cupuLiTERiE. SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. 



139 



marking the layers of annual growth. The specific gravity of the absolutely dry wood is 0.70i5, a 

 cubic foot weighing 43.90 pounds. 



The inner bark, which abounds in tannic acid, is largely used in tanning ; ^ it furnishes a yellow 

 dye, and medicinally is sometimes employed, in the form of decoctions, as an astringent and in external 

 applications.^ 



According to Aiton,^ Q 



troduced into English plantations in 1800. Less 



stately than the Red Oak, and far less beautiful in foliage, especially in autumn, than the Scarlet Oak, 



the Black Oak* is rarely planted as an ornamental tree. 



None of the North American Oaks with biennial fruit vary in the form of the leaves as much as 



this species. The narrow-lobed leaves of some individuals are not distinguishable in outline from those 



of Quercus coccinea. It may be always recognized, however, in early spring by the deep red color of 



the unfolding leaves and by its pale silvery appearance a few days later at the flowering period when 



Quercus coccinea is bright green. The rusty lower surface of the mature leaves, the large tomentose 



winter-buds, the dark color of the outer and the deep orange-color of the inner bark, and the generally 



more loosely imbricated cup-scales also serve to distinguish the Black Oak from the Scarlet Oak, 



although the latter especially in Minnesota often produces fruit with comparatively loosely imbricated 

 cup-scales. 



1 Porclier, Resources of Southern Fields and Forests, 238. — Trim- Bentley & Trimen, Med. PI. iv. 251, t. 251. — U. S. Dispens. ed. 



ble, The Tannins, 31, f. 20, 21. 



16, 1261. 



2 Hayne, Arzn. xii. 46, t. 46. — Griffith, Med. Bot. 586. — Gui- » Hort. Kew. ed. 2, v. 291. — Loudon, Arb. Brit. iii. 1884. 



bourt. Hist. Drog. ed. 7, ii. 288. — Nat. Dispens. ed. 2, 1196. — * The Black Oak is sometimes also called Quercitron Oak and 



YeUow Oak. 



