Studies of Trees in Winter

Part 1

Transcriber’s Note Italic text displayed as: italic

STUDIES OF TREES IN WINTER

Quercus platanoides]

STUDIES of TREES IN WINTER

A Description of the Deciduous Trees of Northeastern America

ANNIE OAKES HUNTINGTON

WITH AN INTRODUCTION

BY CHARLES S. SARGENT, LL.D.

DIRECTOR OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM AND AUTHOR OF THE “SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA”

ILLUSTRATED WITH COLORED PLATES BY MARY S. MORSE, AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR

BOSTON KNIGHT AND MILLET 1902

Copyright, 1901 BY KNIGHT AND MILLET

FIRST IMPRESSION, DECEMBER, 1901 SECOND IMPRESSION, JANUARY, 1902

My Two Friends

MY MOTHER, ELIZABETH QUINCY HUNTINGTON AND JEANNETTE WARREN PAYSON

IN TOKEN OF GRATITUDE AND LOVE

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION xv

CHAPTER

I. THE STUDY OF TREES IN WINTER 3

Trunk and branches. Stems and twigs. Leaf-scars. Bundle-scars. Buds.

II. THE HORSECHESTNUT 15

The Horsechestnut. The Ohio Buckeye.

III. THE MAPLES 21

Sugar or Rock Maple. Red or Swamp Maple. White or Silver Maple. Striped Maple or Moosewood. Ash-leaved Maple or Box Elder. Norway Maple. Sycamore Maple.

IV. THE ASHES 35

Part 2

The White or American Ash. Red or Downy Ash. Black Ash. European Ash.

V. THE WALNUTS AND HICKORIES 45

Butternut. Black Walnut. Shagbark or Shellbark Hickory. Mockernut or Whiteheart Hickory. Bitternut Hickory. Pignut Hickory.

VI. THE BIRCHES, HOP HORNBEAM, AND HORNBEAM 59

Canoe, Paper, or White Birch. American, Gray, or White Birch. Black or Sweet Birch. Yellow Birch. Red or River Birch. Dwarf Birch. European White Birch. Hop Hornbeam, Ironwood. Hornbeam, Blue Beech.

VII. THE BEECH, CHESTNUT, AND OAKS 77

American Beech. European Beech. Chestnut Oak. White Oak. Swamp White Oak. Mossy-cup, Overcup, or Bur Oak. Chestnut or Rock Chestnut Oak. Dwarf Chestnut Oak. Post or Rough Oak. Black Oak. Red Oak. Pin Oak. Scrub Oak.

VIII. THE ELMS AND THE HACKBERRY 101

American or White Elm. Slippery or Red Elm. Cork or Rock Elm. English Elm. Scotch, Dutch, or Wych Elm. Hackberry, Sugarberry, Nettle tree.

IX. THE BUTTONWOOD, THE TUPELO, AND THE MULBERRIES 117

Buttonwood, Sycamore, or Plane tree. Tupelo, Pepperidge, Sour Gum tree. Flowering Cornel, Flowering Dogwood. Red Mulberry. White Mulberry.

X. THE LOCUSTS, THE YELLOWWOOD, AND THE KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE 129

Common Locust. Honey Locust. Yellowwood. Kentucky Coffee tree. Laburnum. Judas tree.

XI. THE LINDENS, THE LIQUIDAMBER, AND THE SASSAFRAS 141

Linden, Basswood. European Linden. Liquidamber, Sweet Gum. Hamamelis. Sassafras.

XII. THE MAGNOLIA AND TULIP TREE, THE CATALPA, THE AILANTHUS, AND THE ARALIA 153

Swamp Magnolia, Sweet Bay. Umbrella tree. Cucumber tree. Tulip tree. Catalpa. Ailanthus, Tree of Heaven. Angelica tree, Hercules’ Club.

XIII. THE APPLE TREE, PEAR TREE, MOUNTAIN ASH, CHERRY TREE, AND THE SHAD BUSH 167

Common Apple tree. Common Pear tree. Mountain Ash, or Rowan tree. Wild Black Cherry. Choke Cherry. Pin Cherry. Peach tree. Shad Bush. Service Berry, June Berry.

XIV. THE WILLOWS AND POPLARS 177

White Willow. Weeping Willow. Black Willow. Aspen, American Aspen. Large-toothed Aspen. Balm of Gilead, Balsam Poplar. Cottonwood, Necklace, or Carolina Poplar. Lombardy Poplar. White Poplar.

XV. THE LARCH 187

American Larch. Tamarack or Hackmatack. European Larch.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Swamp White Oak. Quercus platanoides Frontispiece

Cross section of a tree. (Colored plate) 4

Horsechestnut. Æsculus hippocastanum 14

Part 3

Horsechestnut shoot 16

Section of a Horsechestnut bud. (Colored plate) 18

The Maples. (Colored plate) 20

Sugar Maple. Acer saccharum 22

Trunk of a young Sugar Maple 23

Red Maple. Acer rubrum 24

Trunk of a young Red Maple 25

Silver Maple. Acer saccharinum 26

Moosewood Maple. Acer pennsylvanicum 28

Norway Maple. Acer platanoides 30

Sycamore Maple. Acer pseudo-platanus 32

The Ashes. (Colored plate) 34

American Ash. Fraxinus americana 36

Walnuts and Hickories. (Colored plate) 44

Butternut. Juglans cinerea 46

Trunk of a Butternut 47

Black Walnut. Juglans nigra 48

Trunk of a Black Walnut 49

Shagbark Hickory. Hicoria ovata 50

Trunks of Shagbark Hickories 51

Mockernut Hickory. Hicoria alba 52

Bitternut Hickory. Hicoria minima 54

Pignut Hickory. Hicoria glabra 56

Canoe Birch. Betula papyrifera 58

Gray Birches. Betula populifolia 60

Black Birch. Betula lenta 62

Yellow Birch. Betula lutea 64

Red Birch. Betula nigra 66

Part 4

European White Birch. Betula alba 68

Hop Hornbeam. Ostrya virginiana 70

Hornbeams. Carpinus caroliniana 72

The Beech and Chestnut. (Colored plate) 76

Beech trees. Fagus americana 78

Trunk of a young Beech 80

Chestnut. Castanea dentata 82

The Oaks. (Colored plate) 83

White Oak. Quercus alba 84

Trunk of a White Oak 86

Mossy-cup Oak. Quercus macrocarpa 88

A young Post Oak. Quercus minor 90

Black Oak. Quercus velutina 92

Red Oak. Quercus rubra 94

Trunk of a Red Oak 96

Pin Oak. Quercus palustris 98

The American and Slippery Elms. (Colored plate) 100

American Elm. Ulmus americana 102

Young Cork Elm. Ulmus racemosa 106

English Elms. Ulmus campestris 108

Scotch Elm. Ulmus montana 110

Hackberry. Celtis occidentalis 112

Buttonwood stem and bud. (Colored plate) 116

Buttonwood. Platanus occidentalis 118

Trunk of a Buttonwood 119

Tupelo. Nyssa sylvatica 120

Red Mulberry. Morus rubra 122

White Mulberry. Morus alba 124

Part 5

The Locusts. (Colored plate) 128

Common Locust trees. Robinia pseud-acacia 130

Honey Locust. Gleditsia triacanthos 132

Kentucky Coffee tree. Gymnocladus dioicus 134

Linden, Liquidamber, and Sassafras. (Colored plate) 140

American Linden. Tilia americana 142

Liquidamber. Liquidambar styraciflua 144

Sassafras. Sassafras sassafras 146

Trunk of a Sassafras 148

Magnolia and Tulip tree. (Colored plate) 152

Tulip tree. Liriodendron tulipifera 156

Catalpa. Catalpa speciosa 158

Ailanthus. Ailanthus glandulosa 160

Hercules’ Club. Aralia spinosa 162

Mountain Ash. Pyrus americana 166

A young Black Cherry tree. Prunus serotina 170

White Willows. Salix alba 176

Aspens. Populus tremuloides 180

American Larch. Larix americana 186

European Larch. Larix europæa 188

INTRODUCTION

When Miss Huntington told me last year that she was going to write a book about the trees in their winter aspects, knowing how conscientiously she had studied her subject and how successful she had been in imparting the results of her observation to others, I felt sure that she would do a useful and excellent piece of work, and that her book would be of real assistance to all persons who want to gain some knowledge of the trees which they pass in their daily walks.

The promise of the book is now fulfilled, and nothing is left for the introductor to do but to call attention in a general way to the beauty of trees in winter and to the pleasure and profit of studying them at this season of the year, as well as when their branches are clothed with leaves or covered with flowers or fruits.

To the real lover of trees they are equally beautiful and interesting at all seasons of the year; and no one knows trees well who cannot distinguish the different species as easily and surely in winter as in spring or summer. Almost every tree has some special and peculiar beauty which is seen to the best advantage in winter. The fine spray of the beech is seen only at this season of the year, and there are few more beautiful objects in nature than the delicate branches of our New England beech trees seen against the clear blue sky of a brilliant winter day. The sturdiness of the oak is best realized in winter, for at other seasons its massive limbs are often hidden under their covering of leaves. The birch is far more graceful and attractive in winter than at any other period; and there is nothing more stimulating to the lover of nature than to stand on a bright winter’s day and look up into the marvellous structure of one of the great elm trees which are the pride of New England. The bark of most trees appears more beautiful in winter than at other seasons of the year because the eye, undisturbed by the contemplation of the foliage, can then most easily take in all the details of its varied texture and wonderful colors.

For the student of trees searching for accurate knowledge it is as important to study trees in winter as in summer. The differences in the various families of trees, once these are understood, are marked enough to make family relationships easy to recognize at this season of the year. Nor will it be found difficult, once the characters peculiar to each kind of tree are fixed in the mind of the observer, to determine the various species; and these winter characters are often more constant and stable than characters derived from the flowers, the shape of the leaves, or from the size and shape of the fruits, on which dependence is usually placed for the identification of trees.

Each species of tree has its peculiar habit, which is best seen in winter and which it usually retains under normal conditions. The character of the bark rarely changes much on individuals of the same age, although the bark of old trees is usually very different from the bark of young trees of the same species; and the color of the branchlets and the form and size of the winter buds generally afford certain means of determining closely related trees.

In each kind of tree there is, in addition to its general habit, which with a little practice is frequently sufficient to make the recognition of a particular species easy, some special character which enables the student to confirm his determination and to distinguish a particular species of oak or hickory or poplar from every other.

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