lO 



i I A rj D y oon rktoiid 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Live Oak. 



t^iieicu-^ firffiniana — Mill. 



Querciis fircHS — Ait. 

 The range of growth of tlie li\e oak tree 

 is from the sliores of Virginia and on the 

 contiguous islands, down through southern 

 Florida and along the coast of the Gulf of 

 Mexico to western Texas, along the Kio Grande 

 and inland to the Ked river and Guadalupe 

 mountains; through lower California, south- 

 ern Mexico, Central America and Cuba. 



It is known as live oak in the states of Vir- 

 ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor- 

 gia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, 

 Texas and California ; in Louisiana it often 

 goes by the French name, chcne vert. The 

 trees that thrive in nortlierii Mexico and south 



TWENTY-FirXH FAF£R. 



fuzzy below; they are thick and firm. The 

 (lowers appear when the new leaves come out, 

 the staniinate clusters growing in long cat- 

 kins. The fruit or acorns grow on long steins; 

 they are contained in deep cups covered witli 

 fine scales, slightly fringed at the top. Tim 

 nuts are smooth and dark brow'n in color. 



Of this tree Alice Lounsberry says: " When 

 twilight is gathering its dimness these oaks 

 cast broad shadows upon the earth, and those 

 that have never seen their great forms in the 

 South hung with the swaying Tillandsia, can 

 hardly conceive of the mystical eflfect they 

 produce. About their small evergreen leaves 

 there seems to be a firmness of purpose, and 

 the whole appearance of the trees is vigorous 

 and powerful. Of the fifty species of oaks 



water, and often grows right at the water's 

 edge. The small illustration shows the bole 

 of a great live oak that is growing on the 

 luacli of tlie Gulf of Mexico at Pass Chris- 

 tian; the .soil has been washed away from the 

 roots for a depth of fully six feet, exhibiting 

 tilt' mighty tendons which bind it to the earth. 

 Tlie free has great economic value, but from 

 its comparative scarcity and its wonderful 

 qualities as a shade and decorative tree, the 

 wood is comparatively little known in com- 

 merce at the present time. In the days of 

 wooden shipbuilding it was regarded as a ma- 

 terial par excellence for the construction of 

 ship knees, and was very generally employed 

 for this purpose from Maine to tlic mouth of 

 the Mississippi, The tree is an evergreen, 



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;l;ii\\ III. l'.\SS illlMSTI.W. MISS. 



of the Bio Grande grow at an elevation of 

 from six to eight thousand feet. 



The live oak is of the beech family and is 

 short bodied, with a head very broad and 

 wide-spreading. The lower limbs usually ex- 

 tend almost parallel with the ground. The 

 bole is large, often having a diameter of from 

 five to eight feet. Its time of bloom is in 

 March and April, and it fruits in September 

 and October, 



The bark of live oak is dark brown and 

 deeply furrowed. Its leaves are sim[ile and 

 alternate, with short stems; they are ovate- 

 lanceolate, having rounded apex and round or 

 pointed ba.se; they are entire and the edges 

 have a tendency to curve inward. Sometimes 

 specimens are found which have minute teeth 

 toward the tip. In color the leaves are dark 

 preen and shining on top, but lighter and 



that are indigenous to America iioiK' is nioi'e 

 interesting than Qiicicus ririiiniaiia. A small 

 spray of its foliage bears hardly any resem- 

 blance to that of the red, tlie scarlet, the 

 white or many of the other oaks so familiar 

 in the northeastern pail of AiniTica. It 

 rather suggests the willow oak, with which lln- 

 tree is often found growing. 'I'lu- iiconis nt 

 the live oak are small an'd a-iiung I In- ijiiaint- 

 est of the family." 



The live oak rarely if ever grows in a pure 

 stand, but exists separated from its fellows 

 by considerable distance. It is one of tlie 

 most majestic trees of America, The illuslni- 

 tion presented with this article is from a ))lui,- 

 fograph, recently made by the editor of thr 

 Hahdwood Record, of one of luindreds of live 

 oaks that arc growing at I'ass Christian. Miss, 

 The tree seems to thrive best close to salt 



ami ill f^i'iiiTal appearance reseinbles very 

 closely a mammoth apple tree in early spring. 

 The large one hen'willi pieturcd has a dianu'- 

 ter of trunk of more than six feet, while its 

 br.anches outspread nu)re than a hundred feet. 



The wood is very heavy, hard, strong, tough, 

 clcisegrained, compact, and difficult to work. 

 II is susceptible to a beautiful polish. The 

 layers of .inmial growth are obscure and 

 often hardly distinguisli;ilile, and contain many 

 small, open ducts arranged in short bniken 

 rows parallel to the broa<l conspicuous nudul- 

 lary rays. The color is light brown or yellow, 

 the sapwood being nearly white. The specific 

 gravity is 0.9501 as compared with ash, L14; 

 a cubic foot of the wood weighs approximately 

 lifty-nine jioumls. 



The live oak has the reputation of growing 

 M'ly rapidly, but its innnense size of trunk 



