Trees of Indiana Part 16

=ANONaCEAE.= The Custard Apple Family.

=ASiMINA.= The Pawpaw.

=Asimina triloba= (Linnaeus) Dunal. Pawpaw. Plate 68. Shrubs or small trees; bark smooth except on very old trees when it becomes somewhat furrowed; twigs at first covered with rusty brown hairs, becoming glabrous and reddish-brown by the end of the season; leaves obovate-lanceolate, average blades 16-30 cm. long, abruptly taper-pointed, wedge-shape at base, margins entire, somewhat rusty p.u.b.escent at first, becoming at maturity glabrous above, and glabrous or nearly so beneath; flowers appear in May or early June, maroon color, drooping; fruit edible, ripening in September and October, 7-13 cm.

long, greenish-yellow, smooth, pulp white or yellow, with a few large, dark-brown flattened seeds; wood light, soft and weak.

=Distribution.=--New York, north sh.o.r.e of Lake Erie, southern Michigan, Nebraska, south to Florida and west to Texas. Found in all parts of Indiana, although it is found in the greatest abundance in the central counties. It prefers a moist rich soil, although it is quite adaptive.

Sometimes it is found in a black loam soil in low woods or about lakes, but its preference is for a beech and sugar maple woods or habitats approximating it. In the southern counties it is absent on the sterile wooded ridges, but may be a common shrub at the base of the slopes. It is a constant companion of the tulip tree and where one will grow the other is likely to be found. It is a great tree to send up suckers, hence it is always found in clumps, or forms real thickets. This species with us is usually 2-7 meters high; however, there are records of large trees. Collett in Ind. Geol. Rept. 5:404:1874, in a geological report of Gibson County says: "A forest of pawpaw bushes attracted our attention by their tree-like size, being nearly a foot in diameter."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 68.

ASIMINA TRILOBA (Linnaeus) Dunal. Pawpaw. ( 1/2.)]

=Remarks.=--This species is also known as the yellow and white pawpaw.

Recently some enthusiasts have christened it the "Hoosier Banana". There has been an attempt for years to cultivate the pawpaw, and some varieties have been named. The fruit is variable. The one with a white pulp is rather insipid and is not considered good to eat. The form with a yellow pulp is the kind that is regarded as the most palatable. The two forms are not botanically separated but Prof. Stanley Coulter has made some observations on the two forms in the Ind. Geol. Rept.

24:745:1899. He says: "Two forms, not separated botanically are a.s.sociated in our area. They differ in time of flowering, in size, shape, color and flavor of the fruit, in leaf shape, venation and odor and color of the bark. They are of constant popular recognition and probably separate species, never seeming to intergrade."

It is desirable for ornamental planning on account of its interesting foliage, beautiful and unique flowers and delicious fruit. It is very difficult to transplant a sucker plant, and in order to get a start of this species it is best to plant the seed or seedlings. It is usually found growing in the shade, but does well in full sunlight.

Mr. Arthur W. Osborn of Spiceland, who has done much experimental work in propagating this species, reports some interesting cases of pawpaw poisoning. He says he knew a lady whose skin would be irritated by the presence of pawpaws. Some individuals after eating them develop a rash with intense itching. In one instance he fed a person, subject to the rash from eating the pawpaw, a peeled pawpaw with a spoon, and the subject never touched the pawpaw, and the results were the same. The American Genetic a.s.sociation has taken up the subject of improving the fruit of this tree, and there is no doubt but that in the future this species will be of considerable economic importance. The tree is free from all insect enemies, and since it can be grown in waste places, there is no reason why it should not receive more attention than it does.

=LAURaCEAE.= The Laurel Family.

=Sa.s.sAFRAS.= The Sa.s.safras.

=Sa.s.safras officinale= Nees and Ebermaier. Sa.s.safras. Red Sa.s.safras.

White Sa.s.safras. Plate 69. Small to large trees; bark aromatic, smooth on young trees, reddish-brown and deeply furrowed on old trees, resembling that of black walnut; branchlets yellowish-green, splotched more or less with sooty spots; twigs at first more or less hairy, soon becoming smooth or remaining more or less hairy until autumn, more or less glaucous, especially the smooth forms; buds more or less p.u.b.escent, the axillary ones usually more or less hairy, the outer scales of the terminal one usually smooth and glaucous; leaves simple, alternate, ovate, elliptic to obovate, blades 5-16 cm. long, entire or with 1-5 lobes, narrowed at the base, the apex and terminal of the lobes acute, both surfaces hairy when they expand, generally becoming smooth above and beneath, or more often remaining more or less p.u.b.escent beneath, the midrib and two lateral veins usually prominent beneath; petioles 0.5-5 cm. long, hairy at first, becoming smooth or more often retaining some p.u.b.escence; flowers appear before or with the leaves in April or May, small, yellow or greenish, the male and female generally on different trees, on racemes up to 4 cm. long; flower stalks usually p.u.b.escent, sometimes smooth; fruit an oblong, blue-black, glaucous berry which matures late in summer; fruit generally 7-10 mm. long, on a stalk including the pedicel and raceme up to 9 cm. long.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 69.

Sa.s.sAFRAS OFFICINALE Nees and Ebermaier. Sa.s.safras. ( 1/2.)]

=Distribution.=--Maine, southern Ontario to Iowa and south to Florida and west to Texas. No doubt it was formerly found in every county of Indiana. In the northern part of the State it is more local in its distribution than in the southern counties. In the northern counties where it is local it is found in colonies on sandy or clayey ridges.

Sa.s.safras is usually considered an indicator of poorer soils, hence, in the central counties it is often very local. It is frequent to common throughout the hilly counties of the southern part of the State. In this part of the State it becomes a pernicious weed tree. It soon invades fence rows and fallow fields, and is extremely difficult to kill out. It is rarely found in wet situations; however, in Sullivan and Clay Counties large trees have been observed in low alluvial ground, a.s.sociated with the white elm, etc.

=Remarks.=--Wood light, soft, coa.r.s.e-grained, aromatic, heartwood brownish. In our area sa.s.safras wood is used princ.i.p.ally for posts and crossties. The roots contain a volatile oil which is much used in medicine and perfumery. Every one is familiar with the sa.s.safras peddler who in the Spring sells a small bundle of roots or bark for making sa.s.safras tea. The tea is reputed "to thin the blood." The aromatic character of the wood led the earliest inhabitants to attribute many medicinal and other qualities to the wood which, in many instances bordered on superst.i.tion. In some of the southern States bedsteads were made of sa.s.safras with the belief that they would produce sounder sleep.

Floors were made of sa.s.safras to keep out the rats and mice. Perches of chicken houses were made of sa.s.safras poles to keep off the lice. To successfully make soap, it was necessary to stir the contents of the kettle with a sa.s.safras stick.

The sa.s.safras is usually about one-fourth of a meter in diameter.

However, on the Charles Hole farm about three miles southeast of Butlerville grew two of the largest trees of which we have record. The trees grew within seven meters of each other on a slope now grown up with large sugar maple. They were cut by Mr. Hole's father, on whose farm they were located. The largest was cut in the later sixties and the smaller in the early seventies. The stumps were seen by the writer in 1918. Both are now hollow although the outside is quite solid after having been cut about fifty years. Chips were cut from the root spurs and the wood was almost as aromatic as if the tree had just been cut.

"The stumps have been burned at least three times," says Mr. Hole, yet the smaller now measures 1.09 m. (43 inches) in diameter at a meter high. The largest stump now measures 1.22 m. (48 inches), in diameter at a meter high. Mr. Hole says that the smallest tree had a clear hole of at least 18 meters, and the largest tree was .92 m. (36 inches) in diameter 20 meters from the stump.

Sa.s.safras deserves more consideration than it has received as a shade and ornamental tree. The autumnal coloring of its foliage is scarcely surpa.s.sed by any tree; and it is free from injurious insect pests. It adapts itself to almost all kinds of soils, and grows rapidly. It is, however, transplanted with difficulty; this means only more care in digging the tree and planting it.

Commonly the sa.s.safras is cla.s.sed as red and white sa.s.safras. The roots of the white sa.s.safras are said to be whiter, the aroma of the wood has a suggestion of camphor, and the wood is less durable. This belief is common throughout the area of its distribution, but so far as the writer knows, no scientific work has been published to verify this division of the species.

Sa.s.safras is extremely variable, but most botanical authors have considered the many variations as one species. Nuttall in 1818 was the first author to make a division of the forms, and he has been followed by some recent authors. Nuttall separated those forms with smooth twigs, buds, and under surface of leaves, from those with p.u.b.escent twigs, buds, and under surface of leaves. Nieuwland[50] separates a variety from the smooth forms which he calls =Sa.s.safras albida= variety =glauca=, and reports it as occurring in the counties in the vicinity of Lake Michigan.

The writer has at hand 46 specimens from 41 counties in Indiana, including all of the Lake Michigan Counties, and he has not been able to find a single character that is constant enough to make a division of our forms, consequently all the Indiana forms are included under one and the old name for sa.s.safras.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 70.

LIQUIDAMBAR STYRACIFLUA Linnaeus. Sweet or Red Gum. ( 1/2.)]

=ALTINGIaCEAE.= Sweet Gum Family.

=Liquidambar Styraciflua= Linnaeus. Sweet Gum. Plate 70. Large trees with resinous sap; bark deeply furrowed, grayish; twigs when very young somewhat hairy, soon becoming glabrous, a light reddish-brown by the end of the season, later a gray, usually some or all of the branchlets develop one or more corky ridges running lengthwise of the branchlets, or in some cases only corky excrescences; leaves simple, alternate, long-petioled, orbicular in outline, cleft into 5 wedge-shaped lobes, rarely 7 lobes, average blades 5-12 cm. long, truncate or cordate at the base, margins finely serrate, hairy on both surfaces on unfolding, soon becoming glabrous above, and remaining more or less hairy beneath especially in the axils of the veins, at maturity turning to a dull or brilliant red; flowers in heads, expanding in April or May; fruit a globular, h.o.r.n.y aggregate of carpels, 3-4 cm. in diameter including the horns; wood heavy, hard, not strong, close-grained, inclined to shrink and warp in seasoning, takes a good polish, heart wood a rich brown which can be finished to imitate walnut or mahogany.

=Distribution.=--Connecticut, southern Ohio to Missouri, south to Florida and west to Texas, and in the mountains in Mexico south to Guatemala. In Indiana it is confined to wet woods in the southern half of the State. The most northern records are from Franklin, Shelby, Putnam and Parke Counties. Wherever it is found it is usually a frequent to a common or very common tree. It is most frequently a.s.sociated with the beech, but in the very wet woods it is found with pin oak, red birch, cow oak and white elm.

=Remarks.=--This species grows rapidly; is somewhat hard to transplant; grows straight and tall with few side branches, and adapts itself to a wet, compact soil. In the "flats" of southern Indiana where it is a.s.sociated with pin oak, red birch and beech, it is to be preferred for forest planting to these or any other species that could be grown in the "flats." It is practically free from all injurious insects. Sweet gum should be one of the princ.i.p.al species in wet places of the woodlots of southern Indiana.

This species is one of the best for ornamental planting in all parts of the State where it is hardy. It is doubtful if it is wise to use it in the northern part of the State. Several trees in the northern part of the State are known to be quite hardy, but there are reports that it sometimes winter-kills. It can also be recommended for roadside and street planting.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 71.

PLATa.n.u.s OCCIDENTALIS Linnaeus. Sycamore. ( 1/2.)]

=PLATANaCEAE.= The Plane Tree Family.

=PLaTa.n.u.s.= The Plane Tree.

Plata.n.u.s occidentalis Linnaeus. Sycamore. Plate 71. The largest tree of the State; bark thin, smooth, on age separating into thin plates and exfoliating, base of the trunks of very old trees somewhat roughened or fissured, gray to grayish-green, splotched with white; twigs at first covered with a scurvy p.u.b.escence, becoming at maturity glabrous except a ring at the node about the leaf-scar, gray or light brown, and zigzag; leaves alternate, long-petioled, nearly orbicular in outline, the blades somewhat deltoid, blades large, variable in size and shape, average blades 9-17 cm. long, frequently much larger on vigorous shoots, generally with 3-5 main lobes, sometimes the lobes are indistinct and the leaves appear only irregularly toothed, margins toothed, rarely entire between the lobes, truncate or cordate at the base, acute or ac.u.minate at the apex; one form has been noted with leaves obovate, scarcely lobed and with a wedge-shaped base; leaves covered on both sides at first with a dense tomentum, becoming at maturity glabrous above--rarely tardily p.u.b.escent, nearly glabrous beneath, except on the veins and in the axils, petioles remaining p.u.b.escent; flowers appear in May with the leaves in heads on long woolly peduncles; fruit a globose head of many seeds, 2-3.5 cm. in diameter, maturing late in the year; the seed are scattered by the wind during the winter months; wood heavy, hard, weak, close-grained, difficult to split and work, takes a high polish; when used as a container it does not communicate an objectional taste or odor to contents.

=Distribution.=--Maine, Ontario to Nebraska, south to the Gulf States and west to Texas. Found in all parts of Indiana, although there are no records for the extreme northwestern counties. It is a tree of a low ground habitat, and is found princ.i.p.ally in low ground along streams, about lakes, and ponds. In such habitats it is a frequent tree in all parts, except in the "flats" of the southern counties. In some places it is a common to a very common tree, especially along the upper courses of White River.

=Remarks.=--In this State this species is always called the sycamore tree. It is the largest tree of the State, and the largest deciduous tree of the United States. Indiana has the distinction of having the largest living sycamore in the United States. It is located near Worthington, Indiana, and "in 1915, measured 43 feet and 3 inches in circ.u.mference at five feet above the ground." See frontispiece. The sycamore grew to great diameters in all parts of the State. It was commonly hollow, because it is believed the tree in early life is usually more or less injured by floating ice and debris which starts inner decay. Hollow sycamore logs were commonly used by the pioneers in which to smoke their meat, and sections of hollow logs about 12 dm. (4 feet) long were used to store grain in, and were known as "gums."

The value of sycamore lumber has been very much underestimated. It has many uses such as butcher blocks, interior finish, furniture, piling, tobacco boxes, veneer berry boxes, handles, wooden ware, etc. Indiana has led in the production of sycamore lumber for years.

The sycamore is well adapted for shade, ornamental and forestry purposes. It transplants easily, grows rapidly, stands pruning well and is comparatively free from injurious insects. It grows straight, tall and usually with a rather narrow crown. It prefers a moist soil, but adapts itself to dry situations. For planting overflow lands, or on the banks of streams it is one of the best species we have. It is also one of the best species for roadside tree planting, because it is deep rooted, grows tall, and does not produce a dense shade.