148 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



Sp. 10. The Red Oak. Quercus rubra. L. 



Figured very poorly in Abbot's Insects of Georgia, II, Plate 103 ;* well in 

 Michaux ; Sylva,I, Plate 28. The prevailing character of the leaves, at the 

 north, is given in Plate 26 : also figured in Plate 10 of this volume. 



The red oak is the most northern of the oaks. According to 

 Dr. Richardson, it is found as far north as the Saskatchawan, 

 and the rocks at Lake Namakeen. It is common in all the New 

 England, Middle, and Southern States, as far as Georgia, and 

 on the western declivities of the Alleghanies. Like the elm, it 

 comes to its greatest perfection in Massachusetts, perceptibly 

 diminishing in vigor and luxuriance of growth, farther towards 

 the north, and not increasing in either towards the south. This 

 tree is found in every part of Massachusetts, growing freely in 

 every variety of soil, even the poorest. It is known by several 

 names, the red, the black, and the gray oak. The most general, 

 as the most appropriate name, is the red oak, as the mid-rib 

 and veins of the leaves are often of a rich red color in the latter 

 part of autumn ; and the leaves turn to a uniform dark red 

 before they fall. 



The trunk is of a dark greenish ashen grey, continuing smooth 

 longer than any other tree of the genus, and never becoming 

 extremely rough. The bark on the recent branchlets is of a 

 polished brown with minute dots: during the next year it has 

 a pearly hue which it exchanges for a deep green, gradually 

 turning to the uniform, greenish gray of the trunk. 



The leaves are oblong or lance-shaped in their general out- 

 line, larger towards the end, and contracted towards the base. 

 The lobes are five or six on each side, separated by a rounded, 

 not very deep, sinus ; the lobes sharp and terminating in bris- 

 tles. The leaf is obtuse or, more commonly, acute at base; the 



* The acorns in this figure show that the red oak is intended ; the leaves are 

 very poorly done. The 14th plate in Abbot's work was probably intended to rep- 

 resent the scarlet oak, certainly not Quercus rubra, as Sir J. E. Smith supposed it 

 to be. The 56th is evidently the figure of a variety of the Quercus tinctoria, {Quer- 

 cus tinctoria sinuosa,) as the elder Michaux considered it. Abbot's plate 50 rep- 

 resents, probably, the leaves of the black jack oak, Quercus nigra of Willdenow ; 

 possibly those of Quercus aquatica; certainly not those of Quercus rubra. 



