746 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



A SOUTHERN CHRISTMAS TREE 



The Red Cedar is used extensively in the 



Southern and Central States as a 



Christmas tree. 



for it gets all its nourishment 

 from the trees upon which it 

 lives. Traveling throughout the 

 South one may see thousands of 

 trees literally festooned with the 

 Mistletoe. It sometimes grows 

 in the form of a witches' brooms, 

 or one may see it dangling down 

 from the branches of a tree in 

 graceful array. A careful study 

 of the life habits of this unique 

 plant will reveal the fact that it 

 always appropriates for its own 

 development the life blood of the 

 tree upon which it feeds. 



There are more than four hun- 

 dred species of Mistletoe known 

 in the world. Most of them oc- 

 cur in the tropics, and nearly all 

 of them are parasitic. Many va- 

 rieties are found in the United 

 States. They occur from the 

 coast of New Jersey southward 

 and westward. 



The Mistletoe is so common in 

 the State of Oklahoma that it 

 has been selected as the State 

 flower. If you question an Ok- 

 lahoman about this parasitic 

 plant as a State flower, he is 

 likely to answer that if man may 



tap the Maple tree for sugar, and the Pine tree for turpentine, it is fair for 

 the Mistletoe to tap trees so that it may develop and become available for 

 decorative use. 



The Mistletoe is not only unique in its appearance, and in its flowering 

 habits, but also because of its structure. A careful examination of the 

 leaves of the Mistletoe will reveal that they are almost nerveless, thick and 

 fleshy, and if one has a magnifying glass and examines the lower surface 

 of the leaves he will find only about 200 breathing pores to the square inch, 

 while in the common Lilac there occur at least 200,000 breathing pores to 

 the square inch. 



The white fruit of the Mistletoe is attractive and unique in its make-up. 

 The seed is covered with a gelatinous covering which adheres very readily 

 to the feet of birds, and is thus carried to the twigs and branches of trees 

 upon which it germinates and begins to grow. When the seed puts out 

 roots they always turn towards the branch, no matter whether they are lo- 

 cated on the upper or lower side, and experiments conducted by the writer 

 show that the new sprouts will even turn towards glass. 



Few people may know that it is possible to propagate the Mistletoe. The 

 writer has planted the seed collected in our market places at Christmas 

 time upon the branches of trees, and observed that they germinated and 

 developed into tiny and thrifty little plants. In planting seeds of the Mis- 

 tletoe it is important to know the trees upon which it prefers to grow for it 

 will not develop upon all kinds of trees. Some of the trees upon which it 

 prefers to grow are the Elms and the Hackberries. Both of these groups 

 are close kin of the Mistletoe. Locally^ it is also abundant upon Sycamore 

 and Gum trees. 



Large quantities of Trailing Pine, also known as Princess Pine, and 

 Ground Hemlock are used at Christmas time. These plants really are not 

 pines or hemlocks, but are closely related to the ferns. They belong to the 

 group of plants which are technically known as Lycopodium. A number 

 of different species are common in open situations in our forests and are 

 gathered in enormous quantities for decorative purposes at Christmas time. 

 They belong to an ancient race of plants, so ancient that only a few rem- 

 nants of them are left, and they have now degenerated to mere trailing 



ON THEIR WAY TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS 



Thousands of evergreens arc shipped yearly for use as Christmas 

 decorations, and this is a typical carload. 



trees and Yuletide 



