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In early spring the tree is covered with what appear to be 

 large white flowers. There are 4 of these petal-like leaves, 

 each one notched at the tip, and they are really nothing 

 more than a sheath which covers the small greenish flowers. 

 These may be found at the point where the large white, 

 petal-like leaves converge, and after the latter have withered 

 the true flowers bloom. They are followed later by the 

 bright red fruits which contain a hard stone. 



Owing to its showy whiteness in the spring and the beauty 

 of its branching the dogwood is much planted in lawns and 

 parks. It grows wild from Massachusetts and Ontario to 

 Florida and west; and is very common throughout the Hud- 

 son Valley. Its wood is much used in making parts of ma- 

 chinery, and tool-handles. 



Persimmon Diospyros virginiana 



It is only in the southern part of the Hudson Valley that 

 we find the persimmon. Its range of distribution is from 

 Rhode Island to Florida and westward, and it is only near 

 Long Island Sound, on Staten Island and adjacent New 

 Jersey that the tree is known to occur with us. Here they 

 are scarce and local. In the north the tree is never more 

 than 40 to 50 feet in height, but southward it becomes twice 

 this size. The thick bark is dark brown or almost black, 

 and somewhat irregularly fissured. When very young the 

 leaves are hairy but they are quite smooth in age. In out- 

 line they are oval or oblong and from 3 to 7 inches long, 

 sharp-pointed at the tip and more or less rounded at the base. 

 There are two sorts of flowers, appearing about May or 

 June. The fertile are solitary and the infertile are arranged 

 in little clusters; both are greenish in color. The fruit is 

 orange. or reddish-orange in color, about an inch in diameter, 

 and often persists late into the winter. The wood is used for 

 the manufacture of shoe-lasts. 



Black Ash Fraxinus nigra 



When growing in its favorite habitat the black ash attains 



