Part 43

FLOWERS.--March-April, before the leaves; mostly perfect; greenish; borne on slender, drooping pedicels in loose racemes; calyx campanulate, 7-8-lobed; corolla 0; stamens 7-8, with purple anthers; ovary hairy, 2-styled.

FRUIT.--May; ovate, 1-seeded samaras, pubescent all over, 1/2 inch long.

WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud absent; lateral buds ovoid, acute, brown, pilose, 1/4 inch long.

BARK.--Twigs at first light brown and pubescent, becoming lustrous, red-brown, finally gray-brown with corky, wing-like ridges; thick and grayish on the trunk, with wide fissures separating broad, flat, scaly ridges.

WOOD.--Heavy, very strong and tough, close-grained, light red-brown, with thick, lighter colored sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Frequent in the southern third of the Lower Peninsula.

HABITAT.--Dry, gravelly uplands; rocky ridges and slopes; heavy clay soils; river-banks.

NOTES.--A good street tree, but less graceful in habit than U. americana.

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

+URTICACEAE+

+Hackberry. Nettle-tree+

Celtis occidentalis L.

HABIT.--A medium-sized tree, 40-60 feet high, with a short, straight trunk 1-2 feet in diameter which branches a few feet from the ground into a few large limbs and many slender, horizontal, zigzag branches, forming a broad, rounded crown.

LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 2-4 inches long and one-half as broad; ovate to ovate-lanceolate, oblique at the base, usually long-pointed; coarsely serrate above the entire base; thin; glabrous, light green above, paler beneath, turning light yellow late in autumn; petioles short, slender, hairy.

FLOWERS.--May, with or soon after the leaves; polygamo-monoecious; greenish; inconspicuous; on slender pedicels; the staminate in clusters at the base of the shoot, the pistillate usually solitary in the axils of the upper leaves; calyx greenish, deeply 5-lobed; corolla 0; stamens 5; ovary 1-celled.

FRUIT.--September-October, remaining on the tree through the winter; slender-stalked, fleshy, globular drupes, 1/4 inch long, dark purple; edible.

WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud absent; lateral buds light brown, 1/4 inch long, ovoid, acute, flattened, the tip appressed.

BARK.--Twigs greenish, puberulous, becoming lustrous, red-brown in their first winter; on old trunks thick, light brown or silvery gray, broken into deep, short ridges or warty excrescences.

WOOD.--Heavy, soft, coarse-grained, weak, light yellow, with thick, whitish sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Common throughout the Lower Peninsula.

HABITAT.--Prefers rich, moist, well-drained soil, but will grow on gravelly or rocky hillsides. Common along river-banks.

NOTES.--Hardy throughout its range. Grows slowly and irregularly in youth. Easily transplanted. Not desirable as a street tree, but appears well in ornamental grounds. Very tolerant of shade.

1. Winter twig, × 1. 2. Portion of twig, enlarged. 3. Leaf, × 1/2. 4. Staminate flowering branchlet, × 1/2. 5. Staminate flower, enlarged. 6. Pistillate flowering branchlet, × 1/2. 7. Pistillate flower, enlarged. 8. Fruit, × 1/4.]

+URTICACEAE+

+Osage Orange+

Maclura pomifera (Raf.) Schneider [Toxylon pomiferum Raf.] [Maclura aurantiaca Nutt.]

HABIT.--A tree 20-30 feet high, with a short trunk 1-2 feet in diameter; divides into a few large limbs with curving branches, forming a symmetrical, rounded crown.

LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 3-5 inches long, 2-3 inches broad; ovate to oblong-lanceolate; entire; thick and firm; dark green and shining above, paler beneath; petioles slender, pubescent, 1-1/2-2 inches long.