THE MAGNOLIA AND TULIP TREE, THE CATALPA, THE AILANTHUS, AND THE ARALIA
Families Magnoliaceæ, Bignoniaceæ, Simaroubaceæ, and Araliaceæ
The magnolia family is made up of trees and shrubs belonging mainly
to the tropics, but it has two genera in the Northeastern States,—the
magnolia and the tulip tree. They are particularly interesting in
winter on account of the buds which are covered with stipules forming
bud-scales and which protect the undeveloped leaves until they open in
the spring.
There are six species of magnolia in the United States, but only one is
found growing wild in New England. The tulip tree is the only species
in the genus _Liriodendron_ and it is found only in eastern North
America and western China.
[Sidenote: Swamp Magnolia; Sweet Bay
_Magnolia glauca_]
_A shrub or slender tree, 4 to 30 feet high, with light brown bark.
The recent shoots are a bright green, and like the buds they have a
tendency towards downiness. Alternate leaf-scars._
This magnolia is found growing more or less commonly in swamps from New
Jersey to Florida, but it is rare in the north. Over a hundred years
ago it was discovered growing wild in Essex County, Massachusetts, by a
minister of Ipswich, the Rev. Manasseh Cutler, and it is still found in
the swamps near Gloucester. It is a low shrub in the north, but in the
south it grows to be a slender tree. The wood which is soft and light
is occasionally used in the south for making broom handles. The roots
of the swamp magnolia are very fleshy, and they used to be eaten by
beavers. The early settlers in Pennsylvania called it the “beaver tree”
and baited their traps to catch beavers with pieces of the roots.
The name was given to the genus in honor of Pierre Magnol, a professor
of botany at Montpellier in the seventeenth century, the specific name,
_glauca_ (glaucous) refers to the bloom on the under side of the leaves.
The umbrella tree (_Magnolia tripetala_) is found much more commonly in
parks and gardens than our native swamp magnolia, and it seems a better
representative of the genus for illustration. In the south it grows
to be thirty or forty feet high. The bark is light gray in color and
covered with small, blister-like excrescences. The branches are stout,
and green in color turning to brown. The buds are large and smooth and
covered with a purplish, glaucous bloom, and the leaf-scars are clearly
defined. This magnolia grows in deep, rich moist soil, and is nowhere
common. It is more frequently cultivated than any of the other species.
The name, _tripetala_, was given to it by Linnæus, and refers to the
three conspicuous sepals of the flowers. The English name alludes to
the spreading umbrella-like arrangement of the leaves.
The cucumber tree (_Magnolia acuminata_), a large tree 50 to 90 feet
high, grows wild in western New York and southward, and is often
cultivated. Its leaf buds are silky. The specific name refers to the
pointed apex of the leaves.
[Sidenote: Tulip Tree
_Liriodendron tulipifera_]
_A very large tree, 80 to 150 feet high, The bark is dark and smooth,
with small shallow furrows. The twigs are light purplish brown,
with a grayish bloom, and the leaf-scars are oval and alternate in
arrangement. The terminal bud is covered by two stipules. There are
stipule-scars on the stems. The fruit is a pointed, open, dry cone,
often remaining on the trees through the winter._
The tulip tree is one of the largest and tallest trees in our American
forests. It has long been admired for its beauty in the summer, and
a study of its winter buds and stems discloses the fact that it is
equally interesting and beautiful when its foliage has gone. The buds
are peculiar in structure. Each leaf within the bud is protected by
a pair of stipules, and in the spring, when the buds open, a leaf
slowly uncurls from its two folded stipule coverings and another bud
is seen beneath, wrapped in stipules. This bud unfolds and in its
turn discloses another. The process is as fascinating to watch as the
opening of Indian boxes one within another. This characteristic of the
tulip tree in protecting its young leaves makes one associate a very
human, maternal instinct with the tree; it seems of all others the most
careful in protecting its young growth. Sir John Lubbock, in his work
on “Buds and Stipules,” explains that the peculiar squared end of the
tulip tree’s leaf is caused by the singular way it is folded in the bud.
[Illustration: TULIP TREE
_Liriodendron tulipifera_
Page 156
]
“I long wondered,” he says, “what could be the purpose or the advantage
to the tree of this remarkable shape. One idea which occurred to me
was that the difference of form might enable insects to perceive
the tree at some distance, just as the colors of flowers are an
advantage in rendering them more conspicuous. I then looked closely to
see whether the peculiar forms could in any way be explained by the
position of the leaves on the tree. I believe, however, that the cause
is of a different nature, and has reference to the peculiar character
of the bud. Each young leaf is, as in the family _Magnoliaceæ_
generally, originally enclosed in and sheltered by the stipules of its
predecessor. These are in _Liriodendron_ oval or in form resembling a
shallow dish or spoon, so that when placed face to face they form a
hollow almond-shaped box. Inside this lies the next younger pair of
stipules; and the rest of the space is occupied by the young leaf,
which is conduplicate or folded on itself down the middle, like a
sheet of note paper, and also turned back towards the base of the bud.
This unusual position is probably due to the early development of the
petiole. It seems obvious that the peculiar form of the leaf is due to
the form and arrangement of the bud.”
The wood, which is known as whitewood and yellow poplar, is very
valuable. It is light and easily worked, and is much used for furniture
and in the interior finish of houses. The bark of the wood and branches
is pungent, bitter, and aromatic, and acts on the system as a tonic.
According to Bigelow’s “Medical Botany” it has been used in the
treatment of chronic rheumatism and in intermittent fever.
The generic name comes from two Greek words meaning tulip tree, and
alludes to the tulip-like flowers; the specific name also refers to the
flowers, and means tulip bearing.
The tulip tree is found growing wild in Rhode Island and Vermont,
south to Florida, and westward. It is planted commonly throughout New
England. This tree was found growing in Western China in 1875, and in
1889 specimens were sent to England and it was found to be identical
with the American species.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Hardy Catalpa; Indian Bean
_Catalpa speciosa_]
The family _Bignoniaceæ_ (named for the Abbé Bignon) is an order
of woody plants found abundantly in South America. It has a single
representative genus cultivated in the Northern States and found wild
in the South,—the catalpa. There are two species, the common catalpa
and the hardy catalpa, the latter being the most desirable for planting.
[Illustration: CATALPA
_Catalpa speciosa_
Page 158
]
_A tall tree, 60 to 80 feet high, with a thick, slightly furrowed bark.
Smooth, gray, coarse, stiff twigs. Oval leaf-scars arranged in whorls_
_of three on the stem, or opposite each other. The buds are short and
inconspicuous, with loose scales, The fruit is in long pods, hanging on
the tree till spring._
The catalpa is an attractive tree in winter on account of the long
slender pods which hang from the tips of the branches, and give the
stout stems a light effect otherwise lacking, for taken alone they are
coarse and bluntly moulded and very rigid. The name catalpa comes from
an Indian word meaning winged head; and as the catalpa has dense, heavy
foliage in summer and suggests solidity rather than the light effect
“winged” conveys to one’s mind, it is just possible that the Indians
referred to its winter aspect when they gave it the name. The buds open
very late in the spring, giving the tree a lifeless appearance long
after other trees are green.
The value of the catalpa as a timber tree is fast becoming recognized.
It grows rapidly, with an average increase of an inch a year in the
diameter of the trunk, and the wood is very durable in contact with the
soil; when used for railroad ties it has been known to remain sound for
over twenty years. Its practical value is shown by the experience of
an Illinois farmer who planted five hundred acres of these trees, and
after eight years’ growth thirteen thousand posts were cut and sold for
thirteen hundred dollars, and the remaining trees were improved rather
than harmed by this thinning out.
The Latin name, _speciosa_ (well-formed), refers to the beautiful
flowers of this tree. The catalpa grows wild in the Middle West, and is
cultivated commonly in parks and gardens in the Northeastern States.
* * * * *
The _Simaroubaceæ_ family is a small order of trees and shrubs found
in the South, with one genus in the North, a cultivated and widely
naturalized tree,—the ailanthus from China.
[Sidenote: Ailanthus; Tree of Heaven
_Ailanthus glandulosa_]
_A large tree, with gray bark. Very large, coarse twigs with brown
pith. Large alternate leaf-scars, V-shaped, or heart-shaped, with
numerous bundle-scars. The buds are small, round, and inconspicuous,
and covered with two scales. The terminal buds are lacking. The fruit
is winged, like that of the ash, but its seed is in the centre. The dry
clusters of fruit hang on some trees through the winter._
[Illustration: AILANTHUS
_Ailanthus glandulosa_
Page 160
]
The ailanthus, like the Kentucky coffee tree, is destitute of small
spray among its branches, but it would never be confused with that
tree on account of its smooth bark, which is a great contrast to the
roughly ridged bark of the Kentucky coffee tree. Its stems are smooth
and thick, and the large leaf-scars are much more prominent than the
buds. Its large, pinnate leaves, often over four feet long, make the
ailanthus decorative in summer, but its coarse stems in winter diminish
its æsthetic value in landscape gardening. It grows very fast at first,
its leading stems sometimes reaching over six feet in a single season;
but after ten or twelve years this rate decreases and it advances with
moderate growth.
In America it is planted only as an ornamental tree, but its wood is
fine-grained, hard, and takes a good polish, and is well fitted for
cabinet making.
The generic name was originally spelled ailantus, and came from
_ailanto_ (tree of heaven), the name of this tree in the Moluccas;
its name was undoubtedly given to it on account of the rapidity of
its growth and the great height it reaches in its native country. The
specific name, _glandulosa_ (glandulous), refers to the margins on the
under side of the leaves.
The ailanthus originally came from China, but it has become naturalized
here, and is planted very commonly in city streets, along country
roads, and in parks and gardens. It was first brought to the United
States by Mr. William Hamilton in 1784.
* * * * *
The family _Araliaceæ_, well known by its herb members, the ginseng and
wild sarsaparilla, has one tree-like representative,—the aralia.
[Sidenote: Angelica Tree; Hercules’ Club
_Aralia spinosa_]
_A shrub or low tree, 8 to 30 feet high. Coarse, stout stems, covered
with large prickles. The alternate leaf-scars are narrow and project
from the stem and almost encircle it. The bundle-scars are near
together and conspicuous. The buds are covered with loose scales and
are small for the size of the stems. The white pith in the stems is
conspicuous when they are cut._
Among all trees and shrubs the aralia is unique in winter. Its stout,
club-like stems, thickly beset with prickles, are so large they never
fail to attract attention, and whatever lack of beauty there may be is
overlooked owing to their grotesque aspect. In our Northern gardens
it is only a shrub, but it invariably arouses curiosity and seems to
compel attention more than trees three times its size.
The bark of the root and the berries are occasionally used in medicine
as a stimulant.
[Illustration: HERCULES’ CLUB
_Aralia spinosa_
Page 162
]
The meaning of the generic name is unknown. The specific name,
_spinosa_, is the Latin word meaning prickly, and alludes to the stems.
Southward from Pennsylvania this curious, ungainly tree is found
growing wild, and as it is hardy in the North it is frequently
cultivated in gardens. It is seen at its best in the rich soil of
the Big Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. There it grows to be thirty
or thirty-five feet high, with wide-spreading branches and a true
arborescent habit.