Shape cypress-like, narrowly pyramidal, 40-100 ft. tall. Trunk becoming 3-4 ft. thick, buttressed at base. Bark ruddy, shredding in long ribbon-like strips. Branches at maturity sharply erect, spreading in youth and age. Scales very short, turning russet in winter in the North, closely overlapping except on vigorous young shoots, when they are erect and needle-like and paler. Berry resinous, sweet. Range: N. S. to Fla., Tex., and Minn. The soft, aromatic, red and yellow wood is used for lead pencils, moth-proof chests and closets, ties, posts, interior finish, and yields cedar oil. ROCKY MT. CEDAR (Juniperus scopulorum) is distinguished by stouter, often drooping, branches and darker wood. Rockies from Albt. to w. Tex., Olympic mts. of Wash, e. Ore. through Nev. to n. Ariz. Monotonously this conical little tree dots the dome-like hills of the desert states.
Palmetto
PALMETTO
(Sabal Palmetto)
Trunk at base knob-like, rooty; 30-40 ft. tall, 2 ft. thick, hollow, with a light ruddy rind. Leaves shining, 5-6 ft. long 7-8 ft. broad, on stalks 6-7 ft. long. Flowers small, greenish white, in very long, branched clusters from upper leaf axils. Range: along coast from Wilmington, N. C. to the Appalachicola R., Fla. Especially abundant on the Fla. w. coast, this tree finds use as a food, the cabbage-like terminal bud being eaten as “hearts of palm.” The bristles on the sheaths of young leaves are made into scrubbing brushes and the trunks are employed as wharf piles. On June 28, 1776, Charleston patriots under Moultrie made a fort of palmetto trunks and from it repulsed the British fleet. DESERT PALM (Washingtonia filamentosa) is a very lofty fan-leaved palm of the deserts of southwestern Calif. Often cultivated.
Black Willow—Shining Willow
BLACK WILLOW
(Salix nigra)
Shape short trunked, broad crowned, up to 90 ft. tall. Trunk often forking near the base. Bark rough, scaly, dark brown on old trunks. Leaves 2-4 in. long, lance-shaped, downy when young, short stalked, appearing with the flowers and turning lemon yellow in autumn. Range: N.B. to e. Dak., throughout the Middle West, and s. to Fla. and Ariz. Also in centr. Calif. SHINING WILLOW (Salix lucida) is a tall shrub or sometimes a small tree, the leaves when young covered with rusty or sordid hairs, but finally smooth, thick, dark-green, and shining on both sides. Michaux’s drawing of it, figured here, shows an unusually short-tipped sort of leaf, and he may perhaps have confused it with the Bay-leaved willow, Salix pentandra, or the Peach-leaved willow, Salix amygdaloides. The Shining Willow ranges from Newf. to Min. and s. to Pa., Ill., and Neb.