HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Box Elder. 



Acer negundo — Linn. 



The range of growth of box elder is from 



northern Vermont and New York down 



through Pennsylvania, and as far south as 



Ohii 



SEVENTY-SIXTH PAPER. 



lliebigan, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, 



county, Florida; in the Northwest 

 it is found near Winnipeg and along the 

 southern reaches of the Sashatehewan river; 



TYPE OF BOX ELDER GUOWTH. 



it extends down into the Eocky Mountains of 

 Montana, through the Wasatch range of Utah 

 into western Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. 

 It is known as box elder in Vermont, 

 Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Delaware, New 

 York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 

 West Virginia, North and South Carolina, 

 Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, 

 Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Arizona, New 

 Mexico, Montana, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, 



North and South Dakota and Minnesota; as 

 ash-leaved maple in Ehode Island, Massa- 

 chu.setts, Now Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 

 Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, 

 Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ontario, Kansas, 

 Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota, Michigan 

 and Minnesota; in Colorado it is called the 

 cut-leaved maple; in Illinois the negundo 

 maple; in North Dakota the Red river maple; 

 in Pennsylvania, three-leaved maple; in the 

 states of Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida 

 and the Dakotas it is known as the black ash, 

 stinking ash, sugar ash and water ash, re- 

 spectively. 



Another variety of this tree is the Acer 

 negundo Californicum, so named by Sargent, 

 or the California box elder, which is found 

 through the Sacramento valley and on the 

 western slopes of the San Bernardino 

 mountains. In this state it is known as box 

 elder, maple and false maple. Several varie- 

 ties of the tree are distinguished in cultiva- 

 tion. 



The box elder has been a bone of conten- 

 tion among tree lovers and botanists. From 

 its manner of growth it has been considered 

 by many an elder, while others have thought 

 it distinctly connected with ashes — hence the 

 name ash-leaved maple is often used. Its 

 fruit, however, distinguishes it as properly 

 belonging to the maple family, although it 

 differs from all other species of the genus 

 Acer in that it has compound instead of sim- 

 ple leaves, and that it bears its pistillate and 

 staminate flowers on separate trees. These 

 tendencies were once thought sufficient to 

 warrant placing the tree in a genus by itself 

 ;uid it was classified as Negundo aceroides. 

 At the present time it is botanized with the 

 maple family, as above. 



Box elder has a wide spreading top and 

 reaches a height of from forty to seventy 

 feet. It is a sturdy, rapidly growing tree, and 

 its favorite habitat is the banks of streams or 

 low bottom-lands. Throughout its range it is 

 very abundant and hardy and is a favorite 

 tree for planting on account of its hardiness 

 and adaptability to different sections of the 

 country. 



The flowers of the box elder are greenish- 

 yellow and small, appearing before the leaves, 

 and growing from the sides of the branches 

 in drooping clusters. The fertile flowers form 

 in racemes, sometimes eight inches long. The 

 fruit is a winged seed of a bright green color, 

 the wings delicately veined. 



The leaves of the box elder are compound, 

 with three, five or seven leaflets, tapering to 

 the apex, and with rounded bases. They are 

 coarsely toothed, and in color are deep green 

 above, pale underneath, slightly pubescent 

 along the ribs. 



Its handsome foliage, hardiness, ability to 

 withstand drought, and adaptability to any 

 soil have made the box elder a very popular 



tree for the ornamentation of streets and 

 parks, and for shade in doorways. However, 

 it is rather short-lived, and frequently gives 

 place to slower-growing species. 



In "The Tree Book" Rogers says: "It is 

 the nature of mankind to love box elders for 

 growing where most trees refuse. In the 

 treeless regions people had no time to experi- 

 ment with uncertain trees. Their land, taken 

 up under the homestead laws, had to show so 

 many acres of woodland at the end of a cer- 

 tain time. So box elders and cottonwoods 

 and soft maples went in, because they could 

 best be depended upon to grow. The wind- 

 break behind the settler 's house and the shade 

 trees in front were of these same trees. They 

 grew, but they didn 't do well. In the Middle 

 West the quick growth and youthful pretti- 

 ness of the box elder have led people to keep 

 on planting it, though the early day of plant- 

 ing for shelter-belts and windbreaks is past. 

 The result is that in many a village the ma- 



FOLIAGE AND FKUIT OF BOX ELDER. 



jority of its trees are unsightly, broken-down 

 box elders and willow, with a few fine elms, 

 "hard maples and ashes to redeem it. It is 

 high time the habit of planting the inferior, 

 temporary kinds of trees was overcome." 



The wood of box elder is close grained and 

 of compact structure; both the thin heartwood 

 and the sapwood are a creamy white color. 

 A cubic foot of seasoned wood weighs ap- 

 proximately twenty-six pounds. It is light, 

 soft and not strong, so that it 'is chiefly em- 

 ployed in making paper pulp, woodenwar© 

 and cooperage stock, although occasionally for 

 interior finish and in the manufacture of the 

 inferior grades of furniture. 



The illustrations accompanying this article 

 are reproduced from "Hough's Handbook of 

 the Trees." 



Holman Day in his new book "King Spruce," 

 published by Harper & Bros., New York, takes 

 us into the wild woods of Maine. It has the 

 breath of the woods in it. not nature-faking 

 woods, but the real thing, and is moreover 

 an excellent tale, with love that suits the 

 wild setting, rough humor and a philosophy 

 that has the merit of vitality. There is a 

 sense of bigness about it, whether of muscle 

 or environment; a deep breath taken into 

 lusty lungs, the full sound of a man's voice. 



