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STUDIES OF TREES IN WINTER
[Illustration: SWAMP WHITE OAK
_Quercus platanoides_]
STUDIES _of_ TREES
IN WINTER
_A Description of the Deciduous Trees of
Northeastern America_
BY
ANNIE OAKES HUNTINGTON
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY CHARLES S. SARGENT, LL.D.
DIRECTOR OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM AND AUTHOR OF THE
“SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA”
_ILLUSTRATED WITH COLORED PLATES BY MARY
S. MORSE, AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY
THE AUTHOR_
BOSTON
KNIGHT AND MILLET
1902
_Copyright, 1901_
BY KNIGHT AND MILLET
FIRST IMPRESSION, DECEMBER, 1901
SECOND IMPRESSION, JANUARY, 1902
TO
My Two Friends
MY MOTHER, ELIZABETH QUINCY HUNTINGTON
AND
JEANNETTE WARREN PAYSON
_IN TOKEN OF GRATITUDE AND LOVE_
I DEDICATE THIS BOOK
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION xv
CHAPTER
I. THE STUDY OF TREES IN WINTER 3
Trunk and branches. Stems and twigs. Leaf-scars.
Bundle-scars. Buds.
II. THE HORSECHESTNUT 15
The Horsechestnut. The Ohio Buckeye.
III. THE MAPLES 21
Sugar or Rock Maple. Red or Swamp Maple.
White or Silver Maple. Striped Maple or Moosewood.
Ash-leaved Maple or Box Elder. Norway
Maple. Sycamore Maple.
IV. THE ASHES 35
The White or American Ash. Red or Downy Ash.
Black Ash. European Ash.
V. THE WALNUTS AND HICKORIES 45
Butternut. Black Walnut. Shagbark or Shellbark
Hickory. Mockernut or Whiteheart Hickory.
Bitternut Hickory. Pignut Hickory.
VI. THE BIRCHES, HOP HORNBEAM, AND HORNBEAM 59
Canoe, Paper, or White Birch. American, Gray,
or White Birch. Black or Sweet Birch. Yellow
Birch. Red or River Birch. Dwarf Birch.
European White Birch. Hop Hornbeam, Ironwood.
Hornbeam, Blue Beech.
VII. THE BEECH, CHESTNUT, AND OAKS 77
American Beech. European Beech. Chestnut
Oak. White Oak. Swamp White Oak. Mossy-cup,
Overcup, or Bur Oak. Chestnut or Rock
Chestnut Oak. Dwarf Chestnut Oak. Post or
Rough Oak. Black Oak. Red Oak. Pin Oak.
Scrub Oak.
VIII. THE ELMS AND THE HACKBERRY 101
American or White Elm. Slippery or Red Elm.
Cork or Rock Elm. English Elm. Scotch,
Dutch, or Wych Elm. Hackberry, Sugarberry,
Nettle tree.
IX. THE BUTTONWOOD, THE TUPELO, AND THE
MULBERRIES 117
Buttonwood, Sycamore, or Plane tree. Tupelo,
Pepperidge, Sour Gum tree. Flowering Cornel,
Flowering Dogwood. Red Mulberry. White
Mulberry.
X. THE LOCUSTS, THE YELLOWWOOD, AND THE
KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE 129
Common Locust. Honey Locust. Yellowwood.
Kentucky Coffee tree. Laburnum. Judas tree.
XI. THE LINDENS, THE LIQUIDAMBER, AND THE
SASSAFRAS 141
Linden, Basswood. European Linden. Liquidamber,
Sweet Gum. Hamamelis. Sassafras.
XII. THE MAGNOLIA AND TULIP TREE, THE CATALPA,
THE AILANTHUS, AND THE ARALIA 153
Swamp Magnolia, Sweet Bay. Umbrella tree.
Cucumber tree. Tulip tree. Catalpa. Ailanthus,
Tree of Heaven. Angelica tree, Hercules’
Club.
XIII. THE APPLE TREE, PEAR TREE, MOUNTAIN ASH,
CHERRY TREE, AND THE SHAD BUSH 167
Common Apple tree. Common Pear tree. Mountain
Ash, or Rowan tree. Wild Black Cherry.
Choke Cherry. Pin Cherry. Peach tree. Shad
Bush. Service Berry, June Berry.
XIV. THE WILLOWS AND POPLARS 177
White Willow. Weeping Willow. Black Willow.
Aspen, American Aspen. Large-toothed Aspen.
Balm of Gilead, Balsam Poplar. Cottonwood,
Necklace, or Carolina Poplar. Lombardy Poplar.
White Poplar.
XV. THE LARCH 187
American Larch. Tamarack or Hackmatack.
European Larch.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Swamp White Oak. _Quercus platanoides_ _Frontispiece_
Cross section of a tree. (Colored plate) 4
Horsechestnut. _Æsculus hippocastanum_ 14
Horsechestnut shoot 16
Section of a Horsechestnut bud. (Colored plate) 18
The Maples. (Colored plate) 20
Sugar Maple. _Acer saccharum_ 22
Trunk of a young Sugar Maple 23
Red Maple. _Acer rubrum_ 24
Trunk of a young Red Maple 25
Silver Maple. _Acer saccharinum_ 26
Moosewood Maple. _Acer pennsylvanicum_ 28
Norway Maple. _Acer platanoides_ 30
Sycamore Maple. _Acer pseudo-platanus_ 32
The Ashes. (Colored plate) 34
American Ash. _Fraxinus americana_ 36
Walnuts and Hickories. (Colored plate) 44
Butternut. _Juglans cinerea_ 46
Trunk of a Butternut 47
Black Walnut. _Juglans nigra_ 48
Trunk of a Black Walnut 49
Shagbark Hickory. _Hicoria ovata_ 50
Trunks of Shagbark Hickories 51
Mockernut Hickory. _Hicoria alba_ 52
Bitternut Hickory. _Hicoria minima_ 54
Pignut Hickory. _Hicoria glabra_ 56
Canoe Birch. _Betula papyrifera_ 58
Gray Birches. _Betula populifolia_ 60
Black Birch. _Betula lenta_ 62
Yellow Birch. _Betula lutea_ 64
Red Birch. _Betula nigra_ 66
European White Birch. _Betula alba_ 68
Hop Hornbeam. _Ostrya virginiana_ 70
Hornbeams. _Carpinus caroliniana_ 72
The Beech and Chestnut. (Colored plate) 76
Beech trees. _Fagus americana_ 78
Trunk of a young Beech 80
Chestnut. _Castanea dentata_ 82
The Oaks. (Colored plate) 83
White Oak. _Quercus alba_ 84
Trunk of a White Oak 86
Mossy-cup Oak. _Quercus macrocarpa_ 88
A young Post Oak. _Quercus minor_ 90
Black Oak. _Quercus velutina_ 92
Red Oak. _Quercus rubra_ 94
Trunk of a Red Oak 96
Pin Oak. _Quercus palustris_ 98
The American and Slippery Elms. (Colored plate) 100
American Elm. _Ulmus americana_ 102
Young Cork Elm. _Ulmus racemosa_ 106
English Elms. _Ulmus campestris_ 108
Scotch Elm. _Ulmus montana_ 110
Hackberry. _Celtis occidentalis_ 112
Buttonwood stem and bud. (Colored plate) 116
Buttonwood. _Platanus occidentalis_ 118
Trunk of a Buttonwood 119
Tupelo. _Nyssa sylvatica_ 120
Red Mulberry. _Morus rubra_ 122
White Mulberry. _Morus alba_ 124
The Locusts. (Colored plate) 128
Common Locust trees. _Robinia pseud-acacia_ 130
Honey Locust. _Gleditsia triacanthos_ 132
Kentucky Coffee tree. _Gymnocladus dioicus_ 134
Linden, Liquidamber, and Sassafras. (Colored plate) 140
American Linden. _Tilia americana_ 142
Liquidamber. _Liquidambar styraciflua_ 144
Sassafras. _Sassafras sassafras_ 146
Trunk of a Sassafras 148
Magnolia and Tulip tree. (Colored plate) 152
Tulip tree. _Liriodendron tulipifera_ 156
Catalpa. _Catalpa speciosa_ 158
Ailanthus. _Ailanthus glandulosa_ 160
Hercules’ Club. _Aralia spinosa_ 162
Mountain Ash. _Pyrus americana_ 166
A young Black Cherry tree. _Prunus serotina_ 170
White Willows. _Salix alba_ 176
Aspens. _Populus tremuloides_ 180
American Larch. _Larix americana_ 186
European Larch. _Larix europæa_ 188
INTRODUCTION
When Miss Huntington told me last year that she was going to
write a book about the trees in their winter aspects, knowing how
conscientiously she had studied her subject and how successful she had
been in imparting the results of her observation to others, I felt sure
that she would do a useful and excellent piece of work, and that her
book would be of real assistance to all persons who want to gain some
knowledge of the trees which they pass in their daily walks.
The promise of the book is now fulfilled, and nothing is left for the
introductor to do but to call attention in a general way to the beauty
of trees in winter and to the pleasure and profit of studying them at
this season of the year, as well as when their branches are clothed
with leaves or covered with flowers or fruits.
To the real lover of trees they are equally beautiful and interesting
at all seasons of the year; and no one knows trees well who cannot
distinguish the different species as easily and surely in winter as
in spring or summer. Almost every tree has some special and peculiar
beauty which is seen to the best advantage in winter. The fine spray
of the beech is seen only at this season of the year, and there are
few more beautiful objects in nature than the delicate branches of our
New England beech trees seen against the clear blue sky of a brilliant
winter day. The sturdiness of the oak is best realized in winter,
for at other seasons its massive limbs are often hidden under their
covering of leaves. The birch is far more graceful and attractive in
winter than at any other period; and there is nothing more stimulating
to the lover of nature than to stand on a bright winter’s day and look
up into the marvellous structure of one of the great elm trees which
are the pride of New England. The bark of most trees appears more
beautiful in winter than at other seasons of the year because the eye,
undisturbed by the contemplation of the foliage, can then most easily
take in all the details of its varied texture and wonderful colors.
For the student of trees searching for accurate knowledge it is as
important to study trees in winter as in summer. The differences in
the various families of trees, once these are understood, are marked
enough to make family relationships easy to recognize at this season
of the year. Nor will it be found difficult, once the characters
peculiar to each kind of tree are fixed in the mind of the observer, to
determine the various species; and these winter characters are often
more constant and stable than characters derived from the flowers, the
shape of the leaves, or from the size and shape of the fruits, on which
dependence is usually placed for the identification of trees.
Each species of tree has its peculiar habit, which is best seen in
winter and which it usually retains under normal conditions. The
character of the bark rarely changes much on individuals of the same
age, although the bark of old trees is usually very different from
the bark of young trees of the same species; and the color of the
branchlets and the form and size of the winter buds generally afford
certain means of determining closely related trees.
In each kind of tree there is, in addition to its general habit, which
with a little practice is frequently sufficient to make the recognition
of a particular species easy, some special character which enables the
student to confirm his determination and to distinguish a particular
species of oak or hickory or poplar from every other.
A knowledge of trees, the ability at least to recognize and identify
them, adds vastly to the pleasures of life. One who knows trees well
meets them like old friends; each season invests them with fresh charm,
and the more we study and know them the greater will be our admiration
of the wonderful variety and beauty which they display in winter.
C. S. SARGENT.
ARNOLD ARBORETUM, November, 1901.
CHAPTER I
THE STUDY OF TREES
IN WINTER