DECIDUOUS TREES. 365 



that leaves nothing to be desired ; and in autumn they turn to a 

 yellow color almost as pure as their summer green, and then fall 

 with those of the maple, strewing the ground with beautiful color. 

 The flowers appear in June, of the size and form of tulips, a 

 greenish-yellow color outside, and orange and yellow within. As 

 the blossoms are upright, or nearly so, their brightest colors are 

 not seen from below, so that the flowers are less showy as usually 

 seen on the tree, than their size and warmth of color when ex- 

 amined separately would lead one to suppose. If one could look 

 down upon the top of the tree, when in full bloom, it would be a 

 superb sight. The seed-vessels which succeed the blossoms are in 

 the form of a cone about two inches in length. After the leaves 

 fall the cones open and drop their seeds, but remain for many 

 weeks upon the tree, their yellowish-brown hue giving them a re- 

 semblance to blossoms. 



As a timber-tree the whitewood is remarkable above all other 

 deciduous trees east of the Rocky Mountains, for the straightness, 

 length, and size of its trunk. The author has seen a piece of 

 whitewood timber grown in the valley of the Maumee which squared 

 forty-eight by fifty-four inches, and sixty feet long; and trees are not 

 uncommon which have one hundred feet in length of straight 

 timber. Indeed, the trunk of a forest grown whitewood is one of 

 the noblest of sylvan sights ; towering erectly without a branch like 

 the redwood of California, to a great height. The bark is of a 

 light color and soft texture, and divided into deep and lattice-like 

 ridges and furrows, much like that of the white ash. 



Singularly enough, the whitewood seems to be the only tree of 

 the species ; and though allied in traits to the numerous magnolia 

 family on one side, and the more numerous poplar family on 

 the other, it stands the unique representative of its family. 



The whitewood is not tenacious of life when transplanted ; and 

 we advise persons who wish to grow them to choose nursery grown 

 trees of small size in preference to large ones. The oftener they 

 have been transplanted the better. Trees from the woods are very 

 sure to die when planted in open ground. 



