The FRUIT consists of a mass of nuts in a globular head forming an aggregate fruit ¾ inch in diameter. The red-brown nutlets have 2 to 4 closed, 1-seeded portions. The WOOD is of little value.
RUSTY BLACKHAW (Viburnum) Viburnum rufidulum Raf.
Rusty blackhaw is found in woods and thickets over East Texas. It forms a tree, sometimes 35 feet high, with a trunk over a foot in diameter, but is usually much smaller, often flowering as a shrub. The twigs are ashy-gray, becoming dark dull reddish-brown after one to several years. The winter buds are densely covered with rusty brown hairs which persist for some weeks at the base of the leaf-stalks.
The BARK is ¼ to ½ inch thick, becoming roughened into small plate-like, dark brown scales tinged with red.
[Illustration: RUSTY BLACKHAW (Fruit and twig, three-quarters natural size; leaf, two-thirds natural size)]
The simple LEAVES are opposite or whorled, elliptic to obovate or oval, pointed or blunt at the apex, wedge-shaped or rounded at the base, and with fine teeth on the margin. They are leathery in texture, lustrous dark green above, pale and dull below, about 3 inches long, and 1 to 1½ inches wide.
The FLOWERS are small and white; each has five petals and five stamens, and appear in the spring in dense clusters at the tips of branches.
The FRUIT ripens in the fall. It is a bright blue, oval drupe, over ½ inch long, covered with a glaucous bloom, and containing a stony seed ¼ inch long and ⅓ inch wide.
The bad smelling WOOD has no economic use.
ARIZONA CYPRESS (Cupressus arizonica Greene)
is an evergreen native to the mountains of the south Trans-Pecos Region. It grows from a height of 30 to 70 feet and 18 to 24 inches in diameter. The needles are blue-green. Fruit a cone as large as 1¼ inches in diameter. The wood is heavy and used to some extent for fence posts.
ALLIGATOR JUNIPER (Juniperus deppeana Steud.)
grows in the mountains of southwestern Texas, normally as a small tree, or even as a sprawling shrub under adverse conditions. Its name derives from the fact that the bark on older trees somewhat resembles alligator hide, being broken up into square plates 1 to 2 inches across. The leaves are about ⅛ inch long, and blue-green in color. The fruit is berry-like, nearly round, reddish-brown, and matures in two seasons. Seeds 3-4.