The Mulberry Family.
The leaves of the mulberry are broad, the flowers small. The leaves of the white mulberry are the food of silkworms. The Indian women used the fiber of the mulberry to make garments, baskets, and matting; the Japanese and Chinese manufactured paper from its bark. The red mulberry is quite common and grows in over two-thirds of the United States. The fruit is similar in appearance to the blackberry; the white mulberry is less widely distributed. The osage orange, or bow-wood, which is a member of this family, grows in Arkansas, Texas, and Indian Territory. Its fruit resembles the orange in shape and size; its leaves are shiny and it is close and spiny in growth.
The Plane Tree Family.
The common Plane is another tree from the Orient; the flowers are green, the fruit are yellow balls which hang on the tree over winter. It grows in rich, moist lands; the wood, which is ruddy in color, is used extensively in the manufacture of cigar boxes. It is also called the sycamore or buttonwood, and is easily distinguished by its bark, which it sheds as it does the leaves; the bark drops off in large irregular pieces, giving the tree a mottled appearance.
The Walnut Family.
The Black Walnut is abundant in the Mississippi Valley states, especially the Middle states. The White Walnut is the Butternut; the covering of the nut is sticky and gummy.
SHELL-BARK HICKORY.
The Hickory, which belongs to this family, is an American tree; none of the hickories are found abroad. The Bitternut, or Swamp Hickory, has a kernel which is very bitter. The bark of the Shell-bark Hickory separates and gives the trunk of the tree a very shaggy, unkempt appearance. The Pignut is a Hickory, but is worthless as food. The wood of the walnut was formerly much used for the manufacture of furniture.
The Birch Family.