144 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 



will certainly be quite an easy task to identify a tree 

 by its leaf, acorn, and bark, as they are described or 

 drawn here, without the aid of a method of arrange- 

 ment different from that which will be found in 

 Gray's Field, Forest, and Garden Botany. Of course, 

 the acorn is a " telltale " of the oak ; but in case it 

 should not be conveniently present, or we should fail 

 in recognizing it, there are other equally reliable 

 means which I have pointed out of identifying a tree. 

 But we must bear in mind that the certain recogni- 

 tion of a particular species by means of its leaf is 

 rendered somewhat difficult at times by variations. 

 Little seedlings are especially troublesome in this re- 

 spect, so one's attention should be turned to the larger 

 trees. 



White Oak. The white oak grows from 70 to 100 

 Querent alba. f ee t ? an d in the forest 150 feet high, 

 if it is crowded away from the sunlight ; but in the 

 open, where it reaches its fullest development, it sends 

 out great, wide-spreading branches, and attains a very 

 moderate height, with rather a domelike figure. The 

 leaves are round-lobed, narrow at the base, smooth, 

 deep bright green above and pale green below ; when 

 very young they are woolly and red ; in the fall they 

 turn a rich dark red, and many of them remain on 

 the branches through the winter. The rough-cupped 

 (not scaly-cupped) acorn is generally borne in pairs, 



