100 EESOTTRCES OP CALIFORNIA. 



ing like the English parks. At the ends of the large boughs 

 are branches which hang down hke vines — giving the tree, 

 when seen from a distance, something of the appearance of an 

 elm. The acorns are large, sometimes two and a half inches 

 long. They once formed the chief article of food of the Cali- 

 fornian Indians. 



The evergreen oak ( Quercus agrifolia) is a low, spreading 

 tree, much like an apple-tree in size and shape. The foliage, 

 however, is darker and denser. The acorns are small, thin, 

 and sharp-pointed. The wood is hard, crooked in grain, and 

 valuable for knees in ship-building. 



The Californian chestnut oak ( Quercus densiflora) is a low, 

 handsome evergreen tree, wdth a leaf very much like that of 

 the chestnut. The bark is very rich in tannin, and is exten- 

 sively used for the tanning of hides. The tree is rare north of 

 latitude 39°, and is most abundant in the mountains about 

 Santa Cruz. 



The Western chinquapin ( Gastanea chrysophylla)^ or golden- 

 leaved chestnut, is an evergreen shrub that grows in the Sierra 

 Nevada. At the height of three feet it bears an edible and 

 palatable fruit, something like the beechnut in shape, but larger. 

 The flowers and ripe fruit are often found on the same bush. 

 The leaves are dark-green above, and covered Avith a yellowish 

 powder beneath. The Western chinquapin grows to be a tree 

 thirty feet high in some parts of Oregon. 



The fulvous oak ( Quercus fulvescens) is a deciduous tree, 

 that grows about thirty feet high, with leaves somewhat like 

 those of the Western chinquapin. The acorn, when young, is 

 concealed in the cup, the two together resembling a little 

 wheel ; but the acorn, when mature, is an inch and a half long, 

 and projects considerably beyond the cup. The wood is tough- 

 er than that of most of the oaks of California. 



Kellogg's oak ( Quercus kelloggii) is a large deciduous tree, 

 found only in California. Its leaves are deeply sinuate, with 

 three principal lobes on each side, terminating in several acute 

 points. It bears fruit only in alternate years, or at least mos*- 



