Trees of the Northern United States Part 14

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. trifoliata.]

=Ptelea trifoliata=, L. (HOP-TREE. SHRUBBY TREFOIL.) Leaflets ovate, pointed, downy when young. Flowers with a disagreeable odor; fruit bitter, somewhat like hops. A tall shrub, often, when cultivated, trimmed into a tree-like form. Wild, in rocky places, in southern New York and southward.

GENUS =14. Ph.e.l.lODeNDRON.=

Leaves opposite, odd-pinnate. Flowers dioecious; so only a portion of the trees bear the small, odoriferous, 5-seeded, drupe-like fruit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. Amurense.]

=Ph.e.l.lodendron Amurense.= (CHINESE CORK-TREE.) Leaves opposite, odd-pinnate, 1 to 3 ft. long; leaflets 9 to many, lanceolate, sharply serrate, long-ac.u.minate. Flowers inconspicuous, dioecious, in loose-spreading cl.u.s.ters at the ends of the branches. The pistillate flowers form small, black, pea-shaped fruit, in loose, grape-like cl.u.s.ters, thickly covered with glands containing a bitter, aromatic oil, and remaining on the tree in winter. Medium-sized tree (20 to 40 ft.), with Ailanthus-like leaves which turn bright red in autumn, and remain long on the tree. Hardy as far north as central Ma.s.sachusetts.

ORDER =X. MELIaCEae.= (MELIA FAMILY.)

Tropical trees, including the Mahogany; represented in the south by the following:

GENUS =15. MeLIA.=

Trees with alternate, bipinnate leaves. The flowers are conspicuous and beautiful, in large panicles, in the spring. Fruit in large cl.u.s.ters of berry-like drupes, with a 5-celled stone.

[Ill.u.s.tration: M. Azedarach.]

=Melia Azedarach, L.= (CHINA-TREE. PRIDE OF INDIA.) Leaves very large, doubly pinnate, with many obliquely lance-ovate, ac.u.minate, smooth, serrate leaflets. Flowers small, lilac-colored, deliciously fragrant, in large axillary cl.u.s.ters. Fruit globular, as large as cherries, yellow when ripe in autumn; hanging on through the winter. A rather small (20 to 40 ft. high), rapidly growing, round-headed, popular shade-tree in the south, and hardy as far north as Virginia. Introduced from Persia.

GENUS =16. CEDReLA.=

Leaves large, alternate, deciduous, odd-pinnate. Flowers with separate petals, fragrant, white, in large cl.u.s.ters. Fruit 5-celled dehiscent pods, with many pendulous, winged seeds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: C. Sinensis.]

=Cedrela Sinensis.= (CHINESE CEDRELA.) Leaves large, odd-pinnate, alternate, appearing much like those of the Ailanthus, but with slight serrations near the tips of the leaflets, and no glands near the base.

Bruised leaves with a strong odor; footstalk and stout-tipped branches with glands. Large tree, seemingly hardy in New Jersey, but dies to the ground in winter in Ma.s.sachusetts. Recently introduced from China.

ORDER =XI. SIMARUBaCEae.= (QUa.s.sIA FAMILY.)

Eastern trees and shrubs, here represented by a single tree:

GENUS =17. AILaNTHUS.=

Large trees to shrubs, with alternate, odd-pinnate leaves. Flowers small, greenish, in large terminal panicles. Fruit broadly winged, like the Ash, but with the seed in the center.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A. glandulsus.]

=Ailanthus glandulsus=, Desf. (TREE OF HEAVEN.) Leaves very large, 2 to 5 ft. long on the younger growths; leaflets obliquely lanceolate, coa.r.s.ely toothed at the base, with a gland on the lower side at the point of each tooth; point of leaflets entire. Young twigs thick, rusty brown; buds very small in the axils. Only some of the trees have fruit, as some have only staminate flowers. The staminate flowers are very ill-scented. A rapid-growing tree, with useful hard wood; cultivated and naturalized; hardy throughout. See page 10.

ORDER =XII. ILICNEae.= (HOLLY FAMILY.)

A small order of trees and shrubs, including for our purpose only one genus:

GENUS =18. LEX.=

Trees or shrubs with simple, alternate, thick, mostly evergreen leaves.

Flowers rather inconspicuous, mostly in cl.u.s.ters. Fruit berry-like, small ( to in.), with 4 to 6 nutlets; hanging on the plants late in the autumn or through the winter.

* Leaves evergreen. (=A.=)

=A.= Leaves with spiny teeth 1.

=A.= No spiny teeth 2.

* Leaves deciduous 3.

[Ill.u.s.tration: I. opaca.]

1. =lex opaca=, Ait. (AMERICAN HOLLY.) Leaves evergreen, oval, acute, thick, smooth, with scattered spiny teeth. Flowers white; May. The bright-red berries, found only on some of the trees, remain on through the greater part of the winter. Small tree, 15 to 40 ft. high, with very hard white wood; wild in southern New England and southward. A beautiful broad-leaved, evergreen tree which should be more extensively cultivated. North of lat.i.tude 41 it needs a protected situation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: I. Dahon.]

2. =lex Dahon=, Walt. (DAHOON HOLLY.) Leaves 2 to 3 in. long, evergreen, oblanceolate or oblong, entire or sharply serrate toward the apex, with revolute margins, not spiny. Young branches and lower surface of the leaves, especially on the midrib, p.u.b.escent. Small tree, 10 to 30 ft. high; Virginia and south, with very hard, white, close-grained wood. Rarely cultivated.

[Ill.u.s.tration: I. monticola.]

3. =lex monticola=, Gray. Leaves deciduous, ovate to lance-oblong, 3 to 5 in. long, taper-pointed, thin, smooth, sharply serrate. Fruit red, on short stems, with the seeds many-ribbed on the back. Usually a shrub but sometimes tree-like; damp woods in the Catskills and in the Alleghany Mountains.

ORDER =XIII. CELASTRaCEae.=

Shrubs with simple leaves and small, regular flowers, forming a fruit with ariled seeds.

GENUS =19. EUoNYMUS.=

Shrubs somewhat tree-like, with 4-sided branchlets, opposite, serrate leaves, and loose cymes of angular fruit which bursts open in the autumn.

[Ill.u.s.tration: E. atropurpureus.]

1. =Euonymus atropurpureus=, Jacq. (BURNING-BUSH. WAHOO.) Leaves petioled, oval-oblong, pointed; parts of the dark-purple flowers commonly in fours; pods smooth, deeply lobed, when ripe, cinnamon in color and very ornamental. Tall shrub, 6 to 20 ft. high; wild in Wisconsin to New York, and southward; often cultivated.

[Ill.u.s.tration: E. Europaeus.]

2. =Euonymus Europaeus=, L. (EUROPEAN SPINDLE-TREE OR BURNING-BUSH.) Leaves oblong-lanceolate, serrate, smooth; flowers and fruit commonly in threes on compressed stems; fruit usually 4-lobed, the lobes acute; flowers greenish-white; May; fruit abundant, scarlet, ripe in September. Generally a shrub, though sometimes tall enough (4 to 20 ft.) and trimmed so as to appear tree-like; twigs smooth, green or reddish-green. Extensively cultivated; from Europe.