OF Ohio 



97 



SOURWOOD 



Oxydendrum arboreum (Linnaeus) De Candolle 



THE Sour-wood, also called Sorrel Tree and Sour Gum 

 has appropriate common names for its foliage is very 

 sour. Its scientific name "Oxydendrum" means acid tree. 



The leaves are simple, alternate, 5 to 7 inches long. 1 to 

 2j4 inches wide, very smooth, long-pointed at apex, smooth 

 to finely -^——^ 



toothed along 

 margin. The 

 flowers are 

 small, white, 

 and u r n - 

 shaped ; a r - 

 ranged in ra- 

 cemes 6 to 

 8 inches long 

 at end of 

 twigs; appear 

 from June to 

 July. The 

 fruit is a 5- 

 sided, 5- 

 valvcd c a p- 

 sule. It often 

 persists far 

 into winter. 

 The bark is 

 grayish and 

 roughened by 

 deep furrows, 

 on old trunks 

 often tinged 

 with red. 

 The twigs are 

 yell owish- 

 grcen to red- 

 dish - brown, 

 marked with 



n u m e r ous ^ ' '' sourwood . 



raised breathing pores. The buds are small, partly imbedded 

 in bark, covered with several opposite reddish scales. 



The wood is heavy, hard, reddish-brown with lighter 

 sapwood. It is used for homemade sled runners, mine props, 

 charcoal, tool handles, and fuelwood. 



The Sour-wood ranges from southwestern Pennsylvania, 

 southern Ohio and southern Indiana to Florida and western 

 Louisiana. In Ohio it is found only from Fairfield county 

 southward and eastward from Adams county. 



