FOREST TREES. 



177 



The leaves of the Scarlet Oak are set on long slender stalks ; the acorns 

 are roundish, somewhat deep in the cup, and not so large as those of the 

 Black Oak. 



The Red Oak. — Quercus rubra, (L.) 



This is a fine large spreading tree, from seventy to one hundred 

 feet in height, with a diameter of from three to four feet where it grows 

 freely and in suitable soil. It blossoms in May and bears large acorns 

 in very shallow, smooth cups (or rather saucers). The foliage is 

 handsome, with wide-spreading lobes ; the wood is porous and coarse- 

 grained ; the leaves turn to a dull red when touched by the frost and 

 remain persistent till the Spring, when they are displaced by the swelling 

 of the new buds. The wood is chiefly used by coopers for casks, 

 especially for oil and molasses casks. 



The acorns of the Red Oak are eagerly eaten by hogs, and the 

 smaller wild animals lay up stores of them in their underground granaries. 

 The wood burns well when it is well dried ; the weight of a cubic foot 

 is forty pounds. 



Dr. Lee says that acorns, roasted as a substitute for coffee, have 

 been given to young children affected with rickets and scrofulous diseases 

 with beneficial results. The brown inner coating of the acorn is 

 also valuable and highly astringent in the form of washes and gargles 

 for the mouth and throat, especially in relaxations of the uvula and 

 tonsils — a simple remedy, and easily procured. It is a pity that it is so 

 little known. 



Mossy-cup or Over-cup Oak. — Qucrcns inacrocarpo, (Michx.) 



This is a fine large Oak, with handsome deeply lobed foliage and 

 fringed cups, that grows on the Rice Lake Plains. The cup is large, 

 coarsely-scaled and woody, with fringed border, by which mark it is 

 easily distinguished from any of the other Oaks. The leaves are deeply 

 lobed, almost pinnate, long and slender and of a bright green, the 

 bark, grey and scaly ; a fine whitish fringe of awned scales surmounts 

 the edge of the cup. 



Scrub Oaks. 



The Black Scrub Oak is one of the handsomest of our Dwarf or 

 Scrub Oaks, with dark shining holly green leaves, the lobes are finely 

 bristle-pointed, in height varying from ten to twenty feet, but where it 

 springs from the acorn and grows singly it will make a good sized tree 

 of handsome outline, but this is rare ; the Black and Grey Scrub Oaks 



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