The leaves are very characteristic. It is one of the few trees having leaves of widely different shape on the same tree, or even on the same twig. Some are oval and entire, four to six inches long; others have one lobe, resembling the thumb on a mitten; while still others are divided at the outer end into three distinct lobes. The young leaves and twigs are quite mucilaginous.

The flowers are clustered, greenish yellow, and open with the first unfolding of the leaves. The male and female flowers are usually on different trees. The fruit is an oblong, dark blue or black, lustrous berry, containing one seed and surrounded at the base by what appears to be a small orange-red or scarlet cup at the end of a scarlet stalk.

The wood is light, soft, weak, brittle, and durable in the soil; the heartwood is dull orange-brown. It is used for posts, rails, boat-building, cooperage and for ox-yokes. The bark of the roots yields the very aromatic oil of sassafras much used for flavoring candies and various commercial products.

The leaves are much rounded, unsymmetrical at the base, wavy on the margin, dark green above and paler below, and three to five inches long by two to three wide. They are hairy on both the upper and lower aides, and on the short leaf-stalks, and roughened by small swellings, or tubercles, at the bases of the hairs. The flowers open in late autumn or winter (unlike most trees) and are borne in small clusters. Although small, they are conspicuous by the long, bright yellow, much twisted petals.

The fruit, a thick woody "pod," or capsule, with two curved beaks, is usually borne in pairs. It produces a single, oblong, hard brown seed.

The wood is very close-grained, heavy, hard, reddish brown, with nearly white sapwood. From the bark and leaves of the northern witchhazel a distilled product is obtained largely used in fluid extract.

It is a small evergreen tree, seldom exceeding 30 feet in height and 12 inches in diameter. The bark is light gray
and roughened by wart-like growths. The numerous short, slender branches form a dense, narrow, pyramidal head of striking dark green color effect, especially when well laden with the conspicuous red berries.

The leaves are simple alternate, oval, thick and leathery, two to four inches long, and armed with spiny teeth; they persist on the branches for about three years, then drop off in the spring.

The flowers are small, whitish and inconspicuous; the male and female flowers are usually borne on separate trees.

The fruit, which ripens late in the fall and persists on the branches over the winter, is a dull red or sometimes yellow, nearly round berry, about one-quarter of an inch in diameter containing four to six ribbed nutlets.

The wood is light, tough, not strong, and nearly white. It is valued and much used for cabinet work and woodturning. For this purpose many of the larger, finer trees have been cut and marketed.

Several other species of Ilex are present; one, the cessena or yaupon, sometimes used as a substitute for tea. Another, a shrub or small tree with erect branches, occurs on the "scrub" in middle Florida.

The leaves are more or less heart-shaped, three to six inches long, thin, saw-toothed, smooth on both sides in some species, but woolly on the under surface of others.

The flowers are yellowish white, in drooping clusters opening in early summer, and the flower-stem is united to the middle of a long, narrow, leaf-like bract. They are very fragrant and from them the bees make large amounts of choice-grade honey.

The fruit is berry-like, dry, a one- to two-seeded and rounded pod, one-quarter to one-half an inch in diameter, covered with short, thick and brownish wool. It remains attached in clusters to the leafy bract, which later acts as a wing to bear it away on the wind.

The wood is light, soft, tough, not durable, light brown in color. It is used in the manufacture of pulp, wooden-ware, furniture, trunks, excelsior and many other articles.

The following species and varieties of linden have been found in Florida: T. floridana Small, T. eburnea, T. heterophylla Vent, and T. georgiana Sarg.

Dogwood grows to 50 feet, and occasionally higher. Crowns are broad, open, and symmetrical. with many upright and spreading limbs from short trunks. The bark

The Flowering Dogwood occurs throughout Florida north of Orange County on a wide variety of soils. It blooms heavily in gardens, on street plantings, or in the forests. In Florida west of the Ochlockonee River, an occasional fragrant specimen can be found; and a few rare trees bloom with a pink to light red color. These rare specimens should never be disturbed!

Flowers appear about the same time as new leaves and form clusters of narrow pendulent petals which are white and about an inch in length.

Fruits are about three-fourths of an inch in length, blue or black, oval in shape, and olive-like. They sprout easily in beds or moist natural conditions.

The bark is brownish tinged with red and divided into irregular scale-like segments.

This tree is of commercial value principally as a landscape element. Its small size and interesting flowering habit make it an excellent accent tree for home gardens or yards.

Previous Page   Contents    Front Cover