The Trees of Vermont 5 



The characters which are used in studying the trees are habits, 

 leaves, flowers, fruits, buds, bark, distribution and habitat. These will 

 be discussed briefly in the next few pages, the same order that is used 

 in the detailed descriptions of species being maintained in the present 

 discussion. A few drawings also will be added to make certain points 

 clear and to show comparative forms. 



Name. — Every tree has one or several common names and a scien- 

 tific or Latin name. Some of these common names are merely local, 

 while others have a more extended use. A few names apply to totally 

 different species. Thus, cottonwood in Vermont is Populns dcltoides, 

 in Idaho and Colorado Populns angustifolia, in California Populns 

 frcmontii and in Kentucky Tilia heterophylla. While it should not be 

 forgotten that in common speech it is proper as well as convenient to 

 call trees by their common names, yet, in view of the many uncertain- 

 ties pertaining to their use, a scientific name at times is absolutely 

 essential to the clear understanding of what is meant. Latin is the 

 language in universal use by all scientists. No longer used by any 

 civilized nation, it has become a dead language and consequently never 

 changes. Its vocabulary and its constructions a thousand years hence 

 will probably be the same that they are today. Being in universal use 

 among scientists of all nationalities no confusion arises from the use 

 of a Latin word. The oak in Germany is known as Eiche, in France 

 as chene and in Spain as rohle, but the Latin word Querciis is the same 

 in all these countries. 



A scientific name as applied to trees consists at least of two parts, 

 as Quercus alba. The first is the genus name and always is written with 

 a capital letter, the second is the species name and is written with a 

 small letter, the two names constituting the briefest possible description 

 of the particular tree. It is customary to add to these the name or an 

 abbreviation of the name of the person who first gave the name to the 

 tree, as Quercus alba L., the abbreviation standing for Linnaeus. Some- 

 times a third name is used, as Acer saccharum nigrum, referring in this 

 instance to a variety of the ordinary Sugar Maple. In some cases trees 

 have more than one Latin name. When this is true the synonym or 

 synonyms are placed in brackets after the accepted name. 



Genera which bear a relationship to each other are placed in the 

 same family, the family name always having the characteristic ending — 

 aceae. Related families again are grouped into orders, with the char- 

 acteristic ending — ales. Orders in like manner are arranged into larger 

 groups, called classes, and the latter into still larger groups, divisions, 



