1874 
' luxuriance of its foliage.” It 
ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
is sometimes found 60 ft. high, 
with a trunk about 3 ft. in 
diameter; but, as it generally 
grows in poor rocky soil, it 
very seldom attains these di- 
mensions. In open elevated 
situations, it spreads widely, SN 
and forms a head like that of 42” 
an apple tree. The bark on 
old trees is hard, thick, and 
deeply furrowed; and the 
outer bark is equally good for } 
tanning as the inner bark. y 1736 
The wood is reddish, like that f : 
i 
of the white oak; and, though its pores aré more open, its specific 
gravity is greater, a piece of its wood sinking in water, while a piece 
of the same.size of Q. alba will swim. The leaves, in America, are 
5 in. or 6 in. long, and 3in. or 4in. broad; oval, and uniformly den- 
tate, with the teeth more regular, but less acute, than those of Q. P. 
palistris ; the leaf terminating in a point. When beginning to unfold 
in spring, the leaves are covered with a thick white down, and they 
appear somewhat wrinkled ; but, when fully expanded, they are per- 
fectly glabrous, smooth, and of a delicate texture. The petiole, 
which is rather short, is yellow, and the colour becomes brighter 
and more conspicuous in autumn. The acorns are long, of an 
pblong-oval shape: they are produced in pairs, on a short peduncle, 
and are enveloped for about one third of their length in pear-shaped 
cups, covered with loose scales. They are sweet, and of a clear 
light brown colour. This oak, according to the younger Michaux, 
is not one of those which grow promiscuously with other trees in 
forests; but it is found in small patches, in particular habitats, only 
on high grounds, thickly strewed with stones, or covered with rocks. 
“‘ Thus it is often seen on the steep and rocky banks of the Hudson, 
and on the shores of Lake Champlain; and still more frequently on 
the Alleghanies, in Pennsylvania and Virginia.’ On these moun- 
tains, it is sometimes found where the soil is so meagre, that the 
trees do not exceed 20 ft. or 25ft. in height, and their trunks 8 in. 
or 10in. in diameter. In Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, 
this species is known by the name of the chestnut oak; while on 
the banks of the Hudson it is called the rock oak; and the younger 
Michaux, combining the two names, calls it the rock chestnut oak. 
It was introduced in 1800; and there are trees in the Horticultural 
Society’s Garden, and at Messrs. Loddiges’s. The wood, though 
too porous to be used as staves for casks to contain spirituous 
liquors, is esteemed, in New York, next to that of the white oak for 
the construction of ships. It is employed for the knees and frames ; 
pieces adapted for which are rarely to be obtained from the white 
oak; while the rock chestnut oak, “ growing up,” as Michaux says, 
“in a continual controversy with the winds,” produces a ‘great 
number of twisted and crooked branches, or large limbs, perfectly 
well adapted for the purpose. It is also considered superior to any 
other species, except the live oak, for fuel. The bark, at New York 
and in Pennsylvania, is esteemed the best for tanning; but only that 
of the secondary branches, and of the trunks of young trees, is em- 
ployed. Michaux suggests that the tree might grow in exposed 
rocky places in Europe, where the acorns might be dropped in 
crevices in the rocks, or planted in barren places, where the soil 
appears incapable of other cultivation. 
