American Forestry 



VOL. XXII 



JANUARY, 1916 



No. 265 



The American White Oak 



Idcntificatioii and Characteristics 

 By S. B. Detwiler 



THE oak possesses 

 a sentimental 

 charm for man- 

 kind, perhaps because in 

 days of old, it was 

 closely associated with 

 worship of the gods. In- 

 stinctively we venerate 

 its character as symbolic 

 of strength, permanence 

 and independence. In 

 Europe and America are 

 many historically famous 

 oaks, and the poets from 

 Virgil to Longfellow 

 have celebrated "Jove's 

 own tree." 



Our high regard for 

 the oaks does not de- 

 pend alone on sentiment, 

 since the value of the 

 wood, bark and acorns 

 rank these trees com- 

 mercially as our most 

 important hardwood. In 

 the "Faery Queen." 

 Spencer speaks of "The 

 builder oak, sole king of 

 forests all," in referring 

 to the use of oak in the 

 enduring structures of 

 past ages. 



Nearly 300 species of 

 oak are known in the 

 northern hemisphere ; 

 about 53 are native to 

 North America, and 

 more than half of them 

 are commercially im- 

 portant. Lumbermen and 

 botanists agree in recog- 

 nizing natural divisions 

 of the oaks into two 



From Pennsylvania Trees, by J. S. Illick. 



THE WHITE OAK 



. Flowering hrancli with immature leaves showing the (s) staminate blossoms 

 and (p) the pistillate blossoms. 2. A staminate or pollen bearing flower, 

 enlarged. 3. A pistillate or seed bearing flower, enlarged. 4. Branch with 

 fullgrown leaves and acorns, about one-half size. 5. Acorn cup, about one- 

 half size. *i. The base of the acorn. 7. The cross-section view of the acorn. 

 S. Germinating acorn with its young root and shoot. 9. A winter branch. 

 10. The end of a winter branch showing the bud with the over-lai)ping scales, 

 a leaf scar with bundle scars and lenticels enlarged. 11. Cross-section of twig 

 showing five-sided pith, the wood with medullary rays and the inner and outer 

 bark enlarged. 



classes. The species in 

 the white oak group 

 ripen their acorns in one 

 year, the leaf margins 

 are free from bristles, 

 and the bark and wood 

 are usually light colored. 

 The red or black oak 

 group requires two years 

 to mature their fruit, the 

 leaves have sharp, bris- 

 tle-like points on the 

 margins, and the bark 

 and wood are darker 

 in color than in the 

 white oak group. 



The white oak is our 

 most important oak and 

 is one of the most widely 

 distributed and most 

 used hardwoods in the 

 LTnited States. It grows 

 from Maine to central 

 Ontario and Minnesota, 

 south to Florida and 

 Te.xas. It is most abun- 

 dant and best developed 

 in the central Mississippi 

 and lower Ohio basins, 

 ind on the western slopes 

 of the Allegheny Moun- 

 tains. 



Forest grown white 

 oak has a long clean 

 trunk that tapers very 

 little until it branches 

 into a comparatively 

 narrow top. It may 

 attain a height of 1.50 

 feet, with a trunk 8 feet 

 in diameter, free of 

 branches for 1)0 feet or 

 more. Usually the trees 

 3 



