Wood and Forest Part 20

_Carpinus caroliniana_ Walter.

_Carpinus_, cla.s.sical Latin name; _caroliniana_, named from the state.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Habitat.]

HABITAT: (See map); best on western slopes of Southern Allegheny Mountains and in southern Arkansas and Texas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Leaf.]

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TREE: Height, a small tree, 30'-50' high; diameter, 6"-2'; short, fluted, sinewy trunk; bark, smooth, bluish gray; leaves, falcate, doubly serrate; fruit, small oval nut, enclosed in leaf-like bract.

APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, light brown, sap-wood thick, whitish; diffuse-porous; rings, obscure; grain, close; rays, numerous, broad.

PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Heavy (13th in this list); 45 lbs. per cu. ft.; sp. gr. 0.7286; very strong (9th in this list); very stiff (15th in this list); hard (14th in this list); shrinkage, 6 per cent.; warps and checks badly; not durable; hard to work; splits with great difficulty.

COMMON USES: Levers, tool handles.

REMARKS: No other wood so good for levers, because of stiffness.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Radial Section, life size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cross-section, magnified 37-1/2 diameters.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Tangential Section, life size.]

35

CANOE BIRCH. WHITE BIRCH. PAPER BIRCH.

All names refer to bark.

_Betula papyrifera_ Marshall.

_Betula_, the cla.s.sical Latin name; _papyrifera_ refers to paper bearing bark.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Habitat.]

HABITAT: (See map); best west of Rocky Mountains.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Leaf.]

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TREE: Height, 60'-80'; diameter, 2'-3'; stem rarely quite straight; bark, smooth, white, exterior marked with lenticels, peeling freely horizontally into thin papery layers, showing brown or orange beneath, contains oil which burns hotly, formerly used by Indians for canoes, very remarkable (see Keeler, page 304); leaves, heart-shaped, irregularly serrate; fruit, pendulous strobiles.

APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, brown or reddish, sap-wood white; diffuse-porous; rings, obscure; grain, fairly straight; rays, numerous, obscure.

PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Weight, medium (33d in this list); 37 lbs. per cu.

ft.; sp. gr. 0.5955; very strong (14th in this list); very elastic (2d in this list); medium hard (39th in this list); shrinkage, 6 per cent.; warps, .........; not durable, except bark; easy to work; splits with difficulty, nails well, tough.

COMMON USES: Spools, shoe lasts and pegs, turnery, bark for canoes.

REMARKS: Forms forests. Sap yields syrup. Bark yields starch. Valuable to woodsmen in many ways.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Radial Section, life size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cross-section, magnified 37-1/2 diameters.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Tangential Section, life size.]

36

RED BIRCH. RIVER BIRCH.

Red refers to color of bark; river, prefers river bottoms.

_Betula nigra_ Linnaeus.

_Betula_, the cla.s.sical Latin name.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Habitat.]

HABITAT: (See map); best in Florida, Louisiana and Texas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Leaf.]

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TREE: Height, 30'-80', and even higher; diameter, 1', even 5'; trunk, often divided low; bark, dark brown, marked by horizontal lenticels, peels into paper plates, curling back; leaves, doubly serrate, often almost lobed; fruit, p.u.b.escent, erect, strobiles.

APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, light brown, thick sap-wood, whitish; diffuse-porous; rings, not plain; grain, close, rather crooked; rays, numerous, obscure.

PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Weight, medium (36th in this list); 35 lbs. per cu. ft.; sp. gr. 0.5762; strong (22d in this list); very elastic (19th in this list); medium hard (37th in this list); shrinkage, 6 per cent.; warps, .......; not durable when exposed; hard to work, tough; splits with difficulty, nails well.

COMMON USES: Shoe lasts, yokes, furniture.

REMARKS: Prefers moist land.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Radial Section, life size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cross-section, magnified 37-1/2 diameters.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Tangential Section, life size.]

37

CHERRY BIRCH. SWEET BIRCH. BLACK BIRCH. MAHOGANY BIRCH.

Cherry, because bark resembles that of cherry tree; sweet, refers to the taste of the spicy bark.