QUERCUS VELUTINA, LAM. 89 



Inflorescence. - - Early in May. Appearing when the leaves 

 are half grown ; sterile catkins 2-4 inches long ; calyx most 

 commonly 4-parted ; pubescent ; stamens commonly 4, ex- 

 serted ; anthers yellow, glabrous : pistillate flowers red ; 

 stigmas long, spreading, reflexed. 



Fruit. Maturing in the autumn of the second year, single 

 or in twos or threes, sessile or on rather short footstalks : 

 cup top-shaped or cup-shaped, about half the length of the 

 acorn, occasionally nearly enclosing it, smooth, more or less 

 polished, thin-edged ; scales closely appressed, firm, elongated, 

 triangular, sides sometimes rounded, homogeneous in the 

 same plant : acorn -J f inch long, variable in shape, oftenest 

 oval to oblong : kernel white within ; less bitter than kernel 

 of the black oak. 



Horticultural Value. Hardy throughout New England ; 

 grows in any light, well-drained soil, but prefers a fertile 

 loam. Occasionally offered by nurserymen, but as it is dis- 

 posed to make unsymmetrical young trees it is not grown in 

 quantity, and it is not desirable for streets. Its rapid growth, 

 hardiness, beauty of summer foliage, and its brilliant colors 

 in autumn make it desirable in ornamental plantations. 

 Propagated from the seed. 



Plate XLIV. Quercus coccinea. 



1. Winter buds. 3. Sterile flowers, side view. 



2, Flowering branch. 4. Fertile flower, side view. 



5. Fruiting- branch. 



Quercus velutina, Lam. 



Quercus tinctoria, Bartram. Quercus coccinea, var. tinctoria, Gray. 



Black Oak. Yellow Oak. 



Habitat and Range. Poor soils ; dry or gravelly uplands ; 

 rocky ridges. 



Southern and western Ontario. 



Maine, York county; New Hampshire, valley of the 

 lower Merrimac and eastward, absent on the highlands, 



