Part 36

SWEET CRAB (_Malus coronaria_) is the wild crab of the northeastern states, although it intrudes on the region to the southwest to a limited extent. It finds use in ornamental planting in the region of best growth. It is known as American crab, sweet scented crab, crab apple, wild crab, crab, American crab apple, and fragrant crab. Its range extends from the shores of Lake Erie in Canada, south through New York and Pennsylvania, along the Alleghany mountains to Alabama; west to Minnesota, eastern Nebraska, Kansas, Louisiana, and eastern Texas. It needs moist soil for good growth and the best types are found in the lower Ohio basin. In height this tree rarely exceeds thirty feet and it is bushy, having short rigid limbs. The leaves are rounded and sharply toothed, the blossoms generally white and very fragrant; the fruit small, dry, yellow, tinged with red. The wood is heavy, not strong, heart light red, sapwood yellow. It is used for tool handles, small turned articles, and for carving and engraving.

OREGON CRABAPPLE (_Malus rivularis_) grows wild from the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, southward to central California, and is of largest size in Washington and Oregon where trees are occasionally forty feet high and eighteen inches in diameter, but they are generally about ten feet high and form dense thickets. The fruit is oblong, ripens late in autumn, is greenish, or reddish, or clear lemon yellow in color, and rather pleasant to the taste. The tree grows slowly, the wood is hard, and light reddish-brown in color, and is suitable for tool handles.

IOWA CRAB (_Malus ioensis_) grows from Minnesota to Texas and is the common crabapple of the Mississippi basin. Large trees are twenty-five feet high and a foot in diameter. It is believed that this tree crosses with the common apple, and produces a variety known as the soulard apple (_Malus soulardi_). Wild apple (_Malus malus_) is a European species introduced into this country and now running wild.

MOUNTAIN ASH (_Pyrus americana_) is closely related to the crabs. It occurs from Newfoundland to Manitoba, and southward along the mountains to North Carolina. Trees have compound leaves, red berries the size of small cherries, and reach a height of thirty feet and a diameter of a foot or more. There are several forms or varieties, among them the small fruit mountain ash (_Pyrus americana microcarpa_) of the Alleghany mountains.

[Illustration]

RED HAW

[Illustration: RED HAW]

RED HAW

(_Cratægus Coccinea_)

This tree belongs to the rose family, and the genus _Cratægus_ consists of a large group of small, thorny trees, scattered through many parts of the world. They are known by their thorns, but comparatively few of them are known by name to the ordinary observer, and they afford a perpetual source of study, victory, and bewilderment to the trained botanist. “No other group of American trees,” says Sudworth, “presents such almost insurmountable difficulties in point of distinctive characters. It is impossible, and fortunately unnecessary, for the practical forester to know them all, and exceedingly difficult even for the specialist.” More than one hundred species of these thorn trees occur in the United States, exclusive of shrubs. Their bloom resembles that of apple and pear trees. Bees and insects swarm round the flowering trees, assisting in cross fertilization. The various species are aggressive. They force their way into vacant spaces, and their thorns protect them against browsing animals. The wood is sappy and heavy, and for most of the species it is valueless. The growing brambles, however, perform an important service in forest economy. Seeds of various valuable trees are blown by wind or carried by birds and mammals into the thickets where they germinate and get a start under the protecting shelter of the thorns. Finally the seedlings overtop the brambles, gain the mastery, shade the thorns to death, and develop valuable forests. The thorn trees shed their leaves annually. Their seeds are slow to germinate, some not sprouting until the second year. The fruit is worthless for human consumption, but some of it has a tart and not unpleasant taste. It is of many colors and sizes, depending on species.

No attempt is here made to name or to list the species. Such a list would, for most people, be a dull catalogue of names, and many of them in Latin because there are no English equivalents. A few representative species are given. The red haw, though not the most abundant, is widely distributed, and is probably as well known as any. Its range extends from Newfoundland westward through southern Canada to the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, thence south to Texas and Florida. It covers one-half of the United States. In the northern part of its range the red haw is confined to the slopes of low hills and along water courses, but south in the Appalachian mountains it grows at an elevation of several thousand feet.

It has various names in different regions. It is called scarlet haw, red haw, white thorn, scarlet thorn, scarlet-fruited thorn, red thorn, thorn, thorn bush, thorn apple, and hedge thorn. The fact is worthy of note that it is well known and is clearly recognized in every region where it grows, though various names are given it.

The red haw never reaches large size. In rare cases it may attain a height of thirty feet and a diameter of ten inches, but it is usually less than half that size. Where it grows in the open it develops a round crown. The branches are armed with chestnut-brown thorns from an inch to an inch and a half in length. The bright scarlet color of the fruit gives name to the tree. It ripens late in September or in October, and at that time the tree presents a beautiful appearance. The branches frequently remain laden with fruit after the leaves have fallen.

The wood of red haw is of a high character and but for its scarcity would have wide commercial use. It is among the heavy woods of this country. A cubic foot of it, thoroughly seasoned, weighs 53.71 pounds. The tree is of slow growth and therefore the annual rings are narrow, and the wood is dense. The evenness and uniformity of the rings of yearly growth make the wood susceptible of a high polish. The medullary rays are very obscure in red haw, and for that reason the appearance of the wood is much the same, irrespective of the direction in which it is cut. In that respect it is similar to the wood of most members of the thorn family--usually being too small to be quarter-sawed. However, even if the trees were large enough, quarter-sawing would bring out little figure.

Red haw is a lathe wood. It is well suited to some other purposes, and has been used for engraving blocks, small wedges, and rulers, but the best results come from the lathe. If it is thoroughly seasoned it is not liable to crack or check, though cut thin in such articles as goblets and napkin rings. The turner sometimes objects to the wood because of its hardness and the rapidity with which it dulls tools. This drawback, however, is compensated for by the smoothness and fine polish which may be given to the finished article. Red haw checker pieces have been compared with ebony for wearing quality. In color the ebony is more handsome, and on that account is generally preferred.

Perhaps the most extensive use of red haw is in the manufacture of canes. Most of the species of thorn are suitable for that purpose on account of their weight, strength, and hardness. Red haw is not specially preferred, but is used with others. As a source of wood supply, the tree will never be important, but as an adornment to the landscape it will always be valuable, and at the same time will fill a minor place in the country’s list of commercial woods.

SUMMER HAW (_Cratægus æstivalis_) is a southern species which contributes more or less to the food supply of the people within its range. It is known also as May haw and apple haw. The flowers appear in February and March, are about one inch in diameter, and flushed with red toward the apex. The fruit ripens in May, is bright red, very fragrant, and is from half to three-fourths of an inch in diameter. The flesh is of a pleasant taste, and is gathered in large quantities by country people for making preserves and jelly. It is sold in town and city markets, particularly in New Orleans. The range of this thorn tree is from South Carolina and Florida, to Texas. It attains a height of twenty or thirty feet, and a diameter sometimes as great as eighteen inches. It reaches its largest size in Louisiana and Texas. It grows well on land which may be submerged several weeks in winter. The wood has not been reported for any use.

COCKSPUR (_Cratægus crus-galli_) may be taken as the type of more than twenty species of cockspur thorns growing in this country. Its other names are red haw, Newcastle thorn, thorn apple, thorn bush, pin thorn, haw, and hawthorn. It grows southwestward from Canada to Texas, and extends into Florida. The largest trees are twenty-five feet high and a foot in diameter. The fruit is dull red, half inch in diameter, ripens in September and October, and hangs on the branches until late winter. Hogs eat the fruit when they can get it, and boys utilize the small apples as bullets for elder pop guns. The thorns are formidable slender spines from three to eight inches long, strong, and extremely sharp. They were formerly used as pins to close wool sacks in rural carding mills. The many species of cockspur thorns are multiplied by numerous varieties. Fence posts and fuel are cut from the best trunks.

PEAR HAW (_Cratægus tomentosa_) is a representative of at least ten species. It is called pear haw without any very satisfactory reason, since the fruit bears little resemblance to pears. It is half an inch in diameter, dull orange red in color, and sweet to the taste, but it is of little value as food. The tree has been occasionally planted for ornament, but never for fruit. The flowers are showy. Trees at their best are fifteen or twenty feet high and five or six inches in diameter. They have few thorns and such as they have are small. The tree’s range extends from New York to Missouri, and along the Appalachian mountains to northern Georgia, and west to Texas and Arkansas. It is known in different parts of its range as black thorn, red haw, pear thorn, white thorn, common thorn, hawthorn, thorn apple, and thorn plum.

HOG HAW (_Cratægus brachyacantha_) is distinguished by its blue fruit. The name indicates that the fruit is unfit for human food but is eaten by swine. In some parts of Louisiana the dense thickets produce considerable quantities of forage for hogs. The range is not extensive, being confined to Louisiana and eastern Texas where the tree occurs in low, wet prairies. The largest specimens are forty or fifty feet high and eighteen inches in diameter. It is one of the largest of the thorns, and the best trunks are of size to make small, very short sawlogs, but it does not appear that the wood has ever been manufactured into commodities of any kind. The tree is occasionally planted for ornament.

BLACK HAW (_Cratægus douglasii_) reaches its best development on the Pacific coast where trees occur thirty or more feet in height and a foot and a half in diameter. The principal range is west of the Rocky Mountains, from British Columbia to northern California, but it extends eastward to Wyoming, and the tree is found also in northern Michigan. The fruit is black or very dark purple, is edible, and matures in early autumn, falling soon after. The heartwood is brownish-red. No use for the wood has been found on the Pacific coast.

WASHINGTON HAW (_Cratægus cordata_), also known as Washington thorn, Virginia thorn, heart-leaved thorn, and red haw, grows on banks of streams from the valley of the upper Potomac river southward through the Appalachian ranges to northern Georgia, and westward to Missouri and Arkansas. Flowers are rose-colored, the fruit ripens in the fall and hangs till late winter. Trees are twenty or thirty feet high, and a foot or less in diameter. Washington haw is frequently planted in this country and in Europe.

ENGLISH HAWTHORN (_Cratægus oxyacantha_) was introduced into this country from Europe and has become naturalized in some of the eastern states. Thirty or more varieties are distinguished in cultivation. It is worthy of note that, although the United States has more than 130 species of thorn trees of its own, with varieties so numerous that no one has yet named or counted all of them, a foreign thorn has been introduced and added to the number.

[Illustration]

MAHOGANY

[Illustration: MAHOGANY]

MAHOGANY

(_Swietenia Mahagoni_)

This tree belongs to the family _Meliaceæ_ which has about forty genera, all of which are confined to the tropic except _Swietenia_ to which mahogany belongs. This tree has made its way up from southern latitudes and has secured a foothold in Florida where it is confined to the islands and the most southern part of the mainland.

No attempt is here made to settle or even to take part in the disputes among dendrologists as to what mahogany is. There are said to be more than forty different trees which pass as mahogany in lumber markets. Various descriptions and keys have been published for the purpose of separating and identifying different woods which are bought and sold as mahogany. These woods grow on every continent except Europe; but those which pass as mahogany nearly all come from Africa or America. Some are well known, both as to origin and botany, while others are doubtful. Logs sometimes appear in markets and no one knows where they come from, or the species which produce them. It has been maintained that annual rings will separate true mahogany from the false--that the true has no annual rings. At the best, this evidence is only negative and is worth little, since many tropical trees show no annual rings, and yet are no kin to mahogany. Neither is it certain that true mahogany shows no yearly rings. Some trees do not, but others may. The ring, as is well known, is produced because the tree grows part of the year and rests part. In the tropics where growth is continuous, the ring may not exist, but it sometimes does exist, and thus upsets the theory. Besides, it proves little in the case of mahogany which has a range extending from south of the equator northward into the temperate zone, where there are seasonal changes. It also grows near sea level and at considerable altitudes, and elevation alone might make considerable variation in the character of the wood.

The two most important mahoganies of commerce--leaving botany out of the question--grow in Africa and in America. The most important of the African mahoganies is _Khaya senegalensis_, and of the American is _Swietenia mahagoni_. It is the latter which extends its range into the United States, and it alone will be considered in these pages as true mahogany; the status of foreign woods which pass as mahogany will not be discussed.

Leaves of the mahogany tree are three or four inches long, and an inch or more wide. They are compound, with from three to five pairs of leaflets. The tree is an evergreen and presents a fine appearance. The flowers appear in July and August, are small and cup-shaped. Fruit is four or five inches long and two or more wide. It ripens in late fall or early winter. The nearly square seeds are three-fourths of an inch long. In Florida the tree rarely exceeds fifty feet in height and two in diameter; but in tropical countries it may exceed a height of 100 and a diameter of eight or ten. The bark is thin.

The wood is practically of the same weight as white oak, but is stronger and more elastic. It is exceedingly hard, very durable, and is susceptible of high polish. Medullary rays are numerous but small and obscure. The color is rich reddish-brown, turning darker with age, but the thin sapwood is yellow. It is known in Florida as mahogany, madeira, and redwood.

The uses of mahogany are so many and so well-known that it is unnecessary to speak of them in detail. There were importations into the United States nearly three hundred years ago, and it has been coming ever since. One thing about this wood deserves mention: the price has not varied much in three hundred years. Different prices have prevailed, owing to distance from supply and differences in grade and quality; and that holds true today; but for similar grades, the prices have been remarkable for their evenness.

Florida never figured largely in the world’s supply of mahogany. At their best, the trees were neither large nor numerous, but their quality was good. Cutting of this timber ceased in Florida about three-quarters of a century ago. The islands and the small area of the mainland where the timber grew, were stripped. The logs were shipped to the Bahama islands and it is said they found their ultimate market in England. A few trees were overlooked here and there, and some that were small seventy-five years ago, have grown to merchantable size since. These have been cut, a few at a time, and the cutting is still going on. The total is now only a few thousand feet a year, and one of the markets for the logs, probably the chief market, is Miami, Florida. The logs are small, and are generally cut and brought in by negroes who find a tree now and then, cut the logs, and float them as near to market as possible, and haul them the rest of the way. The scarcity of the trees may be inferred from the fact that the average resident of south Florida, where the range of the mahogany lies, never saw one. In appearance the tree when seen at a little distance, resembles a young, vigorous black walnut tree.

CHINA TREE (_Melia azedarach_) belongs to the same family as mahogany but is of a different genus. It is not native in the United States, but has been extensively planted and is running wild. It is a forest tree in some parts of Louisiana, but is found under pure forest conditions only here and there. As such, the trunk and thin crown look like a forest grown butternut tree in Wisconsin. It is abundant in yards and along streets, where it is often called Chinaball tree. A little of the wood is used. The color resembles mahogany, but the texture is much coarser. Annual rings are clearly marked by rows of large pores, and the wood does not polish well. It is sometimes known as pride of India, which country is its native home, or it was carried there from Persia at an early date. A variety, commonly known as the Texas Umbrella tree (_Melia azedarach umbraculifera_), has been widely planted, and is known by its short trunk and dense, round crown.

SOAPBERRY (_Sapindus saponaria_), known also as false dogwood, is a species of south Florida, and is one of three soap trees in this country. It has no family kinship with mahogany, but the appearance of the trees leads some persons to conclude that they are related to the China tree. In fact, one of the species is locally known as wild China and Chinaberry. They are called soap trees because their fruit has a property which causes water to foam, and the natives of the West Indies once used it for soap. The botanical name _Sapindus_ means “Indian soap.” The tree is twenty-five or thirty feet high, and ten or twelve inches in diameter. The bloom appears in November in Florida, and the fruit ripens the following spring. The wood is heavy, rather hard, and is light brown, tinged with yellow. It reaches largest size on the Thousand Islands, Florida. Another species is _Sapindus marginatus_ which attains size similar to that of the first. It is found in southern Florida, but is not abundant. It grows as far north as the mouth of the St. John river. A third species is _Sapindus drummondi_ which has its range from western Louisiana, Arkansas, and southern Kansas, through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, to Mexico. The flowers appear in May and June, and the fruit ripens in September and October, but it hangs on the trees until the following spring. When first ripe, it is half an inch in diameter, and yellow, but when it dries it turns black. Trees attain diameters up to two feet, and heights of forty or fifty. It is commonly supposed to be the Chinaberry, by persons who judge by general appearances, but the two are not related. The wood’s appearance suggests the heartwood of ash. It probably reaches its best development in Texas where it is manufactured into boxes, crates, and even furniture, but not in large amounts. It is reputed to be a rapid grower, and it may be under the most favorable circumstances, but it is usually of rather slow growth. The wood splits readily into thin strips which are employed in making baskets for harvesting cotton. In western Texas it is made into pack saddle frames.

MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY (_Cercocarpus ledifolius_) is not a mahogany, and is not even in the same family. It belongs to the rose family, and is closely related to the crabapple; but since it is commonly known as mahogany, it is proper to mention it here. Extensive consideration is unnecessary, for the tree is not important as a source of wood. Three species are recognized by some botanists, four by others. All are western, and are noted for their long-tailed fruit. The generic name refers to that feature. The seed, with its tail, is carried by the wind, or it catches in the wool of sheep and the hair of cattle and goats, or the feathers of birds, and is carried far and near. The mountain mahogany sometimes is thirty feet high, and two in diameter. It grows from 5,000 to 9,000 feet elevation, sometimes on steep cliffs. Its range extends from Wyoming and Montana to Oregon, California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The wood is bright, clear red, or rich dark brown. It reaches its largest size on the mountains of central Nevada. Another species is known as valley mahogany (_Cercocarpus parvifolius_). It ranges from Nebraska to Oregon, and Texas to California. Its rate of growth is very slow, and it seldom exceeds a height of thirty feet and a diameter of ten inches. The wood is reddish-brown. A third species, called Trask mahogany (_Cercocarpus traskiæ_) is chiefly notable on account of its restricted range. It occurs as far as known, in a single canyon of Santa Catalina island, off the southern coast of California. Some of the specimens are twenty feet high and six inches in diameter. A fourth species, or a variety, is known as short-flower mahogany (_Cercocarpus parvifolius breviflorus_). It occurs in western Texas, southern New Mexico and Arizona, usually at elevations about 5,000 feet above sea level where the largest trees are not more than eight inches in diameter and twenty-five feet high.