284 



SYLVA AMERICANA. 



The trunk of this tree is clad in a scaly, grayish-white bark. 

 The wood is strong, elastic and heavier than that of the white 

 oak. In stocks more than a foot in diameter the grain is fine 

 and close, and the pores are nearly obliterated. It splits easily 

 and in a straight line, and is esteemed next in quality to the 

 white oak, though from its rareness it is but accidentally employed 

 in the arts. . 



Rock Chesnut Oak. Quercus prinus monticola. 



This oak is among the 

 species which are not scat- 

 tered promiscuously in the 

 forests, but which grow only 

 in particular situations and 

 easily escape observation ; 

 hence it is difficult to assign 

 its limits with precision. It 

 probably does not extend 

 north beyond Vermont, nor 

 eastward beyond New 

 Hampshire ; it is likewise 

 a stranger to the maritime 

 parts of the Southern States. 

 It is most frequently met 

 with in the Middle and in 

 some parts of the Northern 

 States ; but it is rarely mingled with other trees in the forests, 

 and is found only on high grounds thickly strewed with stones or 

 covered with rocks. In Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland, 

 it is known by the name of Chesnut Oak, and by that of Rock 

 Oak on the banks of the Hudson and the shores of Lake 

 Champlain. Both are significant ; the first, of a remarkable 

 resemblance of the bark to that of the chesnut ; and the second, 

 of the situations, in which the tree is exclusively found. For 

 this reason and to avoid confounding it with the chesnut oak and 

 the yellow oak, we have blended the two denominations. 



PLATE LXXXVII. 

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



