Wood and Forest Part 26

APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, light red brown, sap-wood almost white; diffuse-porous; rings, fine and difficult to distinguish; grain, straight, close, polishes well; rays, numerous, very obscure.

PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Weight, medium (34th in this list); 37 lbs. per cu. ft.; sp. gr., 0.5909; medium strong (52d in this list); elasticity medium (44th in this list); medium hard (36th in this list); shrinkage, 6 per cent.; warps and twists badly in seasoning; not durable when exposed; easy to work; crumbles in splitting; nails badly.

COMMON USES: Building construction, cabinet-work, veneering, street pavement, barrel staves and heads.

REMARKS: Largely used in veneers, because when solid it warps and twists badly. Exudations used in medicine to some extent.

[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.]

53

SYCAMORE. b.u.t.tONWOOD. b.u.t.tON BALL. WATER BEECH.

Sycamore, from two Greek words meaning fig and mulberry; b.u.t.tonwood and b.u.t.ton-ball, refer to fruit b.a.l.l.s.

_Plata.n.u.s occidentalis_ Linnaeus.

_Plata.n.u.s_, refers to the broad leaves; _occidentalis_, western, to distinguish it from European species.

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

HABITAT: (See map); best in valley of lower Ohio and Mississippi.

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

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TREE: Height, 70'-100', and even 170'; diameter, 6'-12'; trunk, commonly divides into 2 or 3 large branches, limbs spreading, often dividing angularly; bark, flakes off in great irregular ma.s.ses, leaving mottled surface, greenish gray and brown, this peculiarity due to its rigid texture; leaves, palmately 3 to 5 lobed, 4"-9" long, petiole enlarged, enclosing buds; fruit, large rough b.a.l.l.s, persistent through winter.

APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, reddish brown, sap-wood lighter; diffuse-porous; rings, marked by broad bands of small ducts; grain, cross, close; rays, numerous, large, conspicuous.

PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Weight, medium (38th in this list); 35 lbs.

per cu. ft.; sp. gr., 0.5678; medium strong (54th in this list); elasticity, medium (43d in this list); medium hard (30th in this list); shrinkage, 5 per cent.; warps little; very durable, once used for mummy coffins; hard to work; splits very hard.

COMMON USES: Tobacco boxes, yokes, furniture, butcher blocks.

REMARKS: Trunks often very large and hollow.

[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.]

54

WILD BLACK CHERRY.

_Padus serotina_ (Ehrhart) Agardh. _Prunus serotina_ Ehrhart.

_Padus_, the old Greek name; _prunus_, the cla.s.sical Latin name; _serotina_, because it blossoms late (June).

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

HABITAT: (See map); best on southern Allegheny mountains.

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

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TREE: Height, 40'-50', even 100'; diameter, 2'-4'; straight, columnar trunk, often free from branches for 70'; bark, blackish and rough, fissured in all directions, broken into small, irregular, scaly plates, with raised edges; leaves, oblong to lanceolate, deep, s.h.i.+ny green; fruit, black drupe, 1/2".

APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, light brown or red, sap-wood yellow; diffuse-porous; rings, obscure; grain, straight, close, fine, takes fine polish; rays, numerous.

PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Weight, medium (35th in this list); 36 lbs. per cu. ft.; sp. gr., 0.5822; strong (35th in this list); elasticity medium (45th in this list); hard (16th in this list); shrinkage, 5 per cent.; warps, little; durability .........; easily worked; splits easily, must be nailed with care.

COMMON USES: Cabinet-work, costly interior trim.

REMARKS: Grows rapidly.

[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.]

55

BLACK LOCUST. LOCUST. YELLOW LOCUST.

Yellow, from color of sap-wood.

_Robinia pseudacacia_ Linnaeus.

_Robinia_, in honor of Jean Robin, of France; _pseudacacia_, means false acacia.

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

HABITAT: (See map); best on western Allegheny mountains in West Virginia.

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

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TREE: Height, 50'-80'; diameter, 3'-4'; bark, strikingly deeply furrowed, dark brown; p.r.i.c.kles on small branches, grows fast, forms thickets, on account of underground shoots; leaves, 8"-14" long, pinnately compound; 7 to 9 leaflets, close at night and in rainy weather; fruit, pod 3"-4" long.

APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, brown, sap-wood thin, yellowish; ring-porous; rings, clearly marked by 2 or 3 rows of large open ducts; grain, crooked, compact.