WeRead Powered by ReaderPub
West Virginia Trees cover

West Virginia Trees

Chapter 79: CUCUMBER TREE
By A. B. Brooks
Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

Nature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

A practical field guide to the native and introduced trees of West Virginia, providing keys based mainly on leaves and fruits, concise family and species descriptions, and detailed line drawings for about 101 native species. It organizes trees by botanical families, gives brief flower notes, a glossary of terms, and suggestions for identifying specimens; occasional introduced species and shrubs are noted. The bulletin emphasizes simplicity for non-specialists, offers measurements and habit descriptions for each species, and includes administrative prefatory material. Its aim is to aid lay readers and students in tree identification and to encourage local interest in forestry.

CUCUMBER TREE

Magnolia acuminata, L.

Form.—Height 50-90 feet, diameter 2-4 feet; trunk long, clear, straight; crown usually pyramidal with spreading lower branches.

Leaves.—Alternate, simple, ovate, 4-12 inches long, apex pointed, entire, thin, smooth above, pale and downy beneath.

Flowers.—April-June; perfect, upright, solitary, bell-shaped, greenish-yellow, about 3 inches long.

Fruit.—Matures in autumn; fleshy, cucumber-shaped, about 2½ inches long, composed of 1-2-seeded carpels; seeds scarlet, drupe-like, attached by slender extensile threads.

Bark.—Grayish-brown, furrowed, with loose scales.

Wood.—Light, soft, close-grained, durable, yellowish, resembling Yellow Poplar, and used for interior finish and other purposes in buildings.

Range.—New York to Georgia, west to Kansas.

Distribution in West Virginia.—With other hardwoods throughout the State. Most plentiful in the mountainous and high hilly sections.

Habitat.—Prefers rich soils of bottoms and hillsides.

Notes.—The Cucumber is valuable as a forest and shade tree and should be propagated for these purposes. It can be distinguished from the other West Virginia magnolias by its smaller leaves, its greenish-yellow flowers, and its usually larger size.