Handbook of the Trees of New England

L >> Lorin Low Dame >> Handbook of the Trees of New England

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=Fruit.=--A drupe-like pome, 1/2-1 inch long, bright scarlet, larger
than the fruit of the other New England species; ripens and falls in
September.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in New England. An attractive and useful
tree in low plantations; rarely for sale by nurserymen or collectors;
propagated from the seed.

[Illustration: PLATE LX.--Crataegus mollis.]

1. Winter buds.
2. Branch with thorns.
3. Flowering branch.
4. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed.
5. Fruiting branch.

=Note.=--The New England plants here put under the head of
_Crataegus mollis_ have been referred by Prof. C. S. Sargent to
_Crataegus submollis_ (_Bot. Gaz_., XXXI, 7, 1901). The new species
differs from the true _Crataegus mollis_ in its smaller ovate leaves
with cuneate base and more or less winged leafstalk, in the smaller
number of its stamens, usually 10, and in its pear-shaped
orange-red fruit, which drops in early September.

It is also probable that _C. Arnoldiana_, Sargent, new species, has
been collected in Massachusetts as _C. mollis_. It differs from _C.
submollis_ "in its broader, darker green, more villose leaves which
are usually rounded, not cuneate at the base, in its smaller
flowers, subglobose, not oblong or pear-shaped, crimson fruit with
smaller spreading calyx lobes, borne on shorter peduncles and
ripening two or three weeks earlier, and by its much more zigzag
and more spiny branches, which make this tree particularly
noticeable in winter, when it may readily be recognized from all
other thorn trees."--C. S. Sargent in _Bot. Gaz._, XXXI, 223, 1901.

DRUPACEAE. PLUM FAMILY.

Trees or shrubs; bark exuding gum; bark, leaves, and especially seeds of
several species abounding in prussic acid; leaves simple, alternate,
mostly serrate; stipules small, soon falling; leafstalk often with one
to several glands; flowers in umbels, racemes, or solitary, regular;
calyx tube free from the ovary, 5-lobed; petals 5, inserted on the
calyx; stamens indefinite, distinct, inserted with the petals; pistil 1,
ovary with 1 carpel, 1-seeded; fruit a more or less fleshy drupe.

=Prunus nigra, Ait.=

_Prunus Americana_, var. _nigra, Waugh._

WILD PLUM. RED PLUM. HORSE PLUM. CANADA PLUM.

=Habitat and Range.=--Native along streams and in thickets, often
spontaneous around dwellings and along fences.

From Newfoundland through the valley of the St. Lawrence to Lake
Manitoba.

Maine,--abundant in the northern sections and common throughout; New
Hampshire and Vermont,--frequent, especially in the northern sections;
Massachusetts,--occasional; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--not reported.

Rare south of New England; west to Wisconsin.

=Habit.=--A shrub or small tree, 20-25 feet high; trunk 5-8 inches in
diameter; branches stout, ascending, somewhat angular, with short, rigid
branchlets, forming a stiff, narrow head.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk grayish-brown, smooth in young trees, in old
trees separating into large plates; smaller branches dark brown,
season's shoots green.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, ovate, acute, dark brown.

Leaves 3-5 inches long, light green on the upper side, paler beneath,
pubescent when young; outline ovate-obovate or orbicular,
crenulate-serrate; teeth not bristle-tipped; apex abruptly acuminate;
base wedge-shaped, rounded, somewhat heart-shaped, or narrowing to a
short petiole more or less red-glandular near the blade; stipules
usually linear, ciliate, soon falling.

=Inflorescence.=--Appearing in May before the leaves, in lateral,
2-3-flowered, slender-stemmed umbels; flowers about an inch broad, white
when expanding, turning to pink; calyx 5-lobed, glandular; petals 5,
obovate-oblong, contracting to a claw; stamens numerous; style 1, stigma
1.

=Fruit.=--A drupe, oblong-oval, 1-1-1/2 inches long, orange or
orange-red, skin tough, flesh adherent to the flat stone and pleasant to
the taste. The fruit toward the southern limit of the species is often
abortive, or develops through the growth of a fungus into monstrous
forms.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England, and will grow,
when not shaded, in almost any dry or moist soil. It has a tendency to
sucker freely, forming low, broad thickets, especially attractive from
their early spring flowers and handsome autumn leaves.

[Illustration: PLATE LXI.--Prunus nigra.]

1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Flower with petals removed.
4. Petal.
5. Fruiting branch.
6. Stone.

=Prunus Americana, Marsh.=

A rare plant in New England, scarcely attaining tree-form. The most
northern station yet reported is along the slopes of Graylock,
Massachusetts, where a few scattered shrubs were discovered in 1900 (J.
R. Churchill). In Connecticut it seems to be native in the vicinity of
Southington, shrubs, and small trees 10-15 feet high (C. H. Bissell _in
lit._, 1900); New Milford and Munroe, small trees (C. K. Averill).

Distinguished from _P. nigra_ by its sharply toothed leaves, smaller
blossoms (the petals of which do not turn pink), and by its globose
fruit.

[Illustration: PLATE LXII.--Prunus Americana.]

1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed.
4. Petal.
5. Flowering branch.
6. Stone.

=Prunus Pennsylvanica, L. f.=

RED CHERRY. PIN CHERRY. PIGEON CHERRY. BIRD CHERRY.

=Habitat and Range.=--Roadsides, clearings, burnt lands, hill slopes,
occasional in rather low grounds.

From Labrador to the Rocky mountains, through British Columbia to
the Coast Range.

Throughout New England; very common in the northern portions, as high up
as 4500 feet upon Katahdin, less common southward and near the seacoast.

South to North Carolina; west to Minnesota and Missouri.

=Habit=.--A slender tree, seldom more than 30 feet high; trunk 8-10
inches in diameter, erect; branches at an angle of 45 deg. or less; head
rather open, roundish or oblong, characterized in spring by clusters of
long-stemmed white flowers, and in autumn by a profusion of small red
fruit.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk in fully grown trees dark brownish-red,
conspicuously marked with coarse horizontal lines; the outer layer
peeling off in fine scales, disclosing a brighter red layer beneath; in
young trees very smooth and shining throughout; lines very conspicuous
in the larger branches; branchlets brownish-red with small horizontal
lines; spray and season's shoots polished red, with minute orange dots.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, broad-conical, acute. Leaves
numerous, 3-4 inches long, 1-2 inches wide, light green and shining on
both sides, ovate-lanceolate, oval or oblong-lanceolate, finely
serrate; teeth sharp-pointed, sometimes incurved; apex acuminate; base
obtuse or roundish; midrib depressed above; leafstalks short, channeled;
stipules falling early.

=Inflorescence.=--June. Appearing with the leaves, in lateral clusters,
the flowers on long, slender, somewhat branching stems; calyx 5-cleft;
segments thin, reflexed; petals 5, white, obovate, short-clawed; stamens
numerous; pistil 1; style 1.

=Fruit.=--About the size of a pea, round, light red, thin-meated and
sour: stone oval or ovate.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers a light
gravelly loam, but grows in poor soils and exposed situations; habit so
uncertain and tendency to sprout so decided that it is not wise to use
it in ornamental plantations; sometimes very useful in sterile land. A
variety with transparent yellowish fruit is occasionally met with, but
is not yet in cultivation.

[Illustration: PLATE LXIII.--Prunus Pennsylvanica.]

1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed.
4. Petal.
5. Fruiting branch.

=Prunus Virginiana, L.=

CHOKECHERRY.

=Habitat and Range.=--In varying soils; along river banks, on dry
plains, in woods, common along walls, often thickets.

From Newfoundland across the continent, as far north on the
Mackenzie river as 62 deg..

Common throughout New England; at an altitude of 4500 feet upon Mt.
Katahdin.

South to Georgia; west to Minnesota and Texas.

=Habit.=--Usually a shrub a few feet high, but occasionally a tree 15-25
feet in height, with a trunk diameter of 5-6 inches; head, in open
places, spreading, somewhat symmetrical, with dull foliage, but very
attractive in flower and fruit, the latter variable in color and
quantity.

=Bark.=--Trunk and branches dull gray, darker on older trees, rough with
raised buff-orange spots; branchlets dull grayish or reddish brown;
season's shoots lighter, minutely dotted. Bitter to the taste.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds 1-1-1/4 inches long, conical,
sharp-pointed, brown, slightly divergent from the stem.

Leaves 2-5 inches long and two-thirds as wide, dull green on the upper
side, lighter beneath, obovate or oblong, thin, finely, sharply, and
often doubly serrate; apex abruptly pointed; base roundish, obtuse or
slightly heart-shaped; leafstalk round, grooved, with two or more glands
near base of leaf; stipules long, narrow, ciliate, falling when the
leaves expand.

=Inflorescence.=--Appearing in May, a week earlier than _P. serotina_,
terminating lateral, leafy shoots of the season in numerous handsome,
erect or spreading racemes, 2-4 inches long; flowers short-stemmed,
about 1/3 inch across; petals white, roundish; edge often eroded; calyx
5-cleft with thin reflexed lobes, soon falling; stamens numerous; pistil
1; style 1.

=Fruit.=--In drooping racemes; varying from yellow to nearly black,
commonly bright red, edible, but more or less astringent; stem somewhat
persistent after the cherry falls.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in almost
any soil, but prefers a deep, rich, moist loam. Vigorous young trees are
attractive, but in New England they soon begin to show dead branches,
and are so seriously affected by insects and fungous diseases that it is
not wise to use them in ornamental plantations, or to permit them to
remain on the roadside.

[Illustration: PLATE LXIV.--Prunus Virginia.]

1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed.
4. A petal.
5. Fruiting branch.

=Prunus serotina, Ehrh.=

RUM CHERRY. BLACK CHERRY.

=Habitat and Range.=--In all sorts of soils and exposures; open places
and rich woods.

Nova Scotia to Lake Superior.

Maine,--not reported north of Oldtown (Penobscot county); frequent
throughout the other New England states.

South to Florida; west to North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas,
extending through Mexico, along the Pacific coast of Central
America to Peru.

=Habit.=--Usually a medium-sized tree, 30-50 feet in height, with a
trunk diameter varying from 8 or 10 inches to 2 feet; attaining much
greater dimensions in the middle and southern states; branches few,
large, often tortuous, subdividing irregularly; head open, widest near
the base, rather ungraceful when naked, but very attractive when clothed
with bright green, polished foliage, profusely decked with white
flowers, or laden with drooping racemes of handsome black fruit.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk deep reddish-brown and smooth in young trees, in
old trees very rough, separating into close, thick, irregular, blackish
scales; branches dark reddish-brown, marked with small oblong, raised
dots. Bitter to the taste.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds ovate, 1/8 inch long, covered with
imbricated brown scales.

Leaves 2-5 inches long, about half as wide, dark green above and glossy
when full grown, paler below, turning in autumn to orange, deep red, or
pale yellow, firm, smooth on both sides, elliptical, oblong, or
lanceolate-oblong; finely serrate with short, incurved teeth; apex
sharp; base acute or roundish; meshes of veins minute; petioles 1/2 inch
long, with usually two or more glands near the base of the leaf;
stipules glandular-edged, falling as the leaf expands.

=Inflorescence.=--May to June. From new leafy shoots, in simple, loose
racemes, 4-5 inches long; flowers small; calyx with 5 short teeth
separated by shallow sinuses, persistent after the cherry falls; petals
5, spreading, white, obovate; stamens numerous; pistil one; style
single.

=Fruit.=--September. Somewhat flattened vertically, 1/4 inch in
diameter; purplish-black, edible, slightly bitter.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in New England; in rich soil in open
situations young trees grow very rapidly, old trees rather slowly.
Seldom used for ornamental purposes, but serves well as a nurse tree for
forest plantations, or where quick results and a luxurious foliage
effect is desired, on inland exposures or near the seacoast. The
branches are very liable to disfigurement by the black-knot and the
foliage by the tent-caterpillar. Large plants are seldom for sale, but
seedlings may be obtained in large quantities and at low prices. A
weeping horticultural form is occasionally offered. Propagated from
seed.

[Illustration: PLATE LXV.--Prunus serotina.]

1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed.
4. A petal.
5. Fruiting branch.
6. Mature leaf.

=Prunus Avium, L.=

MAZARD CHERRY.

Introduced from England; occasionally spontaneous along fences and the
borders of woodlands. As an escape, 25-50 feet high, with a trunk
diameter of 1-2 feet; head oblong or ovate; branches mostly ascending.
Leaves ovate to obovate, more or less pubescent beneath, serrate, 3-5
inches long; leafstalk about 1/2 inch long, often glandular near base of
leaf; inflorescence in umbels; flowers white, expanding with the leaves;
fruit dark red, sweet, mostly inferior or blighted.

LEGUMINOSAE. PULSE FAMILY.

=Gleditsia triacanthos, L.=

HONEY LOCUST. THREE-THORNED ACACIA.

=Habitat and Range.=--In its native habitat growing in a variety of
soils; rich woods, mountain sides, sterile plains.

Southern Ontario.

Maine,--young trees in the southern sections said to have been
produced from self-sown seed (M. L. Fernald); New Hampshire and
Vermont,--introduced; Massachusetts,--occasional; Rhode
Island,--introduced and fully at home (J. F. Collins); Connecticut,--not
reported. Probably sparingly naturalized in many other places in New
England.

Spreading by seed southward; indigenous along the western slopes of
the Alleghanies in Pennsylvania; south to Georgia and Alabama; west
from western New York through southern Ontario (Canada) and
Michigan to Nebraska, Kansas, Indian territory, and Texas.

=Habit.=--A medium-sized tree, reaching a height of 40-60 feet and a
trunk diameter of 1-3 feet; becoming a tree of the first magnitude in
the river bottoms of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee; trunk dark and
straight, the upper branches going off at an acute angle, the lower
often horizontal, both trunk and larger branches armed above the axils
with stout, sharp-pointed, simple, three-pronged or numerously branched
thorns, sometimes clustered in forbidding tangles a foot or two in
length; head wide-spreading, very open, rounded or flattish, with
extremely delicate, fern-like foliage lying in graceful planes or
masses; pods flat and pendent, conspicuous in autumn.

=Bark.=--Trunk and larger branches a sombre iron gray, deepening on old
trees almost to black; yellowish-brown in second year's growth; season's
shoots green, marked with short buff, longitudinal lines; branchlets
rough-dotted.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Winter buds minute, in clusters of three or
four, the upper the largest. Leaves compound, once to twice pinnate,
both forms often in the same leaf, alternate, 6 inches to 1 foot long,
rachis abruptly enlarged at base and covering the winter buds: leaflets
18-28, 3/4-1-1/4 inches long, about one-third as wide, yellowish-green
when unfolding, turning to dark green above, slightly lighter beneath,
yellow in autumn; outline lanceolate, oblong to oval, obscurely
crenulate-serrate; apex obtuse, scarcely mucronate; base mostly rounded;
leafstalks and leaves downy, especially when young.

=Inflorescence.=--Early June. From lateral or terminal buds on the old
wood, in slender, pendent, greenish racemes scarcely distinguishable
among the young leaves; sterile and fertile flowers on different trees
or on the same tree and even in the same cluster; calyx somewhat
campanulate, 3-5-cleft; petals 3-5, somewhat wider than the sepals, and
inserted with the 3-10 stamens on the calyx: pistil in sterile flowers
abortive or wanting, conspicuous in the fertile flowers. Parts of the
flower more or less pubescent, arachnoid-pubescent within, near the
base.

=Fruit.=--Pods dull red, 1-1-1/2 feet long, flat, pendent, and often
twisted, containing several flat brown seeds.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England, grows in any
well-drained soil, but prefers a deep, rich loam; transplants readily,
grows rapidly, is long-lived, free from disease, and makes a picturesque
object in ornamental plantations, but is objectionable in public places
and highly finished grounds on account of the stiff spines, which are a
source of danger to pedestrians, and also on account of the long
strap-shaped pods, which litter the ground. There is a thornless form
which is better adapted than the type for ornamental purposes. The type
is sometimes offered in nurseries at a low price by the quantity.
Propagated from seed.

[Illustration: PLATE LXVI.--Gleditsia triacanthos.]

1. Winter buds.
2. Winter buds with thorns.
3. Flowering branch.
4. Sterile flower, enlarged.
5. Flowering branch, flowers mostly fertile.
6. Fertile flower, enlarged.
7. Fruiting branch.
8. Leaf partially twice pinnate.

=Robinia Pseudacacia, L.=

LOCUST.

=Habitat and Range.=--In its native habitat growing upon mountain
slopes, along the borders of forests, in rich soils.

Naturalized from Nova Scotia to Ontario.

Maine,--thoroughly at home, forming wooded banks along streams; New
Hampshire,--abundant enough to be reckoned among the valuable timber
trees; Vermont,--escaped from cultivation in many places; Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, and Connecticut,--common in patches and thickets and along
the roadsides and fences.

Native from southern Pennsylvania along the mountains to Georgia;
west to Iowa and southward.

=Habit.=--Mostly a small tree, 20-35 feet high, under favorable
conditions reaching a height of 50-75 feet; trunk diameter 8 inches to 2
1/2 feet; lower branches thrown out horizontally or at a broad angle,
forming a few-branched, spreading top, clothed with a tender green,
delicate, tremulous foliage, and distinguished in early June by loose,
pendulous clusters of white fragrant flowers.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk dark, rough and seamy even in young trees, and
armed with stout prickles which disappear as the tree matures; in old
trees coarsely, deeply, and firmly ridged, not flaky; larger branches a
dull brown, rough; branchlets grayish-brown, armed with prickles;
season's shoots green, more or less rough-dotted, thin, and often
striped.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Winter buds minute, partially sunken within
the leaf-scar. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate; petiole swollen at
the base, covering bud of the next season; often with spines in the
place of stipules; leaflets 7-21, opposite or scattered, 3/4-1-1/4
inches long, about half as wide, light green; outline ovate or
oval-oblong; apex round or obtuse, tipped with a minute point; base
truncate, rounded, obtuse or acutish; distinctly short-stalked;
stipellate at first.

=Inflorescence.=--Late May or early June. Showy and abundant, in loose,
pendent, axillary racemes; calyx short, bell-shaped, 5-cleft, the two
upper segments mostly coherent; corolla shaped like a pea blossom, the
upper petal large, side petals obtuse and separate; style and stigma
simple.

=Fruit.=--A smooth, dark brown, flat pod, about 3 inches long,
containing several small brown flattish seeds, remaining on the tree
throughout the winter.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England in all dry, sunny
situations, of rapid growth, spreading by underground stems, ordinarily
short-lived and subject to serious injury by the attacks of borers.
Occasionally procurable in large quantities at a low rate. In Europe
there are many horticultural forms, a few of which are occasionally
offered in American nurseries. The type is propagated from seed, the
forms by grafting.

[Illustration: PLATE LXVII.--Robinia Pseudacacia.]

1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Flower with corolla removed.
4. Fruiting branch.

=Robinia viscosa, Vent.=

CLAMMY LOCUST.

This tree appears to be sparingly established in southern Canada and at
many points throughout New England.

Common in cultivation and occasionally established through the middle
states; native from Virginia along the mountains of North Carolina,
South Carolina, and Georgia.

Easily distinguished from _R. Pseudacacia_ by its smaller size,
glandular, viscid branchlets, later period of blossoming, and by its
more compact, usually upright, scarcely fragrant, rose-colored
flower-clusters.

SIMARUBACEAE. AILANTHUS FAMILY.

=Ailanthus glandulosus, Desf.=

AILANTHUS. TREE-OF-HEAVEN. CHINESE SUMAC.

Sparsely and locally naturalized in southern Ontario, New England, and
southward.

A native of China; first introduced into the United States on an
extensive scale in 1820 at Flushing, Long Island; afterwards
disseminated by nursery plants and by seed distributed from the
Agricultural Department at Washington. Its rapid growth, ability to
withstand considerable variations in temperature, and its dark luxuriant
foliage made it a great favorite for shade and ornament. It was planted
extensively in Philadelphia and New York, and generally throughout the
eastern sections of the country. When these trees began to fill the
ground with suckers and the vile-scented sterile flowers poisoned the
balmy air of June and the water in the cisterns, occasioning many
distressing cases of nausea, a reaction set in and hundreds of trees
were cut down. The female trees, against the blossoms of which no such
objection lay, were allowed to grow, and have often attained a height of
50-75 feet, with a trunk diameter of 3-5 feet. The fruit is very
beautiful, consisting of profuse clusters of delicate pinkish or
greenish keys.

The tree is easily distinguished by its ill-scented compound leaves,
often 2-3 feet long, by the numerous leaflets, sometimes exceeding 40,
each ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, with one or two teeth near the base, by
its vigorous growth from suckers, and in winter by the coarse, blunt
shoots and conspicuous, heart-shaped leaf-scars.

ANACARDIACEAE. SUMAC FAMILY.

=Rhus typhina, L.=

_Rhus hirta, Sudw._

STAGHORN SUMAC.

=Habitat and Range.=--In widely varying soils and localities; river
banks, rocky slopes to an altitude of 2000 feet, cellar-holes and waste
places generally, often forming copses.

From Nova Scotia to Lake Huron.

Common throughout New England.

South to Georgia; west to Minnesota and Missouri.

=Habit.=--A shrub, or small tree, rarely exceeding 25 feet in height;
trunk 8-10 inches in diameter; branches straggling, thickish, mostly
crooked when old; branchlets forked, straight, often killed at the tips
several inches by the frost; head very open, irregular, characterized by
its velvety shoots, ample, elegant foliage, turning in early autumn to
rich yellows and reds, and by its beautiful, soft-looking crimson cones.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk light brown, mottled with gray, becoming dark
brownish-gray and more or less rough-scaly in old trees; the season's
shoots densely covered with velvety hairs, like the young horns of deer
(giving rise to the common name), the pubescence disappearing after two
or three years; the extremities dotted with minute orange spots which
enlarge laterally in successive seasons, giving a roughish feeling to
the branches.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds roundish, obtuse, densely covered with
tawny wool, sunk within a large leaf-scar. Leaves pinnately compound,
1-2 feet long; stalk hairy, reddish above, enlarged at base covering the
axillary bud; leaflets 11-31, mostly in opposite pairs, the middle pair
longest, nearly sessile except the odd one, 2-4 inches long; dark green
above, light and often downy beneath; outline narrow to broad-oblong or
broad-lanceolate, usually serrate, rarely laciniate, long-pointed,
slightly heart-shaped or rounded at base; stipules none.

=Inflorescence.=--June to July. Flowers in dense terminal, thyrsoid
panicles, often a foot in length and 5-6 inches wide; sterile and
fertile mostly on separate trees, but sterile, fertile, and perfect
occasionally on the same tree; calyx small, the 5 hairy,
ovate-lanceolate sepals united at the base and, in sterile flowers,
about half the length of the usually recurved petals; stamens 5,
somewhat exserted; ovary abortive, smooth; in the fertile flowers the
sepals are nearly as long as the upright petals; stamens short; ovary
pubescent, 1-celled, with 3 short styles and 3 spreading stigmas.

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