Bark (botany)

“ The bark looks shriveled and withered, the twigs seem dry when cut, and resist the knife; when thawed by the fire, or on the return of spring weather, the bark seems loose, and the inner bark, instead of being greenish-white, becomes brown, and the whole tree looks as though it was dead. In old trees, large portions of the bark start from the stem and large limbs, and hang loosely for awhile and then fall off. The buds alone retain their vitality, and upon the return of spring they sometimes succeed in establishing the necessary connection with the soil, and restore the circulation of the sap ”

“ The bark is light yellowish-grey, translucent, horny, shrivelled, knotted and partially annulated. Very frequently a keel-shaped ridge occurs, running like a shrunken sinew through the principal root; it has no connexion with the wood, but originates in a one-sided development of the liber-tissue. The bark encloses a pure, white woody column about as thick as itself. After the root has been macerated in water the bark is easily peeled off, and the peculiar structure of the wood can then be studied. ”

“ These bracts fall as soon as the leaves push forth. It is noted that the flowers lose their color as the leaf-buds swell, although they do not wither until the leaves are unrolling. The bark is so elastic and tough that a knot may be tied, without its breaking, in a stem as big as the little finger. The first glimpse of this gray bush strung with its golden jewels and never a trace of green about its branches, gives a pleasure akin to the more spiritual delight of beholding the Wych Hazel which occupies the same place in nature at the other end of the flower year. ”

“ The nursing these stems during their growth is often the support of a whole family, and requires a good deal of attention. To prevent the bark from splitting in the heat of the day, each stem is swathed with wet bandages, and the least tendency to become crooked is counteracted, either by a judicious application of the bandage, or by more copiously watering the plant on one side than on the other. A perfectly straight stem, with a uniformly shining bark, is, however, a great rarity, and sells for about two guineas.
The bowls are made of a clay called kefkil, found in Asia Minor, and in Greece. ”

“ The bark, which constitutes 75 to 80 per cent. of the entire root, may be easily separated from the less brittle wood. It has a bitterish taste and faint, musty smell; when freshly dried it is probably much more odorous. The wood is almost tasteless. In the drug of commerce the roots are always much broken, and there is often a considerable separation of bark from wood; portions of the non-annulated, woody, subterraneous stem are always present. ”

“ The galls are pounded and boiled, and into the infusion thus made the stuffs about to be dyed are dipped,'"
"I should think," said Clara, "that people would plant oak trees everywhere, when they are so useful. Is anything done with the bark?"
"Yes," said her governess; "the bark, which is very rough, is valuable for tanning leather and for medicine. The element which has the effect of turning raw hide or skin into leather is called tannin; it is also found in the bark of some other trees and in tropical plants." ”

“ When the plants are cut down, three or four young shoots or suckers generally spring up, but this does not always happen, as some of the more industrious bark-collectors frequently pull up the roots, and bark them also. The bark is taken from the smallest twigs, and thus the annual growths are often taken, especially if they are strong. The plants are sometimes found growing in small clumps, and sometimes solitary, but always in dry situations. ”

“ The bark always grows up again, and its quality improves with the increasing age of the tree. It is commonly singed a little over a strong fire or glowing coals, and laid to soak a certain time in water, after which it is placed under stones in order to be pressed straight.
This tree, as well as its use, was known to the Greeks and the Romans. By the former it was called phellus. Theophrastus reckons it among the oaks, and says that it has a thick fleshy bark, which must be stripped off every three years to prevent it from perishing. ”

“ Its bark, when only of one year’s growth, is of a fine scarlet colour, and appears very beautiful; but as it grows older, it changes into a mixture of grey and red. The stalks of this shrub grow many of them together, and rise to the height of six or eight feet, the largest not exceeding an inch diameter. The bark being scraped from the sticks, and dried and powdered, is also mixed by the Indians with their tobacco, and is held by them in the highest estimation for their winter smoaking. A weed that grows near the great lakes, in rocky places, they use in the summer season. ”

“ The bark, too, wears often a pleasant hue. It is naturally of a dingy olive; but it is always overspread, in patches, with a variety of mosses and lichens, which are commonly of a lighter tint in the upper parts, and of a deep velvet green towards the root. Its smoothness, also, contrasts agreeably with these rougher appendages. No bark tempts the lover so much to make it the depository of his mistress's name. ”

“ The ring of bark removed should be about half an inch in length and its upper end should come about a quarter of an inch below a bud. At the present season the bark will not peel from the wood. It will, therefore, be necessary to scrape it off, so as to leave nothing but the wood on the girdled area. The bark should be cleanly cut at each end of this area. I hope that we shall still have sufficient warm weather to induce the formation of a callus on the cambium at the upper end of this ring. ”

“ It holds its foliage and color till quite late in the fall. The bark, with age, becomes white, resembling the white birch, and the beauty of the tree increases with its age. It is a free grower, and requires no trimming. Nature has given it a symmetry which art cannot improve. ”

“ Shape symmetrical, pyramidal, short-trunked, 40-150 ft. tall. Bark on young trunks white-mottled, on old brown, smoothish or checked into rough plates. Leaves 2-5 in. long, evergreen, the undersides densely white downy beneath, becoming smooth, with a white bloom; nerves parallel, conspicuous beneath. Fruit acorn-like but the cup scales almost prickly. Range: Mts. of sw. Ore. and n. Coast Ranges of Calif.; also in the Sierra Nevada to Mariposa Co. The wood is hard and strong, used for furniture and interior construction. The bark is highly valuable for tanning ”

“ It has a sweetish taste, but a disagreeable smell, and is generally given in the form of a decoction, which is made by boiling an ounce of the dried bark in a quart of water until it assumes the color of Madeira wine. Three or four grains of the powdered bark acts as a powerful purgative. The bark is known as bastard cabbage bark, or worm bark. It is almost obsolete in medicine.
29. Andropogon muricatus.—The Khus-Khus, or Vetiver grass of India. The fibrous roots yield a most peculiar but pleasing perfume. In India the leaves are manufactured into awnings, blinds, and sunshades ”

“ The injury arising from moss is too well known to call for any remark, but the reason why the removal of rough bark, and especially rough bark at the head of the tree, and at the junction of the topmost branches with the stem is of such importance is, that it is in the crevices of the rough bark that the Borer fly lays its eggs. ”

“ The flowers appear with the leaves, the staminate are in hairy catkins 2-3 inches long, the pistillate are sessile in axils of the leaves.
The fruit is an acorn maturing the first year. The nut is 3⁄4 to 1 inch long, light brown, about one-quarter enclosed in the warty cup. It is relished by hogs and other livestock. The bark is thin, light ashy-gray and covered with loose scales or broad plates.
The wood is useful and valuable. It is heavy, strong, hard, tough, close-grained, durable, and light brown in color. ”

“ In both these species the leaf is spear-head shaped, dark green in colour, very glossy in surface, and very hard and brittle to the touch, and both exude a thick milky juice, while the fruit is like a long black pod, the end being red. One species is a tree with large leaves and a somewhat peculiar stem, as the bark hangs down in long flakes and shows a fresh growth of bark forming beneath and preparing to take the place of the old bark as it falls. The other species is a shrub, with smaller leaves, and the bark not peeling off the stem. ”

“ Sticks of other kinds of the same size can also be used: birch and wild cherry may be named among those with smooth bark, and wych elm and maple among those with rough; willow or withy, again, is of most common growth, and exceedingly useful. In river-side neighbourhoods it is often the cheapest and most plentiful of all woods. For mosaic work, it is always peeled, for its bark is unattractive, and its light colour when stripped makes it tell well in contrast to the dark bark of other woods. ”

“ While the newer layers of the wood abound in crude sap, which they convey to the leaves, those of the inner bark abound in elaborated sap, which they receive from the leaves, and convey to the cambium layer, or zone of growth. The proper juices and peculiar products of plants are accordingly found in the foliage and bark, especially the latter. In the bark, therefore, either of the stem or root, medicinal and other principles are usually to be sought, rather [143] than in the wood. ”

“ The bark in every case is taken from the east side of the tree, and the roots selected are also generally, if not always, those growing toward the east. In this case the roots and barks are not bruised, but are simply steeped in warm water for four days. The child is then stripped and bathed all over with the decoction morning and night for four days, no formula being used during the bathing. ”

“ At its best it is usually about ninety feet high and five or six feet in diameter, though you may find specimens here and there considerably larger than this. It is as massive and suggestive of enduring strength as an oak. About two-thirds of the trunk is commonly free of limbs, but close, fringy tufts of spray occur nearly all the way down to the ground. On trees that occupy exposed situations near its upper limit the bark is deep reddish-brown and rather deeply furrowed, the main furrows running nearly parallel to each other and connected on the old trees by conspicuous cross-furrows. ”

“ The roots proper, which diminish in size down to the thickness of a quill, are covered with a dull, rough, spongy bark. This bark has an inert, soft corky layer, beneath which is a firmer inner bark of brighter hue, rich in essential oil. The wood of the root is light and easily cut, in colour of a dull reddish-brown, and with a fragrant odour and spicy taste similar to that of the bark but less strong. It is usually sold in the shops rasped into shavings. ”

“ The bark of the root (Cortex sassafras) is a separate article of commerce, but not much used in England. It consists of channelled, flattish, or curled, irregular fragments seldom exceeding 4 inches long by 3 inches broad and generally much smaller, and from 1/16 to 1⁄4 of an inch in thickness. The inert outer layer has been carefully removed, leaving a scarred, exfoliating surface. The inner surface is finely striated and exhibits very minute shining crystals. The bark has a short, corky fracture, and in colour is a bright cinnamon brown of various shades. ”

“ Its leaves were nearly cordate, or heart-shaped, and of a very dark-green colour; but that which rendered it most conspicuous among the other trees of the forest was the shining white or silver-coloured bark that covered its trunk, and its numerous slender branches. This bark is only white externally. When you have cut through the epidermis you find it of a reddish tinge, very thick, and capable of being divided into several layers. The wood of the tree makes excellent fuel, and is also often used for articles of furniture. ”

“ These, though not large, are plump and fully mature. The bark is smoother and firmer about them than higher up the stem and there is no leaf stalk to interfere with cutting them accurately and making a close fit and tie. ”

“ The best time to gather bark is one month before the period of inflorescence, when it is rich in sap. The flowers are best gathered when about half expanded. The fruit is gathered green or ripe according to the active principle sought. The seeds should always be mature. ”

“ Shoots exposed during growth to the direct rays of the sun have their bark more acrid and spicy than the bark of those which grow in the shade. A marshy soil rarely produces good cinnamon, its texture being cross-grained and spongy, with little aroma. The quality is determined by the thinness of the bark—the thinner and more pliable the finer. The finest quality of bark is smooth and somewhat shiny and of a light yellow color. ”

“ The portion of the descending sap which serves for the growth of the vegetable, exudes in ordinary trees between the bark and the wood, forming a glutinous layer which separates these organs, and is the cause of the facility with which in autumn the bark can be detached from the stem: this portion is called cambium. In palms, and other trees of warm climates, there is no bark, and in such vegetables the nutritive part of the descending sap passes down through the centre of the stem. ”

“ Give one sheet to each tree, and upon it paste a piece of the bark, a leaf, and a blossom. The bark should not be taken from the tree where it is too coarse and clumsy, but where it is nearly smooth and perfect, and gives the best idea of the tree; nor should too thin a piece be taken, as when it gets dry it may wrinkle up and crumble to pieces. It may be well to take off with the bark a thin layer of the wood to stiffen it and keep it smooth. A piece of bark about three inches long and two wide would be of a good size. ”