1228 



Rural School Leaflet 



THE OAKS OF NEW YORK 



John Bentley, Jr. 



A brave old oak 



There are nearly fifty different kinds of oaks in the United States, and 

 if we should include the several varieties, some of which are indistinct, 

 the list would be so long that it would be discouraging to try to learn 

 all of them. Fortunately we can learn to distinguish those that are 

 common in New York. Although there are some fifteen or sixteen kinds 

 of oaks reported as growing in this State, we shall describe but ten. The 

 others are rare or of very local occurrence. It will be necessary to have 

 not only the leaves, but the acorns and sometimes the twigs and the winter 

 buds, in order to distinguish all the oaks described. 



In the first place, we can divide the oaks into two general groups: 

 those that have acorns maturing in one season, known as the white oaks; 

 and those that have acorns maturing in two seasons, known as the black 

 oaks. A further distinction between these two groups is that the black 

 oaks have leaves the lobes of which are tipped with bristles, while the lobes 

 of the leaves of the white oaks are smooth and rounded. Between the 

 lobes are indentations which botanists call " sinuses." These sinuses 

 are variable and are often a help in identifying the different species. 

 ( )n pages 1232 and 1233 is given a key for identifying the different species 

 of oaks. Note the use of the term sinus in this key. 



