Trees of Indiana Part 29

=Distribution.=--Known to have been a native of the southwestern part of Indiana, and to have followed the valley of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the southeastern part of Missouri and the northeastern part of Arkansas. The tree has practically disappeared from the forests of Indiana, and the exact range in Indiana can never be known. Being such a conspicuous tree, it was thought that the memory of living pioneers might be relied upon to fix the limits of its range in Indiana. One pioneer living near Austin in Scott County said it was a native of the Muscatatuck bottoms, and another said it was a native in the flats of the southwestern part of Clark County. In its native habitat it was found only in very low ground, usually with such a.s.sociates as pin oak, sweet gum, southern hackberry, big sh.e.l.lbark hickory, pecan, etc. In its native habitat it was an infrequent to a frequent tree, never a common tree. A pioneer was interviewed who settled in the Knox County bottoms about three miles west of Decker, when the whole area was a virgin forest. He said the catalpa was an occasional tree in the bottoms throughout the area; that he did not recall that it was ever found in as low situations as the cypress; that the tree was as tall as its a.s.sociates, straight, and usually about 6 dm. in diameter, and that he never saw a tree a meter in diameter; that on account of the durable quality of the wood that it was cut for fence posts and rails. A pioneer who lived near the mouth of Deer Creek in Perry County said it was a native in his vicinity. The information at hand would fix the ma.s.s distribution of the species to the southwest of a line drawn from Terre Haute to a point about 6 miles east of Grandview in Spencer County.

=Remarks.=--Attention was directed to this tree about 1880 by Dr. John A. Warder and Dr. Geo. Engelmann, and it has had enthusiastic admirers ever since. In Indiana its most enthusiastic advocate was John P. Brown of Connersville. Its popularity was based upon the durability of its wood and its rapid growth. Nurserymen grew seedlings and through their agents plantations of all sizes were sold in many States. The trees were planted to grow posts, telephone poles and crossties. In Indiana there is one plantation 42 years old, but the majority are only 10 to 15 years old. The tree has been planted long enough in our area to definitely conclude that it should not be planted in any part of Indiana for economic purposes. The range of the catalpa sphinx which defoliates the tree is rapidly increasing, and now ranges as far north as Wells County. In the southern part of the State the trees are usually defoliated twice each year by the larvae of this insect, and as a consequence the trees make very little growth, and some owners of plantations have abandoned them on this account. A new insect is appearing which kills the young shoots, which will interfere with the upright habit of the tree. The catalpa is not recommended for forest planting in Indiana, and its use for this purpose has practically ceased.

The catalpa prefers a moist, deep, rich soil, but will grow in almost all kinds of situations. In the northern part of the State, the young trees are frequently winter killed. The tree is quite tenacious of life and when cut off at the ground, usually sends up several coppice shoots.

This species can be recommended for planting for shade for hog lots, and as a specimen tree in parks, etc. It is not a desirable street tree.

=CAPRIFOLIaCEAE.= The Honeysuckle Family.

=VIBuRNUM.= The Viburnums.

=Viburnum pruniflium= Linnaeus. Black Haw. Plate 134. Small trees or shrubs; bark of old trees reddish-brown, furrowed and the ridges broken into short lengths; leaves simple, opposite, on petioles 0.5-1.5 cm.

long; the lower pairs of leaves are generally smaller and have their petioles more or less winged, red and more or less densely covered with a rusty tomentum which may extend along the midrib and veins beneath or may sometimes cover a considerable part of the lower surface of the leaf while young, sometimes the margined petioles are only rough on the margins; leaf blades very variable in size and shape, usually 4-10 cm.

long, ovate to slightly obovate, or narrow-oval to nearly orbicular, narrowed or rounded at the base, pointed at the apex, or sometimes rounded, margins finely serrate, glabrous both above and beneath at maturity; flowers appear the last of April or in May in cymes which are sessile or nearly so, flowers white, numerous, and generally about 0.5 cm. in diameter, fruit ripens in September and October, oval, oblong or nearly globose, generally 10-14 mm. long, dark blue, covered with a bloom, edible, and if not eaten by birds they persist on the branches until late autumn; stone oval and very flat.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 134.

VIBURNUM PRUNIFOLIUM Linnaeus. Black Haw. ( 1/2.)]

=Distribution.=--Connecticut to Iowa and south to Georgia and west to Texas. It is more or less frequent in moist woods throughout Indiana, except in the hilly counties where it becomes more or less rare. In the hilly counties its place is taken by the southern black haw, _Viburnum rufidulum_ which only rarely attains tree size.

=Remarks.=--This species could be used to advantage in ornamental planting where small trees or shrubs are required for a screen or back ground. The fruit of the black and red haws attract several species of birds.

This species is quite variable in the shape, and texture of its leaves, and in the size and shape of its fruit. In the southern part of the State specimens are found that have very thick leaves with margined and tomentose petioles which very much resemble the southern species.

=SPECIES EXCLUDED.=

The following species have been reported for Indiana but have been excluded for want of satisfactory evidence to warrant their inclusion: The reasons for exclusion are discussed under the name of the species.

It is needless to say that critical examination has been given doubtful species, and doubtful records, and every effort possible has been made to validate them.

=Pinus echinata= Miller. Short-leaf Pine. This species does not occur in our area and all reference to it should be transferred to _Pinus virginiana_. References to this species are instances of wrong determination.

=Pinus resinsa= Aiton. Norway Pine. This species was reported as an escape in Wabash County by Coulter[72] for Jenkins.

=Pinus rigida= Miller. Pitch Pine. Baird and Taylor[73] reported this species for Clark County. The range of this species is to the east of our area. They also reported _Pinus Strobus_, which has not been seen since they reported it, and they failed to report _Pinus virginiana_ which is a common tree on the "k.n.o.bs" of Clark County. A study of their flora of Clark County shows that they did little or no collecting in the "k.n.o.bs." They also freely reported field crop, garden and flower escapes, and it is believed that their reference to _Pinus rigida_ and _Pinus Strobus_ should be regarded as to cultivated trees.

=abies balsamea= (Linnaeus.) Miller. Balsam Fir. Heimlich[74] reports this as occurring in Porter County about Dune Park. He cites for his authority Bot. Gaz. Vol. 27: Apr. 1899. The article referred to is Cowles' article on the flora of the sand dunes of Lake Michigan, in which he discusses the flora from Glen Haven in northern Michigan to Dune Park, Indiana in Porter County, which has confused Heimlich in separating the trees reported at several stations. It has never been found in Indiana.

=Chamaecyparis thyodes= (Linnaeus) Britton, Sterns and Poggenberg. White Cedar. The range of this species is east of the Alleghany mountains and no doubt was never native in our area. The first reference to it is by Dr. Drake in his Picture of Cincinnati, published in 1815, page 83, in which he says: "The White Cedar and Cypress are found on the banks of the Wabash." Schneck[75] in his Flora of the Lower Wabash Valley says: "Wet places near the mouth of the Wabash River." I am certain it is not on the Indiana side of the river. Gorby[76] reports it for Miami County.

All of his botanical records are too unreliable to receive serious consideration. Coulter[77] reports it as found in Allen County on the authority of Dr. C. R. Dryer. I saw Dr. Dryer recently and he says he has no recollections about it.

=Juniperus communis= Linnaeus. Juniper. This species has been reported from all parts of the State. The distribution of the species is to the north of Indiana, and examining herbarium specimens it is found that subulate forms of _Juniperus virginiana_ are frequently named _Juniperus communis_. In the older floras it was a custom to include cultivated forms, and not distinguish them as such. Since juniper has been for years a common ornamental shrub, especially in cemeteries, it is highly probable that many records have such a basis. It is proposed to drop this species from our flora. I refer Higley and Raddin's[78] record to the dec.u.mbent variety. VanGorder's and Bradner's records may also be the dec.u.mbent form. Heimlich's record I regard as an error, see remarks under _Abies balsamea_.

=Populus balsamifera= Linnaeus. Balsam Poplar. This species was reported by Bradner for Steuben County. In a letter from the late Prof. Bradner, he said he had no specimen and had no recollection of the tree. J. M.

Coulter reported it for Jefferson County, but Young who also wrote a flora of Jefferson County does not mention it. Baird and Taylor also reported it for Clark County. The last two records may have been from cultivated trees or mistaken for _Populus grandidentata_ which was not reported and is in the area, and is a frequent tree in the "k.n.o.bs" in Clark County. Heimlich reports it in Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci.

1917:404:1918 for Cowles. I regard this as an error. See discussion under _Abies canadensis_ on page 290. Since the range of the species is to the north of Indiana, it is here proposed to drop it from our flora.

It should be looked for on the "divide" in Steuben County and about Lake Michigan.

=Populus candicans= Aiton. Balm of Gilead. This species has been included in a few local floras, but it is believed that it has not yet escaped from cultivation. Phinney[79] gives it as "an important timber tree of Delaware County," which is an error.

=Populus ngra= var. =italica= Du Roi. Lombardy Poplar. Reference is made to this tree by Blatchley[80], Meyncke[81] and Nieuwland[82] but it is scarcely more than an accidental escape.

=Carya aquatica= Nuttall. Water Hickory. This species is listed as one of the princ.i.p.al trees occurring along the Wabash in the Coblenz edition of Prince Maximilan's travels in North America. It is recorded as "Water Bitternut (_Juglans aquatica_)." If it occurs in our area it most likely would be found in the extreme southwestern counties. It has been reported from Gallatin County, Illinois, bordering Posey County on the west. There are two other records of its occurrence in the State, which are doubtful. Ryland T. Brown[83] reported it in a list of the princ.i.p.al trees of Fountain County in a report of the geology of Fountain County.

_Carya laciniosa_, which is sometimes called swamp hickory and which is more or less frequent in the county, he failed to report. It is believed this reference to _Carya aquatica_ should be referred to _laciniosa_. B.

C. Hobbs also reported it as common in Parke County in a short list of the princ.i.p.al trees. He named only four of the five or more species of hickory that occur in the county, and it is believed since he was no botanist, that he confused the names. Elliott in his Trees of Indiana gives "_Carya aquatica_" as common, but no doubt this reference should be transferred to some other species.

=Carya myristicaeformis= Nuttall. Nutmeg Hickory. This tree also was reported by Prince Maximilian as occurring along the Wabash River. The known range of the species is from North Carolina to Arkansas, and for this reason the species is not included in this list.

=Betula lenta= Linnaeus. Black Birch. This species has been reported for Indiana as occurring in Fulton, Gibson, Miami, n.o.ble, Posey, St. Joseph and Steuben Counties. Sargent[84] says: "This species has until recently been badly misunderstood. The range of the species is southern Maine to northwestern Vermont, eastern Kentucky, and south to Delaware and along the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia and Alabama." No doubt all of the Indiana records should be transferred to _Betula lutea_, except the Gibson and Posey County record which may be _Betula nigra_.

=Castanea pumila= (Linnaeus) Miller. Chinquapin. This species was given a place in our flora in Coulter's catalogue upon the authority of Sargent, Ridgway and Schneck. Ridgway, in giving an additional list of the trees of the Lower Wabash Valley[85] says: "There is some doubt as to No. 16 _Castanea pumila_, which is given on Prof. Sargent's authority; but there is a possibility of an error having been made from the circ.u.mstances that the name 'chinquapin' is in that region almost universally applied to the fruit of _Quercus Muhlenbergii_." The Posey County record was based on a specimen in Dr. Schneck's herbarium, which proves to have been taken from a cultivated tree near Poseyville.

=Quercus iliciflia= w.a.n.genheim. Bear Oak. This species is credited to our flora by Will Scott in his ecological study of "The Leesburg Swamp"

in Kosciusko County, published in the Indiana Academy of Science, 1905, page 225. In a reply to an inquiry addressed to him he says no herbarium material was preserved. This ecological work was done during the summer months while working at the biological station at Winona Lake. In a footnote in this paper we are informed that for the identification of the trees listed, Apgar's Trees of the Northern United States was used.

In this key to the trees, _Quercus velutina_ (Black Oak) is given only as a variety of _Quercus coccinea_ (Scarlet Oak), and the distinction between _Quercus velutina_ with its many formed leaves, and _Quercus ilicifolia_ is not made apparent. In view of the fact that the natural habitat of _Quercus ilicifolia_ is sandy barrens and rocky hillsides and its western range is eastern Ohio, it is believed what Mr. Scott had in hand was a variable form of _Quercus velutina_, which is frequent in that vicinity. The evidence is not encouraging enough to include it.

=Quercus ngra= Linnaeus. Water Oak. This species has been reported by several authors for Indiana. It is believed that a majority of the records should be transferred to _velutina_ and _imbricaria_ or _marylandica_. Gorby and Schneck call _Quercus nigra_ black jack oak, which is generally the common name for _Quercus marilandica_. Ridgway in his writings of the flora of the lower Wabash Valley, likewise speaks of _Quercus nigra_ as jack oak and says it is found in poor soil. Coulter in his catalogue of Indiana plants regarded these references to _nigra_ as errors and did not include it in his list. The report for Crawford County by Deam should be transferred to _marilandica_. Since the range of the species is not north of Kentucky, the reference to the species in the State should be dropped.

The published records are as follows: Carroll (Thompson); Crawford (Deam); Delaware, Jay, Randolph and Wayne (Phinney); Jay (McCaslin); Fountain (Brown); Miami (Gorby); Parke (Hobbs).

=Quercus Ph.e.l.los= Linnaeus. Willow Oak. This species has been reported from various counties of the State. The tree is said to grow in swamps and on sandy uplands, ranging from Staten Island, New York, south to Florida and west to Texas, and north to southern Kentucky. If it occurs within our area it no doubt would have been found by Dr. Schneck, who was an enthusiastic student of the oaks. He reported it as occurring in the lower Wabash in his early writings, but his herbarium contained no specimens. The writer while in search for this species in Posey County met three men in widely separated parts of the county who were acquainted with the species in the South and they said they had never seen it in Indiana. One of the men was an old man who had spent his boyhood in Arkansas and he was well acquainted with the willow oak before he came to Indiana. It is believed what has been reported for _Q.

Ph.e.l.los_ has been narrow-leaved forms of _Q. imbricaria_ (shingle oak), and that the records should be transferred to that species.

The published records are as follows: Gibson, Knox and Posey (Schneck); Knox (Thomas); Miami (Gorby).

=Quercus prinodes= Willdenow. Scrub or Dwarf Chestnut Oak. Reported for Marshall County by Nieuwland[86] on the authority of a specimen deposited in the National Museum collected by Clark. I had this reference checked by E. S. Steele and in a letter to me dated January 4, 1917, he says: "I find no specimen labeled _Quercus prinoides_, but there is one named _Q. Prinus_. There is no ground for calling it _Q.

prinoides_." Since the specimen in question is a very immature one, I propose not to take it into consideration since the range of the species would be extended on a dubious specimen.

=Planera aquatica= (Walter) J. F. Gmelin. Planer-tree. Water Elm. This tree was included in Coulter's catalogue upon the authority of Sargent, who includes Indiana in the range of the species in his "Forest Trees of North America," Vol. 9, U.S. Census Report, 1880, page 124. Dr. Schneck spent a lifetime along the lower Wabash bottoms and very carefully preserved specimens of all the flora of the region where this species is reported to occur. In his report of the flora of this region in 1875 he does not include this tree. An examination of his herbarium material showed no specimens of this tree either from Indiana or Illinois. It is fair to presume if he had been acquainted with the tree he would have had it represented in his herbarium. Since the white elm is frequently called water elm, as well as the planer-tree, it is easy to understand how confusion might arise in separating these trees by non-professional people.

=Morus ngra= Linnaeus. Black Mulberry. This species is reported by Phinney[87] as one of the "more important and common forest trees observed in Delaware County." He also enumerates _Morus rubra_. A splendid example of careless work. This species is reported by Brown[88]

for Fountain County, and by McCaslin[89] for Jay County. These authors reported this species as a native forest tree. Since this species is not a native of the United States the citations no doubt should be referred to our native mulberry, _Morus rubra_ (red mulberry).

=lex opaca= Aiton. Holly. This species was included in Coulter's Catalogue of the Plants of Indiana on the authority of Robert Ridgway. I find no reference to this species in the writings of Ridgway.

In Shawnee Park on the west side of Louisville, Kentucky is a large tree of this species. I was told that it was a native. A timber buyer of Tell City told me that there was a native tree on his grandfather's farm in the southern part of Perry County. Since this species has been reported for Grayson County, Kentucky, which is less than forty miles to the south, it is quite probable that a few trees were found as far north as Indiana.

=Acer pennsylvanic.u.m= Linnaeus. Moosewood. The only record of this species occurring in Indiana is in a report of the Trees occurring along the Wabash River by Prince Maximilian. Since the report does not definitely state where the species was observed or how frequently it occurred and since the greater part of Maximilian's time was spent on the Illinois side of the Wabash, it is more than likely that he observed it on the Illinois side of the Wabash. While Indiana is within the possible range of the species, it has not been discovered since. If not extinct in our area it is most likely to be found among the hills of the southern counties or in the vicinity of Lake Michigan. Robert Ridgway says that he and Dr. Schneck saw it growing in a wooded cove near a cavern called Flory's Cave in Johnson County, Illinois.

=Nyssa aquatica= Linnaeus. Tupelo Gum. Several early authors erroneously reported _Nyssa sylvatica_ as this species. This species inhabits deep swamps. Dr. Schneck and Robert Ridgway, recognized authorities and best acquainted with the swamp area of the southwestern counties, at first thought it was a member of our flora, but later decided that it should be excluded.