DESCRIPTION OF TREES SUITABLE FOR PLANTING. 



47 



and the tnink divides at a low height into many wide-spreading, angidar 

 branches and slender, intricate branclilets, which form a large globose or 

 flattened crown. The foliage is small and elm-like and appears delicate 

 green in early spring, maturing by mid- April before that of other species 

 have scarce burst their buds. The root system is like that of the elms, 

 superficial and spreading. Few trees, however, replace roots more rap- 

 idly, which enables large specimens to be planted with perfect success. 

 ' The crowns, even of old trees, endure the most vigorous pruning, but the 

 wood decays with such rapidity that every precaution is necessary to pre- 

 vent hollows and defective trunks. The wood is brittle and easily broken 

 by sleet and v/ind storms. Not exacting as to soil, the hackberry makes 

 satisfactory growth, except on dry, heavy clays. Young plants are easily 

 secured from seed which are borne solitary in a small cherry-like berry 

 that matures in the late fall and remains on the tree throughout the 

 winter. It should be spaced 40 feet. Except in its very early leafing and 

 smooth white bark, the hackberry possesses no characters which give it 

 preference above the small-leaved elm. It is planted almost to the exclu- 

 sion of other species on the streets of Columbia, S. C. 



Hickories (Hicoria). — Of the many species of the genus which are 

 native to the State, only three deserve consideration for general shade 

 planting in parks or on roadsides. These are the shagbark, the Carolina 

 shagbark and the red heart or scaly bark. 



Shagbark (Hicoria, ovata) is one of the most widely distributed trees 

 of the State, occurring along streams and on moist slopes from the coast 

 to an elevation of 3000 feet. As a shade tree, it attains a height of from 

 60 to 70 feet, making rapid growth in youth and maintaining a healthy 

 condition to an advanced age. The straight cylindrous trunk, covered 

 with long narrow strips of loose gray bark, is excurrent until the tree is 

 well past its yoiith. The crown of the young tree is pyramidal but be- 

 comes broader and more oval as the trunk branches M'ith age. The com- 

 pound leaves are formed of large drooping leaflets. They are bright 

 green and fragrant when they appear in early spring; afEord a dense 

 shade during the summer and turn various tones of yellow and brown in 

 late autumn before falling. While the flowers are not conspicuous, the 

 scales of the winter buds greatly enlarge in unfolding in the spring and 

 assume many delicate shades of red and yellow. The twigs are stout, 

 usually slightly curved and tipped with large acute buds which are con- 

 spicuous during the winter. The fruit from which the thick husk freely 

 splits is white, thin-shelled and the most delicately flavored of any native 

 nut. Nuts are usually borne in abundance in this as well as in the other 

 species. 



