VALUABLE NATIVE TIMBER TREES. 63 



orange (Toxylon porniffrum Rafinesque). 



Northeastern Texas, where formerly there were large quantities of 

 ry fine timber, is within the zone of best development of the Osage 

 >range. Here it occurs on alluvial bottom soils, and attains a height 

 >f <;o feet and a diameter of 2 feet. The wood is hard, very strong, 

 lense, and durable; in color, bright orange. Its weight per cubic 

 foot is 48 pounds. It takes a line polish and is very decorative, and 

 m Id be well used in interior finish and cabinet work. No data are 

 it hand at present to indicate how extensively it is so used in Texas. 

 At Gainesville, much Osage orange, or u bodark" (bois d'arc), has 

 been sawn into lumber. Much has also been shipped out for posts. 



Range. From southern Arkansas (south of Arkansas River) through 

 southeastern Indian Territory and southern Texas to about latitude 

 56". It is widely distributed elsewhere by cultivation. 



(Evergreen) magnolia (Magnolia fcelida (Linnaeus) Sargent; Magnolia grandiflora 

 Linnaeus). 



In Texas the magnolia is very abundant and large in the half swampy 

 lowlands of the coast belt. Here it reaches a height of nearly 100 and 

 a diameter of over 4 feet. The wood is moderately hard, close-grained, 

 not strong, easily worked, not durable in contact with the soil; creamy 

 white in color; the thick sapwood nearly white. Although well suited 

 for cabinetwork and interior finish, the wood is little used. Magnolia 

 is one of the most promising of the hitherto unused Texas hardwoods. 



Range. Coast region of North Carolina to Florida, and westward in 

 the Gulf coast region through western Louisiana to southern Arkan- 

 sas and Texas (Brazos River). 



Sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua Linnaeus). 



In Texas the sweet gum is very common, and attains large dimen- 

 sions on the wet lower lands of the Lignitic Belt, occurring also to a 

 considerable extent upon loamy uplands. It attains at least a height 

 of 100 feet and a diameter of 4 to 7 feet on alluvial soils. 



The wood is heavy, hard, not strong, rather tough, close-grained, 

 and liable to warp and shrink. It takes a good polish and is used for 

 cabinetwork, veneering, flooring, clapboards, barrels, and street pav- 

 ing. Sweet gum occurs in such size and quantity as to make it another 

 of the promising trees among the unused Texas hardwoods. 



Range. From Connecticut to southeastern Missouri and Arkansas; 

 south to Florida and Texas (Trinity River). 



Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis Linnaeus). 



In Texas the sycamore is common on all the streams of the Lignitic 

 Belt of the central prairie region, and in the Coast Plain from the 

 Trinity to the- Rio Grande and Devils River. It prefers the immediate 

 banks of streams where these have cut through a considerable depth of 



