11 Kapok Tree

Why the kapok tree (figure 11.1) is often described as majestic? The Kapok tree is an emergent tree of the tropical rainforests, and is often described as majestic. It can grow to a height of 150 feet or more, towering over other trees in the rainforest. Originally a native to South America it now has spread to the primary rainforests of West Africa, and the Southeast Asian rainforests of the Malay Peninsula, and the Indonesian archipelago.

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Figure 11.1 Kapok Tree

he straight trunks are cylindrical, smooth and gray in color, and can reach a diameter of 9 feet. Large spines protrude from the trunk to discourage damage to the trunk. Thin, plank type buttresses stabilize the giant and can extend to 30 feet. The wood is a pinkish white to ashy brown in color, with a straight grain. The branches grow in horizontal tiers, and spread widely.

The crown has an open umbrella shape. Many plants and animals grow and live in the branches of the kapok tree. Birds nest in it, and mammals use the huge branches as highways. Frogs breed in the pools of water that collect in the bromeliads.

Kapoks are drought deciduous. This means they shed most or all of their leaves during the tropical dry season. The dry season occurs during the northern hemisphere winter.

In many places the straight trunks of the kapok tree are used to make dugout canoes. The white, fluffy seed covering is used in pillows and mattresses. Since it is buoyant and water resistant it is often used in flotation devices and padding. The seeds, leaves, bark and resin have been used to treat dysentery, fever, asthma, and kidney disease. In Mayan myths the kapok tree was sacred. They believed that the souls of the dead would climb up into the branches which reached into heaven.

The kapok tree is widely spread around the world and occupies an important niche in the ecosystem of a rainforest. Emergent trees like the kapok rise above the canopy of the rainforest and provide a home for plants dependent on sunlight. Their branches provide a habitat for countless epiphytes, which provide food and shelter for many types or animals. They allow animals to move around the rainforest without coming down to the ground. Monkeys who venture out to the tops of emergent trees are easy prey for eagles.

There is no status on the kapok tree. Its timber is desirable because of the great length of its trunks, the beautiful color of its wood, and its straight grain. People of the rainforest have many uses for the kapok tree. As with many desirable things, too many people may want to exploit the kapok tree and put its future in jeopardy.

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12 Common Lime

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Figure 12.1

he common lime is a tall, stately tree, which grows in the deciduous forests of Europe, the British Isles, and the USA. In the USA it is known as a linden tree. It is the tallest broad-leaved tree in Britain. In the past it was found growing throughout the old growth forests of Europe. Today there are no original forests left there, but the common lime is still widespread because it is frequently planted along avenues and in gardens. The common lime can live up to 500 years.

The tree can grow to a height of 120-130 ft (25 m). Bushy side shoots grow along the trunk from near the ground. The lower branches arch out, giving the tree an upside-down pyramid look.

The leaves of the common lime (figure 12.1) grow singly along a stem but not opposite each other, and about 4-7 inches (5-10 cm) wide. They are roundish and slightly heart shaped with small, fine-toothed edges. Their color is a dull, dark green color above and lighter green underneath. The tops of the leaves are hairless but have tufts of white hairs at the junction of the veins underneath. The leaves often have small blisters caused by aphids and other sap-sucking insects. Flowers of the common lime are yellowish to dull white in color and are sweetly scented. They hang from slender stalks in flattened clusters of 4-10 on a stalk. They have five petals and are about 1/2 inch (15 mm) wide. Insects attracted by the abundant nectar pollinate them. The common lime blooms in June and July. The common lime fruit is a small round nutlet about the size and shape of a pea. Hairy and faintlyribbed, they hang together on green bracts. In October they float away from the parent tree on the wind. The bark is smooth and a dull grey color when young. As it grows older, the bark becomes brownish-grey with perpendicular, shallow cracks. The stringy inner bark is called bass or bast. It is used to make mats, ropes, and fancy baskets.

The wood is white, smooth and close-grained. It is a light wood and doesn’t become worm-eaten. It is useful for small things that don’t need much strength. It is often used for carvings and the sounding boards for pianos, and for artist’s charcoal.

The common lime has been used as a home remedy for colds, flu, coughs, epilepsy and indigestion. The inner bark contains a gelatin-like material that was applied to soothe skin irritations. Tea made from leaves and flowers is used to treat cold symptoms. However, drinking too much flower tea may cause heart damage. During the Middle Ages statues of the Virgin Mary were carved from lime wood. They called the wood sacred wood. In Germany the tree was thought to bring fertility and prosperity, and was considered the sacred tree for people in love.

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13 The Oak-Hickory Forest

The typical upland forests of southern New England have a different appearance from the northern hardwood forests. First, the trees themselves are different. Here oaks are the most common trees; their lustrous dark green leaves provide a sharp contrast to the delicate greens of the northern hardwoods. Hickory and red maple are also common trees on drier sites.

Where there is a bit more moisture, the variety of trees increases. A number of southern trees including black birch, sweet gum (in southwestern Connecticut), tulip tree, and dogwood join the tree community. In extreme southern New England, however, hemlock and the northern hardwoods become limited to shady ravines and moist, north-facing slopes. White pine, so common in central New England, also becomes scarce in the extreme southern part.

The oak forests in southern New England also appear drier and more open than those of the north. In place of the lush undergrowth of the northern forest, large patches of the forest floor are entirely bare of vegetation or support only monotonous growth of blueberry, sheep laurel, or huckleberry. Generally speaking, the southern woods arc drier than those farther north. Although both areas receive about the same yearly rainfall, the hot sun and longer summer season dries out the southern woods more rapidly. Where some ground water is available, however, the southern New England woods support thick undergrowth.

Another characteristic of the southern New England woodlands is the relatively small size of the trees. The miles of stone walls that crisscross the woods point out how much of the land was once cleared.

Coppice trees – that is, trees with several trunks growing in a clump from one set of roots – are a common sight in the oak-hickory forest. Oaks, hickories, and several other hardwoods that are common in these wood­lands have the ability to send up sprouts from burned or cut stumps. Al­though one set of roots can support several generations of trees, the later generations are almost always several-trunked coppice trees. The trunks are usually bent or crowded, the wood unfit for timber. So common are these sprouted, second-growth trees that the oak-hickory region is some­times referred to as the “sprout hardwoods” region.

The majority of young trees and stump sprouts point to the tremen­dous influence of man upon these woodlands. It is clear that most of the forests are still in the process of renewal from large-scale disturbances that have taken place since the arrival of the first European settlers about 350 years ago.

The line between the oak-hickory forests and the northern hardwoods region is indistinct The two meet and blend together along an irregular band stretching from northwestern Connecticut to southern Maine, form­ing what foresters call the “transition forest”. The oaks are generally southern trees, but persist in the woodlands up the Connecticut and Merri­mack Valleys deep into the hardwood regions.

It may be a century or more before the southern New England wood­lands reach a size to be of much value. In Rhode Island, for example, a woodland survey conducted in the 1940s showed that 30 percent of the trees in the woodlands of the state were still too small even to be of use for firewood; only 1 percent of the trees were large enough for saw timber, and these few were too widely scattered to be of any real economic value. No doubt the situation has improved somewhat in the last 20 years, but oak and hardwoods grow slowly. In addition, most of the older trees are cop­pices that rarely yield salable timber.

Nevertheless, all of the states have natural woodland areas that, barring fire or hurricane, will eventually return to a primeval state. These are either part of the state park systems or are owned by private organizations such as the Audubon Society or Nature Conservancy. Many already support mature woodland that can probably give visitors at least an approximate idea of the natural vegetation of this region.

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