30 HOUGH'S AMERICAN WOODS. 



bark of the trunk is of a reddish-brown color, checked crosswise as well 

 as longitudinally in four, or several-sided scales or plates, thus present- 

 ing a peculiarly checkered appearance. The bark of the branches is 

 smooth and mostly of a grayish brown color, that of the branchlets yel- 

 lowish green and encircled by rings resulting from the detachment of 

 leaves. 



The curious flower-clusters of this tree first appear during the summer 

 previous to blossoming, as terminal flat-globular buds at the end of short, 

 stout peduncles and invested each with four grayish puberulent scales. 

 During the following winter these buds form a conspicuous feature of 

 the leafless tree, and as spring opens the four enveloping scales enlarge 

 and become the showy floral bracts. 



HABITAT. From southern New England westward through southern 

 New York and southern Ontario to Missouri and southward to the gulf> 

 growing in rich, moist soil along the slopes of steams and often in the 

 shade of other trees. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood heavy, hard, strong, close-grained and 

 with rather conspicuous medullary rays ; of a rich chocolate-brown color 

 with whitish sap-wood. Specific Gravity, 0.8153 ; Percentage of Ash, 

 0.67; Relative Approximate Fuel Value, 0.8098; Coefficient of Elas- 

 ticity, 82112; Modulus of Rupture, 904; Resistance to Longitudinal 

 Pressure, 534 ; Resistance to Indentation, 305 ; Weight of a Cubic Foot 

 in Pounds, 50.81. 



USES. First in importance is the value of the tree for ornamental 

 purposes. It is one of the most beautiful of our trees, especiallv con- 

 spicuous in bloom when leafless in spring, and hardly less beautiful in 

 autumn with its bunches of bright red fruit and green parti-colored, or 

 later scarlet, foliage. Its wood is used in turnery and to some extent for 

 wood-engraving and for tool-handles, cogs of wheels, hubs, etc., and the 

 saplings for barrel hoops. From the roots the North American Indians 

 formerly obtained a scarlet dye.* 



MEDICINAL PROPERTIES of this tree are tonic and astringent. It is 

 thought to possess remedial properties analogous to those of Peruvian 

 bark, for which it has been occasionally substituted in the treatment of 

 intermittent fevers. The bark of the roots is the commercial source, 

 and it may be used in the form of powder, decoction or extract, f 



It is said that the Indians of this country formerly used a decoction of 

 the flowers in the treatment of intermittents.* 



* Browne's Trees of America, p. 352. 



t U. S. Dispensatory, 16th edition, p. 508. 



