Читать книгу The Circle of Knowledge: A Classified, Simplified, Visualized Book of Answers - Various - Страница 196

The forest trees are divided into two groups: Trees Bearing Foliage, and Trees with Aciculous Leaves. The former lose their leaves in autumn; the stiff linear leaves of the latter, on the contrary, live throughout the winter, with the exception of those of the larch tree.

Alder (Alnus), trees native to the North Temperate and Arctic zones and to the Andes into Chili. The Black Alder grows near the brooks. The male blossoms stand in long, cylindrical catkins; the female blossoms in small, roundish catkins. The fruit is found in small cones. The alder tree blossoms in April and May. It may reach seventy feet in height and nine in girth, but seldom exceeds forty in height. The bark of the shoots is used in tanning and dyeing leather red, brown, yellow, or, with copperas, black. The wood is durable under water, and is said by Virgil to have been the first wood used by man for boats. It was used for piles at Ravenna and for the Rialto at Venice, and is still so employed in Holland. Its chief use is for gunpowder-charcoal. For this purpose shoots five or six years old, or about four inches across, are employed.

Ash (Fraxinus), a valuable timber-tree belonging to the olive tribe. It has smooth, olive-grey bark, black buds, opposite pinnate leaves of from seven to fifteen leaflets, flowers without calyx or corolla, and an oblong-winged fruit. Its wood is more flexible than that of any other European tree, and is used for walking-sticks, spade-handles, the spokes and felloes of wheels, etc. There are about twelve species native to North America. The best known are: Common Ash, a large tree one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet high, growing wild in southern Europe and northern Asia. White Ash, a large tree forty-five to ninety feet high; Nova Scotia to Florida, westward to Minnesota and Texas. Green Ash, forty to fifty feet high, Vermont to Florida, intermittently to Utah and Arizona. Red Ash, a small tree, rarely more than forty feet high, growing in moist soil from New Brunswick to South Dakota, Florida, Alabama and Missouri. Blue Ash, fifty to seventy-five feet high, Ontario, Minnesota, and Michigan to Alabama, west to Iowa and Arkansas. Black or Hoop Ash, a large tree, seventy to eighty feet high, Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Virginia and Arkansas.

Aspen or Trembling Poplar (Populus tremula), has a greenish-grey bark. Its leaves have long stalks, and tremble at the slightest current of air. The American Aspen called Quaking Aspen or Quaking Asp, is one of the most widely distributed trees of North America, growing from Alaska and Newfoundland to lower California. A slender tree with light green bark, maximum height 100 feet. Wood soft, light, and largely used for manufacture of wood pulp. The European Aspen is a quick growing tree, fifty to eighty feet high. The wood is soft and porous, and is used in turnery and in interior finish for houses.

Beech (Fagus), a genus containing about sixteen species. The trees have smooth, silver-grey trunks, egg-shaped leaves like leather, and blossoms at the base of the leaves. The beechnuts are three-cornered; they grow in couples in a wooden capsule. The beech trees attain a height of from sixty to ninety feet, and blossom in April and May. The American Beech is the only North American species. It is a beautiful tree seventy to eighty and sometimes one hundred feet high, and is one of the most widely distributed trees of eastern North America. The wood is tough, close grained, and is largely used in the manufacture of tool handles, chairs and for fuel. The Common Beech, forming pure forests in many parts of Europe, is a large tree one hundred to one hundred and twenty feet high. The wood is dark colored, solid, and very durable under water and is much used in cabinet making, for weirs, and for fuel. The bark is sometimes used in tanning. The nuts are used for the manufacture of beech oil.

Birch (Betula), is known by all on account of its chalk-white bark, and its fine, pendent leaves. The male and female blossoms of this tree also grow separate on the same plant. Its seeds are small and plumed, whereby they are particularly adapted for being sown by the aid of the wind. There are about thirteen species in North America. Common Birch, abounding in northern Europe, is a beautiful tree sixty to seventy feet high. The bark is used in medicine and dyeing, and it yields the birch tar employed in the preparation of Russia leather. Red or River Birch grows in the United States from Massachusetts to Iowa and Kansas, south to Florida and Texas. It is a slender tree, seventy to ninety feet high, which produces a hard, valuable timber. Cherry Black or Sweet Birch is a large tree, sometimes eighty feet high. Wood fine grained and valuable for making furniture. The bark yields an oil identical with the oil of wintergreen. It grows from Newfoundland to western Ontario, Florida, and Tennessee. Yellow Birch, a large tree, maximum height one hundred feet, is used in shipbuilding. It grows from Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Carolina and Tennessee. Paper or Canoe Birch, a large tree, maximum height eighty feet, is of a beautiful white color, and the bark is capable of division into thin sheets, used for making canoes, baskets, and ornaments. Found in Newfoundland to Alaska, northern Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Washington.

Buttonwood. See Plane Tree.

Cedar (Cedrus), the popular name of a variety of trees, mostly agreeing in having a reddish-brown aromatic wood. The coniferous genus includes only four forms, all native to the Old World, the most noted of which are the Cedars of Lebanon, frequently mentioned in the Bible. It has its needle-like leaves fascicled, like the larches; but unlike those trees, evergreen, so that they remain on the tree for several years after the dwarf-shoot has elongated. Its cones are erect, with broad, thin-edged scales which ultimately fall away from the axis, as in the firs. The White Cedar of the United States is more nearly a cypress, and the so-called Red Cedar is a juniper. The wood of the latter is used in making lead-pencils. The species native to the West Indies, yields the wood known as Honduras, Jamaica, or Barbadoes cedar, used for cigar boxes.

Chestnut (Castanea vulgaris), is a fine tree that may reach a large size, and has deeply furrowed bark and large, glossy, serrate but simple leaves in tufts, which turn yellow in autumn. Its flowers are in long pendulous catkins. The dark brown nuts are surmounted by the remains of the perianth, being “inferior” fruits. In a wild state two or three kernels or seeds, separated by a membrane, are contained in each nut; but the Lyons marron, the most valued cultivated race, contains only one. The tree is native from Portugal to the Caspian and in Algeria, and is represented by allied forms in Japan and temperate North America, flourishing in the Alps and Pyrenees at 2,500 to 2,800 feet above sea-level. Its timber resembles oak, but is softer and more brittle.

HOW WE MAY KNOW THE TREES OF THE FOREST

THE OAK

Massive strength is the chief characteristic of the oak, and it was the broad-based trunk of an oak that suggested the design for the first great lighthouse. The branches twist about in zig-zag fashion, and the thick bark is deeply furrowed.

THE BIRCH

We have only to glance at the birch to realize that its name “the lady of the woods” is well deserved. Its chief characteristic is slender gracefulness, and we cannot mistake the silvery white bark, quite unlike any other tree.

Cork Oak or Cork Tree (Quercus suber), is a species of oak, native of southern Europe and northern Africa, the spongy bark of which is the common cork of commerce. It ranges from twenty to forty feet in height, attains a diameter of five feet, and sometimes lives three hundred to five hundred years, producing crops of bark for one hundred and fifty years.

Cypress (Cupressus), is an evergreen tree of the pine family, with small, imbricated leaves and globular cones, comprising about twelve species, in northern regions of the world. The Common Cypress of Europe is famous for its durable wood and is believed to be the cedar or gopher wood of the Bible. The Monterey Cypress, a beautiful tree sometimes one hundred and fifty feet high and eight or ten feet in diameter, grows near the sea in California and three others occur on the Pacific Coast. The so-called Cypress or White Cedar of the Eastern States, and the Bald Cypress of southern swamps, valued for timber, are distant varieties of cypress.

Dogwood (Cornus), is a shrub or small tree, the wood of which is exceedingly hard and is used for many purposes. The astringent bark and sometimes the leaves are used in medicine. There are about eighteen species in the United States. The Flowering Dogwood is a small tree, native of the Eastern States. It has showy white petal-like bracts surrounding its clusters of small flowers.

Ebony (Efenaceæ), is chiefly a species of tropical trees. The hard, dark colored heartwood of these is the source of most of the ebony of commerce. Those of India, Ceylon, and other tropical countries, furnish the best quality.

Elm (Ulmus). There are about six species which are native to the United States. They attain a height of forty-five to ninety feet, and blossom before their leaves appear, in March and April. The American White Elm is a large tree ninety to one hundred feet high, growing from Newfoundland to Florida and Texas. The wood is tough, strong, and largely used for wheel hubs, in cooperage, and for shipbuilding. It is a fine street and park tree. The Cork Elm is a tree seventy to ninety feet high, growing from Quebec and Vermont westward to Nebraska and Tennessee. The wood is considered the best of American elms, and is much used for agricultural implements and bridge timbers. The Slippery, or Red Elm is a tree sixty to seventy feet high, growing from Ontario to Florida, westward to Nebraska and Texas. The wood is durable in contact with the soil and is much used for fence posts and railway ties. The mucilaginous inner bark is used in medicine.

Eucalyptus, a genus of Myrtaceæ, contains about two hundred lofty trees occurring chiefly in Australia and the Malayan Archipelago. Many reach a height of one hundred and fifty feet and a girth of twenty-five feet, and they frequently become hollow. The species are of great economic value, yielding oils, kinos, and useful timber, while the well-known oil of eucalyptus is obtained from the blue-gum tree.

Fir (Abies), a genus of the Pine family containing about twenty-five species, natives of the cooler portions of the north temperate zone. The Silver Fir, is a common tree in central Europe, and is common to the mountainous forests of Germany. It reaches ninety to one hundred and thirty feet in height, and has a smooth, light silver-grey bark, and needle-shaped leaves, which, although they stand singly and in a spiral form round the branches, are yet distinctly turned towards two sides, and are serrated at their points. The large, conical fruits stand like tapers upright on the branches, and decay upon the tree; whilst their spindles remain standing. The wood of the white fir tree is much valued. It is used as timber, and in particular for making masts; it is also useful for making all kinds of carved work, and for the manufacture of musical instruments. It is also the source of the Strassburg turpentine. The Balsam Fir is a tree fifty to eighty feet high, growing from Virginia northward. Canada balsam is made from the sap. The White Fir or Great Silver Fir is a large tree, often three hundred feet high and ten feet in diameter, growing from British Columbia to lower California. The wood is soft and extensively used for cooperage and boxes. The Red Fir is a large tree one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high, found in the same regions as the white fir. It is often planted in Europe as an ornamental tree. The Mexican Fir is a magnificent silver-leaved tree one hundred and fifty feet high.

Gum. The name given to several trees in America and Australia: (a) The Black-Gum, one of the largest trees of the Southern States, bearing a small blue fruit, the favorite food of the opossum. Most of the large trees become hollow. (b) A tree of the genus Eucalyptus. See Eucalyptus. (3) The Sweet Gum tree of the United States, a large and beautiful tree with pointedly lobed leaves and woody, burlike fruit. It exudes an aromatic juice. The wood is now extensively used in cabinet work and interior finish.

Hemlock Tree (Tsuga), is a genus of the Pine family containing about four species which are native to North America. The Common Hemlock is a large tree sometimes attaining a height of one hundred and ten feet, and growing from Nova Scotia to Alabama and west to Wisconsin and Minnesota. The wood is light and soft and is extensively used in building. The bark is largely used in tanning and hemlock oil is distilled from the branches and leaves. There are many cultivated varieties which are very ornamental. The Carolina Hemlock is a tree attaining a maximum height of eighty feet, and growing in Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia.

Hickory (Carya), is represented by ten species, exclusively of North America. Their timber is very heavy, strong, and tough, and is much used in the manufacture of agricultural implements, carriages, and hoops for casks. The fruit is a hardshelled nut, which in some species has an excellent flavor. The Shagbark or Shellbark Hickory is a large tree, sometimes one hundred and twenty feet high, growing in rich soils from Ontario and Minnesota south to Florida, Kansas and Texas. The nuts form an important article of commerce, though less used than the pecan. The Whiteheart Hickory or Mockernut is a large tree seventy-five to one hundred feet high, growing from Ontario to Florida, occasionally to Missouri and Texas. It has a thick-shelled, edible nut. The Pignut Hickory, a tree seventy-five to one hundred and sometimes one hundred and twenty feet high, ranges from Ontario to Florida, westward to Nebraska and Texas. See also Pecan.

Horse-Chestnut (Aesculus), is rarely found in forests, but frequently in pleasure-gardens. This beautiful tree, of sixty feet and over, has large leaves, and splendid yellow-and-red colored blossoms forming large pods. The brown chestnuts are enveloped by a prickly cover, which bursts open in the autumn. The Ohio or Fetid Buckeye, reaching a height of about fifty feet, grows from Pennsylvania to Alabama, west to Michigan and Oklahoma. The wood is used for making artificial limbs and wooden ware. The Sweet or Big Buckeye is a large tree eighty to ninety feet high, growing from Pennsylvania to Georgia, west to Iowa and Texas, and often planted as an ornamental tree. The California Buckeye is a small tree thirty to forty feet high, native of California, and sparingly planted for ornament.

Judas Tree (Cercis siliquastrum), is a beautiful leguminous tree, growing wild from Japan to the shores of the Mediterranean, with smooth kidney-shaped leaves, glaucous above, and pink or red flowers, which spring from both old and young wood before the appearance of the leaves. From its appearance at this season the tree shares with the elder the sinister reputation of having formed the gallows of Judas Iscariot.

BARK, CELLS, HEART AND RINGS OF THE TREE

Scaly Bark of Willow	Membranous Bark of Birch	Fibrous Bark of Honeysuckle	Fissured Bark of Oak
The Structure of a Young Twig of Oak, showing the layer of cells (A) which increases the girth of the twig as it grows into a branch
Section of the Trunk of a Laburnum, showing Heart and Sap-wood	Section of the Trunk of an Oak, showing the Annual Rings

Juniper Tree (Juniperus communis), is rarely seen as a tree, but appears usually as a low shrub. Its awl-shaped, pointed leaves stand always by threes of the same height on the young shoots. The male blossom catkins are short-stalked, and stand singly in the axils of the bracts; the fruit is a black berry. These berries are employed for medicinal purposes. The so-called White Cedar of the Eastern States and the Bermuda Cedar, much prized for timber, are junipers.

Larch (Larix Europæa), has leaves which grow in clusters, and drop during the Autumn. Its bark is rough and cracked; its red-blossom catkins stand at the side of the yellow catkins. Its egg-shaped little cones have backward bent stalks. The larch tree attains a height of from forty-five to sixty feet, and is found in forests everywhere. The American Larch or Tamarack is a slender tree fifty to sixty feet high, growing from Virginia to Hudson Bay. It is often planted as an ornamental tree and the wood is highly valued for shipbuilding and for telegraph poles.

Linden or Lime (Tilia), is the emblem of intense feeling. It has been from time immemorial the favorite of the Germans. Below the large linden trees the judicial proceedings, the fairs, and national games formerly took place in Germany, and to this day men and women like to sit under the village linden tree, and talk of the good old times. They do not blossom before June and July. The blossom is five-leaved, and contains many stamens and one pistil. The fruit is a little nut. The American Linden or Basswood is a large tree seventy to one hundred and twenty-five feet high, growing from New Brunswick to Georgia, west to Nebraska and Texas. The wood is extensively used for making cheap furniture and paper pulp. The Southern Basswood or Whitewood is a small tree forty to fifty feet high growing from Long Island to Florida, west to Texas. The White Basswood or Bee Tree is a forest tree forty-five to seventy feet high, Pennsylvania to Florida, west to Illinois and Tennessee.

Locust is a name applied to various trees of the Pea family. The American Locust Tree or the False Acacia is seventy to eighty feet high, growing from Pennsylvania to Georgia. It is widely naturalized in most states east to the Rocky Mountains. The wood is compact and hard and is extensively used for shipbuilding and all purposes where great strength and toughness are required.

Mahogany (Swietenia Mahagoni), is a native of Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies, and yields one of the most generally used of cabinet woods. The leaves resemble those of the ash; the flowers are clustered and small, with their parts in whorls of five, and ten united stamens; and the fruit is a pear-shaped, woody capsule with winged seeds. The wood is a rich reddish-brown, often richly mottled, uniform in grain, susceptible of the highest polish, and very durable. In Mexico the timber is sometimes in thirty-foot lengths and forty-eight inches square. Mahogany is commonly divided into Spanish, the darker, heavier and more figured, from San Domingo and Cuba, and Honduras, lighter, softer, and plainer, from the mainland. It is employed in carving, turning, veneering and cabinet-making, and for solid furniture, easily holding first rank among cabinet woods.

Maple (Acer). This genus of trees contains nearly one hundred species, natives of north temperate regions, especially North America and eastern Asia. The Sugar Maple is ninety to one hundred and twenty feet high, and grows from Newfoundland to Georgia, west to eastern Nebraska and Kansas. The wood is extensively used in cabinet work and interior finish. Large quantities of sugar and syrup are made from the sap. The Silver or Soft Maple is found from New Brunswick to Florida, west to Ontario, Nebraska and Oklahoma. It is often planted as a shade tree. The Scarlet or Red Maple grows in swamps and low ground from New Brunswick to Manitoba, south to Florida and Texas. The close-grained wood is largely used for furniture, and in turnery. The Oregon Maple grows from Alaska to California. It is often planted as an ornamental tree.

Mesquite (Prosopis), is a genus of trees containing about sixteen species, natives of America, Asia, and Africa, three of which grow in the United States. It varies from a straggling shrub to a widely-branched tree fifty feet high and occurs from central Texas to eastern California, and southward to Chile and Argentina. The very heavy wood is used for fuel and fence posts, while the pods and leaves are much eaten by stock. The Screwpod Mesquite is twenty-five to thirty feet high and valuable in arid regions.

Oak (Quercus), is most numerous in temperate climates, though some are tropical; fully fifty species occur in the United States, with many intermediate forms or hybrids. The Oak is a true giant among forest trees. Its trunk often attains a circumference of thirty feet. Its bark is smooth in the young trees and rough in the old oaks. The strong, widely extended boughs are pronged and knotty; the crown is large, with a sinuate outline. The blossoms are within long pendent catkins and appear in the month of May. The bark and the acorns, which are contained in pretty little cups, are medicinal. Along the stems and the boughs mosses and lichens grow exuberantly. In the galls of the leaves and branches different gall insects live. The horn beetles suck the sap of the oaks, and the acorns form the food of squirrels and other rodents. The European Oak, the most important Old World timber oak, is sparingly planted in the United States. The White Oak, the most valuable American timber oak, occurs from Texas to Minnesota and eastward. With similar range, but less valuable for timber, are Bur Oak or Mossy Cup Oak, the Scarlet Oak and the Red Oak. The Cow Oak or Basket Oak and the Yellow or Chestnut Oak produce edible acorns. The bark of the Quercitron is used in tanning, as a yellow dye, and in medicine. The Live Oak, once famous for ship-building, is a sturdy species with entire evergreen leaves occurring in the Southern States, Cuba and the Pacific States.

Osage Orange or Bow Wood (Maclura pomifera), is a native of the southwestern United States. It attains a height of twenty to sixty feet, and is extensively planted for hedges, while the wood, of orange color and of great hardness, is valuable for fence posts, mallet heads, and to some extent in cabinet work.

Pine (Pinus), comprises a genus of about eighty species, nearly two-thirds of which occur in the northern part of the western hemisphere. The White Pine, a tree seventy-five to one hundred feet high, is one of the most important timber trees of North America. Its range is from Newfoundland to Minnesota, south to Georgia. The wood is soft, straight grained, and is much used for building and cabinet work. The Yellow Pine or Long-leaved Pine sometimes attains a height of one hundred feet, and grows in sandy soil from Virginia to Florida and Texas. The wood is heavier and stronger than that of any other pine, and is used in all kinds of building. The tree is the chief source of turpentine, tar, [165] resin, etc. The Western Yellow Pine or Bull Pine is sometimes one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty feet high and five to eight feet in diameter. It is found from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast and is one of the most important lumber trees of the West. The Sugar Pine of Oregon and California attains a height of one hundred and fifty to three hundred feet and a diameter of more than ten feet. The timber is strong, straight grained, and is much used for a finishing lumber and cabinet work.

Palm Family (Palmaceae), is a very distinct natural family of trees and shrubs, chiefly tropical and subtropical, embracing about one thousand species which are second in economic importance only to the cereal grasses. The Palm Trees have generally straight, scaly trunks without boughs, and many species attain a considerable height. Their large fan-shaped leaves grow near the top, and form a beautiful crown. The numerous blossoms stand in long panicles. The palm trees represent the only riches of many tribes of mankind in the tropics, providing them with food, drink, dress, and building materials for their dwellings. The most valued are the cocoanut, date and sago palm trees. The large nuts of the first named are the well-known cocoanuts.

Plane Tree (Platanus), a genus of six or seven species, is a native of the north temperate zone. The Sycamore, Plane Tree, or Buttonwood reaches a height of one hundred and thirty feet with a trunk diameter of fourteen feet. It is found from Quebec to Georgia, west to Manitoba and Kansas. The wood is a favorite material for tobacco boxes and butcher blocks and is largely used for furniture. Other species in the United States are the California Sycamore and the Arizona Sycamore, both large trees.

Poplar (Populus), a hardy genus of about twenty trees, native to temperate and cold regions. Half of the species occur in the United States, all of soft wood and rapid growth. The Cotton-Wood, common along streams from the Rocky Mountains eastward, sometimes attaining one hundred and fifty feet in height and a diameter of seven feet, is much planted for ornament. The Balsam Poplar, sometimes one hundred feet high, occurs northward and in Siberia. The European White Poplar and Black Poplar, much-planted ornamentals, have become naturalized in the Eastern States. The Lombardy Poplar, with very upright boughs, frequently grows along the roadside in Asia, Europe and America.

Redwood. See Sequoia.

Sandalwood (Santalum album), is a small tree, native of India and the Indian Archipelago. It produces a compact, fine-grained wood which is used for making small ornamental articles and possesses a remarkable fragrance which persists long after it has become thoroughly seasoned.

Sassafras is a genus containing but two known species, one in North America and the other in China. The Sassafras or Ague Tree, is eighty to ninety feet high, is found from Canada to Florida, west to Kansas and Texas. Oil of sassafras, used for flavoring confectionery, is distilled from the roots, and the bark is frequently employed as a household medicine and beverage.

Sequoia, a genus of trees named after a remarkable Cherokee Indian (otherwise George Guess), who gave his tribe a written alphabet of eighty-six characters, and died in New Mexico in 1845. There are only two living species, both natives of Western North America, the Big or Mammoth Tree and the California Redwood. The Big Tree is a native of the Sierra Nevada, and reaches over one thousand years of age, four hundred and fifty feet in height, and one hundred and twelve feet in circumference. The Redwood has a wider range in latitude as a wild tree, and reaches three hundred feet in height. It has a shaggy, reddish bark and very dark foliage. Its wood is of good texture, but monotonous in grain. It is used in cabinet work and interiors.

Spruce (Picea), a genus of about eighteen species, native of the Northern Hemisphere. The White Spruce is a slender tree fifty to one hundred and fifty feet high, found from New York to British Columbia, north to Newfoundland, Hudson Bay and Alaska. The wood is light and soft and is largely used for construction and for paper pulp. The Black Spruce is twenty to thirty and very rarely one hundred feet high; grows from Newfoundland and Hudson Bay and Alberta south to North Carolina, Michigan and Minnesota. It is largely used for wood pulp and paper. The Red Spruce, seventy to eighty feet high, grows from Nova Scotia to Virginia, and is largely manufactured into lumber. The Tideland or Sitka Spruce is a large tree usually one hundred feet, sometimes two hundred feet high, occurring abundantly from northern California to Alaska. Its valuable timber is used for all kinds of building purposes. The Norway Spruce is largely planted in the Eastern States as an ornamental tree.

Sycamore. Only certain trees of the genus Ficus, mostly natives of Asia and Africa, are properly called sycamores. The Egyptian Sycamore, supposed to be the sycamore of the Bible, is a large spreading tree often planted for shade in Egypt and western Asia. In northern Europe this name is also given to the species of maple, and in the United States to the American Plane Tree. See Plane Tree.

Upas (Antiaris toxicaria). A tree found in the Philippine Islands and tropical Asia. The fiber of the bark is sometimes made into cloth and the juice of the roots is used by the Malays for poisoning their arrows. This tree figures in both religion and mythology.

Walnut (Juglans), a genus of about ten species, mostly natives of North America and Asia. The Black Walnut is sometimes one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five feet high, growing from Ontario to Florida, west to Nebraska and Texas. The dark brown wood is largely used for cabinet making and gunstocks. The White Walnut or Butternut resembles the black walnut, but is seldom over one hundred feet high. The wood is used in the interior finish of houses and for furniture. The California Walnut, a tree sometimes sixty-five feet high, is often cultivated in California for shade and as a stock on which to graft the English Walnut. The English Walnut is sixty to ninety feet high, native of Persia, and has long been cultivated for its edible nuts.

Willow (Salix), a genus of over one hundred and fifty species, mostly of cool, northern regions, fully one-half occurring within the United States. The leaves are egg-shaped and wrinkled; the blossoms yellow and greenish. They possess great quantities of honey, and attract, therefore, all kinds of insects, especially bees. The Weeping Willow is much planted for ornament. The European Osier is cultivated for its twigs. Of the native species, the shrubby Shining Willow, the Black Willow, is sometimes forty feet high, and the Heart-leaved Willow are among the best known.

Yew (Taxus), a genus of some six trees and shrubs, are widely distributed in the northern hemisphere, three species occurring in the United States. The American Yew is a low, straggling shrub seldom over five feet high growing in woods from Newfoundland to Manitoba and south to Virginia and Iowa. The Florida Yew is a bushy tree rarely twenty-five feet high. The California Yew is a tree forty to fifty feet high occurring from British Columbia to California, sometimes cultivated in gardens in Europe. The hard wood is used for fence posts. The European Yew is a native of Europe and Siberia reaching a height of forty feet.