82 PEOCEEDIXGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



wide, are obovate, acute at each end, long petioled (petiole .70 to 1.50 

 long), coriaceous^ vert/ glossy above, pale and very velvety beneath, the mar- 

 gin deei)lv cnspidate-toothed. The acorn is very hirge (.90 to 1.00 inch 

 long by the same in breadth), broadest at the base, the summit some- 

 what depressed, the color a rich leather-brown ; cup saucer-shaped, 

 flattish beneath, very thicli, velv^ety inside, rouf^hly clad exteriorly with 

 very distinct and prominent claw like, somewhat carinate scales, the 

 margin thiu, and turned slightly outward ; peduncle very short (.30 or 

 less) or wanting, the acorn being usually sessile. This tree can hardly 

 be a form of Q. bieolor (to which Q. michauxi is referred by Dr. Eugle- 

 mann), its principal characters being directly the reverse of those of 

 that species. Thus, the leaves of Q. bieolor are very short-petioled or 

 almost sessile, while those of the present species have the petiole an 

 inch or more, frequently an inch and a half in length ; in Q. bieolor the 

 acorn is attached to a longer peduncle than any other of our oaks 

 (usually 2 inches or more in length!), while in this species, if present at 

 all, it does not exceed .30 of an inch! The acorn of Q. bieolor is also 

 very much smaller, and of a totally different character. 

 Whatever this species may be, I leave it for botanists to decide.* 



70. (22S.) Quercus miihlenbergi. "Yellow Oak"; "Chinquapin" (!). 

 This tine tree is a very common species in the bottom lands as well 



as on rich hillsides. The trunk may be recognized at a distance by its 

 thin -scaled, very light-colored bark, and tall slender growth, this oak 

 being probably the tallest in proportion to its diameter of any of the 

 white-barked species. One felled tree measured 130 feet in length, the 

 trunk 40 feet, and the circumference 13 feet; another (a photograph of 

 which, taken before the tree was cut, is in my possession) was 122i feet 

 long, 73 feet to the first limb and 84 feet to the main fork, the diameter 

 across the top of the stump being only 3i feet! A standing tree, whose 

 height could not be ascertained, was 14 feet in circumference above the 

 spurred base, which, at the ground, measured 10 feet in diameter. 



The acorns of this tree are very small and sweet, much resembling in 

 both appearance and taste, and certainly not inferior to, the nuts of 

 the Chinquapin ( Castanea pumila), whence the popular name. The wood 

 is said to be tougher than that of Q. alba, and is much used by wagon- 

 makers. 



71. (229.) Quercus nigra. "Blackjack"; "Jack Oak." 



A very abundant species in poor, sandy soils, growing 30 to 50 feet 

 high and 8 inches to 1^ feet diameter, being, perhaps, the smallest of 

 all our oaks. Ko actual measurements having been made, it may be 

 that the dimensions given above are sometimes exceeded. 



* Since the above was written, Professor Sargent writes me as follows: "This is, no 

 doubt, Q. michauxi, and it must tiow be considered a good ^ecies. It is one of the 

 most beautiful and useful of the American oaks." 



