Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-07-30
TREES AND THEIR NAMES
IIany wooded Aliases Of tie Same Tree
In DifYercat states--The
Loblolly Fine.

Some kinds Of trees have ms many
| aliases ps the criminal with the Iongtat
police court record For many rcasors
| this il most unfortunate. To scientists.
tho confusion which results when people
mean different things tC the same wor1
| or use different words for the same
thing. In intolerabie, and therefore they
use carefully devised and carefully
| guarded system OF nomenclature.
The every day man IL apt to be i'm
| patient with what seems tho pcda ntic
fondnese OF the bo,nnist for jaw break
Ing Latin names which mean nothing to
tho unirltiatcd. when common usage
| supplies familiar name. Hut the tro,i-
bic Is that on the familiar name there q
| seldom any agreement Hence many
misundsrstnndinss, mnny friendly dis
putes. and often failures even Of those
who know n good dcnl about tries to
distinguish correctly the different kinds
OF trees and woods
School teachers are pcring more and
more attention to nature study work.
and In nature study are paying more and
more attention TO forest trees bccnus,
OF tho general Interest In forestry At
best there nre difficulties enough In the
way for those who have not had special
training In forest botany. when II comes
TO identifying specimens OF leaves and
t~igs brought to them by their pupils.
Leaves. particularly often vhry greatly
not only In different regions but also in
the same locality and even from different
parts of the same tree. Tie lack Of
agreement on the common name adds
another complication.
II Il were possible to bring everyone
to accept one name for each kind OF tree
there would be n decided advantage not
only through making It easier TO recos-
nze trees but also through clearing mp
= confusion rs to the woods In common
use. The makers Of popular tree books
, have tried TO promote uniformity. often
by following the usage given preferences
, by the United States forest service.
which has made a careful study OF pop
ular usage to the end that as much an
thoritv as possible may be given to the
name most widely md commonly used
But unfortunately It Ia too much to ex-
= poet TINT absolute uniformity can ever
I be brought about
The trouble IL Amos, always over
= what the botanist calls the specific
;, name. II la easy enough to tell m onx
from n maple. and there ought not to
be much Northumberland there often
is as 10 whether a trce Ia pine or a
. spruce. But oak. nipple. pine and spruce
I nre generic names and each genus In
T Guides a number ~ species. Here be-
u gins a confusion which oftcn approe che.
{ chnos
/! Not only do different localities apply
different names to the same species and
, the snme name to different species; In
, the same locality several different names
!, ! may be used for a single species, vtr,
;. likely, with false distinctions where M
- botanical hnsis for a distinction exists
= For instance, n certain oak often Gale;
= both black and yellow oak used to b'
}, split into ha nd mo dc Hath In early days
md hence got also the name OF "lath
= oak" but since to ma.c good lath &
- straight grained tree was needed. some
' woodsmen think that black oak sucf
\ ms the Matchmaker would have selected
by its looks. Is a different kind OF tree
| from other black oaks. Black oak +;
also sued ns sub-gcneric term FOR a
the many kinds OF oak which, unlike M
l. white oaks, have leaves with br!stie
tipped lobcs and take two years to M
ture their acorns
4 Indeed the local names given 70 the
" Nll'TPnt OHhS NIt'H Ibi III i'i Wv
a In tho United States are almost withou
limit The true white oak however. 'h'
!. noble.t tree Of the oak tribe, seems T.
, have no nickname except In Arkansas
where It is occasionally known n. sta"'
oak, But good many other kinds ar
" also called white oak.
What 1. chilled black locust In Penn
n sylvana Is yellow locust in Massa
"a 1.,it Now York.
10 locust In one part OF Tennessee are
4. green In another. In Maine 1t Is simpl,
locust, In Louisiana acacia in Mime
:. sofa horcy locust. and in Maryland pos
locust These many names overlap an
D. arc not strictly separated by state lines
on tho other hand the true honey 10
H. Gust (Which belongs TO an altogether dis
t,nct genus from the black locusO
I. known also as black locust sweet locust
thorn locust, locust, three-thorned AGA
,s ella thorn-trce, honey shucks. pauan
n. amourcttc. confederate pinetrce, and
"A few other names.
:" White pine Is a tree OF SO distinguish
~ ed appearance that II Is entitled 10 on
- name among lumhermen as we'll a
10 among botnnsts. But It does not ha''
lc IL. ~ both Massachusetts, and Sout
\. Carolina II Is sometimes known as Wey
4. mouth pine, which In Its universal nam
8. In Europe. Pennsylvania OCCASIONAL
:" speak OF 1t as soft pine. Tcnnesseenn
"a as spruce. and In other parts OF tn
=, South II is called northern pine
:, The loblolly pine is a southern tree
W. and the people OF the South have bee
liberal with names. sometimes applyin
" several IN a restricted locality. In Mort
NJ Carolina Is is loblol,y. oldncld. tore
d, rosemnrv. slash. shortleaf. sap. Indiar
d. yellow, swamp, and longstrnw. each be-
4. ing followed by the word pine" l
AZ Maryla nd II is lonE,hucks In Delnwar
~ longschnt. in Virginia cornstnlk, fo1
-, tail, spruce. swamp and others. II
- called meadow pine In Florida.
" From New England to the Carolina
the tulip poplar Is frequently calle
"a white wood or tulip tree. Y"llow poi
to lar is Its usual name In Pennsylvania
West Virginia and Kentucky. ana on N
IN market In the form Of lumber. 1t Ia 4
M lip poplar in Illinois, poplar In Ohi
>. white poplar In Indiana blue poplar
~ Delaware. hickory poplar In Virgini
-, poppc in Rhode Island. cucumber tire