﻿Trees of New York State 183 



FAGACEAE 



Quercus Muhlenbergii Eiigelm. [Quercus acuminata Hoiiba.] 



Chestnut Oak, Yellow Oak, Chinquapin Oak 



Habit — lu our range a shrub or small tree 20-50 feet in height with a trunk 

 1/^-2 feet ill diameter, in southern Indiana and Illinois attaining- an 

 optimum development of 100-160 feet. Crown narrow, round-topped. 

 Bole often buttressed below. 



Leaves — Alternate, oblong, lanceolate, or obovate, 4-7 inches long, 1-5 inches 

 vnde, pointed at the apex, cuneate or rounded at the base, coarsely and 

 regularly serrate except at the base, at maturity thick, firm, glabrous, 

 yellowish green above, pale silvery-pubescent below, borne on slender, 

 nearly terete petioles %-l^ inches long. 



Flowers — In our range appearing in late May or early June when the 

 leave are about one-fourth growni, monoecious. Staminate flowers in 

 interrupted, filiform, pendulous, hairy aments 3-4 inches long which are 

 borne on the growth of the preceding season or from the axils of the 

 inner scales of the terminal bud. Calyx eampanulate, yellow, pubescent, 

 deeply di\'ided into 5-6 acute lobes. Stamens as many as the calyx-lobes, 

 with short smooth filaments and yellow, oblong, notched anthers. Pistil- 

 late flowers clustered, sessile or pedunculate, white-tomentose, borne in 

 the axils of the leaves of the season, each subtended by the broadly 

 ovate, hairy involucral scales. Calyx eampanulate, adnate to the ovary, 

 shallowly lobed above. Pistil consisting of a 3-celled (rarely 4-5-celled) 

 ovary sui-mounted by 3 bright red styles, stigmatic on their inner surface. 



Fruit — An acorn, borne solitary or in pairs on a short peduncle or sessile, 

 ripening the first season. Nut ovoid or oval, pale chestnut-browai, pubes- 

 cent and round-pointed at the apex, ^/^-l inch long, enclosed from one- 

 third to one-half of its length in the cup. Cup bowl-shaped, thin, pale 

 brown and pubescent within, hoary tomentose without, with small obtuse 

 scales. 



Winter characters — "Pwigs slender, pale-leuticellate, smooth, grayish or 

 reddish brown, at length brownish gray. Buds alternate, those near the 

 branch-tip chestnut-brown, Ys-Vi of an inch long. Mature bark gray or 

 nearly wliite, thin, shallowly fissured into flat-topped, scaly ridges, 

 approaching in appearance that of Quercus alba. 



Habitat — In New York State, an upland species preferring barren limestone 

 ridges, farther west attaining its largest size on the bottom-lands of the 

 Wabash river. 



Range — ■Vermont to Iowa and eastern Nebraska, south to the District of 

 Columbia, and southwest through the mountains to Alabama and Texas. 

 Zones A, B, and C. 



Uses — Wood hard, heavy, strong, close-grained, durable in contact with the 

 soil, dark brown wath pale sapwood. Used for wagonry, cooperage, rail- 

 road ties, etc. Of minor importance in this state because of its small 

 stature. 



