338 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



continent. It is claimed that it may be stained to imitate Circassian 

 walnut in the manufacture of furniture. This is possible, but most 

 probably tupelo has been confused with red gum which is a well-known 

 substitute for Circassian walnut. 



Tupelo trees attain a height from seventy to a hundred feet, and a 

 diameter of two to four feet above the swelled base. The general appear- 

 ance of the bark suggests both yellow poplar and red gum. Trees 

 have a habit of forking near the tops. The leaves are five or seven 

 inches long, sometimes with smooth margins, and often with a few 

 sharp points. Flowers appear in March and April, and fruit ripens 

 early in Autumn. It is a dark purple, tough-skinned drupe, about 

 an inch long. 



The wood weighs 32.37 pounds per cubic foot. It is soft, and has 

 about three-fourths the strength and little more than half the stiffness of 

 white oak. It is not well suited to places where strength and rigidity are 

 required. The fibers are interwoven, making the wood difficult to split. 

 The heart is brown, often nearly white; the sap wood is very thick; and 

 the annual rings are not clearly defined, because of the similarity be- 

 tween the springwood and summerwood. The pores are small but 

 numerous, and are scattered evenly through the whole annual ring. 

 The wood of roots differs from that of the trunk more than is usual with 

 hardwoods. It is very light, and has been long employed in the South 

 as a substitute for cork as floats for fish nets. 



Tupelo is often logged with cypress. The two trees grow in close 

 association in deep swamps. The butt cuts of tupelo are so heavy that 

 they float deep, or even go to the bottom. It was formerly customary, 

 and still is to some extent, to girdle trees whose trunks were to be 

 floated to the mills. In the course of one season the standing trees dry 

 sufficiently for the logs to float. At other times, trees are cut green, the 

 logs are skidded and allowed to dry some months before they are rafted 

 or floated to the mills. The sapwood is liable to decay, even in the brief 

 period while the logs are on the skids. The wood may be protected 

 against decay to some extent by smearing the ends of the logs with tar 

 or some other substance which prevents the spores of decay-producing 

 fungus from entering. 



The seasoning of tupelo was formerly a problem exceedingly 

 vexatious to the lumberman. The wood is full of water, and warping 

 was one of the troubles which was constantly encountered. Finally ex- 

 perience gained the mastery, and seasoning troubles are fewer now. 

 Shrinkage of four or five per cent is not unusual in passing lumber from 

 the green to dry state. 



Tupelo is like hickory in one respect factories use more wood 



