420 Cl riMlF.U.K. (o.VK lAMII.Y.) 



Okdku 12.S. CI'PULIFEK.'T:. (Oak Family.) 



Tri'os or slirul)s, witli altrrnato entire (ir Inlied strai;ilil-\eiiu'(l stipulate 

 leaves, and niomuelous apetahjus flcjwers. Sterile (lowers in pemhilous 

 8len<ler or capitate aments. Calyx seale-like, or re;.nilar and 4 - C-lolud. 

 Stanu'Hs few. Fertile flowers single or clustered, furnished with an invo' 

 lucre which encloses the fruit, or forms a cuj) at its base. Ovary 2 — 7- 

 celk'd, Avith 1-2 pendulous anatropous ovules in each cell. Stignias as 

 many as the cells. Fruit 1-celled, 1 -seeded. Albumen none. Cotyle- 

 dons thick and fleshy, lladicle superior. 



Synopsis. 



# Fertile flowers single, or few in a cluster. 



1. QUERCU3. Nut solitary, witli the base enclosed in a scaly involucre. 



2. CASTAXEA. Nuts 1-3, enclosed in a i-valved spiny involucre ; sterile aments elongated, 



erect. 



3. >'AOUS. Nuts 2, 3-anpk"d, enclosed in a somewhat spiny 4-valTcd inyolucre : sterile 



aments capitate, pendulous. 



4. CORYLUS. Nut solitary, bony, enclosed in a leafy lacerated involucre. 



* « Fertile flowers spiked. 



5. CARPINUS. Nuts 1 - 2, in the axil of an open leafy involucre. 



6. OSTRYA. Nut solitary, enclosed in a membranaceous inflated involucre. 



1. QUERCUS, L. Oak. 



Sterile amcnt slender, bractlcss, pendulous. Calyx unequally 6 - 8-parted. 

 Stamens 6- 12, slender : anthers 2-cclled. Fertile flowers axillary, solitary, or 

 few in a cluster. Caly.x 6-cleft or denticulate, adnate to the .3 - 4-cellcd ovary. 

 Ovules 2 in each cell. Stigmas obtuse. Nut (Acorn) oblong or liemispherical, 

 partly (rarely wholly) enclosed in the cup-shaped scaly involucre. Cotyledons 

 very thick, plano-convex. — Trees or shrubs, with simple entire or lobed leaves. 

 Stipules caducous. 



§ 1. Fruit biennial. 

 * Leaves entire, short-petioled ; those on vi<jorous shoots often lolied or toothed. 



1. Q. Phellos, L. (Willow-Oak.) Leaves (2'- 3' long) lanceolate or 

 linear-lanceolate, bristle-awned, scurfy, like the branchlets, when young, becom- 

 ing smooth on both sides ; fruit small, sessile ; cup flattish, enclosing the base of 

 the hemispherical nut. — Margins of swamps and streams, Florida to Missis- 

 sippi, and northward. — A slender tree, 40° -50° high. 



Var. laurifolia, (Q. laurifolia, Michx.) Leaves larger (3' -4' long), 

 oblong-lanceolate; cup deeper and more pointed at the base. — Light uplands, 

 Florida to North Carolina. — A tree commonly larger than the preceding. 



Var. arenaria. (Q myrtifolia, TTOW ?) Shrubby (4° - 8° high) ; leaves 

 small (i'- 1|^' long), rigid, oblong or obovatc, obtuse or barely pointed, with the 

 margins revolute. — Dry sand ridges, along the coast of Florida and Georgia. 



2. Q. imbricaria, Michx. (Shinolk-Oak ) Leaves lanceolate-oblong, 

 acute or obtuse at each cud, mucrouate, pale and downy beneath, deciduous; 



