i6 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Overcup Oak. 

 Quercus lyrata — Walt. 



The range of growth of the overcup oak is 

 from Maryland, along the Potomac river near 

 the District of Columbia, southward to parts 

 of Florida; westward through the Gulf states 

 to the Trinity river in Texas; throughout 

 Arkansas, sections of Missouri, central Ten- 

 nessee, southern Illinois and Indiana. 



In North and South Carolina, 

 Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Missis- 

 sippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas 

 and Illinois it is commonly known 

 as overcup ; in Alabama, South 

 Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and 

 Missouri it is called the swamp post 

 oak; the name water white oak is 

 applied to it in Mississippi and 

 parts of South Carolina; swamp 

 white oak in Texas; forked-leaf 

 white oak among lumbermen in sev- 

 eral of the southern states. 



This species of oak grows occa- 

 sionally to a height of one hundred 

 feet, though its average is about 

 seventy feet. It has a trunk two to 

 three feet in diameter, which spreads 

 out after .attaining a height of fif- 

 teen or twenty feet, into small, 

 often pendulous branches, forming 

 a symmetrical round top. The 

 branchlets are green, slightly tinged 

 with red; pubescent when first ap- 

 pearing, becoming- grayish and 

 glabrous during their first winter, 

 eventually becoming ashen gray or - 

 brown. 



The bark is three-quarters to one 

 inch thick, light gray in color, shed- 

 ding in thick plates, its surface be- 

 ing divided into thin scales. The 

 winter buds are about Vs of an inch 

 long, ovate and obtuse; having 

 light colored scales. 



The staminate flowers grow in 

 long, slender, hairy spikes four to 

 six inches in length ; the calyx is 

 light yellow and hairy. The pistil- 

 late flowers are stalked or sessile 

 and are also pubescent. 



The- fruit of the overcup oak is 

 found on slender, fuzzy peduncles, 

 sometimes an inch or more in length, 

 but often sessile; the acorn is half 

 to one inch long, broad at the base; 

 light brown and covered with short, TYPICAI 



light hairs, usually almost entirely 

 enclosed in the deep, spherical cup, 

 w'iich is bright reddish-brown on its inside 

 surface, and covered on the outside with 

 scales; thickened at the base, becoming thin- 

 ner and forming an irregular edge at the 

 margin of the cup. _ 



The leaves of this tree are obovate-oblong, 

 narrow and wedge-shaped at the base ; divided 

 into from five to nine lobes by sinuses, 



FORTY-SECOND PAPER. 



tin terminal lube usually broad, with acute, 

 elongated apex, and having two small 

 triangular lobes, one on each side. When the 

 leaves unfold they are brownish green and 

 hairy above and below; at maturity they are 

 thin and firm, darker green and glabrous on 

 the upper surface, silvery or light green and 

 pubescent below ; seven to eight inches long, 

 one to four inches broad; in autumn turning 



i-OREST GROWTH OVERCUP OAK. WASHING 

 TON COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI. 



rounded, oblique or straight at the bottom ; 



a beautiful bright scarlet or vivid orange. 

 The wood is heavy, hard, strong, tough and 

 very durable when in contact with soil. In 

 color the heartwood is a rich dark brown, 

 with thick, light-colored sapwood; commer- 

 cially it is apt to be confused with the wood 

 of Quercus alba (white oak) and is used for 

 like purposes. The distinguishing feature of 

 this tree, however, is its fruit. The scaly 



cup usually hides the nut almost completely, 

 as noted above. The color of bark and leaf 

 lining, as well as the leaves and wood, are 

 characteristics that show the close relation- 

 ship of this species with several others. 



A correspondent in the Mississippi delta 



country, in speaking of the confusion often 



arising from attempts to distinguish between 



Qui reus minor (true post oak), Quercus 



miohauxii (cow oak), and Quercus 



lyrata (overcup oak), the subject 



of this sketch, says: 



' ' The genuine forked-leaf white 

 oak I have only seen growing in the 

 hills. The oak we have here in Mis- 

 sissippi, which is classed as white 

 oak, is cow oak, which has an oval 

 shaped leaf, something like an ash 

 only larger; and the post oak, or 

 overcup, which has a small forked 

 leaf, but not exactly like the genuine 

 forked-leaf white oak. I consider 

 the cow oak the best we have in this 

 section, and it is nearer like the 

 genuine forked-leaf white oak than 

 either the post or overcup. The 

 average post or overcup runs very 

 small and is better suited for car 

 stock and ties than it is for lumber, 

 whereas the cow oak runs up as 

 large as sixty inches, and I have seen 

 some trees which were sixty feet to 

 the first limb, though of course 

 there are not many of this kind. 

 The white oak we have here is in- 

 ferior to that found in the North 

 and weighs more, not drying out as 

 fast nor as well as the northern oak. 

 In my opinion there is very little 

 good oak left in the Delta, espe- 

 cially in this immediate vicinity. 

 Most all the oak which we have here 

 now is grubby and full of black 

 streaks, the latter defect no doubt 

 being due to early forest fires dam- 

 aging the tree while young. We 

 have to get logs twenty inches and 

 up and in doing this select them to 

 make an average of thirty to forty 

 per cent firsts and seconds; same 

 amount of No. 1 common ; about 

 twenty per cent of No. 2; and ten 

 per cent No. 3 or mill cull; often 

 then we find the heart so shaky that 

 it is good for nothing but firewood. 

 The overcup is not as defective in 

 the heart as the cow oak, but splits 

 very easily and is more susceptible 

 to checking than the latter. ' ' 



The wood is used extensively for construc- 

 tion timbers, cooperage, furniture, doors, in- 

 terior finish and car material. The coarse 

 end is conceded to be the best wood for rail- 

 way ties. The accompanying photograph 

 was made on the property of the Chicago- 

 Mississippi Land & Lumber Company in Wash- 

 ington county, Mississippi. 



