( 142) 



midrib on the under-side of the leaflets is often prickly. 

 There is a huge flower-cluster sometimes 4 feet long, com- 

 posed of hundreds of tiny white flowers. The fruits are 

 black. 



The tree is valuable for its decorative effect, but the wood 

 is soft and weak. 



Sour Gum Nyssa sylvatica 



This tree is often known as tupelo and pepperidge, and 

 loves moist swampy places. It grows commonly in such 

 situations from Maine to Florida and westward and under 

 favorable conditions it attains a height of 140 feet. The 

 branches are widely spreading and often the lower branches 

 are conspicuously drooping. The leaves which turn brilliant 

 crimson in the autumn, are more or less oval in outline, but 

 usually broadest above the middle. They are taper-pointed 

 at the tip, roundish at the base, and from iy 2 to 6 inches 

 long. There are two kinds of flowers which appear about 

 May. The sterile flowers are arranged in many-blossomed 

 clusters, the fertile or fruit-producing in clusters of 3. The 

 dark blue or purple fruits, usually arranged in clusters of 3, 

 are about y 2 inch in diameter and contain a many-ribbed 

 stone. 



The wood of the sour gum is soft, but very tough and hard 

 to split. For this reason it is much used in making wheels, 

 rollers and ox-yokes. The sour gum requires a moist situa- 

 tion for favorable development, and if such a place can be 

 found for it the tree is well worth planting for decorative 

 effect. (Plate 149.) 



Flowering Dogwood Cynoxylon floridum 



This tree scarcely ever exceeds 40 feet in height, but it is 

 one of the most showy and popular trees of the eastern states. 

 The old bark is dark brown or nearly black in color, and is 

 split up into small scales or plates. The leaf-blades are 

 oval or elliptic in outline, and more or less sharp-pointed at 

 both ends. The leaf-margins are shallowly toothed or quite 

 smooth. 



