CEDAR

Light soft, stiff, not strong, of fine texture. Sap- and heartwood distinct, the former lighter, the latter a dull grayish brown or red. The wood seasons rapidly, shrinks and checks but little, and is very durable in contact with the soil. Used like soft pine, but owing to its great durability preferred for shingles, etc. Cedars usually occur scattered, but they form in certain localities forests of considerable extent.

WHITE CEDARS

Canoe Cedar (Thuya gigantea) (Red Cedar of the West). In Oregon and Washington a very large tree, covering extensive swamps; in the mountains much smaller, skirting the water courses. An important lumber tree. The wood takes a fine polish; suitable for interior finishing, as there is much variety of shading in the color. Washington to northern California and eastward to Montana.

White Cedar (Chamæcyparis thyoides). Medium-sized tree. Heartwood light brown with rose tinge, sapwood paler. Wood light, soft, not strong, close-grained, easily worked, very durable in contact with the soil and very fragrant. Used in boatbuilding cooperage, interior finish, fence posts, railway ties, etc. Along the coast from Maine to Mississippi.

White Cedar (Chamæcyparis Lawsoniana) (Port Orford Cedar, Oregon Cedar, Lawson's Cypress, Ginger Pine). A very large tree. A fine, close-grained, yellowish-white, durable timber, elastic, easily worked, free of knots, and fragrant. Extensively cut for lumber; heavier and stronger than any of the preceding. Along the coast line of Oregon.

White Cedar (Libocedrus decurrens) (Incense Cedar). A large tree, abundantly scattered among pine and fir. Wood fine-grained. Cascades and Sierra Nevada Mountains of Oregon and California.

Yellow Cedar (Cupressus nootkatensis) (Alaska Cedar, Alaska Cypress). A very large tree, much used for panelling and furniture. A fine, close-grained, yellowish white, durable timber, easily worked. Along the coast line of Oregon north.

RED CEDARS

Red Cedar (Juniperus Virginiana) (Savin Juniper, Juniper, Red Juniper, Juniper Bush, Pencil Cedar). Heartwood dull red color, thin sapwood nearly white. Close even grain, compact structure. Wood light, soft, weak, brittle, easily worked, durable in contact with the soil, and fragrant. Used for ties, posts, interior finish, pencil cases, cigar boxes, silos, tanks, and especially for lead pencils, for which purpose alone several million feet are cut each year. A small to medium-sized tree scattered through the forests, or in the West sparsely covering extensive areas (cedar brakes). The red cedar is the most widely distributed conifer of the United States, occurring from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Florida to Minnesota. Attains a suitable size for lumber only in the Southern, and more especially the Gulf States.

Red Cedar (Juniperus communis) (Ground Cedar). Small-sized tree, its maximum height being about 25 feet. It is found widely distributed throughout the Northern hemisphere. Wood in its quality similar to the preceding. The fruit of this species is gathered in large quantities and used in the manufacture of gin; whose peculiar flavor and medicinal properties are due to the oil of Juniper berries, which is secured by adding the crushed fruit to undistilled grain spirit, or by allowing the vapor to pass over it before condensation. Used locally for construction purposes, fence posts, etc. Ranges from Greenland to Alaska, in the East, southward to Pennsylvania and northern Nebraska; in the Rocky Mountains to Texas, Mexico, and Arizona.

Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) (Sequoia, California Redwood, Coast Redwood). Wood in its quality and uses like white cedar. Thick, red heartwood, changing to reddish brown when seasoned. Thin sapwood, nearly white, coarse, straight grain, compact structure. Light, not strong, soft, very durable in contact with the soil, not resinous, easily worked, does not burn easily, receives high polish. Used for timber, shingles, flumes, fence posts, coffins, railway ties, water pipes, interior decorations, and cabinetmaking. A very large tree, limited to the coast ranges of California, and forming considerable forests, which are rapidly being converted into lumber.

CYPRESS

Cypress (Taxodium distinchum) (Bald Cypress, Black, White, and Red Cypress, Pecky Cypress). Wood in its appearance, quality, and uses similar to white cedar. "Black" and "White Cypress" are heavy and light forms of the same species. Heartwood brownish; sapwood nearly white. Wood close, straight-grain, frequently full of small holes caused by disease known as "pecky cypress." Greasy appearance and feeling. Wood light, soft, not strong, durable in contact with the soil, takes a fine polish. Green wood often very heavy. Used for carpentry, building construction, shingles, cooperage, railway ties, silos, tanks, vehicles, and washing machines. The cypress is a large, deciduous tree, inhabiting swampy lands, and along rivers and coasts of the Southern parts of the United States. Grows to a height of 150 feet and 12 feet in diameter.

FIR

This name is frequently applied to wood and to trees which are not fir; most commonly to spruce, but also, especially in English markets, to pine. It resembles spruce, but is easily distinguished from it, as well as from pine and larch, by the absence of resin ducts. Quality, uses, and habits similar to spruce.

Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea) (Balsam, Fir Tree, Balm of Gilead Fir). Heartwood white to brownish; sapwood lighter color; coarse-grained, compact structure, satiny. Wood light, not durable or strong, resinous, easily split. Used for boxes, crates, doors, millwork, cheap lumber, paper pulp. Inferior to white pine or spruce, yet often mixed and Artisan with these species in the lumber market. A medium-sized tree scattered throughout the northern pineries, and cut in lumber operations whenever of sufficient size. Minnesota to Maine and northward.

White Fir (Abies grandis and Abies concolor). Medium- to very large-sized tree, forming an important part of most of the Western mountain forests, and furnishes much of the lumber of the respective regions. The former occurs from Vancouver to California, and the latter from Oregon to Arizona and eastward to Colorado and Mexico. The wood is soft and light, coarse-grained, not unlike the "Swiss pine" of Europe, but darker and firmer, and is not suitable for any purpose requiring strength. It is used for boxes, barrels, and to a small extent for wood pulp.

White Fir (Abies amabalis). Good-sized tree, often forming extensive mountain forests. Wood similar in quality and uses to Abies grandis. Cascade Mountains of Washington and Oregon.

Red Fir (Abies nobilis) (Noble Fir) (not to be confounded with Douglas spruce. See No. 40). Large to very large-sized tree, forming extensive forests on the slope of the mountains between 3,000 and 4,000 feet elevation. Cascade Mountains of Oregon.

Red Fir (Abies magnifica). Very large-sized tree, forming forests about the base of Mount Shasta. Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, from Mount Shasta southward.

HEMLOCK

Light to medium weight, soft, stiff, but brittle, commonly cross-grained, rough and splintery. Sapwood and heartwood not well defined. The wood of a light reddish-gray color, free from resin ducts, moderately durable, shrinks and warps considerably in drying, wears rough, retains nails firmly. Used principally for dimension stuff and timbers. Hemlocks are medium- to large-sized trees, commonly scattered among broad-leaved trees and conifers, but often forming forests of almost pure growth.

Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) (Hemlock Spruce, Peruche). Medium-sized tree, furnishes almost all the hemlock of the Eastern market. Maine to Wisconsin, also following the Alleghanies southward to Georgia and Alabama.

Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana). Large-sized tree, wood claimed to be heavier and harder than the Eastern species and of superior quality. Used for pulp wood, floors, panels, and newels. It is not suitable for heavy construction, especially where exposed to the weather, it is straight in grain and will take a good polish. Not adapted for use partly in and partly out of the ground; in fresh water as piles will last about ten years, but as it is softer than fir it is less able to stand driving successfully. Washington to California and eastward to Montana.

LARCH or TAMARACK

Wood like the best of hard pine both in appearance, quality, and uses, and owing to its great durability somewhat preferred in shipbuilding, for telegraph poles, and railway ties. In its structure it resembles spruce. The larches are deciduous trees, occasionally covering considerable areas, but usually scattered among other conifers.

Tamarack (Larix laricina var. Americana) (Larch, Black Larch, American Larch, Hacmatac). Heartwood light brown in color, sapwood nearly white, coarse conspicuous grain, compact structure, annual rings pronounced. Wood heavy, hard, very strong, durable in contact with the soil. Used for railway ties, fence posts, sills, ship timbers, telegraph poles, flagstaffs. Medium-sized tree, often covering swamps, in which case it is smaller and of poor quality. Maine to Minnesota, and southward to Pennsylvania.

Tamarack (Larix occidentalis) (Western Larch, Larch). Large-sized trees, scattered, locally abundant. Is little inferior to oak in strength and durability. Heartwood of a light brown color with lighter sapwood, has a fine, slightly satiny grain, and is fairly free from knots; the annual rings are distant. Used for railway ties and shipbuilding. Washington and Oregon to Montana.

PINE

Very variable, very light and soft in "soft" pine, such as white pine; of medium weight to heavy and quite hard in "hard" pine, of which the long-leaf or Georgia pine is the extreme form. Usually it is stiff, quite strong, of even texture, and more or less resinous. The sapwood is yellowish white; the heartwood orange brown. Pine shrinks moderately, seasons rapidly and without much injury; it works easily, is never too hard to nail (unlike oak or hickory); it is mostly quite durable when in contact with the soil, and if well seasoned is not subject to the attacks of boring insects. The heavier the wood, the darker, stronger, and harder it is, and the more it shrinks and checks when seasoning. Pine is used more extensively than any other wood. It is the principal wood in carpentry, as well as in all heavy construction, bridges, trestles, etc. It is also used in almost every other wood industry; for spars, masts, planks, and timbers in shipbuilding, in car and wagon construction, in cooperage and woodenware; for crates and boxes, in furniture work, for toys and patterns, water pipes, excelsior, etc. Pines are usually large-sized trees with few branches, the straight, cylindrical, useful stem forming by far the greatest part of the tree. They occur gregariously, forming vast forests, a fact which greatly facilitates their exploitation. Of the many special terms applied to pine as lumber, denoting sometimes differences in quality, the following deserve attention: "White pine," "pumpkin pine," "soft pine," in the Eastern markets refer to the wood of the white pine (Pinus strobus), and on the Pacific Coast to that of the sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana). "Yellow pine" is applied in the trade to all the Southern lumber pines; in the Northwest it is also applied to the pitch pine (Pinus regida); in the West it refers mostly to the bull pine (Pinus ponderosa). "Yellow long-leaf pine" (Georgia pine), chiefly used in advertisements, refers to the long-leaf Pine (Pinus palustris).

Soft Pines

White Pine (Pinus strobus) (Soft Pine, Pumpkin Pine, Weymouth Pine, Yellow Deal). Large to very large-sized tree, reaching a height of 80 to 100 feet or more, and in some instances 7 or 8 feet in diameter. For the last fifty years the most important timber tree of the United States, furnishing the best quality of soft pine. Heartwood cream white; sapwood nearly white. Close straight grain, compact structure; comparatively free from knots and resin. Soft, uniform; seasons well; easy to work; nails without splitting; fairly durable in contact with the soil; and shrinks less than other species of pine. Paints well. Used for carpentry, construction, building, spars, masts, matches, boxes, etc., etc., etc.

Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana) (White Pine, Pumpkin Pine, Soft Pine). A very large tree, forming extensive forests in the Rocky Mountains and furnishing most of the timber of the western United States. It is confined to Oregon and California, and grows at from 1,500 to 8,000 feet above sea level. Has an average height of 150 to 175 feet and a diameter of 4 to 5 feet, with a maximum height of 235 feet and 12 feet in diameter. The wood is soft, durable, straight-grained, easily worked, very resinous, and has a satiny luster which makes it appreciated for interior work. It is extensively used for doors, blinds, sashes, and interior finish, also for druggists' drawers, owing to its freedom from odor, for oars, mouldings, shipbuilding, cooperage, shingles, and fruit boxes. Oregon and California.

White Pine (Pinus monticolo). A large tree, at home in Montana, Idaho, and the Pacific States. Most common and locally used in northern Idaho.

White Pine (Pinus flexilis). A small-sized tree, forming mountain forests of considerable extent and locally used. Eastern Rocky Mountain slopes, Montana to New Mexico. (b) Hard Pines

Long-Leaf Pine (Pinus palustris) (Georgia Pine, Southern Pine, Yellow Pine, Southern Hard Pine, Long-straw Pine, etc.). Large-sized tree. This species furnishes the hardest and most durable as well as one of the strongest pine timbers in the market. Heartwood orange, sapwood lighter color, the annual rings are strongly marked, and it is full of resinous matter, making it very durable, but difficult to work. It is hard, dense, and strong, fairly free from knots, straight-grained, and one of the best timbers for heavy engineering work where great strength, long span, and durability are required. Used for heavy construction, shipbuilding, cars, docks, beams, ties, flooring, and interior decoration. Coast region from North Carolina to Texas.

Bull Pine (Pinus ponderosa) (Yellow Pine, Western Yellow Pine, Western Pine, Western White Pine, California White Pine). Medium- to very large-sized tree, forming extensive forests in the Pacific and Rocky Mountain regions. Heartwood reddish brown, sapwood yellowish white, and there is often a good deal of it. The resinous smell of the wood is very remarkable. It is extensively used for beams, flooring, ceilings, and building work generally.

Bull Pine (Pinus Jeffreyi) (Black Pine). Large-sized tree, wood resembles Pinus ponderosa and replacing same at high altitudes. Used locally in California.

Loblolly Pine (Pinus tæda) (Slash Pine, Old Field Pine, Rosemary Pine, Sap Pine, Short-straw Pine). A large-sized tree, forms extensive forests. Wider-ringed, coarser, lighter, softer, with more sapwood than the long-leaf pine, but the two are often confounded in the market. The more Northern tree produces lumber which is weak, brittle, coarse-grained, and not durable, the Southern tree produces a better quality wood. Both are very resinous. This is the common lumber pine from Virginia to South Carolina, and is found extensively in Arkansas and Texas. Southern States, Virginia to Texas and Arkansas.

Norway Pine (Pinus resinosa) (American Red Pine, Canadian Pine). Large-sized tree, never forming forests, usually scattered or in small groves, together with white pine. Largely sapwood and hence not durable. Heartwood reddish white, with fine, clear grain, fairly tough and elastic, not liable to warp and split. Used for building construction, bridges, piles, masts, and spars. Minnesota to Michigan; also in New England to Pennsylvania.

Short-Leaf Pine (Pinus echinata) (Slash Pine, Spruce Pine, Carolina Pine, Yellow Pine, Old Field Pine, Hard Pine). A medium- to large-sized tree, resembling loblolly pine, often approaches in its wood the Norway pine. Heartwood orange, sapwood lighter; compact structure, apt to be variable in appearance in cross-section. Wood usually hard, tough, strong, durable, resinous. A valuable timber tree, sometimes worked for turpentine. Used for heavy construction, shipbuilding, cars, docks, beams, ties, flooring, and house trim. Pinus echinata, palustris, and tæda are very similar in character, of thin wood and very difficult to distinguish one from another. As a rule, however, palustris (Long-leaf Pine) has the smallest and most uniform growth rings, and Pinus tæda (Loblolly Pine) has the largest. All are apt to be bunched together in the lumber market as Southern Hard Pine. All are used for the same purposes. Short-leaf is the common lumber pine of Missouri and Arkansas. North Carolina to Texas and Missouri.

Cuban Pine (Pinus cubensis) (Slash Pine, Swamp Pine, Bastard Pine, Meadow Pine). Resembles long-leaf pine, but commonly has a wider sapwood and coarser grain. Does not enter the markets to any extent. Along the coast from South Carolina to Louisiana.

Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida) (Torch Pine). A small to medium-sized tree. Heartwood light brown or red, sapwood yellowish white. Wood light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, durable, very resinous. Used locally for lumber, fuel, and charcoal. Coast regions from New York to Georgia, and along the mountains to Kentucky.

Black Pine (Pinus murryana) (Lodge-pole Pine, Tamarack). Small-sized tree. Rocky Mountains and Pacific regions.

Jersey Pine (Pinus inops var. Virginiana) (Scrub Pine). Small-sized tree. Along the coast from New York to Georgia and along the mountains to Kentucky.

Gray Pine (Pinus divaricata var. banksiana) (Scrub Pine, Jack Pine). Medium- to large-sized tree. Heartwood pale brown, rarely yellow; sapwood nearly white. Wood light, soft, not strong, close-grained. Used for fuel, railway ties, and fence posts. In days gone by the Indians preferred this species for frames of canoes. Maine, Vermont, and Michigan to Minnesota. REDWOOD (See Cedar)

SPRUCE

Resembles soft pine, is light, very soft, stiff, moderately strong, less resinous than pine; has no distinct heartwood, and is of whitish color. Used like soft pine, but also employed as resonance wood in musical instruments and preferred for paper pulp. Spruces, like pines, form extensive forests. They are more frugal, thrive on thinner soils, and bear more shade, but usually require a more humid climate. "Black" and "White" spruce as applied by lumbermen usually refer to narrow and wide-ringed forms of black spruce (Picea nigra).

Black Spruce (Picea nigra var. mariana). Medium-sized tree, forms extensive forests in northwestern United States and in British America; occurs scattered or in groves, especially in low lands throughout the northern pineries. Important lumber tree in eastern United States. Heartwood pale, often with reddish tinge; sapwood pure white. Wood light, soft, not strong. Chiefly used for manufacture of paper pulp, and great quantities of this as well as Picea alba are used for this purpose. Used also for sounding boards for pianos, violins, etc. Maine to Minnesota, British America, and in the Alleghanies to North Carolina.

White Spruce (Picea canadensis var. alba). Medium- to large-sized tree. Heartwood light yellow; sapwood nearly white. Generally associated with the preceding. Most abundant along streams and lakes, grows largest in Montana and forms the most important tree of the sub-arctic forest of British America. Used largely for floors, joists, doors, sashes, mouldings, and panel work, rapidly superceding Pinus strobus for building purposes. It is very similar to Norway pine, excels it in toughness, is rather less durable and dense, and more liable to warp in seasoning. Northern United States from Maine to Minnesota, also from Montana to Pacific, British America.

White Spruce (Picea engelmanni). Medium- to large-sized tree, forming extensive forests at elevations from 5,000 to 10,000 feet above sea level; resembles the preceding, but occupies a different station. A very important timber tree in the central and southern parts of the Rocky Mountains. Rocky Mountains from Mexico to Montana.

Tide-Land Spruce (Picea sitchensis) (Sitka Spruce). A large-sized tree, forming an extensive coast-belt forest. Used extensively for all classes of cooperage and woodenware on the Pacific Coast. Along the sea-coast from Alaska to central California.

Red Spruce (Picea rubens). Medium-sized tree, generally associated with Picea nigra and occurs scattered throughout the northern pineries. Heartwood reddish; sapwood lighter color, straight-grained, compact structure. Wood light, soft, not strong, elastic, resonant, not durable when exposed. Used for flooring, carpentry, shipbuilding, piles, posts, railway ties, paddles, oars, sounding boards, paper pulp, and musical instruments. Montana to Pacific, British America.

BASTARD SPRUCE

Spruce or fir in name, but resembling hard pine or larch in appearance, quality and uses of its wood.

Douglas Spruce (Pseudotsuga douglasii) (Yellow Fir, Red Fir, Oregon Pine). One of the most important trees of the western United States; grows very large in the Pacific States, to fair size in all parts of the mountains, in Colorado up to about 10,000 feet above sea level; forms extensive forests, often of pure growth, it is really neither a pine nor a fir. Wood very variable, usually coarse-grained and heavy, with very pronounced summer-wood. Hard and strong ("red" fir), but often fine-grained and light ("yellow" fir). It is the chief tree of Washington and Oregon, and most abundant and most valuable in British Columbia, where it attains its greatest size. From the plains to the Pacific Ocean, and from Mexico to British Columbia.

Red Fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) (Oregon Pine, Puget Sound Pine, Yellow Fir, Douglas Spruce, Red Pine). Heartwood light red or yellow in color, sapwood narrow, nearly white, comparatively free from resins, variable annual rings. Wood usually hard, strong, difficult to work, durable, splinters easily. Used for heavy construction, dimension timber, railway ties, doors, blinds, interior finish, piles, etc. One of the most important of Western trees. From the plains to the Pacific Ocean, and from Mexico to British America.

TAMARACK (See Larch)

YEW

Wood heavy, hard, extremely stiff and strong, of fine texture with a pale yellow sapwood, and an orange-red heartwood; seasons well and is quite durable. Extensively used for archery bows, turner's ware, etc. The yews form no forests, but occur scattered with other conifers.

Yew (Taxus brevifolia). A small to medium-sized tree of the Pacific region.