TEXAS FOREST SERVICE
A PART OF
THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS
CROWN
TRUNK
HEARTWOOD (INACTIVE) GIVES STRENGTH
SAPWOOD CARRIES SAP FROM ROOT TO LEAVES
CAMBIUM (MICROSCOPIC) BUILDS THE CELLS
INNER BARK CARRIES PREPARED FOOD FROM LEAVES TO CAMBIUM LAYER
OUTER BARK PROTECTS TREE FROM INJURIES
ROOTS
SURFACE ROOTS
TAPROOT
Tree increases each year in height and spread of branches by adding on new growth of twigs
Air supplies carbon the principal food of the tree taken in on under surface of leaves.
Leaves prepare the food obtained from air and soil and give off moisture by transpiration. Light and heat are necessary for the chemical changes
The breathing pores of the entire tree,—on leaves, twigs, branches, trunk and roots take in oxygen. Flooding, poisonous gases, or smoke may kill a tree
Root tips or root hairs take up water containing small quantity of minerals in solution
The buds, root tips, and cambium layer are the growing parts of the tree. Water containing a small quantity of minerals in solution is absorbed by the roots, carried up through the sapwood to the leaves and there combined with carbon from the air to make food. This food is carried by the inner bark to all growing parts of the tree, even down to the root tips
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The first edition of Forest Trees of Texas—How to Know Them was assembled by W. R. Matoon and C. B. Webster in 1928. The sections, “Trees as Mankind’s Friends”, “Studying a Tree”, “Other Texas Trees”, drawings of twigs, leaves and fruits, and the glossary were incorporated into the fourth and fifth editions by S. L. Frost and D. A. Anderson. The sixth and seventh editions were edited by H. E. Weaver and W. A. Smith, respectively. Some of the drawings used in this publication were made available by the United States Forest Service.
The eighth edition was revised and edited by John A. Haislet to conform with the nomenclature in Check List of Native and Naturalized Trees of the United States (Including Alaska), Agriculture Handbook No. 41, prepared under the direction of the United States Forest Service Tree and Range Plant Committee. D. A. Anderson’s “A Guide to the Identification of the Principal Trees and Shrubs of Texas” was revised and incorporated in the eighth edition to give it greater utility to the non-technical student of trees.
Trees have held an important place in man’s way of life since he has been on the earth. Trees provided early man with weapons to defend himself and helped provide him with food, shelter and fuel.
Trees have played an important role in the history of the United States. Timber was our nation’s first export. The forest also provided our forefathers with their homes, farm implements, rifle stocks and wagons. The forest, by furnishing ties and utility poles, made possible the expansion of railroad systems, electric power and telephone networks. Every industry depends upon forest products in one way or another.
Trees are more important today than ever before. More than 10,000 products are reportedly made from trees. Through chemistry, the humble woodpile is yielding chemicals, plastics and fabrics that were beyond comprehension when an axe first felled a Texas tree.
The American standard of living depends to no small extent on the care with which we use our forest resource. Fortunately, trees are a renewable resource. They can be grown as a crop and harvested in such a way that the stand is kept productive, and a steady supply of forest products is assured.
TEXAS TREES
A tree is generally defined as a woody plant having one well-defined stem and a more or less definitely formed crown, usually attaining a height of at least eight feet. Using water and minerals from the soil, gases from the air and energy from the sun, a tree manufactures the food it needs for growth and reproduction. Trees, like man, grow rapidly when they are young but gradually their growth decreases; they begin to deteriorate and eventually die. Nature then reduces them to the elements from which they were derived.
The terms “hardwood,” “softwood,” “deciduous” and “non-deciduous” are often encountered in tree literature. These terms are confusing and often misleading. Needle-bearing or cone-bearing trees are designated as softwoods even though the wood may be dense. Hardwoods are the broad-leaved (unlike needles or scales) trees, the wood of which may be dense or soft.
The conifers, or softwoods, generally retain their leaves more than one growing season and produce seed in cones; however, there are exceptions. Baldcypress, a conifer, is deciduous since it sheds its leaves in autumn. Cedar and juniper produce berry-like cones that scarcely resemble cones.
The hardwoods, or broad-leaved trees, are generally deciduous; i.e., they shed their leaves in autumn. Texas has many exceptions, for example: southern magnolia, live oak and American holly which retain green leaves through the winter.
More than half of the 1,100 species of native trees in the United States are found in the South. Of these, more than 200 species and varieties are native to Texas. In addition, many exotic species have been introduced and now grow in many parts of the state.
The four main forest regions of Texas include: the Southern pine forest in East Texas; the central hardwoods, the post oak and cross timbers of North-central Texas; the semi-tropical forest in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas; and the mountain forest, the timbered areas of West Texas which are a continuation of the timber types of the Southern Rocky Mountains. In Texas, trees are the principal vegetative cover on an estimated area of 28,805,617 acres.
TREE REGIONS
PINE-HARDWOOD
CEDAR BREAKS
POST OAK
WEST CROSS TIMBERS
EAST CROSS TIMBERS
MOUNTAIN FORESTS
Texas also has minor tree areas which are almost restricted to Texas; the cedar breaks and the oak shinneries. Some of the shinnery trees are among the smallest in America. In places, fully matured trees are not over knee-high and resemble pigmy forests. In other areas, the same species grows 20 to 30 feet tall to form almost impenetrable thickets.
The pine-hardwood forests of East Texas, comprise 12,525,417 acres in all or part of 42 counties. Lumber, paper, baskets, boxes, ties, poles, piling, posts, handles and shingles constitute the main forest products manufactured in the Piney Woods of East Texas.
Farther west, in East Central Texas, the post oak forests cover approximately 5,030,200 acres in all or part of 39 counties.
The east and west “cross timbers”, occur on an area of approximately 3 million acres. The term “cross timbers” originated with the early settlers who, in their travels from east to west, crossed alternating patches of forests and prairies and so affixed the name “cross timbers” to these forests.
Farther south in the Edwards Plateau region, are the cedar breaks which extend over 3¾ million acres. Cedar grows on the steep slopes and rolling hills common to this region, in association with live oak and mesquite.
Other tree areas of the state include an estimated 500,000 acres of mountain forests in the Trans-Pecos Region and the live oak area along the Gulf Coast.
Two of Texas’ trees, guaiacum and ebony, produce the hardest woods in the United States. Both species are found in the Rio Grande Valley. The tree with the lightest wood in the United States, corkwood, grows near the mouth of the Brazos River. Drooping or weeping juniper, so named for the drooping characteristic of its branches, grows in the Big Bend area but has not been reported to be native elsewhere in this country.
Catclaw, huisache, mimosa, baretta, pistache, black persimmon, Mexican ash, anaqua, flatwoods plum (sloe) and guajillo are other trees common only in Texas.
TEXAS FOREST SERVICE
In 1915, the 34th Texas Legislature created by law the State Department of Forestry and made it a part of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. In 1925, the department became the Texas Forest Service. As it grew, its service to Texas increased. It now helps protect Texas’ forest resources against fire, insects and disease; assists woodland owners in the proper management of their lands; makes available seedlings for reforestation and windbreak purposes; conducts research in forest tree improvement, management and utilization; and conducts an educational program to acquaint Texans as to the desirability of practicing forestry.
The Texas Forest Service, with more than 300 employees, has four departments: Forest Fire Control, Forest Management, Forest Products, and Information and Education. The offices of the Director, and of the Forest Management and the Information and Education Departments are in College Station. Forest Fire Control and Forest Products Department headquarters are in Lufkin.
Seven administrative districts, each headed by a district forester, are responsible for the activities of the Texas Forest Service in the areas of intensive and extensive forest fire protection. District headquarters are located at Linden, Henderson, Lufkin, Woodville, Kirbyville, Conroe and College Station.
More than 10 million acres of state and privately owned timberland in the Piney Woods are now under intensive protection against fire, insects and diseases. An additional area of 5 million acres, commonly referred to as the post oak region, west of and adjacent to the pine-hardwood area, has been under extensive protection beginning with 1962.
TEXAS FORESTRY ASSOCIATION
The Texas Forestry Association is a statewide, nonprofit agency concerned primarily with the educational phase of forest conservation. Organized in 1914, the Association was largely responsible for the passage of the law which created the Department of Forestry at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, and from which the Texas Forest Service emerged.
For more than 48 years, this organization has cooperated with the Texas Forest Service and other interested agencies in promoting the forest economy of Texas. Membership in the Texas Forestry Association is open to all conservation-minded citizens.
ARBOR DAY
The growing dependency of man upon forest resources for raw materials, products, watershed protection, conservation of certain wildlife and recreation gives added significance to Arbor Day which is set aside annually to pay tribute to trees.
Arbor Day originated in Nebraska in 1872. It was first celebrated in Texas in 1889 on George Washington’s birthday, February 22. In 1949, the Texas State Legislature adopted the following resolution:
Resolved, by the House of Representatives of the State of Texas, the Senate concurring, That the third Friday in January of each year be designated as “Arbor Day”, to be devoted to the planting and cultivation of forest, shade and ornamental trees throughout the State and to be observed for that purpose in such manner as may seem best to the people of each community; and be it further
Resolved, That the Governor of Texas be requested to issue an appropriate proclamation annually to encourage the proper observance of such “Arbor Day”.
Arbor Day can best be celebrated by planting one or more suitable trees around a school or club area or by establishing a school plantation. In addition to paying tribute to the beauty of trees, one can call attention to the importance of trees to man’s welfare. The Texas Forest Service continues to assist clubs and schools in organizing Arbor Day programs.
STATE TREE
The pecan, Carya illinoensis, (Wangenh.) K. Koch, was officially designated as the state tree of Texas by an act of the legislature in June 1919.
By an amendment in 1927, certain state agencies were requested to give due consideration to the pecan tree when beautifying state parks and other public property belonging to the state.
STUDYING TREES
Trees, like people, become friends only when we have become well acquainted with them and have a knowledge of the characteristics that make them something special to us. This bulletin about the trees of Texas may be used as a handy reference for identifying trees you do not know, or it may be used as the basis for developing tree friends. The following is a guide or lesson plan that will help make a friend of each tree studied.
I. Object of Study
Each kind of tree has certain identifying characteristics which mark it as being different from other kinds of species of trees. By careful observation and examination these identifying points may be learned and you can feel that you know the tree.
II. Source of Study Material
1. The locality in which you live probably has some trees you know. Why do you know them? Start by studying these trees and make them fast friends.
2. You also will find some trees you are not sure about or do not know; next, study these one by one until you are sure you will always know them.
3. Wherever you may be or whenever you see a tree you do not know, observe it carefully, collect enough facts and sample material to study until you learn to know it.
4. Books, articles, pictures and references will help to learn some trees you cannot actually see but which are of interest to you.
III. Approach to Tree Study
1. One tree should be studied at a time as a general rule although it may be an advantage to select somewhat similar trees and study them by comparisons.
2. Field study of the growing tree is the most satisfactory. Observe a number of the same kind of trees as there are individual variations in some characteristics.
3. If possible collect for reference and further study samples of leaves, twigs, bark, wood, flowers and fruit. BE CAREFUL in collecting samples. It is better not to have samples than to deface or injure the tree. No one will object to your studying their trees if you do no damage.
IV. Procedure
1. General
(a) First observe the tree as a whole taking into consideration all the points that attract your attention. Very often there will be some one thing that either alone or in relation to other points attracts your attention. That feature when studied may be the key to your really learning to know the tree.
(b) The suggestions that follow as to observations of various parts of the tree do not limit the study of those points for perhaps you will learn to know the tree from some feature not listed.
2. Form of tree
Note the size, shape and branching habit; observe its location in relation to other trees that might affect its form.
3. Bark
Observe thickness, roughness, type of fissures and color of bark. Studying the bark as a means of winter identification is particularly worthwhile.
4. Leaves
Study type, size, shape and variations on the same tree; note arrangement on twigs; describe by the blade, stalk, margin, venation, base and tip; know their texture and color.
5. Twigs
Note lateral arrangement on branches; observe whether flexible or stocky and whether rough or smooth; study differences between new growth and old; learn any distinctive color, smell, or taste; cut a cross-section and note size, shape, color and size of pith; note presence or absence of lenticels.
6. Buds
Like bark, the buds are helpful in winter identification. Note size, scale coverings, and shape. Observe arrangement and position on twigs; compare terminal and lateral buds.
7. Leaf-scars
Study scars left by falling leaves as to size, form, position and occurrence; note bundle-scars (appear as marks in scar) as to number, shape, size, and arrangement.
8. Flowers
Study promptly at proper season; trees vary widely in flowering habits; observe as to size, form, shape of parts, color and arrangement; and learn whether the tree has one or two kinds of flowers—if two, whether male and female flowers are on same tree.
9. Fruit
Study of fruit also is seasonal. When it is available, observe type, form, structure and method of distribution.
10. Wood
Identification of trees by wood forms a separate study but often field identification of trees can be aided by observation of distinctive points about the wood such as color, taste and general structure.
11. Habitat
An interesting and often useful help in tree identification is to note the growing habits of trees, whether in dry or moist places, what other species same type sites, whether it grows better in open places or in more sheltered locations and the like.
V. Summary