Black locust is not native to Texas, so far as known, but has been widely planted here and has escaped from cultivation. Black locust requires deep, well-drained, moist soil for good growth. It grows indifferently to poorly on well-drained, dry sites. Of late years it has been severely damaged by the locust borer and is no longer recommended for planting in pure stands.
BLACK LOCUST (Leaf and fruit, one-third natural size; twig, two-thirds natural size)
The twigs and branchlets are armed with paired, straight or slightly curved, sharp, strong spines, sometimes as much as 1 inch in length, which remain attached to the outer bark for many years.
The LEAVES are pinnate, or feather-like, from 6 to 10 inches long, with 7 to 19 oblong, thin leaflets.
The FLOWERS are fragrant, white or cream-colored, and appear in graceful pendant racemes.
The FRUIT is a pod from 3 to 5 inches long containing 4 to 8 small hard seeds which ripen late in the fall. The pod splits open during the winter, discharging most of the seeds. Some seeds usually remain attached to each half of the pod.
The WOOD is yellow, coarse-grained, heavy, very hard, strong, and durable in contact with the soil. It is used extensively for fence posts, poles, tree nails, insulator pins, and occasionally for lumber and fuel.
This tree is a native of East Texas and ranges westerly to the valley of the Colorado River and northward to Dallas and Tarrant Counties, and to some extent to the Rio Grande Valley. It is a small tree, seldom over 30 feet in height, with a short trunk usually under 1 foot in diameter. It seems to prefer a well-drained, light, sandy soil, and is often found growing on bluffs near rivers.
HERCULES-CLUB (Leaf and fruit, one-half natural size; spines natural size)
The BARK is the most characteristic feature of this tree. It is gray, and with numerous corky tubercles. The aromatic inner bark, with its strong pungent juice, has given this tree a number of local names, such as “tingle-tongue”, and “toothache tree.” The inner bark was a favorite in old-time home remedies for the relief of toothache.
The LEAVES are compound, 5 to 8 inches long, with 7 to 17 ovate, toothed, bright green leaflets.
The small, pale green FLOWERS, borne in loose, wide-branched cymes, 4 to 5 inches long and 2 to 3 inches wide, bloom in early spring when the leaves are almost half grown. The small FRUIT, a one-seeded carpel, ripens in early summer. The seeds hang outside the carpels and are eaten by birds.
The soft, light brown WOOD has no special known value.
A variety, fruiticosum (A. Gray) S. Wats., is a shrubby form found in West Texas. It has short, often 3-foliate, pubescent leaves and blunt, leathery leaflets.
This small tree or large shrub is found scattered over the eastern portion of the state. The bark and leaves are bitter and strong-scented and possess tonic qualities.
The hoptree has a straight, slender trunk 6 to 8 inches in diameter and seldom reaches a height of more than 20 feet.
COMMON HOPTREE (Fruit, three-fourths natural size; leaf, one-third natural size)
The LEAVES are composed of 3 leaflets, sometimes 5, each of which is oval or pear-shaped and pointed, about 4 to 6 inches long and 2 to 3 inches wide, and dark green on the upper surface. The central leaflet is the largest.
The FRUIT consists of a small, round, 2-seeded, winged “key” or “samara”, resembling somewhat the familiar paper caps for toy pistols. The seeds occur in dense drooping clusters and hang on the tree over winter.
The WOOD is heavy, hard, yellowish-brown, and close-grained. The shrub is often planted as an ornamental.
Shining sumac is found growing naturally west to the San Antonio River. It is more commonly a shrub than a tree and grows in clumps and thickets around the edges of the fields and in other open places. The leaves turn crimson in the fall and add a vivid note to the autumn coloring. The tree spreads by means of shallow root-runners.
The BARK is almost smooth, with horizontal splashes of light and dark gray, and many small excrescences. This papery outer bark cracks at irregular intervals, exposing spots of reddish-brown beneath.
SHINING SUMAC (Leaf and fruit one-half natural size)
The compound LEAVES are alternate, 6 to 8 inches long, with 9 to 21 small ovate-lanceolate leaflets, glossy green above, downy beneath. This sumac is easily distinguished from others by the fact that the leaf rachis is winged. The leaves are rich in tannin, and are used in large quantities for curing leather, and for the manufacture of dyes.
The tiny, pale green FLOWERS are borne in compact conical, panicles in July. Male and female flowers are borne on separate trees. The small FRUIT is red, covered with short hairs, and has an acid taste. The fruits cling, and are eaten by birds in late winter.
The reddish-brown WOOD is soft, light, and coarse-grained.
PRAIRIE SUMAC (R. lanceolata [A. Gray] Britton) is found on the prairies of eastern Texas to the valley of the Rio Grande, often forming thickets on the banks of small streams. This species is distinguished by its narrow, acute leaflets and its larger flowers and fruit.
All parts of this beautiful plant give off toxic oils that may irritate and blister the skin like the oils of poison ivy. Poison-sumac may grow as a shrub with several clustered stems, or as a tree occasionally 25 feet high with a trunk 5 to 6 inches in diameter. The slender, smooth branchlets are at first reddish-brown with orange-colored lenticels, later becoming light gray and marked with elevated and conspicuous leaf-scars.
POISON-SUMAC (Leaf, one-half natural size; fruit often larger)
The compound, alternate LEAVES are quite different from those of other sumacs, shaped more like those of ash, for which reason it is often called “poison ash.” The leaf-stems are always reddish, and usually quite conspicuous. The leaves are 7 to 14 inches long, with 7 to 13 ovate-oblong leaflets, 3 to 4 inches long. The leaflets are bright green above, paler beneath, usually with a red midrib.
The small FLOWERS are borne in panicles much less compact than those of other sumacs. The FRUIT is a lustrous white drupe, born in slender, drooping panicles. The fruit matures in September and is eaten by birds and rabbits. The sap can be used to make a black, durable varnish.
American holly is found on rich, moist soils of bottomlands in East Texas and westward to Wilson County. A tree often 50 feet high, frequently attains heights of 80 to 100 feet and diameters up to 4 feet. A large specimen may be seen at the Texas Forest Service’s Indian Mound Nursery near Alto.
AMERICAN HOLLY (Leaf and fruit, two-thirds natural size)
The BARK is light gray and roughened by wart-like growths. The numerous, short, slender branches form a dense pyramidal head of striking dark green color which is more pronounced when the conspicuous red drupes are present.
The LEAVES are simple, alternate, rather oval, thick and leathery, 2 to 4 inches long and usually armed with spiny teeth. They remain on the branches three years, dropping off in the spring.
The FLOWERS are small and whitish; male and female flowers are usually borne on separate trees. The FRUIT, ripening late in the fall on the trees bearing female flowers, is dull red or sometimes yellow, round or somewhat oval-shaped berry-like drupe about ¼ inch in diameter and with 4 to 6 grooved, ribbed nutlets.
The WOOD is light, tough, not strong, white when cut, turning brown when aged. Valued and much used for cabinet making, interior finish, and turnery. Many of the largest and best holly trees have been cut and marketed.
Holly is a highly desirable Christmas decoration and a desirable ornamental tree for yards. Wild holly is becoming scarce. Excessive cuttings should be avoided.
This close relative of the American holly is found in East Texas to Matagorda Bay, Rio Blanco and the Guadalupe River, and north to southern Arkansas. On the rich bottomlands of eastern Texas, yaupon is a small tree, 20 to 25 feet high with a trunk rarely over 6 inches in diameter; elsewhere it is a shrub.
The LEAVES are 1 to 2 inches long, ¼ to 1 inch wide, thick, glossy green above, paler below, and persistent for 2 or 3 years.
YAUPON (Two-thirds natural size)
The FLOWERS, male and female, are borne on separate plants. The FRUIT, a scarlet berry-like drupe, is produced in great abundance by the female plant.
The WOOD is of little value except for fuel.
Yaupon is used in the South as a hedge plant, and is much prized for Christmas decorations. A tea made from leaves was once popular with the Indians. The plant is now grown on the Atlantic Coast for the commercial production of yaupon tea for medicinal purposes.
I. decidua Walt. known as POSSUM HAW (WINTER BERRY) is similar to yaupon, but the leaves shed in the fall; the fruits, which remain over winter, are orange to orange-scarlet in color.
Silver, or soft, maple is found on moist land and along streams in the extreme eastern part of the state. In its best region of growth, the valley of the lower Ohio River, it attains heights of 100 feet or more and diameters of 3 feet or over.
SILVER MAPLE (Twig and fruit, one-half natural size; leaf, one-third natural size)
The BARK on old trunks is dark gray and broken into long flakes or scales. The twigs are slender, brittle, reddish-brown, and shiny.
The buds are rounded, red or reddish-brown, blunt-pointed, generally like those of red maple.
The simple, opposite LEAVES have from 3 to 5 lobes ending in long points with toothed margins and separated by deep angular sinuses or openings; the leaves are pale green on the upper surface, silvery-white underneath, and have a red petiole.
The FLOWERS arising from the large prominent flower buds are a greenish-yellow color and appear in clusters in the spring before the leaves. The FRUIT ripens in the spring and consists of a pair of wing samaras or “keys” with wings 1 to 2 inches long on a slender, flexible, thread-like peduncle about an inch long.
The WOOD is soft, weak, even-textured, rather brittle, easily worked, and decays readily when exposed. It is occasionally used for flooring, furniture and fuel.
The silver maple grows rapidly and has been planted in Texas as a shade tree. It is somewhat undesirable because of its brittleness and susceptibility to insects and fungus diseases.
Red maple is abundant in low moist areas in the eastern part of the state. It is usually a medium-sized tree, quick-growing, and relatively short-lived. It is used as a shade tree, though of inferior quality for this purpose. The BARK is smooth and light gray on young limbs and trunks, and dark gray and rough on old limbs and trunks.
The LEAVES are 2 to 5 inches long and have from 3 to 5 pointed, saw-toothed lobes separated by sharp angular sinuses or openings. The upper leaf surface when mature is light green, the lower surface whitish and partly covered with pale down. In autumn the leaves turn to brilliant shades of red, orange, and yellow.
RED MAPLE (Leaf and fruit, one-third natural size; twig, one-half natural size)
The red FLOWERS appear in dense clusters in early spring before the leaves, the buds turning a deep red sometimes before they open. The winter buds are small, red, and round or blunt-pointed. The FRUIT ripens in the late spring or early summer. It consists of pairs of winged samaras, or keys, ½ to 1 inch in length, on a long drooping peduncle (fruit stem), red, reddish-brown, or yellow in color.
The WOOD, known commercially as soft maple, is heavy, close-grained, rather weak, and of a light brown color. It is used in the manufacture of furniture, and for turnery, woodenware, and fuel.
Boxelder, the only Texas maple with compound leaves, is a native of eastern and southern Texas to the lower Rio Blanco River. It is generally found on the banks of streams and lakes and the borders of swamps. It grows rapidly, making a quick shade, and is quite shapely. The branches are brittle and break easily. The tree is short-lived and rather subject to disease. It sometimes attains a height of 50 to 60 feet, with a trunk 2 feet in diameter, but is usually smaller.
BOXELDER (Leaf and fruit, one-third natural size; twig, two-thirds natural size)
The BARK of the twigs is green; of the trunk grayish-brown, divided into broad, rounded ridges, and separating on the surface into short, thick scales.
The LEAVES are opposite, compound, usually with 5 leaflets, occasionally 3 or 7. The leaflets are 2 to 4 inches long, coarsely and irregularly toothed, light green above, paler beneath.
The tiny FLOWERS are borne in drooping clusters. The FRUIT is like that of the other maples, green, turning light tan when mature. Unlike the seeds of other maples, they cling until after the leaves are shed.
The WOOD is creamy-white, light, and soft and weak but close-grained. It is sometimes used in other states for the manufacture of low grade furniture and interior finish; it is also used for woodenware, cooperage, and paper pulp.
Ohio buckeye occurs as far west as eastern Texas along streams in rich soils. Though often only a shrub, it becomes a medium-sized tree in rich alluvial bottoms. Its leaves and fruit are poisonous to stock.
The BARK is white and, on old trees, divided or broken into light brown flat scales, which make the stems of the tree rough; the bark is ill-smelling when bruised.
OHIO BUCKEYE (Twig, two-thirds natural size; nut, one-third natural size; leaf, one-fourth natural size)
The LEAVES are opposite, palmately compounded, with 5 to 7 smooth, pale green leaflets, ill-smelling when bruised. The leaves usually turn yellow during the summer.
The FLOWERS are cream-colored and appear in clusters, 5 to 8 inches long, in April or May.
The FRUIT is generally rounded, pale brown, generally thin-walled, roughened with blunt prickles or warts, and breaking into 2 to 3 valves, disclosing the bright shiny seeds 1 to 1½ inches wide.
The WOOD is light, soft and weak, and decays rapidly when exposed. It is used for woodenware, artificial limbs, paper pulp, lumber, and fuel.
Aesculus pavia L., the RED BUCKEYE, is found as a shrub in Comal and Wilson Counties and is common through eastern Texas to Bexar and Kendall Counties, as a shrub 9 to 12 inches high. This species was formerly classified as A. discolor Parsh and A.d. var. Mollis (Raf.) Sarg.
This species, sometimes called Indian soap plant, grows on moist clay soils or dry limestone uplands. It ranges through eastern Texas to New Mexico and the Rio Grande, becoming a tree 40 to 50 feet high and 1 to 2 feet in diameter, with usually erect branches, and branchlets at first slightly many-angled.
WESTERN SOAPBERRY (Leaf, two-fifths natural size; fruit, one-third natural size)
The BARK is broken by deep fissures into long narrow plates which in turn are broken on the surface into small red-brown scales.
The LEAVES appearing in March or April, bear 4 to 9 pairs of alternate, opposite or both, lance-shaped leaflets which are pale, yellow-green, about 2½ inches long and ½ to ⅔ inch wide. The leaves fall in autumn or early winter.
The FLOWERS are whitish, in large, dense panicles.
The FRUIT, round yellow berries, ½ inch in diameter, and containing dark brown seeds, ripen in September and October and fall in the spring.
The WOOD is heavy, strong, close-grained, light brown tinged with yellow. It splits easily into thin strips and is used for cotton basket and the frames of pack saddles.
Three species of basswood are reported to grow in Texas from the Arkansas line to the Brazos River and westward to Uvalde, Kerr and Bandera Counties, usually on rich, moist soils. They are rarely over 50 feet tall and 12 inches in diameter.
The BARK is light brown and deeply furrowed.
AMERICAN BASSWOOD (Leaf and fruit, one-third natural size; twig, one-half natural size)
The LEAVES are more or less heart-shaped, 3 to 6 inches long, thin, saw-toothed, smooth on both sides in some species, but woolly on the under surface of others.
The fragrant FLOWERS, a favorite of bees, are yellowish-white, in drooping clusters opening in early summer, and the flower-stem is united to the middle of a long, narrow, leaf-like bract.
The FRUIT, a dry, 1 to 2-seeded nut-like drupe, ¼ to ½ inch in diameter, is covered with short, thick, gray-brown wool. It remains attached in clusters to the leafy bract, which later acts as a wing to bear the fruit away in the wind.
The WOOD is light, soft, tough, not durable, and light brown in color. It is used in states where the growth is better for the manufacture of pulp, woodenware, furniture, trunks, excelsior, and many other articles. The principal use of basswoods in Texas is for shade and ornament.
This tree, a native of Northeast Texas, is armed from the ground up with many sharp spines, a characteristic that has given the tree many names such as Hercules-club, prickly-elder, and prickly-ash. The last name properly belongs to another tree. Devils-walkingstick possesses sufficient beauty to compensate for its spitefulness. The tree is usually small, but occasionally attains a height of 30 feet, the leaves forming a flat-topped, spreading crown.
DEVILS-WALKINGSTICK (Branch, one-half natural size; leaf and fruit greatly reduced)
The brown BARK is divided by broad shallow fissures into circular, horizontal ridges. The sharp spines along its trunk best identify this tree.
The LEAVES are doubly compounded, or bi-pinnate, the main rachis (leaf-stem) 3 or 4 feet long, clasping the stem with an enlarged base, and leaving conspicuous scars when they fall. The oval leaflets are toothed, pointed, dark green above and paler beneath. They turn yellow in autumn.
In mid-summer each plant bears one immense panicle of small, white FLOWERS, which rises well above the leaves. The tree presents its most striking appearance in autumn when the small black FRUIT ripens, for the fruit-stems turn a rich wine-red. Birds eat the juicy drupes. The WOOD is of no commercial importance.
Black gum, often called sour gum, is found in eastern Texas to the valley of the Brazos River; usually in swampy wet soil, but sometimes on dry slopes with the oaks.
The BARK on younger trees is furrowed between flat ridges, and gradually develops into quadrangular blocks that are dense, hard, and nearly black.
BLACK TUPELO (Twig, leaf, and fruit one-half natural size)
The LEAVES are simple, 2 to 3 inches long, entire, obovate to elliptic, shiny, and dark green in color. In the fall the leaves turn brilliant red.
The greenish FLOWERS on long, slender peduncles appear in early spring when the leaves are about one-third grown. They are usually of two kinds, the male in many-flowered heads, and the female in two or several-flowered clusters on different trees. The FRUIT is drupe-like, dark blue ⅔ inch long, containing a single hard-shelled stone, and is borne 2 to 3 in a cluster on 1 to 2½-inch peduncles.
The WOOD is very tough, cross-grained, not durable in contact with the soil, hard to work, and warps easily. Once considered a weed tree, the species is now valuable for basket veneer, box boards, and paper pulp. In the old days, the hollow trunks were used for “bee-gums.”
Swamp tupelo (N. s. var. biflora [Walt.] Sarg.), found mainly on the Coastal Plain, has narrowly obovate to narrowly oblanceolate leaves and fruiting peduncles ⅜ to 1⅜ inches long. The base of the trunk is swollen when submerged.
Water tupelo is found only in deep river swamps or coastal swamps which are often flooded. The commonly enlarged base, large-sized fruit, hanging on a long peduncle (stem), and the brittleness of the twigs, serve to distinguish this species from the black gum. It forms a tall, often slowly tapering somewhat crooked trunk 50 to 75 feet in height and 2 to 3 feet in diameter. The spreading small branches form a narrow, oblong or pyramidal head. The branches are generally smooth and light brown in color. The BARK of the trunk is thin, dark brown and furrowed up and down the trunk.
WATER TUPELO (Leaf and fruit, one-third natural size; twig, two-thirds natural size)
The LEAVES are simple, ovate or oblong in shape, acute and often long-pointed. When mature they are thick, dark green and lustrous on the upper side, pale and somewhat downy on the lower side, 5 to 7 inches long and 2 to 4 inches wide, wedge-shaped at the base, and entire or irregularly toothed on the margin. The petiole is stout, 1 to 2 inches long, grooved, and enlarged at the base.
The FLOWERS, which appear in March or April are of two kinds, usually borne on separate trees, the male flowers in dense round clusters, and the female flowers solitary.
The FRUIT, ripening in early fall, is a dark purple drupe, oblong or obovate in shape, about 1 inch long, with a thick, tough skin enclosing a flattened stone, and borne on a slender peduncle 3 to 4 inches long.
The WOOD is light, soft, and not strong. It is used for woodenware, broom handles, fruit and vegetable baskets, marketed as tupelo or bay poplar lumber, and paper pulp.
Dogwood grows in the forests of eastern Texas, usually under the larger forest trees. It is a small tree, up to 30 feet high and 12 inches in diameter, occasionally larger, with a rather flat and spreading crown and short, often crooked trunk.
FLOWERING DOGWOOD (Leaf and fruit, one-half natural size; twig, two-thirds natural size)
The BARK is reddish-brown to black and broken up into small 4-sided, scaly blocks.
The LEAVES are opposite, ovate, 3 to 5 inches long, 2 to 3 inches wide, pointed, entire or wavy on the margin, prominently veined, bright green above, pale green or grayish beneath.
The FLOWERS, which unfold from the conspicuous, round, grayish, winter flower buds before the leaves come out, are small, greenish-yellow, arranged in dense heads surrounded by large white or pinkish petal-like bracts, which appear like large spreading flowers 2 to 4 inches across.
The FRUIT is a bright scarlet drupe one-half an inch long and containing a hard, two-celled nutlet containing 1 or 2 seeds. Usually several fruits are contained in one head, and are relished by birds, squirrels, and other animals.
The WOOD is hard, heavy, strong, close-grained, and brown to red in color. It is in demand for cotton-mill machinery, turnery, handles, and forms.
With its masses of early spring flowers, its dark red autumn foliage, and bright red berries, dogwood is probably our most ornamental native tree. It should be used more extensively in eastern Texas for ornamental planting.