I4 
Oaks (Ficures 4-6) 
There are more than two hundred species of oak. Of those 
native in North America, about fifty attain tree size. Oaks are 
much planted as ornamental trees, not only because their symmetry 
of habit and their large size add beauty and dignity to landscape 
~ 
— 
esign; but also because their foliage is handsome at all times of 
the year, especially in the fall, when some species, e.g. the scarlet 
oak, assume brilliant autumnal tints. They are by no means al- 
ways symmetrical trees; aged individuals often present a gnarled 
and twisted appearance which also has its aesthetic value in land- 
scape art. The oak, a synonym for strength, sturdiness, and 
virility, is notably a long-lived tree; in some species its span of life 
extends to more than 1,000 years. 
In addition to the ornamental value, many species are important 
timber trees; the bark of some is rich in tannin and is used for 
tanning leather: the acorns of some are edible, and nearly all spe- 
cles produce wood which is valuable as fuel and useful in the 
manufacture of charcoal. 
We may divide the oaks into two chief classes based mainly on 
characters of leaves and acorns. These are the Black Oaks, which 
have leaves with bristle-tipped lobes and require two years for the 
ripening of their acorns; and the White Oaks, whose leaves have 
rounded lobes or sinuate teeth, usually without bristle tips, and 
which require only one year to mature their acorns. In the first 
class we have included Quercus Phellos and QO. imbricaria, whose 
leaves, being almost entire and willow-like, put them in the sub- 
class, “Willow Oaks.” In the second or white oak class we have 
included some of the Chestnut Oaks, whose leaf and acorn char- 
acters stamp them as a sub-class of white oaks. These are: 
Quercus bicolor, the swamp white oak; QO. montana, the chestnut 
oak ; and QO. prinoides, the chinquapin oak; the last, indeed, usually 
classed as a shrub. 
QO. myrsinaefolia, an evergreen oak of Japan and East China, is 
usually put in a class by itself, on account of its evergreen leaves 
and the peculiar concentric rings in the acorn cup. Quercus Cerris, 
+ 
the Turkey oak, 1s exceptional in that it requires two years to 
Inature its acorns. 
