62 



Common Trees 



BLACK OAK 



Quercus velutina, Lambert 



THE Black Oak is one of the biggest oaks native to the 

 eastern states, reaching a height of 100 feet and 4 feet 

 in diameter. By its bark one can always recognize this tree. 

 Its outer bark is black and its inner bark is distinctly yellow. 



The leaves are 

 simple, alternate, 4 

 to 10 inches long, 3 

 to 6 inches wide, 

 usually 7-lobed with 

 bristle tips. The 

 lower leaf surfaces 

 are pale green to 

 rusty brown. 



The flowers arc 

 similar to those of 

 other oaks. 



The fruit is an 

 acorn maturing in 

 two seasons. Cups 

 are cup-shaped, light 

 brown, often slightly 

 fringed along mar- 

 gin, enclose 3^ of 

 nut. Nuts are ^ to 

 1 inch long, light 

 reddish brown. 



The bark on older 

 trunks is black, thick. 



BLACK OAK 



One-fourth natural size. 



Twig section, enlarged. 



very rough. Twigs 

 are stout, angular, 



reddish-brown, often hairy. Buds are large, sometimes J^ 

 of an inch long, angular, covered with a coating of yellow- 

 ish or dirty-white hairs. 



The wood is similar to that of Red Oak. 



The Black Oak is found from Maine to Ontario, south to 

 Florida and Texas. This tree is generally distributed 

 throughout Ohio, being most abundant in the southeastern 

 part, and becoming rarer towards the northeast. It is abun- 

 dant in Fulton, Williams and Lucas counties. It usually 

 occurs on dry, gravelly and shady uplands and ridges. 



