FOREST TREES. 



167 



little injury. Native of Vermont and southward to Florida, 

 and westward to Eastern Kansas. It was formerly quite 

 abundant in Western New York, and where very large trees 

 were plentiful, but is now scarce, except in some of the forests 

 of the Middle States. 



MACLURA, Nutt. — Osage Orange, 



A genus of handsome ornamental trees of moderate size, 

 with dioecious flowers, the staminate or male in long racemes, 

 resembling those of the common Mulberry, the pistillate 

 or fertile flowers densely crowded in a large, spherical bead, 

 becoming a compound globular fruit, resembling a large, 

 rough orange of a greenish yellow color, containing a large 

 number of obovate seeds. Two evergreen species in the West 

 Indies and one deciduous in the United States. 



Madura aurantiaca, Nutt. — Osage Orange, Bois d'arc. — Leaves 

 alternate, entire, rather long pointed, bright, glossy green, 

 usually with a sharp spine at the base of each, even on the 

 smallest twigs. Wood solid, heavy and elastic, quite durable, 

 of a fine yellow color, which is readily communicated to water. 

 Usually a medium-sized tree, but sometimes grows fifty feet 

 high, with a stem two feet in diameter. Abundant in the 

 South-western States, Eastern Texas, Arkansas, Indian Terri- 

 tory. This tree has been more extensively employed for hedges 

 than any other, and is well adapted for live fences, as the 

 thorns, while abundant, are not so large and strong as to be 

 dangerous to stock. It is not quite hardy in our more North- 

 ern States, although in sheltered positions the trees grow 

 rapidly, and to a considerable size, fruiting quite freely in the 

 neighborhood of New York City. The introduction of barbed 

 wire fencing has made hedge plants less a necessity than for- 

 merly, and the Osage Orange will probably not be very exten- 

 sively cultivated in the future, except as an ornamental tree, or 

 for feeding the silk- worm, for which the leaves are well 

 adapted 



MAG^qoLiA, Linn. 



An extensive and widely distributed genus of trees and 

 shrubs, with large and showy flowers. There are both decidu- 

 ous and evergreen species, and the larger proportion, and those 

 growing to the largest size, are natives of the United States. 

 They are usually propagated by seeds or layers, although both 



