Railway ties, telegraph poles, posts, fencing, shingles, and boats.
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
19.
Modulus of Elasticity.
750,000.
Modulus of Rupture.
7200.
Remarks.
Trunks so shaped as to be seldom sawn for lumber. Often used for telegraph or other poles, or else thin upper ends are used for posts, and lower section flattened into ties. [p172]
Nomenclature. (Sudworth.)
Canoe Cedar, Giant Arborvitæ (local and common names).
Red Cedar, Giant Red Cedar, Pacific Red Cedar (Wash., Oreg., Cal., Idaho).
Cedar, Giant Cedar, Western Cedar (Oreg., Cal.).
Shinglewood (Idaho).
Locality.
Coast region, California to Alaska, Idaho to Montana.
Features of Tree.
One hundred to two hundred feet in height, two to eleven feet in diameter. Four-sided leaves closely overlapping in sprays.
Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood.
Heartwood dull reddish brown, thin sapwood nearly white. Coarse-grained, compact structure, annual layers distinct.
Structural Qualities of Wood.
Soft, weak, light, brittle, easily worked, very durable.
Representative Uses of Wood.
Shingles, fencing, cooperage, interior finish, canoes (coast Indians).
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
23.
Modulus of Elasticity.
1,460,000.
Modulus of Rupture.
10,600.
Remarks.
Nomenclature. (Sudworth.)
White Cedar (local and common name).
Post Cedar, Swamp Cedar (Del.).
Juniper (Ala., N. C., Va.).
Locality.
Maine to Florida, Gulf coast to Mississippi, best in Virginia and North Carolina.
Features of Tree.
Sixty to eighty feet in height, three to four feet in diameter. Shaggy rugged bark. A graceful tree.
Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood.
Heartwood pinkish to darker brown, sapwood lighter. Close-grained, compact structure, conspicuous layers.
Structural Qualities of Wood.
Very light, soft, not strong, extremely durable in exposed positions, fragrant, easily worked.
Representative Uses of Wood.
Boats, railway ties, fencing, poles, posts, shingles.
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
23 (U. S. Forestry Div.).
20.
Modulus of Elasticity.
910,000 (average of 87 tests by U. S. Forestry Div.).
570,000.
Modulus of Rupture.
6310 (average of 87 tests by U. S. Forestry Div.).
6400.
Remarks.
Grows chiefly in swamps. "White cedar posts" last many years. Thyoides is from Thuya meaning arborvitæ and eidos, the Greek for "resemblance." [p174]
Nomenclature. (Sudworth.)
White Cedar, Oregon Cedar (Oreg., Cal.).
Ginger Pine (Cal.).
Locality.
Pacific coast, California and Oregon.
Features of Tree.
One hundred to sometimes two hundred feet in height, four to twelve (?) feet in diameter. Leaves overlapping in sprays, very small cones one-fourth inch in diameter.
Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood.
Heartwood yellowish white, sapwood similar. Very close-grained.
Structural Qualities of Wood.
Light, hard, strong, durable, easily worked, fragrant, resinous.
Representative Uses of Wood.
Lumber, flooring, interior finish, ties, posts, matches, ship-building.
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
28.
Modulus of Elasticity.
1,730,000.
Modulus of Rupture.
12,600.
Remarks.
Nomenclature. (Sudworth.)
Nootka Cypress, Nootka Sound Cypress (local).
Alaska Cypress, Alaska Ground Cypress (local).
Locality.
Oregon to Alaska.
Features of Tree.
One hundred feet or more in height, three to five feet or more in diameter. Sharp-pointed, overlapping leaves, small globular cones.
Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood.
Heartwood clear light yellow, thin sapwood nearly white. Close-grained, compact structure.
Structural Qualities of Wood.
Light, not strong, brittle, hard, durable in contact with soil, easily worked, receives high polish, fragrant.
Representative Uses of Wood.
Ship-building, furniture, interior finish.
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
29.
Modulus of Elasticity.
1,460,000.
Modulus of Rupture.
11,000.
Remarks.
Nomenclature. (Sudworth.)
Post Cedar, California Post Cedar (local).
Bastard Cedar, Red Cedar, California White Cedar (local).
Juniper (Nevada).
Locality.
California and Oregon.
Features of Tree.
Ninety to one hundred and twenty-five feet in height, occasionally higher, three to six feet in diameter.
Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood.
Heartwood brownish, sapwood lighter. Close-grained, compact structure. Heartwood often pitted. Fragrant.
Structural Qualities of Wood.
Light, brittle, soft, durable.
Representative Uses of Wood.
Flumes, shingles, interior finish.
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
25.
Modulus of Elasticity.
1,200,000.
Modulus of Rupture.
960,000.
Remarks.
Subject to attack by fungus, causing the large oval pits in the heartwood. Disease ceases upon the felling of trees. (von Schrenk Contribution No. 14 Shaw School Botany, St. Louis.) [p177]
| Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa). (Courtesy Doubleday, Page & Co.) | |
| Cypress (Taxodium distichum). (Photograph by Edward J. Davison.) | |
| "Peggy" Cypress Wood. | |
The name cypress has been chiefly applied to trees of the genera Chamæcyparis, Cupressus, and Taxodium. Most species of the genus Chamæcyparis are now called cedars (see page 167). The Cupressus, while true cypresses and important in Europe, have no significance in America. The single species of the genus Taxodium is not a cypress, but supplies the "cypress" wood of American commerce. It is perhaps best to confine the name cypress to the true cypress (Cupressus) and to the commercial cypress (Taxodium).
The true cypress (Cupressus) was once important in the East, and is thought by some to have given the gopher wood of which the Ark was built.[98] Pliny mentions cypress doors good after four hundred years, and a statue good after six hundred years. Herodotus and other ancient authors[99] speak of it. Authorities in the middle ages thought that it would never decay. The cypress gates of the early St. Peter's, removed after one thousand years of service, were found to be in perfect condition.[100] Cypress was much prized for mummy-cases. Living trees long figured as funeral emblems, and are yet planted over graves in Italy and Turkey.[101] The common or evergreen cypress is the chief European species. The eight or nine American representatives are of little note save as they are sometimes used for hedges and ornamentation. The Monterey and Gowan cypresses (Cupressus macrocarpa and Cupressus goveniana) are thus employed. There are small evergreen scale-like leaves. [p178]
The American or Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) is a tree of considerable importance. It grows in the South Atlantic and Gulf States, on submerged lands or in deep swamps where unusual logging methods are necessitated. The seasoned wood resembles white cedar in that it is soft, light, and very durable. It has been called by many names. Pieces were once called black or white cypress according as they sank or floated. All dark pieces are now called black cypress. The tinted woods of some localities are called red or yellow cypress. The name bald cypress was caused by the leafless appearance of the trees in winter. The living trees are subject to a peculiar fungous disease, causing numerous cavities in the wood. These so resemble perforations made by small pegs that the wood is termed "peggy." The trouble ceases as the trees are cut, and the wood is then as durable as that from perfect trees. About one third of the standing supply is thus affected.[102] The roots frequently project upward above the surface in what are known as cypress knees. The single species of this genus may easily be recognized by its deciduous foliage; the little leaves are separated and are not in tufts as with the tamaracks. [p179]
[98] Funk & Wagnalls' Standard Dictionary, quoting Horace Smith, "Gayeties and Gravities," Chapter VII, p. 57.
[99] Pliny 16, 214 and 16, 215; Herodotus 4, 16; Virgil, Georgics, 2, 443.
[100] Encyclopædia Britannica, B. 6, p. 745.
[101] Brockhaus, Konversations-Lexikon, B. 4, p. 654.
[102] U. S. Forestry Circular No. 19 (Dr. B. E. Fernow, Chief).
Nomenclature. (Sudworth.)
White Cypress (N. C., S. C., Fla., Miss.).
Black Cypress (N. C., S. C., Ala., Tex.).
Red Cypress (Ga., Miss., La., Tex.).
Swamp Cypress (La.).
Deciduous Cypress (Del., Ill., Tex.).
Southern Cypress (Ala.).
Locality.
South Atlantic and Gulf States, Maryland through Florida to Texas, Mississippi Valley from southern Illinois to the Gulf. Occasional in North, as New York. Forms forests in swamps and barrens.[103]
Features of Tree.
Seventy to one hundred and fifty feet in height, four to ten feet in diameter. Knees on roots often hollow in old age. Flat deciduous leaves.
Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood.
Heartwood brownish, sapwood nearly white. Close, straight grain. Frequently pitted by disease.
Structural Qualities of Wood.
Light, soft, not strong, durable. Green wood often very heavy.
Representative Uses of Wood.
Carpentry, construction, cooperage, railway ties.
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
29 (U. S. Forestry Div.).[104]
28.
Modulus of Elasticity.
1,290,000 (average of 655 tests by U. S. Forestry Div.).[104]
1,460,000.
Modulus of Rupture.
7900 (average of 655 tests by U. S. Forestry Div.).[104]
9600.
Remarks.
Wood commercially divided into "white" and "black" cypress because of differences in age and environment. Fungus disease pits much wood, but stops with felling of trees.[105] [p180]
[103] See Trans. Am. Inst. M. E., Vol. XXIX, page 157.
[105] Von Schrenk, Contribution No. 14, Shaw School Botany, St. Louis; also U. S. Forestry Circular No. 19.
These trees grow only in California. There are two species: the common redwood (S. sempervirens), noted for its lumber, and the big or mammoth tree (S. washingtoniana), so remarkable for its great size. Geological evidence indicates that the genus was once represented by many species on both hemispheres, but that all disappeared during the glacial period save the two here noted.
The common redwood is a large and perfect tree and supplies a wood suggesting good red cedar. This soft, light, clean, reddish-brown, durable wood works and stands well, is not easily inflamed, and is obtainable in large-sized pieces for use in large constructions. Coffins and shingles are made of it, also large quantities of wooden water-pipe employed for irrigation purposes. The average wood is seen in cheaper forms of indoor finish, while occasional pieces, in which the grain is distorted, are classed as curly redwood and used for costlier decorations.
Big or Mammoth trees have been measured up to three hundred and twenty feet in height and thirty-five feet in diameter (Sargent). They are thus the largest of American trees and the most massive, although not the tallest, of all trees. Specimens twenty-five feet in diameter have been estimated as thirty-six hundred years old, and it is thought that under favorable conditions trees can survive for five thousand years, or even longer. The oldest trees are sound throughout. The almost incombustible bark is nearly two feet in thickness; the wood is brittle, but otherwise resembles ordinary redwood. It should be noted that large exceptional trees are all known, and that most of them have names such as the "Pride of the Forest," the "Grizzly Giant," and the "U. S. Grant." These, with younger trees, are grouped in [p181] the Mariposa, Calavaras, and other groves. Many sawmills are unfortunately engaged on the trees of this species.
| Giant Redwood Tree (S. washingtoniana). (Courtesy Doubleday, Page & Co.) | Redwood Foliage (Sequoia sempervirens). |
| "Curly" Redwood Wood (dissection). |
Redwood trees may be known by their size, locality, and fine, dull, evergreen foliage. The name Sequoia is that of an Indian chief. [p182]
References: "The Big Trees of California," U. S. Forestry Division Bulletin No. 28. Also Mr. Jas. Horsburgh, Jr., Southern Pacific Railway.
Nomenclature. (Sudworth.)
Redwood (local and common name).
Sequoia, California Redwood, Coast Redwood (local).
Locality.
Central and North Pacific coast region.
Features of Tree.
Two hundred to three hundred feet in height, sometimes higher, six to eight and sometimes twenty feet in diameter. Straight, symmetrical trunk. Low branches rare.
Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood.
Thick heartwood red, changing to reddish brown when seasoned; Thin sapwood nearly white. Coarse, straight grain, compact structure, very thick bark.
Structural Qualities of Wood.
Light, not strong, soft, very durable, not resinous, easily worked. Does not burn easily, receives polish.
Representative Uses of Wood.
Timber, shingles, flumes, fence-posts, coffins, railway ties, water-pipes, interior decoration. Bark made into souvenirs.
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
26 (census figure, see page 6).
Modulus of Elasticity.
790,000 (average of 8 Humboldt specimens).[106]
1,140,000 (average of 7 Humboldt specimens).[106]
960,000 (census figure, see page 6).
Modulus of Rupture.
4920 (average of 9 Humboldt specimens).[106]
7138 (average of 7 Mendocino specimens).[106]
8400 (census figure, see page 6).
Remarks.
Pacific coast chief construction wood. Curled or distorted grain adds value for cabinet purposes. [p183]
The Big or Mammoth Tree or Giant Redwood (S. washingtoniana Sudworth and S. gigantea) is the largest tree known. The wood resembling that of S. sempervirens is used locally, see U. S. Forestry Bul. No. 28.
[106] Professor Frank Soulé, Trans. Am. Inst. M. E., California Meeting, 1899. There are several trees of this species near New York City.
A section through a Palm Tree.
A cross-section of Palm wood. (Natural size.)
Endogenous trees are those that increase from within. Their elemental parts are similar to those of exogenous trees but the arrangement of such parts differs in that the newer fibres of the Endogen intermingle with the old, pass through a pith-like tissue, and cause cross-surfaces to appear as dotted, whereas the new material of the Exogen is deposited altogether and upon the outside of the old, their sections exhibiting rings or layers. The Palms, Yuccas, Cornstalks, and Bamboos are of the endogens. Bark is unusual on trees of the series.
Endogenous woods are hardest and most compact at circumferences. The stems of palm trees are solid, but those of some of the grasses, particularly those that grow quickly, are hollow.[107] The tube or canal, when existing, is due to sluggishness on the part of the central pith, which, developing more slowly than the outer tissues, finally ruptures and disappears at the center. There are also more or less permanent joints or knots,[108] such as are made familiar by the canes and bamboos. The stems of Endogenous plants are seldom cut up into lumber, but are used in segments, or else entire, as for troughs or piles.[109] The use of Palm wood must be more or less [p184] limited to the neighborhoods in which such trees flourish, but it is probable that the Bamboo can be much more generally employed.
The Endogens include numerous families and many thousand species.[110] The grasses, including wheat, rye, and Indian corn at the North and sugar-cane and bamboo at the South, belong to this group. Most Endogens are herbs; comparatively few furnish material for structural purposes. The Palms, including the palmetto, rattans, cane palms, and others, the Yucca, including the Joshua tree, Spanish bayonet, and others, and the Bamboos, representatives of the grasses, are thus useful. Endogens are also known as Monocotyledons. [p185]
[107] The Bamboo, which is a grass, is hollow, while the cornstalk, which is also a grass, is not.
[108] The knots of endogens correspond to the nodes of exogens. Spaces between the nodes, known as internodes, mark the annual lengthening. Knots are places whence leaves have emerged.
[109] Palm in marine work appears to repel the teredoe. This is probably because of the porous character of the wood. See "Marine Wood Borers," Trans. Am. Soc. C. E., Vol. XL, pages 195 and 204.
[110] Bastin ("College Botany," p. 379) divides into about fifty natural orders distributed among seven divisions. Warming ("Systematic Botany," pp. 277, 278) divides into seven families corresponding with Bastin's seven divisions. A. Gray divides into twenty-one orders or families. Coulter ("Plants," p. 237) divides into forty families, including twenty thousand species.
| Cabbage Palmetto. (Courtesy N. C. Geological Survey.) | Washington Palm (untrimmed). (Messrs. Doubleday, Page & Co.). | Washington Palm (trimmed). (Los Angeles Chamber Commerce.) |
This is one of the largest and most important orders of plants known to man. The one thousand[111] or more known species are distributed over the tropical and semitropical regions of the entire world. Only a few species, including the palmettos of the Gulf States and the fan palms of California are native in the United States.
Palms have tall, columnar trunks without branches, but with crowns of large leaves at their summits. Their forms and proportions are often magnificent. The wood is soft, light, more or less porous, difficult to work, and not strong. The shapes of trunks sometimes cause them to be locally prized for piles, while the porous qualities of the wood are such as to repel teredo.[112] There are many by-products, as fruit, nuts, oil, etc. The rattan or cane palms of India and the Malayan Islands sometimes grow to a height of two hundred feet and are imported into Europe and America for chair-bottoms and the like.
Sudworth[113] enumerates the following as attaining to the dignity of trees in the United States:
[111] Coulter, "Plants," p. 241.
[112] "Marine Wood Borers," Snow Trans. Am. Soc. C. E., Vol. XL, pp. 195 and 204.
[113] "Check List," U. S. Forestry Bul. No. 17.
A. L. Wallace, "Palm Trees of Amazon and their Uses," London, 1853.
Nomenclature. (Sudworth.)
Cabbage Palmetto, Palmetto (N. C., S. C.).
Cabbage Tree (Miss., Fla.).
Tree Palmetto (La.).
Locality.
Southern Atlantic and Gulf coast, United States (intermittently).
Features of Tree.
Medium size, thirty to forty feet in height, one to two and one-half feet in diameter.
Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood.
Light-brown tint. Characteristic coarse fibre arrangement.
Structural Qualities of Wood.
Light, soft, difficult to work; durable in marine work; repels teredo.
Representative Uses of Wood.
Piles, wharf work, etc.
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
27.
Modulus of Elasticity.
Modulus of Rupture.
Remarks.
Scrubbing-brush "bristles" are made in considerable quantities in Florida from the sheath of young leaves. The inner part of young plants is edible. It is said (N. Y. Evening Post, April 20, 1901) that paper is being manufactured from the leaves of the Palmetto. [p187]
Nomenclature. (Sudworth.)
Fanleaf Palm, Washington Palm, Desert Palm (Cal.).
California Fan Palm, Arizona Palm, Wild Date (Cal.).
Locality.
California.
Features of Tree.
Thirty to sixty feet in height, one and one-half to three feet in diameter. Fan-shaped leaves rising yet farther in tuft from summit; edible fruit.
Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood.
Light greenish yellow to dark red, conspicuous grain.
Structural Qualities of Wood.
Soft, light, shrinks in seasoning, difficult to work.
Representative Uses of Wood.
Ornamental purposes.
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
32.
Modulus of Elasticity.
Modulus of Rupture.
Remarks.
The eighteen species constituting this genus are all American. Twelve of them are found in the southern and western United States, and eight of these are mentioned by Sudworth[114] as arborescent. Several of the Yuccas are cultivated because of their beautiful lily-like flowers. The Tree Yucca or Joshua-tree affords wood.
This last named species produces a short stout trunk, peculiar in that it is covered by thick bark. The soft, spongy wood is sometimes sawn into lumber, made into souvenirs and lately into artificial limbs. An attempt to manufacture it into paper-pulp[115] is said to have failed because of high cost made necessary by the remote position of the industry. Hough notes[116] that trees are sometimes attacked by borers that impregnate the walls of their tunnels with hardening antiseptic solutions, causing such parts to remain after the disappearance of the others. And that these parts are described as "petrified wood," and are prized for fuel since they burn with "little smoke and great heat."
The eight species noted by Sudworth are as follows:
[114] "Check List," U. S. Forestry Bul. No. 17.
[115] South of Mohave Desert in California about twenty years ago.
[116] American Woods, Part VII, p. 57.
Top--By courtesy of Messrs. Doubleday, Page & Co. Photograph by Conaway.
Bottom--Wood of Yucca.
Nomenclature. (Sudworth.)
Joshua-tree, The Joshua, Yucca, Yucca Tree (Utah, Ariz., N. M., Cal.).
Yucca Cactus (Cal.).
Locality.
Central and lower Rocky Mountain region.
Features of Tree.
Twenty-five to forty feet in height, six inches to two feet in diameter.
Thick outer cover or bark.[117]
Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood.
Light brown to white, porous grain.
Structural Qualities of Wood.
Light, soft, spongy, flexible in thin sheets.
Representative Uses of Wood.
Paper-pulp, souvenirs, boxes, book covers, and other small articles.
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
23.
Modulus of Elasticity.
Modulus of Rupture.
Remarks.
Bark is unusual in the case of endogenous trees. Arborescens refers to fact that it is a tree. [p190]
[117] See paragraph Bark, Endogenous Trees, page 55.
The bamboos are giant members of a group (grasses[118]), the other individuals of which, while widely distributed, valued, and very numerous, are for the most part insignificant as to bulk, height, and structural characteristics. The canes and bamboos are exceptions in that they form what may well be called forests, and produce woods used in construction. The Bamboos (Bambusæ), including about twenty genera and two hundred species,[119] are distributed unevenly over the tropical zone.