Chapter XLIII: Part III: Plant Life (13)

The nut is large, with a thick, smooth, outer husk channeled at the seams and separating readily into sections; the inner shell is sharply angled and pointed and slightly flattened at the sides; the kernel is sweet. The winter buds of the shagbark are large, light brown, egg-shaped and downy; they swell greatly before they expand. There are from eight to ten bud-scales; the inner ones, which are red, increase to two or three inches in length before the leaves unfold, after which they fall away. The young branches are smooth, soft, delicate in color, and with conspicuous leaf scars.

The hickory bears its staminate and pistillate flowers on the same tree. The pollen-bearing flowers grow at the base of the season’s shoots in slender, pendulous, green catkins, which occur usually in clusters of three swinging from a common stem. The pistillate flowers grow at the tips of the season’s shoots singly or perhaps two or three on a common stem. In the shagbark the middle lobe of the staminate calyx is nearly twice as long as the other two, and is tipped with long bristles; it usually has four stamens with yellow anthers; its pistillate calyx is four-toothed and hairy, and has two large, fringed stigmas.

The big shagbark, or king nut, is similar to the shagbark in height, manner of growth, and bark. However, its leaves have from seven to nine leaflets, which are more oblong and wedgelike than are those of the shagbark; they are also more downy when young and remain slightly downy beneath. The nut is very large, thick-shelled, oblong, angled, and pointed at both ends. The kernel is large and sweet but inferior in flavor to the smaller shagbark. The big shagbark has larger buds than has the other. Their fringy, reddish purple, inner scales grow so large that they appear tuliplike before they fall away at the unfolding of the leaves.

Hickory wood ranks high in value; it is light-colored, close-grained, heavy, and very durable when not exposed to moisture. It is capable of resisting immense strain, and, therefore, it is used for the handles of spades, plows and other tools, and also for spokes and thills in carriage-making. As a fuel, it is superior to most woods, making a glowing, hot and quite lasting fire.

LESSON CXCIII

THE SHAGBARK

_Leading thought_--The hickories are important trees commercially. They have compound leaves which are set alternately upon the twig. The shagbark can be told from the other hickories by its ragged, scaling bark.

_Method_--This lesson may be begun in the winter when the tree can be studied carefully as to its shape and method of branching. Later, the unfolding of the leaves from the large buds should be watched, as this is a most interesting process; and a little later the blossoms may be studied. The work should be taken up again in the fall, when the fruit is ripe.

_Observations Winter study_--1. What is the general shape of the whole tree? Are the lower branches very large? At what angle do the branches, in general, grow from the trunk? Are there many large branches?

2. Where is the spray borne? What is its character--that is, is it fine and smooth, or knotted and angled? What is its color?

3. Describe the bark. Is the bark on the limbs like that on the trunk?

4. What is the size and shape of the buds? Are the buds greenish-yellow, yellowish brown, or do they have a reddish tinge?

5. Count the bud-scales. Are they downy or smooth?

_Spring study_--6. Describe how the hickory leaf unfolds from its bud. How is each leaflet folded within the bud?

7. Describe the long greenish catkins which bear the pollen. On what part of the twigs do they grow? Do they grow singly or in clusters?

8. Take one of the tiny, pollen-bearing flowers and hold it under a lens on the point of a pin. How many lobes has the calyx? Count the stamens, and note the color of the anthers.

9. Upon what part of the twigs do the pistillate flowers grow? How many points or lobes has the pistillate calyx? Describe the growth of the nut from the flower.

_Autumn study_--10. Does the hickory you are studying grow in open field or wood?

11. Are the trunk and branches slender and lofty, or sturdy and wide spreading?

12. Note the number and shape of the leaflets. Are they slim and tapering, or do they swell to the width of half their length? Are they set directly upon or are they attached by tiny stems to the mid-stem? Are they smooth or downy on the under side? Are the leaves set upon the twigs alternately or opposite each other? How are the leaflets set upon the mid-stem?

13. Describe the outer husk of the nut. Into how many sections does it open? Does it cling to the nut and fall with it to the ground? Is the nut angled and pointed, or is it roundish and without angles? Is the kernel sweet or bitter?

Photo by Verne Morton.

_Chestnut blossoms._

Note the two pistillate flowers above the staminate catkins.]

THE CHESTNUT

_Teacher’s Story_

This splendid tree, sometimes reaching the height of one hundred feet, seldom receives the admiration due to it, simply because humanity is so much more interested in food than in beauty. The fact that the chestnuts are sought so eagerly has taken away from interest in the appearance of the tree. The chestnut has a great round head set firmly on a handsome bole, which is covered with grayish brown bark divided into rather broad, flat, irregular ridges. The foliage is superb; the long, slender, graceful leaves, tapering at both ends, are glossy, brilliant green above and paler below; and they are placed near the ends of the twigs, those of the fruiting twigs seeming to be arranged in rosettes to make a background for blossom or fruit. The leaves are placed alternately and have deeply notched edges, the veins extending straight and unbroken from midrib to margin; the petiole is short. The leaf is like that of the beech, except that it is much longer and more pointed; it resembles in general shape the leaf of the chestnut oak, except that the edges of the latter have rounded scallops instead of being sharply toothed. The burs appear at the axils of the leaves near the end of the twig. Thoreau has given us a most admirable description of the chestnut fruit:

“What a perfect chest the chestnut is packed in! With such wonderful care Nature has secluded and defended these nuts as if they were her most precious fruits, while diamonds are left to take care of themselves. First, it bristles all over with sharp, green prickles, some nearly a half inch long, like a hedgehog rolled into a ball; these rest on a thick, stiff, barklike rind one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch thick, which again is most daintily lined with a kind of silvery fur or velvet plush one-sixteenth of an inch thick, even rising into a ridge between the nuts, like the lining of a casket in which the most precious commodities are kept. At last frost comes to unlock this chest; it alone holds the true key; and then Nature drops to the rustling leaves a ‘done’ nut, prepared to begin a chestnut’s course again. Within itself again each individual nut is lined with a reddish velvet, as if to preserve the seed from jar and injury in falling, and perchance from sudden damp and cold; and within that a thin, white skin envelops the germ. Thus, it has lining within lining and unwearied care, not to count closely, six coverings at least before you reach the contents.”

The red squirrels, as if to show their spite because of the protection of this treasure chest, have the reprehensible habit of cutting off the young burs and thus robbing themselves of a rich later harvest--which serves them right. There are usually two nuts in each bur, set with flat sides together; but sometimes there are three and then the middle one is squeezed so that it has two flat sides. Occasionally there is only one nut developed in a bur--an only child, so well cared for that it grows to be almost globular. The color we call chestnut is derived from the beautiful red-brown of the polished shell of the nut, polished except where the base joins the bur, and the apex which is gray and downy.

_a._ _a._, pistillate flowers set in a base of scales; _b_, pistillate flower enlarged; _c_, staminate flower enlarged.]

The chestnut is always a beautiful tree, whether green in summer or glowing golden yellow in autumn; but it is most beautiful during late June and July, when covered with constellations of pale yellow stars. Each of these stars is a rosette of the pollen-bearing blossoms; each ray consists of a catkin often six or eight inches in length, looking like a thread of yellowish chenille fringe, clothing this thread in tufts for its whole length are the stamens, standing out like minute threads tipped with tiny anther balls. If we observe the blossom early enough, we can see these stamens curled up as they come forth from the tiny, pale yellow, six-lobed calyx. One calyx, although scarcely one-sixteenth of an inch across, develops from ten to twenty of these stamens; these tiny flowers are arranged in knots along the central thread of the catkin. No wonder it looks like chenille! There are often as many as thirty of these catkin rays in the star rosette; the lower ones come from the axils of the leaves; but toward the tips of the twig, the leaves are ignored and the catkins have possession. In one catkin I estimated that there were approximately 2,500 stamens developed, each anther packed with pollen. When we think that there may be thirty of the catkins in a blossom-star, we get a glimmering of the amount of pollen produced.

Photo by G. F. Morgan.]

And what is all this pollen for? Can it be simply to fertilize the three or four inconspicuous flowers at the tip of the twig beyond and at the center of the star? These pistillate flowers are little bunches of green scales with some short, white threads projecting from their centers; and beyond them a skimpy continuation of the stem with more little green bunches scattered along it, which are undeveloped pistillate blossoms. The one or two flowers at the base of the stem get all the nourishment and the others do not develop. If we examine one of these nests of green scales, we find that there are six threads belonging to one tiny, green flower with a six-lobed calyx; the six threads are the stigmas, each one reaching out and asking for no more than one grain of the rich shower of pollen.

Chestnut wood is light, rather soft, stiff, coarse and not strong. It is used in cabinet work, cooperage, for telegraph poles and railway ties. When burned as fuel, it snaps and crackles almost equal to hemlock.

LESSON CXCIV

THE CHESTNUT

_Leading thought_--The chestnut is one of our most beautiful trees. We should learn to appreciate it by observing the beauty of its blossoms and of its foliage when green and when brilliant yellow in autumn. Until the chestnut fruit is ripe, it is well protected by its spiny bur.

_Method_--This study may be begun in the fall when chestnuts are ripe. Ask the boys to describe the trees from which they get this longed-for harvest. The leaves, burs and nuts may be studied in the schoolroom.

_Observations_--1. Where do chestnut trees grow? What is the general form of the head of the tree? How high is the trunk below the branches? Do the branches divide into fine twigs or spray at the tips?

2. Sketch and describe a chestnut leaf, showing the veins, edges and petiole. Are the leaves placed opposite or alternate? What is their color above and below? How do the chestnut leaves differ from those of the beech and of the chestnut oak? What is the color of the chestnut foliage in autumn?

3. Where on the branch is the bur borne? How does the green chestnut bur look? Why is this prickly exterior beneficial to the fruit? Does the bur open easily when green? What causes the chestnut bur to open? Into how many lobes does it open? Describe an open bur outside and in.

Photo by Verne Morton.]

4. Where in the bur are the chestnuts set? How many in one bur? How can you tell by the shape of the chestnut whether it grew as a twin or single in a bur? Are there ever three in a bur? If so, what shape is the middle one? Do the burs fall when the chestnuts are ripe?

5. Take a single chestnut. Describe its shape and color. What is the mark on its large end? Describe the coloring and covering of the tip. Open the shell and note the lining. Describe how the meat is finally protected. Can you see where the germ is? Plant a chestnut and watch it grow.

6. Study the chestnut blossom in late June or July. What kind of blossoms are those which look like yellow stars all over the tree? Study one of the catkins which makes a ray of the star, and describe it. Can you see the anthers and the pollen? How many of these pollen-bearing flowers are on one stem? Where are the pistillate flowers which will grow into young chestnuts? Describe them.

Photo by O. L. Foster.]

7. How much are chestnuts worth per bushel? To what uses is chestnut timber put? What is the character of the wood?

THE HORSE-CHESTNUT

_Teacher’s Story_

The wealth of children is, after all, the truest wealth in this world; and the horse-chestnuts, brown and smooth, looking so appetizing and so belying their looks, have been used from time immemorial by boys as legal tender--a fit use, for these handsome nuts seem coined purposely for boys’ pockets.

The horse-chestnut is a native of Asia Minor. It has also a home in the high mountains of Greece. In America, it is essentially a shade tree. Its head is a broad cone, its dark green foliage is dense and, when in blossom, the flower clusters stand out like little white pyramids against the rich back-ground in a most striking fashion. “A pyramid of green supporting a thousand pyramids of white” is a clever description of this tree’s blossoming. The brown bark of the trunk has a tendency to break into plates, and the trunk is just high enough to make a fitting base for the handsome head.

The blossom panicle is at the tip end of the twig and stops its growth at that point; the side buds continue to grow thus making a forking branch. Each blossom panicle stands erect like a candle flame, and the flowers are arranged spirally around the central stem, each pedicel carrying from four to six flowers. The calyx has five unequal lobes, and it and the stem are downy. Five spreading and unequal petals with ruffled margins are raised on short claws, to form the corolla; seven stamens with orange colored anthers are thrust far out and up from the flower. The blossoms are creamy or pinkish white and have purple or yellow blotches in their throats. Not all the flowers have perfect pistils. The stigmas ripen before the pollen, and are often thrust forth from the unopened flower. The flowers are fragrant and are eagerly visited by bumblebees, honey-bees and wasps.

Photo by Verne Morton.]

Very soon after the blossom falls, there may be seen one or two green, prickly balls which are all the fruits one flower cluster could afford to mature. By October the green, spherical husk breaks open in three parts, showing its white satin lining and the roundish, shining, smooth nut at its center. At first there were six little nuts in this husk, but all except one gave up to the burly occupant. The great, round, pale scar on the nut is where it joined the husk. Very few American animals will eat the nut; the squirrels scorn it and horses surely disown it.

In winter, the horse-chestnut twig has at its tip a large bud and looks like a knobbed antenna thrust forth to test the safety of the neighborhood. There are, besides the great varnished buds at the ends of the twigs, smaller buds opposite to each other along the sides of the twig, standing out stiffly. On each side of the end bud, and below each of the others, is a horseshoe-shaped scar left by the falling leaf of last year. The “nails” in this horseshoe are formed by the leafy fibres which joined the petiole to the twig. The great terminal buds hold both leaves and flowers. The buds in winter are brown and shining as if varnished; when they begin to swell, they open, displaying the silky gray floss which swaddles the tiny leaves. The leaves unfold rapidly and lift up their green leaflets, looking like partly opened umbrellas, and giving the tree a very downy appearance, which Lowell so well describes:

“And gray hoss-chestnut’s leetle hands unfold
Softer’n a baby’s be at three days old.”

The leaf, when fully developed, has seven leaflets, of which the central ones are the larger. They are all attached around the tip of the petiole. The number of leaflets may vary from three to nine, but is usually seven. The leaflets are oval in shape, being attached to the petiole at the smaller end; their edges are irregularly toothed. The veins are large, straight and lighter in color; the upper surface is smooth and dark green, the under side is lighter in color and slightly rough. The petiole is long and shining and enlarges at both ends; when cut across, it shows a woody outer part encasing a bundle of fibres, one fiber to each leaflet. The places where these fibers were attached to the twig make the nails in the horseshoe scar. The leaves are placed opposite on the twigs.

Very different from that of the horse-chestnut is the flower of the yellow or sweet, buckeye; the calyx is tubular, long and five-lobed; the two side petals are on long stalks and are closed like spoons over the stamens and anthers; the two upper petals are also on long stalks, lifting themselves up and showing on their inner surfaces a bit of color to tell the wandering bee that here is a tube to be explored. The flowers are greenish yellow. The flowers of the Ohio buckeye show a stage between the sweet buckeye and the horse-chestnut. The Ohio buckeye is our most common native relative of the horse-chestnut. Its leaves have five leaflets instead of seven. The Sweet buckeye is also an American species and grows in the Alleghany mountains.

LESSON CXCV

THE HORSE-CHESTNUT

_Leading thought_--The horse-chestnut has been introduced into America as a shade tree from Asia Minor and southern Europe. Its foliage and its flowers are both beautiful.

_Method_--This tree is almost always at hand for the village teacher, as it is so often used as a shade tree. Watching the leaves develop from the buds is one of the most common of the nature-study lessons. The study of the buds, leaves and fruits may be made in school; but the children should observe the tree where it grows and pay special attention to its insect visitors when it is in bloom.

_Observations_--1. Describe the horse-chestnut tree when in blossom. At what time does this occur? What is there in its shape and foliage and flowers which make it a favorite shade tree? Where did it grow naturally? What relatives of the horse-chestnut are native to America?

2. Study the blossom cluster; are the flowers borne on the ends or on the sides of the twig? Describe the shape of the cluster. How are the flowers arranged on the main flower stalk to produce this form? Do the flowers open all at once from top to bottom of the cluster? Are all the flowers in the cluster the same color? Are they fragrant? What insects visit them?

Photo by O. L. Foster.]

3. Take a single flower; describe the form of the calyx. Is it smooth or downy? Are the lobes all the same size? Are the petals all alike in size and shape? What gives them the appearance of Japanese paper? Are any connected together? Are they all splashed with color alike?

4. How many stamens are there? Where do you see them? What color are the anthers? Search the center of a flower for a pistil with its green style. Do you find one in every flower? Could a bee reach the nectar at the base of the blossom without touching the stigma? Could she withdraw without dusting herself with pollen?

5. How long after the blossom does the young fruit appear? How does it look? How many nuts are developed from each cluster of blossoms? What is the shape of the bur? Into how many parts does it open? Describe the outside; the inside. Describe the shape of the nuts, their color and markings. Which make the best “conquerers,” those which grow single in the bur or as twins? Open a nut. Can you find any division in the kernel? Is it good to eat?

_Horse-chestnut Twigs and Leaves in Spring_--6. Are the buds on the twigs nearly all the same size? Where are the larger ones situated? What is the color of the buds? How are the scales arranged on them? Are they shiny or dull? What do the scales enfold? Can you tell without opening them which buds contain flowers and which ones leaves?

7. Describe the scars below the buds. What caused them? What marks are on them? What made the “nails” in the horseshoe? Has the twig other scars? How do the ring-marks show the age of the twig? Do you see the little, light colored dots scattered over the bark of the twig? What are they?

8. Describe how the leaf unfolds from the bud. What is the shape of the leaf? Do all the leaves have the same number of leaflets? Do any of them have an even number? How are the leaflets set upon the petiole? Describe the leaflets, including shape, veins, edges, color above and below. Is the petiole pliant, or stiff and strong? Is it the same shape and size throughout its length? Break a petiole, is it green throughout? What can you see at its center? Are the leaves opposite or alternate? When they fall, do they drop entire or do the leaflets fall apart from the stem?

9. Sketch the horse-chestnut tree.

10. How do the flowers and leaves of the horse-chestnut differ from those of the sweet buckeye and of the Ohio buckeye?

_Supplementary reading_--Trees in Prose and Poetry, p. 17.

THE WILLOWS

_Teacher’s Story_

_They shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the water courses._
--ISAIAH.

“_When I cross opposite the end of Willow Row the sun comes
out and the trees are very handsome, like a rosette, pale,
tawny or fawn color at base and red-yellow or orange-yellow
for the upper three or four feet. This is, methinks, the
brightest object in the landscape these days. Nothing so
betrays the spring sun. I am aware that the sun has come out
of the cloud just by seeing it light up the osiers._”--THOREAU.

The willow, Thoreau noted, is the golden osier, a colonial dame, a descendent from the white willow of Europe. It is the most common tree planted along streams to confine them to their channels, and affords an excellent subject for a nature-study lesson. The golden osier has a short though magnificent trunk, giving off tremendous branches, which in turn branch and uphold a mass of golden terminal shoots. But there are many willows besides this, and the one who tries to determine all the species and hybrids must conclude that of making willows there is no end. The species beloved by children is the pussy willow which is often a shrub, rarely reaching twenty feet in height. It loves moist localities, and on its branches in early spring are developed the silky, furry pussies. These are favorite objects for a nature-study lesson, and yet how little have the teachers or pupils known about these flowers!

Pistillate blossom showing nectar, gland, (n.gl.)

Staminate flower showing the nectar, gland (n.gl.) ]

The willow pussies are the pollen-bearing flowers; they are covered in winter by a brown, varnished, double, tentlike bract. The pussy in full bloom shows beneath each fur-bordered scale two stamens with long filaments and plump anthers; but there are no pistils in this blossom. The flowers which produce seed are borne on another tree entirely and in similar greenish gray catkins, but not so soft and furry. In the pistillate catkin each fringed scale has at its base a pistil which thrusts out a Y-shaped stigma. The question of how the pollen from one gets to the pistils of another is a story which the bees can best tell. The willow flowers give the bees almost their earliest spring feast and, when they are in blossom, the happy hum of the bees working in them can be heard for some distance from the trees. The pollen gives them bee bread for their early brood, and they get their honey supply from the nectar which is produced in little jug-shaped glands, at the base of each pollen-bearing flower on the “pussy” catkin, and in a long pocket at the base of each flower on the pistillate catkin. So they pass back and forth, carrying their pollen loads to fertilize the stigmas on trees where there is no pollen. It has been asserted that the pussies, or pollen-bearing flowers, yield no nectar but give only pollen, so that the bee is obliged to seek both trees in order to secure a diet of “balanced ration;” but the person who made this statement had never taken the pains to look at the tiny jugs over-flowing with nectar found at their bases.

Photo by Verne Morton.]

In June the willow seed is ripe. The catkin then is made up of tiny pods, which open like milkweed pods and are filled with seed equipped with balloons. When these fuzzy seeds are being set free people say that the willows “shed cotton.”

Although the seed of the willow is produced in abundance, it is hardly needed for preserving the species. Twigs which we place in water to develop flowers will also put forth roots; even if the twigs are placed in water wrong side up, rootlets will form. A twig lying flat on moist soil will push out rootlets along its entire length as though it were a root; and shoots will grow from the buds on its upper side. This habit of the willows and the fact that the roots are long, strong and fibrous make these trees of great use as soil binders. There is nothing better than a thick hedge of willows to hold streams to their proper channels during floods; the roots reach out in all directions, interlacing themselves in great masses, and thus hold the soil of the banks in place. The twigs of several of the species, notably the crack and sand-bar willows, are broken off easily by the wind and carried off down stream, and where they lodge, they take root; thus, many streams are bordered by self-planted willow hedges.

The willow foliage is fine and makes a beautiful, soft mass with delicate shadows. The leaf is long, narrow, pointed and slender, with finely toothed edges and short petiole; the exact shape of the leaf, of course, depends upon the species, but all of them are much lighter in color below than above. The willows are, as a whole, water lovers and quick growers.

Although willow wood is soft and exceedingly light, it is very tough when seasoned and is used for many things. The wooden shoes of the European peasant, artificial limbs, willowware, and charcoal of the finest grain used in the manufacture of gunpowder, are all made from the willow wood. The toughness and flexibility of the willow twigs have given rise to many industries; baskets, hampers, carriage bodies and furniture are made of them. To get these twigs the willow trees are pollarded, or cut back every year between the fall of the leaves and the flow of the sap in the spring. This pruning results in many twigs. The use of willow twigs in basketry is ancient. The Britons fought the Roman soldiers from behind shields of basket work; and the wattled huts in which they lived were woven of willow saplings smeared with clay. Salicylic acid, used widely in medicine, is made from willow bark, which produces also tannin and some unfading dyes.

Photo by Verne Morton.]

There are many insect inhabitants of the willow, but perhaps the most interesting is the little chap which makes a conelike object on the twig of certain species of willow growing along our streams. This cone is naturally considered a fruit by the ignorant, but we know that the willow seeds are grown in catkins instead of cones. This willow cone is made by a small gnat which lays its egg in the tip of the twig; as soon as the little grub hatches, it begins to gnaw the twig, and this irritation for some reason stops the growth. The leaves instead of developing along the stem are dwarfed and overlap each other. Just in the center of the cone at the tip of the twig the little larva lives its whole life surrounded by food and protected from enemies; it remains in the cone all winter, in the spring changes to a pupa, and after a time comes forth--a very delicate little fly. The larva in this gall is very hospitable. It has its own little apartment at the center but does not object to having a tenant in its outer chambers, a fact which is taken advantage of by another gall-gnat which breeds there in large numbers. It is well to gather these cones in winter; examine one by cutting it open to find the larva, and place others in a fruit jar with a cover so as to see the little flies when they shall issue in the spring. (See p. 362). For supplementary reading see “Outdoor Studies,” page 24.

There is another interesting winter tenant of willow leaves, but it is rather difficult to find. On the lower branches may be discovered, during winter and spring, leaves rolled lengthwise and fastened, making elongated cups. Each little cup is very full of a caterpillar which just fits it, the caterpillar’s head forming the plug of the opening. This is the partially grown larva of the viceroy butterfly. It eats off the tip of the leaf each side of the midrib for about half its length, fastens the petiole fast to the twig with silk, then rolls the base of the leaf into a cup, lines it with silk and backs into it, there to remain until fresh leaves on the willow in spring afford it new food.

Photo by W. C. Baker.]

LESSON CXCVI

THE WILLOWS

_Leading thought_--The willows have their pollen-bearing flowers and their seed-bearing flowers on separate trees; the bees carry the pollen from one to the other. The willow pussies are the pollen-bearing flowers.

_Method_--As early in March as is practicable, have the pupils gather twigs of as many different kinds of willows as can be found; these should be put in jars of water and placed in a warm, sunny window. The catkins will soon begin to push out from the bud-scales, and the whole process of flowering may be watched.

Photo by Verne Morton.]

_Observations_--1. How can you tell the common willow tree from afar? In what localities do these trees grow? What is the general shape of the big willow? How high is the trunk, or bole? What sort of bark has it? Are the main branches large or small? Do they stand out at a wide angle or lift up sharply? What color are the terminal shoots, or spray?

2. Are the buds opposite or alternate on the twigs? Is there a bud at exactly the end of any twig? How many bracts are there covering the bud?

3. Which appear first, the leaves or the blossoms? Study the pussies on your twigs and see if they are all alike. Is one kind more soft and furry than the other? Are they of different colors?

4. Take one of the furry pussies. Describe the little bract, which is like a protecting hood at its base. What color is the fur? After a few days, what color is the pussy? Why does it change from silver color to yellow? Pick one of the catkins apart and see how the fur protects the stamens.

5. Take one of the pussies which is not so furry. Can you see the little pistils with the Y-shaped stigmas set in it? Is each little pistil set at the base of a little scale with fringed edges?

6. Since the pollen-bearing catkins are on one tree and the seed-bearing catkins are on the other, and since the seeds cannot be developed without the pollen, how is the pollen carried to the pistils? For this answer, visit the willows when the pussies are all in bloom and listen. Tell what you hear. What insects do you see working on the willow blossoms? What are they after?

7. What sort of seed has the willow? How is it scattered? Do you think the wind or water has most to do with planting willow seed?

_Work for May or September_--8. Describe willow foliage and leaves. How can you tell willow foliage at a distance?

9. What sort of roots has the willow? Why are the willows planted along the banks of streams? If you wished to plant some willow trees how would you do it? Would you plant seeds or twigs?

10. For what purposes is willow wood used? How are the twigs used? Why are they specially fitted for this use? What is pollarding a tree? What medicine do we get from willow bark?

11. Do you find willow cones on your willows? Cut one of these cones through and see if you can find any seeds? What is in the middle of it? What do you think made the scales of the cone? Do you think this little insect remains in here all winter?

12. In winter, hunt the lower branches of willows for leaves rolled lengthwise making a winter cradle for the young caterpillars of the viceroy.

_Supplementary reading_--Trees in Prose and Poetry, p. 137.

THE COTTONWOOD, OR CAROLINA POPLAR

_Teacher’s Story_

The sojourner on our western plains where streams are few and sluggish, disappearing entirely in summer, soon learns to love the cottonwoods, for they will grow and cast their shade for men and cattle where no other tree could endure. The cottonwood may be unkempt and ragged, but it is a tree, and we are grateful to it for its ability to grow in unfavorable situations. In the Middle West it attains its perfection, although in New York we have some superb specimens--trees which are more than one hundred feet in height and with majestic trunks, perhaps five or six feet through. The deep-furrowed, pale gray bark makes a handsome covering. The trunk divides into great out-swinging, widely spaced branches, which bear a fine spray on their drooping ends. Sargent declares that at its best the cottonwood is one of the statliest inhabitants of our eastern forests. The variety we plant in cities we call the Carolina poplar, but it is a cottonwood. It is a rapid grower, and therefore a great help to the “boom towns” of the West and to the boom suburbs in the East; although for a city tree its weak branches break too readily in wind storms in old age. However, it keeps its foliage clean, the varnished leaves shedding the dust and smoke; because of this latter quality it is of special use in towns that burn soft coal.

The cottonwood twigs which we gather for study in the spring are yellowish or reddish, those of last year’s growth being smooth and round, while those showing previous growth are angular. The buds are red-brown and shining, and covered with resin which the bees like to collect for their glue. The leaf buds are slender and sharp-pointed; the flower buds are wider and plumper.

The two sexes of the flowers are borne on separate trees. The trees bearing pollen catkins are so completely covered with them that they take on a very furry, purplish appearance when in blossom. These catkins are from three to five inches long and half an inch thick, looking fat and pendulous; each fringed scale of the catkin has at its base a disc looking like a white bracket, from which hang the reddish purple anthers; these catkins fall after the pollen is shed and look like red caterpillars upon the ground.

The seed-bearing flowers are very different; they look like a string of little, greenish beads loosely strung. Each pistil is globular and set in a tiny cup, and it has three or four stigmas which are widened or lobed; as it matures, it becomes larger and darker green, and the string elongates to six or even ten inches. The little pointed pods open into two or more valves and set free the seeds, which are provided with a fluff of pappus to sail them off on the breeze; so many of the seeds develop that every object in the neighborhood is covered with their fuzz, and thus the tree has gained its name “cottonwood.”

Drawn by Anna Stryke.]

The foliage of the cottonwood is like that of other poplars, trembling with the breeze. The heavy, subcircular leaf is supported on the sidewise flattened petiole, so that the slightest breath of air sets it quaking; a gentle breeze sets the whole tree twinkling and gives the eye a fascinating impression as of leaves beckoning. The leaf is in itself pretty. It is from three to five inches long, broad, slightly angular at the base and has a long, tapering, pointed tip. The edge is saw-toothed, and also slightly ruffled except near the stem where it is smooth; it is thick and shining green above and paler beneath. The long, slender petiole is red or yellowish, and the leaves are placed alternate on the twigs.

In the autumn the leaves are brilliant yellow. The wood is soft, weak, fine-grained, whitish or yellowish, and has a satiny luster; it is not durable. It is used somewhat for building and for furniture, in some kinds of cooperage, and also for crates and woodenware; but its greatest use is for making the pulp for paper. Many newspapers and books are printed on cottonwood paper. It is common from the Middle States to the Rocky Mountains and from Manitoba to Texas.

LESSON CXCVII

THE COTTONWOOD

_Leading thought_--The cottonwood is a poplar. It grows rapidly and flourishes on the dry western plains where other trees fail to gain a foothold. It grows well in the dusty city, its shining leaves shedding the smoke and dirt.

_Method_--Begin this study in spring before the cottonwoods bloom. Bring in twigs in February, give them water and warmth, and watch the development of the catkins. Afterwards watch the unfolding of the leaves and study the tree.

_Observations_--1. What is the color of the bark on the cottonwood? Is it ridged deeply? What is the color of the twigs? Are they round or angular, or both? Describe the winter buds and bud-scales. Can you tell which bud will produce leaves and which flowers?

2. Describe the catkin as it comes out. Has this catkin anthers and pollen, or will it produce seed? Do you think the seeds are produced on the same trees as the pollen?

3. Find a pollen-bearing catkin. Describe the stamens. Can you see anything but the anthers? On what are they set? What color are they? What color do they give to the tree when they are in blossom? What happens to the catkins after their pollen is shed?

4. Find a seed-bearing catkin. How long is it? Do you see why this tree is called the necklace poplar? Describe the pistils which make the beads on the necklace.

5. When do the seeds ripen? If you have been near the tree, how do you know when they are ripe? How long is the catkin with the ripened seeds? How many balls on the necklace now? What is the color? How many seeds come out of each little pod? How are the seeds floated on the air? Why do we call this tree “cottonwood?”

Courtesy of U. S. Forest Service.]

6. How large is the largest cottonwood that you know? Sketch it to show the shape of the tree. Are the main branches large? Do they droop at the tips?

7. How does the foliage of the cottonwood look? Does it twinkle with the wind? Examine the leaves upon a branch and see why they twinkle. Are the petioles round or flat? Are they flattened sidewise or up and down? Are they stiff or slender? Describe the leaves, giving their shape, veins, edges, color and texture above and below. Are the edges ruffled as well as toothed? Is the leaf heavy? If a breeze comes along how would it affect such a heavy, broad leaf on such a slender, thin petiole? Blow against the leaves and see how they move? Do you understand, now, why they twinkle? Can you see why the leaves shed smoke and dust, when used for shading city streets?

8. Why is the cottonwood used as a shade tree? Do you think it makes a beautiful shade tree? How long does it take it to grow? What kind of wood does it produce? For what is it used?

_Supplementary reading_--Trees in Prose and Poetry, pp. 139–149.

Photo by Cyrus Crosby.]

Photo by G. F. Morgan.]

THE WHITE ASH

_Teacher’s Story_

Myths and legends cluster about the ash tree. It was, in the Norse mythology, the tree “Igdrasil,” the tree of the universe, which was the origin of all things. It is a pity that it was not the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, for if another myth is true, no snake will go near it or cross its branches. There is a widespread belief that it draws lightning, just as the beech repels the thunderbolts. “As straight as a white ash tree” was the highest compliment that could be paid to the young pioneer; so straight is its fiber and so strong its quality, that the American Indians made their canoe paddles from it.

The ashes have the most beautiful bark in the world. It is divided into fine, vertical ridges, giving the trunks the look of being shaded with pencil lines; the bark smooths out on the lower branches. But even more characteristic than the bark, are the ash branches and twigs; the latter are sparse, coarse and clumsy, those of the white ash being pale orange or gray and seemingly warped into curves at the ends; they are covered with whitish gray dots, which reveal themselves under the lens to be breathing-pores.

The white ash loves to grow in rich woods or in rich soil anywhere, even though it be shallow; at its best, it reaches the height of 130 feet, with a trunk six feet through. Its foliage is peculiarly graceful; the leaves are from eight to twelve inches long and are composed of from five to nine leaflets. The leaflets have little petioles connecting them with the middle stem; in shape they are ovate with edges obscurely toothed or entire; the two basal leaflets are smaller than the others and the end one largest; in texture, they are satiny, dark green above, whitish beneath, with feather-like veins, often hairy on the lower side. The petioles are swollen at the base. The leaves are set opposite upon the twig; except the horsechestnut, the ashes are our only trees with compound leaves which have the leaves opposite. This character alone readily distinguishes the ashes from the hickories. The autumn foliage has a very peculiar color; the leaves are dull purple above and pale yellow below; this brings the sunshine color into the shadowy parts of the tree, and gives a curious effect of no perspective. Notwithstanding this, the autumn coloring is a joy to the artistic eye and is very characteristic.

The seeds of the ash are borne in crowded clusters; the delicate stem, from three to five inches long, is branched into smaller stems to which are joined two or three keys, and often several of these main stems come from the same bud at the tip of last year’s wood so that they seem crowded. The seed is winged, the wing being almost twice as long as the seed set at its base. Thoreau says: “The keys of the white ash cover the trees profusely, a sort of mulberry brown, an inch and a half long, and handsome.” The seeds cling persistently to the tree, and I have often observed them being blown over the surface of the snow as if they were skating to a planting place.

Photo by Ralph Curtis.]

The flowers appear in April or May, before the leaves. The pistillate flowers make an untidy fringe, curling in every direction around the twigs. The chief flower stem is three to four inches long, quite stout, pale green, and from this arise short, fringed stems, each carrying along its sides the knobs on little stems--which are the pistillate flowers. Each tiny flower seems to be bristling with individuality, standing off at its own angle to get its own pollen. The flower has the calyx four-lobed; the style is long and slender and is divided into a V-shaped purple stigma.

The staminate flowers appear early in the spring, and look like knobs on the tips of the coarse, sparse twigs; they consist of masses of thick, green anthers with very short, stout filaments; each calyx is four-lobed. These flowers are attached to a five-branching stem; but the stem and its branches cannot be seen unless the anthers are plucked off, because they hang in such a crowded mass. Later the leaves come out beyond them.

Photo by G. F. Morgan.]

The leaf buds in winter are very pretty; they are white, bluntly pointed, with a pale gray half-circle below, on which was set last year’s leaf. Another one of nature’s miracles is the bouquet of leaves coming from one of the big four-parted terminal buds, which is made up of four scales, two of which are longer and narrower than the others. Within the bud each little compound leaflet is folded like a sheet of paper lengthwise, and folded with the other leaflets like the leaves of a book; and when they first appear they look like tiny, scrawny, birds’ claws. But it is not merely one pair of leaves that comes from this bud, but many, each pair being set on a twig opposite and at right angles to the next pair on either side. Even as many as five pairs of these splendid compound leaves come from this one prolific bud. As they push out, the green stem of the new wood grows, thus spacing the pairs properly for the making of beautiful foliage.

LESSON CXCVIII

ASH TREES

_Leading thought_--The ashes are our most valuable timber trees; the white ash is one of the most beautiful and useful of them all. It does not make forests, but it grows in them, and its wood is of great value for many things.

_Method_--The pupils should all see the tree where it grows. The questions should be given to them for their field note-books. The lesson should begin in the fall and be continued in the spring.

_Observations_--1. What is there about the bark of the ash tree which distinguishes it from other trees? Where does the white ash grow? What is the height and thickness of the ash tree you are studying?

2. The ash leaf is a compound leaf; of how many leaflets is it composed? What is the texture and shape of the leaflets? Describe the veins. Do the leaflets have petioles (petiolules)? Are the edges of the leaflets toothed? Which of the leaflets is largest? Which smallest? Is the petiole swollen at the base? How are the leaves arranged on the twigs? How does this distinguish the ashes from all other of our trees having compound leaves? How do the hickories have their leaves arranged? What color is the ash foliage in autumn?

3. Describe the seeds of the ash and the way they are arranged on their stems. Where are they placed on the tree? How long do they cling? How does the snow help to scatter them?

4. When does the white ash blossom? Are the pistillate and staminate flowers together or separate? Find and describe them.

5. What are our uses for ash timber? For what are the saplings used? How did the Indians use the white ash? Write a theme on all the interesting things you can find about the ash trees.

6. How many species of the ash trees do you know?

_Supplementary reading_--Trees in Prose and Poetry, pp. 60–71.

* * * * *

“_I care not how men trace their ancestry,
To ape or Adam; let them please their whim;
But I in June am midway to believe
A tree among my far progenitors,
Such sympathy is mine with all the race,
Such mutual recognition vaguely sweet
There is between us. Surely there are times
When they consent to own me of their kin,
And condescend to me and call me cousin,
Murmuring faint lullabies of eldest time,
Forgotten, and yet dumbly felt with thrills
Moving the lips, though fruitless of the words._”
--From “Under the Willows,” LOWELL.

THE APPLE TREE

_Teacher’s Story_

_As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my
beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great
delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste._
--THE SONG OF SOLOMON.

An old-fashioned orchard is always a delight to those of us who love the picturesque. The venerable apple tree with its great twisted and gnarled branches, rearing aloft its rounded head, and casting its shadow on the green turf below, is a picture well worthy of the artist’s brush. And that is the kind of orchard I should always have, because it suits me, just as it does bluebirds, downies and chickadees, as a place to live in. However, if I wished to make money by selling apples, I should need to have an orchard of comparatively young trees, which should be straight and well pruned, and the ground beneath them well cultivated; for there is no plant that responds more generously to cultivation than does the apple tree. In such an orchard, a few annual crops might be grown while the trees were young, and each year there should be planted in August or September the seed of crimson clover or of some other good cover-crop. This would grow so as to protect the ground from washing during the heavy rains and thaws of fall and winter, and in the spring it would be plowed under to add more humus to the soil.

The apple originally came from southwestern Asia and the neighboring parts of Europe, but it has been cultivated so long that we have no accounts of how it began. The prehistoric lake-dwellers of Switzerland ate this fruit. In this country the apple thrives best on clay loam, although it grows on a great variety of soils; where wheat and corn grow, there will the apple also grow. In general, the shape of the apple tree head is rounded or broadly pyramidal; however, this differs somewhat with varieties. The trunk is short and rather stocky, the bark is a beautiful soft gray and is decidedly scaly, flaking off in pieces which are more or less quadrangular. The wood is very fine-grained and heavy. On this account for many years it was used for wood-engraving and is also a favorite wood for wood-carving; it makes a most excellent fuel. The spray is fine, and while at the tips of the limbs it may be drooping or horizontal, it often grows erect along the upper sides of the limbs, each shoot looking as if it were determined to be a tree in itself. The leaves are oval, with toothed edges and long petioles. When the leaves first appear each has two stipules at its base. The shape of the apple leaves depends to some extent upon the variety of the apple.

One-half natural size.]

One-half natural size.]