BLEMISHES IX SUMAC AND HOLLY. 



83 



THE SUMAC FAMILY (ANACARDIACE.E) . 



The wood of one native and one introduced species of this family 

 is blemished by sapsuckers. The matter is of no economic impor- 

 tance except possibly in the case of the introduced pepper tree. Mr. 

 W. Otto Emerson, of Haywards, Cal., contributes the following note 

 on this species: "I have two old pepper trees beside the house where 

 [the red-breasted sapsucker] has left his marks from year to year. 

 In time this cutting of the bark of the pepper tree causes an enlarge- 

 ment of the limb all around where the holes are; the same occurs in 

 the blue-gum tree, and ruins the wood for commercial purposes." 



Species of Anacardiace^e blemished. — Smoke tree and pepper 

 tree. 



THE HOLLY FAMILY (AQUIFOLIACE^). 



The wood of three species of holly is known to be blemished by 

 sapsuckers. In two of them greenish brown to black checks and 

 pronounced stains spoil. the appearance of the wood for pyrography, 



Fig. 33.— Honey locust. Cross section through a girdle. Checks, stains, and gnarly grain. The two long 

 elliptical black marks are nail holes. 



one of its most important uses. The checks and fissures produced are 

 objectionable in holly wood used for turnery, because they render it 

 liable to splitting. 



Holly {Rex cassine). — Healed sapsucker wounds in this wood are 

 marked by large black stains which tend to be continuous around the 

 injured wood ring. Fissures extend outward from the old pecks, 

 some being open, although three-fourths of an inch of wood has 

 formed outside the punctured layer. These fissures are soft-walled 

 and cause much distortion in the surrounding wood. (Fig. 34.) The 

 defects are very serious and render the wood useless except for fuel 

 (Longbridge, La.). 



Species of Aquifollace^e blemished. — Youpon, Ilex opaca (Abbe- 

 ville, La.), and Ilex cassine. 



