CHAP. CV. CORYLA‘CEA.  QUE’RCUS. 1871 
says Michaux, “ this species is thinly disseminated in the forests, and has 
hitherto been considered as a variety of the white oak. In Maryland, and 
a great part of Virginia, where it abounds, it is called the box white oak, and 
sometimes the iron oak, and the post oak. The last denomination only is 
used in the Carolinas, Georgia, and East Tennessee.” The steep banks of 
the Hudson, near New York, form its most northern boundary ; and even 
here, Michaux observes, it is only preserved by the influence of the sea air, 
which somewhat moderates the severity of the winters. It thrives but in a 
dry, sandy, or gravelly soil, not far from the sea; but it attains its largest size 
near Baltimore. . The farthest point at which it was found to the west, was 
about 150 miles from Philadelphia, on the road to Pittsburg. It is most 
abundant in Virginia and Maryland, between the Alleghanies and the sea. 
“* Growing in a less humid soil, its timber is less elastic, but finer grained, 
stronger, and more durable, than that of the white oak: hence it is pre- 
ferred, in America, for posts, and is used with advantage by wheelwrights 
and coopers.” (Michx.) In ship-building, it is employed principally for the 
knees, as it seldom produces planks large enough for the sides. The pre- 
ference given, in the West Indies, to the staves for casks procured from 
Baltimore and Norfolk is due, in a great measure, to their being made, in 
those districts, of the post oak. (Michx.) Pursh calls this species the 
upland white, or iron, oak; and says that it is a spreading tree, from 
50 ft. to 60 ft. high, the timber of which is of great value in ship-building. 
It was introduced into England in 1819; and there are plants of it in the 
Horticultural Society’s Garden, and at Messrs. Loddiges’s, 
¥ 12. Q. uyra‘ta Walt. The lyrate, or over-Cup, Oak. 
Identification, Walt. Carol., 235.; Willd., No. 72.; Ait., No. 27.; Pursh, 2. p. 632.; Michx. Quer., 
No. 3. t.4.; N. Du Ham., 7. p. 181.; Smith in Rees’s Cycl., No. 79. 
Synonymes. Swamp Post Oak, Water white Oak, Amer. 
ngravings. Michx. Quer., No. 3. t. 4.; and our jigs. 1733. and 1734. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves subsessile, glabrous, ly- 
rately sinuated; much contracted in the middle, 
but dilated at the summit, and attenuated at the < 
base ; lobes angular; the upper part of the leaf Aa 
divided into three lobes, which are tricuspidate [y7y > 
at their extremities. Calyx globular, rough, and R44yqy 
almost covering the acorn. (Michxr.) The over- 
cup oak, according to the younger Michaux, 
forms a noble tree, of which he has seen spe- 
cimens, on the banks of the Savannah, more than 
80 ft. high, with a trunk from 8ft. to 12 ft. in : 
circumference. The elder Michaux, however, states its ordinary height to 
be between 50 ft. and 60 ft. The leaves are from 6 in. to 8 in. long, smooth, 
- narrow, lyre-shaped, deeply sinuated, and 
borne on short petioles. The lobes, espe- 
cially the upper ones, are somewhat trun- 
cated; and, from the resemblance in this 
respect to those of the post oak, this species 
has obtained the name of the swamp post oak. 
The foliage is thick, and of a light agreeable 
tint; and the bark is white. The acorns are 
broad, round, and depressed ; and the cups, 
which are nearly closed over them, are thin 
and scaly, each scale being terminated by a 
short firm state or bristle. (Michx.) Pursh, 
speaking of this tree, says that it is only from 
8 ft. to 15ft. high; but, as ‘all the other 
writers who have mentioned it describe it as 
a large tree, with a majestic appearance, and 
AY 1734 
* most luxuriant vegetation, Pursh’s account of its height is probably a mis- 
6F 
