The WOOD is light, soft, tough, not durable, and light brown in color. It is used in states where the growth is better for the manufacture of pulp, woodenware, furniture, trunks, excelsior, and many other articles. The principal use of basswoods in Texas is for shade and ornament.
DEVILS-WALKINGSTICK (Hercules-Club) Aralia spinosa L.
This tree, a native of Northeast Texas, is armed from the ground up with many sharp spines, a characteristic that has given the tree many names such as Hercules-club, prickly-elder, and prickly-ash. The last name properly belongs to another tree. Devils-walkingstick possesses sufficient beauty to compensate for its spitefulness. The tree is usually small, but occasionally attains a height of 30 feet, the leaves forming a flat-topped, spreading crown.
[Illustration: DEVILS-WALKINGSTICK (Branch, one-half natural size; leaf and fruit greatly reduced)]
The brown BARK is divided by broad shallow fissures into circular, horizontal ridges. The sharp spines along its trunk best identify this tree.
The LEAVES are doubly compounded, or bi-pinnate, the main rachis (leaf-stem) 3 or 4 feet long, clasping the stem with an enlarged base, and leaving conspicuous scars when they fall. The oval leaflets are toothed, pointed, dark green above and paler beneath. They turn yellow in autumn.
In mid-summer each plant bears one immense panicle of small, white FLOWERS, which rises well above the leaves. The tree presents its most striking appearance in autumn when the small black FRUIT ripens, for the fruit-stems turn a rich wine-red. Birds eat the juicy drupes. The WOOD is of no commercial importance.
BLACK TUPELO (Blackgum) Nyssa sylvatica Marsh.
Black gum, often called sour gum, is found in eastern Texas to the valley of the Brazos River; usually in swampy wet soil, but sometimes on dry slopes with the oaks.
The BARK on younger trees is furrowed between flat ridges, and gradually develops into quadrangular blocks that are dense, hard, and nearly black.
[Illustration: BLACK TUPELO (Twig, leaf, and fruit one-half natural size)]
The LEAVES are simple, 2 to 3 inches long, entire, obovate to elliptic, shiny, and dark green in color. In the fall the leaves turn brilliant red.