46 



SHADE TREES FOR NORTH CAROLINA. 



from the seed which are borne in abnnclance. Trees should be spaced 40 

 feet. On account of its late leafing, its broom-shaped crown and its adapt- 

 ability to inferior soils, this elm is especially suitable for planting un- 

 paved streets and roads; and on account of its high arched crown, it 

 interferes in town less with illumination than any other large tree. Its 

 superficial roots, however, make it less desirable on paved streets, espe- 

 cially beneath granolithic pavements, which it at times upheaves. Beau- 

 tiful in summer when its waving fronds are stirred by a breeze, it is 

 equally so when the delicate tracery of its numerous curved branches and 

 sweeping hanging twigs are etched against a winter sky. 



White Elm (Ulmus americana) is quite similar to the cork elm in 

 both growth and habit. It makes, however, a small tree on upland soils, 

 is not so long-lived, is less healthy and is more subject to internal decay. 

 The stem is more tapering and prominently buttressed at the fluted base. 

 The crown is broader, more spreading, and the twigs while reflexed do not 

 form the graceful, drooping sprays which characterize the preceding spe- 

 cies. The leaves, appearing two weeks earlier than those of the cork elm, 

 are larger, of a brighter green, and the fruit, appearing in March and 

 maturing before the leaves are full grown, is green instead of brown. 

 Except the scant verdure of its early fruit, which is the first welcome 

 green of the trees, the white elm, in this State, does not make as acceptable 

 a shade tree as the other native elms. Nevertheless, it is extensively 

 planted in many of the towns east of the Blue Ridge, and is not in fact 

 usually separated from the cork elm. The white elm has been attacked 

 at Winston (where it has been extensively planted) and at other points 

 north and west of Greensboro, by the imported elm leaf beetle, an insect 

 which, when locally well established, largely destroys the foliage of the 

 elms. It is hoped that climatic conditions will prevent its spread south 

 and east of Greensboro. 



Slippery Elm {Ulmus puiescens) has a more spreading fan-shaped' 

 crown than the small-leaved elm and larger twigs and foliage. It is less 

 common than the small-leaved and is in no respect superior to it as a 

 shade tree. It grows, however, throughout the high mountain counties 

 and is available for planting in that section, as well as in other portions of 

 the State. 



Hackbeery (Celtis Mississippiensis) , a native tree, is found along the 

 larger water courses. In the coastal plain it acquires large proportions, 

 but westward is smaller. Its growth is rapid in old age as well as in 

 youth, reaching maturity as a shade tree by its twenty-fifth year. The 

 short stout trunk is covered with smooth, light-gray bark, and often 

 roughened with large, cork-like excrescences. The fiuted base is enlarged 



