Pine (Pinus), comprises a genus of about eighty species, nearly two-thirds of which occur in the northern part of the western hemisphere. The White Pine, a tree seventy-five to one hundred feet high, is one of the most important timber trees of North America. Its range is from Newfoundland to Minnesota, south to Georgia. The wood is soft, straight grained, and is much used for building and cabinet work. The Yellow Pine or Long-leaved Pine sometimes attains a height of one hundred feet, and grows in sandy soil from Virginia to Florida and Texas. The wood is heavier and stronger than that of any other pine, and is used in all kinds of building. The tree is the chief source of turpentine, tar, [165] resin, etc. The Western Yellow Pine or Bull Pine is sometimes one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty feet high and five to eight feet in diameter. It is found from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast and is one of the most important lumber trees of the West. The Sugar Pine of Oregon and California attains a height of one hundred and fifty to three hundred feet and a diameter of more than ten feet. The timber is strong, straight grained, and is much used for a finishing lumber and cabinet work.
Palm Family (Palmaceae), is a very distinct natural family of trees and shrubs, chiefly tropical and subtropical, embracing about one thousand species which are second in economic importance only to the cereal grasses. The Palm Trees have generally straight, scaly trunks without boughs, and many species attain a considerable height. Their large fan-shaped leaves grow near the top, and form a beautiful crown. The numerous blossoms stand in long panicles. The palm trees represent the only riches of many tribes of mankind in the tropics, providing them with food, drink, dress, and building materials for their dwellings. The most valued are the cocoanut, date and sago palm trees. The large nuts of the first named are the well-known cocoanuts.
Plane Tree (Platanus), a genus of six or seven species, is a native of the north temperate zone. The Sycamore, Plane Tree, or Buttonwood reaches a height of one hundred and thirty feet with a trunk diameter of fourteen feet. It is found from Quebec to Georgia, west to Manitoba and Kansas. The wood is a favorite material for tobacco boxes and butcher blocks and is largely used for furniture. Other species in the United States are the California Sycamore and the Arizona Sycamore, both large trees.
Poplar (Populus), a hardy genus of about twenty trees, native to temperate and cold regions. Half of the species occur in the United States, all of soft wood and rapid growth. The Cotton-Wood, common along streams from the Rocky Mountains eastward, sometimes attaining one hundred and fifty feet in height and a diameter of seven feet, is much planted for ornament. The Balsam Poplar, sometimes one hundred feet high, occurs northward and in Siberia. The European White Poplar and Black Poplar, much-planted ornamentals, have become naturalized in the Eastern States. The Lombardy Poplar, with very upright boughs, frequently grows along the roadside in Asia, Europe and America.
Redwood. See [Sequoia].
Sandalwood (Santalum album), is a small tree, native of India and the Indian Archipelago. It produces a compact, fine-grained wood which is used for making small ornamental articles and possesses a remarkable fragrance which persists long after it has become thoroughly seasoned.
Sassafras is a genus containing but two known species, one in North America and the other in China. The Sassafras or Ague Tree, is eighty to ninety feet high, is found from Canada to Florida, west to Kansas and Texas. Oil of sassafras, used for flavoring confectionery, is distilled from the roots, and the bark is frequently employed as a household medicine and beverage.
Sequoia, a genus of trees named after a remarkable Cherokee Indian (otherwise George Guess), who gave his tribe a written alphabet of eighty-six characters, and died in New Mexico in 1845. There are only two living species, both natives of Western North America, the Big or Mammoth Tree and the California Redwood. The Big Tree is a native of the Sierra Nevada, and reaches over one thousand years of age, four hundred and fifty feet in height, and one hundred and twelve feet in circumference. The Redwood has a wider range in latitude as a wild tree, and reaches three hundred feet in height. It has a shaggy, reddish bark and very dark foliage. Its wood is of good texture, but monotonous in grain. It is used in cabinet work and interiors.
Spruce (Picea), a genus of about eighteen species, native of the Northern Hemisphere. The White Spruce is a slender tree fifty to one hundred and fifty feet high, found from New York to British Columbia, north to Newfoundland, Hudson Bay and Alaska. The wood is light and soft and is largely used for construction and for paper pulp. The Black Spruce is twenty to thirty and very rarely one hundred feet high; grows from Newfoundland and Hudson Bay and Alberta south to North Carolina, Michigan and Minnesota. It is largely used for wood pulp and paper. The Red Spruce, seventy to eighty feet high, grows from Nova Scotia to Virginia, and is largely manufactured into lumber. The Tideland or Sitka Spruce is a large tree usually one hundred feet, sometimes two hundred feet high, occurring abundantly from northern California to Alaska. Its valuable timber is used for all kinds of building purposes. The Norway Spruce is largely planted in the Eastern States as an ornamental tree.
Sycamore. Only certain trees of the genus Ficus, mostly natives of Asia and Africa, are properly called sycamores. The Egyptian Sycamore, supposed to be the sycamore of the Bible, is a large spreading tree often planted for shade in Egypt and western Asia. In northern Europe this name is also given to the species of maple, and in the United States to the American Plane Tree. See [Plane Tree].