Shape narrowly round-topped, up to 40 ft. high. Bark gray, with sepia brown striping, becoming furrowed into flat scaly ridges on old trees. Leaves turning rusty red in autumn. Flowers blooming while the leaves are just expanding (March-May,) similar to those of apple or hawthorn, but the petals strap-shaped and more graceful. Fruits edible, similar to those of hawthorn. Ripe in summer. Range: Me. to Ga., Ia., La., and Mo. In N.E. this is a mere shrub, but it becomes quite a fine tree southward. In the s. Appalachians it is very beautiful when in flower. It is believed in New England to flower when the shad begin to swim up stream. The name of Service Tree or “Sarviss Tree” in the Appalachians is a corruption of the old English name for the Service Tree of Europe which is, in turn probably only a rustical attempt at the Latin name, Sorbus.
Common Sycamore Plane
COMMON SYCAMORE PLANE
(Platanus occidentalis)
Shape broadly round topped, 50-150 ft. tall. Trunk massive, up to 13 ft. thick, becoming our most ponderous tree, except the Sequoias. Bark smooth, peeling in roundish, thin, brittle plates, leaving blotches of white, green, and tan. Leaves 4-9 in. wide, turning russet in autumn. Fruit a soft spherical head of nutlets embedded in hairs, green becoming light brown. 2-4 balls together. Range: Throughout the e. U.S.A. except s. Fla. and the far north. The wood of this picturesque river-bank tree is heavy, coarse-grained and strong but short-lived and warping. It is used for cigar boxes and interior finish. CALIFORNIA SYCAMORE (Platanus racemosa) differs in having 5-7 fruiting heads together, and very deeply cut leaves with narrow lobes; the upper parts are usually bone white. Coast ranges and interior valley of centr. and s. Calif.
American Crabapple
AMERICAN CRABAPPLE
(Malus coronaria)
Shape with broadly hemispherical, irregular top, 18-30 ft. tall. Trunk usually forking in a shrubby way. Bark fissured, dark red-brown, scaly. Branches contorted, twiggy, and often thorny. Leaves lobed or un-lobed, finally more or less smooth on both sides, turning yellow or purplish in autumn, or nearly evergreen in the South. Flowers white or pink, fragrant, in late spring. Fruit greenish or yellowish, waxy, fragrant, hard and sour. Range: N. Y. to Fla., Miss., Mo. and Ill. When in full flower this is one of the loveliest of all trees. The fruits are unexcelled for making jellies and conserves. IOWA CRAB (Malus ioensis) has leaves downy on the undersides, Minn. to Tex., Mo., and Ind. OREGON CRAB (Malus fusca) has leaves pale, downy, and finally rusty beneath; fruits becoming purple-black, Alaska to Cal., Coast Ranges.
