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FEBRUARY,
1936
VOL.
11
NO.2
MORTON
ARBORETUM
JOY
MORTOI'J
. FOUNDER
BULLETIN
OFPOPULAR
INFORMATION
ISLE, ILLINOIS
WINTER
BEAUTY
January
and February,
those two
long
winter
months
when
spring
seems so
far
distant,
may
easily
be
removed
from
the category
of
the
drab
and dreary
if
one can
only
develop
an appreciation
of
the finer
qualities
of
the
winter
landscape.To the observing,
beauty
innature
is
omnipresent,
regardless
of
season,
but
manyhave
yet to be
stirred
by
the
subtleties
of
winterform,
textureand
color.
At
no
other
time
of
the
year
are
tree
formsmore
conspicuous.Against
the
whiteness
of
snow
andthe
intensity
of
a
blue
winter sky,
theboldpatterns
of sturdy trunk
andintricate
branch
stand
out
mostvividly, revealing
characters
of
wide diversity.
The
graceful vase
shaped
American
Elm, the
rugged
sturdiness
of
the
Oaks, the flat
topped Thorns,
the
pyramidal
spires
of
Poplars
and
the
SugarMaple's
symmetrically
rounded
domes
are
but
a few
of
the
most
familiar
forms.Closer
inspection
will reveal
further
unexpected
beauty
in
detail
of
bark,
bare
twig
and
bud.
The
bark of
some trees is
unmistakable;that
of
the Hickory,
Carya ovata,
with its loose, shaggy plates, theSycamore,
Platanus occidentalis,
with its
curious mottling
of
olive
green
and
white
and
the thin,
papery
layers
of
the
Canoe
andEuropean
Birches,
Betula papyri/era, B. pendula.
Others,
although equally
decorative,
are
not
as well known.
There
are
the
gray barked
trees suchas the
Old Field
Birch,
B. populi/olia,
the
Silver
Poplar,
Populus alba,
whose greenish-gray
bark
becomes
dark
spotted
and
ridged
with age,the Aspens,
both
Large
Toothed,
Populus grandidentata,
and
Quaking,
P.
tremuloides,
the Blue Beech,
Carpinus caroliniana,
with its
tight
fitting sinewy
bark
andthe smooth trunked
American
Beech,
Fagus grandi/olia,
a
delight
to
behold
at
any
season.Among the flaky
barked
trees
may
be
mentioned
the distinctiveorange-brown River Birch,
Betula nigra,
of
ragged,
unkempt appear-
ance, its
near
relative, the Yellow Birch,
Betula lutea,
and the
unique
Paperbark
Maple,
Acer griseum,
from
West China.
The
thin, scalybarked trees
include such
species as -the
aromatic Cherry
Birch,
B.
lenta,
the
polished
Black
Cherry,
Prunus serotina,
andthe
Red
and
Silver Maples,
Acer rubrum,
A.
saccharinum.
While
the boles
of
the
latter
are
smooth
in
their
youth,
at
maturity.
their
bark
becomes
roughand
flaky.
We may
recognize the
Ironwood,
Ostrya virginiana,
by
its
thin bark,
split
into
narrow
shreds, the
White
Oak,
Quercus alba,
by
5
 
its flat,
oblong
scales
and
the
Slippery
Elm,
Ulmus fulva,
famed
for
its
mucilaginous
inner
bark,
by
flat
topped,
flaky ridges.
Deeply
fur-
rowed
bark
of
various
form and
color characterizes the
Cottonwood,
Populus
deltoides,
White
Ash,
Fraxinus americana,
Black
Walnut,
luglans
nigra,
Butternut,
luglans
cinerea,
Sugar
Maple,
Acer sac-charum,
Red
and
Bur
Oak,
Quercus borealis maxima,
Q.
macrocarpa.
In
a class
by itself
is
the
Hackberry,
Celtis occidentalis,
whose deepdiscontinuous fissures
and
rough
excrescences
mark
it
distinct
from
all
other
trees.
Bud structure
furnishes
further
winter
interest.
There
is
an
un-
mistakable
hint
of
promise
in
the
smooth red buds of
the
SilverMaple,
A.
saccharinum,
conspicuously developed
even
in January,
inthe
more
plump
reddish
buds
of
the Linden or
Basswood,
Tilia glabra,
and
inthe
Bitternutor
Yellow
Bud
Hickory's,
Carya cordiformis,
golden
yellow,
glandular
ones.
None
can
compare
with
the
long, sleek,
sharp pointed buds
of the
Beech,
Fagus,
however,
not
even
the
Horse-chestnut's,
Aesculus Hippocastanum,
sticky
brown
ones
or
the
Euro-
pean
Ash's,
Fraxinus excelsior,
budsof jet
black.
With
the ascent
of
sap
in
stem
and
twig,
hastened
as
it
were
by
the lengthening
of the
days,
that
most
cheering winter
effect,
color,
is
usheredintoprominence.
Although
evidenced
particularly
amongmembers
ofthe
Willow,
Salix,
and
Cornel,
Cornus,
clan,
other
genera
assist these
in
displaying
a
color
rangevarying
from
white
and
gray
through
yellow,
orange,
red,
purple, brown and
green.
Plants
with
white stems
are
limited
to several
oriental
Raspber-
ries,
notably
Rubus
biflorus,
Rubus
lasiostylus,
the
Wooly Raspberryand
Rubus
Giraldianus.
The latter
species,
though notfound
in our
collection
at
present, is
hardy in
this
locality.Among
the gray
stemmed
types
thelist
is
more
varied,
Amelan-chier amabilis, Cornus racemosa,
the Gray
Dogwood,
Zenobia pul-verulenta,
the
Dusty
Zenobia,
and
the Willows,
Salix
cordata rigida,
Salix
dicroa mascula
and
Salix
missouriensis,
all
being
effective.
For
a yellow effect,
there
are
the
two Dogwoods,
Comus
san-guinea viridissima
and
Comus
stolonifera flaviramea,
the first
withlemon
yellow
bark and
thelatter
with stems
of bright
yellow,
Tilia
platyphyllos
aurea,
the
yellow
branched
form of
the
Large
Leaved
Linden
and the
followingWillows:
Salix
alba vitellina,
Salix
baby-lonica aurea pendula, Salix ural
and
Salix
sesquitertia,
the
Triple
Willow.
Blending into
shades
of
orange,
we
have
the
reddish
yellow
branched
variety
of
the SpeckledAlder,
Alnus
incana ramulis coc-cineus, Berberis virescens, Physocarpus opulifolius,
the Common Nine-
bark,
with its
shaggy,
peeling
stems
and
Salix
fragilis Basfordiana,
a
tall
growing
Willow.
The
"reds"
outclass all
others
in
both
number
andbrilliance.Themostoutstanding
are
Dogwoods,
of
whichthe following
are
rep-resentatives:
Comus
alba
(Blood
red),
Comus
alba Rosenthali
(Chi-nese
red),
Comus
alba Sibirica
(Coral
red),
Comus
Baileyi
(dark
red),
Comus
obliqua
(purplish
to
y e l l o ~ i s h
 
red),
Comus
sanguinea
(dark
red),
Comus
stolonifera
(dark
bloodred)
and
Comus
stoloni-fera coloradensis
(rosy
red).
Willows share equal
honors
with
the
Cornels,
the
brightest being
Salix
alba chennesina
(scarlet),
Salix
6
 
THE
GRAY
OR
OLD
FIELD
BIRCH,
Betula populi/alia
The
peculiartriangular
or
V-shaped marks
of
black
diverg-ing below
each
branch
distinguish
the
Gray
Birch
in
winter.
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