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THE COMPARATIVE ANATOMY OF TREES First of all, speaking of royalties, let's take the kings of the wonderland of trees -- the Oaks. The shape of an old king that has lived in the open all his life and had his way is so individual that he can easily be identified from far across the fields; and most of the Oaks are very accommodating about keeping their calling-cards, their leaves, hanging on far into the winter. This is also true of the Hornbeam and the Beech. Another thing worth knowing in this "detective" work is that, among all classes of trees, saplings hang on to their leaves longer than the older trees. The White Oak is specially noted for the tenacity with which it clings to its leaves. In the forest it grows to a height of eighty to one hundred feet, straight as a ship's mast, with a trunk three to four feet in diameter. In the open it develops into a massive, broad-topped tree, with great limbs striking out at wide angles. It resembles the famous English Oak more than any American species. Both get the "elbowing" habit more and more, as old age comes on, because the central shoots are then apt to fail, while the lateral shoots are the ones to develop, so causing the limbs to take a zigzag course. But don't one of these veterans of the wars with time and the winds, in its attitude of iron resolution and stern defense, remind you of some grim old knight bidding defiance to his enemies? That one, say, who when called upon to surrender his castle, replied: "Here I am and here I remain!" The bark is most often a light gray, from which it gets its name of "white." What is known as the Post-Oak, because it is used for fence-posts, among other things, presents a striking contrast to its lordly white brother, seldom reaching a height of over fifty feet, and often not getting beyond the proportions of a shrub. Look for it on dry, sandy soil and gravelly uplands. The bark is grayish brown, deeply fissured and with broad scaly ridges. The bark of the Burr-Oak is similar to that of the Post-Oak, but its average height at maturity is 80 feet, although it has been known to reach 160. A feature that will help you identify it is the fact that it grows little cork wings on its twigs. These wings remain until the twigs have developed into young branches, then they fall off. The Sweet-Gum, the Cork-Elm, and a few other trees have the same habit. The Chestnut-Oak, also known as the Rock Chestnut-Oak because it is most abundant in the rocky soil of mountains, although found in lowlands also, is one of those Oaks whose trunks divide into large limbs not far from the ground. There is another Chestnut-Oak, also known as the Chinquapin and the Yellow Oak, because of its yellowish-green leaves; and still another, the Dwarf Chinquapin or Scrub-Chestnut, but the last named is only a shrub growing in clumps in dry, sandy, or rocky soil. The other Chinquapin varies from 30 to 160 feet high, with a small, narrow, round-topped head. The Red Oak, one of the most widely known of all the Oaks, has a head similar to that of the Yellow Oak and grows to about the same height. It gets its name from its dark, gray-brown bark, tinged with red. The Black Oak also is named from its bark. It grows from 70 to 150 feet with slender branches and narrow, open head. The Pin-Oak is also known as the Swamp-Oak, because it is found most abundantly on the borders of swamps and in river-bottoms. It gets the "pin" in its name from little pin-like twigs which, in turn, are themselves thickly set with pin-like "twiglets." We're not likely to have any trouble with the Willow-Oak, for not only do its leaves strongly suggest the Willow, but its shape, poise, and general appearance is that of the Willow, and it loves low, wet places. A LITTLE PORTRAIT-GALLERY OF THE TREES St. Pierre, a distinguished French botanist, with the true artistic instinct of his nation, made a very happy little picture group, illustrating the characteristic shapes of trees, when he said: Sometimes trees ascend vertically and, having arrived at a certain height, fork off in various tiers and send out their branches horizontally, like an Apple Tree; or incline them toward the earth, like a Fir; or hollow them in the form of a cup, like the Sassafras; or round them into the shape of a mushroom, like the Pine; or straighten them into a pyramid, like the Poplar; or roll them as wool upon the distaff, like the Cypress; or suffer them to float at the discretion of the winds, like the Birch. HOW TO KNOW THE TREES IN WINTER It was Coleridge who called the Birch "The Lady of The Woods." Another and more comprehensive portrait-gallery of trees, which will be particularly valuable for winter use, has been made by Joseph Illick, of the Department of Forests and Waters, of Pennsylvania, and is given in his book Tree Habits. Trees with Spines and Thorns: Locust, Hawthorn, Wild Plum, Crab. With Stout Branches: Ash, Walnut, Hickory, Horse-Chestnut, Buckeye, Catalpa, Walnut, Kentucky Coffee Tree. With Pendant Branches: Weeping Willow, Elm, Birch, Mulberry, Beech. With Erect Crowns: Black, Lombardy, and Carolina Poplars. With Broad-Spreading Crowns: Live, White, and Valley Oaks, Elm, Sycamore. All these are identification marks that lie on the surface, as it were, and by which they can often be known, like the driving of Jehu, at a great distance; but there are other marks that are known only to the initiated. SOME FAMILY SECRETS OF WINTER TREES One of the most interesting and useful things such careful students of the lives and manners of the trees as Mr. Illick (in his Tree Habits) and Harriet Keeler (in her Native Trees) have done for us is to show, by word and picture, certain "birthmarks" on these princes of the woods by which they may be known in winter; marks we would never have thought to look for -- such as the scars left by the fallen leaves and the form of the pith and -- buds! Who'd think of asking Little Bud to tell us his family name? Indeed who, unless he was in the secret, would think of looking for buds at all in winter? But the truth is the trees, before they close down for the long winter sleep, get their buds all ready so as to be up and dressed, bright and early, the following spring. These buds, on the different kinds of trees, are characteristically large or small, slender or "heavy-set," flat, oval, pointed, or rounded, smooth, downy, sticky, or rough, covered with scales or naked; and colored from pale yellow to inky black, like Mr. Hamlet's cloak. And so with Mr. Illick's leaf scars and pith forms. If I were you I'd not only copy in the tree book, in which you make your notes and pictures of things seen on your woodland hikes, the "birthmarks" which we have here reproduced from these and other books, (Notably the beautifully illustrated and extremely convenient pocket manual Forest Trees of the District of Columbia, just issued by The American Forestry Association.) but I'd collect twigs with buds and leaf scars and make additional illustrations of my own. Nothing talks like a picture -- so straight out and plain! It will be time enough, later on, to talk about "ovate" and "obtuse," "imbricated," and so forth. |
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