378 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



Placed on or tied to each specimen is a label containing its number, corre- 

 sponding to the number in this list ; also the Latin name, the common name 

 (if it has one), the locality where it grew, and the name of the donor. 



The names are arranged as they succeed each other in Gray's Manual of 

 Botany, as follows : 



Kumber. 



Latin Xame. 



Common Karae. 



Size and Shape. 



Localitv. 



Donor's Name. 



Remarks. 



THE CONFUSION IN NAMES OF TREES, 



and especially of shrubs, as used in various parts of the State, is often quite 

 bevaldering. This arises in a great variety of ways among those who have little 

 observation or no knowledge of botany. 



The first one on the list is called by some "whitewood" and '^ tulip-tree," 

 by others ''poplar." The latter name is also used for several other species of 

 trees. 



Two species of trees are indiscriminately spoken of as "the soft maple." 

 The names of our oaks are a good deal mixed up. This is true of the scientific 

 descriptions as well as of the common names. We have seven species of birch, 

 five of which are trees. Tvro or three of them are known as " yellow birch " in 

 different sections of the State. Two others are indiscriminately called "the 

 white birch." 



Hardly any one, unless a botanist, pretends to know the species of our willows 

 or poplars and cottonwoods. Two or three different species of pine are known 

 in different parts of the State as "scrub pine," "gray pine," "buckwlieat 

 pine," "black pine," "jack pine." Of course there is still greater confusion 

 of names and want of any common name among some of the shrubs and 



THE RAKE TREES. 



Some kinds are plenty enough in a few localities, yet quite rare in most parts 

 of the State, while others are never very abundant any where, but scattered here 

 and there over a large extent of territory. I have been unable to find the cucum- 

 ber tree (Magnolia acuminata) in the State. I have heard of it in a number of 

 places, but when hunted up it proved to be the whitewood, tulip tree, or one of 

 the cottonwoods. 



It may exist in some of the southern counties. It forms a beautiful and 

 peculiar shade tree, standing our climate quite well in some sections. 



The paw paw is an interesting shrub, with a trunk of soft greenish wood, 

 sometimes six inches in diameter. The leaves are simple, long and drooping. 

 It fruits in several counties as far north as Ionia. The fruit looks some like a 

 banana, only it is larger and straighter. 



The Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glahra) is found sparingly along the south part 

 of the State. Its appearance is in every way inferior to the horse chestnut, 

 which is cultivated from Asia. 



The striped maple and the mountain maple both attain the size of large 

 shrubs. They are rather rare along streams and in rich woods in the center and 

 northern parts of the State. 



