Te 
ne a 
MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 31 
on the old trunks is broken up into rough irregular fissures. 
The inner bark is red to gray. The wood is not of great 
commercial importance, but the tree is one of the most de- 
sirable of the oaks for street and park planting because of its 
rapid growth and attractive foliage. 
Habitat: dry soil, Maine to Minnesota, south to North Caro- 
lina, Illinois and Missouri. 
Quercus velutina (black oak) —The black oak, locally, at- 
tains a height of 75 feet, with a trunk diameter of 34% feet, 
but elsewhere within its range it reaches a height of 150 feet 
with a trunk diameter of 414 feet. The crown is compara- 
tively narrow and round-topped. The branches are rather 
stout and zigzag. The leaves are very variable, no other oak 
producing so many different shapes on the same tree. The 
mature leaves are dark green above and pale to yellowish green 
beneath, with tufts of brownish hairs in the axils of the veins 
and midribs. The dark-colored and rough outer bark and 
the yellow inner bark are distinctive characteristics of this 
species. The wood is durable and is used for furniture and 
interior finish, cheap cooperage, and general construction. 
The black oak is not easily transplanted and is not as attrac- 
tive for ornamental purposes as other oaks. 
Habitat: dry sterile soil, Maine to western Ontario, south 
to Florida and Texas. 
Quercus marilandica (black jack) —The maximum height 
of this species is 60 feet, with a trunk diameter of 2 feet. 
The crown is usually compact, the branches short, the upper 
ascending and the lower spreading, making the tree narrow 
and round-topped. The leaf is broad towards the apex, end- 
ing in 3 or more distinct lobes of variable size and form, pear- 
shaped in outline, leathery in texture, set with rough stellate 
hairs. This species is of no particular value except for fire 
wood and fence posts. 
Habitat: poor sterile soil, New York to Pennsylvania, west 
to Nebraska, south to Florida and Texas. 
Quercus imbricaria (shingle oak).—The maximum height 
of the shingle oak, locally, is 60-75 feet, with a trunk diam- 
eter of 3 feet. The crown is open, with the lateral branches 
drooping. This species may be easily recognized by its ob- 
long, entire, shiny, dark green leaves which are pale and 
