Michigan Trees Part 23

WOOD.--Hard, tough, strong, very close-grained, not durable, difficult to season, light or dark red, with thin, whitish sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Common in the Lower Peninsula, especially in the northern portions; rare in the Upper Peninsula.

HABITAT.--Prefers deep, rich, well-drained loam, but is found and does well on a great variety of soils.

NOTES.--Hardy throughout its range. Desirable for landscape work because of its clean trunk and limbs, deep shade, and freedom from insect pests.

Often suckers from the roots.

[Ill.u.s.tration: +Chestnut+

1. Winter twig, 1.

2. Leaf, 1/2.

3. Flowering branchlet, 1/2.

4. Staminate flower, enlarged.

5. Pistillate flower, enlarged.

6. p.r.i.c.kly bur, opened, 1/2.

7. Nut, 1/2.]

+f.a.gACEAE+

+Chestnut+

_Castanea dentata_ (_Marsh._) _Borkh._ [_Castanea vesca, v. americana Michx._] [_Castanea sativa, v. americana Sarg._]

HABIT.--A tree 60-80 feet high, forming a short, straight trunk 2-4 feet in diameter, divided not far above the ground into several stout, horizontal limbs and forming a broad, open, rounded crown.

LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 6-8 inches long, 2-3 inches broad; oblong-lanceolate, long-pointed at the apex; coa.r.s.ely serrate with stout, incurved, glandular teeth; thin; dull yellow-green above, lighter beneath, glabrous; petioles short, stout, p.u.b.erulous.

FLOWERS.--June-July, after the leaves; monoecious; the staminate catkins 6-8 inches long, slender, p.u.b.erulous, bearing 3-7-flowered cymes of yellow-green flowers; calyx 6-cleft, p.u.b.escent; stamens 10-20; the androgynous catkins 2-1/2-5 inches long, p.u.b.erulous, bearing 2-3 p.r.i.c.kly involucres of pistillate flowers near their base; calyx campanulate, 6-lobed; styles 6.

FRUIT.--Ripens in autumn; round, thick, p.r.i.c.kly burs, about 2 inches in diameter, containing 1-3 nuts; nuts compressed, brownish, coated with whitish down at the apex; sweet and edible.

WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud absent; lateral buds 1/4 inch long, ovoid, acute, brownish.

BARK.--Twigs l.u.s.trous, yellow-green, becoming olive-green and finally dark brown; old trunks gray-brown, with shallow fissures and broad, flat ridges.

WOOD.--Light, soft, coa.r.s.e-grained, weak, easily split, very durable in contact with the soil, red-brown, with very thin, lighter colored sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--South-eastern Michigan, as far north as St. Clair County.

Abundant in eastern Monroe County and Wayne County.

HABITAT.--Pastures; hillsides; glacial drift; well-drained, gravelly or rocky soil.

NOTES.--A rapid grower and living to a great age. Difficult to transplant. Subject to a disease which threatens extermination in this country.

+SUMMER KEY TO THE SPECIES OF QUERCUS+

a. Leaves deeply cut or lobed.

b. Leaf-lobes acute, bristle-tipped; fruit maturing in the second season.

c. Lower surface of leaves more or less p.u.b.escent.

d. Leaf-lobes usually 7; buds h.o.a.ry-tomentose; bark of trunk deeply furrowed and scaly; inner bark yellow; cup-scales of acorn h.o.a.ry-p.u.b.escent; nut ovoid; large tree, common in Michigan. _Q. velutina_, p. 117.

dd. Leaf-lobes usually 3 (at apex of the leaf only); buds rusty-hairy; bark of trunk divided into nearly square plates; inner bark not yellow; cup-scales of acorn rusty-tomentose; nut subglobose; shrubby tree, rare in Michigan. _Q.

marilandica_, p. 119.

cc. Lower surface of leaves glabrous or nearly so.

d. Cup of acorn top-shaped or cup-shaped, inclosing one-third to one-half of the nut.

e. Kernel of nut yellow; buds glabrous, l.u.s.trous, slightly angular; inner bark of trunk yellow; trunk provided with pins or stubs of dead branches near the ground. _Q. ellipsoidalis_, p. 115.

ee. Kernel of nut whitish; buds p.u.b.escent above the middle, not angular; inner bark of trunk red; trunk not provided with pins or stubs of branches near the ground. _Q. coccinea_, p. 113.

dd. Cup of acorn saucer-shaped, inclosing only the base of the nut.

e. Upper surface of leaves usually l.u.s.trous, especially on the lower branches; lowermost branches of trees growing in the open drooping nearly to the ground; nut about 1/2 inch long _Q. pal.u.s.tris_, p. 111.

ee. Upper surface of leaves usually dull; lowermost branches of trees growing in the open not drooping; nut about 1 inch long. _Q. rubra_, p. 109.

bb. Leaf-lobes rounded, not bristle-tipped; fruit maturing in the first season.

c. Leaves cut nearly to the midrib by a pair of deep sinuses near the middle of the leaf; branches corky-ridged; nut 1/2-1-1/2 inches long, deeply seated in a large, conspicuously fringed cup. _Q. macrocarpa_, p. 103.

cc. Leaves not cut by a pair of deep sinuses; branches not corky-ridged; nut about 3/4 inch long, about one-fourth covered by a thin, tomentose, warty cup. _Q. alba_, p. 101.

aa. Leaves not deeply cut nor lobed.

b. Margin of leaf entire to sinuate-crenate, but not toothed; acorns on stalks 1/2-4 inches long.

c. Margin of leaf entire, or only slightly undulate; acorns on peduncles 1/2 inch long, the nut about 1/2 inch long; bark on branches not breaking into large, papery scales. _Q.

imbricaria_, p. 121.

cc. Margin of leaf sinuate-crenate, rarely lobed; acorns on stems 1-4 inches long, the nut about 1 inch long; bark on branches breaking into large, papery scales which curl back _Q. bicolor_, p. 105.

bb. Margin of leaf coa.r.s.ely toothed; acorns sessile or on stalks less than 1/2 inch long. _Q. muhlenbergii_, p. 107.

+WINTER KEY TO THE SPECIES OF QUERCUS+

a. Terminal buds usually about 1/8 inch long.

b. Twigs thick-tomentose; entire bud pale-p.u.b.escent; branches corky-ridged; cup of acorn conspicuously fringed at the rim.