246 FIEST BUUK OF FORESTKY 



Bkoad-Leaved Trees 

 I. Leaves simple (not compound, i.e., not made up of several leaflets). 

 A. Leaves alternate, not in pairs. 

 1. The edge of the leaf toothed. 



a. Beech. Trees with smooth, grayish green bark; fruit 



a small prickly bur (Fig. 92, A). 

 h. Chestnut. Large trees with rough bark; fruit a large 

 prickly bur, often two inches wide (Fig. 92, B). 



c. Birches. Trees generally with smooth whitish bark, 



which in most kinds curls up and peels off in thin 

 layers. The bark of the twigs when chewed tastes 

 of wintergreen. Fruit a small soft cone, resembling 

 that of conifers, and falling apart when ripe (Fig. 

 92, C), thus strewing the ground with the small 

 crosslike scales and the tiny winged seeds. 



d. Poplnr.<i and Cottonwoods. Bark smooth on young trees 



and on limbs, rough on older stems ; wood soft and 

 wliite. very brittle. The fruit is very small and 

 borne on little perishable catkins resembling willow 

 "pussies" (Fig. 92, i>), so that it is not ordinarily 

 met with either on or under the tree. 



e. Elms. Bark dark brown, rough ; the fruit, which ripens 



in spring, is shed and blown away at once, so that 

 it is not commonly seen ; the wood is yellowish 

 to reddish brown when fresh, and is very tough 

 (Fig. 93, A). 



f. Basswood. Bark gray and rough, with a tough stringy 



inner portion, the bast. The fruit is a small round 

 berrylike nut, of which two or more are attached to 

 a long stem coming out of a narrow, specially modi- 

 fied leaf. These leaves and nuts endure for months 

 on and under the tree (Fig. 93, B). 



