On the other hand, the soft wood of box elders is beneficial to birds and mammals. Those branches that break off leave an opening for fungus to get a foothold and start decaying the wood. Then ...

Moorhead - The box elder may be the Rodney Dangerfield of the tree world. Dismissed for its irregular form, weak wood and association with box elder bugs, the lowly tree gets no respect.

It's the box elder, alternately one of the most worthless and valuable trees of the prairie. I've lived beneath this tree in at least four different homes, and the best thing I can say about it is ...