T I 



The Scarlet Oak. 



The oaK which is the most brilliant red or scarlet in the autumn is 

 the scarlet oak. Although this oak does not grow naturally anywhere 

 but in America, it is famous also in Europe for its brightness. Before 

 autumn its color is like that of other oaks except that its leaves are 

 usually more glossy. The wide rounded sinuses extending deeply into 

 the leaf and the narrow many-pointed lobes are characteristic. The 

 scarlet oak is easy to distinguish from the red oak but hard to tell 

 from the next one. Observe how deeply the leaves are cut, how thin 

 they are, and that their stems and ribs are slender. Notice also that 

 the triangular scales of the acorn cup are tight to the cup and that 



6. — Scarlet oak. 



the rim of the cup is rounded inward. The outside bark of the trunk 

 is gray but the inner bark is reddish. The branches are irregular and 

 stiff-looking, but the tree is planted because of its beauty in autumn 

 and because it transplants easily and grows rapidly. 



The Black Oak. 



The black oak is sometimes difficult to distinguish from the scarlet 

 oak. If the leaves were always like the two at the left hand of the 

 picture, it would be an easy matter to distinguish it, as the illustration 

 shows the leaves to be broader at the tip and the sinuses (or hollows) 

 shallow and quite different from those in the leaves of the scarlet oak. 



