CHAP. CV. CORYLA CE. QUE/RCUS. 1891 
which subsist in them during the greater part 
of the year. They are composed principally of - 
the Pinus paldstris, Quércus obtusfloba, Q. 
nigra, Q. tinctdria, and Q. coccinea. In the 
Carolinas and Georgia, where the soil gradually 
improves in retiring from the shore towards the 
mountains, the Black Jack oak forms a band 
15 or 20 miles broad, between the pine barrens 
and the forests of nobler trees. In Kentucky 
and Tennessee, the Black Jack oak is only seen 
in the sayannahs, where it is widely diffused ; 
and where, preserved by the thickness of its }- 
bark, and its insulated position, it survives the 
conflagrations that almost every year consume 
the grass ; the fire, driven forward by the wind, 
having only time to devour its foliage. In the 
pine barrens, this oak grows chiefly on the 
edges of the branch swamps, where the soil is 
little stronger than is necessary for the pines. With Q. cinérea and Q. Cates- 
-be‘i, it possesses itself of the pine lands that have been cleared for cultivation, 
and afterwards abandoned on account of thew sterility ; and in these situations it 
becomes larger than in the forests. (NV. Amer, Syl.,i. p.80.) In New Jersey 
and Philadelphia, this species is called the barrens oak ; and in Maryland and 
the more southern states, the Black Jack oak. The specific name of nigra was 
given to it by Linnzus, from the blackness of its bark and general appearance ; 
but Michaux preferred the name of ferruginea, not only because the under 
surface of the leaves is of a rusty brown, but because Q. tinctoria, in America, 
is generally known by the name of the black oak. The wood is heavy and 
compact; but it decays so rapidly, when exposed to the weather, that it is not 
used in the arts: it makes excellent fuel, and is sold in Philadelphia for only 
a little less than hickory, and for one third more than every other kind of wood. 
Notwithstanding the 
leathery texture of 
the leaves of this 
tree, they areattacked 
by the larva of Pha- 
lana licida Sm. and 
Abb. Ins., t. 58., syn. 
Dryocampa lucida 
Harris, P. virginiénsis 
Dry, Insts 2. 013. £ 
2., and our fig. 1766., 
the transparent-wing- 
ed white-spot moth. 
The caterpillar of this 
moth is pink, streak- 
ed with a yellowish 
een; and the perfect 
insect pink, brown, 
and yellow. The ca- 
terpillar buries itself 
in the ground, but 
remains there only a 
short time; one ob- 
served by Abbott bu- 
ried itself on the 12th 
of July, and the moth 
appeared on the 26th. The larva of P. quernaria Sm. and Abb, Ins., t. 935 
the American oak beauty, also feeds on the leaves of this species. There are 
663 
