OAK FAMILY 351 



from the lowest axils of the season's shoot. Pistillate flowers borne in the 

 upper axils of the season's shoot, the ovary with 3 to 5 styles or stigmas. 

 Fruit an acorn, the nut set in a scaly cup. Abortive ovules often discernible in 

 the ripe or nearly ripe acorn. About 300 species distributed over the northern 

 hemisphere. California has 14 species, 9 trees and 5 shrubs ; it is for its area 

 strong in species but very weak in individuals. Washington has 1 and Oregon 

 5 species, all of which occur in California. (Latin name of the oak.) 



White Oaks. Bark commonly white or whitish, wood light-colored; stamens mostly 

 6 to 9; stigmas sessile or nearly so; abortive ovules mostly towards base of nut. 

 Acorns maturing the first year; nut glabrous on the inner surface. 

 Deciduous species. 



Branchlets pendulous; acorn cups deep, the nut long and slender; leaves pinnately 

 parted with coarsely 2 to 3-toothed lobes; trunk bark dark brown, deeply 



cuboid checked ; valleys 1. Q. lobata. 



Branchlets not pendulous; acorn cups shallow; trunk bark white, shallowly 



checked but smoothish. 



Leaves dark lustrous green above, rusty or pale beneath, 5 to 7-parted; nut 

 subglobose or oblong-cylindric. 



Mossy trees; mainly North Coast Eanges 2. Q. garryana. 



Shrub ; montane For. breweri. 



Leaves bluish green above, pale beneath, oblong, coarsely toothed or entire; 

 nut oval, often swollen at or below middle; dry foothills. 3. Q. douglasii. 

 Evergreen species. 



Small tree; leaves blue-green, oblong, mainly entire, nut subcylindric ; southern 



California 4. Q. engelmannii. 



Shrubs; cups saucer-shaped. 



Branches rigid ; leaves % to 1 inch long ; chaparral areas. 



Leaves brittle, plane, light green, oblong, spiny-dentate or entire; nuts 



oval to cylindric, blunt or pointed 5. Q. dumosa. 



Leaves tougher, dark green, convex above, regularly dentate; nuts short 



cylindric or subglobose, very obtuse 6. Q. durata. 



Branches slender, pliable; leaves 3 to 4 1 / 4 inches long, strongly parallel- 

 nerved, toothed, chestnut-like; local in Siskiyous and vicinity 



7. Q. sadlcr:a a. 



Acorns maturing the second year; nut tomentose or hairy within. 

 Trees; acorn cup usually very large and thick. 



Leaves 2 to S 1 /^ inches long, densely woolly when young, with prominent regular 



parallel nerves; islands off south coast 8. Q. tomentella. 



Leaves commonly 1 to 2 inches long, entire or spinose-toothed, dull green above, 

 lead-color beneath or with a golden fuzz when young; cup typically like a 



yellow turban ; mountains 9. Q. chrysolepis. 



Shrubs; acorn cup sub-turbinate or low bowl-shaped, thin; leaves % to 1% inches 



long. 

 Branches slender and pliable, forming broom-like tufts at top of stems; leaves 



mostly entire, no golden fuzz; high montane 10. Q. vaccinifolia. 



Branches rigid, spreading; leaves dentate-prickly, olivaceous above, pale be- 

 neath; Southern and Lower California 11. Q. palmeri. 



Black Oaks. Bark dark or black, wood dark or reddish; stamens mostly 4 to 6; stigmas 



on long styles; abortive ovules mostly towards top of nut; nut tomentose within. 



Acorns maturing the first year, nut slender ovate; leaves roundish or elliptic, convex 



above ; coast valleys and hills 12. Q. agrifolia. 



Acorns maturing the second year. 



Leaves oblong, obtuse or tapering to the acute apex, plane, pale yellowish below; 



nut slender ovate, often streaked longitudinally; interior valleys and hills 



13. Q. wislizenii. 



Leaves pinnately parted, the divisions generally coarsely toothed, always bristle- 

 tipped; nut oblong, obtuse; mountains 14. Q. Tcelloggii. 



1. .Q. lobata Nee. VALLEY OAK. (Figs. 62 and 63.) Graceful tree, com- 



