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PLANTS AND MAN 



distinguished from it by the mucilaginous inner bark, and by the 

 leaves which are rough above, while those of American elm are 

 smooth on top. The range of this tree is similar to that of the 

 preceding, except that it is more limited in its northeastward and 

 northwestward extensions. 



The ROCK ELM is likewise a medium sized tree, but in contrast 

 to the two preceding species, has a well-defined main trunk per- 

 sisting for a considerable distance into the crown. For this reason, 

 it has been more highly regarded by the lumberman, and the 

 never large supply has been badly depleted. It occupies a broad 

 belt from northern New England and southern Canada south- 

 ward and westward to Tennessee, Illinois, Nebraska and Kansas. 



The Red Gum 



Red gum, or sweet gum {Liquidambar) is the single native 

 species of its genus. The leaves are alternate and star-shaped, 



finely toothed and have a pleasingly 

 aromatic odor when bruised (fig. 211). 

 The several scaled terminal and lateral 

 buds are borne on rather stout twigs 

 with star-shaped pith, the older ones 

 often possessing corky wings. Red gum 

 flowers are small and inconspicuous, 

 and the fruit is a long stalked, spherical 

 head of woody, spiny capsules, each of 

 which generally bears one fertile seed. 

 It ranges throughout the southeastern 

 United States from central Florida 

 westward to Texas and Oklahoma and 

 northward to southern Illinois, Indiana, 

 and Ohio, southeastern Pennsylvania 

 to southwestern Connecticut. In its most favorable habitats, red 

 gum sometimes reaches a height of one hundred fifty feet and a 

 diameter of five feet. It is one of the most important commercial 

 hardwood species in the United States, and is found growing 

 mixed with other hardwood species particularly in swamps and 

 moist river bottoms in the south. Ordinarily considered a fast- 

 growing tree during youth, though this characteristic may be 



1 



Fig. 211. — Red gum 

 star-shaped leaves. 



