ILLINOIS TREES: SELECTION, PLANTING. AND CARE 



71 



Fig". 67. — Horse chest- 

 nut produces showy 

 clusters of red-tinged, 

 white flowers in the 

 spring. Its compound 

 leaves (inset) are fre- 

 quently killed in late 

 summer by a fungus 

 disease. 



Severely affected trees show extensive browning of leaves and 

 premature defoliation in late summer. The weak, soft, whitish 

 wood of the horse chestnut has only limited use, mainly in the 

 manufacture of woodenware. 



Juniper 



Junipers are small, aromatic evergreen trees with slender 

 branches and small needle- or scalelike leaves. Upright and 

 low, spreading forms are used extensively in ornamental plant- 

 ings, especially in border plantings and as specimen plants. Oc- 

 casionally they may be used in windbreaks. Numerous varieties 

 are available for these purposes. The native red cedar {Juni- 

 Verus virginiana) (Fig. 68), which grows throughout Illinois, 

 reaches a height of 20-50 feet. It withstands cold weather, hot 

 and dry weather, and wind and ice storms. It is also tolerant of 

 wet soils. It frequently takes over abandoned fields of barren 

 soil, and it thrives in fence rows where the fruits have been 

 dropped by birds. 



The sharp-pointed V^- to -"^ ^-inch-long needle-like leaves de- 

 velop on young growth or vigorous shoots and are whitened 



