Texas Almanac, 1939-1940 Page: 155

                                
FLORA OF TEXAS.                   155

Texas red oak (Quercus texana Buckley) is
found over a wide area of Central and West-
ern Texas, usually on limestone soils. It is
closely related to the red oak mentioned
above. The Southern red oak (Quercus rubra
Linn.), also commonly referred to as Spanish
oak, is found in the central and eastern parts
of the state and is used for furniture manu-
facture. The emory oak (Quercus emoryl
Torr.) is an interesting tree, occurring in
the Davis and Chisos Mountains, having an
edible acorn. The shin oak (Quercus mohri-
ana Rybd.) is the smallest of Texas oaks.
This bushy tree is found over a wide territory
in central and the southern half of Western
Texas.
OTHER TREES FOUND PRINCIPALLY IN
EAST TEXAS.
Other than the East Texas varieties o dlne
and oak mentioned above, the principal trees
found largely in East and East Central Texas
are as follows:
The white ash (Fraxinus Americana L.),
grows in the better drained parts of the al-
luvial portions of Northeast Texas. Its wood
is used for tool and implement handles and
in the manufacture of athletic goods. Sever-
al factories operate in this region. The
green ash (Fraxinus Pennsylvanica Lanceo-
lata Sarg.) is widely distributed over the
eastern half of the state, especially along
streams. It is not as desirable as white ash.
Water or swamp ash (Fraxinus Caroliniana
Mill) is found in the extreme eastern part of
the state. It has little commercial value.
Also popularly classed with the ash is the
Wafer ash or hop tree (Ptelea trifoliata L.),
a small tree in the eastern part of the state
having a root sometimes used for medicinal
purposes.
Several species of the basswood, or linden
(Tilia species), are found in Texas in the
eastern and extending into the south central
and southwestern parts of the state, growing
usually in rich, moist soil. The growth is not
sufficient in Texas to be of much commercial
value.
The red bay (Persea borbonia (L). Spren-
gel) is found as far west as the Brazos, usu-
ally in low, moist soils. It is a good hard-
wood and is used in cabinet making. The
sweet, swamp, or white bay grows in Texas
east of the Neches River in low moist ground.
It has some commercial value.
The beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) is
found in many sections east of the Trinity
growing usually on bottom lands. Used in
manufacture of furniture, flooring etc. The
blue beech or hornbeam (Capinus carolini-
ana Walt.), which is known also as ironwood
and water beech, is found on moist soils in
East Texas. Not of much commercial value,
though sometimes used as substitute for ash.
The river or red birch (Betula nigra L.)
occurs in East Texas in the rich, moist soils
along  streams.   Good  for  miscellaneous
woodenware manufacture but too scattered
in growth to be of much commercial value.
The bois d'arc, also known as the Osage
orange and hedge apple (Toxylon pomiferum
Rafn.) is one of the most interesting trees
in Texas. It is found in East Texas, attaining
its greatest size (in Texas and in America) in
the Red River Valley. Its wood is very heavy
and hard. It is much used for piling for
bridges and in the past was in great demand
for the construction of farm wagons, the
axles being made of this wood in early days.
It was also used extensively as a hedge tree
on the blacklands before the barbed wire
was introduced and many of these beautiful
hedges remain today.
The   hardy  catalpa  (Catalpa  speciosa

Englm.) is found in Eastern Texas on bot-
tom land soils. It has some use as fence
posts, poles and fuel.
The chinquapin is a small tree (Castanea
pumila linnaeus Miller) found east of the
Neches River on lowland and upland. It has
some use as fence posts, cross ties and fuel,
but is of no great economic importance.
The corkwood (Leitneria floridana Chapm.)
is found along the Gulf Coast, particularly in
the lower Brazos Valley. It is the lightest of
native wood of the United States and has
some use as floats for fishing nets, etc.
The bald cypress (Taxodium    distichum
Rich.) is found in swampy regions in East
Texas and along streams as far west as the
Neches and Frio Rivers in Southwest Texas.
It has some commercial value.
Throughout the forest regions of East Tex-
as the dogwood (Cornus florida L.) is found
It is used for ornamental planting and to a
limited extent for various commercial pur-
poses.
The gum   is of considerable commercial
value in Texas. The sweet or red gum
(Liquidambar styracilua L.) is a large tree
growing in the bottom lands of Eastern Tex-
as. It is used for flooring, interior finish and
very extensively for the manufacture of bas-
kets and crates. There is a large manufac-
turing industry utilizing this wood.  The
black gum (Nyssa sylvatica Marsh.) is also
found in East Texas, extending as far west
as the Brazos, usually on moist soil. It is
also used in the manufacture of baskets and
crates. The tupelo gum, or cotton gum
(Nyssa aquatica L.) is found in deep swamps
in the lower flooded area of the coastal
plains and  Southeast Texas. It is used
in the manufacture of baskets and crates and
in miscellaneous woodenware.
The Southern hackberry (Celtis laevigata
Willd.) and the rough leaf hackberry (Celtis
occidentalis crassifolia (La Marck) Gray) are
found in Texas, the first mentioned being
widely distributed over the central and east-
ern parts of the state, thriving on various
types of soils. It is widely used as a shade.
tree in Texas cities. The rough leaf hack-
berry is found in Eastern Texas and to a
limited extent is used for lumber.
Probably the most important of the Texas
hickories is the scalybark or shell-bark hick-
ory (Hicoria ovata Britton) which grows in
the bottom soils of East Texas. Its tough
strong wood is in demand for manufacture of
implements and tool handles and its edible
nut is of some commercial value. The bit-
ternut or pignut hickory (Hicoria cordiformis
Britton), the mockernut or white hickory
(Hicoria alba Britton), and the black hickory
(Hicoria Buckleyi Dur.) are found generally
in East Texas.
The small evergreen holly (Ilex opaca Alt.)
is found on bottom soils of East and Southern
Texas. There has been some utilization of
this tree for cabinet timber. It is much used
as a Christmas decoration.
The huckleberry or sparkleberry (Vaccini-
um arboreum Marsh.) reaches its largest
growth near Matagorda Bay in Texas. A small
tree here, it is a shrub in most other regions.
It is of little commercial value.
The honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos L.)
the water locust (Gleditsia aquatica Marshall)
and the black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia
L.) are found in Texas. The honey locust,
which is native east of the Brazos, has been
planted widely as a shade tree. The water
locust is found in the low coastal plains and
in the alluvial valleys of East Texas.
The evergreen magnolia (Magnolia grandi-
flora L.), famed for its beauty of flower and