THE PLANT WOKLD 113 



THE LIGHTEST OF WOODS. 



Deep in the bogs and swamps of southeastern Missouri, in Dunklin 

 and Butler counties, where the land is never dry, and water from one to 

 six feet deep stands perpetually in the forests, there grows a rare and 

 curious tree. The natives know it as the corkwood, or cork tree. 



Science has given it a longer name, the Leitneria Floridmia, because 

 it was first discovered in Florida, along the coast from which it has long 

 since been washed away. Some meagre specimens of it, two to six feet 

 high, are still found in the swamp near Apalachicola, Fla., and a few 

 near Varner, Ark., but in both these places it is exceedingly limited in 

 numbers, an occasional specimen being found and hardly rises to the 

 dignit}^ of a tree. 



Only in southeast Missouri, where it reaches a height of 15 to 20 

 feet and a diameter of two to five inches, is it really a tree. What makes 

 corkwood so remarkable is its exceeding lightness. Beyond a doubt it 

 is, as Mr. Wm. Trelease, of the Missouri Botanical Garden, has shown, 

 the lightest tree in weight that grows. 



Its wood weighs less than cork. It is so light that the natives use 

 it to make floats for their fishing nets. And yet its wood, though so 

 spongy one may easily sink one's finger in it, is far tougher than cork. 



The specific gravity of corkwood, as learned from careful tests made 

 by Professor Nipher in St. Louis, is .207. The roots are even lighter 

 than the stem ; a test showed them to have the astonishingly low specific 

 gravity of .151. 



A further idea of the lightness of the corkwood may be gained by a 

 comparison with other woods. The great majority of woods range be- 

 tween ,400 and .800. Cork itself is .240. The tree that approaches 

 closest to the corkwood in lightness is the golden fir tree, which grows 

 in the swamps around Tampa Bay and along the Indian River, Florida. 



Its specific gravity, according to Sargent, is .2616. In comparison 

 with the corkwood, which is the lightest wood with its specific gravity 

 of .207, may be placed the heaviest wood known, the black ironwood of 

 Florida, whose specific gravity is 1.302. — American Gardening. 



