BLEMISHES IX SUMAC AXD HOLLY 
83 
THE SUMAC FAMILY (aXACARDIACELE) . 
The wood of one native and one introduced species of this family 
is blemished by sapsuckers. The matter is of no economic impor- 
tance except possibly in the case of the introduced pepper tree. Mr. 
TV. Otto Emerson, of Haywards, Cal., contributes the following note 
on this species: "I have two old pepper trees beside the house where 
[the red-breasted sapsucker] has left his marks from year to year. 
In time this cutting of the bark of the pepper tree causes an enlarge- 
ment of the limb all around where the holes are: the same occurs in 
the blue-gum tree, and ruins the wood for commercial purposes." 
Species of Axacakdl\ce.e blemished. — Smoke tree and pepper 
tree. 
THE HOLLY FAMILY (aQUIFOLIACE^e) . 
The wood of three species of holly is known to be blemished by 
sapsuckers. In two of them greenish brown to black checks and 
pronounced stains spoil the appearance of the wood for pyrography, 
Fig. 33.— Honev locust. 
Cross section through a girdle. Checks, stains, and gnarly grain. 
elliptical black marks are nail holes. 
The two long 
one of its most important uses. The checks and fissures produced are 
objectionable in holly wood used for turnery, because they render it 
liable to splitting. 
Holly (Ilex cassine). — Healed sapsucker wounds in this wood are 
marked by large black stains which tend to be continuous around the 
injured wood ring. Fissures extend outward from the old pecks, 
some being open, although three-fourths of an inch of wood has 
formed outside the punctured layer. These fissures are soft-walled 
and cause much distortion in the surrounding wood. (Fig. 34.) The 
defects are very serious and render the wood useless except for fuel 
(Longbridge, La.). 
Species of Aqthfoliaceje blemished. — Youpon, Ilex optica (Abbe- 
ville, La.) ; and Ilex cassine. 
