FAGACEAE 



Tanoak. Tanbark-oak 



Lithocarpus densiflorus (Hook. & Arn.) Rehd. 



HABIT. A medium-sized tree 70-90 feet high and 2-3 feet 

 in diameter (max. 150 by 8 feet); trunk clear; crown rounded 

 with ascending branches. 



LEAVES. Alternate; simple; persistent 3-4 years; oblong to 

 oblong-lanceolate; 3-5 inches long; penniveined; repand or 

 dentate to entire-revolute ; acute or rounded; thick; pale green 

 and usually glabrous above; brown, woolly pubescent below 

 in spring, becoming blue-white and nearly glabrous. 



FLOWERS. Monoecious; apetalous; appearing after the 

 leaves; in staminate and bisexual aments; staminate flowers 

 crowded, each with 10 stamens; the pistillate flowers solitary 

 with 3-celled ovary. 



FRUIT. An oval, bitter, yellow-brown nut (acorn) %-l 

 inch long; enclosed at base in a shallow, tomentose, spiny, 

 cuplike involucre, lined with a lustrous red pubescence; maturing 

 in 2 years. 



TWIGS. Stout; round; covered for 1-3 years with a thick 

 tomentum of fascicled hairs, becoming red-brown and often 

 with a glaucous bloom. Winter buds: terminal present; ovoid; 

 obtuse; V4 inch long; covered by a few tomentose scales. 



BARK. Thick; red-brown; deeply furrowed with broad, 

 rounded, scaly ridges; high in tannin content. 



WOOD. Unimportant; hard and strong; ring-porous; little 

 used. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Tolerant; growth moderate; 

 maturity reached in 200-300 years; deep taproot system; typical 

 on moist, well-drained sites; in mixture with conifers and hard- 

 woods; coppices vigorously and reproduces well by seed. 



GENERAL. There are about 100 Asiatic species of this genus 

 found in warm climates. Only the one species is native to North 

 America. 



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