Trees of the Northern United States - 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.
ORDER =XIV. RHAMNaCEae.=
(BUCKTHORN FAMILY.)
An order mainly of shrubs, but including in the north-eastern United States two or three small trees.
GENUS =20. RHaMNUS.=
Shrubs or small trees with deciduous (rarely evergreen), usually alternate (rarely opposite), pinnately veined leaves. Flowers small, 4-parted, inconspicuous, in cl.u.s.ters in the axils of the leaves. Fruit berry-like, with 2 to 4 seed-like nuts.
* Branches terminating in thorns 1.
* Plant without thorns. (=A.=)
=A.= Leaves deciduous 2.
=A.= Leaves evergreen 3.
[Ill.u.s.tration: R. cathartica.]
1. =Rhamnus cathartica, L.= (COMMON BUCKTHORN.) Leaves ovate, minutely serrate, alternate or many of them opposite; branchlets terminating in thorns. Flowers greenish. Fruit globular, 1/3 in. in diameter, black with a green juice, and 3 or 4 seeds; ripe in September. A shrub or small tree, 10 to 15 ft. high, from Europe; cultivated for hedges, and found wild in a few places, where it forms a small tree.
[Ill.u.s.tration: R. Caroliniana.]
2. Rhamnus Caroliniana, Walt. (CAROLINA BUCKTHORN.) Leaves 3 to 5 in.
long, alternate, oblong, wavy and obscurely serrulate, nearly smooth, on slender p.u.b.escent petioles. Flowers greenish, 5-parted, solitary or in umbellate cl.u.s.ters in the axils. Fruit berry-like, globular, the size of peas, 3-seeded, black when ripe in September. A thornless shrub or small tree, 5 to 20 ft. high. New Jersey, south and west. Usually a shrub except in the Southern States.
[Ill.u.s.tration: R. Califrnicus.]
3. =Rhamnus Califrnicus=, Esch. (CALIFORNIA BUCKTHORN.) Leaves evergreen, oval-oblong to elliptical, 1 to 4 in. long, rather obtuse, sometimes acute, generally rounded at base, serrulate or entire. Fruit blackish purple, with thin pulp, in., 2- to 3-seeded. A spreading shrub, 5 to 18 ft. high, without thorns; from California.
GENUS =21. HOVeNIA.=
Leaves alternate, deciduous, simple, oblique at base. Fruit an obscurely 3-lobed, 3-celled, 3-seeded pod in dichotomous cl.u.s.ters, both axillary and terminal.
[Ill.u.s.tration: H. dulcis]
=Hovenia dulcis=, Thunb. Leaves long-petioled, more or less ovate to cordate, serrate, palmately 3-ribbed, much darker on the upper surface; both sides slightly roughened with scattered hairs. Fruit sweet, edible, in cl.u.s.ters in the axils of the leaves; seeds lens-shaped, with a ridge on the inner side. Flowers white; in July. A large, broad-topped tree, introduced from j.a.pan. Hardy at Was.h.i.+ngton, but dies to the ground in the Arnold Arboretum, Ma.s.sachusetts.
GENUS =22. ZZYPHUS.=
Leaves simple, alternate, deciduous, 3-ribbed. Flowers axillary, 5-petaled. Fruit fleshy, drupe-like, containing a 1- to 2-celled nut.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Z. vulgaris.]
=Zzyphus vulgaris=, Lam. (JUJUBE.) Leaves ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, serrate, smooth, and glossy green on both sides, upper side quite dark; slightly hairy beneath on the veins; p.r.i.c.kles twin, one recurved, sometimes none. New growth of the year green, and resembling a once-pinnate compound leaf and usually dropping off in the autumn like one. Leaves 10 to 20 on a twig, 2-ranked; flowers and drupes nearly sessile in the axils; fruit small ( in.), blood-red when ripe. A small tree (10 to 30 ft. high), of recent introduction from Syria; hardy at Philadelphia, but needing some protection at the Arnold Arboretum, Ma.s.sachusetts.
ORDER =XV. SAPINDaCEae.= (SOAPBERRY FAMILY.)
A large order represented in all countries, and so varied in its characteristics as to form several sub-orders.
GENUS =23. aeSCULUS.=
Deciduous trees or sometimes shrubs, with opposite, palmately compound leaves with serrated, straight-veined leaflets. Flowers usually conspicuous in dense terminal panicles. Fruit large, leathery-coated, often rough, with one or few large Chestnut-like but bitter seeds. Fruit large in midsummer, hanging on the tree until frost.
* Fruit p.r.i.c.kly. (=A.=)
=A.= Leaflets usually 7; flowers widely spreading 1.
=A.= Leaflets 5-7, red-spotted and rough; flowers rosy red _aesculus rubicunda_ (1).
=A.= Leaflets usually 5; flowers not much spreading 2.
* Fruit smooth or nearly so. (=B.=)
=B.= Flowers bright red 3.
=B.= Flowers yellow, purplish or pinkish 4.
=B.= Flowers white, in long, slender, erect cl.u.s.ters 5.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ae. Hippocastanum.]
1. =aesculus Hippocastanum.= (COMMON HORSE-CHESTNUT.) Leaves of 7 obovate, abruptly pointed, serrated leaflets. Flowers very showy in large cl.u.s.ters, with 5 white, purple and yellow spotted, broadly spreading petals. A variety with double flowers is in cultivation. May or June. Fruit large, covered with p.r.i.c.kles. Seeds large, chestnut-colored. Tree of large size, with brown twigs; cultivated everywhere; from Asia.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ae. rubicunda.]
_aesculus rubicunda_ (Red-flowering Horse-chestnut) is frequent in cultivation; leaflets 5 to 7, red-spotted and rough; flowers rosy red.
It is probably a hybrid between the common Horse-chestnut and one of the Buckeyes.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ae glabra.]
2. =aesculus glabra=, Willd. (OHIO BUCKEYE.) Leaves with 5 oval-oblong, ac.u.minate, serrate, smooth leaflets. Flowers not showy, yellowish-white, with 4 somewhat irregular, slightly spreading petals. June. Fruit small, 1 in. in diameter, covered with p.r.i.c.kles, at least when young; ripe in autumn. Small to large tree, wild in the basin of the Ohio River, along river-banks. Sometimes cultivated.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ae. Pavia.]
3. =aesculus Pavia=, L. (RED BUCKEYE.) Leaves of 5 to 7 oblong-lanceolate, finely serrate, generally smooth leaflets, of a s.h.i.+ning green color, with purple veins and petioles. Flowers (corolla and calyx) bright red, with included stamens; corolla of 4 petals, not spreading; calyx tubular. Fruit smooth, oblong-obovate, 1 in. long.
Small tree or shrub, 10 to 20 ft. high, with purple twigs. Virginia west and south, and occasionally cultivated throughout.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ae. flava.]
4. =aesculus flava=, Ait. (SWEET BUCKEYE.) Leaves with 5 to 7 serrulate, elliptical, ac.u.minate leaflets, usually smooth, sometimes minutely p.u.b.escent beneath; the p.u.b.escent petiole flattish toward the base.
Flowers yellow, not spreading. Spring. Fruit globose, uneven but not p.r.i.c.kly, 2 in. in diameter. Seeds large (1 in.), 1 or 2 in number, mahogany-colored; ripe in autumn. Often a large tree, sometimes only a shrub, 6 to 70 ft. high, in rich woods; Virginia to Indiana, and southward. Cultivated occasionally throughout.
