358 FAGACEAE 



1). Q. chrysolepis Liehm. Maul Oak. (Fig. 65.) Tree eoiimionly 15 to 

 CO tVet high or on expo.sed mountain summits reduced to a mere shrub a few 

 feet high; trunk 1 to 5 feet in dianu»ter, tlu? wliitish hark about ^ {. inch thick 

 and fissured into narrow flat, more or h^ss scaly ridges; leaves thick, greeu 

 above, yellow beneath with a fine fuzz or powder, or eventually lead-color 

 or dull white, ovate or oblong-ovate, acute at apex, entire, or with entire 

 and toothed leaves frequently found on the same twig, commoidy 1 to 2 but 

 sometimes even 4 inches long; staminate catkins Yj to 2 inches long; calyx 

 une<|ually lobed ; stamens 8 to 10; pistillate flowers mostly sessile and solitary, 

 or sometimes in slioi-f spikes; acorns maturing in second autumn; typical cup 

 thick and round-edged with a fine fuzzy or felt-like tomeiitum concealing the 

 scales, the whole suggesting a yellow turi)an. but tliiunish cujw and scanty 

 pubescence not concealing the scales occur as frequently; nut ovate, globose. 

 or cylindric, rounded at apex or shar])ly pointed, 1 to 11/4 inches long, % to 

 1 inch broad. 



Canons, mountain slopes and plateaus: Sierra Nevada, most common be- 

 tween 1.500 and 5.000 feet, but rouiul balls of Haul Oak shrubs grow on the 

 talus ami walls of the Vosemite, Tehipite, Kings, Kern and other canons to 

 an altitude of 5,000 to it.OOO feet; not on Mt. Shasta; Coast Ranges (in every 

 mountain range of this region), attaining its finest development in Mendocino 

 and Humboldt cos., whoi-e truly massive trees grow on shoulders of the nuiun- 

 taiii slojx's or canon bottoms; Southern California, on all the higher nuiuntains; 

 extends north to southern Oregon, south to Lowci- California and east to 

 New Mexico. Has a greater geographical range and grows under greater 

 variety of conditions than any other of our species of this family. Occurring 

 in opi'u stands ami usually as nuudi scattered trees. Extremely variable in 

 size, ai)i)earance and foliage characteristics. Wood renuirkable for its strength, 

 toughness ami close grain which makes it suitable for mauls, tool-handles 

 and wagon-parts. Woodsmen know it as Spanish Oak. Valparaiso Oak, 

 Georgia Oak. Florida Oak, iron Oak. Pin Oak. Hickory Oak. White Live Oak, 

 Mountain Live Oak. Drooping Oak, Golden Oak. Canon Oak and Laurel Oak. 

 The numerous folk names are due to popular api)reciatiou of its wood qualities 

 but also in jiart to its variable form. The following are some of the extreme 

 forms. 



Fornui grandis .Icpson n. form. (Fig. 65(1.) Tall tree with straight trunk 

 and narrow crown GO to 110 feet high ; cups 6 to 8 lines broad and -i lines 

 deep, the scale-tips not involved in the dense close felt which is scantier than 

 in the type; nuts oblong. 1 to IVs inches long, obtusish or subacute.- — (Arbor 

 alta. triuico recto coma angusta 60 ad 110 ped. alta ; cupula' 6 ad 8 lin. lata', 

 4 lin. alta'; apices s(|uamarum non involuti. densa artaipie coacta qua' est minor 

 (juam in typo; glaudes oblonga' 1 ad li,s jioll. lata', obtusiuscuhe vel sub- 

 acutii'). — Narrow North (*oast Range I'afKins. fine examples in ^lill Creek Canon 

 near Ukiah (W.L.J, no. 241 (i). 



Forma pendula Jepson n. form. iJniad-ci'owned tree with pendulous 

 branchlets; leaves dblong-lanceolate to liroa<lly lanceolate, 2 to 4 inches long, 

 y^ f<' 1 inch broatl, dis|)ose(l to be entire, deep shining green above. — (Arbor 

 eonui lata ranuilis pendulis; folia oblongo-laiu'colata ad late lanceolata, 2 ad 

 4 poll, longa, Vo ad 1 poll. lata. pleriun(|ue Integra, atrovirentia nitida supra). — 

 Upper San Benito Hi\'er (W.L,.I. no. 2705, May. 1!>07). Similar and prob- 

 ably identical forms occur in El Dorado and Anuidor cos. 



