DENDROLOGY. 



2S1 



Yellow Oak. Quercus prinus acuminata. 



PLATE LXXXV. 

 Fig. 1. A leaf. Fig. 2. The fruit. 



The banksof the Delaware 

 may be assumed as the 

 northern limit of the Yellow 

 Oak. It scarcely exists in 

 the maritime parts of the 

 Southern States. In the 

 Middle and Western States, 

 though more common, it is 

 still rare in comparison with 

 many other trees, and is 

 sometimes lost sight of by 

 the traveller for several days 

 in succession. It is also 

 found in the country of 

 the Illinois. It is invariably 

 found in valleys where the 

 soil is loose, deep and fertile. 

 The Yellow Oak is a fine tree 70 or 80 feet high and 2 feet 

 in diameter, with branches tending rather to close round the 

 trunk than to diffuse themselves horizontally. The bark upon 

 the trunk is whitish, very slightly furrowed, and sometimes 

 divided into plates, like that of the swamp white oak. The 

 leaves are lanceolate, regularly toothed, of a light green above 

 and whitish beneath. It fructifies annually and blooms in the 

 month of May. The acorns are contained in scaly cups and 

 are sweeter than those of any other species in the United States. 

 The wood of this tree is yellowish, though the tint is not bright 

 enough to fit it for peculiar uses. Its pores are partly obliterated, 

 irregularly disposed, and -more numerous than those of any other 

 American oak : this organization must impair the strength and 

 render it less durable than the chesnut white oak, and the rock 

 chcsnut oak. As this tree is so thinly disseminated it has not 

 been appropriated to any particular use in the arts. 



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