Trees or shrubs with bitter bark; simple alternate leaves; flowers in catkins, which fall off as a whole, the staminate after flowering, the pistillate after ripening and scattering of the seeds, the staminate and pistillate on different plants (dioecious); flower scales single, below each flower; fruit a lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate capsule opening lengthwise into 2 recurving carpels or valves; seeds numerous, minute, oblong, bearing a tuft of hairs at the base. Genera 2, Salix, the willows, and Populus, the aspens and poplars, or cottonwoods, separated by the following characters, those applying only to Indiana trees species in parentheses:
| Buds covered by a single scale; (leaf-blades mostly enlongated, more than twice as long as wide); flower scales entire or rarely shallowly toothed at apex; stamens mostly 2 or 3-8 or 10 | 1Salix. |
| Buds covered by numerous scales; (leaf-blades mostly cordate-ovate, less than twice as long as broad); flower scales deeply cut or lacerate; stamens more than 10 | 2Populus. |
Plate 9.
JUNIPERUS VIRGINIANA LinnÆus. Red Cedar. (× 1/2.)
1. SÀLIX. The Willows.
Trees or shrubs (occasionally herbaceous) with usually clustered teims, twigs round; leaf-blades lanceolate and long-acuminate or elliptic-lanceolate and short pointed in all Indiana tree species, finely toothed or nearly entire; catkins appearing before (precocious), with (coetaneous), or after the leaves (serotinous); each pistillate flower with a little gland at the base of the pedicel on the inside.
A large genus of several hundred species varying from tiny shrubby or subherbaceous plants scarcely an inch in height to 0.5 m. (2 feet) or more in diameter, in alluvial lowlands; occurring under Indiana conditions from cold bogs and river banks to dry sand dunes. Willows are used for many purposes, among them ornament, shade, hedges, posts, poles, mattresses, revetments to protect levees, baskets, fish-weirs, whistles, etc., while the wood is used for charcoal, which is especially prized for gunpowder making, and the bark is used for tanning and furnishes salicin, which is used in medicine as a substitute for quinine and as a tonic and febrifuge.
| Small to large trees; leaves narrowly to broadly lanceolate, mostly long pointed, finely and rather closely toothed; flowers appearing with the leaves; capsules not hairy. | |
| Native trees; leaves green on both sides (No. 1) or white (glaucous) beneath (No. 2), and then with very long points and long slender twisted petioles which are never glandular; stamens 3-5-7 or more. | |
| Twigs dark green, spreading; leaves narrowly lanceolate, green on both sides; petioles short. | 1 S. nigra. |
| Twigs yellowish, somewhat drooping; leaves broadly lanceolate, glaucous beneath; petioles long, twisted. | 2 S. amygdaloides. |
| European trees, cultivated for ornament and use; leaves always glaucous beneath; stamens always 2. | |
| Teeth on edge of leaf 8-10 to each cm. (20-25 to the inch); petioles usually glandular; capsules almost sessile. | 3 S. alba. |
| Teeth on edge of leaf 6-8 per cm. (15-20 to the inch); petioles usually glandular; pedicels 0.5-1 mm. long. | 4 S. fragilis. |
| Shrubs or rarely small trees; leaves elliptical or oblanceolate, short pointed; margin entire or coarsely wavy or shallow-toothed; flowers before the leaves; stamens 2; capsules long, hairy. | |
| Twigs and leaves not hairy; leaves thin. | 5 S. discolor. |
| Twigs and sometimes the lower surface of the leaves densely hairy, leaves thicker. | 5bS.discoloreriocephala. |
Plate 10.
SALIX NIGRA Marshall. Black Willow. (× 1/2.)
1. Salix nÌgra Marshall. Willow. Black Willow. Plate 10. Shrub or tree 5-20 m. (17-65 feet) high, dark green in mass color; bark of trunk thick, rough, flaky, dark brown to nearly black; twigs brittle at base, the younger pubescent and green, becoming glabrous and darker with age; buds ovate, small, 2-3 mm. (1/8 inch) long; petioles 3-6 or 8 mm. (1/8-3/8 inch) long; stipules small, ovate to roundish; leaf blades narrowly lanceolate, acute or rounded at base, long-acuminate at the apex, 6-11 cm. (21/4-41/4 inches) long, 7-12 mm. (1/4-1/2 inch) wide, often falcate (scythe-shaped), the so-called variety falcata, finely serrate, green on both sides, shining above, paler and dull beneath, glabrous or sometimes pubescent beneath on midrib and larger veins; flowers appearing with the leaves in late April in the southern part of the State and well into May in the northern part; catkins slender, 2-5 or 6 cm. (4/5-2 or 21/2 inches) long, the staminate bright yellow; capsules 3-5 mm. (1/8 inch) long, ovoid or ovoid-lanceolate, on pedicels 1-2 mm. (1/16 inch) long.
Distribution.—New Brunswick and New England, westward to the eastern part of the Great Plains area from North Dakota to Texas, and, in some forms, westward across that State and into Mexico. It is interesting that this species, the first willow published in America, in the first book on American Botany ever published in this country, should be abundantly and widely distributed in the United States.
Specimens have been seen from the following counties in Indiana:—Allen (Deam); Bartholomew (Deam); Clark (Deam); Crawford (Deam); Dearborn (Deam); Dubois (Deam); Decatur (Deam); Floyd (Deam); Fulton (Deam); Harrison (Deam); Hendricks (Deam); Henry (Deam); Jackson (Deam); Jay (Deam); Jennings (Deam); Knox (Deam); Kosciusko (Deam); Lagrange (Deam); Marion (Mrs. Chas. C. Deam); Marshall (Deam); Miami (Deam); Morgan (Deam); Noble (Deam); Ohio (Deam); Parke (Deam); Perry (Deam); Porter (Deam); Posey (Deam); Pulaski (Deam); Ripley (Deam); Steuben (Deam); Sullivan (Deam); Tippecanoe (Deam); Vermillion (Deam); Wabash (Deam); Warrick (Deam); White (Deam).
Economic Uses.—The black willow is used very extensively along the lower reaches of the Mississippi River in making mattresses which protect the levees from washing. In 1912, it was estimated that 150,000 cords were used annually.2. Salix amygdaloÌdes Andersson. Willow. Peach-leaved Willow. Plate 11. Trees 3-12 m. (10-40 feet) high, yellowish-green in mass color; bark of trunk fissured, dark brown or reddish-brown; twigs longer and less brittle than those of Salix nigra, yellowish to reddish-brown, usually somewhat drooping, giving a "weeping" effect, which, with the color, makes the species easily recognizable from a distance; buds ovoid, about 3 mm. (1/8 inch) long, colored as the twigs; petioles long, slender, twisted, 5-15 or 20 mm. (1/4-4/5 inch) long; leaves lanceolate to broadly lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, rounded or somewhat acute at base, long-pointed at apex, closely serrulate, 5-12 cm. (2-5 inches) long, 1.5-3 cm. (3/5-11/4 inches) wide, yellowish-green above, glaucous beneath, glabrous; flowers appear from late April throughout May, usually later than those of Salix nigra; catkins slender, 3-5 cm. (1-2 inches) long, the fertile becoming 4-8 cm. (11/2-3 inches) long in fruit; capsules lanceolate, 4-5 mm. (1/6 inch) long; pedicels slender, 2 mm. (1/12 inch) long.
Plate 11.
SALIX AMYGDALOIDES Andersson. Peach-leaved Willow. (× 1/2.)
Distribution.—From Western Quebec and Central New York, west to the Cascade Mountains in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, south to Colorado and northwest Texas. In Indiana fairly common in the northern third, rare in the central third, and lacking in the southern portion of the State.
Specimens have been seen from Indiana from the following counties: Elkhart (Deam); Fulton (Deam); Henry (Deam); Jasper (Deam); Kosciusko (Deam); Lake (Deam), (Umbach); Laporte (Deam); Marion (Mrs. Chas. C. Deam); Marshall (Deam); Pulaski (Deam); Steuben (Deam); Wells (Deam); White (Deam).3. Salix Álba LinnÆus. Willow. White Willow. Plate 12. Trees with 1-5 spreading stems, 5-20 m. (17-65 feet) high; bark rough, coarsely ridged, gray to brownish; twigs brittle at base, green or yellowish, glabrous; buds 5-6 mm. (1/4 inch) long; petioles 5-10 mm. (1/5-2/5 inch) long, seldom glandular; leaves lanceolate, 5-12 cm. (2-5 inches) long, 1-2.5 cm. (2/5-1 inch) wide, acuminate at apex, usually acute at base, leaves bright green above, glaucous beneath, thinly to densely silky on both sides when young, often permanently silky beneath, margins with about 9-10 teeth per cm. (2/5 inch), usually glandular; flowers with the leaves, in April and May; catkins slender, cylindrical, 3-6 cm. (11/4-21/2 inches) long; scales pale yellow; capsules ovoid-conical, 3-5 mm. (1/4 inch) long, almost sessile. The common form usually is referred to variety vitellina (LinnÆus) Koch, with orange twigs and more glabrate leaves.
Distribution.—A native of Europe which has been frequently planted and sometimes escapes.
Specimens have been seen from Indiana from the following counties: Gibson (Schneck); Hamilton (Mrs. Chas. C. Deam); Harrison (Deam); Switzerland (Deam); Warren (Deam); Wells (Deam).4. Salix frÁgilis LinnÆus. Willow. Crack Willow. Plate 13. Tree very similar to Salix alba; twigs very brittle at the base (hence the name), green to reddish; petioles 7-15 mm. (1/4-5/8 inch) long, glandular just below the base of the leaf; leaves lanceolate, acuminate, 7-15 cm. (3-6 inches) long, 2-3.5 cm. (4/5-11/2 inches) wide, coarsely serrate with 5-6 teeth to each cm. (2/5 inch) of margin, dark green and shining above, paler to glaucous beneath, rarely green, glabrous on both sides; catkins appearing with the leaves in late April and during May, 4-8 cm. (11/2-3 inches) long; capsules slenderly conical, 4-5 mm. (1/5 inch) long, on pedicels 0.5-1 mm. (1/16 inch) long.
Plate 12.
SALIX ALBA LinnÆus. White Willow. (× 1/2.)
Plate 13.
SALIX FRAGILIS LinnÆus. Crack Willow. (× 1/2.)
Distribution.—A native of Europe. It has been frequently planted and often escapes.
Specimens have been seen from the following Indiana counties: Benton (Deam); Clark (Deam); Laporte (Deam); Switzerland (Deam); Union (Deam); Wells (Deam).
Economic Uses.—This species and the white willow are introduced from Europe and extensively grown for the production of charcoal to use in powder making.5. Salix dÍscolor Muhlenberg. Pussy Willow. Swamp Willow. Glaucous Willow. Plate 14. Shrub or small tree, 2-4 or occasionally 7-5 m. (7-15 or 25 feet) high; bark thin, usually smooth, reddish brown; twigs stoutish, reddish-purple to dark brown, often pubescent (see the variety); buds large, 5-10 mm. (1/5-2/5 inch) long, colored as the twigs; stipules large, mostly roundish, entire or toothed; leaves short-lanceolate to elliptic or elliptic-oblanceolate, acute or short-acuminate at the apex, rounded or acute at the base, 5-10 cm. (2-4 inches) long, 2-3.5 cm. (4/5-11/2 inches) wide, nearly entire to coarsely wavy-toothed on the margins, dark shining green above, densely glaucous and occasionally somewhat pubescent beneath, especially on midrib and primaries; flowers appear in late March or in April before the leaves; catkins sessile, on old wood, stout, dense, the staminate very beautiful (pussies), without leaf-bracts at base, 2-5 cm. (1-2 inches) long, the pistillate becoming 3-8 cm. (11/2-3 inches) long in fruit; scales elliptic-oblanceolate, densely clothed with long shining hairs; capsules conic-rostrate, 7-10 or 12 mm. (1/4-1/2 inch) long, densely gray-woolly; pedicels 1.5-3 mm. (1/16-1/8 inch) long.
Distribution.—Nova Scotia south to Delaware and west to the eastern edge of the Great Plains area. Fairly well distributed over the entire State of Indiana. Specimens have been seen from the following counties: Allen (Deam); Dearborn (Deam); Decatur (Deam); Elkhart (Deam); Fulton (Deam); Gibson (Schneck); Hancock (Mrs. Chas. C. Deam); Henry (Deam); Jackson (Deam); Jay (Deam); Jefferson (Deam); Jennings (Deam); Knox (Deam); Lake (Deam); Marion (Mrs. Chas. C. Deam); Marshall (Deam); Newton (Deam); Porter (Deam); Randolph (Deam); Ripley (Deam); Shelby (Mrs. Chas. C. Deam); Sullivan (Deam); Tippecanoe (Deam); Wabash (Deam); Warren (Deam); Wayne (Deam); Wells (Deam); White (Deam).5a. Salix discolor variety eriÒcÉphala (Michaux) Andersson. Differs from the species chiefly in rather densely pubescent twigs and buds; thicker and more lanceolate leaves, usually more or less pubescent beneath; and the sometimes more densely pubescent catkins.
Plate 14.
SALIX DISCOLOR Muhlenberg. Pussy Willow. (× 1/2.)
Distribution.—Range of the species but less common. Specimens have been seen from the following Indiana counties: Cass (Deam); Decatur (Deam); Fulton (Deam); Gibson (Schneck); Jackson (Deam); Jay (Deam); Knox (Deam); Laporte (Deam); Pulaski (Deam); Sullivan (Deam); Warren (Deam); Wayne (Deam).
2. PÓPULUS. The Poplars.
Rapidly growing trees; buds usually large, scaly and more or less resinous; leaves alternate, broad, toothed or sometimes lobed; flowers appearing before the leaves on large pendulous catkins; anthers red or purple.
In the following key mature leaves from trees are considered:
| Petioles round or channeled, scarcely or not at all flattened laterally. | |
| Leaves chalky-white tomentose beneath, some of them more or less lobed, blades 6-10 cm. long. | 1 P. alba. |
| Leaves pubescent or whitish tomentose while young, never lobed, blades 10-17 cm. long | 2 P. heterophylla. |
| Petioles strongly flattened laterally especially near the blade. | |
| Winter buds more than 8 mm. in length, stamens more than 20, capsules more than 3 mm. in diameter, leaves broadly deltoid, majority more than 8 cm. wide | 3 P. deltoides. |
| Winter buds less than 8 mm. in length, stamens fewer than 20, capsules less than 3 mm. in diameter, leaves roundish ovate, majority less than 8 cm. wide. | |
| Winter buds more or less pubescent, dull; leaves generally with less than 12 teeth to a side | 4P.grandidentata. |
| Winter buds smooth or rarely somewhat pubescent, glossy; leaves with more than 12 teeth to a side | 5 P. tremuloides. |
1. Populus Álba LinnÆus. Silver-leaf Poplar. Plate 15. Short-trunked trees with a round top, up to a meter or more in diameter; bark on young trees smooth, greenish-white or gray, becoming furrowed on old trees, gray or dark brown; shoots white tomentose, becoming smooth in age; leaves ovate or triangular, 3-5 lobed or irregularly toothed, hairy on both surfaces on expanding, becoming dark green and glabrous above, remaining white tomentose beneath; stamens about 8; wood light, soft and weak.
Distribution.—Introduced from Europe and escaped in all parts of the State.
Remarks.—This tree has long been under cultivation, and several horticultural forms have been introduced. It is falling into disuse on account of its habit of sending up root shoots. It adapts itself to all kinds of soil, grows rapidly, transplants easily, stands pruning well and has few insect or fungous enemies.
Plate 15.
POPULUS ALBA LinnÆus. Silver-leaf Poplar. (× 1/2.)
2. Populus heterophylla LinnÆus. Swamp Cottonwood. Swamp Poplar. Plate 16. Tall trees up to 5-8 dm. in diameter; bark of old trees very thick, broken into long ridges which are separated by deep furrows, reddish-brown but generally weathered to ash-color; shoots densely woolly at first, becoming glabrous before the second season; leaves broadly-ovate with petioles 2-10 cm. long, more or less woolly on both surfaces on unfolding, becoming glabrous above and remaining woolly beneath, at least on the larger veins, rarely becoming entirely glabrous, usually cordate at the base, blunt at apex, margins rather regularly crenate-serrate; flowers in April; capsules ripening in June, about 6 mm. in diameter, on stalks 5-10 mm. long; wood same as the next species.
Distribution.—Along the Atlantic Coast from Connecticut to Florida and along the Gulf to Louisiana, and northward along the Mississippi Valley to Michigan. It is found in many parts of Indiana. In the northern counties it is found in "gumbo" soils in swamps. It is a common tree in the river swamps of the lower Wabash Valley where it reaches its greatest size. There are no records for the extreme southeastern part of the State, although it has been found in swamps in Harrison and Clark Counties and is found in many counties of Ohio.
Remarks.—The pith of the shoots of this species is orange which easily distinguishes it from all other species of the genus which have a white pith. This species in all of its range is closely associated with the common cottonwood, and millmen make no distinction in the price or qualities of the timber.3. Populus deltoÌdes Marshall. Cottonwood. Carolina Poplar. (Populus balsamifera var. virginiana (Castiglioni) Sargent). Plate 17. One of the largest trees of the Indiana forests; bark of very old trees very thick, broken into ridges up to 1 dm. or more in thickness, separated by deep furrows, reddish-brown, weathering to a gray; leaves hairy on both surfaces as they unfold, soon glabrous except on the margins which are more or less ciliate, broadly-deltoid, usually 7-12 cm. long, and about as wide, base more or less truncate or cordate, or somewhat wedge-shaped, with rather short acuminate tips, crenate-serrate; capsules ovate, about 6 mm. in diameter, on stalks 1-2 mm. long; wood light, soft, weak, sap wood white, heartwood small and brown; warps badly on drying.
Distribution.—Quebec to Florida and west to the Rocky Mountains. Throughout Indiana in low ground along streams, in swamps and about lakes. On account of its habit of growing only in low ground it is infrequent in the hill country of southern Indiana.
Plate 16.
POPULUS HETEROPHYLLA LinnÆus. Swamp Cottonwood. (× 1/2.)
Plate 17.
POPULUS DELTOIDES Marshall. Cottonwood. (× 1/2.)
Remarks.—The cottonwood is adapted to a moist soil, propagates easily, grows rapidly and is one of the best trees for forestry purposes for planting overflow lands, and for planting where a quick shade is desired or for temporary windbreaks.
The leaves of this tree are quite variable and several forms have been described. The Carolina poplar of nurserymen has an upright habit of growth and was formerly much planted as a shade tree. Its undesirable qualities have condemned it, and most cities now prohibit its planting.
Cottonwood has many uses, and was formerly a very important timber tree, but the supply has so diminished that large trees have become quite scarce. The thick bark was much used by the boys of the pioneers for whittling out toys, etc.4. Populus grandidentÀta Michaux. Large-toothed Aspen. Plate 18. A small or medium-sized tree, 1-4 dm. in diameter; bark smooth, grayish-green or whitish, becoming furrowed and dark brown on the trunks of old trees that grow in the northern part of the State, especially when growing in a swampy habitat. In the southern part of the State where the tree usually grows on the top of hills, the bark does not darken so much, frequently remaining a light to dark gray until maturity. Shoots more or less woolly at first, becoming glabrous, reddish-brown; leaves on sprouts and very young trees very velvety beneath, slightly hairy above, ovate in outline, cordate at base and with blades up to 20 cm. in length; leaves on older trees a yellow green, glabrous, ovate, blades usually 6-10 cm. long, coarsely and unevenly toothed, the base slightly rounded, rarely truncate or slightly cordate, the apex pointed or rounded; petioles strongly flattened laterally; stamens 6-12; capsule about 5 mm. long on a stalk about 1 mm. long; wood soft, light and not strong.
Distribution.—Nova Scotia west to northern Minnesota and south to the Ohio River, and along the Alleghany Mountains to South Carolina. Found throughout Indiana, except we have no authentic records for Gibson[11] and Posey[12] Counties. In the northern part of Indiana it is found in great colonies about lakes, etc. or rarely a few trees on the crests of gravel and sand ridges. In southern Indiana it is found in the "knob" area in small colonies on the tops of the ridges associated with scrub pine and chestnut oak and is rarely found in low ground in this part of the State.
Remarks.—This species is too rare to be of much economic importance. It could be most profitably used for excelsior and pulp wood.
Plate 18.
POPULUS GRANDIDENTATA Michaux. Large-toothed Aspen. (× 1/2.)
5. Populus tremuloÌdes Michaux. Quaking Aspen. Plate 19. A straight narrow tree up to 3 dm. in diameter, usually about 1-5 dm. in diameter; bark usually smooth, greenish-white or gray, on older trees becoming rough or fissured, and turning darker; shoots glabrous or with a few hairs, turning reddish-brown the first season, later to a gray; leaves of sprouts and very small trees usually ovate with a cordate base and two or three times as large as leaves of older trees; mature leaves on older trees variable, glabrous, the prevailing type has a bluish-green leaf which is widely ovate or nearly orbicular, 3-7 cm. long, truncate or slightly rounded at the base, usually abruptly short-pointed at apex, finely and regularly serrate, the unusual type of leaf is thinner, yellow-green, ovate, 2/3 as wide as long, rounded or wedge-shaped at base, gradually tapering to a point at the apex, otherwise as the prevailing form; stamens 6-12; capsules about 6 mm. long, on stalks about 1 mm. long; wood light, soft and weak.
Distribution.—One of the most widely distributed of North American trees. It ranges from Labrador south to Pennsylvania, thence southwest to northern Mexico, and then north to northern Alaska. It is found at sea level and at elevations of 10,000 feet. There are records of its occurrence in all parts of Indiana. In all of its Indiana stations it grows only in low ground about lakes, swamps, ponds, low places between sand dunes, and along streams. In many places in the lake region it is found in almost pure stands over small areas.
Remarks.—In Indiana this species is not of sufficient size and abundance to be of much economic importance.
