DENDROLOGY. 201 



The barren and fertile flowers open in April and are borne by- 

 different branches of the same tree. The fertile flowers are not 

 conspicuous, and the barren ones are in oval aments an inch and 

 a half in length. The fruit is globular and bristling with points : 

 when arrived at maturity, it is about an inch and a half in 

 diameter, and is suspended by a flexible pedicle, one or two 

 inches long : the globes, which are green at first and afterwards 

 yellow, are composed of a great number of closely connected 

 capsules. At the beginning of autumn these capsules open and 

 liberate the seeds, which are small, blackish, oblong, compressed 

 and surmounted by a wing. Each capsule contains one or two 

 seeds united with a great number of minute bodies incapable of 

 germination, resembling oaken sawdust. 



The trunk of the full-grown tree is covered with a deeply- 

 furrowed bark, not unlike that of several species of oak. Sweet 

 gums are found of the same size on the same soil, some of which 

 have a large proportion of sap and only five or six inches of 

 heart, while others consist principally of perfect wood, with only 

 a thin layer of sap. The heart is reddish, and^ when sawn into 

 boards it is observed to be transversely marked at considerable 

 distances with blackish belts. This wood is very compact and 

 fine-grained, and is susceptible of a fine polish. Though inferior 

 in strength to the oak, it suffices for many purposes which require 

 great toughness and solidity. In some parts of the United 

 States it is employed for the frames of wooden houses. As it 

 furnishes boards two or three feet in width, it is sometimes sawn 

 very thin and employed by cabinet makers to line the inside of 

 certain articles of mahogany furniture : it is also employed for 

 bedsteads and for the balusters of stair cases. In a word it may 

 be usefully employed in all work that is sheltered from the air, 

 without which precaution it speedily decays. It is little esteemed 

 for fuel, and, mixed with other species of no greater value, it 

 forms the lowest quality of wood in the market. In summer, 

 upon cutting the live bark and at the same time slightly wounding 

 the sap of this tree, a resinous substance of an agreeable odor 

 distils in small quantities. 



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