Trees of Indiana Part 15

=MORaCEAE.= The Mulberry Family.

Trees or shrubs with a milky sap; leaves simple, alternate, petioled, 3-5 nerved at the base; fruit fleshy.

Branches without spines; leaves serrate; pistillate flowers in spikes 1 Morus.

Branches with spines; leaves entire; pistillate flowers in heads. 2 Maclura.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 63.

CELTIS MISSISSIPPIENSIS Bosc. Sugarberry. ( 1/2.)]

=1. MRUS.= The Mulberries.

Trees with leaves 3-nerved at the base; flowers of two kinds on different branches of the same tree or on different trees; the staminate in long catkins, calyx 4-parted, petals none, stamens 4, the pistillate catkins short; fruit an aggregate of drupes.

Leaves softly p.u.b.escent beneath 1 M. rubra.

Leaves glabrous beneath, or with a few hairs on the veins or in the axils 2 M. alba.

=1. Morus rubra Linnaeus.= Red Mulberry. Plate 64. Medium sized trees with short trunks and round heads; twigs at first green and p.u.b.erulent, soon becoming glabrous and later usually turning gray; leaves ovate or somewhat orbicular, frequently 2-3 lobed, average mature blades 10-15 cm. long, more or less cordate at the base, abruptly taper-pointed, rough and glabrous above and finely p.u.b.escent beneath; fruit ripening in June or July, 1.5-3 cm. long, dark purple or nearly black, edible; wood light, soft, rather tough, coa.r.s.e-grained, and durable in contact with the soil.

=Distribution.=--Southern Ontario west to eastern Dakotas, south to the Gulf States and west to Texas. Found throughout Indiana, although there are no records for the extreme northwestern counties. Throughout our area it must be regarded as infrequent. It is only here and there that you find a tree, and I have never seen it where there were even a small number of trees close together. In the northern part of the State it is usually found in a moist well drained soil, a.s.sociated with trees such as beech and sugar maple, or in lower ground with slippery elm and linn.

It has no particular affinity for streams. In the southern part of the State it is found in both rich and poor soils. However, it is most often met with near the base of slopes.

=Remarks.=--This tree seldom has a clear bole of more than 3-5 m. and is usually a tree about 20 cm. in diameter, rarely as large as 6 dm. in diameter, although there is a record[48] of a tree in Georgia that was "7 feet in diameter at 3 feet above the ground."

The wood has been a favorite for fence posts since pioneer times. It transplants easily. The fruit is a favorite with birds and for this reason it should be planted about orchards and in woodlots. It is sometimes called the red mulberry to distinguish it from the following species.[49]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 64.

MORUS RUBRA Linnaeus. Red Mulberry. ( 1/2.)]

=2. MACLuRA.= The Osage Orange.

=Maclura pomifera= (Rafinesque) Schneider. Hedge. Osage Orange.

(_Toxylon pomiferum Raf._) Plate 65. Trees with brown shreddy bark on old trees; mature twigs greenish gray, zigzag; spines about 10-15 mm.

long; leaves ovate to oblong lanceolate, average blades 7-12 cm. long, wedge-shape, rounded or cordate at the base, long taper-pointed at the apex, margins entire, p.u.b.escent on both sides while young, becoming at maturity l.u.s.trous and glabrous above, remaining p.u.b.escent beneath; fruit globose, about 1 dm. in diameter; wood heavy, very hard and strong, the most durable in contact with the soil of any of our post timbers.

=Distribution.=--Missouri and Kansas south to Texas. Introduced into Indiana for hedge fences. There is some question as to the ability of this species to escape. I have heard that it frequently sends up root shoots at several feet from hedge fences, and that it frequently seeds itself along old hedge fences. For the past few years I have given the species especial attention and I have never seen it as an escape except in three instances.

=Remarks.=--This species was formerly much planted for farm fences, but since land has become so valuable, its use has been discontinued, and the old fences are being dug up. The tree grows a short trunk, and one was noted in Grant County that was at least 6 dm. in diameter that was estimated to be less than fifty years old. This species is subject to the San Jose scale and in some localities it has been killed by it. It has been but little used for forest planting, and the plantations are not yet old enough to measure their success.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 65.

MACLURA POMIFERA (Rafinesque). Schneider. Osage Orange. ( 1/2.)]

=MAGNOLIaCEAE.= The Magnolia Family.

Trees or shrubs with alternate and petioled leaves; flowers large, terminal and solitary with numerous stamens and pistils.

Buds silky white p.u.b.escent; leaves entire; fruit fleshy, dehiscent 1 Magnolia.

Buds glabrous; leaves lobed; fruit a cone of dry carpels, indehiscent 2 Liriodendron.

=1. MAGNLIA.= The Magnolias.

=Magnolia ac.u.minata= Linnaeus. Cuc.u.mber Tree. Plate 66. Large trees with furrowed bark which is gray and much resembles the tulip tree except the ridges are shallower and closer; twigs downy at first, becoming glabrous or nearly so and a light to a cherry brown by the end of the season; leaves oval, average blades 15-22 cm. long, rounded to truncate at the base, abruptly short-pointed, p.u.b.escent on both sides at first, becoming glabrous above, and remaining p.u.b.escent beneath, rarely entirely glabrous; flowers about 6 cm. long, bell-shaped, pale yellowish-green; fruit cylindrical, 5-7 cm. long, 1-2 cm. diameter, the large scarlet seeds begin to push out of their receptacle in September; wood light, soft, not strong, close-grained and durable.

=Distribution.=--North sh.o.r.e of Lake Erie, western New York, eastern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois and along the Appalachian Mountains to southern Alabama and west to Arkansas. It doubtless occurred in all or nearly all of the counties in southern Indiana south of a line drawn from Franklin to Knox Counties. It no doubt was extremely local. For instance a pioneer 81 years old who had always lived in Washington County told me that there were two trees on his farm near Pekin, and these were the only two trees he knew of in the vicinity. These trees were popular because the neighbors came for the fruit to put into whisky for making bitters which were a specific for all ailments. I have seen only a shrub on the Forest Reserve in Clark County. On a beech and sugar maple ridge about 4 miles northwest of Medora in Jackson County on the Geo. W. Scott farm two trees were still standing in 1915. Mr. Scott, a pioneer, said the species was found on the ridge for about 2 miles and that there were about a half dozen trees to the acre, and the largest was about a meter in diameter. It is known in two other places in this county. A tree is still standing in Lawrence County on the Sam Mitch.e.l.l farm 2-1/2 miles south of Bedford. Mr.

Mitch.e.l.l is a pioneer and says that a few trees were found in the vicinity on the ridges. It has been reported for Franklin, Floyd and Jefferson Counties. There is hearsay evidence that it occurred in other counties.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 66.

MAGNOLIA Ac.u.mINATA Linnaeus. Cuc.u.mber Tree. ( 1/2.)]

=Remarks.=--The cuc.u.mber tree has been too rare in Indiana to be of economic importance. The greatest interest with us is its distribution.

The uses of the wood are similar to that of tulip with which it is botanically related. It is said that the greater part of the lumber which is produced in the south is sold as tulip. The seeds of this tree are extremely bitter and no bird, squirrel or mouse will carry or touch them. However, man after macerating them in whisky can use them for medicine.

=2. LIRIODeNDRON.= The Tulip Tree.

=Liriodendron Tulipifera= Linnaeus. Tulip. Yellow Poplar. Plate 67. Large trees with deeply furrowed grayish bark; twigs glabrous and glaucous at first, becoming reddish-brown by the end of the season, then gray or dark brown; leaves very variable, 4-6 lobed, average blades 5-12 cm.

long, truncate and notched at the apex, more or less rounded, truncate or cordate at the base, glabrous above and below at maturity or with a few hairs on the veins beneath; flowers appear in May or June, large bell-shaped, about 4 cm. deep, greenish-yellow, sometimes tinged with orange-red; fruit upright, cone-shaped, 5-7 cm. long; wood light, weak, soft, stiff, straight and moderately coa.r.s.e-grained, seasons and works well. Sap wood white, heart wood a light yellow.

=Distribution.=--Vermont, southern Ontario, southern Michigan, south to Florida and west to Arkansas and Missouri. Found throughout Indiana, and doubtless is found in every county. It is rare to infrequent in most of the counties north of the Wabash River. It gradually becomes more frequent toward the south and where its habitat is found it is frequent to common. It prefers a moist rich well drained soil and thrives best in protected coves and near the lower part of slopes of hills. It is found with beech, sugar maple and white oak. It is rarely found in a black loam soil, but prefers a sandy soil. It was generally a common tree and of very large size in practically all of the counties in the southern two-thirds of the State.

=Remarks.=--This tree is generally known by botanists as tulip tree. By lumbermen it is usually known as yellow poplar, or more often shortened to poplar. It is also known as blue, white and hickory poplar, or as white wood. The tulip tree is the second largest tree of Indiana. In the Ind. Geol. Rept. 6:70:1875, is the following: "I measured four poplar trees that stood within a few feet of each other; the largest was thirty-eight feet in circ.u.mference three feet from the ground, one hundred and twenty feet high, and about sixty-five feet to the first limb. The others were, respectively eighteen and a half, eighteen and seventeen feet in circ.u.mference at three feet from the ground." The range of the uses of the wood is not so great as the oak, but it has many uses. The demand has been so great that practically all of the large trees have been cut. Small trees have so much sap or white wood that they are not sought for lumber, but can be used for pulp and excelsior.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 67.

LIRIODENDRON TULIPIFERA Linnaeus. Tulip or Yellow Poplar. ( 1/2.)]

The tulip transplants easily, grows rapidly, tall and with short side branches. Experiments in growing this tree indicate that it is one of the very best trees for reinforcing the woodlot, and other forest planting. It can be recommended for roadside planting because it grows tall and has a deep root system. Where conditions of life are not too severe it could be used for shade tree planting.