166 



PEACTICAL FORESTHY. 



There is an oriental species of the Liquidambar {L, orientalis 

 Mill, or L. imherbe, Alton), and although introduced into the 

 gardens of England in 1759, it has never become popular as an 

 ornamental plant, probably because of its dwarfish habit, 

 seldom growing more than a dozen feet high. 



LiRiODEKDKOisr. — TuUp Tree. 



A magnificent native deciduous tree, belonging to the Magnolia 

 family. Flowers composed of six petals, bell-shaped. Fruit a 

 cone-like head, comprised of a large number of dry seeds, with 

 long, narrow scales or wings, attached to a common axis at 

 their base, forming a conical spike two inches or more in length. 

 Each fruit is composed of sixty or more winged seeds, but only 

 a small proportion contain kernels, or will germinate. Seeds 

 from old trees are less productive than those from young ones. 

 There is but one species. 



Liriodendron Tulipifera.— Tulip Tree, White-wood, Canoe-wood, 

 Virginia Poplar. — Leaves large, smooth on both sides, on slen- 

 der stalks, somewhat three-lobed, the middle one appearing as 

 if it had been cut off, leaving a shallow notch. Flowers bell- 

 shaped, greenish-yellow, tinged with orange. The branches 

 with smooth, grayish bark. Terminal buds on the shoots 

 swell considerably in spring, before the leaves unfold. On 

 young thrifty trees the leaves are often six to eight inches in 

 diameter, and of a clear, bright-green color. Bark on old trees 

 deeply furrowed, and quite thick. One of our finest and 

 largest forest trees in the Eastern States, sometimes reaching a 

 hight of one hundred and forty feet, with a stem four to six 

 feet in diameter. Wood light, soft, but close-grained, easily 

 worked, and extensively used for the interior work of carriages, 

 furniture, and other purposes where it is not exposed to air 

 and moisture. It is only valuable for inside work, for it decays 

 rapidly if exposed. This is one of the few kinds of wood that 

 will shrink endways of the grain when seasoning. The wood 

 is also quite variable in color and texture, and that from the 

 largest trees that have grown on rich soils is the most valuable. 

 The tulip is readily propagated from seed, and if several times 

 transplanted in the nursery, the trees produce a great abundance 

 of fibrous roots. Thrives best on light, deep loam, or sandy 

 soils. Does not succeed in a heavy clay or in swampy land. 

 It is what may be called a very clean tree, only a very few 

 species of insects attacking it, and these appearing to do it but 



