COTTONWOOD
Leaf, one-third natural size.       Twig, one-third natural size.

The leaves are simple, alternate, broadly triangular, pointed and coarse toothed on the edges, 3 to 5 inches across, thick and firm supported by flattened slender petioles, 2 to 3 inches long. The winter buds are large and covered with chestnut-brown shining resinous scales.

The flowers are in catkins, of two kinds, on different trees and appear before the leaves. The fruit ripens in late spring, appearing as long drooping strings of ovoid capsules filled with small seeds. These strings of fruit, 5 to 8 inches long, give to the tree the name of “necklace poplar.” The seeds are covered with white cottony hairs.

The bark is deeply divided into broad flat ridges, often becoming shaggy. The twigs, brittle at the base, are glabrous or pubescent, bright red-brown becoming darker with age. The winter buds are ⅛ inch long, covered with a single smooth scale. The wood is soft, light, close-grained, light brown and weak. It is often used in the manufacture of artificial limbs.

The alternate simple leaves are 3 to 6 inches long, and one-half inch wide on very short petioles; the tips are much tapered and the margins are finely toothed. They are bright green on both sides, turning pale yellow in the early autumn. The flowers are in catkins, appearing with the leaves, borne on separate trees. The staminate flowers of the black willow have 3 to 5 stamens each, while the white willow has flowers with 2 stamens.

BLACK WALNUT
Leaf, one-fifth natural size.      Twig, three-quarters natural size.

THIS valuable forest tree occurs on rich bottom lands and on moist fertile hillsides throughout the State. The black walnut is found from Massachusetts westward to Minnesota and southward to Florida and Texas. In the forest, where it grows singly, it frequently attains a height of 100 feet with a straight stem, clear of branches for half its height. In open-grown trees, the stem is short and the crown broad and spreading.

The bark is thick, dark brown in color, and divided by rather deep fissures into rounded ridges. The twigs have cream-colored chambered pith and leaf-scars without downy pads above.

The leaves are alternate, compound, 1 to 2 feet long, consisting of from 15 to 23 leaflets of yellowish-green color. The leaflets are about 3 inches long, extremely tapering at the end and toothed along the margin.

The fruit is a nut, borne singly or in pairs, and enclosed in a solid green husk which does not split open, even after the nut is ripe. The nut itself is black with a very hard, thick, finely ridged shell, enclosing a rich, oily kernel edible and highly nutritious.

The heartwood is of superior quality and value. It is heavy, hard and strong, and its rich chocolate-brown color, freedom from warping and checking, susceptibility to a high polish, and durability make it highly prized for a great variety of uses, including furniture, cabinet work, and gun-stocks. Walnut is easily propagated from the nuts and grows rapidly on good soil, where it should be planted and grown for timber and nuts. It is the most valuable tree found in the forests of Illinois and originally grew extensively throughout the State.

BUTTERNUT
Twig, one-half natural size.      Leaf, one-third natural size.

The bark differs from that of the black walnut in being light gray on branches and on the trunk of small trees, becoming darker on large trees. This tree may also be distinguished from black walnut by the velvet collars just above the scars left by last year’s leaves. The twigs have chocolate-brown chambered pith and bear obliquely blunt winter buds somewhat flattened, brownish and hairy.

The compound leaves are 15 to 30 inches long, each with 11 to 17 sharp-pointed, oblong, finely toothed leaflets 2 to 3 inches long.

The staminate and pistillate flowers are on the same tree, the former in long yellowish-green drooping catkins and the latter are short with red-fringed stigmas.

The fruit is a nut enclosed in an oblong, somewhat pointed, yellowish-green husk, about 2 inches long, which is covered with short, rusty, clammy, sticky hairs. The nut has a rough, grooved shell and an oily, edible kernel.

The wood is light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, light brown, and takes a good polish. It is used for interior finish of houses and for furniture. A yellow or orange dye can be made from the husks of the nuts.

BITTERNUT HICKORY
Twig, one-half natural size.      Leaf, one-third natural size.

The bark on the trunk is granite-gray, faintly tinged with yellow and smoother than in most of the hickories, yet broken into thin plate-like scales. The winter buds are compressed, scurfy, and of a bright yellow color.

The leaves are alternate, compound, from 6 to 10 inches long, and composed of from 7 to 11 leaflets. The individual leaflets are smaller and more slender than those of the other hickories.

The flowers are of two kinds on the same tree; the staminate in long pendulous green catkins, the pistillate in 2 to 5 flowered spikes, ½ inch long, brown-hairy. The fruit is about 1 inch long and thin-husked, while the nut is usually thin-shelled and brittle, and the kernel very bitter.

The wood is hard, strong and heavy, reddish-brown in color. From this last fact it gets its local name of red hickory. It is said to be somewhat inferior to the other hickories, but is used for the same purposes.

PECAN
One-quarter natural size.

The leaves resemble those of the other hickories and the black walnut. They are made up of 9 to 17 leaflets, each oblong, toothed and long-pointed, and 4 to 8 inches long by about 2 inches wide.

The flowers appear in early spring and hang in tassels from 2 to 3 inches long. The fruit is a nut, 4-winged or angled, pointed from 1 to 2 inches long, and one-half to 1 inch in diameter, borne in a husk which divides along its grooved seams when the nut ripens in the fall. The nuts, which vary in size and in the thickness of the shell, have been greatly improved by selection and cultivation and are sold on the market in large quantities.

The wood is strong, tough, heavy and hard and is used occasionally in making handles, parts for vehicles, for fuel and for veneers.

SHAG-BARK HICKORY
Leaf, one-third natural size.      Twig, one-half natural size.

The bark of the trunk is rougher than other hickories, light gray and separating into thick plates which are only slightly attached to the tree. The terminal winter buds are egg-shaped, the outer bud-scales having narrow tips.

The leaves are alternate, compound, from 8 to 15 inches long, and composed of 5, rarely 7 obovate to ovate leaflets. The twigs are smooth or clothed with short hairs.

The fruit is borne singly or in pairs and is globular. The husk is thick and deeply grooved at the seams. The nut is much compressed and pale, the shell thick, and the kernel sweet. The flowers are of two kinds, opening after the leaves have attained nearly their full size.

The wood is heavy, hard, tough and strong; it is white largely in the manufacture of agricultural implements and tool handles, and the building of carriages and wagons. For fuel the hickories are the most satisfactory of our native trees.

MOCKERNUT HICKORY
Leaf, one-fifth natural size.      Twig, two-thirds natural size.

The bark is dark gray, hard, closely and deeply furrowed often apparently cross-furrowed or netted. The winter buds are large, round or broadly egg-shaped and covered with a downy growth.

The leaves are large, strong-scented and hairy, composed of 7 to 9 obovate to oblong, pointed leaflets which turn a beautiful yellow in the fall.

The flowers, like those of all other hickories, are of two kinds on the same tree; the staminate in three-branched catkins, the pistillate in clusters of 2 to 5. The fruit is oval, nearly round or slightly pear-shaped with a very thick, strong-scented husk which splits nearly to the base when ripe. The nut is of various forms, but sometimes 4 to 6 ridged, light brown, and has a very thick shell and small, sweet kernel.

The wood is heavy, hard, tough and strong; it is white excepting the comparatively small, dark-brown heart, hence the name white hickory. It is used for vehicle parts and handles. It furnishes the best of fuel. This and other hickories are very desirable both for forest and shade trees.

PIGNUT HICKORY
Leaf, one-third natural size.      Twig, one-half natural size.

The bark is close, ridged and grayish, but occasionally rough and flaky. The twigs are thin, smooth and glossy brown.

The leaves are smooth, 8 to 12 inches long and composed of 5 to 7 leaflets. The individual leaflets are rather small and narrow.

The winter buds are ½ inch long, egg-shaped, polished, and light brown.

The fruit is pear-shaped or rounded, usually with a neck at the base, very thin husks splitting only half way to the base or not at all. The nut is smooth, light brown in color, rather thick-shelled, and has a somewhat astringent edible kernel.

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, tough and flexible. Its uses are the same as those of the other hickories.

BLUE BEECH
Leaf, one-half natural size.      Twig, one-half natural size.

The trunk is smooth fluted with irregular ridges extending up and down the tree. The bark is light brownish-gray to dark bluish-gray in color, sometimes marked with dark bands extending horizontally on the trunk.

The leaves are simple, alternate, oval, long-pointed, doubly-toothed along the margin, 2 or 3 inches in length. They resemble those of the American elm, but are smaller and thinner.

The flowers, appearing after the leaves, are borne in catkins separately on the same tree; the staminate catkins are about 1½ inches long, the pistillate being only ¾ of an inch long with small leaf-like green scales each bearing 2 pistils with long scarlet styles.

The fruit ripens in midsummer, but often remains on the tree long after the leaves have fallen. It is a nutlet about ⅓ of an inch long, attached to a leaf-like halberd-shaped bract which acts as a wing in aiding its distribution by the wind.

The wood is tough, close-grained, heavy and strong. It is sometimes selected for use for levers, tool handles, wooden cogs, mallets, wedges, etc.

HOP HORNBEAM
Twig, one-half natural size.      Leaf, one-third natural size.

The bark is mostly light brown or reddish-brown, and finely divided into thin scales by which the tree, after a little acquaintance, can be easily recognized.

The leaves are simple, alternate, generally oblong with narrowed tips, sharply toothed along the margin, sometimes doubly toothed, from 2 to 3 inches long.

The flowers are of two kinds on the same tree; the staminate in drooping catkins which form the previous summer, the pistillate, in erect catkins on the newly formed twigs. The fruit, which resembles that of common hop vine, consists of a branch of leafy bracts 1 to 2 inches long containing a number of flattened ribbed nutlets.

The wood is strong, hard, durable, light brown to white, with thick pale sapwood. It is often used for fence posts, handles of tools, mallets and other small articles.

RIVER BIRCH
Two-thirds natural size.

The bark provides a ready means of distinguishing this tree. It varies from reddish-brown to cinnamon-red in color, and peels back in tough papery layers. These layers persist on the trunk, presenting a very ragged and quite distinctive appearance. Unlike the bark of our other birches, the thin papery layers are usually covered with a gray powder. On older trunks, the bark on the main trunk becomes thick, deeply furrowed and of a dark reddish-brown color.

The leaves are simple, alternate, 2 to 3 inches long, more or less oval in shape, with double-toothed edges. The upper surface is dark green and the lower a pale yellowish-green.

The flowers are in catkins, the two kinds growing on the same tree. The fruit is cone-shaped about 1 inch long, and densely crowded with little winged nutlets that ripen from May to June.

The wood is strong and fairly close-grained. It has been used to some extent in the manufacture of woodenware, in turnery and for wagon hubs.

BEECH
One-half natural size.

The bark is, perhaps, the most distinctive characteristic, as it maintains an unbroken light gray surface throughout its life. So tempting is this smooth expanse to the owner of a jack-knife that the beech has been well designated the “initial tree.”

The simple, oval leaves are 3 to 4 inches long, pointed at the tip and coarsely toothed along the margin. When mature, they are almost leathery in texture. The beech produces a dense shade. The winter buds are long, slender and pointed.

The little, brown, three-sided beech-nuts are almost as well known as chestnuts. They form usually in pairs in a prickly bur. The kernel is sweet and edible, but so small as to offer insufficient reward for the pains of biting open the thin-shelled husk.

The wood of the beech is very hard, strong, and tough, though it will not last long on exposure to weather or in the soil. It is used to some extent for furniture, flooring, carpenter’s tools, and novelty wares and extensively in southern Illinois for railroad ties and car stock.

WHITE OAK
Twig, one-third natural size.      Leaf, one-quarter natural size.

The leaves are alternate, simple 5 to 9 inches long and about half as broad. They are deeply divided into 5 to 9 rounded, finger-like lobes. The young leaves are a soft silvery-gray or yellow or red while unfolding, becoming later bright green above and much paler below. The flowers appear with the leaves, the staminate are in hairy catkins 2-3 inches long, the pistillate are sessile in axils of the leaves.

The fruit is an acorn maturing the first year. The nut is ¾ to 1 inch long, light brown, about one-quarter enclosed in the warty cup. It is relished by hogs and other livestock. The bark is thin, light ashy-gray and covered with loose scales or broad plates.

The wood is useful and valuable. It is heavy, strong, hard, tough, close-grained, durable, and light brown in color. The uses are many, including construction, shipbuilding, tight cooperage, furniture, wagons, implements, interior finish, flooring, and fuel. Notwithstanding its rather slow growth, white oak is valuable for forest, highway and ornamental planting.