American Forest Trees Part 40

GLOSSYLEAF WILLOW (_Salix lucida_) is a far northern species which has its southern limit in Pennsylvania and Nebraska. It grows nearly to the Arctic circle. Trees twenty-five feet high and six or eight inches in diameter are the best this species affords.

LONGLEAF WILLOW (_Salix fluviatilis_) is known also as sandbar willow, narrowleaf willow, shrub, white, red, and osier willow, and by still other names. It ranges from the Arctic circle to Mexico, reaching Maryland on the Atlantic coast, and California on the Pacific. In rare cases it is sixty feet high, and two in diameter, but it is usually less than twenty feet high.

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WAHOO

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WAHOO

(_Evonymus Atropurpureus_)

No one seems to know what the original meaning of the word wahoo was. It is applied to no fewer than six different trees in this country, four of them elms, one a ba.s.swood, and one the tree now under consideration. The generic name, _Evonymus_, appears to be an effort to put somebody's seal of approval on the name, for it means in the Greek language "of good name."

It belongs to the family _Celastraceae_, which means the staff family.

Some designate members of this group as "Spindle trees," because formerly in Europe the wood was employed for knitting needles, hooks for embroidering, spindles for spinning wheels, and the like. Unless the members of the family in Europe have wood quite different from that of the wahoo tree in this country, no adequate reason can be found for the use of the wood for spindles or staffs, because it is poor material for that purpose. It may be compared with ba.s.swood.

This beautiful little tree, scarcely more than a shrub in most regions of its growth, is a widely distributed species, its range extending through western New York to Nebraska, southeastern South Dakota and eastern Kansas, and in the valley of the upper Missouri river, Montana, southward to northern Florida, southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. In these localities it is generally a shrub, rarely reaching a height of more than nine or ten feet. It attains the proportions of a tree only in the bottom lands of southern Arkansas, Oklahoma, and in the lower Appalachian regions. The most favorable habitat of the tree is moist soil along the banks of streams. In the southern and western parts of its range, under favorable conditions of soil and climate, and when isolated from other species, the wahoo tree grows to rather large size and develops a wide flat top of slender spreading branches.

The largest and most beautiful specimens of wahoo grow in the mountainous regions of West Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and western North Carolina. In these sections it is no unusual thing for a tree of this species to attain a height of sixty or seventy feet and a diameter of twenty or twenty-four inches. It is never found in pure stands but is isolated along the edge of the forest, and thrives best near water courses.

The tree is known by a variety of names in the different parts of the country. The Indians are said to have called it wahoo. Burning bush, a very popular name, is especially appropriate, as no brighter dash of color is displayed by any tree than the scarlet fruit of this growth, which remains on the branches long after the leaves have fallen, often until the winter storms beat it to the ground. The growth is also called occasionally by the name bleeding-heart tree, in reference to the blood-red contents revealed by the bursting fruit.

The wahoo in the fall of the year may be identified by the flaming color of its fruit, or rather the seeds of the fruit. The hull bursts and exposes the bright red seeds within. These, contrary to the usual run of red fruits, are not of a glossy surface, and in this the tree is unique.

During the summer season, however, identification is not such a simple matter, for the foliage is quite ordinary, and the flat, una.s.suming flowers have little that is distinctive about them; but as the autumn approaches and the leaves turn a pale yellow color, the tree becomes a conspicuous and beautiful object with its scarlet berries.

The bark of the wahoo is ashen gray, thin, furrowed, and divided into minute scales. On the branchlets it is a dark purplish-brown, later becoming brownish-gray.

The heartwood of wahoo is white, with a slight tinge of orange. The sapwood, scarcely distinguishable from the heartwood, is more nearly white in tone. The wood is heavy and close-grained but not very hard. It weighs when seasoned a little less than forty pounds to the cubic foot.

Such of this wood as is sawed into lumber, which is but a small quant.i.ty, sells commercially with poplar saps, thus masquerading like its forest fellow, the cuc.u.mber tree. The character of the wood is such that it will not stand exposure to the weather any length of time. It is far from durable, but is remarkably clear from defects and answers admirably many purposes for which sap poplar is desirable.

The leaves of the tree are waxy in appearance, opposite, entire, elliptical or ovate in shape, from two to four inches long, one to two broad. They are finely serrate and pointed at both apex and base, and the stems are short and stout.

The flowers, which appear in May and June, are definitely four-parted, presenting a Maltese cross in shape. They are half an inch across, and their rounded petals are deep purple in color. The fruit which succeeds these flowers and which ripens in October is also four-parted. It is about half an inch across, a pale purple when full size, and hangs on long slender stems. When ripe the purple husk bursts and reveals the seed enveloped in a scarlet outer coat that fits it loosely. The leaves, bark, and fruit of the wahoo are acrid and are reputed to be poisonous.

The wood is one-third heavier than that of yellow poplar, and it is evident that it would not pa.s.s as poplar with any one disposed to reject it. It is also much harder than poplar, and is more difficult to season, as it checks badly. The medullary rays are so thin as to be scarcely discernible. The wood contains many very small pores. The bark is said to possess some value for medicinal purposes. No special uses for the wood have been reported, and it is too scarce to be of much value. The tree's princ.i.p.al importance is as an ornament, and it shows well in winter borders where the bright colors of the seeds are exposed. It is planted both in this country and in Europe. The plantings seldom or never reach tree size.

FLORIDA BOXWOOD (_Schaefferia frutescens_) is of the same family as wahoo but of another genus, and is quite a different kind of tree. The generic name is in honor of Jakob Christian Schaeffer, a distinguished German naturalist who died in 1790. Two species of this tree occur in the United States, one the Florida boxwood, the other a small, shrubby growth in the dry regions of western Texas and northern Mexico. Florida boxwood is a West Indies tree which flourishes in the Bahamas and southward along the other islands to Venezuela. It has gained a foothold on the islands of southern Florida where it has found conditions favorable and it grows to a height of thirty or forty feet, and reaches a trunk diameter of ten inches, but such are trees of the largest size.

The leaves are bright yellow-green, about two inches long, and one or less in width. They appear in Florida in April and persist a full year, until the foliage of the succeeding crop displaces them. The flowers which are small and inconspicuous, open about the same time as the leaves. The fruit is a scarlet berry which ripens in November, and has a decidedly disagreeable flavor. The bark is very thin.

When sound wood in sufficiently large pieces is obtainable it is valuable for a number of purposes, but chiefly as a subst.i.tute for Turkish boxwood as engraving blocks. The trees are always small in Florida, which is the only place in the United States where they occur, and the largest are often hollow or otherwise defective. The wood weighs 48.27 pounds per cubic foot, thoroughly dry, which is about two pounds heavier than white oak. It is rich in ashes, having about four times as much as white oak. The color of the heartwood is a bright, clear yellow to which is due the name yellow-wood occasionally applied to the tree in the region where it grows, as well as in markets where it is sold. This is not the tree known in commerce as West Indies boxwood, though it may be an occasional subst.i.tute. It is said that Florida boxwood was formerly much more abundant in this country than it is now. It was lumbered for the European market at about the same time that the south of Florida was stripped of its mahogany. It is suitable for many small articles where a hard, even-grained wood is wanted.

IRONWOOD (_Cyrilla racemiflora_) ranges from the coast region of North Carolina to Florida, and west near the coast to Texas. It is known as leatherwood, burnwood, burnwood bark, firewood, red t.i.ti, and white t.i.ti. Ten woods besides this are called ironwood in some parts of this country. The name is applied because the hardness of the wood suggests iron. It is not remarkable for its weight nor its strength. The medullary rays are thin and inconspicuous. In color it is brown, tinged with red. It is not apparent why it is a favorite fire wood, for its fuel value does not rate high theoretically, being much below many species with which it is a.s.sociated. The largest trees rarely exceed a height of thirty feet and a diameter of twelve inches. They flourish in shady river bottoms and along the borders of sandy swamps and shallow ponds.

The tree occasionally a.s.sumes the form of a bush and sends up many stems which produce almost impenetrable thickets. Aside from its use as fuel, it is in small demand anywhere. In Texas it is sometimes made into wedges, and similar uses for it are doubtless found in other regions where it is abundant. It is named from Domenico Cirillo, an Italian naturalist who died in 1799.

t.i.tI (_Cliftonia monophylla_) is of the _cyrilla_ family and is one of three species which occasionally pa.s.s under that name. It sometimes reaches a height of fifty feet and a diameter of one or more. Its range follows the coast region from South Carolina to Louisiana. It betakes itself to swamps and flourishes in situations that would be fatal to many species. Half under water during many months of the year it is placed at no disadvantage. It grows equally well in shallow swamps which are rarely overflowed. Near the southern limits of its range in Florida it is reduced to a shrub. It is known as ironwood and buckwheat tree.

The last name is due to its seeds which are about the size of a buckwheat grain and otherwise resemble it. The flowers appear in early spring on long racemes, and are very fragrant. The wood weighs about thirty-nine pounds per cubic foot, is not strong, but is moderately hard. It is valuable as fuel and burns with a clear, bright flame.

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MOUNTAIN LAUREL

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MOUNTAIN LAUREL

(_Kalmia Latifolia_)

This tree belongs to the heath family and not to the laurels, as the name seems to imply. The same is true of rhododendron. The kalmia genus has five or six species in this country, but only one of tree size, and then only when at its best. Mountain laurel reaches its best development in North and South Carolina in a few secluded valleys between the Blue Ridge and the western mountains of the Appalachian ranges. The largest specimens are forty or fifty feet high and a foot or a foot and a half in diameter. Trunks are contorted and unshapely, and lumber is never sawed from them.

The tree has many names, most of them, however, are applied to the species in its shrubby form. A common name is simply laurel, but that does not distinguish it from the great laurel which is often a.s.sociated with it. Calico bush is one of its names, and is supposed to be descriptive of the flowers. Spoonwood is one of its northern names, dating back to the times when early settlers, who carried little silverware with them to their frontier homes, augmented the supply by making spoons and ladles of laurel roots. Ivy is a common name, sometimes mountain ivy, or poison ivy. Poison laurel and sheep laurel are among the names also. The leaves are poisonous, and if sheep feed on them, death is apt to follow. The exact nature of the poison is not understood. Sheep seldom feed on the leaves, and do so only when driven by hunger. Other names are small laurel, wood laurel, and kalmia. The last is the name of the genus, and is in honor of Peter Kalm, a Swedish naturalist.

The species is found from New Brunswick to Louisiana, but princ.i.p.ally among the ranges of the Appalachian mountains. Its thin bark makes it an easy prey to fire and the top is killed by a moderate blaze. The root generally remains uninjured and sends up sprouts in large numbers.

Thickets almost impenetrable are sometimes produced in that way.

Flowers and foliage of mountain laurel are highly esteemed as decorations, foliage in winter, and the flowers in May and June. The bloom appears in large cl.u.s.ters, and various colors are in evidence, white, rose, pink, and numerous combinations. The seeds are ripe in September, and the pods which bear them burst soon after.

The wood of mountain laurel weighs 44.62 pounds per cubic foot. It is hard, strong, rather brittle, of slow growth, brown in color, tinged with red, with lighter colored sapwood. This description applies to the wood of the trunk; but in nearly all cases where mention is made of the wood of this tree, it refers to the roots. These consist of enlargements or stools, often protruding considerably above the ground. If the area has been visited repeatedly by fire, the roots are generally out of proportion to the size of the tops. In that respect they resemble mesquite, except that the enlarged root of mesquite penetrates far beneath the surface while that of mountain laurel remains just below the surface or rises partly above it.

The utilization of mountain laurel is not confined to the trunks which reach tree size. Generally it is the root that is wanted. Roots are usually sold by weight, because of the difficulty of measuring them as lumber or even by the cord. The annual product of this material in North Carolina alone amounts to about 85,000 pounds, all of which goes to manufacturers of tobacco pipes and cigar holders. The use of the laurel root for pipes is as old as its use for spoons. Pioneers who raised and cured their own tobacco smoked it in pipes which were their own handiwork. The laurel root was selected then as now because it carves easily, is not inclined to split, does not burn readily, and darkens in color with age. It is cheap material, is found throughout an extensive region, and the supply is so large that exhaustion in the near future is not antic.i.p.ated.

The wood is employed in the manufacture of many small articles other than tobacco pipes. Paper knives, small rulers, turned boxes for pins and b.u.t.tons, trays, plaques, penholders, handles for buckets, dippers, and firewood, are among the uses for which laurel is found suitable.

It is of no small importance for ornamental purposes, and is often seen growing in clumps and borders in public parks and private yards, where its evergreen foliage and its bloom make it a valuable shrub. It is planted in Europe as well as in this country.

GREAT LAUREL (_Rhododendron maximum_) is also in the heath family. More than two hundred species of _rhododendron_ are known, and seventeen are in this country, but only one attains tree size. The generic name means "rose tree," and the name is well selected. The flowers are the most conspicuous feature belonging to this species, and few wild trees or shrubs equal it for beauty. It is not native much west of the Alleghany mountains, but grows north and east to Nova Scotia. It is at its best among the mountains, thrives in deep ravines where the shade is dense, and on steep slopes and stony mountain tops. It forms extensive thickets which are often so deep and tangled that it is difficult to pa.s.s through them. This laurel is seldom found growing on limestone. It reaches its largest size in the South. Trees thirty or forty feet high and a foot in diameter occur in favored localities. It grows on the Alleghany mountains in West Virginia at an elevation exceeding 4,000 feet and there forms vast thickets. Some use is made of the wood for engraving blocks and as tool handles. It is hard, strong, brittle, of slow growth, and light clear brown. It is frequently planted in parks in this country and Europe, and three or more varieties are distinguished in cultivation. This laurel's leaves have a peculiar habit of shrinking and rolling up when the thermometer falls to zero or near it. Among the names applied to it are great laurel, rose bay, dwarf rose bay tree, wild rose bay, bigleaf laurel, deer tongue, laurel, spoon hutch, and rhododendron.

CATAWBA RHODODENDRON (_Rhododendron catawbiense_) is a rare, large-flowered species of the mountain regions from West Virginia southward to Georgia and Alabama. The wood is not put to use, and the species is chiefly valuable as an ornamental shrub. It seldom reaches large size.

SOURWOOD (_Oxydendrum arboreum_) follows the Alleghany mountain ranges south from Pennsylvania, and extends into Florida, reaching the Atlantic coast in Virginia, and Indiana, Tennessee, and Louisiana westward. The best development of the species is found among the western slopes of the Big Smoky mountains in Tennessee. It is called sorrel-tree, sour gum, and sour gum bush, on account of the acidity of the leaves when chewed.

Arrow-wood, another name, refers to the long, straight stems between the whorls of branches of young trees--those three or four feet high. The stems are of proper size for arrows, and amateur bowmen use them. Those who designate the tree as lily-of-the-valley have in mind the flowers.

The shape suggests an opening lily, but the size does not. The flower is about one-third of an inch long, but panicles several inches long are covered with them. They open in July and August, and in September the fruit is ripe. The seed is pale brown and one-eighth of an inch long.