Michigan Trees - LightNovelsOnl.com
You're reading novel online at LightNovelsOnl.com. Please use the follow button to get notifications about your favorite novels and its latest chapters so you can come back anytime and won't miss anything.
LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 3-5 inches long, nearly as broad; outline variable, ovate to semi-orbicular, often 3-5-lobed; coa.r.s.ely serrate; thin; dark blue-green and smooth or rough above, pale and more or less downy beneath; petioles 1-2 inches long, smooth, exuding a milky juice when cut.
FLOWERS.--May, with the leaves; monoecious or dioecious; the staminate in dense spikes 1-2 inches long, on short, hairy peduncles; the pistillate in dense spikes about 1 inch long, on short, hairy peduncles; calyx 4-lobed, hairy; corolla 0; stamens 4, with green anthers; stigmas 2, spreading.
FRUIT.--July; 1 inch long; consisting of drupes about 1/32 inch long, each inclosed in a thickened, fleshy calyx; berry-like; bright red at first, finally blackish; sweet, juicy, edible.
WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud absent; lateral buds ovoid, abruptly pointed, 1/4 inch long, l.u.s.trous, light brown.
BARK.--Twigs greenish and more or less downy, becoming smooth and brownish; trunk dark brown tinged with red and more or less furrowed.
WOOD.--Light, soft, weak, rather tough, coa.r.s.e-grained, very durable, pale orange, with thick, lighter colored sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.--Southern portion of the Lower Peninsula, as far north as the Muskegon river.
HABITAT.--Prefers rich soil in river-bottoms.
NOTES.--Easily transplanted. Grows rapidly in good, moist soil.
[Ill.u.s.tration: +Tulip Poplar. Tulip-tree. White-wood+
1. Winter twig, 1.
2. Leaf, 1/2.
3. Flowering branchlet, 1/2.
4. Fruit (opened and partly disseminated), 1/2.]
+MAGNOLIACEAE+
+Tulip Poplar. Tulip-tree. White-wood+
_Liriodendron tulipifera L._
HABIT.--A large tree 70-100 feet high, with a columnar trunk 2-5 feet in diameter; forming a rather open, conical crown of slender branches.
LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 5-6 inches long and broad; 4-lobed; entire; l.u.s.trous, dark green above, pale or glaucous beneath, turning clear yellow in autumn; petioles slender, angled, 5-6 inches long.
FLOWERS.--May-June, after the leaves; perfect; terminal; solitary on stout peduncles; tulip-shaped, greenish yellow, 1-1/2-2 inches long; sepals 3, greenish, early deciduous; petals 6, in 2 rows, greenish yellow with an orange spot at the base, early deciduous; stamens numerous, somewhat shorter than the petals; pistils numerous, clinging together about a central axis; ovary 1-celled.
FRUIT.--September-October; a narrow, light brown cone 2-1/2-3 inches long, composed of numerous carpels; carpels long, flat, with a 1-2-seeded nutlet at the base, separating from the slender spindle at maturity.
WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud 1/2-1 inch long, obtuse, flattish, dark red, covered with a glaucous bloom.
BARK.--Twigs smooth, l.u.s.trous, reddish, becoming brownish, and at length gray; ashy gray, thin and scaly on young trunks, becoming thick, brownish, and deeply furrowed with age.
WOOD.--Light, soft, brittle, weak, easily worked, light yellow or brown, with thin, cream-white sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.--Lower Peninsula south of the Grand River. Formerly common, but becoming rare.
HABITAT.--Prefers deep, rich, rather moist soil, but adapts itself readily to any good, light soil.
NOTES.--Difficult to transplant, but rapid of growth when once established. Not disfigured by insect enemies. Good for ornamental planting.
[Ill.u.s.tration: +Sa.s.safras+
1. Winter twig, 1.
2. Portion of twig, enlarged.
3. Leaves, 1/2.
4. Staminate flowering branchlet, 1/2.
5. Staminate flower, enlarged.
6. Pistillate flowering branchlet, 1/2.
7. Pistillate flower, enlarged.
8. Fruit, 1/2.]
+LAURACEAE+
+Sa.s.safras+
_Sa.s.safras variifolium (Salisb.) Ktse._ [_Sa.s.safras sa.s.safras (L.) Karst._] [_Sa.s.safras officinale Nees & Eberm._]
HABIT.--Usually a large shrub, but often a small tree 20-40 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 10-20 inches; stout, often contorted branches and a bushy spray form a flat, rather open crown.
LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 3-6 inches long, 2-4 inches broad; oval to oblong or obovate; entire or 1-3-lobed with deep, broad sinuses and finger-like lobes; thin; dull dark green above, paler beneath; petioles slender, about 1 inch long.
FLOWERS.--May, with the leaves; dioecious; greenish yellow; on slender pedicels, in loose, drooping, few-flowered racemes 2 inches long; calyx deeply 6-lobed, yellow-green; corolla 0; stamens of staminate flower 9, in 3 rows, of pistillate flower 6, in 1 row; ovary 1-celled.
FRUIT.--September-October; an oblong-globose, l.u.s.trous, dark blue berry, 3/8 inch long, surrounded at the base by the scarlet calyx, borne on club-shaped, bright red pedicels.
WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal buds 1/3 inch long, ovoid, acute, greenish, soft-p.u.b.escent, flower-bearing; lateral buds much smaller, sterile or leaf-bearing. Aromatic.
BARK.--Twigs glabrous, l.u.s.trous, yellow-green, spicy-aromatic, becoming red-brown and shallowly fissured when 2-3 years old; thick, dark red-brown and deeply and irregularly fissured into firm, flat ridges on old trunks.
WOOD.--Soft, weak, brittle, coa.r.s.e-grained, very durable in the soil, aromatic, dull orange-brown, with thin, light yellow sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.--Southern portion of Lower Peninsula as far north as Grayling.
HABITAT.--Prefers well-drained, stony or sandy soil; woods; abandoned fields; peaty swamps.
NOTES.--Rapid of growth. Suckers freely. Difficult to transplant.
Propagated easily from seed.
[Ill.u.s.tration: +Sycamore. b.u.t.ton-wood. b.u.t.tonball-tree+
1. Winter twig, 1.
2. Portion of twig, side view, 1.
