Handbook of the Trees of New England Part 32

Maine,--along the St. John and its tributaries, especially in the French villages, the commonest roadside tree, brought in from the wild state according to the people there; thoroughly established young trees, originating from planted specimens, in various parts of the state; New Hamps.h.i.+re,--occasional along the Connecticut, abundant at Walpole; extending northward as far as South Charlestown (W. F. Flint _in lit._); Vermont,--sh.o.r.es of the Winooski river and of Lake Champlain; Connecticut,--banks of the Housatonic river at New Milford, Cornwall Bridge, and Lime Rock station.

South to Florida; west to the Rocky and Wahsatch mountains, reaching its greatest size in the river bottoms of the Ohio and its tributaries.

=Habit.=--A small but handsome tree, 30-40 feet high, with a diameter of 1-2 feet. Trunk separating at a small height, occasionally a foot or two from the ground, into several wide-spreading branches, forming a broad, roundish, open head, characterized by lively green branchlets and foliage, delicate flowers and abundant, long, loose racemes of yellowish-green keys hanging till late autumn, the stems clinging throughout the winter.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk when young, smooth, yellowish-green, in old trees becoming grayish-brown and ridgy; smaller branchlets greenish-yellow; season's shoots pale green or sometimes reddish-purple, smooth and s.h.i.+ning or sometimes glaucous.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, ovate, enclosed in two dull-red, minutely p.u.b.escent scales. Leaves pinnately compound, opposite; leaflets usually 3, sometimes 5 or 7, 2-4 inches long, 1-1/2-2-1/2 inches broad, light green above, paler beneath and woolly when opening, slightly p.u.b.escent at maturity, ovate or oval, irregularly and remotely coa.r.s.e-toothed mostly above the middle, 3-lobed or nearly entire; apex acute; base extremely variable; veins prominent; petioles 2-3 inches long, enlarging at the base, leaving, when they fall, conspicuous leaf-scars which unite at an angle midway between the winter buds.

=Inflorescence.=--April 1-15. Flowers appearing at the ends of the preceding year's shoots as the leaf-buds begin to open, small, greenish-yellow; sterile and fertile on separate trees,--the sterile in cl.u.s.ters, on long, hairy, drooping, thread-like stems; the calyx hairy, 5-lobed, with about 5 hairy-stemmed, much-projecting linear anthers; pistil none: the fertile in delicate, pendent racemes, scarcely distinguishable at a distance from the foliage; ovary p.u.b.escent, rising out of the calyx; styles long, divergent; stamens none.

=Fruit.=--Loose, pendent, greenish-yellow racemes, 6-8 inches long, the slender-pediceled keys joined at a wide angle, broadest and often somewhat wavy near the extremity, dropping in late autumn from the reddish stems, which hang on till spring.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; flourishes best in moist soil near running water or on rocky slopes, but accommodates itself to almost any situation; easily transplanted. Plants of the same age are apt to vary so much in size and habit as to make them unsuitable for street planting.

An attractive tree when young, especially when laden with fruit in the fall. There are several horticultural varieties with colored foliage, some of which are occasionally offered in nurseries. A western form, having the new growth covered with a glaucous bloom, is said to be longer-lived and more healthy than the type.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LXXVII.--Acer Negundo.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Branch with sterile flowers.

3. Sterile flower.

4. Branch with fertile flowers.

5. Fertile flower.

6. Fruiting branch.

TILIACEae. LINDEN FAMILY.

=Tilia Americana, L.=

Ba.s.sWOOD. LINDEN. LIME. WHITEWOOD.

=Habitat and Range.=--In rich woods and loamy soils.

Southern Canada from New Brunswick to Lake Winnipeg.

Throughout New England, frequent from the seacoast to alt.i.tudes of 1000 feet; rare from 1000 to 2000 feet.

South along the mountains to Georgia; west to Kansas, Nebraska, and Texas.

=Habit.=--A large tree, 5O-75 feet high, rising in the upper valley of the Connecticut river to the height of 100 feet; trunk 2-4 feet in diameter, erect, diminis.h.i.+ng but slightly to the branching point; head, in favorable situations, broadly ovate to oval, rather compact, symmetrical; branches mostly straight, striking out in different trees at varying angles; the numerous secondary branches mostly horizontal, slender, often drooping at the extremities, repeatedly subdividing, forming a dense spray set at broad angles. Foliage very abundant, green when fully grown, almost impervious to sunlight; the small creamy flowers in numerous cl.u.s.ters; the pale, odd-shaped bracts and pea-like fruit conspicuous among the leaves till late autumn.

=Bark.=--Dark gray, very thick, smooth in young trees, later becoming broadly and firmly ridged; in old trees irregularly furrowed; branches, especially upon the upper side, dark brown and blackish; the season's shoots yellowish-green to reddish-brown, and numerously rough-dotted.

The inner bark is fibrous and tough.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Leaf-buds small, conical, brownish red, contrasting strongly with the dark stems. Leaves simple, alternate, 4-5 inches long, three-fourths as wide, green and smooth on both sides, thickish, paler beneath, broad-ovate, one-sided, serrate, the point often incurved; apex ac.u.minate or acute; base heart-shaped to truncate; midrib and veins conspicuous on the under surface with minute, reddish tufts of down at the angles; stems smooth, 1-1-1/2 inches long; stipules soon falling.

=Inflorescence.=--Late June or early July. In loose, slightly fragrant, drooping cymes, the peduncle attached about half its length to a narrowly oblong, yellowish bract, obtuse at both ends, free at the top, and tapering slightly at the base, pedicels slender; calyx of 5 colored sepals united toward the base; corolla of 5 petals alternate with the sepals, often obscurely toothed at the apex; 5 petal-like scales in front of the petals and nearly as long; calyx, petals, and scales yellowish-white; stamens indefinite, mostly in cl.u.s.ters inserted with the scales; anthers 2-celled, ovary 5-celled; style 1; stigma 5-toothed.

=Fruit.=--About the size of a pea, woody, globose, pale green, 1-celled by abortion: 1-2 seeds.

=Horticultural Value.=--Useful as an ornamental or street tree; hardy throughout New England, easily transplanted, and grows rapidly in almost any well-drained soil; comes into leaf late and drops its foliage in early fall. The European species are more common in nurseries. They are, however, seriously affected by wood borers, while the native tree has few disfiguring insect enemies. Usually propagated from the seed. A horticultural form with weeping branches is sometimes cultivated.

=Note.=--There is so close a resemblance between the lindens that it is difficult to distinguish the American species from each other, or from their European relatives.

American species sometimes found in cultivation:

_Tilia p.u.b.escens, Ait._, is distinguished from _Americana_ by its smaller, thinner leaves and densely p.u.b.escent shoots.

_Tilia heterophylla, Vent._, is easily recognized by the pale or silver white under-surface of the leaves.

There are several European species more or less common in cultivation, indiscriminately known in nurseries as _Tilia Europaea_. They are all easily distinguished from the American species by the absence of petal-like scales.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LXXVIII.--Tilia Americana.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Flower enlarged.

4. Pistil with cl.u.s.ter of stamens, petaloid scale, petal, and sepal.

5. Fruiting branch.

CORNACEae. DOGWOOD FAMILY.

=Cornus florida, L.=

FLOWERING DOGWOOD. BOXWOOD.

=Habitat and Range.=--Woodlands, rocky hillsides, moist, gravelly ridges.

Provinces of Quebec and Ontario.

Maine,--Fayette Ridge, Kennebec county; New Hamps.h.i.+re,--along the Atlantic coast and very near the Connecticut river, rarely farther north than its junction with the West river; Vermont,--southern and southwestern sections, rare; Ma.s.sachusetts,--occasional throughout the state, common in the Connecticut river valley, frequent eastward; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--common.

South to Florida; west to Minnesota and Texas.

=Habit.=--A small tree, 15-30 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 6-10 inches. The spreading branches form an open, roundish head, the young twigs curving upwards at their extremities. In spring, when decked with its abundant, showy white blossoms, it is the fairest of the minor trees of the forest; in autumn, scarcely less beautiful in the rich reds of its foliage and fruit.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk in old trees blackish, broken-ridged, rough, often separating into small, firm, 4-angled or roundish plates; branches grayish, streaked with white lines; season's twigs purplish-green, downy; taste bitter.