AMERICAN FOREST TREES 507 



ghany mountains in West Virginia at an elevation exceeding 4,000 feet 

 and there forms vast thickets. Some use is made of the wood for en- 

 graving blocks and as tool handles. It is hard, strong, brittle, of slow 

 growth, and light clear brown. It is frequently planted in parks in this 

 country and Europe, and three or more varieties are distinguished in 

 cultivation. This laurel's leaves have a peculiar habit of shrinking and 

 rolling up when the thermometer falls to zero or near it. Among the 

 names applied to it are great laurel, rose bay, dwarf rose bay tree, wild 

 rose bay, bigleaf laurel, deer tongue, laurel, spoon hutch, and rhododen- 

 dron. 



CATAWBA RHODODENDRON (Rhododendron caiawbiense) is a rare, 

 large-flowered species of the mountain regions from West Virginia south- 

 ward to Georgia and Alabama. The wood is not put to use, and the 

 species is chiefly valuable as an ornamental shrub. It seldom reaches 

 large size. 



SOURWOOD (Oxydendrum arboreum) follows the Alleghany moun- 

 tain ranges south from Pennsylvania, and extends into Florida, reaching 

 the Atlantic coast in Virginia, and Indiana, Tennessee, and Louisiana 

 westward. The best development of the species is found among the 

 western slopes of the Big Smoky mountains in Tennessee. It is called 

 sorrel-tree, sour gum, and sour gum bush, on account of the acidity of 

 the leaves when chewed. Arrow-wood, another name, refers to the long, 

 straight stems between the whorls of branches of young trees those 

 three or four feet high. The stems are of proper size for arrows, and 

 amateur bowmen use them. Those who designate the tree as lily-of-the- 

 valley have in mind the flowers. The shape suggests an opening lily, 

 but the size does not. The flower is about one-third of an inch long, but 

 panicles several inches long are covered with them. They open in July 

 and August, and in September the fruit is ripe. The seed is pale brown 

 and one-eighth of an inch long. 



The sourwood tree at its best is fifty or sixty feet high and from 

 twelve to eighteen inches in diameter. The bark of young trees is 

 smooth, but on mature trunks it resembles the exceedingly rough 

 bark of an old black gum. In fact, many people suppose this tree 

 to be black gum, never having noticed the difference of leaf, fruit, and 

 flower. The genus consists of a single species. The wood is heavy, 

 hard, compact, and it takes good polish. The medullary rays 

 are numerous, but thin, and they contribute little or nothing to 

 the figure of the wood. The annual rings show little difference between 

 springwood and summerwood, and consequently produce poor figure 

 when the lumber is sawed tangentially. The pores are many and small 

 and are regularly distributed through the yearly ring. Heartwood is 



