DENDROLOGY. 



289 



The bark of this tree consists of a very thin epidermis with a 

 thick cellular integument. It is extensively used in tanning, 

 but is less esteemed than that of the Spanish, black and rock 

 chesnut oaks. The wood is reddish and coarse-grained, and the 

 pores are often large enough for the passage of a hair : it is strong 

 but not durable, and is the last among the oaks to be employed 

 in building. Its principal use is for staves, which, at home, are 

 used to contain salt provisions, flour, and other dry wares. It is 

 little esteemed for fuel. 



Black or Quercitron Oak. Quercus tinctorla. 



Except the state of Maine, 

 the northern part of New 

 Hampshire, Vermont and 

 Tennessee, this species is 

 found throughout the United 

 States on both sides of the 

 Alleghanies and is every 

 where called Black Oak, 

 except in some parts of New 

 England, where it is called 

 Yellow Oak. It is more 

 abundant in the Middle 

 States, and in the upper 

 parts of the Carolinas and 

 Georgia, than on the southern 

 coast. It flourishes in a 

 poorer soil than the white 

 oak. In Maryland and certain districts of Virginia, where the 

 soil is lean, gravelly and uneaven, it is constantly united in the 

 forests with the scarlet, Spanish and post oaks, and mockernut 

 hickory, with which the yellow pine is also frequently mingled. 

 There are several varieties of this species of oak, all of which 

 afford the quercitron bark, so highly esteemed in dyeing, staining, 



Fi*. 



PLATE XC. 

 A leaf. Fig- 2. The fruit. 



tanning, etc. 



37 



