People use the trees that are around them and
in use, discover the qualities inherent in each species. There are more than 350
species of trees represented in the southern United States. The Tree List included
with this essay selects less than three dozen of these trees to feature as "important"
trees that ought to be recognized by the student. In understanding the construction
of this tree guide, but more importantly, in understanding the actual usage people
made of the trees around them we must keep several things in mind.
First, as a rule of thumb, the most prevalent trees are used the most. In the southern forests, oaks were the common hardwood and were used for the widest range of purposes. While it lasted, the American Chestnut was a common tree and was also used for a variety of purposes ranging from furniture and flooring to fencing. It is listed among the "Basic Two Dozen" trees to emphasize its former importance although the ordinary student will never see a specimen of this tree. For the last half century Sourwood and Persimmon [or any of a dozen other trees] have been more important than American Chestnut because they exist and continue to be used.
In the late eighteenth century, Red Cedars near the Cumberland Plateau at the headwaters of the Duck River were measured at four feet dbh and were described as having trunks clear of branches for sixty feet. Large cedars of this sort were used for wide planks, but this usage disappeared with the cutting of the largest trees. In Jamestown, VA the first Anglican church in the new colony was constructed of cedar. Today Red Cedar is still harvested but it is not considered a major source of wide planks for flooring or construction. Few students will see any cedar larger than eighteen inches.
Second, virtually every tree had some use by settlers. Sassafras and sourwood are not generally considered important trees, but sassafras was widely used for it herbal qualities, and honey made during the time of sourwood flowering was considered to be the best of all. A few shrub-like or small trees such as privet or the odd Devil's Walking Stick [Hercules' Club] had little usage except as occasional ornamentals. English Boxwood was an imported ornamental but the hard wood found use in engravers' blocks and as a base plug in the conical hole in Enfield rifle bullets.
Third, it must be recognized that common terms such as 'oak,' 'maple,' 'pine,' or 'hickory' are general terms that include many species. Inclusion of the Red Oak or White Oak in the list must be understood as representative of the group and not to suggest that the single species was exclusively used. A student ought to be able to recognize, broadly, the two great groups of oaks and ought also to understand that usage and preference varied widely at the local level. Where it occurred Swamp Chestnut Oak [now Quercus michauxii] was greatly prized for making split oak baskets; some contemporary basket makers insist that basket stock must be of this wood and tout its distinctiveness. In the field and in the hand it is very difficult to distinguish Swamp Chestnut Oak from Chestnut Oak [now Q. prinus]. It is sufficient for the generalist to know that these trees together with White Oak [Q. alba] form a group of widely used important trees in the southern forest.
In the sawmill and again as manufactured into furniture or marketed as raw lumber stock, what is called Red Oak, White Oak, or Hickory may include in each case several species. In some cases, market designations--for instance in "cherry" and "maple" furniture--may include woods that are not related to the nominal species. Walnut has become so scarce and expensive recently that some items marketed as walnut or walnut veneer actually contain no walnut at all but instead use a xerographic copy of a walnut grain pattern imprinted on a base wood which is stained to appear walnut.
In the field--on a simple hike through nearby woods or in a walk around the University of the South campus--a person ought to be able--roughly--to identify the trees listed here. The trees listed here were used trees--for construction, fuel, tools, medicine, food, decoration. In the history of that usage is often contained a profound social history of the way people shaped their lives from the resources available to them from the land. If, initially, a student confuses the Sourwood by the Carnegie parking lot with the Persimmon by the football field all the better: at least similar characteristics are being noted.