288 



SYLVA AMERICANA. 



PLATE LXXXIX. 

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



Red Oak. Quercus rubra. 



Next to the gray oak this 

 species is found in the 

 highest latitude of all the 

 American oaks, and is one 

 of the most common species 

 in the Northern States and 

 Canada. Farther south, 

 particularly in the lower part 

 of New York, New Jersey, 

 the upper districts of Penn- 

 sylvania, and along the whole 

 range of the Alleghanies, it 

 is nearly as abundant as the 

 scarlet and black oaks ; but 

 it is much less common in 

 Maryland, the lower part of 

 Virginia, and the maritime 

 parts of the Carolinas and Georgia. Its perfect deveiopement 

 requires a cool climate and a fertile soil. It is universally known 

 by the name of Red Oak, except in some parts of Pennsylvania, 

 where it is sometimes confounded with the Spanish oak. 



The red oak is a tall, wide-spreading tree, frequently more 

 than 80 feet high, and 3 or 4 feet in diameter. Its leaves are 

 smooth and shining on both sides, large and deeply laciniated, 

 and rounded at the base 5 they are larger and have deeper and 

 narrower sections on the young stocks than on the middle or the 

 summit of the full-grown tree ; these last resemble the leaves of 

 the Spanish oak, which, however, are always downy beneath, 

 while those of the red oak are perfectly smooth. In autumn 

 they change to a dull red, and turn yellow before they fall. The 

 fructification is biennial and it flowers in May. The acorns are 

 very large and abundant, rounded at the summit, compressed at 

 the base, and contained in flat cups covered with narrow, compact 

 scales. They are voraciously eaten by wild and domesticated 

 animals. 



