14 



THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Poplar or WMtewood.* 

 LiriodenJroii lulipifcni — Linn. 

 This tree is of tlie family magnolia, lu 

 shape it is tall and round, with spreading 

 branches. In height it ranges from sixty to 

 one hundred and ninety feet. It blooms in 

 April to May and its fruit ripens in Septem- 

 ber and October, these features depending on 

 the latitude or altitude of its growth. 



While in America this wood is generally 

 known in the west as poplar, in the east it 

 ia almost invariably referred to as white- 

 wood. It is often called the tulip tree in 

 Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Con- 

 necticut, New York, New .Jersey, 

 Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 

 "West Virginia, District of Colum- 

 bia, North Carolina, South Caro- 

 lina, Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky, 

 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Onta- 

 rio. It is also called yellow pop- 

 lar in certain sections of New 

 Tork, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 

 Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, 

 North Carolina, South Carolina, 

 Alabama, Arkansasi, Kentucky, 

 Ohio, Indiana and Missouri; tulip 

 poplar in Delaware, Pennsj-lvania, 

 South Carolina and Illinois; pop- 

 lar in Bhode Island, Delaware, 

 North Carolina, South Caro- 

 lina, Florida and Ohio; white pop- 

 lar in Delaware, Kentucky and 

 Indiana; blue poplar in Pennsyl- 

 vania and West Virginia; popple 

 in Rhode Island; cucumber tree in 

 New York; canoe-wood in Tennes- 

 see; old-wife 's-shirt-tree in Tennes- 

 see; ko-yenta-ka-ah-ta — ' 'white 

 tree," Onondaga Indians, New 

 York; basswood, Ohio; and the 

 hard minor growth on poor soil is 

 known as hickory poplar in Vir- 

 grinia, West Virginia and North 

 Carolina. 



The original growth of poplar 

 was from southern Ontario to 

 Bhode Island and west to Lake 

 Michigan, through Michigan as far 

 north as the Grand River; and 

 south to Florida^ southern Ala- 

 bama and Mississippi; and west 

 of the Mississippi River in south- 

 eastern Missouri and adjacent 

 Arkansas. 



The physical characteristics of 

 the wood are as follows: Weight 

 26',i to 38V2 pounds a cubic foot. 

 It grades as a soft wood, but is classified 

 and handled as a hardwood product. It 

 has no smell or taste. 



The grain is very fine, but spongy; splits 

 cleanly; the surface is dull, the little lustre 

 being due to the shining pores. 



The bark is very thick, as much as one 

 inch; it is corky and fissured, and is in two 

 layers; the inner layer of the bark is much 

 like the sap wood and is about one fourth 



of au inch thick in old growth, and nearly 

 white in color. 



The color of the wood is canary-color, 

 white, greenish, gray, or brown, depending 

 on the locality of growth and the character 

 of the soil. The highest and most esteemed 

 quality is of a canary-color. The sap wood 

 is whitish to brownish. 



The rings of growth are clear on account 

 of the very fine boundary line of autumn 

 wood only. The contour is round and gener- 

 ally undulating, and there is a slight differ- 

 ence in shade between the spring and 

 autumn wood. The form of leaves and of 



SPLENDID SPECIMEN POPLAK uKOU IH, I oKlvsl 

 W. M. RITTER LUMBER COMPANY, 

 MCDOWELL COUNTY. W. VA. 



the foliage is herewith pictured. The 

 leaves vary from three to eight inches in 

 length, and once being recognized are for- 

 ever unmistakable on account of their pecu- 

 liar shape. In the spring when the tulip- 

 like flowers of this tree are in bloom, it is 

 a truly beautiful sight. 



The poplar or whitewood is a native of 

 America and is the sole surviving species of 

 its genus. It is one of the highest regarded 



ut the broad-leafed forest growth of the 

 country, and in size the trees are the largest 

 that grow in the United States east of the 

 Rocky Mountains. It is therefore obtain- 

 able in large-sized pieces. The poplar bears 

 the same relation to the trees of the broad- 

 leafed class as white pine does to the coni- 

 fers. 



Poplar never shows a comprehensive for- 

 est growth. One tree to an acre is regarded 

 as a good stand in what is known as jioplar 

 timber land. In long years of wood inves- 

 tigation the largest group of poplars ever 

 encountered by the writer was seven, con- 

 tained within a circle comprising 

 perhaps a half acre of ground. 

 Ordinarily the poplar stands alone 

 in the forest and seems a veritabW 

 monarch among the surrounding 

 trees. The finest specimens of 

 poplar or whitewood growth have 

 sought their homes in the deep 

 coves of the mountain regions of 

 Tennessee, Kentucky and West 

 Virginia. The most magnificent 

 growth is found on heavy and rich 

 soil. It is alleged that at Craggy 

 Mountain, twelve miles northeast 

 of Asheville, N. C, there is stand- 

 ing a poplar tree that is thought 

 to be the largest in America, which 

 has a girth of thirty-one feet at a 

 distance of ten feet from the 

 ground, and it stands upward of 

 one hundred and fifty feet high. 

 In that rugged place at an eleva- 

 tion of about 2,800 feet above sea 

 level, it raises a clear and straight 

 shaft. 



The largest poplar tree ever en- 

 countered by the writer was near 

 the summit of Meigs' Mountain, 

 Sevier County, Tennessee, at an al- 

 titude of 3,600 feet. This tree at 

 breast high, was twenty-five feet 

 nine inches in circumference. This 

 tree and the one near Asheville 

 ire undoubtedly hollow-butted, but 

 they are only examples of the size 

 which poplar quite frequently at- 

 tains. However, the poplar grow- 

 ing on Meigs' Mountain had a 

 local celebrity in being the largest 

 poplar in that region, and it was 

 locally referred to as "Pap." 

 Another tree only slightly less in 

 size grows nearby. 

 The age of the poplar or whitewood trees 

 entitles them to the respect given to old 

 age. It is rare indeed to encounter a poplar 

 less than 300 years old, and the average 

 age of a tree ranges from 400 to 550 j'ears. 

 Doubtless the two large trees refered to in 



•Authorities referred to In the foregoing ar- 

 ticle, where the.y were accurate in detail, are The 

 Timbers of Coinmercc. A Guide to the Trees, 

 Principal Species of Wood nnd the Clieck List of 

 Forest Trees of the United Slates. 



