40 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



teau it is found in ravines and on north hillsides, and is largely 

 used for cabinetmaking and interior woodwork. It is most abun- 

 dant, attains its greatest size, and forms its finest .timber on the 



MAP OF 



NORTH CAROLINA 



SCALE OF 



COASTAL P LAIN MM. 



Area containing merchantable milling tim- 

 ber of the YELLOW POPLAR 

 (Liriodendron tulipifera, L.) 



Area containing only few merchantable trees 

 of the YELLOW POPLAR. 



4 



lower mountain slopes in the counties west of the Bine Ridge, 

 where trees 8 to 10 feet in diameter and more than 150 feet high 

 are occasionally found. Throughout this region it is the chief 

 building material. 



Trees growing in the open mature seed in abundance nearly 

 every year; forest trees- less frequently. Young seedlings are 

 common in the woods and grow rapidly if not heavily shaded. 

 Cattle eagerly devour young plants. Although trees over four 

 feet in diameter are often hollow at the butt, it is uncommon to 

 find the trunk unsound throughout. The quality of the timber is 

 seldom injured by wind shakes. 



The leaves are smooth, bright green, 4 lobed, with a deep 

 rounded incision on either side and a broad shallow uotch at the 

 apex. The greenish-yellow tulip-shaped flowers appear in May, 

 and the fruit is a narrow, light brown cone. The dark reddish 

 winter buds are covered with a whitish bloom. 



The wood is light, soft, brittle, not strong, close and straight- 

 grained, easily worked, and does not split or shrink easily ; yellow 

 or brown in color; the thin sapwood creamy-white. The yellow 

 poplar is one of the most useful, as well as one of the largest, of 

 American deciduous trees. It is largely used for construction, inte- 



