Handbook of the Trees of New England
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Lorin Low Dame >> Handbook of the Trees of New England
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[Illustration: PLATE XXXII.--Betula nigra.]
1. Leaf-buds.
2. Flower-buds.
3. Branch with sterile and fertile catkins.
4. Sterile flower.
5. Fertile flower.
6. Scale of fertile flower.
7. Fruit.
8. Fruiting branch.
=Betula populifolia, Marsh.=
WHITE BIRCH. GRAY BIRCH. OLDFIELD BIRCH. POPLAR BIRCH. POVERTY
BIRCH. SMALL WHITE BIRCH.
=Habitat and Range.=--Dry, gravelly soils, occasional in swamps and
frequent along their borders, often springing up on burnt lands.
Nova Scotia to Lake Ontario.
Maine,--abundant; New Hampshire,--abundant eastward, as far north as
Conway, and along the Connecticut to Westmoreland; Vermont,--common in
the western and frequent in the southern sections; Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, and Connecticut,--common.
South, mostly in the coast region, to Delaware; west to Lake
Ontario.
=Habit.=--A small tree, 20-35 feet high, with a diameter at the ground
of 4-8 inches, occasionally much exceeding these dimensions; under
favorable conditions, of extreme elegance. The slender, seldom erect
trunk, continuous to the top of the tree, throws out numerous short,
unequal branches, which form by repeated subdivisions a profuse, slender
spray, disposed irregularly in tufts or masses, branches and branchlets
often hanging vertically or drooping at the ends. Conspicuous in winter
by the airy lightness of the narrow open head and by the contrast of the
white trunk with the dark spray; in summer, when the sun shines and the
air stirs, by the delicacy, tremulous movement, and brilliancy of the
foliage.
=Bark.=--Trunk grayish-white, with triangular, dusty patches below the
insertion of the branches; not easily separable into layers; branches
dark brown or blackish; season's shoots brown, with numerous small round
dots becoming horizontal lines and increasing in length with the age of
the tree. The white of the bark does not readily come off upon clothing.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds somewhat diverging from the twig; narrow
conical or cylindrical, reddish-brown. Leaves simple, alternate, single
or in pairs, 3-4 inches long, two-thirds as wide, bright green above,
paler beneath, smooth and shining on both sides, turning to a pale
shining yellow in autumn, resinous, glandular-dotted when young; outline
triangular, coarsely and irregularly doubly serrate; apex taper-pointed;
base truncate, heart-shaped, or acute; leafstalks long and slender;
stipules dropping early.
=Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile catkins usually solitary or in pairs,
slender-cylindrical, 2-3 inches long: fertile catkins erect, green,
stalked; bracts minutely pubescent.
=Fruit.=--Fruiting catkins erect or spreading, cylindrical, about 1-1/4
inches long and 1/2 inch in diameter, stalked; scales 3-parted above the
center, side lobes larger, at right angles or reflexed: nuts small,
ovate to obovate, narrower than the wings, combined wings from broadly
obcordate to butterfly-shape, wider than long.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England, growing in every
kind of soil, finest specimens in deep, rich loam. Were this tree not so
common, its graceful habit and attractive bark would be more appreciated
for landscape gardening; only occasionally grown by nurserymen, best
secured through collectors; young collected plants, if properly
selected, will nearly all live.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIII.--Betula populifolia.]
1. Branch with sterile and fertile catkins.
2. Sterile flower, back view.
3. Fertile flower.
4. Scale of fertile flower.
5. Fruiting branch.
6. Fruit.
=Betula papyrifera, Marsh.=
CANOE BIRCH. WHITE BIRCH. PAPER BIRCH.
=Habitat and Range.=--Deep, rich woods, river banks, mountain slopes.
Canada, Atlantic to Pacific, northward to Labrador and Alaska, to
the limit of deciduous trees.
Maine,--abundant; New Hampshire,--in all sections, most common on
highlands up to the alpine area of the White mountains, above the range
of the yellow birch; Vermont,--common; Massachusetts,--common in the
western and central sections, rare towards the coast; Rhode Island,--not
reported; Connecticut,--occasional in the southern sections, frequent
northward.
South to Pennsylvania and Illinois; west to the Rocky mountains and
Washington on the Pacific coast.
Var. _minor_, Tuckerman, is a dwarf form found upon the higher mountain
summits of northern New England.
=Habit.=--A large tree, 50-75 feet high, with a diameter of 1-3 feet;
occasionally of greater dimensions. The trunk develops a
broad-spreading, open head, composed of a few large limbs ascending at
an acute angle, with nearly horizontal secondary branches and a
slender, flexible spray without any marked tendency to droop.
Characterized by the dark metallic lustre of the branchlets, the dark
green foliage, deep yellow in autumn, and the chalky whiteness of the
trunk and large branches; a singularly picturesque tree, whether
standing alone or grouped in forests.
=Bark.=--Easily detachable in broad sheets and separable into thin,
delicately colored, paper-like layers, impenetrable by water, outlasting
the wood it covers. Bark of trunk and large branches chalky-white when
fully exposed to the sun, lustreless, smooth or ragged-frayed, in very
old forest trees encrusted with huge lichens, and splitting into broad
plates; young trunks and smaller branches smooth, reddish or grayish
brown, with numerous roundish buff dots which enlarge from year to year
into more and more conspicuous horizontal lines. The white of the bark
readily rubs off upon clothing.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, ovate, flattish, acute to
rounded. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-5 inches long, two-thirds as wide,
dark green and smooth above, beneath pale, hairy along the veins,
sometimes in young trees thickly glandular-dotted on both sides; outline
ovate, ovate-oblong, or ovate-orbicular, more or less doubly serrate;
apex acute to acuminate; base somewhat heart-shaped, truncate or obtuse;
leafstalk 1-2 inches long, grooved above, downy; stipules falling early.
=Inflorescence.=--April to May. Sterile catkins mostly in threes, 3-4
inches long: fertile catkins 1-1-1/2 inches long, cylindrical,
slender-peduncled, erect or spreading; bracts puberulent.
=Fruit.=--Fruiting catkins 1-2 inches long, cylindrical, short-stalked,
spreading or drooping: nut obovate to oval, narrower than its wings;
combined wings butterfly-shaped, nearly twice as wide as long.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers a
well-drained loam or gravelly soil, but does fairly well in almost any
situation; young trees rapid growing and vigorous, but with the same
tendency to grow irregularly that is shown by the black and yellow
birches; transplanted without serious difficulty; not offered by many
nurserymen, but may be obtained from northern collectors.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIV.--Betula papyrifera.]
1. Leaf-buds.
2. Flower-buds.
3. Flowering branch.
4. Sterile flower, front view.
5. Fertile flower, front view.
6. Scale of fertile flower.
7. Fruiting branch.
8. Fruit.
=Alnus glutinosa, Medic.=
EUROPEAN ALDER.
This is the common alder of Great Britain and central Europe southward,
growing chiefly along water courses, in boggy grounds and upon moist
mountain slopes; introduced into the United States and occasionally
escaping from cultivation; sometimes thoroughly established locally. In
Medford, Mass., there are many of these plants growing about two small
ponds and upon the neighboring lowlands, most of them small, but among
them are several trees 30-40 feet in height and 8-12 inches in diameter
at the ground, distinguishable at a glance from the shrubby native
alders by their greater size, more erect habit, and darker trunks.
FAGACEAE. BEECH FAMILY.
=Fagus ferruginea, Ait.=
_Fagus Americana, Sweet. Fagus atropunicea, Sudw._
BEECH.
=Habitat and Range.=--Moist, rocky soil.
Nova Scotia through Quebec and Ontario.
Maine,--abundant; New Hampshire,--throughout the state; common on the
Connecticut-Merrimac watershed, enters largely into the composition of
the hardwood forests of Coos county; Vermont,--abundant;
Massachusetts,--in western sections abundant, common eastward;
Rhode Island and Connecticut,--common.
South to Florida; west to Wisconsin, Missouri, and Texas.
=Habit.=--A tree of great beauty, rising to a height of 50-75 feet, with
a diameter at the ground of 1-1/2-4 feet; under favorable conditions
attaining much greater dimensions; trunk remarkably smooth, sometimes
fluted, in the forests tall and straight, in open situations short and
stout; head symmetrical, of various shapes,--rounded, oblong, or even
obovate; branches numerous, mostly long and slender, curving slightly
upward at their tips, near the point of branching horizontal or slightly
drooping, beset with short branchlets which form a flat, dense, and
beautiful spray; roots numerous, light brown, long, and running near the
surface. Tree easily distinguishable in winter by the dried
brownish-white leaves, spear-like buds, and smooth bark.
=Bark.=--Trunk light blue gray, smooth, unbroken, slightly corrugated in
old trees, often beautifully mottled in blotches or bands and invested
by lichens; branches gray; branchlets dark brown and smooth; spray
shining, reddish-brown; season's shoots a shining olive green,
orange-dotted.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds conspicuous, long, very slender,
tapering slowly to a sharp point; scales rich brown, lengthening as the
bud opens. Leaves set in plane of the spray, simple, alternate, 3-5
inches long, one-half as wide, silky-pubescent with fringed edges when
young, nearly smooth when fully grown, green on both sides, turning to
rusty yellows and browns in autumn, persistent till mid-winter; outline
oval, serrate; apex acuminate; base rounded; veins strong, straight,
terminating in the teeth; leafstalk short, hairy at first; stipules
slender, silky, soon falling.
=Inflorescence.=--May. Appearing with the leaves from the season's
shoots, sterile flowers from the lower axils, in heads suspended at the
end of silky threads 1-2 inches long; calyx campanulate, pubescent,
yellowish-green, mostly 6-lobed; petals none; stamens 6-16; anthers
exserted; ovary wanting or abortive: fertile flowers from the upper
axils, usually single or in pairs, at the end of a short peduncle;
involucre 4-lobed, fringed with prickly scales; calyx with six
awl-shaped lobes; ovary 3-celled; styles 3.
=Fruit.=--A prickly bur, thick, 4-valved, splitting nearly to the base
when ripe: nut sharply triangular, sweet, edible.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows well in any
good soil, but prefers deep, rich, well-drained loam; usually obtainable
in nurseries; when frequently transplanted, safely moved. Its clean
trunk and limbs, deep shade, and freedom from insect pests make it one
of the most attractive of our large trees for use, summer or winter, in
landscape gardening; few plants, however, will grow beneath it; the bark
is easily disfigured; it has a bad habit of throwing out suckers and is
liable to be killed by any injury to the roots. Propagated from the
seed. The purple beech, weeping beech, and fern-leaf beech are
well-known horticultural forms.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXV.--Fagus ferruginea.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower.
4. Fertile flower.
5. Fruiting branch.
6. Section of fruit.
7. Nut.
=Castanea sativa, var. Americana, Watson and Coulter.=
_Castanea dentata, Borkh. Castanea vesca, var. Americana, Michx._
CHESTNUT.
=Habitat and Range.=--In strong, well-drained soil; pastures, rocky
woods, and hillsides.
Ontario,--common.
Maine,--southern sections, probably not indigenous north of latitude 44 deg.
20'; New Hampshire,--Connecticut valley near the river, as far north as
Windsor, Vt.; most abundant in the Merrimac valley south of Concord, but
occasional a short distance northward; Vermont,--common in the
southern sections, especially in the Connecticut valley; occasional as
far north as Windsor (Windsor county), West Rutland (Rutland county),
Burlington (Chittenden county); Massachusetts,--rather common throughout
the state, but less frequent near the sea; Rhode Island and
Connecticut,--common.
South to Delaware, along the mountains to Alabama; west to
Michigan, Indiana, and Tennessee.
=Habit.=--A tree of the first magnitude, rising to a height of 60-80
feet and reaching a diameter of 5-6 feet above the swell of the roots,
with a spread sometimes equaling or even exceeding the height; attaining
often much greater proportions. The massive trunk separates usually a
few feet from the ground into several stout horizontal or ascending
branches, the limbs higher up, horizontal or rising at a broad angle,
forming a stately, open, roundish, or inversely pyramidal head;
branchlets slender; spray coarse and not abundant; foliage bright green,
dense, casting a deep shade; flowers profuse, the long, sterile catkins
upon their darker background of leaves conspicuous upon the hill
slopes at a great distance. A tree that may well dispute precedence with
the white or red oak.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk in old trees deeply cleft with wide ridges, hard,
rough, dark gray; in young trees very smooth, often shining; season's
shoots green or purplish-brown, white-dotted.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, ovate, brown, acutish. Leaves
simple, alternate, 5-10 inches long, 1-3 inches wide, bright clear
green above, paler beneath and smooth on both sides; outline
oblong-lanceolate, sharply and coarsely serrate; veins straight,
terminating in the teeth; apex acuminate; base acute or obtuse;
leafstalk short; stipules soon falling.
=Inflorescence.=--June to July. Appearing from the axils of the season's
shoots, after the leaves have grown to their full size; sterile catkins
numerous, clustered or single, erect or spreading, 4-10 inches long,
slender, flowers pale yellowish-green or cream-colored; calyx pubescent,
mostly 6-parted; stamens 15-20; odor offensive when the anthers are
discharging their pollen: fertile flowers near the base of the upper
sterile catkins or in separate axils, 1-3 in a prickly involucre; calyx
6-toothed; ovary ovate, styles as many as the cells of the ovary,
exserted.
=Fruit.=--Burs round, thick, prickly, 2-4 inches in diameter, opening by
4 valves: nuts 1-5, dark brown, covered with whitish down at apex, flat
on one side when there are several in a cluster, ovate when only one,
sweet and edible.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers fertile,
well-drained, gravelly or rocky soil; rather difficult to transplant;
usually obtainable in nurseries. Its vigorous and rapid growth, massive,
broad-spreading head and attractive flowers make it a valuable tree for
landscape gardening, but in public places the prickly burs and edible
fruit are a serious disadvantage. Propagated from the seed.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVI.--Castanea sativa, var. Americana.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower.
4. Fertile flower.
5. Fruit.
6. Nut.
=QUERCUS.=
Inflorescence appearing with the leaves in spring; sterile catkins from
terminal or lateral buds on shoots of the preceding year, bracted,
usually several in a cluster, unbranched, long, cylindrical, pendulous;
bracts of sterile flowers minute, soon falling; calyx parted or lobed;
stamens 3-12, undivided: fertile flowers terminal or axillary upon the
new shoots, single or few-clustered, bracted, erect; involucre scaly,
becoming the cupule or cup around the lower part of the acorn; ovary
3-celled; stigma 3-lobed.
WHITE OAKS.
Leaves with obtuse or rounded lobes or teeth; cup-scales thickened or
knobbed at base; stigmas sessile or nearly so; fruit maturing the first
year.
BLACK OAKS.
Leaves with pointed or bristle-tipped lobes and teeth; cup-scales flat;
stigmas on spreading styles; fruit maturing the second year.
=Quercus alba, L.=
WHITE OAK.
=Habitat and Range.=--Light loams, sandy plains, and gravelly ridges,
often constituting extensive tracts of forest.
Quebec and Ontario.
Maine,--southern sections; New Hampshire,--most abundant eastward; in
the Connecticut valley confined to the hills in the immediate vicinity
of the river, extending up the tributary streams a short distance and
disappearing entirely before reaching the mouth of the Passumpsic (W. F.
Flint); Vermont,--common west of the Green mountains, less so in the
southern Connecticut valley (_Flora of Vermont_, 1900); Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, and Connecticut,--common.
South to the Gulf of Mexico; west to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas,
Arkansas, and Texas.
=Habit.=--A tree of the first rank, 50-75 feet high and 1-6 feet in
diameter above the swell of the roots, exhibiting considerable diversity
in general appearance, trunk sometimes dissolving into branches like the
American elm, and sometimes continuous to the top. The finest specimens
in open land are characterized by a rather short, massive trunk, with
stout, horizontal, far-reaching limbs, conspicuously gnarled and twisted
in old age, forming a wide-spreading, open head of striking grandeur,
the diameter at the base of which is sometimes two or three times the
height of the tree.
=Bark.=--Trunk and larger branches light ash-gray, sometimes nearly
white, broken into long, thin, loose, irregular, soft-looking flakes; in
old trees with broad, flat ridges; inner bark light; branchlets
ash-gray, mottled; young shoots grayish-green, roughened with minute
rounded, raised dots.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds 1/8 to 1/4 inch long, round-ovate,
reddish-brown. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-7 inches long, 2-4 inches
wide, delicately reddish-tinted and pubescent upon both sides when
young; at maturity glabrous, light dull or glossy green above, paler and
somewhat glaucous beneath, turning to various reds in autumn; outline
obovate to oval; lobes 5-9; ascending, varying greatly in different
trees; when few, short and wide-based, with comparatively shallow
sinuses; when more in number, ovate-oblong, with deeper sinuses, or
somewhat linear-oblong, with sinuses reaching nearly to midrib; apex of
lobe rounded; base of leaf tapering; leafstalks short; stipules linear,
soon falling. The leaves of this species are often persistent till
spring, especially in young trees.
=Inflorescence.=--May. Appearing when the leaves are half grown; sterile
catkins 2-3 inches long, with slender, usually pubescent thread; calyx
yellow, pubescent; lobes 5-9, pointed: pistillate flowers sessile or
short-peduncled, reddish, ovate-scaled.
=Fruit.=--Maturing in the autumn of the first year, single, or more
frequently in pairs, sessile or peduncled: cup hemispherical to deep
saucer-shaped, rather thin; scales rough-knobby at base: acorn varying
from 1/2 inch to an inch in length, oblong-ovoid: meat sweet and edible,
said to be when boiled a good substitute for chestnuts.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in New England; grows well in all except
very wet soils, in all open exposures and in light shade; like all oaks,
difficult to transplant unless prepared by frequent transplanting in
nurseries, from which it is not readily obtainable in quantity; grows
very slowly and nearly uniformly up to maturity; comparatively free
from insect enemies but occasionally disfigured by fungous disease which
attacks immature leaves in spring. Propagated from seed.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVII.--Quercus alba.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3-4. Sterile flower, front view.
5. Fertile flower, side view.
6. Fruiting branch.
7-8. Variant leaves.
=Quercus stellata, Wang.=
_Q. obtusiloba, Michx. Q. minor, Sarg_.
POST OAK. BOX WHITE OAK.
=Habitat and Range.=
Doubtfully reported from southern Ontario.
In New England, mostly in sterile soil near the sea-coast;
Massachusetts,--southern Cape Cod from Falmouth to Brewster, the most
northern station reported, occasional; the islands of Naushon, Martha's
Vineyard where it is rather common, and Nantucket where it is rare;
Rhode Island,--along the shore of the northern arm of Wickford harbor
(L. W. Russell); Connecticut,--occasional along the shores of Long
Island sound west of New Haven.
South to Florida; west to Kansas, Indian territory, and Texas.
=Habit.=--Farther south, a tree of the first magnitude, reaching a
height of 100 feet, with a trunk diameter of 4 feet; in southern New
England occasionally attaining in woodlands a height of 50-60 feet; at
its northern limit in Massachusetts, usually 10 to 35 feet in height,
with a diameter at the ground of 6-12 inches. The trunk throws out
stout, tough, and often conspicuously crooked branches, the lower
horizontal or declining, forming a disproportionately large head, with
dark green, dense foliage. Near the shore the limbs often grow very low,
stretching along the ground as if from an underground stem.
=Bark.=--Resembling that of the white oak, but rather a darker gray,
rougher and firmer; upon old trunks furrowed and cut into oblongs; small
limbs brownish-gray, rough-dotted; season's shoots densely
tawny-tomentose.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, rounded or conical, brownish,
scales minutely pubescent or scurfy. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-8
inches long, two-thirds as wide, thickish, yellowish-green and tomentose
upon both sides when young, becoming a deep, somewhat glossy green
above, lighter beneath, both sides still somewhat scurfy; general
outline of leaf and of lobes, and number and shape of the latter,
extremely variable; type-form 5-lobed, all the lobes rounded, the three
upper lobes much larger, more or less subdivided, often squarish, the
two lower tapering to an acute, rounded, or truncate base; sinuses deep,
variable, often at right angles to the midrib; leafstalk short,
tomentose; stipules linear, pubescent, occasionally persistent till
midsummer. The leaves are often arranged at the tips of the branches in
star-shaped clusters, giving rise to the specific name _stellata_.
=Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile catkins 1-3 inches long, connecting
thread woolly; calyx 4-8 parted, lobes acute, densely pubescent, yellow;
stamens 4-8, _anthers with scattered hairs_: pistillate flowers single
or in clusters of 2, 3, or more, sessile or on a short stem; stigma red.
=Fruit.=--Maturing the first season, single and sessile, or nearly so,
or in clusters of 2, 3, or more, on short footstalks: cup top-shaped or
cup-shaped, 1/3-1/2 the length of the acorn, about 3/4 inch wide, thin;
scales smooth or sometimes hairy along the top, acutish or roundish,
slightly thickened at base: acorn 1/2-1 inch long, sweet.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in New England; prefers a good,
well-drained, open soil; quite as slow-growing as the white oak; seldom
found in nurseries and difficult to transplant. Propagated from the
seed.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVIII.--Quercus stellata.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower, back view.
4. Sterile flower, front view.
5. Fertile flower.
6. Fruiting branch.
=Quercus macrocarpa, Michx.=
BUR OAK. OVER-CUP OAK. MOSSY-CUP OAK.
=Habitat and Range.=--Deep, rich soil; river valleys.
Nova Scotia to Manitoba, not attaining in this region the size of
the white oak, nor covering as large areas.
Maine,--known only in the valleys of the middle Penobscot (Orono)
and the Kennebec (Winslow, Waterville); Vermont,--lowlands
about Lake Champlain, especially in Addison county, not common;
Massachusetts,--valley of the Ware river (Worcester county), Stockbridge
and towns south along the Housatonic river (Berkshire county); Rhode
Island,--no station reported; Connecticut,--probably introduced in
central and eastern sections, possibly native near the northern border.
South to Pennsylvania and Tennessee; west to Montana, Nebraska,
Kansas, Indian territory, and Texas.
=Habit.=--A medium-sized tree, 40-60 feet high, with a trunk diameter of
1-3 feet; attaining great size in the Ohio and Mississippi river basins;
trunk erect, branches often changing direction, ascending, save the
lowest, which are often nearly horizontal; branchlets numerous, on the
lowest branches often declined or drooping; head wide-spreading, rounded
near the center, very rough in aspect; distinguished in summer by the
luxuriance of the dark-green foliage and in autumn by the size of its
acorns.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk and branches ash-gray, but darker than that of
the white oak, separating on old trees into rather firm, longitudinal
ridges; bark of branches sometimes developed into conspicuous corky,
wing-like layers; season's shoots yellowish-brown, minutely hairy, with
numerous small, roundish, raised dots.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds brown, 1/16 to 1/8 inch long, conical,
scattered along the shoots and clustered at the enlarged tips. Leaves
simple, alternate, 6-9 inches long, 3-4 inches broad, smooth and dark
green above, lighter and downy beneath; outline obovate to oblong,
varying from irregularly and deeply sinuate-lobed, especially near the
center, to nearly entire, base wedge-shaped; stalk short; stipules
linear, pubescent.
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