Handbook of the Trees of New England

CORNACEÆ. DOGWOOD FAMILY.

Inflorescence.—May to June. Appearing with the unfolding leaves in close clusters at the ends of the branches, each cluster subtended by a very conspicuous 4-leafed involucre (often mistaken for the corolla and constituting all the beauty of the blossom), the leaves of which are white or pinkish, 1½ inches long, obovate, curiously notched at the rounded end. The real flowers are insignificant, suggesting the tubular disk flowers of the Compositæ; calyx-tube coherent with the ovary, surmounting it by 4 small teeth; petals greenish-yellow, oblong, reflexed; stamens 4; pistil with capitate style.

Fruit.—Ovoid, scarlet drupes, about ½ inch long, united in clusters, persistent till late autumn or till eaten by the birds.

Horticultural Value.—Hardy in southern and southern-central New England, but liable farther north to be killed outright or as far down as the surface of the snow; not only one of the most attractive small trees on account of its flowers, habit, and foliage, but one of the most useful for shady places or under tall trees. The species, a red-flowering and also a weeping variety are obtainable in leading nurseries. Collected plants can be made to succeed. It is a plant of rather slow growth.

Habit.—A shrub or small tree, 6-20 feet high, trunk diameter 3-6 inches; head usually widest near the top, flat; branches nearly horizontal with lateral spray, the lively green, dense foliage lying in broad planes.

Bark.—Trunk and larger branches greenish, warty, streaked with gray; season's shoots bright yellowish-green or purplish, oblong-dotted.

Winter Buds and Leaves.—Buds small, acute. Leaves simple, alternate or sometimes opposite, clustered at the ends of the branchlets, 2-4 inches long, dark green on the upper side, paler beneath, with minute appressed pubescence on both sides, ovate to oval, almost entire; apex long-pointed; base acutish or rounded; veins indented above, ribs curving upward and parallel; petiole long, slender, and grooved.

Inflorescence.—June. From shoots of the season, in irregular open cymes; calyx coherent with ovary, surmounting it by 4 minute teeth; corolla white or pale yellow, with the 4 oblong petals at length reflexed: stamens 4, exserted; style short, with capitate stigma.

Fruit.—October. Globular, blue or blue black, on slender, reddish stems.

Horticultural Value.—Hardy throughout New England, adapting itself to a great variety of situations, but preferring a soil that is constantly moist. Nursery or good collected plants are easily transplanted. A disease, similar in its effect to the pear blight, so often disfigures it that it is not desirable for use in important plantations.

Nyssa sylvatica, Marsh.

Tupelo. Sour Gum. Pepperidge.

Habitat and Range.—In rich, moist soil, in swamps and on the borders of rivers and ponds.

Maine,—Waterville on the Kennebec, the most northern station yet reported (Dr. Ezekiel Holmes); New Hampshire,—most common in the Merrimac valley, seldom seen north of the White mountains; Vermont,—occasional; Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut,—rather common.

Habit.—Tree 20-50 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 1-2 feet, rising in the forest to the height of 60-80 feet; attaining greater dimensions farther south; lower branches horizontal or declining, often touching the ground at their tips, the upper horizontal or slightly rising, angular, repeatedly subdividing; branchlets very numerous, short and stiff, making a flat spray; head extremely variable, unique in picturesqueness of outline; usually broad-spreading, flat-topped or somewhat rounded; often reduced in Nantucket and upon the southern shore of Cape Cod to a shrub or small tree of 10-15 feet in height, forming low, dense, tangled thickets. Foliage very abundant, dark lustrous green, turning early in the fall to a brilliant crimson.

Bark.—Trunk of young trees grayish-white, with irregular and shallow striations, in old trees darker, breaking up into somewhat hexagonal or lozenge-shaped scales; branches smooth and brown; season's shoots reddish-green, with a few minute dots.

Winter Buds and Leaves.—Buds ovoid, ⅛-¼ inch long, obtuse. Leaves simple, irregularly alternate, often apparently whorled when clustered at the ends of the shoots, 2-5 inches long, one-half as wide; at first bright green beneath, dullish-green above, becoming dark glossy green above, paler beneath, obovate or oblanceolate to oval; entire, few or obscurely toothed, or wavy-margined above the center; apex more or less abruptly acute; base acutish; firm, smooth, finely sub-veined; stem short, flat, grooved, minutely ciliate, at least when young; stipules none.

Inflorescence.—May or early June. Appearing with the leaves in axillary clusters of small greenish flowers, sterile and fertile usually on separate trees, sometimes on the same tree,—sterile flowers in simple or compound clusters; calyx minutely 5-parted, petals 5, small or wanting; stamens 5-12, inserted on the outside of a disk; pistil none: fertile flowers larger, solitary, or several sessile in a bracted cluster; petals 5, small or wanting; calyx minutely 5-toothed.

Fruit.—Drupes 1-several, ovoid, blue black, about ½ inch long, sour: stone striated lengthwise.

Horticultural Value.—Hardy throughout New England; adapts itself readily to most situations but prefers deep soil near water. Seldom offered in nurseries and difficult to transplant unless frequently root-pruned or moved; collected plants do not thrive well; seedlings are raised with little difficulty. Few trees are of greater ornamental value.

EBENACEÆ. EBONY FAMILY.

Habitat and Range.—Rhode Island,—occasional but doubtfully native; Connecticut,—at Lighthouse Point, New Haven, near the East Haven boundary line, there is a grove consisting of about one hundred twenty-five small trees not more than a hundred feet from the water's edge, in sandy soil just above the beach grass, exposed to the buffeting of fierce winds and the incursions of salt water, which comes up around them during the heavy winter storms. These trees are not in thriving condition; several are dead or dying, and no new plants are springing up to take their places. A cross-section of the trunk of a dead tree, as large as any of those living, shows about fifty annual rings. There is no reason to suppose that the survivors are older. This station is said to have been known as early as 1846, at which date the ground where they stand was grassy and fertile. These trees, if standing at that time, must assuredly have been in their infancy. The encroachment of the sea and subsequent change of conditions account well enough for the present decrepitude, but their general similarity in size and apparent age point rather to introduction than native growth.

Habit.—One of the Rhode Island trees measured 3 feet 11 inches girth at the base, and gradually tapered to a height of more than 40 feet (L. W. Russell). The trees at New Haven are 15-20 feet in height, with a trunk diameter of 6-10 inches, trunk and limbs much twisted by the winds. Their branches, beginning to put out at a height of 6-8 feet, lie in almost horizontal planes, forming a roundish, open head.

Bark.—Trunk in old trees dark, rough, deeply furrowed, separating into small, firm sections; large limbs dark reddish-brown; season's shoots green, turning to brown.

Winter Buds and Leaves.—Buds oblong, conical, short. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-6 inches long, about half as wide, dark green and mostly glossy above, somewhat lighter and minutely downy (at least when young) beneath, ovate to oval, entire; apex acute to acuminate; base acute, rounded or truncate; leafstalk short; stipules none.

Inflorescence.—June. Sterile and fertile flowers on separate or on the same trees; not conspicuous, axillary; sterile often in clusters, fertile solitary; calyx 4-6-parted; corolla 4-6-parted; about ½ inch long, pale yellow, thickish, urn-shaped, constricted at the mouth and somewhat smaller in the sterile flowers; stamens 16 in the sterile flowers, in fertile flowers 8 or less, imperfect; styles 4, ovary 8-celled.

Fruit.—A berry, ripe in late fall, roundish, about an inch in diameter, larger farther south, with thick, spreading, persistent calyx, yellow to yellowish-brown, very astringent when immature, edible and agreeable to the taste after exposure to the frost; several-seeded.

Horticultural Value.—Hardy along the south shore of New England; prefers well-drained soil in open situations; free from disfiguring enemies; occasionally cultivated in nurseries but difficult to transplant. Propagated from seed.

OLEACEÆ. OLIVE FAMILY.

Habit.—A tall forest tree, 50-75 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 2-3 feet; rising in the rich bottom lands of the Ohio river 100 feet or more, often in the forest half its height without a limb. In open ground the trunk, separating at a height of a few feet, throws off two or three large limbs, and is soon lost amid the slender, often gently curving branches, forming a rather open, rounded head widest at or near the base, with light and graceful foliage, and a stout, rather sparse, glabrous, and sometimes flattish spray.

Bark.—Bark of trunk in mature trees easily distinguishable at some distance by the characteristic gray color and uniform striation; ridges prominent, narrow, flattish, firm, without surface scales but with fine transverse seams; furrows fine and strong, sinuous, parallel or connecting at intervals; large limbs more or less furrowed; smaller branches smooth and grayish-green; season's shoots polished olive green; leaf-scars prominent.

Winter Buds and Leaves.—Buds short, rather prominent, smooth, dark or pale rusty brown. Leaves pinnately compound, opposite, 6-12 inches long; petiole smooth and grooved; leaflets 5-9, 2-5 inches long, deep green and smooth above, paler and smooth, or slightly pubescent (at least when young) beneath; ovate to lance-oblong, entire or somewhat toothed; apex pointed; base obtuse, rounded or sometimes acute; leaflet stalks short, smooth; stipules and stipels none.

Inflorescence.—May. In loose panicles from lateral or terminal buds of the previous season's shoots, sterile and fertile flowers for the most part on separate trees, numerous, inconspicuous; calyx in sterile flowers 4-toothed, petals none, stamens 2-4, anthers oblong; calyx in fertile flowers unequally 4-toothed or nearly entire, persistent; petals none, stamens none, pistil 1, style 1, stigma 2-cleft.

Fruit.—Ripening in early fall, and hanging in clusters into the winter; a samara or key 1-2 inches long, body nearly terete, marginless below, dilating from near the tip into a wing two or three times as long as the body.

Horticultural Value.—Hardy throughout New England; prefers a rich, moist, loamy soil, but grows in any well-drained situation; easily transplanted, usually obtainable in nurseries, and can be collected successfully. It is one of the most desirable native trees for landscape and street plantations, on account of its rapid and clean growth, freedom from disease, moderate shade, and richly colored autumn foliage. As the leaves appear late in spring and fall early in autumn, it is desirable to plant with other trees of different habit. Propagated from seed.

Bark.—Trunk dark gray or brown, smooth in young trees, furrowed in old, furrows rather shallower than in the white ash; branches grayish; young shoots greenish-gray with a rusty-velvety or scurfy pubescence lasting often into the second year.

Winter Buds and Leaves.—Buds rounded, dark reddish-brown, more or less downy, smaller than those of the white ash, partially covered by the swollen petiole. Leaves pinnately compound, opposite, 9-15 inches long; petiole short, downy, enlarged at base; leaflets 7-9, opposite, 3-5 inches long, about one half as wide, light green and smooth above, paler and more or less downy beneath; outline extremely variable, ovate, narrow-oblong, elliptical or sometimes obovate, entire or slightly toothed; apex acute to acuminate; base acute or rounded; leaflet stalks short, grooved, downy; stipules and stipels none.

Inflorescence.—May. Similar to that of the white ash.

Fruit.—Ripening in early fall, and hanging in clusters into the winter; samara or key about 1½ inches long; body of the fruit narrowly cylindrical, the edges gradually widening from about the center into linear or spatulate wings, obtuse or rounded at the ends, sometimes mucronate.

Horticultural Value.—Hardy throughout New England; grows readily in any good soil, but prefers a wet or moist, rich loam; almost as rapid growing when young as the white ash, and is not seriously affected by insects or fungous diseases; worthy of a place in landscape plantations and on streets, but not often found in nurseries; propagated from seed.

Fraxinus Pennsylvanica, var. lanceolata, Sarg.

Fraxinus viridis, Michx. f. Fraxinus lanceolata, Borkh.

Green Ash.

River valleys and wet woods.

Maine,—common along the Penobscot river from Oldtown to Bangor; Vermont,—along Lake Champlain; Gardner's island, and the north end of South Hero; Rhode Island (Bailey); Connecticut,—frequent (J. N. Bishop, Report of Connecticut Board of Agriculture, 1895).

The claims to specific distinction rest mainly upon the usual absence of pubescence from the young shoots, leaves and petioles, the color of the leaves (which is bright green above and scarcely less so beneath), the usually more distinct serratures above the center, and a rather more acuminate apex.

Apparently an extreme form of F. pubescens, connected with it by numerous intermediate forms through the entire range of the species.

Fraxinus nigra, Marsh.

Fraxinus sambucifolia, Lam.

Black Ash. Swamp Ash. Basket Ash. Hoop Ash. Brown Ash.

Habitat and Range.—Wet woods, river bottoms, and swamps.

Maine,—common; New Hampshire,—south of the White mountains; Vermont,—common; Massachusetts,—more common in central and western sections; Rhode Island,—infrequent; Connecticut,—occasional throughout.

Habit.—A tall tree reaching a height of 60-80 feet, with a trunk diameter of 1-2 feet; attaining greater dimensions southward. In swamps, when shut in by other trees, the trunk is straight, very slender, scarcely tapering to point of branching, in open situations under favorable conditions forming a large, round, open head. Easily distinguished from the other ashes by its sessile leaflets.

Bark.—Bark of trunk a soft ash-gray, in old trees marked by parallel ridges separating into fine, thin, close flakes; limbs light gray, rough-warted, the smaller with conspicuous leaf-scars; season's shoots olive green, stout; flattened at apex, with small, black, vertical dots.

Winter Buds and Leaves.—Buds roundish, pointed, very dark, the terminal ⅛ inch long. Leaves compound, opposite, 12-15 inches long; stipules none; stem grooved and smooth; leaflets 7-11, more frequently 9, 3-5 inches long, 1½-2 inches wide, green on both sides, lighter beneath and more or less hairy on the veins; outline variable, more usually oblong-lanceolate, sharply serrate; apex acuminate; base obtuse to rounded, sessile except the odd leaflets; stipels none.

Inflorescence.—May. Appearing before the leaves in loose panicles from lateral or terminal buds of the preceding season, sterile and fertile flowers on different trees; bracted; calyx none; petals none.

Fruit.—August to September. Samaras, in panicles, rather more than 1 inch long, rounded at both ends: body entirely surrounded by the wing.

Horticultural Value.—Hardy throughout New England; grows in any good soil, but prefers swamp or wet land. Its very tall, slender habit makes it a useful tree in some positions, but it is not readily obtainable in nurseries and is seldom used. Propagated from the seed.

CAPRIFOLIACEÆ. HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY.

Bark.—Trunk and larger branches dark purplish or reddish brown, separating in old trees into small, firm sections; branchlets grayish-brown; season's shoots reddish-brown, dotted, more or less scurfy.

Winter Buds and Leaves.—Leaf-buds long, narrow, covered with scurfy, brown, leaf-like scales; flower-buds much longer, swollen at the base, with two leaf-like scales extended into a long, spire-like point. Leaves simple, opposite, 2-4 inches long, upper surface bright green, lower paler and set with rusty scales, ovate to oblong-ovate or orbicular, sharply and finely serrate, smooth, tapered or abruptly pointed; base acute to rounded or truncate; stem slender, wavy-margined, channeled above; stipules none.

Inflorescence.—May or early June. Terminal, in broad, flat-topped, compound, sessile cymes; calyx-tube adherent to the ovary, 5-toothed; corolla white, salver-shaped, segments 5, oval, reflexed; stamens 5, projecting, anthers yellow; pistil truncate.

Fruit.—Profuse, in clusters; drupes ½ inch long, oval, crimson when ripening, deep purple when fully ripe, edible, sweet: stone flat, oval, rough, obscurely striate lengthwise.

Horticultural Value.—Hardy throughout New England; prefers a rich soil in open places or in light shade. Its showy flowers, healthy foliage, and vigorous growth make it a desirable plant for high shrub plantations, and as an undergrowth in open woods. Offered for sale by collectors and occasionally by nurserymen; easily transplanted; propagated from seed or from cuttings.

APPENDIX.

Prunus Americana, Marsh.—One clump of small trees in a thicket at Alstead Centre, N. H., has the characteristic spherical fruit of this species. P. nigra, Ait., with oblong, laterally flattened fruit, is abundant. (Rhodora, III, 234.)

Acer Saccharum, Marsh., var. barbatum, Trelease.—Characteristic trees (Cheshire County, N. H.), with small, firm, deep green, three-lobed leaves, appear very distinct, but many transitions are noted between this and the typical Acer Saccharum. (Rhodora, III, 234.)

Acer Saccharum, Marsh., var. nigrum, Britton.—Occasional in alluvium of the Cold river (Cheshire county, N. H.). The large, dark green, "flabby" leaves, with closed sinuses and with densely pubescent petioles and lower surfaces, quickly distinguish this tree from the ordinary forms of the sugar maple. (Rhodora, III. 234.)

Fraxinus Pennsylvanica. Marsh., var. lanceolata, Sarg.—Common along the Connecticut at Walpole, N. H. (M. L. Fernald in lit., September, 1901.)

GLOSSARY.

Compound. See leaf, ovary, etc.

Connate. Similar organs, more or less grown together.

Connective. The part of the anther connecting its two cells.

Coriaceous. Thick, leathery in texture.

Corolla. Leaves of the flower within the calyx.

Corymb. That sort of flower-cluster in which the flower stems arranged along the central axis elongate, forming a broad convex or level top, the flowers opening successively from the outer edge towards the center.

Crenate. Edge with rounded teeth.

Crenulate. Edge with small rounded teeth.

Cyme. Flat-topped or convex flower-cluster, the central flower opening first; blossoming outward.

Deciduous. Falling off, as leaves in autumn, or calyx and corolla before fruit grows.

Declining. Bent downwards.

Decurrent. Leaves prolonged on the stem beneath the insertion: branchlets springing out beneath the point of furcation, as the feathering along the trunk of elms, etc.

Dentate. With teeth pointing outwards.

Disk. Central part of a head of flowers; fleshy expansion of the receptacle of a flower; any rounded, flat surface.

Drupe. A stone fruit; soft externally with a stone at the center, as the cherry and peach.

Erose. Eroded, as if gnawed.

Exserted. Protruding, projecting out of.

Falcate. Scythe-shaped.

Fertile. Flowers containing the pistil, capable of producing fruit. Anthers in such blossoms, if any, are generally abortive.

Fibrovascular. Bundle or tissue, formed of wood fibers, ducts, etc.

Filament. Part of stamen supporting anther.

Fungus. A division of cryptogamous plants, including mushrooms, etc.

Furcation. Branching.

Glabrous. Smooth without hairiness or roughness.

Glandular. Bearing glands or appendages having the appearance of glands.

Glaucous. Covered with a bloom: bluish hoary.

Globose or globous. Spherical or nearly so.

Habit. The general appearance of a plant.

Habitat. The place where a plant naturally grows, as in swamps, in water, upon dry hillsides, etc.

Hybrid. A cross between two species.

Imbricated. Overlapping.

Inflorescence. Mode of disposition of flowers; sometimes applied to the flower-cluster itself.

Involucre. Bracts subtending a flower or a cluster of flowers.

Keeled. Having a central dorsal ridge like the keel of a boat.

Key. A winged fruit; a samara.

Lacerate. Irregularly cleft, as if torn.

Lanceolate. Lance-shaped, broadest above the base, gradually narrowing to the apex.

Leaf. Consisting when botanically complete of a blade, usually flat, a footstalk and two appendages at base of the footstalk; often consisting of blade only.

Leaf, compound. Having two to many distinct blades on a common leafstalk or rachis. These blades may be sessile or have leafstalks of their own.

Leaf, pinnately compound. With the leaflets arranged along the sides of the rachis.

Leaf, palmately compound. With leaflets all standing on summit of petiole.

Leaf-cushions. Organs resembling persistent decurrent footstalks, upon which leaves of spruces, etc., stand; sterigmata.

Leaf-scar. The scar left on the twig where the petiole was attached.

Lenticel. Externally appearing upon the bark as spots, warts, and perpendicular or transverse lines.

Linear. Long and narrow with sides nearly parallel.

Monopetalous. Having petals more or less united.

Mucronate. Abruptly tipped with a small, sharp point.

Nerved. Having prominent unbranched ribs or veins.

Obcordate. Inversely heart-shaped.

Obovate. Ovate with the broader end towards the apex.

Obtuse. Blunt or rounded at the end.

Orbicular. Having a circular or nearly circular outline.

Ovary. The part of the pistil containing the ovules.

Ovoid. A solid with an oval or ovate outline.

Ovuliferous. Bearing ovules.

Panicle. General term for any loose and irregular flower-cluster, commonly of the racemose type, with pedicellate flowers.

Pedicel. The stalk of a single flower in the ultimate divisions of an inflorescence.

Peduncle. The stem of a solitary flower or of a cluster.

Perfect. Having both pistils and stamens.

Perianth. The floral envelope consisting of calyx, corolla, or both.

Persistent. Not falling for a long time.

Petal. A division of the corolla.

Petiole. The stalk of a leaf.

Petiolule. The stalk of a leaflet in a compound leaf.

Pistil. The seed-bearing organ of the flower.

Pistillate. Provided with pistils; usually applied to flowers without stamens.

Pollen. The fertilizing grains contained in the anthers.

Puberulent. Minutely pubescent.

Pubescent. Covered with short soft or downy hairs.

Raceme. A simple cluster of pediceled flowers upon a common axis.

Rachis. The main axis of a compound leaf, of a raceme or of a spike.

Ramification. Branching.

Range. The geographical extent and limits of a species.

Reflexed. Turned backward.

Reticulated. Netted; in the form of a network.

Revolute. Rolled backward from the margin or apex.

Samara. Key fruit; winged fruit, like that of the ash or maple.

Scarf-bark. The thin, outermost layer which often peels off.

Segment. One of the divisions into which a plane organ, such as a leaf, may be divided.

Sepal. A calyx leaf.

Serrate. With teeth inclining forward.

Serrulate. With small teeth inclining forward.

Sessile. Not stalked, as when the leaf blade or flower rests directly upon the twig.

Simple leaf. Not compound, having one blade not jointed with its stem.

Sinuate. Strongly wavy-margined.

Sinus. Interval between two lobes or divisions of a leaf; sometimes sharp-angular, sometimes rounded.

Spatulate. Gradually narrowed downward from a rounded summit.

Spike. A cluster of sessile or nearly sessile lateral flowers on an elongated axis.

Spray. The smaller branches and ultimate branchlets of a tree taken as a whole.

Stamens. The pollen-bearing organs of a flower, each stamen consisting of a filament (stem) and anther which contains the pollen.

Staminate. Having stamens.

Sterile. Variously applied: to flowers with stamens only; to stamens without anthers; to anthers without pollen; to ovaries not producing seed, etc.

Stigma. Part of pistil which receives the pollen.

Stipels. Appendages to a leaflet, analogous to the stipules of a leaf.

Stipules. Appendages of a leaf, usually at the point of insertion.

Striate. Streaked, or very finely ridged lengthwise.

Style. Part of pistil uniting ovary with stigma; often wanting.

Sucker. A shoot of subterranean origin.

Suture. The line of union between parts which have grown together; most often used with reference to the line along which an ovary opens.

Terete. Cylindrical.

Ternate. In threes.

Tomentose. Densely pubescent or woolly.

Truncate. As if cut off at the end.

Umbel. An inflorescence in which the flower stems spring from the same point like the rays of an umbrella.

Verticillate. Arranged in a circle round an axis; whorled.

Villose or villous. With long, soft hairs.

Whorl. Arranged in a circle about an axis.

INDEX.