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with willow and sycamore. It is a prolific sprouter and if there were pulp 
mills in this region it could be raised profitably by the coppice method on 
a twenty-year rotation. 
The common cottonwood (Populus deltoides) may be classed with 
this species so far as commercial uses are concerned. Both are grown 
easily from cuttings on overflow lands. 
Platanus occidentalis. Sycamore.—This tree grows along streams in 
bottomlands and on sand-bars with willow and cottonwood. It is easily 
identified, even at a distance, by the green and white spotted bark and by 
the fruit, known as the buttonball, which is simply a head-like mass of 
seeds. The wood of sycamore gives a pleasing grain for interior finish 
when sawed radially, but most of it goes into veneer logs, ordinary di- 
mension lumber, and railroad ties. It is also used for plug-tobacco 
boxes, and butcher blocks. It grows rapidly on overflow land, both from 
seedlings and sprouts, and might do well on gullied lands which are not 
too dry. The largest sycamore in the country is reported by Robert Ridg- 
way (’82), of Olney, Illinois, as growing not far from Mt. Carmel, Ill, in 
the Wabash bottoms. His measurements show that it had a height of 
160 feet, a diameter of 15 feet above the swell of the base, and a spread 
of 134 feet, making it probably the largest tree of any species east of 
California. 
Salix nigra. Black Willow.—The black willow is prevalent along prac- 
tically the whole course of the Mississippi and this species and the cotton- 
wood are as a rule the first trees to appear on sand-bars and islands. Wil- 
low is a very light wood, with the szp-wood whitish to creamy yellow and 
the heartwood pink to reddish brown. The annual rings of all willows 
are relatively indistinct, and the wood is quite uniform throughout. Under 
the microscope black willow can be distinguished from the white by the 
tendency of the pores in the late wood to form wavy tangential lines. 
Willow wood is used for lumber, slack cooperage stock, excelsior, char- 
coal, pulp, artificial limbs, baskets, and fence posts. It is easily raised for 
revetment work and basketry by the system of pollarding. After cypress 
is cut in the Cache River bottoms there is a large amount of willow 
left which on a short rotation would be profitable for charcoal. 
Dogwood, Persimmon, Redbud, Hop Hornbeam, and Blue Beech— 
These trees are of common occurrence but can not be rated as of much 
economic importance. Dogwood, (Cornus florida) forms an under story 
in some forests and is quite prominent after a cutting-over of the woods. 
Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) grows in old fields and along road- 
sides and, with dogwood, might be used for shuttle blocks. Its heart- 
wood is black and known as “American ebony.” Redbud or Judas tree 
(Cercis canadensis) with its characteristic purple flowers, is found in 
bottomland woods along with dogwood, and may be recognized by its 
