CUPULIFEB^E. (OAK FAMILY.; 421 



fruit middle-sized ; cup narrowed at the base, enclosing one half or one third of 

 the nearly hemispherical nut, the broad and whitish scales closely appressed. 

 Mountains of North Carolina, and northward. A tree 40 - 50 high. Leaves 

 3' - 5' long. 



3. Q. cinerea, Michx. (HIGH-GROUND WILLOW-OAK.) Leaves peren- 

 nial, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse or acute, mucronate, white tomentose beneath ; 

 fruit small, sessile ; cup shallow, narrowed at the base, pale, enclosing one third 

 of the hemispherical nut. Dry sandy pine barrens, Florida to North Carolina. 



A small tree, fruiting abundantly. Leaves 2' -3' long, scurfy, like the 

 branchlets, when young. 



Var. pumila, Michx. (Q. pumila, Walt.) Shrubby (l-3 high); 

 branches slender ; leaves lanceolate, wavy, at length smooth on both surfaces. 



Flat or dry pine barrens, Florida to North Carolina. Roots creeping. 



4. Q. virens, Ait. (Live OAK.) Branchlets tomentose; leaves coria- 

 ceous, perennial, oblong, obtuse, somewhat rugose, smooth and shining above, 

 hoary-tomentose beneath, the margins revolute ; fruit long-peduncled ; cup top- 

 shaped, hoary, enclosing the base of the oblong chestnut-brown nut. Dry or 

 wet soil, in the lower districts, Florida to North Carolina. Commonly a large 

 tree with spreading branches. Leaves 2' -4' long. 



Var. maritima. (Q- maritima, Willd.) Shrubby (4 - 10 high) ; leaves 

 smooth, lanceolate, concave, mostly acute ; fruit larger. Sand ridges along 

 the coast, Florida to South Carolina. 



Var. dentata. (Q. nana, Willd. 1) Dwarf (1- 2 high) ; earliest leaves 

 flat, wedge-obovate or obovate-oblong, mucronate, toothed, at length smooth, 

 the others lanceolate and entire ; fruit sessile or short-peduncled, often clustered. 



Flat pine barrens, Florida. Leaves nearly sessile. 



* * Leaves 3-lobed at the summit, bristle-aimed. 



5. Q. aquatica, Catesb. (WATER-OAK.) Leaves perennial, short-peti- 

 oled, obovate-oblong or wedge-shaped, smooth on both sides, obtusely 3-lobed 

 at the summit, often entire, or on young shoots pinnatifid-toothed or lobed, 

 mostly awnless when old ; fruit small, mostly sessile ; cup shallow, flat, en- 

 closing the base of the hemispherical downy nut. Swamps and wet banks, 

 Florida, and northward. A small tree, with smooth bark. Leaves 2' -3' long, 

 with tufts of down in the axils of the veins when young. 



Var. hybrida. Smooth, with ash-colored branchlets; leaves oblong or 

 wedge-oblong, entire, emarginate, or 3-lobed at the summit, tapering or abruptly 

 contracted into a short petiole ; fruit very small, closely sessile ; cup shallow, 

 flattened, enclosing the base of the ovate nut. Rocky banks of Schurlock's 

 Spring, West Florida, and of the Flint River at Albany, Georgia. A lofty 

 tree. Leaves 3' - 4' long. Fruit 4" - 5" long. 



6 Q. nigra, L. (BLACK JACK.) Leaves short-petioled, coriaceous, broad- 

 ly wedge-shaped, rounded at the base, mostly 3-lobed at the summit, bristle- 

 awned, smooth above, rusty-pubescent beneath, deciduous ; fruit middle-sized, 

 on short and thick peduncles ; cup top-shaped, with coarse truncate scales, 

 enclosing one third or one half of the oblong-ovate nut. (Q. ferruginea, Michx.) 

 36 



