64$ AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



in this country, and as far as known, only one other species elsewhere, 

 and that grows in southern China where it is said the natives make soap 

 of the pods. It is not known that any such utilization has been attempt- 

 ed in this country. 



The coffeetree's range has been considerably extended by planting 

 for ornament. In summer it is attractive, but from the first autumn 

 frost until the leaves put out the following spring, it is uninteresting. 

 The spring leaves are late, and the branches are bare more than half the 

 year. 



The wood is heavy, strong, and durable in contact with the soil. 

 The heart is rich light brown, tinged with red, the sapwood thin and 

 lighter colored. Annual rings are distinct. The springwood is porous 

 and wide, the summerwood dense. The medullary rays are incon- 

 spicuous and of no value in giving figure to the wood. When the annual 

 rings are cut diagonally across they give figure like that of ash. The 

 wood of the coffeetree has never been in much demand. Furniture 

 makers may use it sometimes, but specific instances of such use do not 

 exist in manufacturers' reports. There are many places in furniture 

 and finish which it might fill in a satisfactory manner. 



It is suitable for fence posts, and that is where it commonly gives 

 service. It is occasionally employed as frame work in house and barn 

 building, but is not sought for that purpose, and is used only when it 

 happens to be at hand. Though the tree has the habit of branching, 

 some of the trunks grow tall and shapely, and are good for two or three 

 sawlogs or railcuts. An occasional tree serves as fuel. Medicine is 

 sometimes made of a decoction of the fresh green pulp of unripe pods; 

 and the leaves are reported to produce a fly poison if soaked in water. 



REDBUD (Cercis canadensis) is also known as Judas tree, red Judas 

 tree, Canadian Judas tree, and salad tree. The last name refers to a 

 custom in some parts of its range of making salad of the flowers. It is 

 the flower rather than the bud that is red and gives the tree its name, 

 the bloom being conspicuous in early spring. The tree ranges from 

 New Jersey to Missouri, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, but reaches its 

 fullest development hi southern Arkansas, Oklahoma, and eastern Texas 

 where trunks fifty feet high and a foot in diameter are found. It is 

 shrubby in many parts of its range. Leaves are not compound. The 

 fruit is a pink or rose-colored pod two or three inches in length, and by 

 some is considered nearly as ornamental though not as showy as the 

 flowers. No one ever thinks of redbud as a timber tree or considers its 

 wood, yet it might be used for a number of purposes. It is heavy and 

 hard, but weak; and the heartwood is rich dark brown tinged with red. 

 The tree is planted for ornament in this country and Europe. 



