In any case,
"spruce beer" was a favorite drink in the North Woods during the l800's,
one which even now has not quite gone out of fashion. In The Maine
Woods . Thoreau reported that "Instead of water we got here a draft of
beer, which, it was allowed, would be better; clear and thin, but strong
and stringent as the cedar-sap." The Indians made it simply by boiling
spruce twigs and young cones in maple syrup, which they drank as a re-
freshing year-round drink, rich in vitamin C. In time, however, the
white man developed more sophisticated procedures, as Sargent reports;
"Spruce beer, which is considered a pleasant and agreeable drink in hot
weather, and a useful preventive of scurvy, is now made from the essence
of spruce . . . obtained by boiling the young branches of the Black and
Red Spruces in water and evaporating the decoction, the disagreeable
odor of the White Spruce making it unsuitable for this purpose . To pre-
pare this beverage the essence of spruce is boiled in water flavored
with various ingredients [Emerson (1878) suggests roasted oats or barley
and toasted bread or biscuits, sweetened with brown sugar or molasses,
and fermenting by means of yeast], and is then mixed with molasses or
occasionally with sugar, allowed to ferment, and bottled." "Proper spruce
beer" was considered "a palatable and healthy drink, powerfully antiscor-
butic." It was even carried by Captain Cook on one of his voyages to pre-
vent scurvy.

"Spruce gum," the resinous exudation of both the Red and the Black
Spruce, is still sometimes gathered in the north and used as a chewing
gum, but gone are the days when the gum was "collected in winter by 'gum-
mers,' men on snow-shoes, carrying long poles armed with chisels, with
which the resinous masses are knocked or cut off and caught in small cups
attached to the poles just below the chisels." This favorite chewing-gum
of the old lumber camps has largely been replaced by tropical chicle.

Pice a rubens Sarg. Red Spruce.

Meaning of Species Name . Reddish, from the color of the twigs
and bark.

Other Names . He-balsam, Yellow Spruce.

Type of Plant . A slender tree, 50-8O ft high with a trunk diam-
eter of 1 to 2 or 3 ft.

Habitat. Rocky woods and hillsides, especially in the mts.

-26-

Picea rubens — Red Spruce

[From Sargent (1891-1902), Vol. XII, Plate 597, p. 36.]

-27-

Range . Que and Ont to Pa and NJ, s along the higher mts to RC
and Tenn.

Distr in RYS . Common throughout n RY and locally abundant southw
to c NY and the Catskill mts, elsei^here local or rare; rare or ab-
sent s of the Hudson highlands and on SI and LI; not reported from
the w counties of the state.

Distr in the Torrev Range . NY: Throughout except s of the Hudson
highlands and on SI, increasing northw; rare at Orient, LI.

Elevation. Grows to 4500 ft in the Adirondacks ; sea level-
2100 ft in the Torrey range.

Time of May-Jun.

Origin. Native.

Remarks . A valued timber tree; wood similar to that of P. mari-
ana . which has shorter needles and cones and occurs on moist sites,
while this species grows on well-drained soils.

Red Spruce is often seen in company with Balsam Fir, particularly
in the southern Appalachians, where the mountain people not only call
both spruce and fir '’balsam," but refer to a certain type of mountain as
a balsam — meaning one conspicuously crowned with these two trees. Their
very dark, evergreen summits contrast sharply with the paler green de-
ciduous trees of the forest zone below them. The "Black Mountains," cul-
minating in Mt. Mitchell itself, take their name from these blackish caps
of spruce and fir.

So closely are these two trees associated in the minds of the
southern mountain people that they are respectively called He-balsam and
She-balsam. "Observing that the Fir has swollen blisters of resin under
the bark," remarks Peattie (1950), "they fancifully compared them to
breasts filled with milk; hence the She-balsam. And supposing perhaps
that a mate must be found for the She-balsam and noting that its com-
panion tree had no resin blisters, they named it the He-balsam." In
truth, however, the mountain people could not fail to observe that when
the lower limbs of this species break off, they leave projecting append-
ages, whereas the branches of Balsam Fir often break off, leaving a de-
pression in the bark. "He" can easily be distinguished from "She" by the
characteristic odor of the needles; when crushed, those of the spruce
have a distinctive orange-rind aroma, while the fir has the characteristic
odor of balsam pillows.

Like the Balsam Fir, Red Spruce is typically a Canadian zone tree,
occurring southward only at higher elevations in the mountains, prefer-
ring cold, moist situations on well-drained soils, but it frequently
occurs along streams, on the borders of swamps and bogs, and in mixed
stands of northern hardwoods. Hemlock, and White Pine. It is the most
common spruce in the Adirondack, Green, and White mountains, where it
may take two centuries to mature.

Indians of the northern regions made use of the needles, roots,
and gum of this species in a number of ways. Densmore (1928) reports
that the Chippewas used the fresh leaves of Red Spruce to make a bev-
erage, while the long slender roots were employed in sewing canoes and
other articles made from birch bark. The gum was used to make a pitch

-28-

for caulking canoes and birch-bark pails. It was prepared by boiling the
gum in a wide-meshed bag, which retained the bits of wood and bark, per-
mitting the gum to pass through into the water. The gum was then skimmed
from the surface and stored until needed, when it was mixed with charcoal
made from juniper.

In former days this was one of the important forest trees of the
northeast, for the straight trunks with sound knots develop an elastic
wood that is strong in proportion to its weight; but lumbermen ignored it
until the northeastern forests had been denuded of their valuable stands
of White Pine and softwood lumber was becoming increasingly difficult to
find. Between then and now, however, most of the merchantable spruce has
been heavily cut, and in the southern Appalachians, at least, spruce-fir
forests do not readily replace themselves; brambles, oaks, pin cherry,
and Trembling Aspen move in instead.

Wood of the Red Spruce has a long list of uses, an enumeration of
which would almost duplicate those for White Pine, but it has one dis-
tinctive quality not shared with pine, and that is its resonance. Musi-
cal resonance in wood is superior to that of metal by reason of the fact
that wood not only enriches and softens the tone but also damps it off
quickly. There is therefore no substitute for spruce in the manufacture
of guitars, mandolins, organ pipes, piano sounding boards, and violin
bellies. Among its other uses may be noted the making of boxes and crates
and its usefulness as construction lumber. In addition, food containers
made from it do not impart an unpleasant taste to the contents. In for-
mer days not only were the tall, straight trunks utilized as masts, but
the crooked roots supplied "knees” used in ship and boat construction.

Red Spruce has also been employed as pulpwood, and smaller trees are often
used as Christmas trees.

The pitch, as available, has been used medicinally, particularly
in the southern Appalachians, having been applied to rheumatic joints and
to the chest or stomach to allay pains and discomfort. In the spring of
the year the tender young growth was often used to make spruce beer, a
remedy for scurvy in earlier days. It was simply made by boiling the
young twigs, together with their leaves, then adding yeast and molasses,
honey, or maple sugar, after which the mixture was allowed to ferment.

Except in Pennsylvania and Virginia, this species is not common in
cultivation, as it demands a cool, moist climate and seldom succeeds out
of its natural habitat. In areas where it will grow, however, it is more
deserving of cultivation than P. mariana . for it develops a dense pyra-
midal crown with dark, shining leaves, making it a cheerful- looking tree.
In addition, the slender downy twigs are bright red and the bark has a
warm reddish tone .

The seeds are eaten by such birds as the pine siskin and the
crossbills; and by the red squirrel, which often cuts the unripened cones
to procure the seeds within them. The trees, particularly when growing
in close formation, provide excellent winter cover for wildlife, but a
dearth of food results when the areas are too extensive.

-29-

Pinus L. Pine.

Pinus ^as a name given by the ancients to several resinous, cone-
bearing trees. Modern botanists, however, restrict the use of the term
to members of this genus, which differs from other conifers in featuring
slender, needle-like leaves arranged in definite clusters. There are
about 80 species of pine, almost exclusively distributed in the northern
hemisphere. They are evergreen trees and shrubs of decorative and com-
mercial importance. Those growing in the warmer countries are often
mountain trees, although in the southeastern United States they occupy
considerable areas at little if any elevation above sea level; in more
northern regions they frequently form extensive forests. Pinus is the
classical Latin name for the native pine and was possibly used by the
ancients on account of the resinous properties of the tree.

In addition to the pines of the northeastern states, more than
20 species occur in the southern and western states. Their soft or hard,
straight-grained, resinous and often durable woods are suitable for many
purposes, and some are among the most esteemed of timber trees. Pure
forests of considerable extent are found in the southern states, in the
Great Lakes region, and on the mountain slopes in the western and north-
ern parts of the continent. A century of lumbering has almost cleared
the northeastern states of pine timber, and, unless proper measures are
taken, the pine forests of the southern and Great Lakes states will soon
follow suit.

Pines have three types of leaves. As is the case with many other
genera of the Coniferales, there is considerable difference between the
juvenile and mature leaves. On seedling trees and trees a year or two
old, the leaves are soft, produced singly, and surround the shoot; later,
however, the mature or adult secondary leaves appear. They are longer
and stiffen, sometimes rigid and sharp-pointed. The primary leaves, the
third type, are thin and chaff like, merely bud scales, from the axils of
which grow the secondary needle-shaped evergreen leaves; these, in ours,
grow in fascicles of 2, 3? or 5 leaves. Each tuft represents a short
branch that springs from the axil of a partially deciduous, scalelike
leaf. Each cluster of leaves is bound at the base by a sheath. In some
species the sheath falls very soon after the leaves are developed; in
others it lasts until the leaves fall, which may take from 2 to 5 years.

Male and female cones are found on the same tree in spring or
early summer. The numerous cylindrical, clustered male cones are borne
at the bases of the young shoots. They are usually yellow or reddish in
color with sessile sporangia which release an abundance of pollen through
longitudinal slits. The female cones are reddish, pale pink, or some-
times other colors, appearing the first year as tiny structures, usually
from the ends of young shoots. Pollen is conveyed by wind to the open
female cones in the second year of their growth, when they become recep-
tive to fertilization. In most species the seeds ripen and drop during
the second season after the female cones appear, but in others there is
a long period of dormancy.

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The matiire female cones are composed of numerous woody scales
spirally arranged about a woody central axis, each bearing 2-winged
(rare wingless) seeds; the cones differ much among the various species
in size, shape, and hardness. Those of the soft pines, in which the
leaves are usually in groups of 5? have softer scales than those of the
2- and 3" leaved hard pines. The cone scales of most of the soft pines
open and the seeds are shed soon after they ripen. Cones of the hard
pines are usually quite woody and the scales are often armed with stiff
prickles. These cones remain closed longer than those of the soft pines;
in fact, there are some in which the cones remain tightly sealed for many
years and become buried in the bark. Such species even require the heat
of a forest fire to open them in appreciable quantities, thus enabling
them to reseed burned-over areas. When seed is to be extracted commer-
cially from the cones of pines, it is not unusual to subject them to heat
in order to soften the resin that seals the scales together so as to per-
mit them to open.

Pines are among our most important forest trees, producing not
only wood of the finest quality but also naval stores (turpentine and
resin), pitch, and oil. Trees are tapped for this purpose in several
parts of the world, the three most important areas being western France,
the southeastern United States, and the Himalayas. If the pine forests
are allowed to dwindle, the deficit of lumber will not affect world com-
merce as disastrously as cutting off production of naval stores. All the
pines yield resin in greater or smaller quantities, but it is obtained
commercially only from a relatively few species. The crude resin is al-
most entirely used for the distillation of oil of turpentine and resin.
When the oil of turpentine is entirely distilled off, the residuum is
resin; when only part of the oil is extracted, however, the viscus mass
remaining is known as crude turpentine.

Oil of turpentine is a good solvent for many resins, wax, fats,
sulphur, and phosphorus; it is largely employed in making varnish and
oil paints. Resin is used not only by violinists for rubbing their bows
but also in making sealing wax, varnish, and resinous soaps for sizing
paper, papier mache, and dressing hemp cordage, but one of its special
uses is for making brewer's pitch for coating the insides of beer casks
and for distilling resinous oils. Pitch is also used in veterinary prac-
tice. Tar is an impure turpentine, viscid and brown-black in color, pro-
cured by destructive distillation from the roots of various coniferous
trees, particularly from Pinus svlvestris . Tar is used medicinally, es-
pecially in veterinary practice, for its antiseptic, stimulant, diuretic,
and diaphoretic actions. Tar-water is given to horses with chronic cough
and is used internally and externally as a cutaneous stimulant and anti-
septic in eczema. Oil of tar is used instead of oil of turpentine in the
treatment of mange and other skin afflictions.

A considerable industry has grown up in the United States in the
distillation of pine wood by means of steam under pressure. One of the
products thus obtained, which has considerable importance commercially,
is known as pine oil. It has a pleasant odor and has been largely used
for making paints which dry without gloss. It flows well under the brush,
is a powerful solvent, and is useful for emulsion paints such as are now

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much employed for inside work. Pine resins are not only much used by the
soap-maker in the manufacture of brown soaps but also in a number of dis-
infectants. The trade in resins was for many years almost exclusively a
French industry, and for many decades only in France were the pine forests
turned to account for the production of resin on a commercial scale. Now,
however, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia, and the United States furnish naval
stores in large quantities.

In Germany and Sweden pine needles are treated to remove the resin
and loosen the fibers, thus making "forest wool." This material is used
to stuff cushions and mattresses, and blankets and garments woven of it
are said to be warm and durable. Pine wood makes good kindling and the
resinous pine knots obtained from old stumps or rotting logs will ensure
a camp fire on rainy days. These knots can also be used as torches; they
will burn for a considerable time. Pine wood makes a quick hot fire but
it leaves only ashes rather than live coals, and it blackens the cooking
utensils with soot and tar. Like other conifers or softwoods, hot sparks
may shoot out from the burning sticks, not a desirable feature near tents.
Pine seeds from some species are widely used either fresh or roasted un-
der the name of pine nuts. Large quantities of the seed of the Stone
Pine are exported from Italy, where they have been prized since the an-
cient days of Rome. Seeds of various North American pines are also used
for food.

The 35 or more species and major varieties of pines native to
North America north of Mexico can be grouped into two sections, the "soft
pines" and the "hard pines." The soft pines are the delight of wood-
workers, as they have soft, close-grained wood, with thin, nearly white
sapwood not heavily impregnated with resin. Hard pines, on the other
hand, have heavy, dark-colored wood that is full of resin, which is a
nuisance to carpenters because it "gums up" their tools. One character-
istic easily enables one to distinguish between hard and soft pines. The
latter shed the papery sheath of their leaf bundles before the leaves
themselves begin to fall, while hard pines retain the leaf sheath until
the leaves are shed. In addition, the scales of the cones of the soft
pines are usually unarmed, the leaves contain a single fibrovascular bun-
dle, and, excepting those of the nut pines, the leaves are in 5" leaved
clusters. There are 12 species of soft pines in North America north of
Mexico, only one of which, the Eastern White Pine, is found east of the
Great Plains; the others occur from the Rocky Mountain region to the Pa-
cific coast.

Among the hard pines is a group called yellow pines, in which the
leaves ordinarily occur in 3“ leaved clusters; this group includes several
of the most valuable trees in North America. Among them are the Longleaf
Pine, P. nalustris ; the Loblolly Pine, P. taeda ; and the Pitch Pine, P.
rigida . all natives of the southeastern states, plus the Ponderosa Pine
or Western Yellow Pine, P. ponderosa . of the Pacific states. The Ponder-
osa Pine is the chief lumber pine of the Pacific states, where it is sec-
ond in importance only to Douglas-fir.

The various native species of pine constitute the chief source of
softwood (coniferous) lumber produced in the United States. The produc-
tion of pine lumber in this country for 1940 exceeded 15 billion board

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feet. Commercially, the types of lumber cut from the various kinds of
pine are known as white, yellow, ponderosa, sugar, and lodgepole pine and
are classified under these descriptive names in the census of manufac-
tures. Prior to I9OO the Eastern White Pine was one of the chief lumber-
producing trees in America, but the original forests have become so de-
pleted that this tree now contributes only a minor fraction of the lumber
marketed as white pine.

Among the American Indians the pines were some of the most fre-
quently used plants, both the bark and seeds of nearly all species being
edible. Pines of the western states, however, contain larger and more
delicious seeds than those of the east. These seeds have become popular
in recent years as a health food, sold under the name "pignolia nuts" or
"pine nuts." As for the bark, the phloem layer was so frequently employed
as an emergency food by the Indians that the early explorers of North
America found large areas of pine trees stripped of their bark, partic-
ularly in the Adirondacks, where the Indians ate quantities of it, espe-
cially "in the spring when it was full of sweet sap." This bark could
either be boiled or eaten raw, and some tribes dried it for later use.

In this connection, it is of note that the name Adirondack means "tree-
eaters . "

The Indians were also well aware of the medical properties of pine
sap and pine pitch. In a letter to Gronovius, written in December of
1744, Cadwallader Golden stated that "The Indians likewise cure all sort
of wounds without digestion by the Inner bark of the Pinus No I92 of the
collection I sent you," which they soaked in water so long "as to make it
soft & then apply it." Golden stated that it was reported to be "effec-
tual even in Gun shot wounds." John D. Hunter, writing in I823, reported
that "Sap pine" was used by Indians west of the Mississippi in the treat-
ment of breast complaints and coughs as well as its being a favorite rem-
edy for gonorrhea and "languid ulcers." "It relieves pain," he wrote,
"arrests inflammation, reduces swelling, and disposes the parts to heal."
Applied externally, it was considered an excellent remedy for rheumatism.

The Indians of Galifornia used heated resin of the Digger Pine to
bring boils to a head and applied it as a protective, healing covering
for burns, insect bites, cuts, swellings, and sores. Hot resin smeared
on a warmed cloth was also used as a poultice in the treatment of muscular
pains, soreness, and pneumonia. In Alabama, Indians boiled the inner bark
of pine saplings in water and drank the liquid for flux. Indians often
suffered from rheumatism as a result of being constantly exposed to the
weather. In Galifornia a favorite remedy was the sweat bath, in the
preparation of which a fire was built over some rocks and allowed to burn
down. Pine twigs were then thrown upon the warm ashes and the patient,
well wrapped in blankets, lay down upon them. Water was occasionally
sprinkled on the rocks so that steam, together with the volatile oil from
the leaves, was constantly given off. After inhaling these fumes and
sweating profusely from 8 to 10 hours, the patient is said to be invari-
ably able to move without pain. The Digger Pine was usually used in Gal-
ifornia, but other tribes similarly employed their local species.

Both the gum, turpentine, and oil of turpentine were used in Amer-
ican medicine. Turpentine is a liquid exuding from pines that solidifies

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upon exposure, while oil of turpentine (often called spirits or spirit
of turpentine) officially is the volatile oil distilled from the gummy
exudations of the Longleaf Pine, P. palustris . Oil of turpentine is
stimulant, diuretic, occasionally diaphoretic, anthelmintic, in large
doses cathartic, and externally rubefacient. Medicinally, it is still
employed in both general and veterinary practice as a rubefacient and
vesicant; it is valuable also as an antiseptic. It is used for horses
and cattle internally as a vermifuge; externally it is used as a stim-
ulant, for sprains and bruises, and to kill parasites.

As a stimulant, oil of turpentine proved serviceable in the treat-
ment of typhoid fever, its efficiency being ascribed, however, not so
much to its stimulant properties as to "an alterative influence upon the
ulcerated surface of the bowels characteristic of that disease." In the
1800's it was also recommended as a counterirritant in the treatment of
yellow and puerperal fevers and other cases of gastric inflammations re-
quiring resort to stimulation, as well as in the treatment of chronic
rheumatism, sciatica, and lumbago. It was likewise highly regarded as a
vermifuge, particularly in the treatment of tapeworm, and in addition was
given as a diuretic in the treatment of dropsy. It was once considered a
valuable remedy in bladder, kidney, and rheumatic afflictions, as well as
in the treatment of diarrhea. It is still sometimes used medicinally as
a rubefacient, diuretic, and irritant. Externally applied, oil of tur-
pentine irritates and speedily inflames the skin, so it was considered
useful as a liniment in the treatment of rheumatic and paralytic afflic-
tions, and as an inhalant. For mild cases it was generally diluted with
olive oil. The gum was used to treat kidney ailments, tuberculosis, and
to increase or hasten menstrual flow. Spanish- speaking New Mexicans are
reported to boil pine needles in water, mix the liquid with brown sugar,
and drink the decoction as a remedy for syphilis.

Insofar as importance to wildlife is concerned, pines rank very
near the top. Martin ^ al. (I961) report that their seeds make up more
than half the diet of three birds — the red crossbill, Clarke nutcracker,
and white-headed woodpecker — an unusual record. In addition, seeds of
many species of pine rank high among the foods of nearly all game birds
and such mammals as rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks; they are even eat-
en by the coyote and black bear. Unfortunately, however, the annual crop
of pine seeds varies considerably from year to year. Some species of
grouse consume pine needles, while small rodents and porcupines eat the
bark and wood. The twigs and needles also serve as food for deer, moose,
and other browsing animals, but mostly under near- starvation conditions.
In winter rabbits often attack young trees in plantations and sometimes
trim them completely of needles, even nibbling off the branches as well.
Young pines, particularly, provide valuable cover for gamebirds, fur
bearers, hoofed browsers, and other ground animals. Older trees are
favorite roosting places for migrating robins and commonly provide nest-
ing sites for mourning doves. Pine needles are also used as nest mate-
rial by several species of songbirds.

Key to Local Species of Pinus

1. Leaves mostly 5 per fascicle, the basal scales of the fas-
cicle deciduous; leaves with 1 fibrovascular bundle; cone

scales unarmed; wood soft, mostly without resin P. strobus

1. Leaves 2 or 3 per fascicle, with persistent tubular sheath;
fibrovascular bundles 2; cone scales armed or unarmed; wood
hard, with bands of resin, 2

2. Leaves in 3’s; cone scales armed with a sharp dorsal and

subterminal spine or prickle P. rigida

2. Leaves 2; cone scales unarmed, 3

3. Leaves full green, 7” 17 cm long; cones broadly ovoid-

conic, reddish-brown, sessile, divergent P. resinosa

3. Leaves blue- or gray-green, 3"7 cm long; cones
slenderly conic, tawny or grayish, reflexed on a
short peduncle P. svlvestris

Pinus resinosa Ait. Red Pine.

Meaning of Species Name . Resinous.

Other Names . "Norway Pine," Canadian Pine, Hard Pine.

Type of Plant . A forest tree, often 6o to 80 ft high with a
trunk 2 to 3 ft in diameter.

Habitat . Dry woods or rocky soil.

Range . NS to Man, s to Mass, NJ, Pa, in the mts to Wa, Mich,

¥is, and Minn.

Distr in ms. In woods, chiefly in the n part of the state; lo-
cal southw to the Helderbergs, the Catskill mts, and reported from
Inwood, NYC; westw to the pine plains of Rome; also in Yates co and
Letchworth Park.

Distr in the Torrev Range . NY: Otis Summit, Greene co; Inwood,

NYC, record unverified.

Elevation. 685“1723 ft in the Torrey range.

Time of FI. May-Jun; May 25-Jun at Cornell.

Origin. Native.

Remarks . Wood compact, not strong, light red; wt 30 lb per cu
ft. Needles 3“8 in. long, in 2*s; cone scales without prickles; a
tree of dry soils.

Red Pine gets its name from its colorful bark of armor-like plates,
but it has several other names as well. North Woods lumbermen call it
Hard Pine in contrast to the soft wood of the White Pine. No one seems
to know why in some areas it retains its illogical name of Norway Pine,
for it is native to North America, not Europe. According to Michaux,
early English explorers mistook it for Norway Spruce, a European tree,
and "Norway" it stayed. In New England it is widely held that the name
derives from the town of Norway, Maine, but that town was not incorpo-
rated until 1787 and the name Norway Pine was then already in use. In
any event, the name Norway Pine was so firmly entrenched that the U.S,
Forest Service met with considerable criticism when it decided to use
the more logical name of Red Pine.

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Red Pine is a fairly large tree, often growing in company with
White Pine and reaching its best development in the region of the upper
Great Lakes. It is a valuable timber species and is now widely planted
on reforested areas. Characteristically it is a tree of light sandy
soils, growing well in areas too poor for White Pine. It makes rapid
growth during its first 6o to 70 years, but thereafter growth proceeds
at a much slower rate. It is usually found scattered through the forest,
but in the Lake States it often forms nearly pure stands. Since it has
recently attracted attention in the Catskills as a suitable tree for
planting on abandoned fields, it can be expected to spread to hillside
pastures and other areas much as the Scotch Pine has done. It is a "pro-
lific seeder" and lends itself to "natural" reforestation.

Its sturdy reddish trunk contrasts markedly with the dark green,
shining needles that form dense tufts at the ends of the branches, form-
ing a broad symmetrical crown. The paired, somewhat glaucous, needle-
like leaves are 4 to 6 inches long. The young cones are bright red, more
showy than those of most other species of pine. The mature cones, 1 to 3
inches long with unarmed scales, are brown and shed their winged seeds in
early autumn, but the cones persist on the branches until the following
summer. Its wood is soft like that of the White Pine, and, though the
epithet "resinosa" means "resinous," its wood is not so heavily impreg-
nated with pitch as that of many other species. Its reddish bark and
paired leaves reveal its kinship to the Scotch Pine, a European species
now common in cultivation in the northwestern states.

The wood of this species is pale red, light in weight, and close-
grained, but it is not durable in contact with the soil without chemical
treatment. In some ways intermediate between the hard and soft pines,
however, it appeals both to lumbermen and to horticulturists because it
embodies the good points of both classes. Michaux (185I) remarks that
"in Canada, Nova Scotia and the District of Maine, it is highly esteemed
for strength and durability, and is frequently employed in naval archi-
tecture, especially for the deck of vessels, for which it furnishes planks
4o feet long without knots. Stript of the sap, it makes very lasting
pumps." At the beginning of this century Sargent reported that it was
largely used in the construction of bridges, buildings, and piles as well
as for masts and spars of ships, for which purposes considerable quanti-
ties were exported from Canada to Great Britain. Peattie (1950) states
that in its heyday it was an important item in the Chicago lumberyards,
where it was purchased for use in windmill towers, water tanks, sash,
roofing, siding for cattle cars, and ladders, to say nothing of crating,
derricks, and freight cars. The best Red Pine timber has long since been
harvested, however, so its importance in the lumber trade has declined,
but it is still used in building construction as well as for piling,
masts, boxes, crates, and as pulpwood. In addition, home dyers may note
that a yellow dye has been extracted from the bark.

It is considered by many to be a better tree for reforestation pur-
poses than the much-planted Scotch Pine, and for horticultural purposes it
holds its own by reasons of quick growth, hardiness, and beauty of color
contrasts. It can readily be raised from seed, is an excellent tree for
planting as a windbreak, and it grows well on sterile soil exposed to the
sea where most other pines would languish.

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Pinus resinosa — Red Pine

[From Sargent (189!“ 1902), Vol. XI, Plate 556, p. 70.]

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Pinus rjgida Mill. Pitch Pine.

Meaning of Species Name. Stiff, alluding to the needles.

Other Names . Torch Pine, Sap Pine, Hard Pine, Yellow Pine, Black
"Norway Pine," Candlewood Pine, Jack Pine, Black Pine.

Type of Plant . A tree sometimes 4o to 60 ft high with a trunk
diameter of 1 to 2 ft, but usually smaller in our area.

Habitat . Dry, rocky, sandy, or barren soil.

Range . NB to s Ont, s to NY, Pa, Va, mts of Ga, Tenn, Ky,
and 0; seldom on the coastal plains s of NJ, where it is the dom-
inant tree of the pine barrens .

Distr in NYS . Generally distr throughout the state below 1500
ft, but usually absent or rare in secs with calcareous soil and from
moist wooded slopes and mts. Very common in LI and SI and on the
hills up the Hudson valley, the Albany sand plains, w of L Champlain,
about Oneida L, Lewis co, and on the Ontario lowlands from St Law-
rence CO westw to Monroe co.

Distr in the Torrev Range . NY: Throughout, decreasing northw;
common s of the moraine on LI, and forming pine barrens e of Central
Park.

Elevation . Grows to 3000 ft in Va; sea level-2100 ft in the
Torrey range .

Time of El. Apr-May.

Origin . Native.

Remarks . Wood soft, brittle, coarse-grained, light reddish brown;
wt 32 lb per cu ft. Needles 3 per cluster, 2-5 in. long, stiff, stout,
mostly twisted.

This tree usually has a short, thick trunk with whorled, contorted,
and often pendulous branches, forming a thick, round-topped crown, but
when growing in exposed places the lopsided crown may be picturesquely
broken and irregular. The short, shining, dark green, 3“ leaved foliage
clothes gnarled j rough branches in thick tufts, contrasting sharply with
pale yellowish, usually clustered cones, the scales of which are armed
with stout prickles. Dead and black after shedding their seeds, the
cones tend to persist on the tree, suggesting hundreds of blackbirds
clustered on the boughs.

Pitch Pine is characteristically a tree of dry rocky ridges and
cliffs, although it is sometimes found in swampy areas. It is one of the
few trees that will flourish in salt marshes; on the sand dunes along
the New England coast it grows to the very water's edge where occasional
high tides cover the roots. Peattie (1950) reminds us that it is the pre-
dominant tree in the famous pine barrens of New Jersey, on Cape Cod, and
on storm- swept Montauk Point at the eastern tip of Long Island. It is
also a characteristic tree on the more exposed rocky mountain ridges of
Pennsylvania. It is quite resistant to fire and often is the only tree
able to survive on repeatedly burned-over areas. It seldom attains a
very large size in dry barren areas, but in cultivation it makes rapid
growth when young and develops into a picturesque tree at maturity.

Its wood is light, soft, weak, and brittle but quite durable, not
only in contact with the soil but also when subjected to alternate wet-
ting and drying. Michaux (1851), whose Silva was first published in Paris,

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16

Pinus rigida — Pitch Pine

[Prom Sargent (l891“1902), Vol. XI, Plate 579? P* 118*j

-39“

1810-13, remarked that Pitch Pine was "thought better than Yellow Pine
for floors that are frequently washed, as the resin with which it is im-
pregnated renders it firmer and more durable. It serves perfectly well
for ship-pumps, for which purpose trees with very little heart are pre-
ferred. The bakers of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and the
brick-makers in the vicinity of these cities, consume it in prodigious
quantities. From the most resinous stocks is procured the lamp-black of
commerce." Some 65 years later Emerson (1878) considered this species
"of far more value than it has usually been considered.... In Plymouth
County, vessels have been made, in many instances, for a considerable
time past, almost entirely of pitch-pine. For the upper floor, for the
lower deck, and for the beams, the best oak only is superior.... It is
an excellent material for floors, not yielding to the Southern pine in
durability and surpassing it in beauty. For water-wheels, it is pre-
ferred, on account of its durability when exposed to alternations of wet
and dryness. For the same reason it is selected ... also for aqueduct
pipes ... It is also an excellent material for the sills of houses and
barns, and for the sleepers of railroads and the stringers of bridges,
and for the frame of mills and other structures in damp situations. It
is preferred to any other wood in the Northern States as fuel for steam-
engines, and vast quantities of it are also consumed for the supply of
families. Formerly tar and lampblack were obtained from it. Now, from
its increased value and scarcity, this use is rarely made of it."

During our two wars with Great Britain, Pitch Pine played an im-
portant role in New Jersey as charcoal for the manufacture of bog iron
ore. Its wood is coarse-grained, full of knots, and hard to work, how-
ever, so it has a rather poor reputation and is now used only for rough
lumber, cheap crate material, occasionally for mine props, for wharf
piles, in the manufacture of charcoal, and as fuel wood. A major asset
of this tree is its ability to spring up with amazing vigor after a fire.
Suckers come up from the roots of fire- killed trees, a feature rare among
conifers . Another important characteristic is its ability to grow on
worthless land and in dry, rocky or sandy areas; thousands of seedlings
have been raised to reforest barren lands where other trees cannot grow.

In colonial times tar and turpentine were obtained from the Pitch
Pine. Both were used in medicine, not only during colonial times but
also well into the l800's. Dr. W. Beach, writing in 1857, called Pitch
Pine stimulant, laxative, diuretic, pectoral, vermifuge, discutient,
antiherpetic, detergent, balsamic, and vulnerary — an impressive list —
and held that the bark and gum were useful in the treatment of rheumatism
and consumption, increasing the menstrual flow, for treating kidney ail-
ments, and as plasters for ulcers and sores.

The cones open at irregular intervals, some even during the winter,
thus providing food for birds and small mammals such as the red squirrel,
for which it is said to be a preferred food. It also provides shelter for
a number of forms of wildlife. While this species no longer plays an im-
portant role in our domestic economy, this gnarled and picturesque tree
still evokes an image of the wild and untamable, its strong pitchy odor
and the heavy chant of the wind in its branches haunting the memory long
afterward.

-Uo-

Pinus strobus L. Eastern White Pine.

Meaning of Species Name . An ancient name for some incense-bear-
ing tree .

Other Names . White Pine, Weymouth Pine, Soft Pine, Soft Deal
Pine, Deal Pine, American Deal Pine, Northern Pine, Northern White
Pine, American White Pine, New England Pine, Spruce Pine, Sapling
Pine , Pumpkin Pine .

Type of Plant . A tall tree, sometimes I50 ft tall, but usually
only 60 to 80 ft high with a trunk 2-3 ft in diameter.

Habitat . Woods.

Range . Nf to Man, s to Del, NO, Ga, Ky, 111, and la.

Distr in NYS . Throughout the state n of the coastal plain and of
quite general distr, especially northw and in the Adirondacks up to
2500 ft; infrequent or rare on s LI.

Distr in the Torrev Range. NY: Throughout; rare on SI and uncom-
mon s of the moraine on LI, but it occurs at West Hempstead, Jamaica,
and near Riverhead.

Elevation . Grows to 4300 ft in NC; sea level- 2100 ft in the
Torrey range .

Time of FI . Jun; Jun at Cornell.

Origin. Native.

Remarks . Wood light brown or nearly white, soft, compact; wt 24
lb per cu ft. This is the only pine in the Catskills with 5 needles
per cluster.

The Eastern White Pine is one of our largest native evergreen
trees, which in aboriginal America often grew I50 feet tall, with a mas-
sive trunk clear of branches for 80 feet or more. It formed nearly pure
stands over vast areas and was perhaps the most abundant species almost
throughout its range. Its twigs tufted with long blue-green needles, no
evergreen is more beautiful when grown in a location sufficiently shel-
tered to prevent its supple branches from breakage by severe winds. In
spring the somber coloring of the older foliage is lightened by the
young yellowish- green shoots, the purplish color of the erect pistillate
cones, and the yellow pendulous clusters of the staminate cones. The
young pistillate cones stand erect until autumn, but the next season
finds them hanging down. At the end of the second summer the scales have
changed color from green to brown, and the ripe winged seeds are shed in
autumn and distributed by the wind. The mature cones are 5 to 10 inches
long, the broad unarmed scales squarish at the tips.

The first account of this tree published in English appeared in
John Josselyn's Account of Two Voyages to New England, which appeared in
1674, but the tree had undoubtedly been taken to Europe by the earlier
French explorers of Canada, for it was growing in Fontainebleu before the
middle of the l6th century. Josselyn reported that "The Pine-tree is a
very large Tree, very tall and sometimes two or three fadom about; of the
body the English [of Massachusetts] make large canows of 20 foot long,
and two and a half foot over, hollowing them with an adds and shaping of
the outside like a boat."

The impact of White Pine on the domestic economy of both the colo-
nial period and in 19th century America is well told by Peattie (I950),

-4l-

upon whom the writer has leaned heavily for many details in the following
account. No other tree, he remarks, has played so great a role for such
an extended period of time in the life of the American people; for 300
years, until well after the turn of the present century. White Pine was
unrivaled as a timber- producing tree. Aside from fish and fur, it was the
only great export of early New England and within 30 years White Pine was
being shipped not only to England but also to Portugal, Spain, Africa,
and the West Indies. England, mistress of the seas and forever at war,
produced no mastwood of her own. She had to depend upon Russia, Prussia,
and Sweden for supplies of Scotch Pine, supplies which the Danes could
cut off completely at any time simply by closing the entrance to the Bal-
tic Sea. The arrival of the first White Pine in England therefore
created a sensation and, long before the Revolution, emissaries of the king
went through the woods to blaze the best trees to mark them for later use
as main masts for his ships of the line. And since colonial times until
around I9OO, White Pine was the most important conifer of the northeastern
states, being a favored timber for construction of all sorts.

White Pine gained its importance from many factors, not the least
of which was the great abundance of the forest and the continuity of its
stands. This made possible the development of a concentrated industry
based upon mass production and mass marketing, with consequent cheaper
rates to the consumer. In addition, it was the most generally useful
wood our country has ever produced. Its soft light wood warps and checks
less than most timbers and is adapted to a variety of uses. Writing of
the period around I805, Francois Michaux estimated that half a million
homes had been constructed of this material. He has left a sharply de-
tailed picture of lumbering methods during the early l800's:

"The persons engaged in this branch of industry are in general
emigrants from New Hampshire, led by the desire of amassing rapidly the
means of purchasing a hundred acres of land for the establishment of
their families. In the summer they unite in small companies, and tra-
verse the vast solitudes in every direction to ascertain the places in
which the Pines abound. After cutting the grass and converting it into
hay for the nourishment of the cattle to be employed in their labor, they
return home. In the beginning of winter they enter the forests again,
establish themselves in huts covered with the bark of the Canoe Birch or
the Arbor Vitae, and though the cold is so intense that the mercury some-
times remains for several weeks from 4o to 45 degrees of Farenheit, below
the point of congelation, they persevere with unabated courage in their
work. When the trees are felled they cut them into logs from l4 to I8
feet long, and by means of their cattle, which they employ with great
dexterity, drag them to the river, and, after stamping on them a mark of
their property, roll them upon its frozen bosom. At the breaking up of
the ice in the spring, they float down with the current. All the logs
that come down the Kennebec are stopped at Winslow, about 120 miles from
the sea, where each person selects his own, and forms them into rafts
with the intention of selling them to the proprietors of the numerous saw-
mills between that place and the sea, or of having them sawn for his own
benefit at the price of a half or even three quarters of the product in
abundant years . "

-42-

Michaux furnished precise figures for one small region: "By an
extract from the custom-house register of Fort St. John, the quantity of
this wood that passed down the Sorel for Quebec, between the 1st of May,
1807, and the 30th of July following, was 132,720 cubic feet of square
timber, l60,000 feet of common boards, 67,000 feet of planks 2 inches
thick, 20 masts, and 4,5^5 logs of the same dimensions as are brought
from the District of Maine."

Michaux even wrote a few words concerning lumbering in the Cats-
kill region: "The upper part of Pennsylvania, near the source of the
Delaware and Susquehanna, which is mountainous and cold, possesses large
forests of this Pine, and in the spring the timber floats down these
streams for the internal consumption of the State. It enters into the
construction of houses both in the country and in the towns, and is sawn
into planks for exportation from Philadelphia to the West Indies. The
masts of vessels built at Philadelphia are also obtained from the Dela-
ware . "

Wood of the White Pine "is also formed into clap-boards and shin-
gles ." he continues. "The shingles are commonly I8 inches long, [and]"
from 3 to 6 inches wide ...: they should be free from knots, and made
only of the perfect wood. They are packed in square bundles . . . The
bundles sometimes consist of 500, but oftener of 250 shingles: the price
at Hallowel, in I807, was three dollars a thousand: two men can make
1600 or 1800 in a day." "East of the river Hudson, the houses are almost
invariably covered with these shingles, which last only twelve or fifteen
years. They are exported in great quantities to the West Indies." Even
in Michaux ’s day it was becoming evident that this vast resource would
not last indefinitely. "The vast consumption of this tree for domestic
use, and for exportation to the West Indies and to Europe, renders it
necessary every year to penetrate into the country, and inroads are al-
ready made, in quest of this species only, upon forests which probably
will not be cleared for cultivation in 25 or 30 years."

It is no wonder that the demand for White Pine reached such heights,
for no other wood served so well for window-sash material and no other
furnished such large boards for doors and interior finish. It was used
for every sort of millwork, the heddles of looms, untold amounts of cheap
furniture, and the number of shingles made for roofing American homes and
barns is beyond calculation; for two centuries they were hand-rived with
a frow, and in 24 years Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota together pro-
duced 85 billion of them. Most of the covered bridges of the northeastern
states were made of White Pine in preference to almost any other wood be-
cause of its long- lasting qualities and its lightness in proportion to its
strength. It had other more prosaic uses also. Peattie reports that in
1912 some 72,000,000 board feet of this now precious wood were still being
split into matches; Western White Pine has since been used for this pur-
pose .

The exploitation of this unrivaled natural resource was so com-
plete in the northeastern states that by I900 virgin White Pine was no-
where to be found except in the southern Appalachians, where the boom
lasted from I9OO to 1915- But the tragedy of the almost total loss of
this great natural resource taught us a few lessons, for White Pine

Pinus strobus — White Pine (young cones)

[From Sargent (189!“ 1902), Vol. XI, Plate 538, p. 22.]

-hh-

Plnus strobus—White Pine (mature cones)

[From Sargent (1891-1902)5 Vol. XI, Plate 539, p. 22.]

dramatized the situation as no other tree had done and served to rouse
public opinion to the support of the conservationists, who for 20 years
had fought without allies. It was too late to save the White Pine, but
public opinion rallied in time to save the great forests of the western
states and to back Theodore Roosevelt, the U.S. Forest Service, and the
National Parks Service in their battle for conservation measures.

One of the hopeful phases in the story of the White Pine is the
fact that new forests are springing up naturally in the northeastern
states where early lumbering denuded great tracts of land, for natural
reproduction is good. Maine, one of the first states to lose its em-
inent position in the production of White Pine timber, once again leads
the nation; after nearly a century, the second growth in that area has
reached maturity, but probably never again will we see such majestic
specimens as grew in the virgin forest. In addition, millions of White
Pine trees have been planted for reforestation purposes in areas unfit
for agriculture, particularly since pine is one of the most valuable of
timber crops. White Pine is still one of our most valuable timber trees,
in current demand for general construction work, interior finish, and
cabinet-making, for it is light, easily planed and polished, and takes
paint better than almost any rival. Furthermore, as a shade or orna-
mental tree. White Pine has few rivals among the pines. It makes rapid
growth in its youth and is adaptable to a variety of soils.

In pure stands White Pine is often greatly damaged by the pine
weevil, the larvae of which destroy the terminal leader. This tree is
also susceptible to a fungal disease, the White Pine blister rust, in-
advertently brought over from Europe and now firmly established here.

One stage of this disease infects the leaves of gooseberry and currant
bushes (Ribes^ . from which the spores can infect pine trees to a distance
of some 1000 feet. Only the spores produced by the stage infecting
these bushes can infect White Pine, so the disease can be controlled by
eliminating gooseberry and currant bushes from areas where White Pine
grows .

The uses of this species, however, were not limited to its value
as timber. The juicy inner bark of the White Pine has long been known
as an emergency food, extensively used by the Indians as a dependable
source of food in times of scarcity. It was also a popular morsel to
chew in many regions where the tree abounds; few are the farm boys of
those areas who have not gathered "slivers" of this bark to chew while
tramping through the woods in May or early June. But White Pine bark
as a food is not likely to find much favor with modern palates, for it
is bitterish and has a rather strong hint of turpentine flavor. But if
one should get lost in the woods, he need not lack for food in areas
where pine bark is available.

New Englanders even candied young shoots of this tree in former
days. First boiled in water until tender, they were then cooked for 20
minutes in a syrup made of equal parts of sugar and water, drained, the
shoots partly dried, then rolled in granulated sugar, making a confection
somewhat more "civilized" than the foods prepared Indian fashion. But
for most people the seeds will probably provide a more attractive food,
although they are not to be compared with the delicious seeds of the nut

-46-

pines native to the -western states. The pungently spicy seeds of both
the White and Red Pines -were gathered by many Indian tribes for cooking
with meat. Their flavor may be too pungent for some tastes, but the
resin is less evident if the seeds are gathered in August i^Jhen the cones
are ready to open, and Kephart suggests roasting them to remove some of
the resinous taste. The Ojibwas are reported to have gathered the firm
unexpanded cones of this species to stew with meat; when cooked, they
are said to be sweet and not pitchy, but again, they are not likely to
meet with a very favorable reception by most people. Branches of White
Pine are also used for Christmas wreaths and sprays, for which it is
ideal. Unlike those of hemlock and spruce. White Pine needles are per-
sistent in the hot, dry conditions found in most modern apartments. As
the pine oil volatilizes, it brings to the room the same pleasant odor
that one experiences in driving through pine country on a hot summer day.

Throughout its range White Pine played an important role in In-
dian affairs, both as a food and in medicine. Medicinally it was one of
their most important plants, use being made of its needles, buds, bark,
cones, roots, and pitch. In New England the Indians boiled White Pine
needles in water to make a tea for the prevention of scur-vy, a most ef-
fective remedy, for these needles contain five times as much vitamin C as
an equal weight of lemons in addition to being rich in vitamin A. Pine
needle tea is made by pouring 1 pint of boiling water over 1 ounce of
finely chopped pine needles. Served with lemon and sugar it makes a
quite palatable drink, but, as with most other White Pine dishes, a
taste for it no doubt needs to be cultivated. This drink was also taken
as a cure for sore throat. Other tribes inhaled fumes of the heated
needles for backache and crushed them to make an application for head-
ache and backache. Densmore (I928) reports that wood from the trunk of a
young pine tree, together with the inner bark of Prunus serotina and P.
americana, were used by the Chippewas to prepare a poultice used in the
treatment of cuts and wounds. The wood was chipped and boiled with the
bark until it was soft. The mixture was then strained, reserving the de-
coction, and the woody material was pounded into a mash and dried. When
needed, the mash was thoroughly soaked in the decoction and applied to
the wound, care having been taken "that the barks after boiling do not
come in contact with rust or dirt." It was stated that this mixture was
successfully employed in the treatment of a gunshot wound after gangrene
had set in, and that the mash "could be applied to any form of 'rotten
flesh,' after which a knife was used to cleanse the wound."

Indians used the buds in decoction as a laxative, while the pitch
or resin formed the basis of a salve used externally in the treatment of
rheumatism, muscular pains, burns, sores, and wounds. It was likewise
used as a remedy for coughs. Boiled in water, the resin or gum was taken
internally for colds, sore throat, and respiratory ailments. The inner
bark was also used in a number of ways. Boiled as a tea, it was drunk in
the treatment of colds and pains in the chest in addition to being used
as a cough medicine; soaked in water and pounded into a pulp, it served
as a poultice for cuts, sores, burns, scalds, and wounds, and a decoction
from the inner bark of saplings was used to treat dysentery. The roots
likewise were boiled and pounded to make a poultice, and the young cones
were used to treat rheumatism.

The early colonists brought with them knowledge of the medicinal
uses of European pines, so it is not surprising that they were receptive
to similar use of native species, especially when it was learned that
they were highly regarded by the Indians as effective remedies for a num-
ber of ailments. In Massachusetts John Josselyn, writing in 1663, re-
ported that the White Pine "yields a very sovereign turpentine for cur-
ing desperate wounds." In 1849 Dr. Williams, reporting on the indigenous
medical botany of Massachusetts, stated that the Indians used White Pine
bark as a poultice for piles and ulcerations and that they made a "draw-
ing plaster" by boiling the roots, inferring that it might be so used in
American medicine. Pine tar, resin, and turpentine from Pinus nalustris
and other species of pine were official drugs in the U.S . Pharmacopeia .
1820-1916, the first as a disinfectant, deodorant, and insecticide, while
the resin and turpentine were used primarily in plasters and ointments.

In addition, the bark was highly regarded for its expectorant properties
and its ability to reduce swollen tissues. Not only was the bark much
used during the l800's as an ingredient in several trademarked pharmaceu-
tical products for treating pulmonary ailments, it was included in the
National Formulary. I916-65. Although it is no longer considered an offi-
cial drug, it is still employed as an ingredient in commercial cough
syrups and is much in current demand by drug companies manufacturing such
products. The bark is often mixed with extracts of wild cherry, sassafras,
and honey to improve its flavor.

Cottontail and snowshoe rabbits occasionally eat the bark of
young trees, and porcupines may cause extensive damage by eating the
bark. The cones are eagerly sought by red squirrels, and the seeds are
eaten by such birds as the crossbills and the pine siskin. It is also
occasionally browsed by the white-tailed deer.

Pinus svlvestris L. Scotch Pine.

Meaning of Species Name . Of woodland.

Other Names . Scotch Fir, Norway Pine.

Type of Plant . A tree sometimes 120 ft high but usually only 70
to 90 ft high with a trunk 2-3 ft in diameter.

Habitat. With us, usually at edges of woods and thickets and in
pastures .

Range . WE to Ont, s to NJ, 0, and la.

Distr in NTS. Extensively used in forest plantations; natural re-
production occurs and it will doubtless become commonly natzd as exist-
ing young plantations approach maturity.

Distr in the Torrev Range . Not listed in Taylor (I9I5).

Time of May-Jun.

Origin . Natzd from Eu.

Remarks . Much cult and locally natzd. Wood reddish brown; wt 30
to 4o lb per cu ft. Needles 2 in a cluster, cones without prickles;
upper bark bright orange .

When grown under optimum conditions, Scotch Pine is one of the
most picturesque of the 2-needled species, of conical habit when young,
but in maturity acquiring a spreading mushroom-like top with a straight
trunk. The gnarled branches are clothed at their extremities with rather

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Pinus sylvestris--Scotch Pine
[From Grimm (I962), p. 429*]

short, glaucous, green, often twisted leaves that contrast strongly with
the reddish-brown bark. The staminate cones fill the air with their
sulphur- like pollen in late May or June to pollinate the purple pistil-
late cones, which at first are erect and sessile but later become re-
curved on a lengthening stalk. Fertilization does not occur until the
following summer. The female cones do not reach maturity until the
autumn of the second year, but they seldom open to scatter their seeds
until the third year.

P. svlvestris is a European tree, growing in central and northern
Europe and in northern Asia, extending from the shores of the North Sea
across Europe and Asia to Kamchatka. It is particularly abundant in the
Scandinavian peninsula. It is the fir ( fur . fura') of the old Norsemen
and still retains that name in Great Britain in spite of the fact that it
is a pine. Introduced in southern Britain, it has escaped to many of the
sandy moors, forming naturalized stands of large extent in many areas.

The heartwood of the finer specimens is deep brownish-red in color and
abounds in resin, to which its durability is no doubt due, for it is as
lasting as oak for all indoor and most outdoor purposes. It is one of

-49-

the most important timber trees in the economy of northern Europe, -where
houses are chiefly constructed of its lumber, particularly in Poland and
Russia. Log huts are made of the smaller trunks and roofed with its bark.
It is but little inferior to oak for ship planking and, because of its
lightness and elasticity, is -well adapted for the construction of yachts
md other small, fast-sailing craft. It is ideal for masts and large
spars, and great numbers of young trees are cut annually for railway ties
and mine props. It has also been much used for wood pavement in some
areas .

Scotch Pine was early introduced into this country as an orna-
mental tree and has since found widespread use in eastern North America
in reforestation projects, but it is definitely inferior to our native
pines for this purpose. It grows rapidly in its youth and is tolerant of
varied soil, moisture, and climatic conditions, but in this country it
does not grow so large as in its native range and is here likely to be a
comparatively short-lived tree, averaging a life of some 40 years. It
is a useful hardy ornamental tree, however, resistant to city smoke.

Young Scotch Pines also find a ready market as Christmas trees.

In northern Europe the dried inner bark of this species has long
been an important staple in times of scarcity. In 1732 Linnaeus found
the Laplanders subsisting largely on the bark of this "fir.” He stated
that when fed to cattle and swine, the ground bark proved fattening and
bread made from it was nutritious, but to his taste it was not too palat-
able. A. Morlot, writing in i860, reported that when boiled, the inner
bark furnished "a very edible bro'bh," of which the Laplanders were quite
fond. The inhabitants of Norway and Sweden made similar use of this bark,
strips of which were cut from the trees in spring and fastened to the
barn to dry over summer. Then, as necessity demanded, the dried bark was
ground up and mixed with oatmeal, rye, or other flour to make thin cakes
and "famine bread." White Pine is also important as a source of emergency
food and would likewise be a good source of meal, but few people are like-
ly to undertake the long process required to make it as described by Lin-
naeus, writing of Pinus svlvestris in northern Europe:

"Some people make bread of the bark of fir-trees. For this pur-
pose they choose the bark of such trees as are of a large size, but with
few branches, because the branches, as well as the younger trees, are
more resinous, and therefore more strongly flavoured. The bark taken
from the lower part of the tree is esteemed the best. The hard external
coats require to be carefully removed. Stores of this bark are often
laid by for winter use. Previously to its being ground into flour, it
is laid over a slow fire in order to be warmed through, and rendered more
friable, for it becomes by this means much thickened and very porous. It
is next ground and baked, in the same manner as barley.... The dough
made of fir bark is more compact than barley dough, and almost as much so
as that made of rye; but the bread has a bitterish taste."

Large quantities of turpentine are extracted from Scotch Pine in
Sweden and in the USSR by removing a strip of bark, terminating below in
a deep notch cut in the wood, into which the turpentine runs, and from
which it is scooped as it accumulates; but the product is not equal to
that of the Silver Fir and other species. Tar, chiefly obtained from the

-50-

roots, is also obtained from P. svlvestris . Country people in Europe
have also used the Scotch Pine as a source of dye materials, obtaining
"mordore” from the fresh bark, "nankin" from the barked wood, and a
hazelnut color (noisette) from the leaves.

%

Tsuga Carr. Hemlock.

Hemlock is the name commonly given in North America to trees of
the genus Tsuga . They are evergreen trees, natives of North America,
the Himalayas, China, and Japan. The genus comprises l4 species, four of
which are native to temperate North America, two in the Pacific states
and two in eastern North America. The eastern hemlocks have their leaves
arranged in a flat spray, appear to be 2-ranked, and have a basal cushion.
They are silvery white underneath by reason of pale lines on the under-
side of the flat, blunt-pointed blade. An abundance of pendant cones is
borne annually. The wood of most hemlocks is of comparatively little
value, but the bark is rich in tannin, and so hemlocks have long been im-
portant in the leather trade. The name of the genus is derived from the
Japanese name of one of the species.

They share with other conifers a dislike for atmospheric impuri-
ties and are therefore unsuitable for gardens in or near towns where the
atmosphere is .laden with smoke or chemical fumes. They can stand partial
shade, but they are trees for somewhat sheltered locations; in wind-swept
areas their foliage is apt to "burn" (turn brown at the tips of the
leaves) and they do not prosper. The Western Hemlock, T. heterophvlla .
is a valuable timber tree. Its wood is greatly superior to that of all
other hemlocks, comparing favorably with that of pine or spruce. Two
Japanese species are often cultivated as ornamental trees.

The four hemlocks of North America were utilized throughout their
ranges by various tribes of Indians, who were well aware of their value
both as food and in medicine. In the east the Iroquois boiled the young
leaves of the Eastern Hemlock to make hemlock tea. The inner bark of the
western hemlocks was dried and pressed into cakes, which, mixed with
salmon oil, were considered as delicacies by the Indians of British Co-
lumbia. In Sitka the bark was often mixed with roots, berries, and train
(whale) oil. In an emergency the bark of both eastern and western hem-
locks is edible in the raw, uncooked state.

Martin ^ al. (1951) remark that the dense low foliage of young
hemlocks makes excellent winter cover for ruffed grouse, wild turkey,
deer, and other wildlife. They also state that "Hemlock groves are also
favorite nesting places for several kinds of northern birds — the veery,
black- throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackburnian
warbler, and junco." In addition, the small, winged seeds are important
sources of food for a number of other birds and for several rodents, in-
cluding the red squirrel. Porcupines are fond of Eastern Hemlock and
"occasionally kill young trees by stripping the bark and wood."

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Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr. Eastern Hemlock.

Meaning of Species Name . Of Canada.

Other Names . Hemlock, Spruce Pine, Hemlock Spruce, Hemlock
Spruce Pine, Canada Hemlock, Canadian Hemlock, Hemlock Pine, Suga,
Spruce, White Hemlock, Wisconsin Hemlock Pine, Hemlock Fir, Red Hem-
lock, Tan-bark Tree, Water Spruce, Weeping Spruce.

Type of Plant . A tall forest tree growing 60 to 80 ft high with
a trunk diameter of 2-3 ft.

Habitat . Mostly hilly or rocky woods.

Range . NB to Ont and Minn, s to Del, WVa, along the mts to Ga
and Ala, 0, Mich, and Wis, with outlying colonies in Ind.

Distr in NYS . Frequent or common in nearly all secs of the state
except LI and SI, where only a few scattered individuals are now found.

Distr in the Torrev Range . NY: A single tree at Old Place, SI,
and at Roslyn, LI; common throughout the rest of the state, increas-
ing northw.

Elevation. Grows to 2000 ft in the Adirondacks; sea level-2400
ft in the Torrey range; observed above 3000 ft in Delaware co.

Time of FI. Jun at Cornell.

Origin. Native.

Remarks . Wood soft, weak, brittle, coarse-grained, light brown
or nearly white; wt 26 lb per cu ft. The needles of Abies balsamea.
with which this species might be confused, are not stalked and have
circular bases, while the needles of T. canadensis are attached by
slender stalks .

The Eastern Hemlock is usually common in upland forests. At ma-
turity it is a large, handsome tree, one of the hardiest species, that
in the virgin forests commonly attained a height of over 100 feet and a
trunk diameter of 4 feet. Grimm (I967) remarks that many of the larger
trees found in the primeval forests have trunks 15 feet or more in cir-
cumference. "Foresters tell us," he states, "that hemlock trees reach
maturity at an age of 250 to 3OO years, and may live to an age of 6OO
years or more." Elsewhere (Grimm, I962), he mentions that many of them
"were more than four centuries old." When growing in the open, the tree
has a dense conical crown and the lateral branches may extend nearly to
the ground, but when growing in dense stands the trunks are often clear
of branches for a distance of 80 feet or more. Hemlock thrives in cool,
moist situations, frequently occurring along streams and the borders of
swamps and bogs or on steep north-facing slopes. It is rather tolerant
of shade but comparatively slow of growth. In its natural habitat it
commonly associates with White Pine and various northern hardwoods, but
occasionally it forms practically pure stands.

In the rocky uplands the drooping lower branches sweep the ground,
and in winter the tree is often half buried in snow. "But," as described
by Rogers (1926), "in spring every twig is dancing and waving yellow
plumes of new foliage, the picture of cheerfulness as the sunlight sifts
through the tree-tops. In May the new blossoms sprinkle all the leafy
twigs — the staminate, yellow; the pistillate, pale violet. Looking up
from below, one sees a charming iridescent effect when the blossoms add
their color to the shimmering silver which lines the various platforms
of foliage. The little red-brown cones cling to the twigs all winter.

-52“

Tsuga canadensls—Eastern Hemlock
[From Sargent (1891-1902)5 Vol. XII, Plate 603, p. 66.]

-53-

slowly parting their scales to release their winged seeds. Squirrels
climb the trees in the fall and cut off these cones to store away for
winter use." When young, this native tree is one of our most graceful
evergreens. It is hardy, yet its feathery- tipped branches present a
delicate outline. It grows more rugged and somber as it approaches ma-
turity, but it then becomes more picturesque. Its foliage is soft to
the hand, beautiful in sunshine and shadow. As an ornamental, there-
fore, Eastern Hemlock has much to recommend it. Young trees will grow
under considerable shade and can also be trimmed to advantage, the latter
an important consideration in using them for hedges.

In the early iSOO's, when plenty of White Pine was still avail-
able, hemlock was little utilized for lumber because of its hard, coarse-
ly grained, brittle, splintery, usually knotty, and not very durable wood,
but even then it served the mountain people for joists, scantling, gir-
ders, and subflooring. At a later date, nearly a century ago when pine
was no longer readily available in many areas, lumbermen somewhat revised
their opinions as to its utility. Emerson, writing in I878, stated that
"The timber of hemlock is wanting in strength, [but its] firmness is
great and it is very durable when not exposed to the atmosphere [for,
since] it has little resin, it ill bears the alternations of moisture and
dryness. It is therefore employed, together with spruce,... as a sub-
stitute for white pine, where the latter has become scarce, for the frames
of all kinds of buildings which are to be covered, for the board covering
of wooden houses which are to be clap-boarded, and particularly, on ac-
count of its hardness, for the threshing-floors of barns. It is pre-
ferred to other woods for the material of lathes, and for any purpose
where stiffness is wanted without the property of yielding or elasticity,
and is excellent for corn- chests, as rats or mice cannot gnaw it. It is
much used in the large Atlantic cities as a substitute for stone in the
pavement of streets, for which purpose it is sawn into hexagonal blocks
of eight inches in thickness, and eight, ten, or eighteen inches in
breadth." Today one of its chief uses is for the making of pulpwood
used in the manufacture of paper, although considerable lumber is manu-
factured for rough building construction, boxes and crates, as well as
pulpwood. The fact that the leaves fall upon drying makes it a poor
Christmas tree.

The early settlers also soon found that its bark could be used
for tanning leather. Although inferior to oak for this purpose, its
great abundance in many sections of the northeastern states, partic-
ularly in the Catskills, made harvesting hemlock bark a major industry.

For 200 years and more the trees were stripped in the most wasteful man-
ner. Rogers (1926) described the harvesting of hemlock bark as follows:
"'Peelers' go into the woods in May, when the new growth is well started
and the bark will peel readily. They fell and strip the hemlock trunks
and remove the bark in sheets, which are piled to dry and be measured
like cordwood, and later shipped to the tanneries." Only the broad thick
bark of the lower trunks was taken; the peeled logs were left in the for-
est to decay. To leather the bark imparts a red tone, liable to rub off
in use, but it served in immense quantities for tanning. Sargent (I89I”
1902) remarked that hemlock bark "is used in enormous quantities in the
manufacture of heavy leather, and also in the production of the finer
grades of leather, when it is mixed with Oak bark to modify the red color

-5A-

of leather tanned entirely with Hemlock bark. An extract of the bark is
used by tanners instead of the bark itself, to strengthen their bark
liquors. It is also employed by dyers to modify the shades of logwood
coloring, especially when copper sulphide is used as a mordant."

As with other conifers, Indian tribes in areas where this species
abounds seldom failed to make some use of it. Of the "Hemlock- tree , a
kind of spruce," Josselyn wrote in I672, "The Indians break and heal their
swellings and sores with it ; by boyling the inner bark of young hemlock
very well; then knocking of it betwixt two stones to a playster; and, an-
nointing or soaking it in soyls ' oyl, they apply it to the sore. It will
break a sore swelling speedily." Many Indian tribes made medicinal use of
both the leaves and inner bark of this species, sometimes combining them
with other medicines to obtain the desired result. A tea brewed from the
leaves was administered to induce perspiration to break up colds and re-
lieve feverish conditions, to disguise the taste of more unpleasant medi-
cines, and to alleviate pains in the abdomen. Some tribes also used the
leaves in their sweat baths. Other tribes crushed and powdered the dried
inner bark for internal use in diarrhea, to heal cuts, and to stop the
flow of blood from wounds. A tea was sometimes prepared from hemlock bark
for coughs, colds, and influenza. The Chippewas used the fresh leaves of
hemlock to prepare a beverage. As a matter of fact, Densmore (I928) re-
ports that they seldom drank fresh water. As soon as camp was made, hem-
lock, spruce, or pine needles, leaves of the Wintergreen Berry, Black
Birch twigs, or whatever might be at hand were usually gathered fresh for
making a tea. The inner bark of this species was dried, pulverized, and
applied dry to control hemorrhage from wounds, often in combination with
other ingredients. The inner bark, together with "a little grindstone
dust" was also used in the preparation of a mahogany dye.

The early colonists were quick to learn of the medicinal virtues of
this tree from the Indians ; the high tannin content of the bark made it
a valuable curative for burns and sores. It was much used in American
medicine, even in the late iSOO’s, concerning which Millspaugh (1892)
wrote at some length: "The stimulating effect of hemlock is well known
and greatly utilized. A tired hunter arises fresh and invigorated from
his bed of hemlock boughs, and the patient of the city physician, seek-
ing health in our northern interiors, finds supreme comfort in a bath,
in which hemlock leaves have been slowly steeping for some hours before
his ablution, and quiet, refreshing slumber awaits him upon his couch
of soft branches. A strong decoction of hemlock bark has received the
praise of empirics and the laity as an astringent enema in diarrhoea
and injection for leucorrhoea, prolapsus uteri, etc.; the oil as a lin-
iment in croup, rheumatism and other disorders requiring its stimulant
action; and the essence as a diuretic and a remedy to allay gastric ir-
ritation and colic, and to correct acidity of the stomach."

Hemlock contains much less sap than most other species of the
Pinaceae and very little flows from incisions made into its trunk. But
in late maturity the juice exudes more spontaneously and hardens on the
bark, in consequence of the partial evaporation or oxidation of its vol-
atile oil. During the last century this encrusted bark was often stripped
from the tree, broken into pieces, and boiled in water, concerning which
Sargent (l891"1902) wrote that "Canada pitch, formerly known as Hemlock

-55-

resin, is an opaque brittle resin ... obtained from Tsuga canadensis by
boiling the wood and bark around knots with water, and skimming off the
resin which rises to the surface.... [It] was formerly used as a sub-
stitute for the similar Burgundy pitch in the manufacture of medical
plasters, and was collected in considerable quantities." Collecting hem-
lock pitch was at one time an important industry in northern Pennsyl-
vania, large quantities being taken to Philadelphia, where it was fur-
ther refined by melting and straining through linen or canvas. Canada
pitch, an oleoresin, was official in the U.S . Pharmacopeia. I83I-94, for
use as an external application in plasters as a counterirritant in the
treatment of chronic rheumatic pains. A liquid extract from the inner
bark of this species was used to some extent as an astringent and to pro-
mote perspiration. Hemlock is still in current demand by manufacturers
of pharmaceutical products.

Oil of hemlock, a volatile oil obtained from this species by dis-
tilling the young branches and leaves, has been used in veterinary lin-
iments; obtaining this oil was once an important industry in some parts
of New York State, where it was obtained in winter by distilling the
leaves and branches in water in small portable copper stills and worms
set up in the woods. Eight pounds of branches yielded on an average an
ounce of oil. This oil has also been employed to produce abortion, but
it is extremely dangerous for this purpose, in effect endangering the
life of the patient as a result of serious peritonitis. Pregnant ewes
are said to lose their lambs from gnawing the bark of this species.

Hemlock bark provided settlers of the eastern United States with
another good source of reddish-brown dye, applied to both wool and cot-
ton. When combined with an alum mordant, the mature bark resulted in a
durable bright reddish-brown hue on wool and an impermanent nankeen
(brownish- yellow) on cotton. Copperas mordant produced dark drab and
slate colors. It is still used as a brown dye for wool in the southern
Appalachians .

Our native hemlock tree is not to be confused with the Poison Hem-
lock of European origin; this poisonous herb, a member of the Carrot fam-
ily, is best known for its role in the death of Socrates.

A very good tea can be made from the young twigs and leaves of the
Eastern Hemlock tree by steeping them in a pot of hot water for 10 minutes,
a drink much used by the early settlers . This tea is still a favorite
drink among lumbermen in some parts of Maine and Canada. They no doubt
got the idea from the northern Indians, who relished this drink. Sprays
of the young twigs were also used to a limited extent in New England and
elsewhere as one of the ingredients of spruce beer and root beer.

Thickets of young hemlocks provide excellent winter cover for for-
est wildlife. Although deer often browse rather extensively on the fo-
liage, it apparently has little actual nutritive value. The snowshoe rab-
bit or varying hare and the cottontail rabbit also feed on hemlock to some
extent during the winter season, and the seeds are eaten by such birds as
the veery, three warblers, the Junco, pine siskin, crossbills, wild turkey,
and various species of grouse. W. L. Bebb has observed porcupines cutting
branchlets in the tops of these trees; these fans appear to attract deer.

-56-

CUFEESSACEAE 5 the Cypress Family

This family is of world-wide distribution, composed of I5 or I6
genera and about l4o species, occurring on all continents but not present
in the tropics and presenting interesting instances of discontinuous dis-
tribution. Juniperus is the largest genus. Domestically, the family is
represented by 5 genera, with Juniperus being most widespread over much of
of the United States. Many genera contain important timber- producing spe-
cies, and domestically some genera are leading sources of wood for cabinet
work, shingles, lead pencils, and construction purposes. Many genera are
cultivated domestically for ornamental purposes, a volatile oil extracted
from crushed juniper berries is the principal flavoring ingredient of gin,
and oil of cedar is obtained from arborvitae .

Although several species of this family are popularly known as
cedars, only members of the old world genus Cedrus . Including the cedars
of Lebanon, Tunisia, and Himalayas, can be considered true cedars from the
botanical standpoint. They may be seen in the northeastern states only
where planted for decorative purposes. They are unique in possessing
larchlike clusters of needles, which remain evergreen.

Key to Local Genera

1. Plants monoecious; cone small and dry with small winged or angled

seeds; leaves opposite and somewhat 2-ranked. ........... Thu.i a

1. Plants dioecious (rarely monoecious); cones fleshy, drupelike, with
coalescent scales and ovoid, bony, wingless seeds; leaves opposite
or in 3’s, not 2-ranked.. Juniperus

Juniperus L. Juniper.

There are about 60 species of juniper' — aromatic, evergreen trees
or shrubs, chiefly of the north temperate zone but extending into the
tropics of America and Africa; they are widely distributed in Europe,

Asia, North America, the West Indies, and eastern Africa. Several spe-
cies are restricted to the western parts of the United States, especially
in semiarid regions. The name of the genus is the ancient Latin name of
the juniper.

The junipers are divided into two groups according to the kinds of
leaves they bear; the mature trees of one group have very small, closely
appressed, scalelike leaves; those of the other group have loosely ar-
ranged, needle-like leaves, well represented by Juniperus communis . Some-
times the same plant produces both kinds of leaves on separate branches,
or the young plants produce acicular leaves while those of the older
plants are scalelike. The male and female cones are usually produced on
separate plants. The mature female cone is fleshy, with succulent scales
fused together to form a berry like structure. The berries are reddish,
purplish, or bluish in color, varying in size from 6 to 13 mm in diameter.
They thus differ considerably from the cones of other conifers. The seeds
are usually three in number and are marked with large glands containing
oil.

-57-

The -wood of the junipers is fragrant and very durable. It has
often been used for fencing, but the larger trees are of value for numer-
ous other purposes. In the south of France the wood of J. oxvcedrus is
distilled to obtain a medicinal oil, known as oil of cade. This ’’oil" is
a kind of tar obtained by distillation from the interior wood. It has
long been employed in the treatment of cutaneous diseases of horses, sheep,
and other livestock. It has also acquired much reputation in consequence
of its extensive and successful use in France in the treatment of psora,
scaly skin afflictions, and advanced stages of eczema. A kind of soap
is prepared from the oil that can be applied to the surface of the skin,
like any other soap.

The Savin, J. sabina . abundant in the mountains of central Eu-
rope, is an irregularly spreading, much-branched shrub with scalelike,
glandular leaves that emit a disagreeable odor when bruised. This plant
acts medicinally as a powerful local and general stimulant, diaphoretic,
emmenagogue, and anthelmintic. It has been much used in amenorrhea, oc-
casionally as a remedy for worms, and was once highly regarded for the
relief of chronic rheumatism; it was also much employed in Germany, both
internally and externally, in the treatment of chronic gout; but it had
to be used with caution, for overdoses resulted in dangerous gastroin-
testinal inflammation. In powder or infusion, savin was also used in
Europe as an application to warts, indolent and gangrenous ulcers, psora,
and tinea canitis ; the expressed juice of the fresh leaves, diluted with
water, was sometimes used for similar purposes.

Many junipers are extensively grown as ornamentals, especially
varieties of the Savin, the Common Juniper, and the Eastern Red Cedar.

Many of them are hardy and form good trees for garden decoration; some
are small enough for the rock garden, some are good foundation plants,
and others grow into trees of moderate size.

The junipers make excellent survival food because the berries,
though somewhat bitter and having a resinous taste, are edible and
available through part of the winter. Also, the inner bark is edible
and was eaten by many Indians to fight off starvation. Some tribes pre-
served the berries by drying, then utilized them throughout the winter
by baking the ground-up fruit into cakes or making a mush. Some Indian
tribes roasted juniper berries and ground them for use as a beverage.

The Indians of British Columbia prepared an astringent tea by boiling the
stems and leaves. Indians of Arizona and New Mexico used the berries
from Cherrystone Juniper, J. occidentalis . to flavor meats; they are said
to impart a taste similar to that of sage. They were also prepared as
food by drying, after which they were ground into flour, mixed with water,
kneaded into a hard mass, and again dried in the sun. These cakes were
reported to be "easily digested, and not offensive." As late as I87O J.

R. Dodge reported that "Mexicans consume this fruit in large quantities,
and it constitutes an article of trade with them."

Native junipers were also much used as medicine by various tribes
of Indians throughout North America, but because some writers applied the
name "juniper" without distinguishing the various native species, it is
often impossible to determine the species to which they refer. The Cree
Indians used "juniper berries" as a diuretic. Other tribes dried the

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leaves and ground them into a powder, which was dusted over indolent
sores. The root was given in infusion for gravel. In other areas
’’juniper" was boiled for a whole day, "until the gum was given off, when
the decoction was taken as medicine for shortness of breath." A tea of
juniper leaves was drunk by Zuni women to relax their muscles following
delivery. The Piutes prepared a tea from the terminal twigs of the
shrubby Rocky Mountain Juniper, J. scopulorum. for use in the treatment
of syphilis, while the Hopi Indians rubbed the leaves into their hair
after bathing to remove dandruff. The Blackfoot Indians used the berries
of the same species to make a tea for treating kidney ailments. In
studying records of the Indians’ use of native plants in medicine, time
and time again one is brought face to face with their intimate knowledge
of medicine. The Indian use of juniper berries in the treatment of kidney
diseases is a case in point; Oleum ex Baccis Juniper! . oil of juniper ber-
ries, was listed in the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis of l6l8, a substance
long used in European medicine as a diuretic.

Martin ^ (195I) remark that junipers are important to wildlife

throughout the country, except in the prairies. Their twigs and foliage
are eaten extensively by hoofed browsers, but the chief attraction to
wildlife is the berry- like fruit. "The cedar waxwing, living up to its
name, is one of the principal users of cedar berries, but numerous other
birds and mammals, both large and small, make these fruits an important
part of their diet." In addition to their food value, cedars provide im-
portant protective roosting places and favored nesting sites for various
kinds of birds; their dense protective shelter is especially valuable in
winter. Cedars, particularly the Eastern Red Cedar, not only have orna-
mental value, but their value to wildlife makes them especially worth
planting. On the other hand, Juniperus virginiana is an alternate host
for apple rust ; it can therefore be detrimental to apple orchards .

Key to Local Species of Juniperus

1. Leaves in whorls of 3j 8-l4 nmi long, all needle-shaped and
sharp-pointed, jointed at the base, without glands, with 2

white bands above; cones axillary; plant a low bush with

spreading branches J. communis

1. Leaves opposite (rarely whorled), 0.5“l-5 mm long, all or
partly scalelike and appressed, not jointed at the base,
the scalelike ones usually with a dorsal gland; cones ter-
minal; a tree, sometimes shrublike but erect J. virginiana

Juniperus communis L. ssp. depressa (Pursh) Franco. Dwarf Juniper.

Meaning of Species Name . In clumps; ssp. name, depressed.

Other Names . Ground Juniper, Common Juniper, Horse Savin, Hack-
matack, Gorst, Fairy- circle .

Type of Plant . A prostrate shrub.

Habitat . Poor rocky soil of pastures, dry woods, fields, dried
bogs , and rocky hills .

Range . Nf to Minn, s to NJ, Pa, mts to NC, Va, 0, Ind, 111, and
Minn.

Distr in NYS . Common on all the exposed summits of the Adiron-
dacks below 4000 ft and in the Catskills, and locally on exposed

-59-

ridges, rocks, bogs, and barren soil in many secs of the state north-w
and westw; local on LI.

Distr in the Torrev Range . Under J. siberica Burgsdorf : Ff — LI
and up the Hudson valley to Dutchess co.

Elevation. Collected at 2000 f't in Delaware County.

Time of May 1-15 at Cornell.

Origin . Native.

Juninerus communis is a very widely distributed circumpolar plant,
occurring in the whole of northern Europe, central and northern Asia, and
Worth America. It grows at considerable elevations in southern Europe,
occurring at 4000 to 8000 feet in the Apennines, the Alps, the Pyrenees,
and the Sierra Nevada. It has what is perhaps the widest natural range
among all trees; certainly it is the only conifer native both in North
America and Europe. It is commonly of tree size in the Mediterranean
basin; but in this country, as in northern Europe, it is usually only a
shrub, sometimes with creeping stems, forming a circular clump. Yet in
the mountains of New England, in eastern Pennsylvania, and, reportedly,
on the high mountains of Worth Carolina, it sometimes grows 24 feet high.

The trunk may be as much as a foot in diameter but is always short and
contorted. Ordinarily, however, it seldom grows over 4 feet in height.

In the northeastern states it is characteristically found with its close
relative, the Eastern Red Cedar. The small shrub is known botanically
as Juninerus communi a ssp. deoressa . while the tree is J. communis ssp.
communis : only the shrub has so far been reported in the Catskills.

The slender branchlets of the Dwarf Juniper are clothed with awl-
shaped leaves which spread nearly at right angles from the twigs in
whorls of three. Each one is sharply pointed, green on one side and
white on the other. The small cone at first looks like a flower bud and
does not enlarge much during its initial year, but when the cones again
appear in early spring, the upper scales become consolidated around the
ovules, and by the commencement of the second winter the berry is about
three-fourths grown; it is then light green, hard, and globe-shaped, and
the seeds are still soft and milky. The following autumn (the third sea-
son since fertilization), the "berries" are mature and covered with a
glaucous bloom over the dark blue skin. The flesh is fragrant, sweet,
and resinous-tasting, and much devoured by birds. If not eaten, the
berries may remain a year or two on the tree after ripening. Each cone
contains two or three seeds, which require 3 years to germinate.

Emerson (1878) reports that "In Europe it is used for walking
sticks, and for various small articles of the turner. It makes excel-
lent fuel, and is used in Scotland and Sweden for smoking hams. The bark
is made by the Laplanders into ropes. The berries are principally used
in making gin ..." The wood has also been used in Europe for vine stakes
because it is so durable in contact with the soil, and in India it is
burned as incense.

It is the volatile oil obtained from the berries that is the prime
ingredient in gin (a name derived from juniper through the French genievre) ,
upon which its flavor primarily depends. Although these valuable berries
are produced from a native shrub in Great Britain, the berries of commerce
are chiefly collected from plants growing in central and southern Europe.

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Juniperus communis — Common Juniper
[From Sargent (l891“1902), Vol. X, Plate 51^? P- 78.]

-6l-

The oil distilled on the continent, principally in Hungary, comes chiefly
from freshly picked berries. It has hitherto not been possible to produce
the oil in Great Britain to compete with southern Europe because of the
relative cheapness of labor and the vast tracts of land over which the
trees grow wild in the latter region. But the rise in the price of for-
eign oil of juniper since World War II has directed attention to the pos-
sible extended production of the oil, either in Great Britain or her
northern colonies. The yield of oil, however, varies considerably in
different years.

Commercial oil of juniper is obtained chiefly from the ripe cones
and is stated to be in all essential qualities superior to the oil of
juniper from the full-grown, unripe, green berries used medicinally,
which has a balsamic, burning, somewhat bitter taste. Blue and green
cones occurring on the same plant represent 2- and 3“yeai’"old berries.

Only the blue, ripe berries are gathered in Great Britain. After being
collected in baskets or sacks, they lose some of the bloom and develop
the blackish color seen in commerce.

Ripe berries were formerly used in England as a substitute for
pepper. In many parts of Germany the berries are used both as a culinary
spice and for flavoring sauerkraut. The housewife In the Catskill region
might well experiment with the ripe berries of either this or the follow-
ing species as a seasoning in cooking, as the flavor somewhat resembles
that of bay leaves. In Sweden the berries are used to make a conserve,
"which they generally eat with their bread for breakfast, as we do butter."
They also prepare a beer from these berries, regarding it as a healthy
drink. In some places the berries are roasted and used as a coffee sub-
stitute. In France a kind of beer is made by fermenting a decoction of
equal parts of juniper berries and barley. In parts of India the berries
are added to spirits distilled from barley. In many hot countries the
tree yields by incision a gum or varnish. The fruit is readily eaten by
most animals, especially sheep, and is said to prevent and cure dropsy
in the latter.

In the United States during the iSOO’s juniper berries were some-
times collected and taken to the Philadelphia market from New Jersey.

But, though equal to the European in appearance, they were considered in-
ferior in strength and were not much used; those obtained from the south
of Europe were much preferred. Juniper berries are gently stimulant and
diuretic, imparting to the urine the smell of violets but occasionally
producing disagreeable irritation in the urinary passages when taken in
large amounts. During the last century they were chiefly used in medicine
as an adjuvant to more powerful diuretics in dropsical complaints. They
were recommended also in scorbutic and cutaneous diseases, catarrh of the
bladder, and "stonic conditions" of the alimentary canal and uterus.

An infusion, prepared by macerating an ounce of the bruised ber-
ries in a pint of boiling water, was more convenient to make than other
methods of preparation; a pint was often taken in the course of 24 hours.
This infusion was also used to induce menstruation, relieve gas and colic,
and to treat kidney and chest complaints, scrofula, snakebite, and intes-
tinal worms. Some tribes of Indians made a poultice of the macerated
needles and twigs to treat wounds. The wood yields cedar oil, formerly

-62-

much used in the treatment of chronic disorders of the genito-urinary
tract. It was given as a diuretic and stomachic in indigestion, flatu-
lence, and diseases of the kidney and "bladder. Mixed with lard, the oil
was also used in veterinary practice as an application to exposed wounds
to prevent irritation from flies. The dried berries of J. communis and
its subspecies denressa were official in the U.S . Pharmacopeia . 1820-1947,
and in the National Formulary. 1947“ 55, as a diuretic, emmenagogue, and
genito-urinary antiseptic. Both berries and wood are still in demand by
companies manufacturing pharmaceutical products.

The hardiness of Juniperus communis makes it useful as a cover for
wasteland on seashores or on land in any exposed situation. In addition,
this species supplies food for numerous gamebirds and songbirds as well
as a number of mammals, both large and small.

In Lapland the natives obtained an "oxblood brown" dye for wool
from the twigs of this species and beets. A quantity of the twigs was
boiled until a dark liquid resulted. This liquid was strained before
adding alum, tarter, and baked red beets cut into pieces. The yarn to
be dyed was then added and stirred to get an ecru color. After letting
the yarn steep for 2 days, the whole was heated and stirred for at least
1 hour. If the resulting color was too light, a little copper sulfate
(blue vitriol was added. In Norway the blue berries provided a brown
dye. The wood, bark, and even the yellow lichen growing on the branches
were also found useful in dyeing.

# %

Juniperus virginlana L. Eastern Eed Cedar.

Meaning of Species Name . Of Virginia.

Other Names . Cedar, Red Cedar, Eastern Red Juniper, Savin, Red
Savin, Red Juniper, Juniper-bush, Carolina Cedar, Pencil-wood, Pen-
cil Cedar, Virginia Juniper, Virginia Cedar, Redcedar Juniper, Cedar-
apple, Evergreen, Juniper.

Type of Plant . A shrub or tree, usually 30 to 4o ft high with a
trunk diameter of 1 to 2 ft.

Habitat . Dry (rarely wet) open woods, rocky slopes, and barrens,
frequently calcareous.

Range . Que and Me to ND, s to NJ, Ky, Ala, and Tex.

Distr in NYS . Very common in the Hudson valley, less frequent s
of the moraine on LI^ abundant in the Mohawk valley, uncommon northw
outside the Adirondacks, rare in the sw counties of the state, and
uncommon or rare westw to L Erie.

Distr in the Torrev Range . NY: Throughout, decreasing s of the
moraine on LI.

Elevation. Sea level-2500 ft in the Torrey range.

Time of FI. Apr-May, fr Sep-Oct; fl Apr 15“30 at Cornell.

Origin. Native .

Remarks . Reaches its largest size in dry calcareous habitats.

Wood soft, not strong, straight- grained, compact, odorous, red, the
sapwood white; wt 31 Ih per cu ft.

The Eastern Red Cedar is also known as Eastern Red Juniper, the
latter name being a more appropriate one, for, from the botanical stand-
point, the tree is really a juniper and not a cedar. Young trees

"63”

characteristically have narrowly conical or columnar crowns, hut in age
the tree becomes rather irregular and round- topped, often with a twisted
trunk. It is typically a tree of dry and rocky soils. In aboriginal
America this tree probably formed extensive groves, sometimes excluding
almost all other trees, remnants of which are still to be seen occasion-
ally on the limestones of eastern Tennessee and Kentucky, where the tree
often reaches a height of 100 feet with a trunk diameter of 5 feet.

The scalelike leaves are 4-ranked, blue-green when young, spread-
ing, and sometimes three-fourths of an inch long on vigorous new shoots.

The dark blue berries are covered with a pale bloom and have a resinous,
sweet flesh. This juniper is familiar on abandoned farms and ragged
fencerows, becoming rusty brown in foliage that matches the stringy red
bark during the winter.

This species is one of the most desirable of our native ever-
greens for ornamental planting, since it forms interesting, symmetrical
specimens adapted to many types of gardens. Many ornamental varieties
are known and widely used in landscape plantings. They are slow-growing
but long-lived. In areas where this tree grows, it is often moved in
from the wild as a tree for landscape planting about the home, but when
using it in this manner, care should be taken to see that it is provided
with a sunny spot. Eastern Red Cedar is also much used as a Christmas
tree in Some areas. In 1952 Department of Agriculture statistics showed
that 10 percent of all Christmas trees used in the United States were of
this species.

The earliest explorers of Virginia in 1564 did not fail to mention
so handsome, so fragrant a tree as this one, and the early colonists from
the start recognized its value, for of it, as Peattie (l950) remarks,
they made "fences and shingles, benches and tables, coffins and the super-
structures of boats. So easy was it to split with the frow and to smooth
with the plane that it could be worked even by people as woefully ill-
prepared for wilderness life" as were the first settlers of Virginia and
Massachusetts. It was immediately a favorite wood for use in building log
cabins and rail fences because of its endurance when exposed to the ele-
ments and its durability in contact with the soil.

Later the craftsmen of colonial Virginia employed it in the manu-
facture of bedsteads, secretaries, and virginals. "The fragrance of the
wood and the showy contrast in color between the red heartwood and the
creamy sapwood compensated, to the tastes of those days," continues Peattie,
"for the fragility of the material." Sargent (l891“1902) thus summarizes
its general usefulness at the turn of the century: "It is largely used
for posts and railway ties, the sills of buildings and the interior finish
of houses, and for lining closets and chests in which woolens are preserved
against the attacks of moths; it is also employed in cabinet-making and
almost exclusively in the manufacture of lead-pencils, while its lightness,
durability, cheerful color, and pleasant fragrance recommend it to the
makers of pails and tubs and many other small articles." "The straight-
est grained and most easily worked cedar wood," he continues, "is obtained
from the swamps near the western coast of the Florida peninsula, and large
factories have been established at Cedar Keys, Florida, and at other points

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Juniperus virginiana--Eastern Red Cedar
[From Sargent (I89I-I902), Vol. X, Plate 524, p. 96.]

-65-

in the southern states, hy German manufacturers, to cut up the wood for
pencil-making." Eastern Red Cedar now finds employment chiefly in the
linings for mothproof chests and closets. But, as one writer has ob-
served, "How repellent the odor may be to moths is less certain than the
psychological attraction it has for the careful housewife."

Cedar was the perfect wood for making pencils because of its
lightness and the ease with which it could be sharpened, and for over a
century this species supplied the world with millions, probably billions,
of them. Only the clearest knot-free heartwood was used, however, and
70 percent of the bulk: of every log cut for that purpose was wasted.

Peattie reports that in I9OO some 35000,000 feet of fine quality cedar
was sent down the Cumberland river in great timber rafts. "But only ten
years later cedar ’cruisers' had searched out the last virgin stands,
lumbermen were working over the stumps of their previous destruction, and
buyers were snapping up log cabins, barn floors, and even rail fences
that had stood exposed to the weather for fifty years." The easterner
was later spared his cedars only because the pencil industry transferred
its affections to the Incense Cedar of the west.

Oil of cedar is an article of commerce obtained from the wood of
Eastern Red Cedar by distillation of chips and waste wood. One authority
reported that from 15,000 to 20,000 pounds of oil have been produced an-
nually in the United States, 1 bushel of chips yielding about half a pint
of oil. Hemmerly (l970) states that "Oil of red cedar is cheap and has a
variety of uses as a component of cosmetics, perfumes, soap, and polishes.
The chief raw material is old cedar stumps . The stumps are reduced to
dust that is then steam-distilled and condensed, with the oil rising to
the top. One company in Tennessee produces approximately 300 pounds
dally." It was formerly one of the principal constituents of the popular
Extract of White Rose. The oil is likewise used as a moth repellent and
as an insecticide in sprays and dusts. Steyermark (1963) remarks also
that because of its high index of refraction, the refined oil is used in
oil immersion microscopes. A volatile oil derived from the leaves has
also been used in perfumes.

The berries in decoction are diaphoretic and emmenagogue, and the
leaves have diuretic properties. John Brickell in 173^ reported that
"the Wood of this Tree is profitable against the French Pox [syphilis],
and an infusion in Vinegar helps Scabs and other cutaneous disorders."

Peter Kalm in 17^9 was informed by the commander of Fort Frontenac that
"red cedar and herbs, the medicinal value of which he praised most highly"
grew abundantly near the fort. A century later Dr. Clapp reported the
properties of our indigenous Red Cedar to be equivalent to those of sabina
or savin, a drug used as a stimulant, diaphoretic, and a remedy for amenor-
rhea. He warned, however, that the oil derived from the wood was a narcot-
ic, irritant poison that had caused several deaths in persons seeking by
its use to induce abortion, causing vomiting, convulsions, coma, and death.
Dr. Beach held that the oil distilled from the leaves and berries was useful
in inflammatory rheumatism.

Aboriginal use of red cedar was widespread. Densmore (I928) re-
ports that the bark of this species. "was needed for parts of canoes and for
numerous other uses," one of which was the making of mats. The inner bark

-66-

was also used in the preparation of a mahogany dye for coloring the
strips of cedar bark used for their mats. The strips were boiled in a
decoction made from the dark red inner bark. Vogel (1970) states that
"The Teton-Dakotas used a decoction of the boiled fruit and leaves to
fight the Asiatic cholera of I8U9-5O, reportedly with some effect. The
same medicine was used by Plains tribes for coughs in both people and
horses." The Dakotas, Omahas, Poncas, and Pawnees burned the twigs and
inhaled the smoke for coughs and head colds and also used them in their
vapor baths. The Kiowas extracted the juice of the berries by chewing
and held the liquid in their mouths as a mild antiseptic rinse. Cedar
fumes were used by the Creeks to drive away cramps in the muscles of the
neck, and they drank a decoction of the berries for dysentery. Some
Indian tribes crushed juniper berries and rubbed the oil on their skins
as an insect repellent. The Natchez used cedar for pains in the shoulders
and back, for swellings in the legs, and for mumps. The Alabamas boiled
sprigs and leaves of cedar for warm applications to rheumatic pains. The
Ojibwas used the bruised leaves and berries of red juniper internally to
relieve headache, while the Meskwakis boiled the leaves for a drink used
in weakness and for convalescent medicine.

Editors of the 12th edition of the U.S . Dispensatory (1865) com-
pared the Eastern Red Cedar with the European Savin, the "former being
like the latter, stimulant, emmenagogue, diuretic, and, under certain
circumstances, diaphoretic," but it was thought to be "much less ener-
getic," and, although it had been successfully used in the treatment of
rheumatism and dropsy, it had "not acquired the confidence of the pro-
fession generally." Nevertheless, during the l800's it acquired a repu-
tation among the laity as being useful for a number of ailments. In Ap-
alachia a mixture of seeds, leaves, and twigs was boiled and the steam
inhaled as a treatment for bronchitis. In other areas a decoction of
the leaves and fruit was used as a stimulant, to treat delayed menstrua-
tion, and to induce perspiration. Spanish- speaking New Mexicans have
used a boiled mixture of bark and water to treat skin rash. The oil was
also used, primarily as an external application in arthritic and rheu-
matic conditions . The young leafy twigs of this species were official
in the U.S . Pharmacopeia . 1820-94, for use as a diuretic. Distilled
cedar oil, as a reagent, has been official since I916. Both leaves and
berries are still in demand by companies processing plant products.

Well over 50 species of wild birds, headed by the handsome cedar
waxwing (who takes his name from his fondness for the fruit of this
tree), feed on the berry-like cones, particularly during the winter.

Other species include the bobwhite, sharp-tailed grouse, pheasant, and
mourning dove. The seeds pass unharmed through a bird's alimentary
canal and are thus dispersed over the countryside. Even the opossum
is not adverse to eating the cones of this species.

Kingsbury (1964) states that this and other species of juniper
have the reputation in early old world literature of being toxic to stock,
but they are eaten only under extreme duress, as farm animals find these
plants extremely distasteful. They are listed in some of the earliest
American publications on poisonous plants, but instances of loss of animal
life are not well documented. These plants may possibly cause abortion.

-67-

but there is little danger of poisoning under today’s skillful manage-
ment of animal husbandry.

Thu.i a L. Arborvitae.

This is a genus of six species, one occurring in eastern North
America, a second in the Pacific states, north to Alaska, and four in
eastern Asia. They are evergreen trees with a very flat, 2-ranked spray
consisting of small, closely imbricated, appressed, persistent leaves,
giving the branches a frondlike appearance. The leaves are of two kinds,
on different or successive branchlets, one stipulate, the other scalelike,
blunt, short, and fused to the branch. When bruised, the branches of some
species emit a characteristic odor rather like a mixture of Tansy and tur-
pentine. The name of the genus was adopted by Linnaeus from the Thuva of
Tournefort, which was the ancient name used by Theophrastus for some fra-
grant, resin-bearing evergreen tree. By some the name is derived from
the Greek theos . signifying sacrifice, presumably because the resin pro-
cured from certain species was used as incense.

Arborvitae wood is used for construction, cabinet work, and
cooperage; it is favored for purposes where great durability is re-
quired when wood must be exposed to weather changes. So resistant to
decay is the timber of this tree that instances have been known of trees
falling in the forest and remaining sound enough to be cut up and used
for shingles after UOO years.

Several species are among the most decorative of evergreen trees,
and, as they are hardy, they can be used in most parts of North America.
Some of the species form good hedge plants and screens. When they are
grown as decorative trees, very little pruning is necessary. When grown
as hedges they can be sheared once or twice a year, but care should be
taken not to cut back into wood more than one year old. There are numer-
ous varieties with a dwarf habit which are excellent for rock gardens and
foundation plantings, since they grow slowly and retain their compact
form. Three oriental species are also often planted in this country as
ornamentals .

T. orientalis . Oriental Arborvitae, was at one time placed in a
separate genus. Biota . because it differs from other species in its
fleshy cone scales and large seeds. Under natural conditions it may grow
50 to 60 feet high with spreading branches, but in cultivation it is usu-
ally seen as a compact, shapely tree only 20 to 30 feet high. It is not
a very fast-growing tree, a useful characteristic where space is limited.
It was cultivated in the Chelsea Physic garden in 1752 and was believed to
have been sent to Europe by French missionaries. The leaves, which have a
pungent aromatic odor, are said to yield a yellow dye. There are many
varieties of this plant in cultivation, some of them being notable for
their rich golden color.

T. plicata , the Giant Arborvitae, is a very handsome tree native
to Western North America. It attains gigantic proportions in the forests
along the Pacific slope, where it sometimes grows 200 feet high with a
trunk 5 to 10 feet in diameter. It grows rapidly and its rich green

-68-

foliage is very attractive. When bruised, the leaves emit a character-
istic tansy-like odor. In addition to its value as a decorative tree,
it is also planted under forest conditions. The timber known as Western
Red Cedar is the wood of this tree; it is exceedingly durable, ideal for
shingles, siding, poles, posts, and mine props.

Thuja occidentalis L. Arborvitae.

Meaning of Snecies Name . Western, as contrasted with a tree of
e Asia .

Other Names . Eastern Arborvitae, White Cedar, Northern White Cedar,
False White Cedar, Feather- leaf Cedar, Vitae, Cedar, Swamp Cedar,

Yellow Cedar, Tree-of-life , American Arborvitae, Western Arborvitae,
Hackmatack, Atlantic Red Cedar, Eastern White Cedar, Michigan White
Cedar, New Brunswick Cedar, Thuja, Western Thuja.

Type of Plant . A small tree growing 25“ 50 ft high with a trunk
1-2 ft in diameter.

Habitat . Swamps and cool rocky banks.

Range . Que to Sask, s to NJ, Pa, along the mts to NC and Tenn,
Mich, Wis, and Minn, with outlying stations in 0, Ind, and 111.

Distr in NYS. Common northw; rare southw to Westchester, Putnam,
and Orange co, westw to L Erie.

Distr in the Torrev Range . NY: Westchester (probably now extinct),
Putnam, and Orange co, increasing northw.

Elevation. Grows to 3500 ft in the Adirondacks; sea level- l420
ft in the Torrey range.

Time of El. May-Jun; Apr 25“May 20 at Cornell.

Origin . Native.

Remarks . Often forms dense stands excluding other vegetation.

Wood soft, brittle, weak, coarse-grained, light brown; wt 20 lb per
cu ft.

Eastern Arborvitae is a tree of northern distribution, occurring
in low swamps and along the banks of streams, often forming impenetrably
thick rings around tamarack bogs. It has a densely pyramidal crown, and
the lateral branches frequently are retained nearly to the base of the
trunk, while the trunks themselves commonly divide into two or more sec-
ondary trunks. Its scalelike leaves are borne on flattened, frondlike
branchlets, each leaf supporting a glove-shaped oil gland on the back.

The cones are small and brown, its seeds occurring at the base of the
scales. It is a long-lived tree, with a life expectancy of 200 to 300
years, but it may live longer.

The name Arborvitae, Latin for 1* arbre de vie (tree of life), is
said to have been given this tree by the king of France early in the l6th
century. This species was probably the first American tree north of Mex-
ico to be introduced into Europe, for it was taken back by Cartier, who
encountered it on his voyage up the St. Lawrence in 1535” 36. Arborvitae
is the fourth candidate reputed to have been used to cure Cartier's men
of scurvy, and it may well have been the actual species used (in spite of
Millspaugh’s statement that it was Black Spruce), for tradition has it
that this tree was taken back to France as a token of gratitude. Morison
(1978) concurs, adding that "Cartier ... dug up some young arborvitae
which were successfully transplanted in the royal garden at Fontainebleu. "

-69”

It was soon established in Europe and has been widely distributed by root
cuttings produced by layering.

Although lumbermen of the North Woods shingled their cabins with
Arborvitae because its wood "resists decay forever," they otherwise had
little use for its remarkable qualities. Although it is weak as a beam,
it is one of the toughest woods we have. A thin shaving from a carpen-
ter’s plane can be folded, laid on an anvil, and struck repeatedly with
a hammer without breaking. Its wood is soft, yet it splits easily — a
factor which the Indians were able to exploit, for they found it easy to
work with their primitive tools. They could split it with a stone maul
along the growth rings into very thin slats. Moreover, it is the light-
est wood in the northeastern states, a virtue which the Indians took ad-
vantage of when making frames for their birch-bark canoes. The Indians
had other uses for Arborvitae wood as well, for Lewis and Clark reported
that Indians west of the Mississippi used it in the manufacture of bows,
baskets, hats, cord, and roofing. It was likewise used as food.

The wood of the Eastern Arborvitae is light, fragrant, and durable
in contact with the soil, but soft, coarse, and brittle. In the north,
where it is a common tree, it has been widely used for fence posts, as a
light roofing timber, rails, boat and canoe construction, telephone poles,
small articles of furniture, shingles, spools, boxes, and cups. Fence
posts made from this tree are reported to last 35 to 40 years in clay soil.
It has also been employed for making fire by friction, as the dry outer
bark, finely shredded, makes good tinder. In former days its twigs were
made into brooms, which at least had the virtue of emitting "an agreeable
aromatic odor."

Of all our native evergreens, this species, of which there are many
varieties, is one of the most attractive and most extensively used for or-
namental purposes. In cultivation it is oftenest seen as an individual
lawn or park tree, or in hedges on boundary lines. It submits comfortably
to severe pruning, is easily transplanted, and comes readily from seed.
Plantations grow rapidly into potential fence posts and telegraph poles.

The twigs and chips of wood, containing the familiar cedar oil,
furnish a camp tea which some consider palatable, but not Thoreau. While
on a canoe trip in Maine, Thoreau wrote, "This night we had a dish of
arbor- vitae, or cedar- tea, which the lumberer sometimes uses when other
herbs fail, —

’A quart of arbor-vitae
To make him strong and mighty. '

But I had no wish to repeat the experiment. It had too medicinal a taste
for my palate." Its taste has been described as "somewhat between camphor
and turpentine, with a bitterness all its own"; most people are therefore
quite likely to be in full agreement with Thoreau. For those who may wish
to experiment, a strong tea can be made by pouring a cup of boiling water
over a teaspoonful of the chopped fresh foliage and letting it steep for 5
minutes. Large doses have caused spasms and convulsions, but few are
likely to drink this bitter tea in excess.

-70-

Thuja occidentaliS“-Arborvitae
[From Sargent (l891”1902)5 Vol. X, Plate 532, p. 128.]

-71-

Various parts of this tree were widely used by northern tribes for

medicinal purposes. In some areas the crushed leaves were applied as a

poultice in treating swollen hands and feet, or they were steeped in boil-

ing water to apply to the chest for heart and chest pains. Other tribes
bruised the twigs and leaves for a tea to promote perspiration, relieve
headache, to "purify the blood," and as a cough remedy. One tribe used
the burning leaves "as a smudge to revive unconscious patients," while
others used them for incense or as one ingredient in their sweat baths.

The women of another tribe steeped the inner bark to make a tea to pro-

mote menstruation. Core (1967) reports that Indian tribes of the southern
Appalachians used the leaves and branches of Arborvitae "in treating
coughs, fevers, catarrh, rheumatism, and scurvy." To treat convulsions
Densmore (1928) states that the Chippewas burned the wood of this species
to make charcoal, which was then "combined with bear’s gall and pricked
into the temples with needles." The leaves were also used, in combination
with other ingredients , to make a cough medicine .

Early settlers soon became aware of the medical uses of this tree
and during the iSOO's eventually employed arborvitae leaves for a number
of medicinal purposes. An ointment made by boiling fresh leaves in lard
or bear grease was used as a local application for treating rheumatic com-
plaints. The cones were sometimes ground into a powder, mixed with milk
and four-fifths Rock Polypody leaves; this mixture was rubbed on rheumatic
joints or applied as a poultice to the body (with a cloth over the skin to
prevent excessive blistering) to treat violent pains. In the form of a
decoction the leaves were also used to treat coughs, intermittent fever,
dropsy, catarrh, gout, scurvy, rheumatism, and warts as well as to increase
perspiration and urine flow. The distilled water was praised as a remedy
in dropsy, and the volatile oil, which can be obtained from the leaves by
distillation, has been used with success in the treatment of worms, but
overdoses proved to be dangerous.

Arborvitae twigs were official in the U.S . Pharma cone ia . l882-9^j
and in the National Formulary . I916-36, when they were used as a stimu-
lant, for diuretic purposes, as an emmenagogue, as an irritant, and to
promote menstruation. The volatile, distilled leaf oil was official in
the U.S . Pharmacopeia . 19^2-50, for internal use. The action of the oil
is similar to that of camphor, stimulating the heart and uterine muscles.

It was also used as a stimulant, to promote menstruation, relieve rheuma-
tism, and generally as an irritant and antiseptic. This volatile oil is
toxic, and poisoning from overdoses has frequently occurred. This oil also
entered the pharmacopeia as an aromatic substitute for lavender oil in
soap liniment because of the wartime shortage of the latter produce in
World War I.

Swamp thickets of this tree provide favorite wintering grounds
for white-tailed deer in the north as well as providing these animals with
palatable and nutritious browse. Moose and the varying hare also eat the
twigs and foliage; cotton tail rabbits will even feed on ornamental speci“
mens during the winter season. The seeds are eaten extensively by red
squirrels and by such birds as the crossbills, the pine siskin, and some
game birds, but value to other wildlife is slight.

-72-

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

The following abbreviations are used primarily in the "plant
biographies" and in the Appendix, for the most part without periods:

adv, adventive

Afr, Africa, African

Ak, Alaska

Ala, Alabama

alt, altitude

Alta, Alberta

Am, America, American

Apr, April

Ariz, Arizona

Ark, Arkansas

Aug, August

Austr, Australia

BC, British Columbia

BW, black-and-white photograph

c, central

Cal, California

cm, centimeter

Co, county, counties

Col, Colorado

Ct, Connecticut

cu, cubic

cult, cultivation, cultivated

DC, District of Columbia

Dec, December

Del, Delaware

distr, distribution

dm, decimeter

e, east, eastern

eastw, eastward

esc, escape, escaped

estab, established

Eu, Europe

Feb, February

fl, flower, flowering

Fla, Florida

fr, fruit, fruiting

frag, fragmentary

ft , foot

Ga, Georgia

Gl, Greenland

I, island

la, Iowa

Id, Idaho

111, Illinois

in., inch

Ind, Indiana

introd, introduced

Jan, January
Jet, junction
Jul, July
Jun, June
Kan, Kansas
Ky, Kentucky
L, lake
La, Louisiana
Lab, Labrador
lb, pound
LI, Long Island

m, meter

Mack, Mackenzie District

Man, Manitoba

Mar, March

Mass, Massachusetts

Md, Maryland

Me, Maine

Mex, Mexico

Mich, Michigan

Minn, Minnesota

Miss, Mississippi

irnii, millimeter

Mo, Missouri

Mont, Montana

Mt(s), Mount, mountains

n, north, northern
NAm, North America (n)
natzd, naturalized

NB, New Brunswick

NC, North Carolina
n.d. , no date

ND, North Dakota
RE, New England

ne, northeast, northeastern

Neb, Nebraska

Nev, Nevada

Nf, Newfoundland

NH, New Hampshire

NJ, New Jersey

NM, New Mexico

n.n. , no name

northw, northward

Nov, November

n.p. , no place

NS, Nova Scotia

nw, northwest, northwestern

73-

NY, New York
NYC, New York City
NYS, New York State
0, Ohio, Ohio State
University
Oct, October
Okla , Oklahoma
Ont, Ontario
Ore , Oregon
Pa, Pennsylvania
Phil, Philadelphia Acad-
emy of Sciences
Que, Quebec
R, river

reg, region, regions
RI, Rhode Island
Rt, route
s, south, southern
SAm, South America (n)
Sask, Saskatchewan

SC, South Carolina

SD, South Dakota
sec(s), sect^on(s)

Sep, September
SI, Staten Island
southw, southward

southwestw, southwestward
ssp., subspecies
St, saint

sw, southwest, southwestern
T, transparency; i.e., a 35“nim
slide in color
Tenn, Tennessee
Tex, Texas

Trop, tropics, tropical

US, United States

Va , Virginia

var., variety

vie, vicinity

Vt, Vermont

w, west, western

Wash, Washington

westw, westward

WI, West Indies

Wis, Wisconsin

wt, weight

WVa, West Virginia

Wyo, Wyoming

X, a cross between two species,
dicating a hybrid
Yuk, Yukon Territory

in-

-74-

GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS

Unhappily for the amateur, botanical literature is so rife with
technical terms that it almost seems necessary to learn a new language
in order to be able to read some of it with any degree of comprehension.
The writer has tried (but probably not always succeeded very well) not
only to keep the use of technical terms to a minimum but also to define
those he does use when they first occur. Since glossaries of botanical
terms are readily available in most of the field guides, to say nothing
of the two more comprehensive ones given in Fernald (1950) and in Glea-
son (1952), the writer has made no attempt to compile a glossary of
botanical terms for this work. In any case, recourse can always be had
to Webster * s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1965), where most of
them are defined. Should one wish to go further afield, George Usher's
(1966) A Dictionary of Botany is an excellent reference.

This work contains many references to the medicinal applications
of plants, in the course of which the use of a number of medical terms
has been necessary. Such words are perhaps likely to be even more un-
familiar to the layman than are those relating more or less strictly to
botany. While the definitions of most of the medical terms are likewise
given in the dictionary, the following list, compiled in part from Kroch-
mal ^ al. (1971)5 may he helpful.

Ague, an old word for fever, usually malaria.

Allergenic, produces an allergy.

Alterative, changes a condition gradually

Amenorrhea, an abnormal absence or suppression of the menstrual discharge
Anodyne, relieves or quiets pain.

Antacid, neutralizes excess acidity in the alimentary canal.

Anthelmintic, capable of expelling or destroying intestinal worms.
Antiasthmatic, relaxes bronchial muscles and relieves labored breathing.
Antidote, counteracts the action of a poison.

Antipruritic, prevents or relieves itching (antipsoriatic) .

Antipyretic, reduces fever

Antiseptic, checks or inhibits the growth of microorganisms.

Antitussive, relieves or prevents coughing.

Aperient, an agent that gently moves the bowels.

Astringent, causes the contraction of tissue.

Ataxia, an inability to coordinate voluntary muscular movements.

Calculus, a mineral deposit or "stone,” usually in the bladder or kidney
Carcinogenic, causing cancer.

Carminative, used to relieve gas and colic.

Catarrhal, related to inflammation of the respiratory tract.

Cathartic, causes an evacuation of the bowel.

Caustic, destroys tissue.

Cholagogue, increases the flow of bile.

Consumption, an old term for tuberculosis.

Corroborant, an invigorating agent.

Counterirritant , causes irritation of the surface of an area with the ob-
ject of relieving a deep-seated congestion.

Cystic, relating to the urinary bladder or to the gall bladder.

-75-

Cystitis, inflammation of the urinary bladder.

Cytotoxic, poisonous to cells.

Decoction, an extract obtained by boiling.

Demulcent, a substance used to protect or soothe the mucous membrane.
Depurative, removes impurities and waste materials from the blood.
Diaphoretic, used to increase perspiration.

Disinfectant, destroys or inhibits the growth of harmful microorganisms.
Diuretic, increases the volume of urine.

Drastic, an agent that acts rapidly or violently.

Dropsy, edema; i.e., an abnormal accumulation of serous fluid in bodily
tissues (excess "water" in the common tongue).

Dysentery, a disease characterized by severe diarrhea with passage of mu-
cus and blood, usually caused by infection.

Dyspepsia, a disturbed digestive condition characterized by nausea, gas,
and heartburn.

Emetic, an agent that causes vomiting.

Emmenagogue, an agent that induces menstrual flow.

Emollient, used externally to soften the skin and protect it.

Excoriation, a peeling or wearing off of the skin.

Expectorant, an agent that causes expulsion of mucus from the respiratory
tract .

Febrifuge, an agent that reduces fever.

Flatulence, s.tomach discomfort caused by gas.

Flux, an excessive abnormal discharge from the bowels.

Gastritis, inflammation of the mucous membrane, particularly of the
stomach.

Hemoptysis, expectoration of blood from some part of the respiratory tract
Hemorrhage, a copious discharge of blood from the blood vessels; bleeding.
Hemostatic, an agent used to stop internal hemorrhage.

Hepatic, of or pertaining to the liver.

Herpetic, pertaining to reptiles.

Hypnotic, an agent that induces sleep without delirium.

Infusion, an extract obtained by steeping or soaking in water, usually
hot but not boiling.

Irritant, causes inflammation of, or stimulation to, the tissues.

Lumbago, painful muscular rheumatism usually involving the lower back.
Menorrhagia, an abnormally profuse menstrual flow.

Ophthalmiatric, used in the treatment of eye diseases.

Pectoral, usually an expectorant, used for diseases of the chest and lungs
Peritonitis, inflammation of the tissues lining the abdominal cavity.
Poultice, a soft, usually heated, medicinal substance spread on cloth and
applied to the skin.

Pressor, raising or tending to raise blood pressure.

Pulmonary, pertaining to the lungs.

Purgative, increases peristalsis (contraction of the bowel).

Pustulant, causes severe irritation of the skin, especially the sweat
glands .

Refrigerant, allays thirst and gives a sensation of coolness to the body.
Rickets, a childhood disease characterized by defective deposition and
utilization of calcium and phosphorus owing to inadequate sunlight or
vitamin D.

Rubifacient, causes reddening and mild irritation of the skin.

Scorbutic, relating to or resembling scurvy.

-76-

Scurvy 3 a disease marked by spongy gums, loosening of teeth, and bleeding
into the skin and mucous membranes, resulting from a lack of ascorbic
acid.

Sialagogue, causes an increase in flow of saliva.

Somnifacient, produces sleep without delirium; a soporific.

Soporific, tending to cause sleep.

Stomachic, stimulates appetite and increases secretion of digestive juices.
Styptic, an agent to check bleeding.

Sudorific, increases perspiration.

Taeniacide, an agent that destroys tapeworms.

Tincture, a solution of a medicinal substance in alcohol.

Tonic, stimulates the restoration of tone to the muscles.

Vasoconstrictor, narrows the passageways of the blood vessels.

Vermicide, an agent that destroys worms.

Vermifuge, a substance to destroy or expel parasitic worms.

Vesicant, causes irritation to the skin, resulting in blisters.

Vulnerary, an agent that promotes healing of open wounds.

-77-

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-83-

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APIENDIX

To collect specimens of the more than 1000 plants growing in
each of the several townships in the Catskills would not only entail
an enormous amount of work hut would at the same time clutter up the
herbarium with hundreds of specimens of very common plants. Taking a
cue from the work of Homer D. House and Stanley J. Smith, both of whom
have supplemented collections with observations in compiling distribu-
tion records for the State of New York, the writer for many years has
made an effort to collect one specimen of each plant growing in the Cats-
kills, supplementing these records with observations made in the field,
listing all specimens identified at each locality on any given date.

The fly in this ointment, of course, is that the observer must
know what he is looking at. When not sur‘e of the identity of any given
plant in the field, a specimen was collected to key out at home. In
due coui'se, these field observations were listed in manual sequence by
place and date, then transferred to 4-by-6-inch file cards under the
name of the species, eliminating duplicate observations made on previous
visits at or near the same place. These records are supplemented by a
picture file, both of colored slides and of black-and-white photographs,
built up over the years. The result totals thousands of records from
each county in the Catskills, many from different places in the same
township. It was therefore necessary to devise some method to reduce
the bulk of these records while still giving a fairly comprehensive
view of the distribution of the various species in the Catskills.

Some scientific studies of plant distribution are made on grid
plots of equal size and shape. While not strictly accurate from the
scientific point of view, the township boundaries in each county do
effectively break up the area into a grid. Following a device used by
a number of other writers faced with a similar problem, it was there-
fore decided to use the township grid as a basis for the distribution
maps that follow, the selection of records being based on the follow-
ing criteria:

1. All specimens collected in the Catskills have been listed,
even when two or more came from the same township.

2. All known references in the literature have been included.

3. In the absence of specimens, with few exceptions, only the
earliest observation for each township is given, regardless
of the number of observations at hand for that area.

4. Records are arranged in chronological sequence by county.

5. In selecting the records for each township, collections
take precedence; when no collection records are available,
photographs take precedence over observations as represent-
ing more objective evidence of the occurrence of the species
in that area .

6. Owing to the uncertain status of species on the Platt list,
subsequent records for the Town of Franklin in Delaware
County are also listed as confirmation of the fact that the
species occurs in that township.

-85-

On the distribution maps that follow, a solid dot (•) repre-
sents a collection made in that township, while an open circle (o)
represents an observation, a reference in the literature, or a photo-
graph taken by the writer, with "T" indicating a transparency in color
and "BW" a black-and-white picture. No effort has been made to show
the approximate location within the township of collections or obser-
vations; the solid dots and open circles simply indicate the occurrence
of that taxon somewhere within the township.

In most instances a specimen has been collected as conclusive
evidence that a particular species occurs in each county. Specimens
of all critical taxa collected by the writer have been checked by the
late Stanley J. Smith ("SJS" in the records that follow), curator of
botany at the New York State Museum in Albany, and specimens have been
deposited with that institution.

The herbaria where specimens from the Catskill region are filed
are indicated in the distribution records as follows: (BKL) Brooklyn
Botanic Garden; (Brooks) herbarium of the writer; (CU) Cornell Univer-
sity; (min) University of Minnesota; (NY) New York Botanical Garden;

(NYS) New York State Museum; (O) Ohio State University; (FENN) University
of Pennsylvania; (Phil) Philadelphia Academy of Sciences; (US) U. S. Na-
tional Herbarium.

The eventual aim is to secure at least one specimen or an obser-
vation of each species occurring in each of the several townships com-
prising the Catskill region--an almost never-ending task. But from
these records one can easily compile a check list for any particular
township. It is hoped that such information may stimulate further re-
search and add to our knowledge of the local distribution of plants in
the Catskill region. During the last century it was the fashion among
amateur botanists to compile floras or check lists for their local
townships, work that contributed a more intimate knowledge of the plants
growing in the area covered. There is still need for such studies. In
addition to extending our scientific knowledge concerning the distribu-
tion of plants, such a project will not only result in a deeper under-
standing of the natural world but also provide many hours if intense
satisfaction .

-86-

87'

Counties and townships of the Catskill mountain region.

I

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Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Taxus baccata L.

ssp. canadensis (Marsh.) Pilger
American Yew

Delaware County

Arkville, Town of Middletown

P. Wilson 5 Jul 15 & 25 Jul 15--NY
Delhi, Town of Delhi

2026 N. Hotchkiss 9 May 27--KYS
Robinson L, w of Delhi, Town of Delhi
UU88 E. Whitney 26 Jul 35--ITYS

Brookdale Farm, 3 mi s by w of W. Harpersf ield. Town of Kortright
3324 Brooks 5 Sep 54 — Brooks
Post Place, 2 I/2 mi s of Stamford, Town of Stamford
KLB & Elisabeth Post obs 11 Sep 78

Greene County

Hunter, Town of Hunter

J. H. Redfield 20 Aug I869--HY
Onteora , Town of Hunter

Anna M. Vail Jul l891““WY

-89-

Taxus baccata ssp. canadensis

Blackhead Mt, Town of Windham

G. V. Nash at 3500 ft 2 Jul I893--NY
Kaaterskill, Town of Hunter
E. A. Mearns 8 Aug I896--NY
Tannersville , Town of Hunter

282 N. Taylor at I86U ft 1 Jim 09~“NY
Elk [a?] Park, Town of Hunter
W. L. Bray Jul l4--Syracuse
Haines Falls, Town of Hunter

W. C. Ferguson at 38OO ft 1 Jul 19~“NY
Sprucetown, Town of Lexington
D. B. Cook 10 May 35--NYS

Sullivan County

Vic of L Shandelee, Town of Callicoon
P. Wilson 8 Aug 18- -NY

Fir Brook Swamp, vie of Willowemoc, Town of Never sink
8258 S. J. Smith 5 Aug 50--NYS
Ne of Long Eddy, Town of Fremont
SJS obs 20-22 Jun 56

Ulster County

High Peak, Town of Olive

J. F. Poggenburg 3 Aug l895~“BKL
Woodland Valley, 4 mi e of Phoenicia, Town of Shandaken

0. P. Medsger in Mem. Torr. Bot. Club 17: 294-300, 1917; E. J. Alex-
ander in Jour. N. Y, Bot. Gard. 37: 42-46, 1936.

Overlook Mt, Town of Woodstock

KLB & Mary Domville obs 12 Jul 70
5 1/2 mi se of Margaretville, Town of Hardenburgh
KLB obs 4 Sep 72

-90-

Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.
Balsam Fir

Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

PelaTMare County

The Vlai, 1 l/2 mi s of Oneonta, Town of Franklin

W. N. Glute in Flora Upper Susquehanna, p. 102, I898.

Stamford, Town of Stamford

371 N. Taylor 3 Jun 09 at I8OO ft"-WY
Vic of W. Harpersfield, Town of Harpersfield
Smith & DeGroot obs 20 Sep 63
Plattekill Mt, Town of Roxbury
Kudish (1971), p. 161.

Greene County

Hunter Mt, Town of Hunter

E. A. Mearns at 3100=U200 ft 27 Aug l896-"HY; H. K. Syenson obs 2k
Aug 31 in Torreya 3I: 154-157, 1931-
Tannersville , Town of Hunter

379 N. Taylor at l864 ft 1 Jun 09- -NY

-91-

Abies balsamea

Windham, Town of Windham

895 & 896 N. Taylor at 1700 ft 28- 31 Jul 09--NY
High Peak, vie of Haines Falls, Town of Hunter
W. C. Ferguson at 38OO ft 1 Jul 19-~NY
Black Dome, Town of Jewett

Kudish (1971), p. 170

Windham High Peak, Burnt Knob, Acra Pt, Blackhead 85 Thomas Cole mts.

Town of Windham

Kudish (1971), pp. 161, 170.

North Dome, Sherrill, Evergreen, Rusk & West Kill mts. Town of Lexington
Kudish (1971), pp. 161, 171.

Stoppels Pt, North Mt, Kaaterskill High Peak, Roundtop, Indian Head,
Twin, Sugarloaf, Plateau & Hunter mts. Town of Hunter
Kudish (1971), pp. 161, 170, 171.

Sullivan County

Vic of Neversink, Town of Neversink
5 G. L. Stebbins Jr. 23 Jun 3^ -NY
Fir Brook Swamp, vie of Willowemoc, Town of Neversink
8259 S. J. Smith 5 Oct 50--NYS

Ulster County

Vic of Bull Run, Town of Denning

2507 C. J. Elting 17 May I899--NYS
Woodland Valley, U mi e of Phoenicia, Town of Shandaken

0. P, Medsger in Mem. Torr. Bot. Club 17: 29^“ 300, 1917.

Overlook Mt, Town of Woodstock

H. K. Svenson obs 27 Aug 31 in Torreya 31: 15^“157, 1931; Kudish

(1971), p. 161.

Slide Mt, Town of Shandaken

4 G, L. Stebbins Jr. 26 Jun 34--NYS; E. J. Alexander in Jour. N. Y.
Bot. Gard. 37: 42-46, 1936; summit of Slide Mt, SJS obs 8 J\in 54
Doubletop Mt, Town of Denning
Gilly & Camp 26 Jul 41--NYS
Watson Hollow, Town of Denning

H. Dunbar obs in Torr. Club Bui. 84: 57, 1957.

Schoolhouse Mt, Town of Denning
Kudish (1971), pp. 162, 170.

Slide, Panther, Fir, Big Indian, Hemlock, Spruce, Balsam Cap, Friday,
Wittenberg & Cornell mts. Town of Shandaken

Kudish (1971), pp. 161, 170.

Doubletop, Balsam Lake, Balsam, Eagle, Haynes & Graham mts. Town of
Hardenburgh

Kudish (1971), pp. 161, 162, 170.

-92-

Abies magnifica A. Murr.
Red Fir

Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Ulster Comity

Huth Place, 1 l/2 ml s of Pine Hill, Town of Shandaken
511 M. Domville 22 Sep 68--HYS, Domville

-93“

Larix laricina (DuRoi) K. Koch
American Larch

Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Dela-ware County

Vic of W. Harpersf ield, Town of Harpersfield
SJS and DeGroot obs 20 Sep 63

3 mi se of Delancey at I800 ft, Town of Hamden
6060 Brooks 16 Aug 74 — NYS

Vic of Fleischmanns , Town of Middletown
KLB obs 11 Sep 75

Coulter Brook at 2000 ft, 2 mi s of Bovina Center, Town of Bovina
6102 Brooks 2 Jun 75 — KYS, Brooks ( Larix x pendula Salisb.)

Wake Robin, vie of Roxbury, Town of Roxbury

Phil Caswell obs, personal communication 10 Dec 78

Sullivan County

Vic of Liberty, Town of Liberty

Leggett [n.d.] — NYS (apparently!;, x alaskensis)

(Continued on p. 99)

-94-

Picea abies (L.) Karst.
Norway Spruce

Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Delaware County

Brookdale Farm, 3 mi s by w of W. Harpersf ield, Town of Kortright
U055 Brooks 13 May 56 — NYS, Brooks
Vic of Delhi, Town of Delhi
KLB obs 27 Apr 75
U mi s of Andes, Town of Andes
KLB obs 11 May 75
U mi ne of Walton, Town of Walton
KLB obs 30 May 76

2 mi se of Bovina, Town of Bovina

KLB obs h Jun 76

3 mi s of Treadwell, Town of Franklin

KLB obs 15 Sep 76

Wake Robin, vie of Roxbury, Town of Roxbury

Phil Caswell obs, personal communication 26 Sep 77
Arkville, Town of Middletown
KLB obs 17 Aug 78

(Continued on p. lo4)

-95-

Picea glauca (Moench) Voss.
White Spruce

Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Old Stone Schoolhouse, 2 l/2 mi s of Margaretville , Town of Middletown
5012 Brooks 30 May 71””NYS, Brooks
Big Pond Rd, l4 mi s by e of Andes, Town of Andes
KLB obs 6 Jun 73 (specimen checked)

3 1/2 mi n by e of Bovina Center, Town of Bovina
KLB obs 24 Jun 74 (specimen checked)

Vic of Roxbury, Town of Roxbury

Phil Caswell obs, personal communication 26 Sep 77
3/4 mi s by w of Davenport Center, Town of Davenport
KLB obs 5 Sep 78

Ulster County

Rider Hollow, 2 mi e of Dry Brook, Town of Hardenburgh

KLB obs 7 Jun 75 (specimen checked; probably spread from cult)

-96-

Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP.
Black Spruce

Flora o^

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Ulster County

Woodland Valley, 4 mi e of Phoenicia, Town of Shandaken
0. P. Medsger in Mem. Torr. Bot . Club 17: 294-300, 1917.

“97-

Picea rubens Sarg.
Red Spruce

Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Delaware County

Doonans Corners, Town of Kortright
4360 Brooks 9 Ju.1 58--Brooks, RYS
Vic of W. Harpersfield, Town of Harpersfield
Smith & DeGroot obs 20 Sep 63
Plattekill Mt, Town of Roxbury
Kudish (1971), p. 155-

Greene County

Kaaterskill Jet, Town of Hunter
E. A. Mearns 12 Aug I896--NY
Vic of Hunter, Town of Hunter

N. L. Britton 30 Jul-1 Aug I898--NY
Tannersville , Town of Hunter

N. Taylor at l864 ft 1 Jun 09--NY
Hunter Mt, Town of Hunter

H. K. Syenson obs 24 Aug 31 in Torreya 31: 154-157, 1931-

-98-

Picea rubens

Big Hollow [Maplecrest] on Batavia Kill, Windham High Peak, Burnt Knob, Acra
Pt, Thomas Cole & Blackhead mts. Town of Windham
Kudish (1971), pp. 155 5 161, 170.

Colgate L on East Kill, Town of Jewett
Kudish (1971)5 p. 159.

Platte Cove, Elka Park, Kaater skill High Peak, Roundtop, North Mt, Stop-
pels Pt, Indian Head, Twin, Sugarloaf, Plateau & Hunter mts. Town of Hunter
Kudish (1971)5 pp. 1555 171.

West Kill & Rusk mts. Town of Lexington
Kudish (1971)5 pp. 1555 1565 171.

Sullivan County

Fir Brook Swamp, vie of Willowemoc, Town of Neversink
8260 S. J. Smith 5 Oct 50— NYS

Ulster County

Woodland Valley, 4 mi e of Phoenicia, Town of Shandaken
0. P. Medsger in Mem. Torr. Bot. Club 17: 294-300, 1917.

Vic of Wittenberg & Slide mts, Town of Shandaken

A. H. Graves quoting 0. P. Medsger in Torreya 27: 13" l4, 1927.

Overlook Mt, Town of Woodstock

H. K, Svenson obs 27 Aug 31 in Torreya 3I: 154-157, 1931; Kudish
(1971)5 p. 155.

Headwaters of Rondout Creek, Town of Denning
SJS obs 12 Sep 59

Peekamoose, Table, Lone & Rocky mts. Town of Denning
Kudish (1971)5 p. 155.

Balsam Cap, Slide, Panther, Giant Ledge, Friday, Cornell & Wittenberg
mts, Town of Shandaken

Kudish (1971)5 pp. 155, 170.

Larix laricina (continued from p. 94)

Ulster County

Town of Denning

855 H. Dunbar 10 Jun 55—RYS
Rider Hollow, 2 mi e of Dry Brook, Town of Hardenburgh
KLB obs 7 Jun 75

Vic of Pine Hill, Town of Shandaken
KLB & Joe Quint obs 25 May 78

-99-

Pinus resinosa Ait.
Red Pine

Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Greene County

Catskill Mts

Peck [n.d.]--NYS

Mink Hollow, vie of Haines Falls, Town of Hunter
H. Dunbar obs [n.d.]

N of Kaaterskill L, Town of Hunter
J. Bartram obs autumn 1753
Otis Summit, Town of Hunter

N. Taylor in Flora Vic. N. Y., p. 71, 1915-
W of Palenville, Town of Catskill
McIntosh obs Jul 6l

Ulster County

Between Willow & Mt Tremper, Town of Woodstock
D. B. Cook obs 1 Dec 35
Goblin Cut, High Point Mt, Town of Olive
h2Q H. Dunbar 8 Aug 5^--NYS

-100-

Pinus rigida Mill.
Pitch Pine

Flora

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Dela>;are County

Franklin, Town of Franklin
M. Platt, 1840

Greene County

South L, Town of Hunter
SJS Ohs 30 Sep 63

Ulster County

High Point Mt, Town of Oliye

11136 Moldenke 28 May 39~~NY; I8256 Moldenke 1 Jun 46- -HY

-101-

Pinus strobus L.
Eastern White Pine

Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Delaware County

Franklin, Town of Franklin

M. Platt, l8U0
Stamford, Town of Stamford

370 N. Taylor 3 Jun 09 at I85O ft--]NlY
Delhi, Town of Delhi

N. Hotchkiss obs 10 May 27

Brookdale Farm, 3 mi s by w of W. Harpersf ield. Town of Kortright
103 Brooks 6 May 51““Brooks, NYS
Point Mt, vie of Cadosia, Town of Hancock
SJS obs 17 Jun

1 1/2 mi sw of Odell L, Town of Harpersfield
KLB obs 2 Jul 55

Merrill Farm, 2 ml s of Treadwell, Town of Franklin
KIH obs 10 Jul 59

Rathbone Rd, 1 l/U mi se of Pinders Corners, Town of Davenport
KLB obs 8 Aug 70

-102-

Pinus strobus

Rosa Farm, 1 mi s of Margaretville , Town of Middletown
T444 Brooks 3 May 70
Gregorytown, Town of Colchester
KLB obs 3 Jul 71
Delancey, Town of Hamden
KLB obs 7 Aug 71
Vic of Bovina, Town of Bovina
KLB obs 27 May 73

2 mi w by s of Grand Gorge , Town of Roxbury
KLB obs 30 Jul 73
Emmons Pond, Town of Davenport

R. Vitkus, A Floris . Descr . of Emmons' Pond Preserve [29 Aug 73]

1 mi e of Tompkins Falls, Town of Andes

KLB obs 12 May 74

2 mi s of E. Meredith, Town of Meredith

KLB obs 24 Jun 74
Vic of Launt Pond, Town of Walton
KLB obs 28 Jul 74

Vic of Stilesville, Town of Deposit
KLB obs 10 Aug 75

7 mi e by n of Deposit, Town of Tompkins
KLB obs 10 Aug 75

3 mi nw of Trout Creek, Town of Masonville

KLB obs 7 Sep 75

Vic of Sidney Center, Town of Sidney
KLB obs 7 Sep 75

Greene County

South L, Town of Hunter
SJS obs 7 Sep 57

Vic of West Kill, Town of Lexington
KLB obs 13 Sep 73

Vic of Prattsville, Town of Prattsville
KLB obs 4 Jul 74

3 mi e of Jewett Center, Town of Jewett
KLB obs 10 Sep 74

3 mi n of Halcott Center, Town of Halcott
KLB obs 31 May 75

2 mi sw of Ashland, Town of Ashland
KLB obs 1 Jul 75

2 mi n of Windham, Town of Windham
KLB obs 21 Jul 75

Vic of Durso Corner, Town of Durham
KLB obs 23 Sep 75

Schoharie County

Vic of W. Conesville, Town of Conesville
KLB obs 1 Jul 75

-103-

Pinus strobus

Vic of S. Gilboa, To-wn of Gilboa
KLB obs 22 Sep 75

Sullivan County

Vic of L Shandelee, Town of Callicoon
P. Wilson 22 Aug iQ—Wf

1 mi sw of Lew Beach, Town of Rockland
KLB obs 3 Jun 74

Vic of Claryville, Town of Neversink
KLB obs 11 Jun 74

3 mi n of Woodbourne, Town of Fallsburg
KLB obs 2 Aug 76

Vic of Long Eddy, Town of Fremont
KLB 85 Phil Caswell obs l4 Sep 78

Ulster County

Woodland Valley, 4 mi e of Phoenicia, Town of Shandaken
0. P. Medsger in Mem. Torr. Bot. Club 17: 294-300, I917.

Headwaters of Rondout Creek, Town of Denning
SJS obs 12 Sep 59

South Hill Rd, n of Ulster Heights, Town of Warwarsing
KLB & Mary Domville obs 11 Jul 70

Overlook Mt, Town of Woodstock

KLB & Mary Domville obs 12 Jul 70

Friedberg Place, 1 mi sw of Boiceville, Town of Olive
KLB & Claire Friedberg obs I8 Jul 73

Vic of Hardenburgh, Town of Hardenburgh
KLB obs l4 May 74

3 mi nw of Tabasco, Town of Rochester
KLB & Paul Huth obs I9 Aug 76

Picea abies (continued from p. 95)

Greene County

Vic of Red Falls, Town of Prattsville
KLB obs l4 Sep 75

-104-

Pinus sylvestris L.
Scotch Pine

Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Delaware County

2 mi n of New Kingston, Town of Middletown

U798 Brooks 2 Jun 68- -Brooks, NYS
Rose Farm, 1 mi s of Margaretville , Town of Middletown
TU63 Brooks 10 May 70; BW8-O9 Brooks 12 Sep 71
Lake Delaware, Town of Bovina
KLB obs 24 Aug 72

Vic of Gregorytown, Town of Colchester
KLB obs 8 Jul 73

Vic of Centerville, Town of Hancock
KLB obs 8 Jul 73
Vic of Beerston, Town of Walton
KLB obs 8 Jul 73

Betty’s Brook Rd, 1 mi nw of S . Kortright, Town of Kortright
KLB obs 24 Jun 74

3 mi sw of Delhi, Town of Delhi

KLB obs 29 Jun 75

-105-

Pinus sylvestris

1/2 mi s of Davenport, Town of Davenport
KLB obs 30 Sep 75

Vic of Merrickville , Town of Franklin
KLB obs 6 Jul 76

Vic of Hambleville, Town of Deposit
KLB obs 6 Jul 76

2 1/2 mi se of Roxbury, Town of Roxbury
KLB obs 18 Jul 76

Greene County

Vic of Ashland, Town of Ashland
KLB obs 25 Jul 76

Vic of Prattsville, Town of Prattsville
KLB obs 17 Aug 76

Ulster County

Vic of Allaben, Town of Shandaken
KLB obs 29 Jun 73

Vic of Willow, Town of Woodstock
KLB obs 11 Jul 73

Vic of Belle Ayre Village, Town of Hardenburgh
KLB obs 8 Jul 75

Vic of Boiceville, Town of Olive
KLB obs 11 Jun 76

-106-

Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.
Eastern Hemlock

Delaware County

Franklin, Town of Franklin
M. Platt, 18U0

Stamford at l800 ft. Town of Stamford
377 N. Taylor 3 Jun 09--HY
Arkville, Town of Middletown
396 N. Taylor 3-7 Jun 09" "NY
2 mi sw of Grand Gorge, Town of Roxbury

119 Brooks, Smith et al. 12 May 51--Poor specimen; destroyed
Bullet Hollow Rd, 5 mi nw of Andes, Town of Delhi
IU56 Brooks 31 May 52--NYS
Point Mt, vie of Cadosia, Town of Hancock
SJS obs 17 Jun 54

Vic of W. Harpersfield, Town of Harpersfield
Smith & DeGroot obs 20 Sep 63
The Vlai, 1 l/2 mi s of Oneonta, Town of Franklin
Smith & DeGroot obs 21 Sep 63

-107-

Tsuga canadensis

1/2 mi w by s of W. Harpersfield, Town of Kortright
UlOl Brooks 9 56--NYS

Rosa Farm, 1 mi s of Margaretville , Town of Middletown

TII3 Brooks 6 Nov 65; BW3“18A & BW3~l8 Brooks 4 Jul 68; BW4-10A Brooks
26 Aug 68

Gregorytown, Town of Colchester
KLB obs 3 Jul 71
Delancey, Town of Hamden
KLB obs 7 Aug 71

1 mi s,w of Bovina Center, Town of Bovina

KLB obs 27 May 73

Big Pond Rd, l4 mi s by e of Andes, Town of Andes
KLB obs 6 Jun 73

6 mi e of Downsville, Town of Colchester
KLB obs 12 Jun 73
Vic of Apex, Town of Tompkins
KLB obs 8 Jul 73
Emmons Pond, Town of Davenport

R. Vitkus, A Floris. Descr. of Emmons' Pond Preserve [29 Aug 731

2 mi se of Walton, Town of Walton

KLB obs 28 Jul 74

Vic of Stilesville, Town of Deposit
KLB obs 10 Aug 75

3 mi nw of Trout Creek, Town of Masonville

KLB obs 7 Sep 75

2 mi sw of Meridale, Town of Meredith
KLB obs 21 May 76

Greene County

Onteora woods. Town of Hunter
Anna M. Vail Sep I89I--NY
Tannersville , Town of Hunter
284 N, Taylor 1 Jun 09“ “NY
Windham, Town of Windham

805 N. Taylor at 1700 ft 28- 31 Jul 09“ “NY
Deep Notch, vie of West Kill, Town of Lexington
SJS obs 15 Jun 56
Prattsville, Town of Prattsville
KIB obs 19 Jun 73

Elk Creek Rd, 2 mi ne of Halcott Center, Town of Halcott
KLB obs 24 Jul 73
2 mi s of Jewett, Town of Jewett
KLB obs 1 Jul 75

Vic of E. Ashland, Town of Ashland
KLB obs 4 Jul 75

Vic of Durso Corner, Town of Durham
KLB obs 2 May 76

-108-

Tsuga canadensis

Schoharie County

Vic of Conesville, Town of Conesville
KLB obs 1 Jul 75

Vic of S. Gilboa, Town of Gilboa
KLB obs 22 Sep 75

Sullivan County

Vic of L Shandelee, Town of Callicoon
P. Wilson 25 Aug 18--NY

Fir Brook Swamp, vie of Willowemoc, Town of Neversink
SJS obs 5 Oct 50

E side of Long Eddy, Town of Fremont
SJS obs 7 Sep 56

1 mi sw of Lew Beach, Town of Rockland
KLB obs 3 Jun 74

3 mi n of Woodbourne, Town of Fallsburg
KLB obs 2 Aug 76

Ulster County

t

Woodland Valley, 4 mi e of Phoenicia, Town of Shandaken
0. P. Medsger in Mem. Torr. Bot. Club 17: 294-300, 1917.

Vic of Boiceville, Town of Olive
731 H. Dunbar 22 Apr 54--NYS

Headwaters of Rondout Creek, Town of Denning
SJS obs 12 Sep 59

South Hill Rd, n of Ulster Heights, Town of Warwarsing
KLB & Mary Domville obs 11 Jul 70

Overlook Mt, Town of Woodstock

KLB & Mary Domville obs 12 Jul 70

5 1/2 mi se of Margaretville , Town of Hardenburgh
KLB obs 4 Sep 72

3 mi nw of Tabasco, Town of Rochester
KLB & Paul Huth obs I9 Aug 76

-109-

Juniperus communis L.

ssp. depressa (pursh) Franco
Dwarf Juniper

Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Delaware County

Merrill Farm, 2 mi s of Treadwell, Town of Franklin
U464 Brooks 10 Jul 59" "Brooks, NYS

Cold Spring Hollow, 3 l/2 mi s by e of Margaretville , Town of Middletown
KLB obs 28 Jul 73

2 mi w by s of Grand Gorge, Town of Roxbury
KLB obs 30 Jul 73

6 mi e of Downsville, Town of Colchester
KLB obs 18 Jun 74

1/2 mi s of Davenport, Town of Davenport
KLB obs 30 Sep 75

Vic of S. Kortright, Town of Kortright
KLB obs 2 May 76

Greene County

Prattsville, Town of Prattsville
KLB obs 19 Jun 73

-110-

Juniperus communis ssp. depressa

Brunner Place, 4 mi n of Halcott Center, Town of Halcott
KLB obs 9 Jun 75

Vic of Windham, Town of Windham
KLB obs 2 May 76

Vic of W. Jewett, Town of Jewett
KLB obs 17 Aug 76

Vic of S . Durham, Town of Durham
KLB obs 30 Apr 78

Sullivan County

W of Obernburg, Town of Fremont
SJS obs 7 Sep 56

Ulster County

Vic of Willow, Town of Woodstock
KLB obs 11 Aug 76

-111-

Juniperus virginiana L.
Eastern Red Cedar

Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Delaware County

E of Grand Gorge, Town of Roxbury
C. H. Diebold obs 1 Oct 30

Rosa Farm, 1 mi s of Margaretville , Town of Middletown
U728 Brooks 5 Sep 66--Brooks, RYS

Farmers Hill, 2 l/2 mi s of Andes, Town of Andes
KLB obs 26 May 73

3 mi n of Bovina Center, Town of Bovina
KLB obs 29 Sep 74

Hobart, Town of Stamford
KLB obs 21 May 75

3 mi nw of Trout Creek, Town of Masonville
KLB obs 7 Sep 75

1/2 mi e of Davenport, Town of Davenport
KLB obs 30 Sep 75

1 1/2 mi sw of Stamford, Town of Harpersfield
KLB obs 2 May 76

-112-

Juniperus virginiana

Vic of Bloomvillej Town of Kortright
KLB obs 2 May 76

Greene County

Vic of Lexington, Town of Lexington
SJS obs 8 Jim 54

Vic of Prattsvllle, Town of Prattsville
KLB obs k Jul 74
Vic of Hunter, Town of Hunter
KLB obs 27 Jun 75

2 mi sw of Ashland, Town of Ashland
KLB obs 1 Jul 75

Vic of Beaches Corners, Town of Jewett
KLB obs 4 Jul 75

2 mi n of Windham, Town of Windham

KLB obs 21 Jul 75
Vic of S. Durham, Town of Durham
KLB obs 30 Apr 78

Schoharie County

Vic of Conesville, Town of Conesville
KLB obs 1 Jul 75
Vic of S. Gilboa, Town of Gllboa
KLB obs 22 Sep 75

Sullivan County

Vic of Obernburg, Town of Fremont
KLB obs 21 Jun 75

Vic of Grahamsville, Town of Weversink
KLB obs 2 Aug 76

Ulster County

Vic of Shandaken, Town of Shandaken
KLB obs l6 May 73

Friedberg Place, 1 mi sw of Boiceville, Town of Olive
KLB & Claire Friedberg obs l8 Jul 73
Vic of Willow, Town of Woodstock
KLB obs 7 May 75

3 mi nw of Tabasco, Town of Rochester

KLB & Paul Huth obs 19 Aug 76
2 mi n of Ulster Heights, Tovm of Warwarsing
KLB & Paul Huth obs 19 Aug 76

-113-

Thuja occidentalis L.
Eastern Arborvitae

Flora of

THE CATSKILLS
New York State

Delaware County

Vic of Apex, Town of Tompkins

6179 Brooks 27 Aug 75" “Brooks, NYS

Ulster County

Oliyerea, Town of Shandaken

678 H. Dunbar 27 May 5^““frYS (a stand of oyer 100 trees)

-III+-

INDEX

Underscored figures represent pages -where illustrations are
located.

Abbreviations, list of, 73
Abies, 5

balsamea, 7, 91

magnifica, 11. 12, 93
American Yew, 3j it? 89
Appendix, 85
Arborvitae, 68, 69, ZIj

Balsam Fir, 7, 2, 91
Bibliography, 79
Black Spruce, 23, 25.5 97

Common Juniper, ^

Coniferales, 1

Cupressaceae, the Cypress Family,
57

Cypress family, 57

Dwarf Juniper, 59j HO

Eastern Red Cedar, 63, 6^, 112
Eastern White Pine, 4l, 44, 45 ..
102

Family

Cypress, 57
Pine , 5
Yew, 2
Fir, 5

Balsam, 7, 91

Red, 11, 12, 93

Glossary of technical terms, 75
Gymnospermae , 1

Hemlock, 51

Eastern, 52, 107

Juniper, 57
Common, ^

Dwarf, 59? HO
Eastern Red, 63, 112

Juniperus, 57
communis, 6l

communis ssp. depressa, 59?

110

virginiana, 63, ^? 112

Larch, I3
Larix, I3

laricina, 13, I5., 94

Norway Spruce, I9? £Q, 95

Picea, 17

abies, I9? £Q, 95
glauca, 21, 22, 96
mariana, 23? £5.? 97
rubens, 26, £2? 98
Pinaceae, the Pine Family, 5
Pine , 30

Eastern White, 4l, 44, 4^?

102

family, 5

Pitch, 38, £9, 101
Red, 35? £7, 100
Scotch, 48, 49, 105
White, Eastern, 4l, 44, 45 .
102

Pinus , 30

resinosa, 35? £1? 100
rigida, 38, 101

strobus, 4l, 2£? 102

sylvestris, 48, £9? 105
Pitch Pine, 38, £9, 101

Red Cedar, Eastern, 63? ^? 112
Red Fir, 11, 12, 93
Red Pine, 35? £1? 100
Red Spruce, 26, ££, 98

Scotch Pine, 48, £9? 105
Spermatophyta , 1
Spruce , 17

Black, 23? £9? 97
Norway, I9? £0, 95
Red, 26, £1, 98
White, 21, £2, 96

Tamarack, 13, 19? 94

Taxaceae, the Yew Family, 2

Taxus, 2

baccata ssp. canadensis, 3? 4?

89

Technical terms, glossary of, 75

-115-

Thu j a , 68

occidentalis , 69, 'JXi
Tsuga, 51

canadensis, 52, 107

White Pine, Eastern, 4l, U5,

102

White Spruce, 21, 22, 96
Yew, 2

American, 3? It? 89
family, 2

-116-

New York Botanical Garden Library

3 5185 00337 3790

These publications are available from:
(Request Price List)

Gifts & Exchange

New York State Library

Albany, New York 12234

Other Botanical Publications of Interest:

Brooks, Karl. 1979. A Catskill Flora and Economic Botany, vol . 1, Pteridophyta,

The Ferns and Fern Allies. N.Y.S. Museum Bull. 438, 276 pp.

Mitchell, Richard S. & J. Kenneth Dean. 1978. Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family)
of New York State. Contr. to a Flora of New York State, I. N.Y.S. Museum
Bull. 431, 81 pp.

Mitchell, Richard S. & Ernest 0. Beal. 1979. Magnoliaceae through Ceratophyl laceae
of New York State. Contr. to a Flora of New York State, II. N.Y.S. Museum
Bull. 435, 62 pp.

Mitchell, Richard S. 1979. Preliminary Lists of Rare, Endangered and Threatened
Plant Species in New York State. N.Y.S. Museum Leafl. 21, 18 pp.

Ogden, Eugene C. et al . 1976. Field Guide to the Aquatic Plants of Lake George,

New York. N.Y.S. Museum Bull. 426, 65 pp.

08939