the true watei" oak, though the laurel oak is sonietiiiies incor- 

 rectly 80 called. It is more connnon outside the city where it 

 everywhere forms part of the underbrush. Even when it sheds 

 all of its leaves, the dead leaves on the ground prove a clue to 

 its identity. 



Black oak. One other oak 1 have seen in the city, a black 

 oak {Quercus velutina) which stands on Ashley Avenue near 

 Beaufain Street. Its leaves are large and cleft into angular, 

 bristle-tipped lobes after the type of the red or the black oak 

 group. A test for this species is made by scratching the bark 

 with a penknife. The deep yellow substance just beneath is 

 characteristic. 



In the pine woods beyond the city scrub oaks form the chief 

 undergrowth and occasionally develop into trees. At the Navy 

 Yard there is found in this undergrowi^h, beside the first four 

 oaks already mentioned, the turkey oak {Quercus Cateshaeii), 

 the Spanish oak (Q. digitaia), the post oak (Q. minor), and the 

 white oak {Q. alba), all of which are deciduous. 



Turkey oak. The leaf from which the turkey oak takes its 

 name has three long bristle-tipped lobes, two of which curve 

 away from the midrib, producing a resemblance to the foot- 

 print of a turkey. Endless variety of shape and size may be seen, 

 especially on very young growth, where leaves of even fourteen 

 inches may be found. In summer these leaves are a deep shining 

 green above and on the under surface smooth except for small 

 tufts of hair in the axils of the veins. This feature should be 

 remembered in comparing the tree with the Spanish oak. The 

 leaves of both turn brown in autumn and many remain all win- 

 ter, rendering identification easy. 



Spanish oak. The Spanish oak bears a large bristle-tipped, 

 and lobed leaf, the under surface of which, in contradistinction 

 to the turkey oak, is covered with a mat of silky hairs. Among 



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