500 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



winter storms beat it to the ground. The growth is also called occasion- 

 ally by the name bleeding-heart tree, in reference to the blood-red con- 

 tents revealed by the bursting fruit. 



The wahoo in the fall of the year may be identified by the flaming 

 color of its fruit, or rather the seeds of the fruit. The hull bursts and 

 exposes the bright red seeds within. These, contrary to the usual run 

 of red fruits, are not of a glossy surface, and in this the tree is unique. 

 During the summer season, however, identification is not such a simple 

 matter, for the foliage is quite ordinary, and the flat, unassuming flowers 

 have little that is distinctive about them; but as the autumn approaches 

 and the leaves turn a pale yellow color, the tree becomes a conspicuous 

 and beautiful object with its scarlet berries. 



The bark of the wahoo is ashen gray, thin, furrowed, and divided 

 into minute scales. On the branchlets it is a dark purplish-brown, 

 later becoming brownish-gray. 



The heartwood of wahoo is white, with a slight tinge of orange. 

 The sap wood, scarcely distinguishable from the heartwood, is more nearly 

 white in tone. The wood is heavy and close-grained but not very hard. 

 It weighs when seasoned a little less than forty pounds to the cubic foot. 

 Such of this wood as is sawed into lumber, which is but a small quantity, 

 sells commercially with poplar saps, thus masquerading like its forest 

 fellow, the cucumber tree. The character of the wood is such that it 

 will not stand exposure to the weather any length of time. It is far 

 from durable, but is remarkably clear from defects and answers ad- 

 mirably many purposes for which sap poplar is desirable. 



The leaves of the tree are waxy in appearance, opposite, entire, 

 elliptical or ovate in shape, from two to four inches long, one to two 

 broad. They are finely serrate and pointed at both apex and base, and 

 the stems are short and stout. 



The flowers, which appear in May and June, are definitely four- 

 parted, presenting a Maltese cross in shape. They are half an inch 

 across, and their rounded petals are deep purple in color. The fruit 

 which succeeds these flowers and which ripens in October is also four- 

 parted. It is about half an inch across, a pale purple when full size, 

 and hangs on long slender stems. When ripe the purple husk bursts 

 and reveals the seed enveloped in a scarlet outer coat that fits it loosely. 

 The leaves, bark, and fruit of the wahoo are acrid and are reputed to be 

 poisonous. 



The wood is one-third heavier than that of yellow poplar, and it is 

 evident that it would not pass as poplar with any one disposed to reject 

 it. It is also much harder than poplar, and is more difficult to season, as 

 it checks badly. The medullary rays are so thin as to be scarcely dis- 



