The Lombardy is the spirelike tree which seems to reach toward the clouds, and its tall, narrow form is familiar in many sections of our country, although the tree was originally imported from Europe.
Cottonwood and balm of Gilead are two well-known members of this family. Cottonwood is best known in the West, where it often constitutes the chief and only growth along the water courses, and balm of Gilead is known as one of our common city shade trees. This latter tree, often called the balsam, is really an important tree of the great northwestern country, being found plentifully in the Klondike, and often forming in that far northern country great forests thousands of square miles in extent. It is used as a shade tree because it stands the smoke and gas of the city where many other trees pine away and die.
Fig. 118. Cottonwood, or Carolina Poplar
57. Sassafras. We find many freaks in the tree world, and nature seems to have tried to see how odd she really could be; for instance, on the sassafras tree we find three distinct kinds of leaves, having one, two, and three divisions.
Fig. 119. Sassafras
This tree, which in the northern states is usually quite small, grows under favorable conditions to a height of fifty feet. It is noted for the pleasant taste of its leaves, twigs, and roots, which are used considerably in flavoring medicines.
58. Mulberry. Another tree noted for the peculiar shape of its leaves is the mulberry. There are three common kinds, named, from the color of their berries, red, black, and white.