Michigan Trees Part 47

_Catalpa speciosa Warder._

HABIT.--A tree 50-75 feet high, with a short, often crooked trunk and a broad, rounded crown of slender, spreading branches and thick branchlets.

LEAVES.--Opposite or whorled, simple, 8-12 inches long, 6-8 inches broad; heart-shaped; entire or sometimes slightly lobed; thick and firm; glabrous, dark green above, downy beneath, with cl.u.s.ters of dark, nectariferous glands in the axils of the primary veins, turning black and falling with the first severe frost; petioles long, stout, terete.

FLOWERS.--June-July, after the leaves are full grown; perfect; borne on slender, purplish pedicels in open, few-flowered panicles 5-6 inches long; calyx 2-lobed, purple; corolla white with inconspicuous yellow spots, campanulate, 5-lobed, 2-1/2 inches broad; stamens 2, staminodia 3; ovary 2-celled.

FRUIT.--Ripens in early autumn; slender, 2-celled, cylindrical capsule 10-20 inches long and about 1/2 inch thick; hangs on tree all winter, opening in spring before falling; seeds light brown, 1 inch long, with rounded, wide-fringed wings at each end.

WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud absent; lateral buds brownish, globose, inconspicuous.

BARK.--Twigs greenish, often with purple tinge, becoming orange or red-brown and covered with a slight bloom the first winter, finally darker with age; thick, red-brown, broken into thick scales on the trunk.

WOOD.--Light, soft, weak, coa.r.s.e-grained, light brown, with very thin, almost white sapwood; very durable in contact with the soil.

NOTES.--A native of Illinois, Indiana, and the states adjoining on the south, but much planted in Michigan as a shade and ornamental tree.

Closely resembles _C. bignonioides_, but is a larger and hardier tree.

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

1. Winter twig, 1.

2. Leaf, 3/8.

3. Panicle of flowers, 1/3.

4. Fruit, 1/2.

5. Seed, 1.]

+BIGNONIACEAE+

+Catalpa+

_Catalpa bignonioides Walt._ [_Catalpa catalpa (L.) Karst._]

HABIT.--A tree 40-30 feet high, with a short, thick trunk and a broad, irregular crown of long, crooked branches and coa.r.s.e, upright branchlets.

LEAVES.--Opposite or whorled, simple, 5-8 inches long, 4-5 inches broad; heart-shaped; entire or sometimes slightly lobed; thin and firm; glabrous, light green above, downy beneath, with dark, nectariferous glands in the axils of the primary veins, turning black and falling with the first severe frost; petioles long, stout, terete.

FLOWERS.--June-July, after the leaves are full grown; perfect; borne on slender, hairy pedicels in compact, many-flowered panicles 8-10 inches long; calyx 2-lobed, green or purple; corolla white with yellow spots, campanulate, 5-lobed, 1-1/2 inches broad; stamens 2, staminodia 3; ovary 2-celled.

FRUIT.--Ripens in early autumn; slender, 2-celled, cylindrical capsule 8-20 inches long and about 1/4 inch thick; hangs on tree all winter, opening in spring before falling; seeds silvery gray, 1 inch long, with pointed, fringed wings at each end.

WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud absent; lateral buds, brownish, globose, inconspicuous.

BARK.--Twigs greenish purple, becoming red-brown and marked by a network of thin, flat ridges; thin, red-brown on the trunk, separating into large, thin, irregular scales.

WOOD.--Light, soft, weak, coa.r.s.e-grained, light brown, with very thin, whitish sapwood; very durable in contact with the soil.

NOTES.--A native of the Lower Mississippi River Basin, but naturalized in southern Michigan, where it is a popular shade and ornamental tree.

Foliage appears very tardily in spring.

[Ill.u.s.tration: +Sheepberry. Nannyberry+

1. Winter twig, with leaf buds, 1.

2. Winter twig, with flower bud, 1.

3. Leaf, 3/4.

4. Flower, enlarged.

5. Fruiting branchlet, 1/2.]

+CAPRIFOLIACEAE+

+Sheepberry. Nannyberry+

_Viburnum lentago L._

HABIT.--A low tree or shrub 15-25 feet high, with a short trunk 6-10 inches in diameter; numerous tortuous branches form a wide, compact, rounded crown.

LEAVES.--Opposite, simple, 2-4 inches long, one-half as broad; ovate to suborbicular; finely and sharply serrate; thick and firm; l.u.s.trous, bright green above, pale and marked with tiny black dots beneath; petioles broad, grooved, more or less winged, about 1 inch long.

FLOWERS.--May-June, after the leaves; perfect; small; cream-white, borne in stout-branched, scurfy, flat, terminal cymes 3-5 inches across; calyx tubular, 5-toothed; corolla 5-lobed, cream color or white, 1/4 inch across; stamens 5, with yellow anthers; ovary 1-celled, with short, thick, green style and broad stigma.

FRUIT.--September; a fleshy drupe, 1/2 inch long, ovoid, flattened, blue-black, borne in few-fruited, red-stemmed cl.u.s.ters; stone oval, flat, rough; flesh sweet, edible.

WINTER-BUDS.--Leaf-buds narrow, acute, red, scurfy-p.u.b.escent, 1/2 inch long; flower-buds swollen at the base, with spire-like apex, grayish with scurfy p.u.b.escence, 3/4 inch long.

BARK.--Twigs at first light green, rusty-p.u.b.escent, becoming dark red-brown; red-brown on old trunks and broken into small, thick plates.

WOOD.--Heavy, hard, close-grained, ill-smelling, dark orange-brown, with thin, whitish sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Frequent throughout the state.

HABITAT.--Prefers rich, moist soil along the borders of forests; roadsides; river-banks.

NOTES.--Too small for street use. Propagated from seed or by cuttings.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote A: See page xviii.]

[Footnote B: See page xviii.]