THE COMMON NAMES OF SOME TREES 

 By W. W. Ashe 



Such a wide difference has been noted between names used in 

 botanical and forest literature for some of the most common trees of 

 the southeastern states and the vernacular names, which are in use 

 by the people, that it seems desirable to call attention to some of these 

 differences and to ask other persons to record local names of their 

 sections. It is not surprising that there is not absolute unanimity con- 

 cerning common names. What is surprising is that so many ver- 

 nacular names are of general application and that so many forms are 

 definitely separated, and this is the more surprising when the per- 

 plexities of the botanists and foresters in their groupings and sepa- 

 rations are considered. Quercus shumardii Buckl.^ for example was 

 not generally recognized scientifically until about the beginning of 

 the present century. Yet the people of the lower Mississippi River 

 valley as a rule distinguish it. 



Quercus coccinea Muen., Spanish oak. The English name used in 

 literature for this very distinct tree is scarlet oak, which is merely a 

 translation of the Latin binomial. Michaux f. states (Hist. Arb. Amer., 

 1810-13) that not having noted a common name for this tree, the 

 name scarlet oal- which was given by his father would be a suitable 

 one. The tree, however, was recognized and the name Spanish oak 

 applied to it long before Michaux recognized it and proposed for its 

 English name a translation of the scientific one. The distinctive 

 characteristics of Spanish oak are its smooth pale gray bark ; the spike 

 or pin knots, the very defective character of the wood and deeply 

 sinuate leaves. It is sometimes called spotted oak, particularly in 

 Kentucky and Ohio. 



As early as 1714 Lawson referred to it in his History of Carolina 

 saying, "Spanish oak bears a whitish, smooth bark." Kalm in his 

 Travels (Vol. 1, p. 66) mentions in New Jersey the black oak and 

 then refers to "Q. hispanica, the Spanish oak, a variety of the pre- 

 of tinctoria. According to Marshall it was known in New England in 

 1785 as Spanish oak. 



'For a discussion of this name see Bull. Charl. Mus. 14: 9. 1918. 



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