642 



AMERICAN FOREST RY 



on the trees until spring, swaying on their long stems Like 

 the fruit-- <>f the sycamore; unlike the "button balls," 

 however, the surface of the red gum fruit is roughened by 

 numerous coarse spines. These fruits really consist of 



the first few years but seldom form large timber trees. 

 The red gum has no serious enemies. It grows prin- 

 cipally on lands which are often overflowed and for this 

 reason damage from forest fires is comparatively small. In 

 bottoms and on the uplands it produces a taproot, and 

 the strength of its root system prevents much loss from 

 windfall. Insects and fungi attack felled trees and those 

 which have been injured by fire or wind, but occasion 

 no great commercial loss. Cattle refuse to browse on 

 the seedlings because of the pungent flavor of the leaves, 

 but hogs and goats are less discriminating and sometimes 



LEAP OP THE RED GUM TREE 



Red gum ii easily recognized by its beautiful, glossy, star-shaped leaves. The 

 tar is lopsided because one point is missing where the leaf stem is attached. 

 Usually there are five points to the leaf, but it may have seven. It is plain that 

 "itarleaved gum" is an appropriate name for this tree. If the leaves, buds or 

 twigs are crushed, the agreeable aromatic odor produced explains why red gum 

 is very frequently called "sweet gum. " This name also refers to the resin which 

 exudes from wounds in the bark, used for chewing-gum and perfume for glove 

 leather. The name " red gum " may refer to the color of the heart wood, but it 

 probably refers to the brilliant autumnal foliage. Some one has called it "a 

 conflagration of color," to which only the coloring of the maples and the ashes 

 can be compared. 



a number of woody pods closely joined together, each 

 pod having two curved, horn-like tips. In the fall the 

 pods split apart, permitting the few good seeds they con- 

 tain to fall to the ground along with a large number of 

 undeveloped seeds which have the appearance of sawdust. 

 Red gum begins to produce seed when it is 25 or 

 30 years old and bears heavy crops at intervals of about 

 3 years until it is 150 years old, when its powers of seed- 

 ing begin to decrease. Only 50 to 75 per cent of the 

 seeds germinate, and in the native forest the greater 

 number of seeds are destroyed by the long-continued 

 floods to which the land on which much of the gum 

 trow- i> subjected. The young seedlings require abun- 

 dant light, and for this reason they are seldom found 

 growing in dense forest under the old trees. The best 

 natural reproduction of red gum is found in old pas- 

 tures and clearings where the young trees have full sun- 

 light. On cut-over lands stumps of red gum trees under 

 50 years of age produce a vigorous growth of sprouts. 

 The sprouts grow much faster than the seedlings during 



DEEPLY FURROWED BARK OF RED GUM TRUNK 



In the best situations red gum reaches a height of 150 feet and a 

 diameter of 5 feet. These dimensions, however, are unusual. The 

 stem is straight and cylindiical, with dark, deeply furrowed bark, and 

 branches often winged with corky ridges. In youth, while growing 

 vigorously under normal conditions, it assumes a long, regular, con- 

 ical crown, much resembling the form of a conifer. After the tree 

 has attained its height growth, however, the crown becomes rounded, 

 spreading, and rather ovate in shape. When growing in the forest 

 the tree prunes itself readily at an early period, and forms a good 

 length of clear stem, but it branches strongly after making most of 

 its height growth. The mature trunk is usually forked, and the 

 place where the forking commences determines the number of logs 

 in the tree, or its merchantable length, by preventing cutting W* a 

 small diameter in the top. On large trees the stem is often not [ess 

 than 18 inches in diameter where the branching begins. The over- 

 mature tree is usually broken and dry-topped, with a very spreading 

 crown, in consequence of new branches being sent out. Injury to 

 the butts of trees from fire and to the tops from wind or ice often 

 opens the way to attacks from fungi, which cause decay, and from 

 insects, which precede and assist the fungi. 



