6 
THE NATIVE TREES OF RHODE ISLAND. 
full development, the adaptability of the different kinds for orna- 
ment or shade in special localities, and whether they will or will 
not, when grown, harmonize with their surroundings. F or growth 
in forest masses there are many questions which require an intel- 
ligent answer to ensure the most profitable investment for years to 
come. The white pine requires one sort of ground, the chestnut 
another, the oaks another; the white cedar takes to a swamp, 
and the gray birch will grow anywhere from a swamp to a deserted 
gravel-pit. Some tree, native in this region, can be found which 
will thrive on any acre of ground in Rhode Island not perma- 
nently under water, or made of bare rock. 
It is the chief purpose of this paper to call attention to the 
prominent characteristics of the principal native trees of the State, 
and to show something of their adaptability for economic and or- 
namental purposes. They are tabulated below with both their 
common and their Latin names. Common names vary in different 
regions, but the Latin names are constant and are understood by 
botanists everywhere. 
Table of the Principal Forest Trees indigenous to Rhode Island . 
White oak 
Swamp white oak 
Post oak 
Chestnut oak 
Red oak 
Black oak 
Scarlet oak 
Pin oak 
Quercus alba. 
Q. bicolor. 
Q. stellata . 
Q. prinos. 
Var. montirola. 
Q . rubra. 
Q. tinctoria. 
Q. coccinea. 
Q. palustris. 
Note. — T o the above list of oaks should be added to the scarlet oak the 
variety ambigua (rather scarce), the bear, or scrub oak, Q. ilici folia, and 
the little “chinquipin” oak, a shrub scarcely five feet high. 
Shag-bark hickory Cary a alba. 
Mocker-nut hickory C. tormentosa. 
, ! Pig-nut hickory C. porcina. 
