Part 25

WOOD.--Light, soft, weak, close-grained, dark brown, with thick, whitish sapwood; warps badly and is difficult to season.

DISTRIBUTION.--Entire Michigan; rare in the northern portions.

HABITAT.--Prefers rich, moist soil; river-banks; river-bottoms; lake-shores; grows well in drier situations.

NOTES.--Rapid of growth, consequently an excellent tree for immediate effect. Propagated from cuttings.

1. Winter twig, × 1. 2. Portion of twig, enlarged. 3. Leaf, × 3/4. 4. Staminate flowering branchlet, × 1/2. 5. Staminate flower, enlarged.]

+SALICACEAE+

+Lombardy Poplar+

Populus nigra italica DuRoi [Populus fastigiata Desf.] [Populus dilatata Ait.]

HABIT.--A tree 75-100 feet high, with a short, ridged and buttressed trunk 4-6 feet in diameter and a narrow, spire-like crown of erect branches.

LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 2-4 inches long, and usually somewhat broader than long; broad-deltoid, abruptly acuminate; finely but bluntly crenate-serrate; thick and firm; dark green and shining above, lighter and more or less lustrous beneath; petioles slender, laterally compressed, 1-2 inches long.

FLOWERS.--April-May, before the leaves; dioecious; the staminate in sessile, dark red, cylindrical catkins about 3 inches long; the pistillate not present in the United States; calyx 0; corolla 0; stamens about 8, with white filaments and purple anthers.

FRUIT.--Not formed in the United States in the absence of pistillate flowers.

WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud conical, slightly angled, taper-pointed, glutinous, about 3/8 inch long; lateral buds smaller, appressed.

BARK.--Twigs glabrous, shining yellow, becoming gray; thick and gray-brown on old trunks, deeply and irregularly furrowed.

WOOD.--Light, soft, easily worked, not liable to splinter, weak, not durable, light red-brown, with thick, nearly white sapwood.

NOTES.--Thought to be a native of Afghanistan. Very rapid in growth. Short-lived. Spreads by means of suckers and fallen branches. Useful for ornamental purposes. Because of crowding the limbs die early, which remain and cause the tree to look unsightly.

+SUMMER KEY TO THE SPECIES OF JUGLANS+

a. Leaflets 11-17, the terminal usually present; pith of twigs chocolate-brown; bark of trunk rather smooth, or fissured, with broad, flat, whitish ridges; fruit elongated, sticky-downy. J. cinerea, p. 63.

aa. Leaflets 13-23, the terminal often lacking; pith of twigs cream colored; bark of trunk rough, brownish or blackish, deeply furrowed by broad, rounded ridges; fruit globose, not sticky-downy. J. nigra, p. 65.

+WINTER KEY TO THE SPECIES OF JUGLANS+

a. Pith chocolate-brown; leaf-scar with downy pad above; fruit elongated, sticky-downy; terminal bud 1/2-3/4 inch long; bark rather smooth, or fissured, with broad, flat, whitish ridges. J. cinerea, p. 63.

aa. Pith cream colored; leaf-scar without downy pad above; fruit globose, not sticky-downy; terminal bud 1/3 inch long; bark rough, brownish or blackish, deeply furrowed by broad, rounded ridges. J. nigra, p. 65.

1. Winter twig, × 1. 2. Leaf, × 1/6 3. Leaflet, × 1/2 4. Flowering branchlet, × 1/2. 5. Staminate flower, enlarged. 6. Pistillate flower, enlarged. 7. Fruit, × 1/2.]

+JUGLANDACEAE+

+Butternut+

Juglans cinerea L.

HABIT.--A medium-sized tree 40-60 feet high, with a short trunk 2-3 feet in diameter; forming a wide-spreading crown of large, horizontal branches and stout, stiff branchlets.

LEAVES.--Alternate, compound, 15-30 inches long. Leaflets 11-17, 2-4 inches long and one-half as broad; sessile, except the terminal; oblong-lanceolate; finely serrate; thin; yellow-green and rugose above, pale and soft-pubescent beneath. Petioles stout, hairy.