SHAGBARK HICKORY

SHAGBARK HICKORY scalybark hickory Carya ovata (Miller) Koch

Shagbark hickory is the best known and most valuable of the hickories in this state. It is common in deep, moist soils throughout New York though rare in the higher Catskills and Adirondacks, and is not reported from the pine barrens of Long Island. In the forest it is a tall straight-branched tree but in open fields and along hedgerows where it often grows it usually forks near the ground into stout ascending limbs. The wood is very heavy, tough, elastic, close-grained, and is used chiefly for handles, vehicles, agricultural implements, and fuel. The fruit is important for wildlife.

Bark - light gray in color, smooth and seamy, becoming shaggy with age and peeling off into long strips which are loose at both ends and attached in the middle, thus giving rise to the name "shagbark hickory."Twigs - covered with numerous light dots, extremely tough and pliable, reddish brown to gray in color. Winter buds - large, ovate, blunt-pointed, with papery, dark brown, loose bud scales, the outer scales much darker, persistent through the winter; terminal bud usually more than 1/2 inch long. Leaves - alternate compound, 8 to 14 inches long, with 5 to 7 leaflets, the 3 upper ones being by far the largest. Fruit - a smooth, white, 4-angled nut, enclosed in a thick, round husk that splits into 4 sections as the nut falls after heavy autumn frosts. Kernel - large, sweet. Distinguishing features - large terminal bud; 5 to 7 leaflets, outer 3 much larger; bark peeling in long plates.

AMERICAN HOPHORNBEAM

AMERICAN HOPHORNBEAM ironwood Ostrya virginiana (Miller) Koch

American hophornbeam is closely related to the American hornbeam and is rather generally distributed throughout New York State on dry, gravelly, and stony soils of slopes and ridges, sometimes taking possession of woodlots in central New York to the exclusion of other species. The tree is slow-growing and is rarely found larger than 10 inches in diameter. The wood is very heavy, hard, and strong, hence the name "ironwood." It is used for tool and implement handles and for levers, and makes excellent fuelwood when seasoned.

Bark - thin, very markedly flaky; light grayish brown in color, broken into narrow, flattish pieces, loose at the ends.Twigs - fine, reddish brown in color, smooth, and shiny; a very easy winter character for identification of the tree, particularly of young saplings. Winter buds - terminal bud absent as in birches and elms; lateral buds small, light reddish brown in color, bending away from the twig. Leaves - alternate, simple ovate, 3 to 5 inches long, doubly and finely serrate on margin. Fruit - a small, seed-like nutlet, enclosed in an inflated, sac-like bract. Bracts - in clusters 1 to 2 inches long, resembling hops, hence the name "hophornbeam." Fruit usually falls before winter. Distinguishing features - shreddy bark; shiny, reddish-brown twigs; papery fruit like a hop.

AMERICAN HORNBEAM

AMERICAN HORNBEAM blue-beech, ironwood, water beech Carpinus caroliniana Walter

American hornbeam is a small-sized, bushy tree, found frequently along watercourses and the edges of swamps generally throughout the state. It is rarely more than 6 inches in diameter. The wood is very heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, and is occasionally used for mallets on account of its hardness.

Bark - smooth, thin, dark bluish gray in color, close-fitting, with smooth, rounded lengthwise ridges that resemble tensed muscles. Twigs - very slender, dark red in color, and shining. Winter buds - terminal bud absent; lateral buds small, often angled in cross-section, narrowly ovate, pointed, covered with many reddish brown scales. Leaves - simple, alternate, ovate, 2 to 4 inches long, finely and doubly serrate on margin. Fruit - a small prominently ribbed nutlet, 1/3 inch long, enclosed in a 3-lobed leaf-like bract. Bracts with their enclosed nutlets are in long, drooping clusters which ripen and fall before winter. Distinguishing features - "muscles" in bark; fruit a nutlet enclosed in 3-part "dress."

HONEY-LOCUST

HONEY-LOCUST sweet-locust Gleditsia triacanthos Linnaeus

Honey-locust, while native in western New York only, has been widely introduced as a hedge and ornamental tree, and is hardy and scattered through the state except in the mountains. The wood is hard, strong, coarse-grained, but not so durable in contact with the soil as is the black locust. Its habit of growing in open rather than forest situations gives its wood a knotty character.

Bark - on young branches smooth, grayish brown in color, with age becoming roughened into firm, broad, blackish ridges with edges that curve outwards. Twigs - rather stout, smooth, glossy, zigzag; usually bearing stiff, sharp-branched thorns 3 to 4 inches long (lacking in most horticultural varieties), above leaf base (node). Winter buds - terminal bud absent; lateral buds very small, not easily seen. Leaves - alternate, simply or, more usually, doubly compound, 6 to 8 inches long; if singly compound, with 18 to 28 leaflets; leaflets usually even in number, elliptical, 1 1/2 to 2 inches long; if doubly compound, with 4 to 7 pairs of secondary leaf stems. Fruit - a flat pod, usually twisted, reddish brown in color, 10 to 18 inches long, 1 1/2 inches wide, 2 to 3 in a cluster, ripening in late autumn but staying on the tree well into winter; each pod containing 10 to 20 brown oval seeds, 1/3 inch long. The fleshy part of the pod is sweet, hence the name "honey-locust." Distinguishing features - branched, stout thorns; usually doubly compound leaves, with elliptical leaflets; large, reddish brown pod.

BLACK LOCUST

BLACK LOCUST yellow locust, white locust Robinia pseudoacacia Linnaeus

Black locust is not a native of the state, but was a great favorite with early settlers as a dooryard tree from where it has escaped to form dense thickets along the roadside in many sections of the state. In favorable locations, its spread by means of root suckers is very rapid. It grows with exceptional rapidity on well-drained fertile soils, and in such locations seems better able to survive attacks of the locust borer which in some sections has rendered the tree worthless. The wood is very strong, heavy, hard, and extremely durable in contact with the soil. As a post wood it has no equals and is also used for ties and fuelwood, and was used for insulator pins on pole lines.

Bark - rough even on young trunks, yellowish brown in color, becoming deeply furrowed into distinct, thick, rounded ridges, which are not scaly. Twigs - slender, brittle, reddish to greenish brown in color; generally bearing short stiff spines 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, in pairs at base (node) of leaves. Winter buds - terminal bud absent; lateral buds very small, in a cavity below leaf scars, rusty brown in color, covered with down. Leaves - alternate, compound, 8 to 14 inches long, with 7 to 19 entire leaflets arranged along a central stem; leaflets usually odd in number, short-stalked, oval in shape, 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. Fruit - a pod, flat, smooth, brown in color, 2 to 4 inches long, containing 4 to 8 small brown or black seeds, ripening in September. Pods hang on into the winter and are finally torn off by the wind in halves with seeds attached, the dried pod acting as a sail to carry the seed considerable distances. Distinguishing features - compound leaves with oval leaflets; small, downy buds depressed in bark; short stiff spines; papery pods.

AMERICAN LARCH

AMERICAN LARCH tamarack, hackmatack Larix laricina (Du Roi) Koch

American larch is a forest tree of the swamps. In the mountainous sections of the state, it is frequently found well up the slopes, but is confined to cold swamps in eastern, central, and western New York. The wood is very heavy, hard, and strong, light brown in color, and durable in contact with the soil. It is used for fence posts, telegraph poles, and railroad ties.

Bark - smooth, light gray in color on young trunks; with age becoming roughened with thin reddish brown scales.Twigs - slender, smooth, glossy brown in color, with short lateral wart-like branches. Winter buds - scattered along last season's twigs and at the ends of short lateral branches, small, rounded, reddish brown in color, shining. Leaves - borne singly on twigs of last season's growth; on spurs of older twigs in clusters of 10 or more, flat, slender, pale green in color, about 1 inch long, falling off in the autumn of the first year. Fruit - a cone, 1/2 inch long, borne on short curving stalks, maturing in autumn of the first year, chestnut brown in color, standing upright from the twigs, staying on the tree for several years. Cone scales - concave in shape. Seeds - in pairs, winged, light brown in color, 1/8 inch long, ripening in early autumn. Distinguishing features - many needles in cluster, dropping in autumn; small stiff cone on incurved stalk. 28a. European larch (Larix decidua Miller), which is one of several species that are difficult to distinguish, has been planted for many years on lawns and more recently in forest plantations. It has infrequently naturalized.   Its cones are 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, standing out from the twig. It grows on well-drained soils much more rapidly than the American larch.

THE HAWTHORNS

THE HAWTHORNS thornapple Crataegus Linnaeus

Hawthorns comprise a large group of small-sized trees. More than a score of varieties are common in New York State. The differences are chiefly in flower and fruit and it seems advisable in this publication to call attention to the general characteristics of the group without going into the minute differences that separate the many species. The very small size of the trees, generally less than 20 feet, makes them of no commercial value. In fact, some members of the group may be regarded as a serious pest, because of the rapidity with which they seed up old pastures, shading out available pasturage or making costly the preparation of the land for forest planting.

Bark - generally dark brown to gray in color, scaly.Twigs - stiff, zigzag, armed with large, generally unbranched thorns 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. Winter buds - round, chestnut brown in color; terminal bud usually present but no larger than lateral buds. Leaves - simple, alternate, 3 to 4 inches long, 2 to 3 inches wide, serrate on the margin; in some species leaves more or less ovate, others from 5- to 9-lobed. Fruit - berry-like, in a cluster, each fruit the size of a small cherry; when mature in early autumn, usually red, with from 1 to 5 nutlets in center of fleshy covering; highly prized by birds in winter. Distinguishing features - stiff thorns, 1 1/2 to 2 inches long; berry-like fruit, usually red.