10 



sharp. The oaks having pointed leaves are so different from those 

 which have rounded ones that botanists make a wholly different 

 group of them. The white oak group has leaves with rounded 

 lobes or teeth and, with the exception of the chestnut oak, light 

 gray scaly bark; the black oak group has leaves with pointed 

 lobes or tips and dark furrowed bark. The first four oaks described 

 belong to the white oak group. This one and the next two belong to 

 the black oak group. 



Tn the illustration (figure 5) are leaves of the red oak. What 

 children have not pinned these leaves together with leaf-stems and 



5. — Red oak. 



made garlands for themselves or to trim the school-house walls ? Who 

 does not remember the great acorn with its flat cup and so bitter to 

 the taste ? The lobes of these leaves are not long, but taper gradually 

 to a point, making triangles. They are seven or nine in number, all 

 of them seeming to point towards the tip more than in other kinds of 

 oaks. It is very easy to confuse these leaves with those of the next , 

 two oaks, but the flat-cupped acorn is distinctive. The bark of the 

 tree is furrowed and sometimes dark gray when old. It is an irregular 

 tree, its arms pointing in all directions and, while often handsome, it 

 has not the grandeur of some of the white oaks. Tree planters like it 

 because it can be transplanted easily and grows rapidly. 



