34 HOUGH'S AMERICAN WOODS. 



paler beneath, prominent veins arcuate near the margin ; branchlets terete and 

 at first pale-pubescent or more or less densely tonientose. Flowers appear when 

 the leaves unfold in short compact panicles, from buds in the axils of the leaves 

 of the previous year, the staminate and pistillate on different trees ; calyx cup- 

 shaped, larger in the pistillate flower than in the staminate ; corolla absent ; 

 stamens two, with short filaments and oblong apiculate anthers. Fruit samarse, 

 maturing by early autumn, in paniculate bunches, spatulate-oblong, about 1 in. 

 in length, subtended by the persistent calyx, terete at base the seed-bearing 

 portion and expanded above into a wing from | to \ in. wide, varying from 

 acute to emarginate at apex and tipped with the remnants of the style. 



The specific name, velutina, is from a Latin root designating the* velvety pubes- 

 cence of under side of leaves, but applicable to only one of the extensive forms of 

 the species. 



A tree occasionally attaining the height of 60 or TO ft. (20 m.) with 

 a trunk 18 in. to 2 ft. (0.50 in.) in diameter, but usually considerably 

 smaller. The bark of the trunk is of a light gray color and becomes 

 fissured with age into rather firm longitudinal and obliquely connecting 

 ridges similar to the bark of the White Ash. 



HABITAT. Western Texas and westward across southern Xe \v 

 Mexico and Arizona, southern Nevada and the Petamint Mountains 

 in southeastern California, confined mainly to the neighborhood of 

 mountain streams but occasionally on dry mesas. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood heavy, not strong, rather soft and 

 close-grained, with many fine medullary rays and annual rings well 

 defined by the arrangement of the large open ducts. It is of a light 

 brown color with abundant lighter sap-wood occupying forty or fifty 

 layers of growth. . Specific Gravity, 0.6810; Relative Approximate 

 Fuel Value, 0.6768; Percentage of Ash, 0.62; Coefficient of Elas- 

 ticity, 60119; Modulus of Rupture, 622; Resistance to Longitudinal 

 Pressure, 385; Resistance to Indentation, 210; Weight of a Cubic 

 Foot in Pounds, 42.44. 



USES. A useful wood in the local manufacture of ax and other 

 tool handles, wagon wheels, etc. We have seen the tree growing for 

 shade and ornamental purposes along the streets of the larger towns 

 in Arizona, for which use it seems to be admirably adapted. 



ORDER PRQTEACE.2E : PROTEA FAMILY. 



Leaves persistent, alternate or scattered (rarely opposite), entire or variously 

 pinnate, exstipulate. Flowers usually perfect, terminal or axillary, variously 

 clustered or rarely solitary; perianth inferior, of usually 4 regular or irregular 

 valvate segments; stamens 4, inserted on and shorter than the segments of the 

 perianth: introrse, the connective continuous with the filaments, if any; pistil 

 solitary, free, with terminal filiform style, and 1-celled ovary containing from 

 one to several ovules. Fruit very variable in form, but 1-celled and with exal- 

 buminous seeds. 



Order represented by about 950 species of trees and shrubs, rarely perennial 

 herbs, of the tropical and south temperate regions, and largely represented in 

 Australia and South Africa. The order is more noted for the richness and 

 elegance of its flowers than for useful properties. 



