﻿Trees of New York Slate 191 



FAGACEAE 



Quercus eocciuea Muench. 



Scarlet Oak 



Habit — ■ A medium sized tree 60-80 feet in height Avith a trunk diameter of 

 2-3 feet, often much smaller. Cro^vn in the open uarroAV, irregular, 

 rounded or oblong, ^Aith AAide-spreading basal branches, in dense stands 

 greatly reduced. 



Leaves — Alternate, broadly obovate to oval, 3-6 inches long, 2^/^-4 inches 

 wide, acute at the apex, truncate or cuneate at the base, 7-9-lobed, the 

 lobes repandly dentate and bristle-tipped at the apex and sej^arated by 

 deep, wide, rounded sinuses which extend over half way to the midrib. 

 At maturity the leaves are thin, firm, glabrous, lustrous and dark green 

 above, and paler below. Petioles slender, l^^-2i4 inches long. 



Flowers — Appearing in ilay or early June when the leaves are about half 

 grown, monoecious. Staminate flowers in interrupted, filiform, pendulous, 

 hairy aments 3-4 inches long, borne on the growth of the preceding season 

 or from the axils of the inner scales of the terminal bud. Calyx cam- 

 panulate, greenish red, pubescent, cut into 4-5 ovate, acute lobes. 

 Stamens 4-5, with glabrous, pale yellow anthers. Pistillate flowers in 

 groups of 2-3 (or solitary), pedunculate, borne in the axils of the leaves 

 of the season, each subtended by the broadly ovate, hairy, involucral 

 scales. Calyx campanulat«, shallowly lobed. Pistil consisting of a 3- 

 celled (rarely 4-5-celled) ovary surmounted by 3 elongated, spreading, 

 strap-shaped, red styles stigmatic on the inner surface. 



Fruit — An acorn, borne solitary or in pairs, sessile or long pedunculate, 

 ripening the second season. Xut ovoid, pale reddish brown and often 

 striate, round-pointed at the apex, V^-1 inch long, enclosed for one-third 

 to one-half of its length in the cup. Cup turbinate, thin, pale reddisli 

 brown within, reddish bro^xTi with closely appresssed scales ANithout. 



Winter characters — Twigs slender, pale-lentieellate, smooth, lustrous, light 

 reddish brown, at length dark brown. Buds alternate, those near the 

 branch-tip clustered about the terminal bud, broadly ovate, acute, dark 

 reddish bro^ATi, somewhat jmbescent. Mature bark dark brown, thin, 

 diA-ided by shallow furrows into irregular ridges, scaly at the surface. 



Habitat — Prefers light sandy or gravelly soils in company with Ked and 

 Black Oak. 



Range — Southern Maine west to southern Minnesota and eastern Nebraska^ 

 south to Xorth Carolina and Nebraska. Zones A, B, and C. 



Uses — -The wood of this speci-es is inferior to that of Quercus rubra but is 

 put to the same uses. The tree is desirable ornamentally because of its 

 beautiful foliage Avliich turns scarlet in the autumn, but is subject to 

 early decay resulting in windbreak. 



