DENDROLOGY. 



283 



Swamp White Oak. Quercus prinus discolor. 



PLATE LXXXVI. 

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



This species is known in 

 the United States only by 

 the name of Swamp White 

 Oak, which indicates at once 

 the soil which it prefers and 

 its analogy to the white oak. 

 Except the state of Maine 

 and the maritime parts of 

 the Southern States, it is dif- 

 fused throughout the Union : 

 in comparison, however, 

 with some other species, it 

 is not common. 



The swamp white oak is a 

 beautiful tree more than 70 

 feet in height, of which the 

 vegetation is vigorous and 

 the foliage luxuriant. The leaves are six or eight inches long 

 and four inches broad, smooth and of a dark green above, downy 

 and lighter colored beneath ; they are entire towards the base, 

 which is cuneiform, but are widened and coarsely toothed for 

 two-thirds of their length towards the summit. The tree is 

 distinguished, when young, by the form of its base and by the 

 down upon the leaves, which is more sensible to the touch than 

 on any analogous species. At a riper age the lower side of the 

 leaf is of a silvery white, which is strikingly contrasted with the 

 bright green of the upper surface ; hence the specific name of 

 discolor. This tree is of annual fructification and flowers in the 

 month of May. The acorns are sweet, but seldom abundant ; 

 they are rather large, of a brown complexion, and contained in a 

 spreading cup edged by short, slender filaments, more downy 

 within than those of any other oak, and supported by peduncles 

 one or two inches in length. 



