[Gutenberg 41702] • Trees of Indiana / First Revised Edition (Publication No. 13, Department of Conservation, State of Indiana)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1912 Excerpt: ...Economic uses. Wood very hard, strong, usually tough, difficult to season, close-grained, takes a high polish, sap wood white, heart wood light or reddish-brown. Some trees are composed principally of white wood, hence the name "white beech," and are much tougher than those that are principally red wood, which are popularly known as "red beech." Our best botanists have failed to separate the two kinds of trees botanically. Used chiefly for building material, frame stuff, heading, staves and fuel. Horticultural value. Its dense shade, clean appearance of the limbs and trunk, slender branches which turn up at the extremities and freedom from disease and insects make this one of the most desirable trees for ornamental and shade tree planting. It is not easy to transplant and because it does not grow rapidly and straight it is not frequently used. When grown in the open it is not inclined to grow tall. It is best adapted to a moist, rich and well drained soil. 2. CASTANEA. The Chestnut. (Named from a town in Thessaly, famed for its chestnut trees). Castanea dentata (Marshall) Borkhausen. Chestnut. Plate 42. Bark of old trees deeply fissured, dark gray or brown, bark of young trees smooth; twigs at first hairy, soon smooth; leaves oblonglanceolate, 1-3 dm. (4-12 inches) long, taper-pointed, wedge-shaped or obtuse at the base, coarsely serrate with incurved teeth, veins terminating in the teeth; flowers appear after the leaves in June or July, strong-scented, staminate aments terminal and from the axils of the lower leaves, 1-2 dm. (4-8 inches) long, pistillate flowers appear in clusters of 2-5 just below the staminate aments or in the axils of later leaves; fruit ripens in September or October, consists of 1-3 nuts, rarely 1 or 5, enclosed in...