Bark (plant)

“ The skin protected the young shoot; then its empty cells finally peeled off, as the cork cells formed underneath and made a thick bark. The bark then does the work of the skin. It protects the stem. It becomes very thick sometimes, as layers are constantly added beneath. The outside of the bark keeps peeling and scaling off.
Of course there are no stomata in bark. We find them only in the living skin. Bark does not need stomata, as it does not regulate the water supply. The young green parts of the plant do that by means of their covering of living skin. ”

“ It has a large, stout trunk, covered with a rough, scaly bark, on which you will frequently notice many green patches caused by a tiny plant which makes its home there.
The branches are large and spreading, and they sweep downwards to the ground, then rise again towards the tips, forming graceful curves. The shoots bearing the buds always point towards the sky, and in spring these shoots grow very fast for about a month, then they do not become any larger, but the shoot thickens and is soon tough and woody. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The bark on the younger limbs, which is of a rich Indian red, begins to peel off in thin layers about midsummer, leaving a clear, smooth, greenish-buff surface, and strewing the forest floor with its warm shreds, which mingling with the exquisite tones of its ripened leaves, which have fallen at about the same time, make a carpet equal in beauty of coloring to that under the English beeches. It is thoroughly patrician in all its parts. The leaves which are clustered at the ends of the slender twigs are rich, polished green above, and somewhat paler beneath. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The bark is commonly taken from the bodies of the trees of a foot or foot and half diameter; the bark being so thin, when the trees are younger, as to lose all its qualities very soon. I here inquired for the different sorts of cassia-tree of which I had been told, but was now informed that there was only one sort, and that the difference they mentioned was occasioned entirely by the soil and situation in which the trees grow; that those which grow in a rocky dry soil have red shoots, and their bark is of superior quality to that of trees which grow in moist clay, whose shoots are green. ”

“ Those who have not the heart to cut back a fine tree, may attempt and will sometimes succeed in bringing out branches below, by nicking the bark with a large sharp pruning-knife, at several points along the stem, on all sides, but especially to the southwest, where the shelter of the branches is most needed. This, however, requires us to wait at least one season, and that the most trying one to the young tree, during which the naked bark is exposed to the sun and insects ”

“ The bark has a reddish tinge, and it is so loose and ragged-looking that it has been said to roll up its bark in coarse ringlets, which are whitish with a stain of crimson. The red birch, which is more rare than any of the other kinds, is a much larger tree than the white birch, but, like all its relations, it is very graceful. The wood is white and hard and makes very good fuel, while the twigs are made into brooms for sweeping streets and courtyards. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ While this grows, it increases by a living layer of cork-cambium on its inner face, but it usually dies after a few years. In some trees it goes on growing for many years. It forms the layers of bark in the Paper Birch and the cork of commerce is taken from the Cork Oak of Spain. The green bark is of cellular tissue, with some green coloring matter like that of the leaves; it is at first the outer layer, but soon becomes covered with cork. It does not usually grow after the first year. Scraping the bark of an old tree, we find the bark homogeneous. ”

“ The Bark is silvery grey, smooth to the point of shining, with occasional scales and a few lenticels. Very old trees cast large scales from the lower trunk. The bark frequently shows a marked spiral twisting round the stem and there are folds and creases like a skin. Resin exudes from the slash which is light red and of crumbling texture. ”

“ The wood makes excellent fuel, and is much used for that purpose in some of the large cities of America. The bark, too, is excellent for tanning—almost equal to that of the oak.
The “red birch” is still another species, which takes its name from the reddish hue of its bark. This is equal in size to the canoe-birch, often growing seventy feet high, with a trunk of nearly three feet diameter. Its branches are long, slender, and pendulous; and it is from the twigs of this species that most of the “birch-brooms” used in America are made. ”