110 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



tris; but in fruiting cup, with Q. coccinea} from which its 

 foliage differed in less intense autumnal coloration. 

 Locally, it seems not to have been distinguished commonly 

 by name from the associated black oak, Q. velutina, though 

 Mr. Hill mentions the name yellow oak as applied to it by 

 one person. 



Since its publication, Quercus eUipsoidaUs has been rec- 

 ognized generally as a valid species, and it is figured in a 

 number of books.^ It appears to be one of the dominant 

 oaks of the region west of Lake Michigan and south of 

 Lake Superior and extends througli Minnesota and Wis- 

 consin to northeastern Iowa, and thence to the country im- 

 mediately southeast of Chicago. This distribution is indi- 

 cated on a small map accompanying Hough's excellent 

 account and photographic illustrations of the species. 



Though the supposed hybrid of Quercus palustris and 

 Q. coccinea bore relatively short and thick acorns, and his 

 description of Q. ellipsoidalis showed that what he took 

 for this species sometimes produces nearly spherical 

 acorns, Mr. Hill was careful to differentiate his new species 

 from the associated oaks referred to coccinea and velutina; 

 and this has led those who have dealt with it of recent 

 years to dwell upon the deep turbinate cup and slender 

 elongated acorn as its chief differentials, which, as is 

 shown in the well-drawn figures of the "Minnesota Trees 

 and Shrubs'', stand in marked contrast with the otherwise 

 scarcely distinguishable oak called Q. coccinea, of the re- 

 gion in which Q. ellipsoidalis grows. Though an early 

 contributor to The American Entomologist and Botanist, 

 Mr. Hill does not seem to have recognized in these oaks the 

 assemblage that Vasey had considered a generation 

 earlier, nor to have noted that Vasey's coccinea microcarpa 

 well pictures his own typical ellipsoidalis. 



» Specimens representing coccinea as understood by Mr. Hill, which I take 

 for what is here called Q. eUipsoidalis depressa, occur from Thornton (Hill, 

 ltila/95, 78/96, 82/96, 293/9T, 165/93, S.i/96, Ul/Ol, 122/01. 15/99. Olenwood (Hill 

 81/96. 90/96. *99/97), Barington (HiU, 215/00, 216/00), and Wauconda (HiU, S3i/98, 

 in Illinois, and from Hammond. Indiana (HiU, 13/91), and Liverpool. Indiana 

 (Hill, 33i/98, 335/98) ; and. without name, from Thornton (Hill, 162/95, 16^/95, 

 05/90. 79/96. 81/96), Glenwood (HiU, 170/95, 88/96), and West Pulman (Hill, 

 ip/9/93, 70-72/96). Other specimens, referred to Q. relutina. occur from Willow 

 Springs, (Hill, 1^0/90), and morely (Hill, 156/95) in Illinois, and from Liverpool, 

 Indiana (HiU, .m/98). 



2 Britton and Brown, 111. Flora, 2 ed. 1 :618. f. 1518. — Britton and Shafer, 

 N. A. Trees. 291. f. 243. — Clements et al., Minnesota Trees and Shrubs. 261. f. 

 — Deam. Kept. Indiana Board of Forestrv. 11 202. pi. 56. — Hough, Handbook. 

 144. fE. — Otis, Micigan Trees, 114. f. — Sargent, Manual of Trees. 2.34. f. 189. — 

 Robinson and Fernald, Oray's New Manual. 7 ed. 342. f. 683. — Trelease, Proc. 

 Amer. Pilos. Soc. 51. pi. 11. 



