HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



Scarlet oak is so called because of the 

 brilliant coloring which its foliage attains 

 in the fall. Like those of some of the white 

 oaks, the leaves of scarlet oak are rather 

 persistent, and late in the season, when 

 most of its associates have yielded to the 

 demands of winter, the brilliancy of this 

 tree is rendered doubly conspicuous, con- 

 trasted with the surrounding sombre, 

 winter colors. Scarlet oak is botan- 

 ically of the red oak group and its 

 wood is not distinguished from red 

 oak in trade or usage. 



Its range comprises the northeast- 

 ern quarter of the United States. Be- 

 ginning in southern Maine, New 

 Hampshire and Vermont, it grows 

 through middle New York, Michigan, 

 Wisconsin and Iowa to eastern Ne- 

 braska. Southward it extends along 

 the coast through Virginia and inland 

 along the mountains to South Carolina 

 and Georgia. The growth is abundant 

 over most of the range, the favorite 

 habitat being dry, gravelly uplands, 

 with similar oaks, birch and hickory. 

 It seems to be most abundant coast- 

 wise through the range. 



According to Sudworth, the name of 

 scarlet oak is in use in Vermont, Mas- 

 sachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, 

 New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 

 Delaware, North Carolina, Missouri, 

 Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minne- 

 sota, Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa and 

 Ontario ; red oak is the name in North 

 Carolina, Alabama, Wisconsin, Ne- 

 braska and Minnesota; black oak in 

 Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa and Wiscon- 

 sin, and Spanish oak in North Caro- 

 lina. 



In appearance the tree is striking 

 for its delicacy of foliage and twigs. 

 The crown is always narrow and open, 

 .and in forest growth is compressed, 

 not intruding on the bole for any dis- 

 tance. The height, in good specimens, 

 is about one hundred feet, but it often 

 exceeds that size considerably. In di- 

 ameter it grows as large as four feet. 

 The mature bark is dark in color and 

 broken into broad, smooth ridges and 

 plates, edged with red. It shows a 

 Tedish inner bark when out. The leaves 

 are on long, delicate petioles; are 4 to 

 ■5 inches long; deeply sinused, three to 

 fours on a side; long, bristle-toothed lobes, 

 broad at the base; flowers, staminate 

 aments slender, glabrous, delicate, recurved 

 styles; acorns bitter, mature in two years; 

 sessile, brown; cup closely drawn in at the 

 ■edge. 



The wood is applied similarly to red oak 



EIGHTY- SECOND PAPER 



Scarlet Oak 



QuercHs Cocci ilea — Moonch. 



and has the same qualities of strength, hard 

 ness, etc., but is jjrobaiily a little more 

 durable and faster growing. It has a pink- 

 ish, brown heart and thin lighter sapwood. 

 The rings of growth are made conspicuous 

 by the wide bands of large spring pores. 

 In a radial section the rays appear long 

 and low, the rest of the surface being dull 



value. As a fuel wood it is of inferior 

 quality. The lumber finds use in cooperage, 

 for furniture and, to a small extent, as in- 

 terior finish. 



Of the differences between black and scar- 

 let oak Alice Lounsberry in her Guide to the 

 Trees says: 



"Between the black oak and the scarlet 

 oak there are certain differences in 

 color which may aid many to distin- 

 guish them. It is true that at times 

 tliey are dissimilar in leafage, but 

 again the black oak is so very variable 

 that some of its forms are nearly 

 identical with those of Quereus 

 coccinea. 



"The kernel of its nut is bright 

 .>-ellow and smaller than that of the 

 ■fcarlet oak, which is white. But un- 

 fortunately the acorns mature in Sep- 

 tember and October only, so during 

 the early part of the summer we must 

 seek out some other unchanging dif- 

 ference between them. Again we are 

 aided by color. The bark of the 

 black oak is a dark brown, or nearly 

 black, and it is broken into close 

 scales. A stUl more poignant .iif- 

 ference is that its inner bark is deep 

 orange, never reddish or grey. In the 

 spring its leaves are red, 'and they 

 turn when the tree blooms to a silvery 

 green. The^y are rich red or russet in 

 luio in the autumn and quite without 

 the vivid touch of color which is the 

 chief charm of the scarlet oak." 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 an especially good scarlet oak forest 

 tree pictured in West Virginia by the 

 editor of Hardwood Eecokd. 



TYriCAL FOREST GROWTH SCARLET OAK. WEST VIRGINIA 



and coarse. The weight per cubic foot is 

 fortj'-six pounds and the specific gravity 

 .7405; the coefficient of elasticity is 108,507; 

 modulus of rupture .1054; longitudinal re- 

 sistance .504. 



Scarlet oak bark is reported to contain 

 sufficient tannic acid to give it commercial 



Cow Trees 



Groves of cow trees, such as are to 

 be found in hilly districts in certain 

 parts of South America, are said to 

 be a wonderful sight. These trees, 

 which, it need scarcely be said, do 

 not actually resemble cows, grow to 

 great height, yet for lengths of per- 

 haps fifty feet they are quite with- 

 out branches. Near the top they 

 expand into thick heads of foliage, 

 however, and display a matted tex- 

 ture of leaves and branches. The 

 leaves are thick and ribbed, and 

 often grow to be a foot long. 

 The natives milk these trees. A hole is 

 bored into the heart of the trunk. From this 

 hole there pours a milky fluid much esteemed 

 as a drink. The fruit of the tree is also es- 

 teemed as food. A kind of bread is made 

 from the bark, almost as nourishing as wheat 

 brea d. 



