Chapter 4

CARYA ALBA (Linnæus) K. Koch.White Hickory.(×1/2.)The nuts are from different trees to show variation.

Distribution.—Southwestern Ontario south to the Gulf and west to Texas, Missouri and Iowa. Found throughout Indiana, except there are no records from the extreme northwestern counties. This species except in the lower Wabash Valley is confined to the uplands. It is rather a rare tree in northern Indiana, but becomes more or less frequent in the western part of the State south of the Wabash River and more or less frequent to common on the hills in all of the State south of Marion County. It is most abundant in the unglaciated area.

Remarks.—This species is called mockernut by text books, and bull hickory in the vicinity of New Albany.

5a. Carya albavarietysubcoriàceaSargent. Trees and Shrubs 2:207:1913. Only one tree of this variety is known in Indiana and it is located in Posey County on the bank of the cypress swamp about 13 miles southwest of Mt. Vernon. Specimens from this tree were sent to Sargent and he referred them to this variety.[23]It differs from the type in the larger size and shape of the fruit and nut. The dried fruit is 5 cm. long, oblong. The nut is oblong, 4.4 cm. long, pointed at both ends, or some nuts somewhat ovate in shape and more rounded at the base, little compressed and strongly angled; shell very thick, 5 mm. at the thinnest place; kernel very small and sweet. The nut easily distinguishes it from all forms of hickory. The author has bought hickory nuts for table use for several years from Posey County and this nut is frequently found in the assortment which shows that this variety is more or less frequent in that section.

6. Carya glàbra(Miller) Spach.Black Hickory.Plate 27.Very tall medium sized trees, up to 7 dm. in diameter; bark tight, usually dark, fissures shallow on some and quite deep on others; twigs reddish-brown, glabrous, terminal buds small, ovoid, about 7-12 mm. long; ordinary leaves 2-3 dm. long; leaflets generally lanceolate, sometimes quite wide, or wider beyond the middle, prevailing number 5, the terminal usually 11-19 cm. long, somewhat pubescent on unfolding, more or less pubescent below at maturity, usually only the midrib, axils and larger veins with hairs; fruit generally smooth and obovoid, rarely globose or oval, 22-40 mm. long; husk sometimes not opening, more often one or more of the sutures open to less than half way, 1-2 mm. thick; nut about 20-30 mm. long and 16-25 mm. wide, rounded at the apex, elongated and rounded at the base, angles wanting or obscure; shell very hard and thick, about 1.5 mm. thick at the thinnest point; kernel sweet and astringent; wood and uses same as that of the shellbark hickory.

Plate 27

CARYA GLABRA (Miller) Spach.Black Hickory.(×1/2.)The nuts are from different trees to show variation.

Distribution.—Southern Ontario south to the Gulf States and west to Texas and Iowa. This species is reported for all parts of the State. However, the records for the northern counties were made when this species was not separated fromCarya ovalis, and since the latter species is quite frequent in the northern counties it is best to refer the early records toCarya ovalis. The most northern station based upon an existing specimen is the north side of the Mississinewa River east of Eaton in Delaware County. It is a frequent, common to very common tree on the hills in the southern part of the State. It has its mass distribution in the unglaciated part of the State, although it is locally a frequent to a common tree of the hills of the other southern counties. It appears that this species has the ability to invade areas after the virgin forest is cut, and it is not an uncommon sight to see this species in almost pure stands on the hills of cut-over lands.

Remarks.—This species is often called pignut. Sargent wisely suggests that this name be used exclusively forCarya cordiformis. The great abundance of this species in Brown, Morgan and Monroe Counties has been instrumental in building up a large business in the manufacture of hickory chairs and furniture. Frames of furniture are made from the very young trees, and backs and seats from the bark of old trees, which are cut, stripped of their bark, and often left to rot.

6a. Carya glabravarietymegacárpaSargent[24]. This variety was reported for Indiana by Heimlich.[25]His report was based on a specimen collected by the author in Franklin County. It was named by Sargent who has a duplicate specimen. Sargent in his revision of the hickories does not include Indiana in its range. The size of the fruit is the character that marks the variety and I do not believe this is sufficient to warrant its separation. I have, therefore, included all Indiana forms under the type.

7. Carya ovàlis(Wangenheim) Sargent.Small-fruited Hickory.Plate 28.Medium sized tall trees; bark usually tight on the trunk for a distance up to 1.5-3 m., then becoming more or less scaly like the shellbark hickory, on some trees the bark is very thick and is quite scaly but it does not flake off in thin plates as the shellbark hickory; twigs purplish or reddish-brown, generally smooth by the end of the season, generally 3-4 mm. thick near the tip; terminal winter buds ovoid, 7-10 mm. long, covered with yellow scales and more or less pubescent; average size leaves 2-3 dm. long; leaflets 3-7, prevailing number usually 7, sometimes 5, usually lanceolate, frequently oval or slightly obovate, the terminal 12-21 cm. long, at maturity usually pubescent beneath in the axils of the veins, more rarely also the veins covered with hairs; fruit varies greatly in size and shape, the most common form is obovoid, more rarely oval, or subglobose, 25-42 mm. in length, granular and covered with yellow scales; husk usually splitting to the base, although tardily on some, often quite aromatic, dry husk 1.1-3 mm. thick; nut variable in size and shape, from elliptic to obovoid, 15-30 mm. long, compressed, generally about 20 per cent wider than thick, usually rounded at the base, generally slightly obovoid with the apex rounded, or obcordate; a common form has the four sides rounded, as wide as long or almost so, with the ends abruptly rounded so as to appear almost truncate, the elliptic form with both ends pointed is our rarest and smallest form; the surface on all forms is quite smooth, except the elliptic forms which have the angles usually extending from the tip to the base, on other forms the nuts are usually not prominently angled and on some the angles are very obscure except at the apex; shell usually thin, 1-1.5 mm. thick; kernel sweet; wood and uses the same as that of the shellbark hickory.

Plate 28

CARYA OVALIS (Wangenheim) Sargent.Small-fruited Hickory.(×1/2.)The nuts show the species and its varieties.

Sargent[26]has described five varieties of this species, three of which he credits to Indiana. The writer has sent him specimens from over 100 trees of this species, and he has variously distributed them to the type and varieties. Heimlich has reported Sargent's determination of many of these specimens in the Proc. Ind. Acad. Science, 1917:436-439:1918. The writer cannot agree with the determinations and believes further field study is necessary to discover characters by which the several forms can consistently be divided.

To stimulate the study of this species, the original description of the varieties together with Sargent's characterization of the type are quoted because they are contained in a book not usually found in libraries. To these descriptions are added new characters which Sargent gives in his revision of the hickories in Bot. Gaz. 66:245-247:1918.

Carya ovalis(type).

"In the shape of the fruit and in the thickness of its involucre this tree is of four distinct forms; in all of them the involucre splits freely to the base, or nearly to the base, the shell of the nut is thin and the seed, although small, is sweet and edible. The extremes of these forms are very distinct, but there are forms which are intermediate between them, so that it is difficult to decide sometimes to which of the forms these intermediate forms should be referred. The first of these forms, as the fruit agrees with Wangenheim's figure, must be considered the type of the species. The fruit is oval, narrowed and rounded at the base, acute at the apex, usually from 2.5-3 cm. long and about 1.5 cm. in diameter. The involucre is from 2-2.5 mm. thick and occasionally one of the sutures remains closed. The nut is oblong, slightly flattened, rounded at the base, acute or acuminate and four-angled at the apex, the ridges extending for one-third or rarely for one-half of its length, from 2-2.5 cm. long and about 1.5 cm. in diameter. The shell is usually about 1 mm. thick." "The type of this species and its varieties have glabrous or rarely slightly pubescent leaves, with usually 7 thin leaflets."

7a. Carya ovalisvarietyobcordàta(Muhlenberg) Sargent. "The fruit varies from subglobose to short-oblong or to slightly obovate, showing a tendency to pass into that of the other varieties of the species. It varies from 2-3 cm. in diameter, and the involucre, which is from 2-5 mm. thick, splits freely to the base or nearly to the base by narrowly winged sutures, one of them rarely extending only to the middle of the fruit. The nut is usually much compressed, often broadest above the middle, slightly angled sometimes to below the middle, rounded at the base and much compressed, often broadest above the middle, slightly angled sometimes to below the middle, rounded at the base and rounded and often more or less obcordate at the apex."

7b. Carya ovalisvarietyodoràta(Marshall) Sargent. "The name may have been given by Marshall to this variety on account of the strong resinous odor of the inner surface of the fresh involucre of the fruit, which I have not noticed in that of the other forms. The fruit is subglobose or sometimes slightly longer than broad, flattened and usually from 1.3-1.5 cm. in diameter. The involucre varies from 1-1.5 mm. in thickness and splits freely to the base by distinctly winged sutures. The nut is rounded or acute at the base with a short point, rounded at the apex, very slightly or not at all ridged, pale colored, from 1.2-1.5 cm. long and wide and from 1-1.2 cm. thick."

7c. Carya ovalisvarietyobovàlisSargent. "In the fourth form the fruit is more or less obovate, about 2.5 cm. long and 2 cm. in diameter, and the involucre varies from 2-4 mm. in thickness. The nut is much compressed, pointed or rounded at the apex, rounded at the base, usually about 2 cm. long, nearly as broad and about 1.5 cm. thick." "The fruit resembles in shape that ofCarya glabra, but the involucre is thicker and splits easily to the base or nearly to the base."

7d. Carya ovalisvarietyobcordàta,f. vestitaSargent. Bot. Gaz. 66:246:1918. This is a form described from a specimen collected by the author on the border of Dan's Pond in Knox County. It differs from "the varietyobcordatain the thick tomentose covering of the branchlets during their first year. The leaves of this form are slightly pubescent in the autumn on the under surface of the midribs. Although the nuts are more compressed than those of the ordinary forms of var.obcordata, the fruit is of that variety. The branchlets are unusually stout for a form ofCarya ovalisand are covered with rusty tomentum during their first year and are more or less pubescent in their second and third seasons."

Distribution.—Western New York west to Illinois and south to North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri.The species is found in all parts of the State, although the distribution of the varieties has not been worked out. The habitat of this species is high ground, and only rarely is it found in low ground. It prefers hills, slopes, base of the terraces of streams, and in the northern part of the State gravelly ridges and sandy soil. In all of its range it is usually associated with white and black oak. It is infrequent in the southern part of the State but north of the Wabash River it becomes more frequent and in some places it becomes common to very common. It is a common tree in Wells County north of the Wabash River and in the northern part of Lagrange County, and in both places a wide range of forms occur, some of which are not covered by the preceding description. No one of our trees offers a better opportunity for intensive study than this hickory.

Remarks.—Text books call this species the small-fruited hickory. It is not commonly distinguished from the other hickories, but in Wells County where it is common the boys call it "Ladies' Hickory."

8. Carya BúckleyivarietyarkansànaSargent.[27]Plate 29.Medium sized trees, bark tight, dark, deeply furrowed; mature twigs more or less pubescent, reddish brown; terminal buds ovoid, about 8 mm. long, thickly covered with yellow scales, and more or less pubescent; leaves 2-3.5 dm. long, rachis permanently pubescent; leaflets 5-7, prevailing number 7, lanceolate, terminal one about 15 cm. long, tawny pubescent on unfolding, more or less glabrous at maturity; fruit ellipsoid to slightly obovoid, very aromatic, about 3.5-4 cm. long, covered with yellow scales; husk usually splitting to below the middle, 3-4 mm. thick; nut oblong to slightly obovoid, 3-3.5 cm. long, scarcely compressed, rounded at each end, the four ridges faint except at the apex; shell thick, about 2 mm. at the thinnest point; kernel sweet; wood same as the white hickory which it most closely resembles.

Distribution.—Southwestern Indiana, south in the Mississippi Valley to Louisiana and Texas. Known in Indiana only from one tree in Knox County on the sand ridge on the east side of what was formerly a cypress swamp, about two miles north of Decker. The soil is the Knox sand. It is associated with black and black jack oaks.

Remarks.—The description has been drawn from ample material from this single tree.

Plate 29

CARYA BUCKLEYI var. ARKANSANA Sargent. (×1/2.)

BETULÀCEAE.The Birch Family.

Trees or shrubs with simple, petioled, alternate (in pairs on the older branches ofBetula) leaves; staminate flowers in long drooping catkins, 1-3 in the axil of each bract, the pistillate in short lateral or terminal aments; fruit a nut or samara.

Staminate flowers solitary in the axil of each bract, without a calyx, pistillate flowers with a calyx; nut wingless.Bark of tree smooth; staminate aments in winter enclosed in bud scales; nut exposed, its subtending bract more or less irregularly 3-cleft1 Carpinus.Bark of older trees shreddy; staminate aments in winter naked; nut enclosed in a bladder-like bract2 Ostrya.Staminate flowers 3-6 in the axil of each bract, with a calyx, pistillate flowers without a calyx; nut winged.Winter buds sessile; stamens 2; fruit membranous and hop-like; fruiting bract deciduous at the end of the season when the nut escapes3 Betula.Winter buds stalked; stamens 4; fruit woody and cone-like; fruiting bracts woody and persisting after the nuts escape4 Alnus.

Staminate flowers solitary in the axil of each bract, without a calyx, pistillate flowers with a calyx; nut wingless.

Bark of tree smooth; staminate aments in winter enclosed in bud scales; nut exposed, its subtending bract more or less irregularly 3-cleft

Bark of older trees shreddy; staminate aments in winter naked; nut enclosed in a bladder-like bract

Staminate flowers 3-6 in the axil of each bract, with a calyx, pistillate flowers without a calyx; nut winged.

Winter buds sessile; stamens 2; fruit membranous and hop-like; fruiting bract deciduous at the end of the season when the nut escapes

Winter buds stalked; stamens 4; fruit woody and cone-like; fruiting bracts woody and persisting after the nuts escape

1. CARPÌNUS.The Hornbeam.

Carpinus caroliniànaWalter.Water Beech. Blue Beech.Plate 30.A small tree up to 3 dm. in diameter, usually 1-1.5 dm. in diameter with fluted or ridged trunks; bark smooth, close, gray; twigs hairy at first, soon becoming glabrous; leaves ovate-oblong, average leaves 6-10 cm. long, pointed at the apex, double-serrate, hairy when young, glabrous at maturity except on the veins and in the axils beneath, pubescent, not glandular, staminate catkins appearing in early spring; nut at the base of a 3-cleft bract about 2 cm. long, nut broadly ovate, compressed, pointed and about 5 mm. long; wood heavy, hard, tough and strong.

Distribution.—Nova Scotia west to Minnesota and south to Florida and Texas. In Indiana it is frequent to common throughout the State in moist rich woods. It prefers a moist rich soil; however, it has a range from the tamarack bog to the dry black and white oak slope. It is tolerant of shade and is seldom found outside of the forest.

Remarks.—This tree is too small and crooked to be of economic importance. It is regarded as a weed tree in the woodland, and should be removed to give place to more valuable species.

Plate 30

CARPINUS CAROLINIANA Walter.WaterorBlue Beech. (×1/2.)

2. ÓSTRYA.The Hop Hornbeam.

Ostrya virginiàna(Miller) Willdenow.Ironwood.Plate 31.Small trees up to 5 dm.[28]in diameter, usually about 1-2 dm. in diameter; bark smooth and light brown on small trees, shreddy on older trees; shoots hairy, becoming at the end of the season glabrous or nearly so and a reddish-brown; leaves oblong-ovate, other forms rare, average size about 7-12 cm. long, acuminate, usually double-serrate, hairy on both surfaces when they unfold, glabrous or nearly so above at maturity, more or less pubescent beneath, especially on the midrib and veins; staminate spikes develop in early winter; fruit hop-like about 2-4 cm. long; nut oblong-ovate about 7 mm. long and half as wide, compressed, light brown; wood very hard, tough, close-grained, strong, light brown.

Distribution.—Nova Scotia west to Manitoba, south to the Gulf States and west to Texas. It is frequent to common in all of the counties of the State. However, it is entirely absent in the lower Wabash bottoms, except rarely on high grounds in this area. It prefers well drained dry soil, and is most frequent when it is associated with beech and sugar maple, although it is often quite plentiful in white oak woods. It is shade enduring and is one of the under trees in the forest where it grows very tall and slender and free from branches. When it grows in exposed places such as bluffs, it retains its side branches and is usually bushy.

Remarks.—The trees are too small to be of much economic importance. It is 30 per cent stronger than white oak, and 46 per cent more elastic. These exceptional qualities were recognized by the Indians and it was used by them where wood of great strength and hardness was desired. Likewise the pioneer used it where he could for handles, wooden wedges, etc. Since it grows neither large nor fast, it is usually regarded as a weed tree in the woodland, and should be removed to give place to more valuable species.

Ostrya virginiànavarietyglandulòsaSpach. This is the name given to the form which has the twigs, petioles, peduncles and often the midrib and veins of the leaves beneath covered more or less with short erect, reddish, glandular hairs.

It is found with the species, but is not so frequent.

Plate 31

OSTRYA VIRGINIANA (Miller) K. Koch.Ironwood.(×1/2.)

3. BÉTULA.The Birches.

Trees and shrubs with bark tight, scaly or separating into very thin plates and peeling off transversely, whitish or dark colored; staminate catkins developing in autumn and dehiscing in early spring before or with the appearance of the leaves, pistillate catkins ovoid or cylindric; fruit a small winged flat seed, bearing at the apex the two persistent stigmas.

Bark of twigs usually with a slight wintergreen flavor; leaves with 7-15, usually 9-11 pairs of prominent veins; rounded or slightly cordate at the base; fertile catkins generally 10 mm. or more in diameter1 B. lutea.Bark of twigs usually bitter, not wintergreen flavored; leaves with 4-11, usually 4-9 pairs of prominent veins, more or less obtusely angled at the base; fertile catkins generally less than 10 mm. in diameter (rarely 10 mm. or more,B. nigra).Bark of trunk chalky-white; fruiting aments drooping or spreading.Bark below base of lateral branches darkened-triangular in outline; leaves long acuminate and lustrous above; staminate catkins usually solitary2 B. populifolia.Bark below base of lateral branches not darkened; leaves ovate and not lustrous above; staminate catkins usually 2-33 B. papyrifera.Bark of trunks dark; fruiting aments erect or nearly so4 B. nigra.

Bark of twigs usually bitter, not wintergreen flavored; leaves with 4-11, usually 4-9 pairs of prominent veins, more or less obtusely angled at the base; fertile catkins generally less than 10 mm. in diameter (rarely 10 mm. or more,B. nigra).

Bark of trunk chalky-white; fruiting aments drooping or spreading.

Bark below base of lateral branches darkened-triangular in outline; leaves long acuminate and lustrous above; staminate catkins usually solitary

Bark below base of lateral branches not darkened; leaves ovate and not lustrous above; staminate catkins usually 2-3

Bark of trunks dark; fruiting aments erect or nearly so

1. Betula lùteaMichaux filius.Birch. Yellow Birch.Plate 32.Medium size trees; bark of small trees and of the branches of old trees smooth, silver or dark gray, freely peeling off in thin strips, becoming on older trees a dark brown, rarely tight, usually fissured into wide plates and rolling back from one edge; the shoots of the year hairy, greenish gray, becoming glabrous or nearly so and reddish-brown by the end of the second year, not aromatic when bruised but when chewed sometimes a faint wintergreen odor can be detected; winter buds pointed, reddish-brown, the lower scales more or less pubescent, generally with a fringe of hairs on the margins; leaves usually appearing in pairs, ovate to ovate-oblong, 4-14 cm. long, taper-pointed, oblique and wedge-shape, rounded or slightly cordate at the base, sharply and rather coarsely serrate, hairy on both sides when they appear, becoming at maturity glabrous or nearly so above, and remaining more or less pubescent below, especially on the veins, both surfaces with few to numerous resinous dots; petioles permanently hairy, generally 5-13 mm. long; flowers appear in May; staminate spikes in clusters at the ends of the branches, about 6 cm. long, scales broadly ovate, blunt, fringed with hairs, green-tipped with a margin of reddish-brown; pistillate spikes solitary in the axils of the leaves, mature spikes 2.5-5 cm. long, generally 2.5-3 cm. long, commonly about half as thick as long, recurved to ascending, commonly about horizontal, sessile or on short stalks; scales very variable, 5-11 mm. long, generally 7-8 mm. long, sometimes as wide as long but generally about one-fourth longer than wide, densely pubescent on the back, or rarely glabrous on the back, ciliate, glabrous or nearly so on the inside, commonly with a few brown or black glands on the margin, commonly lobed to more than one-third of their length, lobes ascending or divaricate, the lateral generally the larger and almost as long as the narrower middle lobe; nuts divested of the wings, slightly obovate, about 3 mm. long, wings about two-thirds as wide as the nut and usually with a fringe of hairs at the blunt apex.

Plate 32

BETULA LUTEA Michaux filius.Yellow Birch. (×1/2.)

Distribution.—The distribution of this species is variously given as from Newfoundland west to Manitoba and south in the Alleghenies to Georgia. It is now definitely known that the species ofBetulahybridize which may account for the peculiar forms often encountered. That there are geographic races or Mendelian segregates of this species is evidenced by the different interpretations given this species by different authors.Betula alleghanensisBritton appears to be one of them. The descriptive difference betweenBetula lentaandBetula luteais not clear, which has resulted in many authors creditingBetula lentato Indiana and the area west of Indiana.

The preceding description does not agree with that ofBetula luteaexactly, and has been drawn to cover the specimens at hand from Indiana which the author has from Allen, Crawford, Lagrange, Lake, Marshall, Porter and Steuben Counties. It has recently been reported from White County by Heimlich.[29]He says: "Specimens were taken from two trees about two miles south of Buffalo near the water's edge of the river." The writer has visited this locality and found here, and also on the island above the bridge a little farther down the river,Betula nigra, but could not findBetula lutea. Since Heimlich did not reportBetula nigra, which unmistakably occurs here, I assume he has confused the two species. It is very local in its distribution, and appears to be confined to swamps, borders of lakes, and streams in the extreme northern part of the State. It has not been seen south of the northern end of the State, except a few small trees found clinging to the walls of the cliffs of a ravine about one mile east of Taswell in Crawford County. The walls of this ravine are about 25 meters high; associated with it were a few trees of hemlock, and on the top of the cliffs, laurel (Kalmia latifolia).

Large trees of this species in Indiana are usually from 4-6 dm. in diameter and about 15 m. high. The number in any one station is usually few, although there were formerly patches where it was plentiful. Van Gorder[30]reports for Noble CountyBetula lentawhich should be transferred to this species, and he says: "There is a marsh of several acres of birch in Section 15 of York Township." The largest area nowknown is that contained in the large tamarack swamp near Mineral Springs in Porter County. In this swamp are found tamarack and white cedar. It was in this swamp that the writer found a peculiar form of birch which has been determined asBetula Sandbergi. Since this species[31]is recognized as a hybrid ofBetula papyriferaandBetula pumilavarietyglandulifera, and the last parent of this hybrid is not found in the vicinity, a discussion of this form is not presented. In the immediate vicinity are found onlyBetula luteaandBetula pumila.Betula papyriferais found about a mile distant to the south. It is assumed that this form is a cross betweenBetula luteaandBetula pumila.

2. Betula populifòliaMarshall.Gray or White Birch.Plate 33.A small tree; bark a chalky-white, not separating into thin layers, inner bark orange, on the trunks of old trees nearly black; shoots at first covered with numerous glands, becoming smooth and yellowish or reddish-brown; leaves generally long-deltoid, average blades 3-6 cm. long, usually long taper-pointed, truncate or nearly so at the base, irregularly double-serrate, slightly pubescent on the veins when young, soon becoming glabrous; fertile catkins 1.5-3 cm. long and about 7 mm. in diameter; bracts of eastern trees differ from those of Indiana trees which are about 3-4 mm. long, lobed to about1/3of the distance from the apex, lateral lobes the largest and strongly divaricate, puberulent on the back; seed strongly notched at the apex; nut slightly obovoid; wings much broader than the nut.

Distribution.—Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario and south to Delaware and Pennsylvania. In Indiana it has been reported from Lake, Laporte, Porter, St. Joseph and Tippecanoe Counties. There may be some doubt about the Tippecanoe record, since many of the older records were made from cultivated trees. The numbers of the species in Indiana were always limited. It is not able to meet changed conditions and it has already almost disappeared from our area. I was told that formerly this species was found all about a lake in Laporte County, but it has all died out. Its appearance in Indiana is peculiar since it is not found west of us, or north in Michigan or east in Ohio. This small group of trees near Lake Michigan is three or four hundred miles from the nearest of their kind.

Remarks.—This species is called white and gray birch. The largest tree seen in Indiana was about 2 dm. in diameter and 13 m. high.

Plate 33

BETULA POPULIFOLIA Marshall.WhiteorGray Birch. (×1/2.)

Plate 34

BETULA PAPYRIFERA Marshall.PaperorCanoe Birch. (×1/2.)

3. Betula papyríferaMarshall.Paper or Canoe Birch.Plate 34.Rather a small tree; bark thin, creamy white; chalky, dark near the base on old trees, separating in thin papery layers; shoots green, glandular and hairy, becoming glabrous and reddish-brown; leaves ovate or rhombic-ovate, acute to long taper-pointed, truncate, rounded or wedge-shape at the base, average blades 5-8 cm. long, usually irregularly double-serrate, hairy at first, becoming glabrous above or nearly so, remaining more or less pubescent below, especially on the veins and with tufts of hairs in the axils of the veins, minutely glandular on both surfaces, sometimes with only a few glands on the midribs above; fertile catkins 2-4 cm. long and about 6-9 mm. wide, bracts about 4 mm. long, pubescent on both faces, lobed to about one-third the distance from the apex, the lateral lobes the largest, divaricate or slightly recurved; seed deeply notched at apex, nut oval, pubescent at the apex, wings as broad as, or broader than the nut.

Distribution.—Alaska to Labrador, south to New York, northern Indiana, Colorado and Washington. In Indiana it has been reported from Lake, Laporte, Marshall and St. Joseph Counties. It has not been found as a native in Ohio. This species is another example of a northern form finding its southern limit near Lake Michigan.

Remarks.—This species in other parts of the country is known as white, paper and canoe birch. I have not seen specimens more than 2 dm. in diameter in Indiana.

4. Betula nìgraLinnæus.Black or Red Birch.Plate 35.A medium sized tree; bark on young trees peeling off transversely in thin reddish-brown strips which roll back and usually persist for several years, bark of older trees dark brown, furrowed and separating into short plates or peeling off in strips; young twigs hairy, becoming glabrous and reddish at the end of the season; leaves rhombic-ovate, acute, short and broadly wedge-shaped at the base, blades of ordinary leaves 4-8 cm. long, irregularly toothed, glabrous above and pubescent beneath, rarely entirely glabrous; fertile catkins generally 2-3 cm. long, and usually slightly less than 1 cm. wide; bracts 6-10 mm. long, pubescent, ciliate, lobed to near the middle, the lobes about equal; nuts broadly ovate, broader than its wings, pubescent at the apex; wood light, strong, close-grained, heart wood light brown.

Distribution.—Massachusetts west to Minnesota and south to Florida and Texas. In Indiana it is found more or less frequent in the counties bordering the Kankakee River, and as far east as St. Joseph, Marshall and Miami Counties. Along the Kankakee River it is frequently a tree of 6-8 dm. in diameter. This species has not been found in Michigan, northeastern Indiana or northern Ohio. It has never been noted near Lake Michigan, and the nearest point is Cedar Lake in Lake County about 20 miles south of the Lake. It is more or less frequent along certain streams throughout the southwestern part of the State. It is found as far north as Putnam and Marion Counties and eastward as far as Bartholomew, Scott and Clark Counties. There are no records for this species for eastern Indiana or western Ohio. About Hovey Lake in Posey County it reaches its greatest size, where trees up to 8 dm. in diameter and 30 m. high are to be found. In the "flats" in certain parts of Jackson and Scott Counties it becomes a common tree, associated with pin oak and sweet gum.

Plate 35

BETULA NIGRA Linnæus.Black or Red Birch.(×1/2.)

Remarks.—This is the most abundant birch of Indiana. In fact all other species are too rare to be of economic importance. The fact that other species of birch are so rare in Indiana, is the reason that this species is simply called "Birch." Outside of Indiana it is known as red birch and river birch. The principal use of this wood in this State is for heading.

All of the birches, especially the horticultural forms, are used more or less for ornamental planting. They are beautiful trees but are short lived.

4. ÁLNUS.The Alders.

Trees or shrubs; bark astringent; staminate and pistillate catkins begin to develop early in summer and flower the following year early in the spring before the leaves appear; bracts of the fertile catkins thick and woody, obdeltoid with 3-rounded lobes at the apex; nuts obovate, reddish-brown.

Leaves sharply double-serrate, the ends of the primary veins forming the apex of the larger teeth, glaucous beneath; nuts with a narrow thick margin1 A. incana.Leaves single-serrate, pale beneath; nuts without margins2 A. rugosa.

Leaves sharply double-serrate, the ends of the primary veins forming the apex of the larger teeth, glaucous beneath; nuts with a narrow thick margin

Leaves single-serrate, pale beneath; nuts without margins

1. Alnus incàna(Linnæus) Muenchhausen.Speckled Alder.Plate 36. Shrubs or small trees; bark generally smooth and a reddish-brown with a tinge of gray, with grayish dots, hence its name; twigs hairy at first, becoming smooth by the end of the season and a golden or reddish-brown with many fine dark specks; leaves broadly-oval, acute or short-pointed at apex, usually broadly rounded at the base, average blades 6.5-11 cm. long, glaucous beneath, hairy on both sides on unfolding, at maturity becoming glabrous above or with a few hairs on the veins, beneath remaining more or less hairy until late in autumn when usually only the veins are hairy; pistillate catkins resembling small cones, 1-1.5 cm. long and usually 7-12 mm. wide, near the ends of the branches, usually in clusters of 2-7.

Plate 36

ALNUS INCANA (Linnæus) Muenchhausen.Speckled Alder.(×1/2.)

Distribution.—Newfoundland to the Saskatchewan, south to New York, northeastern Ohio, northern Indiana and Nebraska. In Indiana it is confined to the northern tier of counties. I have specimens from Elkhart, Lagrange, Lake and Porter Counties. It was reported from Carroll County by Thompson, but in the absence of a verifying specimen I am inclined to think this citation should be referred toAlnusrugosa. This species grows in low ground on the borders of streams, borders of swamps and in almost extinct sloughs near Lake Michigan. It is also found along Pigeon River in the eastern part of Lagrange County. In the vicinity of Mineral Springs in Porter County it is locally a common shrub or tree. It has the habit of stooling out, and commonly the several specimens will be deflected from a vertical from 20-45 degrees. The largest specimens are from 1-1.4 dm. in diameter and about 10 m. high.

Remarks.—This species could be used to good advantage in ornamental planting in low ground. It grows rapidly, is easily transplanted and its foliage is dense and attractive.

2. Alnus rugòsa(Du Roi) Sprengel.Smooth Alder.Plate 37.Shrubs with fluted or angled trunks, resemblingCarpinus; bark thin, smooth or nearly so, reddish-brown, weathering gray; twigs hairy at first, becoming gray or reddish-brown by the end of the season and more or less glabrous and covered with small dark specks; leaves obovate, barely acute or rounded at apex, wedge-shape at base, average blades 6-10 cm. long, hairy on both surfaces while young, becoming smooth or nearly so above, remaining more or less hairy beneath, especially on the veins, under surface of leaves sufficiently glutinous to adhere to paper if pressure be applied, margins set with short callous teeth, about .5-1 mm. long; fertile catkins cone-shape, 10-20 mm. long and about 7 mm. in diameter, borne at the ends of branches in clusters of 2-5.

Distribution.—Maine to Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas. In Indiana it is quite local. It has been reported in many of the counties of northern Indiana north of the Wabash River. It has been found in several of the southern counties and as far north as Salt Creek in Monroe County. No reports for the central part of the State. It is absent also in all of the eastern counties of the State, and the western part of Ohio. It is found growing in clumps in wet woods, swamps, cold bogs and along streams. It is usually a tall slender shrub; however, a specimen has been seen that measured 7 cm. in diameter and 5 m. in height.

Remarks.—Of no value except for ornamental planting in wet ground.

Plate 37

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