from about the terminal bud, about 5 mm. long, very finely subulate, pubescent; 

 leaves deciduous, thin-membranous, to 20 cm. long and 12 cm. broad, usually 

 smaller, narrowly obovate in outline or broadly so, apices acute or sometimes 

 rounded, bases cuneate or attenuately acute; blades twice or thrice incised on each 

 side, the lobes obtuse, acuminate-tipped, progressively shortened downward, the 

 uppermost clavate and coarsely toothed, the sinuses deep, broadly rounded or 

 angularly flattened along a line parallel to the midrib, margins minutely revolute, 

 upper surfaces glabrous and lustrous, lower surfaces minutely villous and dull- 

 green or glaucous-appressed-tomentose; petioles to 2 cm. long, sparsely pubescent; 

 staminate catkins 4-6 cm. long, densely or loosely flowered, sparsely stellate- 

 pubescent, the perianth irregularly lobed, the anthers scarcely exserted; pistillate 

 catkins 1-2 cm. long, 2- or 3-flowered distally, densely short-tomentose; fruit 

 annual, solitary or rarely paired on a tomentose or glabrate peduncle to 4 cm. 

 long and 1-1.5 mm. thick; cups to 3 cm. broad and 2 cm. deep, hemispheric or 

 spheroid, the base usually broadly flattened, the mouth much-constricted, some- 

 times forming a minute orifice and sometimes rather open, the lower scales coarse 

 and much-thickened, those about the margin small, thin and appressed; acorns 

 hemispheric or rarely ovoid, usually wholly contained in the cup but rarely only 

 half-included. 



In moist forests along streams, river swamps and depressions in bottomlands, 

 in e. Okla. and e. Tex.; e. to the Atl., n. to Md. and Mo. 



3. Quercus similis Ashe. Bottomland post oak. 



Moderate to large trees; twigs 2-3 mm. thick, only slightly fluted, persistently 

 gray-puberulent to velvety-tomentulose; buds 2-3 mm. long, ovoid, pubescent 

 basally, brown; stipules 3-5 mm. long, subulate, pubescent, caducous or only 

 those of the terminal buds persistent; leaves deciduous, thin and membranous, 

 about 12 cm. long and 8 cm. broad (as little as 5 cm. long or to 16 cm. long), 

 obovate, usually 2 pairs of lateral lobes with the apical pair sometimes clavate but 

 the blade scarcely cruciform, basally narrow, cuneate to rounded, margins minutely 

 revolute, lower surface minutely and sparsely stellate-puberulent, somewhat gray, 

 upper surface glabrous and glossy-green at maturity; petioles 3-10 mm. long, 

 pubescent like the twigs; pistillate catkins 2-10 mm. long, 1- to 3-flowered; fruit 

 annual, solitary or paired, moderate-sized, short-peduncled, very similar to Q. 

 stellata. Q. stellata var. paJudosa Sarg., Q. Ashei Sterrett. 



The common post oak of wet stream bottoms in e. Tex.; also s. Ark. and La., 

 e. to S. C. 



4. Quercus falcata Michx. Southern red oak, Spanish oak. 



Large trees to 20 m. tall, with a trunk diameter of 5 dm. and roughly furrowed 

 hard black bark; twigs 1-3 mm. thick, fluted, from sparsely or densely fulvous- 

 stellate4omentose tardily glabrate to persistently pubescent, brown, becoming gray 

 the second season with conspicuous or inconspicuous lenticels: buds 4-8 mm. 

 long, narrowly ovoid, acute, somewhat quadrangular or round, deep-red-brown, 

 puberulent, tomentose about the apex or all over; stipules caducous, about 1 cm. 

 long, ligulate, dorsally densely tomentose; leaves deciduous, rather thin and 

 papery, to 23 cm. long and usually smaller, 15 cm. broad, very polymorphic, 

 typically ovate or lanceolate in outline, frequently obovate to cuneiform, apically 

 long-attenuate or obtusely clavate, basally cuneate .to round or truncate, typically 

 deeply falcate-lobed with broadly rounded sinuses reaching within 1 or 2 cm. 

 of the midrib or with a few broad lobes or entire with 3 lobes at the apex, apical 

 lobes typically elongate, toothed at the ends, all lobes and teeth tipped with aristae, 

 margins finely or coarsely revolute, upper surfaces from densely fulvous-stellate- 

 tomentose glabrate and dark-glossy-green or more or less persistently pubescent 



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