Part 4

The _wood_ is light, soft, close-grained, durable, of a light yellow-brown color and is used for the same purposes as yellow poplar. It is quite desirable for roadside and ornamental planting.

+TULIP TREE+ _Liriodendron tulipifera_ L.

THE tulip tree, tulip poplar, is one of the tallest trees in the State with its straight trunk rising to a height of 125 feet. It is one of the largest and most valuable hardwood trees of the United States. It reaches its largest size in the deep moist soils along streams and in the cool ravines of southern Illinois. Vermilion County on the east and Randolph on the west side of the State represent its northern limit. As more commonly seen, it has a height of 60 to 100 feet and a diameter of 3 to 4 feet. Growing with a straight central trunk like the pines, and often clear of limbs for 30 to 50 feet, it has a narrow pyramidal head which in older age becomes more spreading. The tree has been extensively cut, but is reproducing rapidly and remains one of the most abundant and valuable trees in our young second-growth forests. It has been planted as an ornamental and shade tree.

The _leaves_ are simple, 4 to 6 inches in length and breadth, 4-lobed, dark green in summer, turning to a clear yellow in fall.

The greenish-yellow tulip-shaped _flowers_ appear in May or June. The _fruit_ is a narrow light brown, upright cone, 2 to 3 inches long, made up of seeds, each enclosed in a hard bony coat and provided with a wing which makes it easily carried by the wind.

The _wood_ is light, soft, easily worked, light yellow or brown, with wide cream-colored sapwood. It is extensively cut into lumber for interior and exterior trim, vehicle bodies, veneers, turnery and other high-grade uses. It is marketed under the name yellow poplar, because of the yellow color of the heartwood.

The tulip tree transplants easily, grows rapidly and forms a tall stem. It is one of the best trees for forest planting on good moist soil. It can be recommended for roadside planting because it grows tall and has a deep root system. Where conditions of life are not too severe, it may be used for shade tree planting.

+PAPAW+ _Asimina triloba_ Dunal

THE papaw, which grows as a small tree or large shrub, is very well known throughout the State, except in the northern parts, and is sometimes called the "wild banana" tree. Most commonly it occurs as an undergrowth in the shade of rich forests of the larger hardwood trees. Its range extends from New York westward to Iowa and southward to Florida and eastern Texas. When growing alone, however, it forms dense clumps on deep, moist soils in creek bottoms. The _bark_ is thin, dark grayish-brown, and smooth, or slightly fissured on old trees.

The _leaves_ are alternate on the stem, pear-shaped with pointed ends and tapering bases, smooth and light green above, from 8 to 10 inches long, clustered toward the ends of the branches.

The dark purple, attractive _flowers_ appear with the leaves singly or in two's along the branch, measure nearly 2 inches across, and produce nectar which attracts the bees.

When thoroughly ripe, the _fruit_ is delicious and nutritious. It measures from 3 to 5 inches in length, turns from greenish-yellow to very dark brown in color, and holds rounded or elongated seeds which separate readily from the pulp.

The _wood_ is light, soft or spongy, and weak, greenish to yellowish in color, and of no commercial importance.

Because of its handsome foliage, attractive flowers and curious fruit, the papaw has been much used in ornamental planting.

+SASSAFRAS+ _Sassafras albidum_ Nees.

THE sassafras is an aromatic tree, usually not over 40 feet in height or a foot in diameter in Illinois. It is common throughout the State on dry soils as far north as La Salle County, and is one of the first broad-leaf trees to come up on abandoned fields, where the seeds are dropped by birds. Its range extends from Maine, southern Ontario to Iowa and south to Florida and west to Texas. In parts of its range it attains large size.

The _bark_ of the trunk is thick, red-brown and deeply furrowed and that of the twigs is bright green.

The _leaves_ are very characteristic. It is one of the few trees having leaves of widely different shape on the same tree, or even on the same twig. Some are oval and entire, 4 to 6 inches long; others have one lobe, resembling the thumb on a mitten; while still others are divided at the outer end into 3 distinct lobes. The young leaves and twigs are quite mucilaginous.

The _flowers_ are clustered, greenish, yellow, and open with the first unfolding of the leaves. The staminate and pistillate flowers are usually on different trees. The _fruit_ is an oblong, dark blue or black, lustrous berry, containing one seed and surrounded at the base by what appears to be a small orange-red or scarlet cup at the end of a scarlet stalk.

The _wood_ is light, soft, weak, brittle, and durable in the soil; the heartwood is dull orange-brown. It is used for posts, rails, boat building, cooperage and for ox-yokes. The bark of the roots yields the very aromatic oil of sassafras much used for flavoring candies and various commercial products.

The sassafras deserves more consideration than it has received as a shade and ornamental tree. The autumnal coloring of its foliage is scarcely surpassed by any tree, and it is very free from insect pests.

+SWEET GUM+ _Liquidambar styraciflua_ L.

THE sweet or red gum is a very common tree on low lands in southern Illinois, but it is seldom found north of Jackson County in the west or north of Richland in the east. It is usually abundant in old fields or in cut-over woods. The _bark_ is a light gray, roughened by corky scales, later becoming deeply furrowed. After the second year the twigs often develop 2 to 4 corky projections of the bark, which give them a winged appearance.

The simple, alternate star-shaped _leaf_, with its 5 to 7 points or lobes, is 5 to 7 inches across and very aromatic. In the fall its coloring is brilliant, ranging from pale yellow through orange and red to a deep bronze.

The _flowers_ are of two kinds on the same tree, unfolding with the leaves. The _fruit_ at first glance reminds one of the balls of the sycamore, but on closer inspection proves to be a head. It measures an inch or more in diameter and is made up of many capsules with projecting spines. It frequently hangs on the tree by its long swinging stem late into the winter.

The _wood_ is heavy, moderately hard, close-grained, and not durable on exposure. The reddish-brown heartwood, which suggests the name, red gum, is not present to any appreciable extent in logs under 16 inches in diameter. In the South, the wood is extensively used for flooring, interior finish, paper pulp and veneers for baskets of all kinds. Veneers of the heartwood are largely used in furniture, sometimes as imitation mahogany or Circassian walnut. This tree should be more widely planted for ornamental use.

+SYCAMORE+ _Platanus occidentalis_ L.

THE sycamore, also called buttonwood, is considered the largest hardwood tree in North America. It occurs throughout the State, but is most abundant and reaches its largest size along streams and on rich bottom lands. It is one of the more rapidly-growing trees. In maturity it occasionally attains a height of 140 to 170 feet and a diameter of 10 to 11 feet. It often forks into several large secondary trunks, and the massive spreading limbs form an open head sometimes 100 feet across.

The _bark_ of the sycamore is a characteristic feature. On the younger trunk and large limbs it is very smooth, greenish-gray in color. The outer bark yearly flakes off in large patches and exposes the nearly white younger bark. Near the base of the old trees the bark becomes thick, dark brown and divided by deep furrows. The _flowers_ are very small and arranged in dense globular green heads.

The _leaves_ are simple, alternate, 4 to 7 inches long and about as broad, light green and smooth above, and paler below. The base of the leafstalk is hollow and in falling off exposes the winter bud. The _fruit_ is a ball about 1 inch in diameter, conspicuous throughout the winter as it hangs on its flexible stem, which is 3 to 5 inches long. During early spring, the fruit ball breaks up, and the small seeds are widely scattered by the wind.

The _wood_ is hard and moderately strong, but decays rapidly in the ground. It is used for butchers' blocks, tobacco boxes, furniture and interior finish.

The tree grows rapidly, bears transplanting well and is often planted as a shade tree.

The European sycamore or London plane tree, _Platanus acerifolia_ Willd., is less subject to disease than our native species and has been widely planted in this country for ornament and shade. The leaves are more deeply lobed than our sycamore and there are two or three fruit balls on each stem.

+WILD CRAB APPLE+ _Malus ioensis_ Britton

THE wild crab apple, or prairie crab, is found throughout Illinois forming small trees 20 to 30 feet high with trunks from 6 to 12 inches in diameter. In the open it develops a broad open crown with rigid, contorted branches bearing many short, spur-like branchlets, some of which develop into sharp rigid thorns. Under less favorable conditions, these crab apples often form bushy shrubs.

The _bark_ on the branches is smooth, thin and red-brown in color, while on the trunk the thicker bark often breaks into scales. The twigs are at first hoary-hairy, but soon become smooth and reddish.

The _leaves_ are alternate, simple, 3 to 4 inches long and almost as broad. They are sometimes slightly lobed and sharply and deeply toothed. They are dark green and shiny above, but pale and hairy beneath, borne on stout, hairy petioles.

The _flowers_, which are from one to two inches broad, are borne in clusters of 3 to 8, on wooly pedicels about an inch long. The white or rosy petals form a cup which surrounds the numerous stamens and the five styles. The calyx is pubescent.

The _fruit_ ripens in October, forming a globose, pale green, very fragrant apple with a waxy surface. It is about an inch in diameter, flattened at each end.

Like the other crabs, its handsome flowers have a delicious fragrance which makes the tree popular for planting for ornamental purposes. The fruit is sometimes gathered for jelly. The _wood_ is heavy, close-grained and reddish-brown.

The wild sweet crab, _Malus coronaria_ Mill., differs from the above in having more nearly smooth leaves and calyx. It is rarely found in Illinois but is common in Ohio. A cultivated variety, _Malus ioensis plena_ Rheder, is sold under the name of Bechtel's crab, and has large, double, rosy-pink blossoms.

+SERVICE BERRY+ _Amelanchier arborea_ (Michx. f.) Fern.

(_Amelanchier canadensis_ Medic.)

THE downy service berry, or shadblow, as it is more commonly called in the East, has little economic importance except for its frequency throughout the State and the touch of beauty its flowers give to our forests early in the spring before the foliage has come out. It is a small tree 20 to 50 feet high and seldom over 8 inches in diameter, with a rather narrow, rounded top but is often little more than shrub. The name shadblow was given by the early settlers who noticed that it blossomed when the shad were running up the streams.

The _bark_ is smooth and light gray, and shallowly fissured into scaly ridges. The _winter buds_ are long and slender.

The _leaves_ are alternate, slender-stalked, ovate, pointed, finely toothed, 2 to 4 inches long, densely white-hairy when young, then becoming a light green, and covered with scattered silky hairs.

The white _flowers_ appear in erect or drooping clusters in early spring, before the leaves, making the tree quite conspicuous in the leafless or budding forest. The petals are slender and rather more than a half inch long.

The _fruit_ is sweet, edible, rounded, reddish-purple when ripe, 1/3 to 1/2 an inch in diameter, ripening early in June. Birds and denizens of the forest are very fond of the berries.

The _wood_ is heavy, exceedingly hard, strong, close-grained and dark brown. It is occasionally used for handles. This is a desirable ornamental tree and should be planted for this purpose and to encourage the birds.

The smooth service berry, _Amelanchier leavis_ Wieg., differs from the above species in having smooth leaves, dark green and slightly glaucous when mature, and they are half grown at flowering time. The fruit is sweet, purple or nearly black, glaucous and edible.

+COCK-SPUR THORN+ _Crataegus crus-galli_ L.

THE hawthorns, or thorn-apples, are small trees or shrubs of the apple family which are widely distributed throughout the northeastern United States, with fewer species in the South and West. In North America, no less than 150 species have been distinguished, but their proper identification is a task for the expert. There are about a dozen haws that reach tree size in Illinois, attaining a height of 20 to 30 feet and a stem diameter of 8 to 12 inches. Of these, perhaps the best known is the cock-spur thorn with its many strong straight spines and shining leaves. Its _bark_ is pale gray and scaly. Its _winter buds_ are small, globose and lustrous brown.

The _leaves_ are conspicuous because of their dark green glossy surface. They are broadest toward the apex tapering to the short petiole. They vary in size in different localities, the smaller-leaved varieties seem to be more frequently met with in the southern part of the State than in the north. These leaves are alternate, wedge-shaped, notched on the edges, and from 2 to 3 inches long.

The _flowers_ are rather small, arranged in flat-topped clusters, white in color, with about a dozen pink stamens.

The _fruit_ is 1/3 inch thick, greenish-red; the flesh is hard and dry.

This haw is one of the best for planting for ornamental purposes; with its spreading branches, it forms a broad, rounded crown. It is hardy and succeeds in a great variety of soils.

The dotted hawthorn, _Crataegus punctata_ Jacq., also has wedge-shaped leaves but they are leathery, dull gray-green in color with conspicuous veins. The tree reaches a height of 25 feet with distinctly horizontal branches forming a broad flat crown. It is often almost without thorns. The fruit is oblong, dull red with pale dots, becoming mellow.

The pear-thorn, _Crataegus calpodendron_ Med., is a smaller tree, with broader leaves, very few thorns and pear-shaped fruit. The haw is scarlet or orange-red, the flesh is thin and sweet.

+RED HAW+ _Crataegus mollis_ Scheele

LIKE almost all the hawthorns, the red haw is a tree of the pasture lands, the roadside, the open woods and the stream banks. It is the largest of our haws, occasionally reaching a height of 30 feet, with ascending branches usually forming a low conical crown. The twigs are hairy during the first season, but are soon smooth, slender, nearly unarmed or occasionally armed with stout, curved thorns.

The _leaves_ are ovate or nearly orbicular, coarsely toothed nearly to the base, usually 3 to 5 pairs of broad, shallow lobes. Both surfaces are hairy.

The _flowers_ are often nearly an inch across, in compact clusters. They have about 20 cream-colored, densely hairy stamens.

The _fruit_, or the haw, is large, nearly 3/4 inch across, bright crimson or scarlet in color. The edible sweet flesh is firm but mellow, surrounding 5 bony seeds. It is often used for making jelly.

The _wood_ is strong, tough, heavy and hard, and is used for mallets, tool handles and such small articles.

The Washington thorn, _Crataegus phaenopyrum_ Med., is a smaller tree, with bright red fruit, but its broad leaves are smooth and bright green. The flowers are small, in very large clusters, followed by small bright scarlet edible haws.

In the southern half of Illinois, growing on moist river bottoms, the green haw, _Crataegus viridis_ L., becomes a tree 20 feet tall. The broad leaves are dark green and quite smooth. The fruit is small but produced in large clusters becoming bright red or orange-red as it ripens.

+WILD PLUM+ _Prunus americana_ Marsh.

THE common wild plum, or yellow plum, is a small tree which at a height usually of 3 to 6 feet divides into many spreading branches, often drooping at the ends. Not uncommonly it grows in thickets where it attains only large shrub size. The value of the tree lies in its fruit from which jelly and preserves are made, and its handsome form, and foliage, pure white fragrant flowers, and showy fruit which make it desirable for ornamental planting.

The _leaves_ are alternate, oval, pointed, sharply toothed, (often doubly toothed) along the margin, thick and firm, 3 to 4 inches long by 1 to 2 inches wide, narrowed or rounded at the base, and prominently veined on both surfaces.

The _flowers_ appear in numerous small clusters before, or simultaneously with, the leaves, and are white with small bright red portions in the center. The _fruit_, or plum, which ripens in late summer, is red or orange colored, about an inch in diameter, contains a stone or pit that is flattened and about as long as the pulpy part, and varies rather widely in its palatability.

The _wood_ is heavy, hard, close-grained, reddish-brown in color and has no especial commercial uses.

The Canada plum, _Prunus nigra_ Ait., is similar to the common wild plum, but the teeth of the leaves are blunt, the leaves are thin and the fruit is orange in color, almost without bloom.

The wild goose plum, _Prunus hortulana_ Bailey, has thin lance-shaped leaves; its flowers have short petals and it has a rather hard, small globular fruit.

+BLACK CHERRY+ _Prunus serotina_ Ehrh.

A common tree in Illinois and attaining sizes up to about 70 feet in height and 1 to 3 feet in diameter, black cherry as a tree is found all over the State. The forest-grown trees have long clear trunks with little taper; open-grown trees have spreading crowns. The _bark_ on branches and young trees is smooth and bright reddish-brown, marked by conspicuous, narrow white, horizontal lines, and has a bitter-almond taste. On the older trunks the bark becomes rough and broken into thick, irregular plates.

The _leaves_ are alternate, simple, oval to lance-like in shape, with edges broken by many fine incurved teeth, thick and shiny above, and paler beneath.

The _fruit_ is dull purplish-black, about as large as a pea, and is borne in long hanging clusters. It ripens in late summer, and is edible, although it has a slightly bitter taste.

The _wood_ is reddish-brown with yellowish sapwood, moderately heavy, hard, strong, fine-grained, and does not warp or split in seasoning. It is valuable for its lustre and color and is used for furniture, interior finish, tools, and implement handles. With the exception of black walnut, black cherry lumber has a greater unit value than any other hardwood of the eastern United States.

The wild cherry, _Prunus pennsylvanica_ L., is a small tree, growing on light soils, in the northern part of the State. The bark is a dark reddish-brown; the leaves are lance-shaped bright green and shiny above, while the fruit is round and bright red in color.

The choke cherry, _Prunus virginiana_ L., is common along fences and under larger trees in the forest in the northern half of the State. It seldom becomes a tree but it bears a fruit which is sweet but very astringent and is dark purple when ripe.

+HONEY LOCUST+ _Gleditsia triacanthos_ L.

THE honey locust occurs scattered throughout the State. It grows under a wide variety of soil and moisture conditions. It sometimes occurs in the forest, but more commonly in corners and waste places beside roads and fields. It reaches a diameter of 30 inches and a height of 75 feet. The _bark_ on old trees is dark gray and is divided into thin tight scales. The strong thorns--straight, brown, branched, sharp and shiny which grow on the 1-year-old wood and remain for many years--are sufficient to identify the honey locust.

The _leaf_ is pinnate, or feather-like with 18 to 28 leaflets; or it is twice-pinnate, consisting of 4 to 7 pairs of pinnae or secondary leaflets, each 6 to 8 inches long and somewhat resembling the leaf of the black locust.

The _flowers_ which appear when the leaves are nearly full-grown are inconspicuous, greenish-yellow and rich in honey. The petals vary from 3 to 5, the stamens are 3 to 10 and the ovary is wooly and one-celled.

The _fruit_ is a pod, 10 to 18 inches long, often twisted, 1 to 1-1/2 inches wide, flat, dark brown or black when ripe and containing yellow sweetish pulp and seeds. The seeds are very hard and each is separated from the others by the pulp. The pods are eaten by many animals, and as the seeds are hard to digest, many are thus widely scattered from the parent tree.

The _wood_ is coarse-grained, hard, strong and moderately durable in contact with the ground. It is used for fence posts and crossties. It should not be confused with the very durable wood of the black locust.

The water locust, _Gleditsia aquatica_ Marsh., is found in river bottoms in southern Illinois, becoming a medium sized tree. It may be known by its short pods, 1 to 2 inches long, with only 2 or 3 seeds.

+REDBUD+ _Cercis canadensis_ L.

THE redbud is a small tree occurring under taller trees or on the borders of fields or hillsides and in valleys throughout the State. It ordinarily attains a height of 25 to 50 feet and a diameter of 6 to 12 inches. Its stout branches usually form a wide flat head.

The _bark_ is bright red-brown, the long narrow plates separating into thin scales.

The _leaves_ are alternate, heart-shaped, entire 3 to 5 inches long and wide, glossy green turning in autumn to a bright clear yellow.

The conspicuous bright purplish-red, pea-shaped _flowers_ are in clusters along the twigs and small branches and appear before or with the leaves in early spring.

The _fruit_ is an oblong, flattened, many seeded pod, 2 to 4 inches long, reddish during the summer, and often hanging on the tree most of the winter.

The _wood_ is heavy, hard, not strong, rich, dark brown in color, and of little commercial importance. The redbud is cultivated as an ornamental tree and for that purpose might be planted more generally in this State.

The Kentucky coffee-tree, _Gymnocladus dioicus_ K. Koch, though not anywhere a common tree, is found on rich bottom lands throughout the State. The much-divided leaves are 2 to 3 feet long. The pods are 5 to 8 inches long and 1 to 2 inches wide and contain hard seeds 3/4 inch long. It has few qualities to recommend it for ornamental planting.

+BLACK LOCUST+ _Robinia pseudoacacia_ L.