12 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Black Gum. 

 Xyssa sylvatica — Marsh. 

 Blaeb gum grows from the Kent boo river 

 in Maine to Tampa Bay, Fla.; -westwanl to 

 southern Ontario and southern Michigan; 

 southward through Missouri, as far as the 

 Brazos river in Texas. 



In the states of New Jersey, Pennsvlvanin, 

 Delaware, Virginia, West "Virginia. 

 North Carolina, South Carolina, 

 Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Missis- 

 sippi, Louisiana, Illinois and In- 

 diana it is called by the above 

 name; sour gum is the term applied 

 to it in Vermont, Massachusetts, 

 Bhode Island, New York, New .Jer- 

 sey, Delaware, South Carolina, Ala- 

 bama, Florida, Mississippi, Texas, 

 Ohio, Indiana and Illinois; tupelo 

 in Massachusetts, Khode Island, Xcw 

 Jersey, Delaware, South Carolina, 

 Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, 

 Texas, Illinois and Ohio; it is fre- 

 quently referred to as pepperidge in 

 Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode 

 Island, New York, New Jersey, 

 South Carolina, Tennessee, Michi- 

 gan, Ohio and Ontario; in Tennes- 

 see it is sometimes called wild pear- 

 tree and yellow gum-tree; gum in 

 Maryland; stinkwood in West Vir- 

 ginia; tupelo gum in Florida. 



Various forms of the genus Njjssa 

 have been botanized specifically by 

 different authorities, but they are so 

 closely connected and have so few 

 distinct characteristics that they 

 may well be united into one poly- 

 morphous species, under the classi- 

 fication given by Marshall — Nyssa 

 sylvatica — rather than the later ami 

 more familiar one recorded by 

 Wangenheim — Nyssa multi flora. 



The leaves of black gum are sim- 

 jple and alternate; not serrate. They 

 are attached by very short petioles, 

 which are fuzzy when young; they 

 are a rich, brilliant green above and 

 lighter below; rather thick, with 

 prominent midrib. As early as the 

 latter part of August the leaves 

 commence to turn a gorgeous red, 

 making the tree in its autumn dress 

 almost as beautiful as the scarlet 

 maple. iv 



The flowers are greenish and in- 

 conapicuous, growing in thick clus- 

 ters, the staminate ones small and plentiful, 

 the pistillate ones larger. They bloom in 

 April, May or June. 



The fruit of black gum is about one and 

 a half inches long; inside of it is a rough, 

 oval pit; the pulp is acrid until mellowed 

 by frost. 



The bark of black gum is verj' irregular and 

 rough and broken into scale like sections, ft 



TWENTY-rOUBTH FAFEB. 



i.s ^revisli i:i ciiliii-. 'i'lie liraiirlics arc h<tri- 

 zoutal and give the tree a broail, spreadout 

 appearance; the brauchlets arc .short and 

 spur-like. It occasionally attains a height of 

 a hundred feet, but such spei-inicns are rare. 

 The tree shown in the accompanying illustra- 

 tion was thirty-six inches in diameter at the 

 stump line and forty feet to tlie first liiiili. 



ir.M. i-.t.vfK cvM rouEST i;i!ii\\i II, 



COI'NTY. TICNN. 



r.i.nuNT 



It was photographed upon the inagnificenl 

 timber property of the Little Biver Lumber 

 Company in Blount county, Tennessee. Black 

 gum reaches its maxinunn development in the 

 South, where it is nnich more familiar and 

 better appreciated than elsewhere in this 

 country. It thrives on the borders of swanips 

 or on high, rich uplands, among pine and 

 hardwood growth. In the far South it is 



rn.-i|ut'ntiy foinid in deep swamps; in such 

 sinroundings the base of the trunk becomes 

 nuu-h distcniled. 



The heartwood of black gum is light browu, 

 yellow, or even white; the sapwood is not 

 easily distinguished and is of very fine grain; 

 the medullary rays are numerous and very 

 tliiii. In structural qualities the wood is not 

 exceedingly hard, but very heavy, 

 strong and tough, having the fibers 

 interlaced, which renders it difficult 

 hi work. It is inclined to check un- 

 less carefully seasoned, and is not 

 durable in contact with the soil, 

 containing as it does numerous 

 small open ducts. It is used in the 

 manufacture of hubs, pulleys, rol- 

 lers, ox-yokes, woodenware, and in 

 Virginia is frequently employed in 

 shipbuilding. A cubic foot of sea- 

 soned wood weighs thirty-nine 

 pounds. 



While the wood of black gum is 

 largely sap, it is almost as tough 

 and unyielding; as hickory itself. It 

 is more than probable that the in- 

 vestigation now in progress looking 

 toward the utilization of black gum 

 feu- pulp purposes will eventually 

 l>lace it in the pulp-wood class. 

 However, it presents possibilities in 

 the way of a merchantable lumber 

 product that will warrant any lum- 

 berman owning quantities of the 

 stnmpage in continuing ex[ieriments 

 ill drying processes until he may 

 have solved the problem of treating 

 the wood so that it will remain 

 straight. 



The gum tree figures in many a 

 story of old plantation days in the 

 South. At Christmas a great gum 

 loi; was kindled upon the hearth, 

 and so long as it burned the darkies 

 were exempt from all work upon 

 I lie plantation. Knowing that they 

 would be called upon to build the 

 lire they commenced preparations 

 in early autumn. As soon as the 

 sap ceased to flow downward they 

 would cut a big gum tree and sink 

 it in a river or pond, where they 

 allowed it to soak until nearly 

 < hristnias. When once ignited by 

 the great fire which they built 

 around it it naturally burned a very 

 liiiig time, sometimp.« for more than 

 a week. Wc may picture to ourselves the in- 

 nocent surprise displayed by the perpetrators 

 (if the joke. 



.\lthough the name applied to it in many 

 localities would so indicate, black gum should 

 not be confused with tupelo gum or bay pop- 

 lar, under which Latter name it is often sold, 

 although the general appoar;mce of the tree 

 and often of the wood is very similar. Black 



