290 SYLVA AMERICANA. 



This oak is one of the loftiest trees of the American forests, 

 bein- 80 or 90 feet high and 4 or 5 feet in diameter. The 

 trunk is covered with a deeply furrowed bark of middling 

 thickness, and generally of a black or very deep-brown color, 

 whence probably is derived the name of Black Oak. North-east 

 of Pennsylvania the complexion of the bark is the only character 

 by which it can be distinguished from the red, scarlet and gray 

 oaks, when the leaves are fallen. Farther south this character 

 is not sufficient to distinguish it from the Spanish oak, whose bark 

 is of the same color, and recourse must be had to the buds, 

 which on the black oak are longer, more acuminate, and more scaly. 

 All doubt may be removed by chewing a bit of the cellular 

 integument of each : that of the black oak is very bitter and gives 

 a yellow tinge to the saliva, which is not the- case w T ith the other. 

 The leaves are large, deeply laciniated, and divided into four or 

 five lobes : they resemble those of the scarlet oak, but have less 

 deep and open sinuses, are less shining, of a duller green, and in 

 the spring and during a part of the summer have their surface 

 roughened with small glands which are sensible to the eye and 

 to the touch. The same appearance is observed on the young 

 shoots, the leaves which change in the autumn to a dull red, 

 and those of the old trees to yellow, beginning with the petiole. 

 This tree fructifies once in two years and its flowers put forth in 

 May. The acorns generally grow in clusters, are of a brown 

 color, sub-sessile and about half buried in a thick, scaly cup. 

 This species is more remarkable than any other for producing 

 the oak apple. 



The wood is reddish and coarse-grained, with empty pores ; 

 it is, however, more esteemed for strength and durability than 

 that of any other oak of biennial fructification. As it is abundant 

 in the Middle and Northern States, it furnishes a large proportion 

 of the red oak staves exported to the West Indies, or employed 

 at home to contain flour, salted provisions and molasses. It is 

 said to furnish the best of fuel except the hickories. The bark 

 is extensively used in tanning, as it is easily procured and is rich 

 in tannin. The only inconvenience which attends it is imparting 

 a yellow color to the leather, which must be discharged by a 



