Tulip, White Wood, Yellow Poplar.—The last name is incorrect, as the tree is not a poplar. White wood is also inaccurate, as the only part of the wood that is white is the sap wood. A member of the magnolia family found throughout the East but rare in New England. Has a peculiar leaf with four points, smooth, shiny, and distinctive. Flowers the size and colour of a yellow or orange-coloured tulip. Wood greenish yellow, light, soft, brittle, free from knots, and inclined to warp more than white pine, for which it is now being substituted. Used for many purposes, including cabinet work, interior finish, panels, etc.
Sweet Gum, Red Gum, Liquid Amber.—Like the tulip, a large, handsome tree found throughout the East. Leaves have five fingers resembling a starfish, seeds produced in seed balls about an inch in diameter. The seed itself is very small.
Wood a beautiful reddish brown with handsome grain, heavy but soft, brittle, weak, warps and winds badly.
Used to some extent in interior finish and in wood turning.
Chestnut.—The well-known tree of the East. Wood light and open-grained, soft, but very durable in contact with the soil, hence its use for ties and fence posts. Has beautiful grain and takes a good polish. Used for furniture.
A fungous disease is rapidly destroying this tree in the East.
Sycamore, Buttonball, Buttonwood.—Sycamore is incorrect. This is the American plane, a near relative of the European plane tree. Buttonball is derived from the shape of the seed pods, which are round, an inch or more in diameter, and stay on the tree during the winter.
This is the tree which sheds part of its bark each year, giving the trunk a mottled appearance.
Wood is hard and heavy, has an interesting grain and takes a good polish. Used for interior finish of houses.
Poplar.—A large family of trees of which nine members are recognized in North America. All have light and soft woods of little value except for making boxes, packing cases and wood pulp.