Part 24

Twigs: Slender, brown, smooth or hairy, usually with lenticels; leaf scars alternate, half-elliptic, with 1 bundle trace.

Buds: More or less rounded, smooth, dark reddish-brown, up to ⅛ inch long.

Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades elliptic to oval, pointed at the tip, tapering or rounded at the base, up to 5 inches long and about half as broad, smooth along the edges, dark green, smooth, and shiny on the upper surface, paler and smooth on the lower surface; leafstalks stout, up to 1 inch long, smooth or sparsely hairy.

Flowers: Staminate and pistillate usually borne on separate trees, appearing after the leaves are half grown, the staminate in clusters of 2-3, tubular, up to ½ inch long, the pistillate solitary, ½ to ¾ inch long. Sometimes flowers with both stamens and pistils can be found.

Fruit: Fleshy, spherical, but with the greenish calyx persistent at one end, yellow-orange to orange (rarely blue), up to 2 inches in diameter, sweet when ripe, few-seeded.

Wood: Heavy, hard, the heartwood nearly black.

Uses: Golf club heads, billiard cues.

Habitat: Dry woods, rich bottomland woods, edge of fields, fence rows.

Range: Connecticut across to southern Iowa and eastern Kansas, south to eastern Texas, east to Florida.

Distinguishing Features: The leaves of the Persimmon are most often confused with those of the Sour Gum, but usually the tip is not as abruptly pointed in the Persimmon. The pith of the Persimmon also lacks the distinct partitions found in the Sour Gum.

BEECH Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.

Growth Form: Large tree to nearly 100 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 4 feet; crown widely spreading, usually rounded.

Bark: Smooth, gray, thin, often marred by human carving.

Twigs: Gray or yellowish, slender, smooth, more or less zigzag; leaf scars alternate, half-round, with 3 bundle traces.

Buds: Slender, narrow, long-pointed, smooth, reddish-brown, up to ¾ inch long.

Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades up to 4 inches long and 2½ inches broad, oblong, pointed at the tip, rounded or tapering to the somewhat asymmetrical base, coarsely toothed along the edges, blue-green to yellow-green, smooth and shiny on the upper surface, smooth or finely hairy on the lower surface; leaf stalk very short, sometimes hairy.

Flowers: Staminate and pistillate borne separately on the same tree, appearing after the leaves have unfolded, the staminate numerous in small spherical heads, the pistillate in groups of 2.

Fruit: Spiny burs up to ¾ inch long, prickly, reddish-brown, containing 1-3 triangular nuts.

Wood: Hard, strong, close-grained, deep reddish-brown.

Uses: Fuel, chairs, tool handles.

Habitat: Rich woods.

Range: Nova Scotia across to Ontario, south to eastern Texas, east to northern Florida.

Distinguishing Features: The stately Beech is recognized by its smooth gray bark and its long, pointed winter buds.

SWAMP PRIVET Forestiera acuminata (Michx.) Poir.

Growth Form: Small tree to 30 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 5 inches; crown spreading, irregular.

Bark: Brown, shallowly furrowed or nearly smooth.

Twigs: Slender, brown, warty or smooth; leaf scars opposite, shield-shaped, with 1 bundle trace.

Buds: Spherical, up to ⅛ inch in diameter, smooth.