Handbook of the Trees of New England Part 19

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XLV.--Quercus velutina.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Sterile flower, 4-lobed calyx.

4. Sterile flower, 3-lobed calyx.

5. Fertile flower.

6. Fruiting branch.

7. Fruit.

8. Variant leaf.

=Quercus pal.u.s.tris, Du Roi.=

PIN OAK. SWAMP OAK. WATER OAK.

=Habitat and Range.=--Low grounds, borders of forests, wet woods, river banks, islets in swamps.

Ontario.

Northern New England,--no station reported; Ma.s.sachusetts,--Amherst (Stone, _Bull. Torrey Club_, IX, 57; J. E. Humphrey, _Amherst Trees_); Springfield, south to Connecticut, rare; Rhode Island,--southern portions, bordering the great Kingston swamp, and on the margin of the Pawcatuck river (L. W. Russell); Connecticut,--common along the sound, frequent northward, extending along the valley of the Connecticut river to the Ma.s.sachusetts line.

South to the valley of the lower Potomac in Virginia; west to Minnesota, east Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Indian territory.

=Habit.=--A medium-sized tree, 40-50 feet high, with trunk diameter of 1-2 feet, occasionally reaching a height of 60-70 feet (L. W. Russell), but attaining its maximum of 100 feet in height and upward in the basins of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers; trunk rather slender, often fringed with short, drooping branchlets, lower tier of branches short and mostly descending, the upper long, slender, and often beset with short, lateral shoots, which give rise to the common name; head graceful, open, rounded and symmetrical when young, in old age becoming more or less irregular; foliage delicate; bright shining green in autumn, often turning to a brilliant scarlet.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk dark, furrowed and broken in old trees, in young trees grayish-brown, smoothish; branchlets shining, light brown.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds short, conical, acute. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-5 inches long, bright green, smooth and shining above, duller beneath, with tufted hairs in the angles of the veins; outline broadly obovate to ovate; lobes divergent, triangular, toothed or entire, bristle-pointed; sinuses broad, rounded; leafstalk slender; stipules linear, soon falling.

=Inflorescence.=--May. Appearing when the leaves are half grown; sterile catkins 2-4 inches long; segments of calyx mostly 4 or 5, obtuse or rounded, somewhat lacerate; stamens mostly 4 or 5, anthers yellow, glabrous: pistillate flowers with broadly ovate scales; stigmas stout, red, reflexed.

=Fruit.=--Abundant, maturing the second season, short-stemmed: cup saucer-shaped, with firm, appressed scales, shallow: acorns ovoid to globose, about 1/2 inch long, often striate, breadth sometimes equal to entire length of fruit.

=Horticultural Value.=--Probably hardy throughout New England; grows in wet soils, but prefers a rich, moist loam; of rapid and uniform growth, readily and safely transplanted, and but little disfigured by insects; obtainable in leading nurseries. Propagated from the seed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XLVI.--Quercus pal.u.s.tris.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Sterile flower, side view.

4. Fertile flower, side view.

5. Fruiting branch.

=Quercus ilicifolia, w.a.n.g.=

_Quercus nana, Sarg. Quercus pumila, Sudw._

SCRUB OAK. BEAR OAK.

=Habitat and Range.=--In poor soils; sandy plains, gravelly or rocky hills.

Maine,--frequent in eastern and southern sections and upon Mount Desert island; New Hampshire,--as far north as Conway, more common near the lower Connecticut; Vermont,--in the eastern and southern sections as far north as Bellows Falls; Ma.s.sachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut,--too abundant, forming in favorable situations dense thickets, sometimes covering several acres.

South to Ohio and the mountain regions of North Carolina and Kentucky; west to the Alleghany mountains.

=Habit.=--Shrub or small tree, usually 3-8 feet high, but frequently reaching a height of 15-25 feet; trunk short, sometimes in peaty swamps 10-13 inches in diameter near the ground, branches much contorted, throwing out numerous branchlets of similar habit, forming a stiff, flattish head; beautiful for a brief week in spring by the delicate greens and reds of the opening leaves and reds and yellows of the numerous catkins. Sometimes a.s.sociated with _Q. prinoides_.

=Bark.=--Old trunks dark gray, with small, closely appressed scales; small trunks and branches grayish-brown, not furrowed or scaly; younger branches marked with pale yellow, raised dots; season's shoots yellowish-green, with a tawny, scurfy p.u.b.escence.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds 1/8-1/4 inch long, ovoid or conical, covered with imbricated, brownish, minutely ciliate scales. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-4 inches long and 2-3 inches broad; when unfolding reddish above and woolly on both sides, when mature yellowish-green and somewhat glossy above, smooth except on the midrib, rusty-white, and p.u.b.escent beneath; very variable in outline and in the number (3-7) and shape of lobes, sometimes entire, oftenest obovate with 5 bristle-tipped angular lobes, the two lower much smaller; base unequal, wedge-shaped, tip obtuse or rounded; leafstalk short; stipules linear, soon falling.

=Inflorescence.=--Early in May. Appearing when the leaves are half grown; sterile catkins 2-4 inches long; calyx p.u.b.escent, lobes oftenest 2-3, rounded; stamens 3-5; anthers red or yellow: pistillate flowers numerous; calyx lobes ovate, pointed, reddish, p.u.b.escent; stigmas 3, reddish, recurved, spreading.

=Fruit.=--Abundant, maturing in the autumn of the second year, cl.u.s.tered along the branchlets on stout, short stems: cup top-shaped or hemispherical: acorn about 1/2 inch long, varying greatly in shape, mostly ovoid or spherical, brown, often striped lengthwise.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in New England; grows well in dry, gravelly, ledgy, or sandy soil, where few other trees thrive; useful in such situations where a low growth is required; but as it is not procurable in quant.i.ty from nurseries, it must be grown from the seed.

The leaves are at times stripped off by caterpillars, but otherwise it is not seriously affected by insects or fungous diseases.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XLVII.--Quercus ilicifolia.]

1. Flowering branch.

2. Sterile flower, side view.

3. Fertile flowers, side view.

4. Fruiting branch.

5. Variant leaves.

ULMACEae. ELM FAMILY.

=Ulmus Americana, L.=

ELM. AMERICAN ELM. WHITE ELM.

=Habitat and Range.=--Low, moist ground; thrives especially on rich intervales.

From Cape Breton to Saskatchewan, as far north as 54 30'.

Maine,--common, most abundant in central and southern portions; New Hampshire,--common from the southern base of the White mountains to the sea; in the remaining New England states very common, attaining its highest development in the rich alluvium of the Connecticut river valley.

South to Florida; west to Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas.

=Habit.=--In the fullness of its vigor the American elm is the most stately and graceful of the New England trees, 50-110 feet high and 1-8 feet in diameter above the swell of the roots; characterized by an erect, more or less feathered or naked trunk, which loses itself completely in the branches, by arching limbs, drooping branchlets set at a wide angle, and by a spreading head widest near the top. Modifications of these elements give rise to various well-marked forms which have received popular names.

1. In the vase-shaped tree, which is usually regarded as the type, the trunk separates into several large branches which rise, slowly diverging, 40-50 feet, and then sweep outward in wide arches, the smaller branches and spray becoming pendent.