The Circle of Knowledge: A Classified, Simplified, Visualized Book of Answers

Chapter II: English and American Literature -- Outline Charts of English and (12)

Text size

_VI. WILD FLOWERS AND FLOWERLESS PLANTS_

The beauty and inspiration of wild flowers, which lovers of Nature
constantly bring to our attention, should by no means, be passed by.
There are few, indeed, whose joy in living is not more than a little
deepened by contact with the woods and meadows, perfumed with the
scent of wild-growing flowers and blossoms, and made beautiful to
the eye by a riot of colors both soothing and delightful. They are
to be found under forest trees, in bushes and hedges, amidst grasses
in meadows, on highways and declivities, and on rubbish heaps and in
water; they crowd together, as though unwilling to be hidden from
view.

Among the leading representatives of these plants, grouped according
to the localities in which they are found, are sure to be the
following.

FLOWERS THAT GROW IN THE WOODS

A prime favorite among the flowers of spring is the TRAILING ARBUTUS (_Epigaea repens_), a trailing plant of the Heath family, with branches six to fifteen feet long and evergreen leaves, called Mayflower in New England and Ground Laurel in the Southern States. It grows in sandy or rocky soils, especially in the shade of evergreen trees, from Canada to Texas. It is prized for its early blooming, and delicate flowers, now gathered in considerable quantities for city flower markets. In the early spring also the LUNGWORT (_Pulmonaria officinalis_) delights us with its violet and blue flowers; as does also the LIVERWORT (_Hepatica triloba_), the three-lobed leaves of which live through the winter. That familiar little favorite, the sweet-scented LILY OF THE VALLEY (_Convallaria majalis_), raises its tender string of blooms surrounded by two large leaves in May. This is followed by the sweet-scented WOODRUFF (_Asperula odorata_). In some districts the fresh leaves of the woodruff are used for making May wine; when dried they emit an agreeable scent, and are therefore frequently laid in wardrobes. Its leaves are stellate, and its small blossoms are arranged in umbels. It grows from nine to twelve inches high. Other plants found in the woods are the FORGET-ME-NOT (_Myosotis silvatica_), and the CENTAURY (_Erythræa Centaurium_). The rose-red blossoms of the latter are arranged in clusters, and its leaves have medicinal properties. Late in the year towards autumn the common LING or heather (_Calluna vulgaris_) opens its red blooms. The leaves are small, and arranged in four rows along the stem. The young heather contains a rich honey, and is consequently much sought after by all kinds of insects.

WILD FLOWERS AMONG THE HEDGES AND BUSHES

In March and April, in concealed spots, the sweet-scented VIOLET blows (_Viola odorata_), filling the air with its sweet fragrance every morning. The ANEMONE (_Anemone nemerosa_) raises its white flower, tinged with red, from the midst of three large green leaves. The WOOD-SORREL (_Oxalis acetosella_), sends out from its root graceful trifoliate leaves and white blooms traversed by violet veins. In the hedges and bushes, also, we meet with the ARUM (_Arum maculatum_), the common wake-robin or lords and ladies. On closely observing this plant, we shall find rather deep in the earth a tuberous root as large as a walnut, from which spring three or four long-stalked, bright leaves. Between the leaves a smooth stem arises six to nine inches high, which bears at its upper end the blossoms, surrounded by a greenish sheath. The arum has acrid properties, but its corm yields Portland sago or arrowroot. In the vicinity of this plant we also find the VALERIAN (_Valeriana officinalis_), the root of which possesses healing properties. It contains an oil, which is used as a remedy for cramp.

THE FLOWERS OF THE OPEN MEADOWS

The uniform green which covers the meadows all the year round is agreeably relieved by a large number of plants with colored flowers. Here blooms the sky-blue GENTIAN (_Gentiana verna_), which delights both the eye and the heart. There the beautiful blue bells of the CAMPANULA (_Campanula Rapunculus_) raise their heads, together with the violet flowers of the SCABIOUS (_Scabiosa pratensis_), and the numerous bloom-whorls of the meadow SAGE (_Salvia pratensis_). Between these can be seen the red and white heads of the meadow and white CLOVER (_Trifolia pratensis_ and _T. repens_); and from a distance we can recognize the small DAISY (_Bellis perennis_), the similar but larger Dog Daisy (_Chrysanthemum leucanthemum_), the yellow MEADOW SWEET (_Tragopogon pratensis_), and the DANDELION (_Taraxacum officinale_). In these the fructification is carried out by insects; but, as the single flowers are so small that they would be overlooked by the insects, Nature has arranged many of them in the form of a small chalice or cup, which can be seen from afar, especially in those cases where the radiating petals are different in color from the sepals, like those in the dog daisies. Many meadow plants grow with their stalks and blooms high over their neighbors, as though they were the lords of the meadows.

In these the flowers are very small; but as they are united in large numbers in flat umbals, they show up well. On the dry ridges blooms the PLANTAIN (_Plantago_), which has good healing properties; and the wild THYME (_Thymus Serpylum_), a graceful plant, which is sometimes made into tea, and is frequently placed in children’s baths. The shape of its blooms shows it to be a member of the family of the labiate flowers, to which belongs also the meadow sage.

FLOWERS OF THE WOODED PASTURES

Another large natural family of plants, the milkworts, have a pretty representative in the meadows in the CUCKOO-FLOWER (_Cardamine pratensis_). Its leaves are pennate, and the lilac-colored flowers contain four large and two short stamens; the fruit is a pod. Upon woody pastures we also often find the ORCHIS (_Orchis Morio_). From the two oval tubers a stem arises enclosed in sheath-like leaves. At the top of the stem are the curiously formed flowers, which are fructified by insects in a very peculiar and striking manner. The somewhat unattractive SOUR-SORREL (_Rumex Acetosa_), Fig. 13, is well known, and its soft stem and juicy leaves are sometimes eaten by children. The leaves are arrow-shaped; the small flowers are reddish in color.

WILD FLOWERS ON HIGHWAYS AND WASTE LAND

Here we meet, besides old acquaintances from the meadows, the GROUNDSEL (_Senecio vulgaris_) and the CHICKWEED (_Stellaria media_), both valued as birds’ food, and common everywhere; the SHEPARD’S POUCH (_Capsella Bursa pastoris_), easily recognized by its almost three-cornered little pods, and blooming, like the groundsel, nearly all the year round; the white, spotted, and purple BLIND-NETTLES (_Lamium album_, _L. maculatum_, and _L. purpureum_), and the ORIGANUM (_Origanum vulgare_), are labiate flowers, which are diligently visited by insects for their honey. Here, too, are the bristly, blue-flowered ADDER-WORT (_Echium vulgare_); the round-leaved MALLOW (_Malva rotundifolia_); the BURDOCK (_Lappa major_), the blossoms of which cling to the clothes so readily; the common NETTLES (_Urtica_); and the TANSY.

FLOWERS IN CULTIVATED FIELDS

Several plants grow amid the corn which are really ornamental with their bright flowers. A very pretty example is the larkspur (_Delphinium Consolida_), a small graceful little plant, with numerous blue spur-like flowers. Near the latter we also find the blue CORNFLOWER (_Centaurea Cyanus_), which is so frequently plucked by children and woven into wreaths.

The CAMOMILE (_Matricaria Chamomilla_), is recognized by its strong odor. It has a small chalice with white petals, and is an important medicinal plant. The CORN-COCKLE (_Agrostemma Githago_) and the red POPPY (_Papaver Rhœas_) are also seen; and at the time when the wind sweeps over the field of stubble the latter is adorned with the wild PANSY (_Viola tricolor_), the leaves and flowers of which have healing properties, and are collected for medicinal uses.

THE GREAT GROUPS OF CRYPTOGAMS OR FLOWERLESS PLANTS

The Cryptogams are plants without true, or without visible flowers; to these belong the shave grasses, the ferns, the mosses, the algæ, the lichens, and the fungi.

The HORSE-TAIL (_Equisetum arvense_), frequently grows in damp, sandy fields. The spring stem of the plant is simple and reddish in color, and bears fruit called spores in an upright ear.

The WALL RUE (_Asplenium Ruta muraria_), belongs to the family of ferns. It grows everywhere on walls, and has a short root, three-cornered leaves, and along both sides of the middle ribs of the leaves the fruit lies in rows.

The COMMON FERN (_Polypodium vulgare_), grows on walls and rocks. It has a creeping stem, and beautiful serrated leaves, bearing on their underside the somewhat large fruit glands which contain the spores. Other familiar ferns are the WORM FERN (_Aspidium Filix mas_), and the EAGLE FERN (_Pteris Aquilina_), from three to five feet high.

The COMMON HAIR MOSS (_Polytrichum commune_), grows in all the woods and in wet fields. The stem is upright; the small leaves are pointed and serrated at their edges. The spores develop in a quadrangular sheath, which is surrounded by a cell. The mosses play an important part in the economy of Nature; they retain in the woods a quantity of the water which falls as rain, and thus preserve the lands from being flooded, store up moisture for the plants, and also influence the climatic conditions of a country. The so-called PEAT-MOSS (_Sphagnum_) enters largely into the composition of peat.

The REINDEER MOSS (_Cladonia rangiferina_), is a much-branched little plant of a greyish color. The small fruit corpuscles are at the ends of the branches. The reindeer moss is common in the pine woods of northern Europe.

The TOAD’S-STOOL (_Agricus muscarius_), grows in the woods in autumn. The blood-red cap has numerous white excrescences on its surface. It is very poisonous and ill-smelling, and has a bitter taste. It is often used as a poison for flies, but is also dangerous to men and animals.

The MUSHROOM (_Agricus campestris_), is common from May to October in fields, gardens, and meadows. It has lately also been cultivated in cellars and greenhouses. It is a favorite article of food, and one of the most useful of the edible fungi.

_VII. TREES OF THE FOREST_

The forest trees are divided into two groups: Trees Bearing Foliage,
and Trees with Aciculous Leaves. The former lose their leaves in
autumn; the stiff linear leaves of the latter, on the contrary, live
throughout the winter, with the exception of those of the larch
tree.

=Alder= (_Alnus_), trees native to the North Temperate and Arctic zones and to the Andes into Chili. The Black Alder grows near the brooks. The male blossoms stand in long, cylindrical catkins; the female blossoms in small, roundish catkins. The fruit is found in small cones. The alder tree blossoms in April and May. It may reach seventy feet in height and nine in girth, but seldom exceeds forty in height. The bark of the shoots is used in tanning and dyeing leather red, brown, yellow, or, with copperas, black. The wood is durable under water, and is said by Virgil to have been the first wood used by man for boats. It was used for piles at Ravenna and for the Rialto at Venice, and is still so employed in Holland. Its chief use is for gunpowder-charcoal. For this purpose shoots five or six years old, or about four inches across, are employed.

=Ash= (_Fraxinus_), a valuable timber-tree belonging to the olive tribe. It has smooth, olive-grey bark, black buds, opposite pinnate leaves of from seven to fifteen leaflets, flowers without calyx or corolla, and an oblong-winged fruit. Its wood is more flexible than that of any other European tree, and is used for walking-sticks, spade-handles, the spokes and felloes of wheels, etc. There are about twelve species native to North America. The best known are: COMMON ASH, a large tree one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet high, growing wild in southern Europe and northern Asia. WHITE ASH, a large tree forty-five to ninety feet high; Nova Scotia to Florida, westward to Minnesota and Texas. GREEN ASH, forty to fifty feet high, Vermont to Florida, intermittently to Utah and Arizona. RED ASH, a small tree, rarely more than forty feet high, growing in moist soil from New Brunswick to South Dakota, Florida, Alabama and Missouri. BLUE ASH, fifty to seventy-five feet high, Ontario, Minnesota, and Michigan to Alabama, west to Iowa and Arkansas. BLACK or HOOP ASH, a large tree, seventy to eighty feet high, Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Virginia and Arkansas.

=Aspen or Trembling Poplar= (_Populus tremula_), has a greenish-grey bark. Its leaves have long stalks, and tremble at the slightest current of air. The AMERICAN ASPEN called QUAKING ASPEN or QUAKING ASP, is one of the most widely distributed trees of North America, growing from Alaska and Newfoundland to lower California. A slender tree with light green bark, maximum height 100 feet. Wood soft, light, and largely used for manufacture of wood pulp. The EUROPEAN ASPEN is a quick growing tree, fifty to eighty feet high. The wood is soft and porous, and is used in turnery and in interior finish for houses.

=Beech= (_Fagus_), a genus containing about sixteen species. The trees have smooth, silver-grey trunks, egg-shaped leaves like leather, and blossoms at the base of the leaves. The beechnuts are three-cornered; they grow in couples in a wooden capsule. The beech trees attain a height of from sixty to ninety feet, and blossom in April and May. The AMERICAN BEECH is the only North American species. It is a beautiful tree seventy to eighty and sometimes one hundred feet high, and is one of the most widely distributed trees of eastern North America. The wood is tough, close grained, and is largely used in the manufacture of tool handles, chairs and for fuel. The COMMON BEECH, forming pure forests in many parts of Europe, is a large tree one hundred to one hundred and twenty feet high. The wood is dark colored, solid, and very durable under water and is much used in cabinet making, for weirs, and for fuel. The bark is sometimes used in tanning. The nuts are used for the manufacture of beech oil.

=Birch= (_Betula_), is known by all on account of its chalk-white bark, and its fine, pendent leaves. The male and female blossoms of this tree also grow separate on the same plant. Its seeds are small and plumed, whereby they are particularly adapted for being sown by the aid of the wind. There are about thirteen species in North America. COMMON BIRCH, abounding in northern Europe, is a beautiful tree sixty to seventy feet high. The bark is used in medicine and dyeing, and it yields the birch tar employed in the preparation of Russia leather. RED or RIVER BIRCH grows in the United States from Massachusetts to Iowa and Kansas, south to Florida and Texas. It is a slender tree, seventy to ninety feet high, which produces a hard, valuable timber. CHERRY BLACK or SWEET BIRCH is a large tree, sometimes eighty feet high. Wood fine grained and valuable for making furniture. The bark yields an oil identical with the oil of wintergreen. It grows from Newfoundland to western Ontario, Florida, and Tennessee. YELLOW BIRCH, a large tree, maximum height one hundred feet, is used in shipbuilding. It grows from Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Carolina and Tennessee. PAPER or CANOE BIRCH, a large tree, maximum height eighty feet, is of a beautiful white color, and the bark is capable of division into thin sheets, used for making canoes, baskets, and ornaments. Found in Newfoundland to Alaska, northern Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Washington.

=Buttonwood.= See Plane Tree.

=Cedar= (_Cedrus_), the popular name of a variety of trees, mostly agreeing in having a reddish-brown aromatic wood. The coniferous genus includes only four forms, all native to the Old World, the most noted of which are the Cedars of Lebanon, frequently mentioned in the Bible. It has its needle-like leaves fascicled, like the larches; but unlike those trees, evergreen, so that they remain on the tree for several years after the dwarf-shoot has elongated. Its cones are erect, with broad, thin-edged scales which ultimately fall away from the axis, as in the firs. The WHITE CEDAR of the United States is more nearly a cypress, and the so-called RED CEDAR is a juniper. The wood of the latter is used in making lead-pencils. The species native to the West Indies, yields the wood known as Honduras, Jamaica, or Barbadoes cedar, used for cigar boxes.

=Chestnut= (_Castanea vulgaris_), is a fine tree that may reach a large size, and has deeply furrowed bark and large, glossy, serrate but simple leaves in tufts, which turn yellow in autumn. Its flowers are in long pendulous catkins. The dark brown nuts are surmounted by the remains of the perianth, being “inferior” fruits. In a wild state two or three kernels or seeds, separated by a membrane, are contained in each nut; but the Lyons marron, the most valued cultivated race, contains only one. The tree is native from Portugal to the Caspian and in Algeria, and is represented by allied forms in Japan and temperate North America, flourishing in the Alps and Pyrenees at 2,500 to 2,800 feet above sea-level. Its timber resembles oak, but is softer and more brittle.

=HOW WE MAY KNOW THE TREES OF THE FOREST=

Massive strength is the chief characteristic of the oak, and it was the broad-based trunk of an oak that suggested the design for the first great lighthouse. The branches twist about in zig-zag fashion, and the thick bark is deeply furrowed.]

We have only to glance at the birch to realize that its name “the lady of the woods” is well deserved. Its chief characteristic is slender gracefulness, and we cannot mistake the silvery white bark, quite unlike any other tree.]

=Cork Oak or Cork Tree= (_Quercus suber_), is a species of oak, native of southern Europe and northern Africa, the spongy bark of which is the common cork of commerce. It ranges from twenty to forty feet in height, attains a diameter of five feet, and sometimes lives three hundred to five hundred years, producing crops of bark for one hundred and fifty years.

=Cypress= (_Cupressus_), is an evergreen tree of the pine family, with small, imbricated leaves and globular cones, comprising about twelve species, in northern regions of the world. The COMMON CYPRESS of Europe is famous for its durable wood and is believed to be the cedar or gopher wood of the Bible. The MONTEREY CYPRESS, a beautiful tree sometimes one hundred and fifty feet high and eight or ten feet in diameter, grows near the sea in California and three others occur on the Pacific Coast. The so-called CYPRESS or WHITE CEDAR of the Eastern States, and the BALD CYPRESS of southern swamps, valued for timber, are distant varieties of cypress.

=Dogwood= (_Cornus_), is a shrub or small tree, the wood of which is exceedingly hard and is used for many purposes. The astringent bark and sometimes the leaves are used in medicine. There are about eighteen species in the United States. The FLOWERING DOGWOOD is a small tree, native of the Eastern States. It has showy white petal-like bracts surrounding its clusters of small flowers.

=Ebony= (_Efenaceæ_), is chiefly a species of tropical trees. The hard, dark colored heartwood of these is the source of most of the ebony of commerce. Those of India, Ceylon, and other tropical countries, furnish the best quality.

=Elm= (_Ulmus_). There are about six species which are native to the United States. They attain a height of forty-five to ninety feet, and blossom before their leaves appear, in March and April. The AMERICAN WHITE ELM is a large tree ninety to one hundred feet high, growing from Newfoundland to Florida and Texas. The wood is tough, strong, and largely used for wheel hubs, in cooperage, and for shipbuilding. It is a fine street and park tree. The CORK ELM is a tree seventy to ninety feet high, growing from Quebec and Vermont westward to Nebraska and Tennessee. The wood is considered the best of American elms, and is much used for agricultural implements and bridge timbers. The SLIPPERY, or RED ELM is a tree sixty to seventy feet high, growing from Ontario to Florida, westward to Nebraska and Texas. The wood is durable in contact with the soil and is much used for fence posts and railway ties. The mucilaginous inner bark is used in medicine.

=Eucalyptus=, a genus of _Myrtaceæ_, contains about two hundred lofty trees occurring chiefly in Australia and the Malayan Archipelago. Many reach a height of one hundred and fifty feet and a girth of twenty-five feet, and they frequently become hollow. The species are of great economic value, yielding oils, kinos, and useful timber, while the well-known oil of eucalyptus is obtained from the blue-gum tree.

=Fir= (_Abies_), a genus of the Pine family containing about twenty-five species, natives of the cooler portions of the north temperate zone. The SILVER FIR, is a common tree in central Europe, and is common to the mountainous forests of Germany. It reaches ninety to one hundred and thirty feet in height, and has a smooth, light silver-grey bark, and needle-shaped leaves, which, although they stand singly and in a spiral form round the branches, are yet distinctly turned towards two sides, and are serrated at their points. The large, conical fruits stand like tapers upright on the branches, and decay upon the tree; whilst their spindles remain standing. The wood of the white fir tree is much valued. It is used as timber, and in particular for making masts; it is also useful for making all kinds of carved work, and for the manufacture of musical instruments. It is also the source of the Strassburg turpentine. The BALSAM FIR is a tree fifty to eighty feet high, growing from Virginia northward. Canada balsam is made from the sap. The WHITE FIR or GREAT SILVER FIR is a large tree, often three hundred feet high and ten feet in diameter, growing from British Columbia to lower California. The wood is soft and extensively used for cooperage and boxes. The RED FIR is a large tree one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high, found in the same regions as the white fir. It is often planted in Europe as an ornamental tree. The MEXICAN FIR is a magnificent silver-leaved tree one hundred and fifty feet high.

=Gum.= The name given to several trees in America and Australia: (a) The BLACK-GUM, one of the largest trees of the Southern States, bearing a small blue fruit, the favorite food of the opossum. Most of the large trees become hollow. (b) A tree of the genus _Eucalyptus_. See Eucalyptus. (3) The SWEET GUM tree of the United States, a large and beautiful tree with pointedly lobed leaves and woody, burlike fruit. It exudes an aromatic juice. The wood is now extensively used in cabinet work and interior finish.

=Hemlock Tree= (_Tsuga_), is a genus of the Pine family containing about four species which are native to North America. The COMMON HEMLOCK is a large tree sometimes attaining a height of one hundred and ten feet, and growing from Nova Scotia to Alabama and west to Wisconsin and Minnesota. The wood is light and soft and is extensively used in building. The bark is largely used in tanning and hemlock oil is distilled from the branches and leaves. There are many cultivated varieties which are very ornamental. The CAROLINA HEMLOCK is a tree attaining a maximum height of eighty feet, and growing in Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia.

=Hickory= (_Carya_), is represented by ten species, exclusively of North America. Their timber is very heavy, strong, and tough, and is much used in the manufacture of agricultural implements, carriages, and hoops for casks. The fruit is a hardshelled nut, which in some species has an excellent flavor. The SHAGBARK or SHELLBARK HICKORY is a large tree, sometimes one hundred and twenty feet high, growing in rich soils from Ontario and Minnesota south to Florida, Kansas and Texas. The nuts form an important article of commerce, though less used than the pecan. The WHITEHEART HICKORY or MOCKERNUT is a large tree seventy-five to one hundred feet high, growing from Ontario to Florida, occasionally to Missouri and Texas. It has a thick-shelled, edible nut. The PIGNUT HICKORY, a tree seventy-five to one hundred and sometimes one hundred and twenty feet high, ranges from Ontario to Florida, westward to Nebraska and Texas. See also PECAN.

=Horse-Chestnut= (_Aesculus_), is rarely found in forests, but frequently in pleasure-gardens. This beautiful tree, of sixty feet and over, has large leaves, and splendid yellow-and-red colored blossoms forming large pods. The brown chestnuts are enveloped by a prickly cover, which bursts open in the autumn. The OHIO or FETID BUCKEYE, reaching a height of about fifty feet, grows from Pennsylvania to Alabama, west to Michigan and Oklahoma. The wood is used for making artificial limbs and wooden ware. The SWEET or BIG BUCKEYE is a large tree eighty to ninety feet high, growing from Pennsylvania to Georgia, west to Iowa and Texas, and often planted as an ornamental tree. The CALIFORNIA BUCKEYE is a small tree thirty to forty feet high, native of California, and sparingly planted for ornament.

=Judas Tree= (_Cercis siliquastrum_), is a beautiful leguminous tree, growing wild from Japan to the shores of the Mediterranean, with smooth kidney-shaped leaves, glaucous above, and pink or red flowers, which spring from both old and young wood before the appearance of the leaves. From its appearance at this season the tree shares with the elder the sinister reputation of having formed the gallows of Judas Iscariot.

=BARK, CELLS, HEART AND RINGS OF THE TREE=

=Juniper Tree= (_Juniperus communis_), is rarely seen as a tree, but appears usually as a low shrub. Its awl-shaped, pointed leaves stand always by threes of the same height on the young shoots. The male blossom catkins are short-stalked, and stand singly in the axils of the bracts; the fruit is a black berry. These berries are employed for medicinal purposes. The so-called WHITE CEDAR of the Eastern States and the BERMUDA CEDAR, much prized for timber, are junipers.

=Larch= (_Larix Europæa_), has leaves which grow in clusters, and drop during the Autumn. Its bark is rough and cracked; its red-blossom catkins stand at the side of the yellow catkins. Its egg-shaped little cones have backward bent stalks. The larch tree attains a height of from forty-five to sixty feet, and is found in forests everywhere. The AMERICAN LARCH or TAMARACK is a slender tree fifty to sixty feet high, growing from Virginia to Hudson Bay. It is often planted as an ornamental tree and the wood is highly valued for shipbuilding and for telegraph poles.

=Linden or Lime= (_Tilia_), is the emblem of intense feeling. It has been from time immemorial the favorite of the Germans. Below the large linden trees the judicial proceedings, the fairs, and national games formerly took place in Germany, and to this day men and women like to sit under the village linden tree, and talk of the good old times. They do not blossom before June and July. The blossom is five-leaved, and contains many stamens and one pistil. The fruit is a little nut. The AMERICAN LINDEN or BASSWOOD is a large tree seventy to one hundred and twenty-five feet high, growing from New Brunswick to Georgia, west to Nebraska and Texas. The wood is extensively used for making cheap furniture and paper pulp. The SOUTHERN BASSWOOD or WHITEWOOD is a small tree forty to fifty feet high growing from Long Island to Florida, west to Texas. The WHITE BASSWOOD or BEE TREE is a forest tree forty-five to seventy feet high, Pennsylvania to Florida, west to Illinois and Tennessee.

=Locust= is a name applied to various trees of the Pea family. The AMERICAN LOCUST TREE or the False Acacia is seventy to eighty feet high, growing from Pennsylvania to Georgia. It is widely naturalized in most states east to the Rocky Mountains. The wood is compact and hard and is extensively used for shipbuilding and all purposes where great strength and toughness are required.

=Mahogany= (_Swietenia Mahagoni_), is a native of Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies, and yields one of the most generally used of cabinet woods. The leaves resemble those of the ash; the flowers are clustered and small, with their parts in whorls of five, and ten united stamens; and the fruit is a pear-shaped, woody capsule with winged seeds. The wood is a rich reddish-brown, often richly mottled, uniform in grain, susceptible of the highest polish, and very durable. In Mexico the timber is sometimes in thirty-foot lengths and forty-eight inches square. Mahogany is commonly divided into SPANISH, the darker, heavier and more figured, from San Domingo and Cuba, and HONDURAS, lighter, softer, and plainer, from the mainland. It is employed in carving, turning, veneering and cabinet-making, and for solid furniture, easily holding first rank among cabinet woods.

=Maple= (_Acer_). This genus of trees contains nearly one hundred species, natives of north temperate regions, especially North America and eastern Asia. The SUGAR MAPLE is ninety to one hundred and twenty feet high, and grows from Newfoundland to Georgia, west to eastern Nebraska and Kansas. The wood is extensively used in cabinet work and interior finish. Large quantities of sugar and syrup are made from the sap. The SILVER or SOFT MAPLE is found from New Brunswick to Florida, west to Ontario, Nebraska and Oklahoma. It is often planted as a shade tree. The SCARLET or RED MAPLE grows in swamps and low ground from New Brunswick to Manitoba, south to Florida and Texas. The close-grained wood is largely used for furniture, and in turnery. The OREGON MAPLE grows from Alaska to California. It is often planted as an ornamental tree.

=Mesquite= (_Prosopis_), is a genus of trees containing about sixteen species, natives of America, Asia, and Africa, three of which grow in the United States. It varies from a straggling shrub to a widely-branched tree fifty feet high and occurs from central Texas to eastern California, and southward to Chile and Argentina. The very heavy wood is used for fuel and fence posts, while the pods and leaves are much eaten by stock. The SCREWPOD MESQUITE is twenty-five to thirty feet high and valuable in arid regions.

=Oak= (_Quercus_), is most numerous in temperate climates, though some are tropical; fully fifty species occur in the United States, with many intermediate forms or hybrids. The Oak is a true giant among forest trees. Its trunk often attains a circumference of thirty feet. Its bark is smooth in the young trees and rough in the old oaks. The strong, widely extended boughs are pronged and knotty; the crown is large, with a sinuate outline. The blossoms are within long pendent catkins and appear in the month of May. The bark and the acorns, which are contained in pretty little cups, are medicinal. Along the stems and the boughs mosses and lichens grow exuberantly. In the galls of the leaves and branches different gall insects live. The horn beetles suck the sap of the oaks, and the acorns form the food of squirrels and other rodents. The EUROPEAN OAK, the most important Old World timber oak, is sparingly planted in the United States. The WHITE OAK, the most valuable American timber oak, occurs from Texas to Minnesota and eastward. With similar range, but less valuable for timber, are BUR OAK or MOSSY CUP OAK, the SCARLET OAK and the RED OAK. The COW OAK or BASKET OAK and the YELLOW or CHESTNUT OAK produce edible acorns. The bark of the QUERCITRON is used in tanning, as a yellow dye, and in medicine. The LIVE OAK, once famous for ship-building, is a sturdy species with entire evergreen leaves occurring in the Southern States, Cuba and the Pacific States.

=Osage Orange or Bow Wood= (_Maclura pomifera_), is a native of the southwestern United States. It attains a height of twenty to sixty feet, and is extensively planted for hedges, while the wood, of orange color and of great hardness, is valuable for fence posts, mallet heads, and to some extent in cabinet work.

=Pine= (_Pinus_), comprises a genus of about eighty species, nearly two-thirds of which occur in the northern part of the western hemisphere. The WHITE PINE, a tree seventy-five to one hundred feet high, is one of the most important timber trees of North America. Its range is from Newfoundland to Minnesota, south to Georgia. The wood is soft, straight grained, and is much used for building and cabinet work. The YELLOW PINE or LONG-LEAVED PINE sometimes attains a height of one hundred feet, and grows in sandy soil from Virginia to Florida and Texas. The wood is heavier and stronger than that of any other pine, and is used in all kinds of building. The tree is the chief source of turpentine, tar, resin, etc. The WESTERN YELLOW PINE or BULL PINE is sometimes one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty feet high and five to eight feet in diameter. It is found from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast and is one of the most important lumber trees of the West. The SUGAR PINE of Oregon and California attains a height of one hundred and fifty to three hundred feet and a diameter of more than ten feet. The timber is strong, straight grained, and is much used for a finishing lumber and cabinet work.

=Palm Family= (_Palmaceae_), is a very distinct natural family of trees and shrubs, chiefly tropical and subtropical, embracing about one thousand species which are second in economic importance only to the cereal grasses. The Palm Trees have generally straight, scaly trunks without boughs, and many species attain a considerable height. Their large fan-shaped leaves grow near the top, and form a beautiful crown. The numerous blossoms stand in long panicles. The palm trees represent the only riches of many tribes of mankind in the tropics, providing them with food, drink, dress, and building materials for their dwellings. The most valued are the cocoanut, date and sago palm trees. The large nuts of the first named are the well-known cocoanuts.

=Plane Tree= (_Platanus_), a genus of six or seven species, is a native of the north temperate zone. The SYCAMORE, PLANE TREE, or BUTTONWOOD reaches a height of one hundred and thirty feet with a trunk diameter of fourteen feet. It is found from Quebec to Georgia, west to Manitoba and Kansas. The wood is a favorite material for tobacco boxes and butcher blocks and is largely used for furniture. Other species in the United States are the CALIFORNIA SYCAMORE and the ARIZONA SYCAMORE, both large trees.

=Poplar= (_Populus_), a hardy genus of about twenty trees, native to temperate and cold regions. Half of the species occur in the United States, all of soft wood and rapid growth. The COTTON-WOOD, common along streams from the Rocky Mountains eastward, sometimes attaining one hundred and fifty feet in height and a diameter of seven feet, is much planted for ornament. The BALSAM POPLAR, sometimes one hundred feet high, occurs northward and in Siberia. The EUROPEAN WHITE POPLAR and BLACK POPLAR, much-planted ornamentals, have become naturalized in the Eastern States. The LOMBARDY POPLAR, with very upright boughs, frequently grows along the roadside in Asia, Europe and America.

=Redwood.= See Sequoia.

=Sandalwood= (_Santalum album_), is a small tree, native of India and the Indian Archipelago. It produces a compact, fine-grained wood which is used for making small ornamental articles and possesses a remarkable fragrance which persists long after it has become thoroughly seasoned.

=Sassafras= is a genus containing but two known species, one in North America and the other in China. The SASSAFRAS or AGUE TREE, is eighty to ninety feet high, is found from Canada to Florida, west to Kansas and Texas. Oil of sassafras, used for flavoring confectionery, is distilled from the roots, and the bark is frequently employed as a household medicine and beverage.

=Sequoia=, a genus of trees named after a remarkable Cherokee Indian (otherwise George Guess), who gave his tribe a written alphabet of eighty-six characters, and died in New Mexico in 1845. There are only two living species, both natives of Western North America, the Big or Mammoth Tree and the California Redwood. The Big Tree is a native of the Sierra Nevada, and reaches over one thousand years of age, four hundred and fifty feet in height, and one hundred and twelve feet in circumference. The Redwood has a wider range in latitude as a wild tree, and reaches three hundred feet in height. It has a shaggy, reddish bark and very dark foliage. Its wood is of good texture, but monotonous in grain. It is used in cabinet work and interiors.

=Spruce= (_Picea_), a genus of about eighteen species, native of the Northern Hemisphere. The WHITE SPRUCE is a slender tree fifty to one hundred and fifty feet high, found from New York to British Columbia, north to Newfoundland, Hudson Bay and Alaska. The wood is light and soft and is largely used for construction and for paper pulp. The BLACK SPRUCE is twenty to thirty and very rarely one hundred feet high; grows from Newfoundland and Hudson Bay and Alberta south to North Carolina, Michigan and Minnesota. It is largely used for wood pulp and paper. The RED SPRUCE, seventy to eighty feet high, grows from Nova Scotia to Virginia, and is largely manufactured into lumber. The TIDELAND or SITKA SPRUCE is a large tree usually one hundred feet, sometimes two hundred feet high, occurring abundantly from northern California to Alaska. Its valuable timber is used for all kinds of building purposes. The NORWAY SPRUCE is largely planted in the Eastern States as an ornamental tree.

=Sycamore.= Only certain trees of the genus _Ficus_, mostly natives of Asia and Africa, are properly called sycamores. The EGYPTIAN SYCAMORE, supposed to be the sycamore of the Bible, is a large spreading tree often planted for shade in Egypt and western Asia. In northern Europe this name is also given to the species of maple, and in the United States to the AMERICAN PLANE TREE. See PLANE TREE.

=Upas= (_Antiaris toxicaria_). A tree found in the Philippine Islands and tropical Asia. The fiber of the bark is sometimes made into cloth and the juice of the roots is used by the Malays for poisoning their arrows. This tree figures in both religion and mythology.

=Walnut= (_Juglans_), a genus of about ten species, mostly natives of North America and Asia. The BLACK WALNUT is sometimes one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five feet high, growing from Ontario to Florida, west to Nebraska and Texas. The dark brown wood is largely used for cabinet making and gunstocks. The WHITE WALNUT or BUTTERNUT resembles the black walnut, but is seldom over one hundred feet high. The wood is used in the interior finish of houses and for furniture. The CALIFORNIA WALNUT, a tree sometimes sixty-five feet high, is often cultivated in California for shade and as a stock on which to graft the English Walnut. The ENGLISH WALNUT is sixty to ninety feet high, native of Persia, and has long been cultivated for its edible nuts.

=Willow= (_Salix_), a genus of over one hundred and fifty species, mostly of cool, northern regions, fully one-half occurring within the United States. The leaves are egg-shaped and wrinkled; the blossoms yellow and greenish. They possess great quantities of honey, and attract, therefore, all kinds of insects, especially bees. The WEEPING WILLOW is much planted for ornament. The EUROPEAN OSIER is cultivated for its twigs. Of the native species, the shrubby SHINING WILLOW, the BLACK WILLOW, is sometimes forty feet high, and the HEART-LEAVED WILLOW are among the best known.

=Yew= (_Taxus_), a genus of some six trees and shrubs, are widely distributed in the northern hemisphere, three species occurring in the United States. The AMERICAN YEW is a low, straggling shrub seldom over five feet high growing in woods from Newfoundland to Manitoba and south to Virginia and Iowa. The FLORIDA YEW is a bushy tree rarely twenty-five feet high. The CALIFORNIA YEW is a tree forty to fifty feet high occurring from British Columbia to California, sometimes cultivated in gardens in Europe. The hard wood is used for fence posts. The EUROPEAN YEW is a native of Europe and Siberia reaching a height of forty feet.

_VIII. FIBER AND COMMERCIAL PLANTS_

The cultivation of the fiber-yielding plants and the manufacture of
their products into textiles, ropes, cordage, and matting are among
the most important industries of the world, and afford employment
directly and indirectly to many millions of people. The industries,
moreover, are of great antiquity, for we have definite evidence from
the Lake Dwellings of Switzerland that flax was cultivated and used
as a textile during the Stone Age, and the occurrence of linen cloth
in the tombs of Egypt and constant references to the same material
in the earliest books of the Bible are well known to everyone. How
and when mankind first became aware of the possibilities of
vegetable fibers as materials for clothing it is not easy to say,
but it is not improbable that he first employed the fibers to supply
his need for string cordage, especially in his hunting expeditions,
and that gradually the idea of weaving the strings to form a fabric
occurred to him. The apparatus employed must have been of extreme
simplicity and the finished product crude according to modern ideas;
but that thousands of years ago textiles of superlative quality,
rivaling anything that can be produced to-day, were manufactured by
Eastern races is a matter of history and observation.

=Annotto, Anatto or Arnotto.= The red substance imported under this name consists of the aggregated seed pellicles of _Bixa Orellana_. The coloring matter is best extracted by alcohol, as it is not very soluble in water. It is the source of coloring for dairy products, being the standard butter and cheese color in the United States, England and Holland. Has also a limited use as a dye in calico printing. It was anciently used by natives of Brazil, Central America, and West Indies to stain their bodies red, and by Mexicans in painting. Cultivation prehistoric in tropical America. Now naturalized in India.

=Bamboo= (_Bambusa_) grows in the tropics of Asia, Africa and America. The plants are in reality merely gigantic grasses. The stems are hollow and contain only a light pith, but they are jointed and at the nodes strong partitions stretch across the inside. They grow in clumps, and may reach a height of one hundred and twenty feet and a thickness of ten inches. Some species flower only once, some every year, and others at longer intervals.

The Bamboo is noted for its great economic importance, and serves a variety of useful purposes. The young shoots of some species are cut when tender and eaten like asparagus; the seeds also are sometimes used as food, and for making beer; some species exude a saccharine juice at the nodes which is of domestic value.

The hard stems are converted into bows, arrows, quivers, lance-shafts, masts of vessels, bed-posts, walking-sticks, poles of palanquins, rustic bridges, bee-hives, water-pipes, gutters, furniture, ladders, domestic utensils and agricultural implements. Split up finely they afford a most durable material for weaving into mats, baskets, window-blinds, ropes and even sails of boats. Perhaps the greatest use to which they are put is in building, for in India, China, Japan, Assam, Malay, and other countries of the East, houses are frequently constructed solely of this material.

=Betel-nut= (_Areca Catechu_), a palm cultivated in tropical Asia. The seed or nut resembles a nutmeg in size and in color. Pieces of this nut are rolled up with a little lime in leaves of _Piper Betel_, the Betel-pepper, and chewed by the natives. The pellet is hot, acrid, aromatic and astringent, tinges the saliva red, and stains the teeth. Its charcoal is used as toothpowder.

Cultivated extensively in the East Indies, where the consumption of leaves by chewing with the areca nut is enormous. Narcotic stimulant.

=Cinchona,= a genus of evergreen trees, includes thirty-six species, about a dozen of which are utilized. They are natives of the Andes, growing mostly between five thousand and eight thousand feet above the sea-level. It is the source of quinine, the most important drug in tropical medicine, and widely used throughout the world. Its cultivation is becoming quite extensive.

The bark introduced into Europe in 1639 by the Countess of Cinchon, whence the name. Now extensively cultivated in India, Japan, Ceylon and Jamaica.

=Cotton= (_Gossypium herbaceum_) is one of the most important cultivated shrubs. It is an annual and grows from two to four feet in height, with stalks branching extensively. At the bottom of the stalk the limbs are longest, and at the top they are light and short.

The flowers are white, or pale yellow, or cream-colored the first day. They darken and redden on the second day, and fall to the ground on the third or fourth day, leaving a tiny boll developed in the calyx. This boll develops and enlarges until maturity, when it is somewhat like a hen’s egg, both in size and shape. This boll is the house of the seed and lint--the products of commerce. In it are from three to five apartments or cells (often more than five in improved types), which hold the lint from its earliest formation until it is picked in the fall. The bolls of the cotton plant mature all the way from the last of August until frost attacks them. When matured, the fibrous wool, known as seed cotton, is gathered, ginned, and baled. When separated from the seed the lint becomes the cotton of commerce.

The chief commercial types of cotton are American upland, sea island, Egyptian, India, Brazilian and Peruvian. These differ in the length of the individual fibers (staple). The quality is indicated by the grading under such names as fine, good, good fair, fully fair, middling fair, good middling, middling, etc. Sea island cotton has the longest staple and is used for the finest qualities of yarn and fabrics. Egyptian cotton also has a long staple. Large amounts are imported into the United States.

Cotton is next to corn the most valuable farm crop of the United States. Nearly three-fourths of all the cotton produced annually in the world is grown in the south Atlantic and gulf states. The remainder comes mostly from India, Egypt, China, Brazil, and Asiatic Russia. A comparatively small percentage of the crop is sea island cotton from the coast of Georgia and from islands in the West Indies. The area of cotton production is spreading in the United States as well as in foreign countries.

Cotton fiber is spun into yarn and made into thread, muslin, calico and hundreds of other cotton or part cotton fabrics. Mercerized yarn is prepared by treatment with strong caustic alkali. Cotton linters are used in cheap yarns, cotton batting, mattresses, and the manufacture of celluloid and artificial silk.

Cotton seeds are subjected to heavy pressure in machines in order to extract the oil. The oil-cake is a valuable cattle food and the hulls are used for fuel or for paper making.

Cottonseed oil is used for table purposes, for packing sardines, for cooking, making soap, candles, etc.

The greatest centers of cotton manufacture are in England, New England, the Carolinas and Georgia. Germany, Russia, India and Japan are among the important manufacturing nations.

Previous Next

Comments

The Circle of Knowledge: A Classified, Simplified, Visualized Book of AnswersChapter II: English and American Literature -- Outline Charts of English and (12)

0%37 min left in chapter