266 



SYLVA AMERICANA. 



Scarlet Oak. Quercus coccinea. 



PLATE LXXV. 



Fiji. 1. A leaf. Fir?. 2. The fruit. 



The Scarlet Oak is first 

 seen in the vicinity of Boston, 

 but it is less multiplied than 

 in New Jersey,Pennsyl vania, 

 Virginia, and the upper part 

 of the Carolinas and Georgia, 

 where it forms a part of the 

 forests that are still standing. 

 It is a stranger to Maine, 

 New Hampshire and Ver- 

 mont. In the Northern 

 States it is confounded with 

 the red oak, and'in those of 

 the south, with the Spanish 

 oak. 



This is a vegetable of 

 more than 80 feet in height 

 and of three or four feet in diameter. The leaves, which are 

 supported by long petioles, are of a beautiful green, shining on 

 both sides, and laciniated in a remarkable manner, having usually 

 four deep sinuses very broad at the bottom. They begin to 

 change with the first cold, and, after several successive frosts, 

 turn to a bright scarlet color, instead of a dull hue like those of 

 the red oak. At this season the singular color of the foliage 

 forms a striking contrast with that of the surrounding trees, and 

 is itself a sufficient inducement to cultivate the tree for ornament. 

 It flowers in May, and fructifies once in two years. The acorns 

 are large, somewhat enongated, similarly rounded at both ends, 

 and half covered with scaly cups. As this fruit varies in size 

 with the quality of the soil, it is difficult to distinguish it from the 

 black oak ; the only constant difference is in the kernel, which is 

 yellowish in the black oak and white in the species which we are 

 considering. 



The bark of the scarlet oak is very thick and generally 



