The Oaks 281 



are unlike. Post oak never, grows tall, even 

 in rich land. White oaks easily reach a 

 hundred feet. White oaks are grayish pink 

 at the heart, and have very smooth whitish- 

 brown bark. Post oaks are rough barked, 

 light gray on the trunks and almost white on 

 the branches. Russet is in fact the post oak's 

 color-note. The leaves turn yellow, then 

 brown, and hang on well through the winter. 

 The sapwood has a yellowish tinge through 

 its white, and the heart is grayish yellow, with 

 marblings of black. It is the most lasting 

 of all wood out in the weather hence in- 

 deed the name post oak. Its habit of 

 growth is branchy and round-headed, the 

 branches spread 'far and droop almost to the 

 ground wherever they have room. Post oak 

 acorns are tiny, with shells almost black, set 

 in the daintiest possible cups, and clustered 

 three to six on a stalk. They are sweeter 

 than white oak acorns, but have a stronger 

 astringent under-tang. 



The over-cup oak presents the strongest 

 possible contrast to the post oak's fairy fruit. 

 It bears single acorns sparsely, big lumpish 

 brown things, spongy of hull, bitter as to 

 kernel, but sunk in the most beautiful cups, 

 mossed all about the edges with richly crimped 

 brown fringe. The acorn indeed is all that 

 differentiates the over-cup from an indiffer- 



