Handbook of Trees of the Northern" States and Canada. 307 



This interostiiig senii-iiquatio tree is th? 

 statliest and most useful of the American 

 Tupelos, soniotiiiies attaining tlie lieiglit of 100 

 ft., with straiglit columnar trunk 3 or 4 ft. in 

 diameter above its wide base. This may be 

 or 8 ft. across at the surface of the ground, 

 and is usually lioUow. The wide base is 

 nature's provision to give the tree stability in 

 the loose miry soil in which it grows. It in- 

 habits deep swamps and the margins of streams 

 and ponds, where its base is covered with water 

 during a considerable portion of the year. 

 Here its associates are mainly the Bald 

 Cypress, Water Gum, Planer-tree, ^^'ater and 

 Pimipkin Ashes, River Birch, Water Hickory, 

 etc. Among these it is a tree of striking ap- 

 pearance, with its large lustrous green leaves 

 and clusters of long-stemmed fruit, which sug- 

 gest so many small dates in appearance, but 

 the extreme opposite of them in flavor. 



Its wood is rather light, a cubic foot weigh- 

 ing .32. .37 lbs., soft, very close-grained and more 

 eisily worked than that of the other Tupelos. 

 It is used in the manufacture of wooden-ware, 

 boxes, fruit-crates, etc. 2 



Lcavr.i ovate-ot)long to oval, mostly rounded or 

 subcordatp at base, long-acuminate, irregularly 

 angular-dentate or entire, tomentose at first but 

 finally glabrous dark green above, pale and downy 

 pubescent beneath. .'^-lO in. long: petioles lVi-~Vi 

 in. long. Flnirrr.9. appear in March and .\pril, 

 with long slender peduncles from the axils of bud- 

 .scales below the new leaves; thi> staminntc in 

 dense capitate clusters, the pistillati' solitary ; 

 style revolute into a coil. Fruit »n slender dr(i<ip- 

 Ing stems, 2-4 in. long, obovoid, tipped with the 

 remnants of the style, about 1 in. long, dark 

 purple with pale dots, tough skin and narrow 

 obovoid stone, compressed and with about 10 

 sharp wing-like longitudinal ridges. 



1. Kyssa utiiflnrn Wan;;. 



2. A. W., XII, 282. 



