Forests : A Naturalist's Guide to Woodland Trees

by Walker, Laurence C.

• ISBN13: 9780292791121
• ISBN10: 0292791127
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780292786752
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

First published in 1990, Forests explores the ecological, economic, and human influences on over thirty significant types of woodlands. Laurence Walker focuses especially on the effects of site factors--climate, physiography, biology, and soils--upon the growth of various kinds of trees. Projects for amateur naturalists, reading lists, and a glossary make this the perfect introduction for general readers.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
1 The Changing Forest	1	(8)
Seeds and Their Seedlings	1	(1)
On Roots	2	(1)
Ecological Succession	3	(1)
A Little Knowledge Is....	4	(5)
THE NEEDLELEAF TREES	9	(142)
2 Westward Wood: Douglas-fir	9	(8)
Taxonomic "Confusion Worse Confounded,"	9	(2)
Reforest-and-Stay-Put	11	(1)
When Clearcutting Is Not Evil	12	(1)
On Imitating Nature	12	(1)
When Fire Is Not Evil	13	(1)
When Red Alder Is Not Evil	13	(1)
Ecological Associates	14	(3)
3 Dwarf and Giant: Longleaf Pine	17	(9)
The Grass Stage	19	(1)
Growing Straight and Tall	20	(1)
A Needle Blight	21	(1)
Predator Pests	21	(1)
Seed for the Sowing	22	(1)
The New Forest	23	(3)
4 Tall Timbers: Coast Redwood	26	(7)
Sequoias Are Not All Redwoods	26	(2)
Four Factors of Site	28	(1)
A Conifer That Sprouts	29	(1)
The Shortest Distance Is Up and Down	29	(1)
Wood of Redwood	30	(1)
Tribute to the Chief	30	(3)
5 Murky Bottom and Droughty Land: Loblolly Pine	33	(10)
Indian Influences	35	(1)
Virgin Forest and Second-Growth	36	(1)
Clearcutting Is Good Ecology	36	(1)
Phenology	37	(1)
Habitat	38	(2)
Uses of the Trees	40	(3)
6 Ancient Wonders: Bristlecone Pine	43	(5)
Trees of the Past	43	(3)
Trees for the Future	46	(2)
7 Redcedar Riddle: Eastern Redcedar	48	(5)
Cedar Sites	49	(2)
Measurements Follow Observations	51	(2)
8 Enduring Giants: Giant Sequoia	53	(7)
Sentinels of the Sierras	53	(1)
Sequoia, Chief Among Trees	53	(3)
Big Tree, Little Seed	56	(1)
A Riddle	56	(1)
Tall Trees, Tough Men	57	(1)
Climb and Climate	57	(1)
Ancient World, Old World, and New World Meet	58	(2)
9 Up from the Ashes: Sand, Pond, Pitch, Jack, and Lodgepole Pines	60	(12)
Tree for a Sandy Land	60	(3)
Tree for a Swampy Land	63	(2)
Tree for a Barren Land	65	(1)
Tree for a Desecrated Land	66	(2)
Tree for a Rocky Land	68	(2)
Trees for Many Lands	70	(2)
10 Mountain Heights to Low Bogs: Spruce and Fir Trees	72	(13)
Alike, Yet Different	74	(1)
Distinctions Between the Spruces	75	(1)
Flowers and Seeds	75	(1)
Spruce--Fir and Wildlife	76	(1)
Insect and Disease Attack	76	(1)
Uses of the Wood	77	(1)
Chemical Uses	78	(1)
Ecological Trends	79	(1)
Locales	80	(1)
Scandinavia's Presentation to North America	81	(1)
Names and Their Derivations	81	(1)
Big Trees Among Them	82	(1)
The Muskeg Bog	82	(1)
Appalachian Balds	83	(2)
11 Trees on the Range: Junipers and Pinyon Pine	85	(7)
"A Worthy Purpose,"	86	(1)
"Be It Ever So Humble,"	87	(1)
"The Company One Keeps,"	88	(1)
Extending the Range	88	(1)
Holding the Line	89	(1)
A Nature Note	89	(3)
12 Swamp Dweller: Baldcypress	92	(7)
About the Old Forest	94	(1)
About the New Forest	94	(1)
Woodland Cathedral	95	(1)
Blue Elbow	96	(1)
Knees and Swollen Butts	97	(1)
A Wood Worth Growing	97	(2)
13 Timber for a King: Eastern White Pine	99	(12)
Where It Grows	101	(1)
A Southern Highland Situation	101	(1)
How It Grows	102	(1)
A Northern Highland Situation	103	(1)
White Birch Nurse Trees	104	(1)
A Nutritional Malady	105	(1)
A Barren Land Reclaimed	106	(1)
Chemical Tests as a Tool	106	(1)
Foliage Symptoms for Diagnosing Ailments	106	(1)
An Insect Malady	107	(1)
Sunshine, a Malady	108	(1)
A Pathological Malady	108	(1)
An Environmental Malady	109	(1)
And White Pine Blister Rust	109	(2)
14 From Monterey to the World: Monterey Pine	111	(9)
At Home and Abroad	111	(3)
Climate Preference	114	(1)
Soil Preferences	114	(1)
Discriminating Preferences	115	(1)
Chromosomal Preferences	115	(1)
Flowers and Seeds	116	(1)
Mycorrhizae--The Good-Guy Fungi	117	(1)
Some Pros and Cons	117	(1)
To the World	118	(2)
15 Woods of Longevity: White-Cedars and Junipers	120	(10)
Atlantic White-Cedar	120	(1)
Acid Swamps	121	(1)
Seeds and Seedlings	122	(1)
Regeneration	123	(1)
Wildlife in These Woods	124	(1)
Problems for Atlantic White-Cedar	124	(1)
Northern White-Cedar	125	(1)
Northern White-Cedar Wood	126	(1)
From Seed to Harvest	126	(2)
Landscapers' Choice	128	(1)
Cedars of the Brakes, the Glades, and the Basin	128	(2)
16 Pioneer Plant for Paper Pulp: Virginia Pine	130	(4)
Where They Grow	130	(1)
How They Grow	131	(1)
Christmas Trees	131	(3)
17 Krummholz and Elfinwood: Subalpine Fir	134	(8)
Associates Among the Trees	134	(1)
Associates Among the Lesser Plants	135	(1)
Associates Among the Animals	136	(1)
Spire-Shaped and Prostrate Habit	136	(6)
18 Sandhills and Flatwoods: Slash Pine	142	(9)
Sandhills Sites	143	(1)
Flatwoods Forests	143	(1)
Extending the Range	144	(1)
Scientific Exploration	144	(7)
THE BROADLEAF TREES	151	(118)
19 Lost Bonanza: American Chestnut	151	(9)
The Tree That Had Everything	151	(2)
A Threat That Became a Catastrophe	153	(2)
Salvage	155	(1)
What After Chestnut?	156	(1)
Toward a Future Chestnut	157	(3)
20 Oranges That Are Apples: Osage-Orange	160	(6)
An Old Tale	160	(2)
Oranges and Apples, the French and the Indians	162	(1)
Shelterbelts and Windbreaks	162	(1)
A Look at the Tree	163	(1)
A Drupe Fruit	163	(1)
Uses for the Wood	164	(2)
21 Cinderella Cellulose: Trembling Aspen	166	(7)
Bunyan's Toothpicks	168	(1)
Coppice Reproduction	168	(1)
Single-Sex Trees	169	(1)
Fire Is Not Alone	170	(1)
Cinderella, Did We Say!	171	(2)
22 Living Riprap: Willows	173	(6)
Kin to Cottonwood,	175	(1)
Willow Wood	176	(3)
23 Toxic Defense: Black Walnut	179	(9)
Allelopathy	179	(2)
Influence on Succession	181	(1)
Walnut Wood	182	(1)
Earlier Uses of the Tree	183	(1)
Walnut in Mythology	184	(1)
Appearance of a Noble Tree	184	(1)
Plantations	185	(1)
Silviculture	186	(2)
24 From Cotton to Cottonwood: Cottonwood	188	(9)
New Trees	188	(2)
Ecological Characteristics	190	(1)
Tolerance to Flooded Land	190	(1)
Tolerance to Arid Land	191	(1)
Soil Moisture Regulates Growth	191	(1)
Ecological Succession Begins	191	(1)
New Forests Not From Nature	192	(1)
Management Matters	193	(1)
Usefulness	194	(1)
Some Pests: Insects	194	(1)
Other Pests: Fungi	194	(1)
Still Other Pests	195	(1)
The Future	195	(2)
25 Species Proliferation: The Oaks	197	(11)
Casks and Pipes	197	(2)
Other Uses for White Oak Group Woods	199	(1)
Red Oak Group Wood and Its Uses	200	(1)
The Wood of Both Groups	201	(1)
Outward Appearances--Form	201	(1)
Leaves	202	(1)
Twigs	202	(1)
Flowers and Fruits	203	(1)
Spiral Arrangements	203	(1)
Taxonomists' Fun and Games	204	(1)
Champion Trees	205	(1)
Problems for the Genus	205	(1)
How Foresters Regenerate Oaks	205	(1)
Biblical Beards	206	(2)
26 Tree Legume: Black Locust	208	(9)
How the Bacteria Work	208	(2)
Roots, a Tree's Brain	210	(1)
Nitrogen Is Not a Mineral Fertilizer	210	(1)
Wood of Black Locust	211	(1)
Identifying Characteristics	212	(1)
Mesquite Story	213	(1)
Black Locust for Spoil Banks	213	(1)
Environmental Concern	214	(1)
Black Locust Problems	214	(1)
Final Note	215	(2)
27 Ship Timbers: Live Oak	217	(11)
What Kind of Tree Is Live Oak?	218	(2)
Ecological Relationships--Dunes	220	(1)
In the Forest	220	(1)
Farmland Competition	221	(1)
What Kind of Wood Does Live Oak Have?	221	(2)
The Live Oakers	223	(1)
Moving the Wood Pieces	223	(1)
Live Oak Trees and Politics	224	(1)
Live Oaks as Monuments	225	(3)
28 Stink-Bomb Tree: Ginkgo	228	(8)
Tree of Antiquity	229	(2)
A Matter of Mating	231	(1)
Leaf Spigots	232	(1)
Living Scissors	232	(4)
29 Forests to Fine Furniture: The Northern Hardwoods	236	(8)
Climax Vegetation	238	(1)
Where These Trees Grow	238	(1)
Seeds and Seedlings	239	(1)
Uses of the Wood	240	(2)
Injurious Aspects	242	(1)
Conflict Over Trees	242	(2)
30 Tropical Hardwoods: The Dipterocarps	244	(6)
Two Wings	244	(1)
Ecological Contemporaries	245	(1)
Reforestation Efforts	245	(1)
Natural Regeneration	246	(1)
Big Fire	246	(1)
Socioforestry	247	(1)
Exploitation and Government Edicts	247	(3)
31 Low-Mountain Shrubs: Chaparral	250	(4)
Fire and Development	251	(3)
32 Tree-Like Monocots: Bamboos and Palms	254	(11)
Bamboos	254	(2)
Synchrony, a Physiological Symphony	256	(1)
Palms	257	(1)
See How They Grow	257	(2)
Other Uses of Palm	259	(1)
Cabbage Palms	260	(1)
Royal Palm	261	(1)
Washington Palm	261	(1)
Canary Island Date Palm Problem	261	(1)
Roundup	261	(4)
THE FOREST--WHOSE WOODS THESE ARE Forests for the Future	265	(4)
Afterword	269	(2)
Further Reading	271	(2)
Glossary	273	(10)
Index	283