156 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



racemes of showy flowers; big winter buds, and by the 

 character of their fruit, which consists of large and 

 handsome nuts held in leathery husks, which are usual- 

 ly three-valved. Both nuts and bark of any of these trees 

 are peculiarly bitter and disagreeable to the lute. 



As in the case of some of its relatives, the trees of the 

 horsechestnut family have their leaves springing from 

 opposite points on the twigs an arrangement which is 

 equally true of the maples, the box elder, dogwoods, all 

 the members of the ash family, including the fringe tree 

 ( l ; igs. 46 and 47) ; the viburnums and the catalpas. In 

 the ashes and ciders we 

 have compound leaves, 

 that is, to sum up, the 

 horsechestnuts, the elders, 

 and the ashes all have op- 

 1 >i >>.ite and compound 

 leaves. 



By glancing at the leaves 

 of the Ohio buckeye in Fig. 

 43, it will be observed that 

 they are palmately com- 

 pound, while in the ash tree 

 they are pinnately com- 

 pound. 



It is interesting to know 

 the origin of such names 

 as "horsechestnut" and 

 "buckeye," which have for 

 so long been applied to 

 these trees. Some seem to 

 think that the word "horse" 

 has been applied to the 

 tree for the reason that its 

 fruit is not fit for human 

 food ; but this does not 

 seem to be a very reasona- 

 ble explanation. More to 

 the point would it be to 

 say that the word "horse" 

 has for ages past been ap- 

 plied to anything that was 

 coarse or ungainly, or even 

 large as "horse laugh," 

 "horse play," "horse god- 

 mother," and so on. Then, too, horsechestnuts were 

 ground up for horse food. "Buckeye," on the other hand, 

 doubtless came from the fancied resemblance of the nut 

 to the eye of a deer ; but as it is of a deep chestnut color, 

 with a light tan center, the comparison is rather far- 

 fetched. However this may be, the word "buckeye" has 

 very evidently come to stay ; we have the "Buckeye 

 State," Ohio being so named on account of the former 

 abundance in it of the Fetid or Ohio Buckeye (JEsculus 

 glabra). At this writing it is more abundant farther 

 west, for the reason that it was cut down wherever homes 

 and villages appeared owing to its very disagreeable, 

 really foetid odor ; so that now it is practically a rare 

 tree in Ohio at least. 



A BIG SHEI.L-BARK HICKORY (Corva lacinioia) COMING TO LIFE 

 IN THE SPRING. ITS LEAVES ARE JUST EMERGING FROM ITS 

 ENORMOUS BUDS 



Fig. 45 This is one of the finest sights in all nature when spring first 

 opens up; it is worthy of the closest study and observation. 



Instead of being white or pale cream, as in the com- 

 mon horsechestnut. flowers of the Ohio buckeye are a 

 pale, yellowish green, and are here well shown in Fig. 43. 

 That beautiful raceme was taken from a superb specimen 

 of this species of horsechestnut which flourishes on a 

 small branch of Rock Creek (Klingle Road), very near 

 the north gate of the National Zoological Park at Wash- 

 ington, D. C. Its beautiful, white wood, which is split 

 with the greatest difficulty, appears to be used only in 

 the making of artificial limbs, while other horsechestnut 

 trees furnish us with other things. The Big Buckeye 



(JE. octandra) has a nut 

 from which a paste is made 

 for bookbinders, which not 

 only is a very good "stick- 

 er," but so disagreeable to 

 bookworms that the insect 

 will not feed upon it, as 

 they do in the case of some 

 other pastes. Many of the 

 horsechestnuts are used as 

 shade and ornamental trees, 

 especially the common spe- 

 cies (J. hippocastanum). 

 Of all the tree families 

 in this country, and of all 

 those as yet not touched 

 upon in the foregoing para- 

 graphs of the present series 

 of articles, no small family 

 can compare, in the matter 

 of importance, with the 

 Walnut family (Jugland- 

 aceae). This includes the 

 trees of the genus Juglans, 

 the Walnuts, and Carya, 

 the Hickories. We have 

 several species of walnut 

 trees in the country, and 

 most people are familiar 

 with them. There is the 

 Butternut (/. cinerea), also 

 called the white walnut by 

 some ; the Black Walnut 

 (/. nigra) ; the Walnut of 

 Mexico (/. ruprestris), which may also be seen grow- 

 ing in the canyons of lower Arizona and that region ; the 

 California Walnut (7. californica) of the Pacific coast, 

 being restricted to certain parts of California. Finally, 

 that prince of all nuts, the English or Persian Walnut 

 {Juglans regia), which has been successfully introduced 

 into some parts of this country more particularly into 

 California. These are all trees of great commercial 

 value, but more for their nuts and their wood than for 

 ornamental shade trees, though not a few of them fill this 

 place most admirably. The Black walnut, for example, 

 is a royal tree for parks, and possesses many other good 

 qualities. Unfortunately it is becoming very scarce, 

 and we have taken but scant pains to cultivate it. Cords 



