Part 23

Bryant says in his poem, “To the Green River”:—

“Clear are its depths where its eddies play, And dimples deepen and whirl away, And the plane tree’s speckled arms o’ershoot The swifter current that mines its root.”

Gray calls the buttonwood our largest tree, and Emerson alludes to it as “the largest, grandest, and loftiest deciduous tree in America;” while Gilpin says that “no tree forms a more pleasing shade than the occidental plane.”

The wood takes a good polish and is used for making furniture, ox yokes, and for the interior finish of houses.

The generic name, Platanus, comes from the Greek word for broad, and has reference to the wide-spreading leaves and branches of the tree. The specific name, occidentalis, was given to the sycamore as distinctive from Platanus orientalis, the oriental plane tree of Europe. The oriental plane is planted occasionally in this country, and may be distinguished from our native species by its broader head and by the fruit, which frequently hangs in clusters instead of singly on the tree.

The Cornaceæ or dogwood family contains two New England genera. Among many species of shrubs, two trees deserve especial notice, the tupelo and the flowering dogwood.

Nyssa sylvatica]

A medium-sized tree, with horizontal branches and often with an excurrent trunk. Dark gray furrowed bark. Grayish brown twigs, with alternate ridged leaf-scars and three bundle-scars at the top of the leaf-scar. Small, brown buds, with overlapping, hairy scales. The fruit is a small, bluish black drupe, ripe in the autumn.

The tupelo at all seasons is a striking tree, and is easily distinguished even at a distance by its flat, rigid branches, growing in horizontal layers from the main trunk. It varies much in shape, according to its surroundings in youth. When it has grown up among other trees in the woods it is erect and tall, and when it has stood by itself in open ground it is low and broad, and almost always carries its main trunk well into the top of the tree.

The wood is heavy, tough, and hard to work, and the fibres intertwine so closely that it is very difficult to split. It is used in making the hubs of wheels and ox yokes.

Nyssa sylvatica

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The generic name, Nyssa, is the Greek name of a nymph, and was given to the tupelo on account of its habit of growing in wet places, on the borders of ponds, and in low, moist woods. The specific name is frequently given to plants and trees, and comes from the Latin word which means belonging to the woods.

It is found from Maine to Florida and westward, and stands the winds from the sea well when it grows along the coast, apparently losing little of its vigor.

Cornus florida]

A small tree or shrub, 12 to 40 feet high, with a dark, rough bark. The recent shoots are gray and covered with down. The leaf-scars are small and opposite each other on the stem. The flower buds are conspicuous.

The flowering cornel can be distinguished by its flower buds alone in winter, if by nothing else. They are small and round with long curving tips, and in shape they look something like the paper torpedoes children play with on the Fourth of July. This is the only native tree in our climate, besides the maple and ash, which has opposite leaf-scars.

The confusion existing in some minds between the flowering dogwood of the woods and the poison dogwood of the swamps casts an undeserved shadow over the name of the former. If the poison dogwood were always called poison sumac and the Cornus florida, flowering cornel, this unfortunate confusion would soon end.

The wood is strong, hard, and close-grained, and takes polish exceedingly well. It is used in turnery, for the handles of tools, and occasionally for engravers’ blocks. The bark is bitter and is used as an astringent and tonic, especially in the treatment of fevers. The Indians made a scarlet dye from the bark of the roots.

The generic name comes from the Latin cornus, a horn, and refers to the hardness of the wood, and the specific name, florida (abounding in blossoms), alludes to the remarkable white flowers of this cornel, which open in June.

The flowering dogwood is found from Eastern Massachusetts to Central Florida and westward, and grows under large trees in rich woods.

The Moracæ are a small family with but one native representative in the North, the red mulberry. The white mulberry from China has been so widely cultivated and naturalized in the United States, that it is seen more commonly than the native species.

Morus rubra

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Morus rubra]

A small tree, 15 to 60 feet high. The bark is rough, with long furrows. The twigs are a light greenish brown and the leaf-scars are oval, hollow, and alternate in arrangement. The bundle-scars form a closed chain around the leaf-scar. A milky juice comes if the stems are cut on warm days in winter. Very smooth buds.

The red mulberry is not particularly attractive in winter. In open situations its branches are wide spreading without being graceful, and it is broadly erect in shape without being stately. It grows to be a much larger tree in the South than it does in the North.

The wood is soft and light, but very durable, and it is used for fences and cooperage, and in the South for boat-building. The fruit is edible, with an agreeable acid flavor.