RED GUM 341 



when grown in a fairly dense stand it produces a stem free 

 from limbs fully one half its total height. 



The wood is light, moderately strong, soft, close-grained, 

 not durable, fibres much interlaced and hence difficult to 

 split. It takes glue, stain, paint, and varnish well. The 

 heartwood is light brown, often nearly white, with thick, 

 lighter-colored sap wood, which may frequently be seen 

 composed of one hundred annual layers. It is used in the 

 manufacture of woodenware, shipping-boxes for fruit and 

 vegetables, handles where great strength is not required, 

 veneers, net floats in place of cork, and furnishes more or 

 less of the " Circassian Walnut " and " Bay Poplar." It is 

 difficult to season, but modern methods have largely over- 

 come that. When used where exposed to moisture, the back 

 should be coated with paint or shellac to prevent warping. 



Whether it will thrive outside of swamps, or, if so, 

 whether it will be a profitable tree to grow beyond natural 

 reproduction, is open to grave doubts. If confined to swamps, 

 natural reproduction must be depended upon; and if it 

 will grow elsewhere other and more valuable trees should 

 take its place. 



RED GUM : Liquidambar styraciflua 



THE correct name for this tree is Liquidambar, but it is 

 generally called Red Gum, and sometimes Sweet Gum. It 

 has a wide range. A line drawn from Connecticut to Mis- 

 souri and thence to Texas and the Gulf will give the bound- 

 ary line on the inland side, and one from the Gulf of Mexico 

 along the Atlantic Coast to Connecticut on the other, but 

 it is not common north of Maryland. Its commercial range 

 is mainly confined to the moist lands of the Ohio and Mis- 

 sissippi basins and of the southern and southeastern coast. 

 It is one of the most common and one of the largest trees 

 that occupy the hardwood bottom lands of the South. 

 Even occasional overflowing does not seem to affect it 

 seriously. However, it will grow on comparatively dry 



