DENDROLOGY. 



279 



the month of May and are succeeded by small, round acorns, 

 contained in flat, shallow cups, of which the scales are closely 

 applied one upon another. 



The bark upon the oldest trunk is scarcely cracked, and 

 consists almost wholly of a very thick, cellular integument. The 

 wood is coarse-grained, with the pores open and larger than those 

 of the scarlet and red oaks : though stronger and more tenacious 

 than those species, it is little esteemed for durability. It is used 

 for the axletrees of mill wheels when white oak of sufficient 

 dimensions cannot be procured ; it is also sometimes, though 

 rarely, made into staves, as the species is little multiplied 

 compared with the scarlet, red and black oaks. 



Willow Oak. Quercus phellos. 



This species which is 

 remarkable for its foliage, 

 makes its first appearance in 

 the environs of Philadelphia ; 

 but it is more common and 

 of a larger size in Virginia, 

 the Carolinas and Georgia, 

 where the milder temperature 

 of the winter is evidently 

 favorable to its growth. It 

 is seen, however, only in the 

 maritime parts of those states, 

 where the surface is moun- 

 tainous and the climate more 

 severe. From the analogy 

 of soil and climate, it is 

 probably found in Lower 



Louisiana. It commonly grows in cool, moist places on the 



borders of swamps. 



The willow oak, in favorable situations, attains the height of 50 



or 60 feet with a diameter of 20 or 24 inches. The trunk, even 



Fig. 1. 



PLATE LXXXIV. 



A leaf. Fig. 2. The fruit. 



