_•( -> BEECH FAMILY 



soon becoming green and smooth except for little tufts of hair in the 

 axils of the larger veins beneath, turning brown in autumn and persisting 

 throughout the winter, 7-14 cm. long, 7-12 cm. wide, petioles 2.5-4 cm. 

 long ; flowers appearing with the leaves, opening when they are about half 

 grown ; staminate catkins pubescent, 3.5-4.5 cm. long, flowers rather 

 crowded, about 2.5 mm. in diameter, pistillate flowers short peduncled ; 

 acorns ripening the second season, solitary or in pairs, borne on peduncles, 

 1 cm. or less in length ; acorn brown, usually striped with darker lines, 

 slightly downy or smooth, 13-20 mm. long, about 10 mm. wide, cup top- 

 shaped, narrowed at the base, 13-15 mm. wide, covering one-third to 

 one-half of the acorn, its scales slightly pubescent, closely appressed : 

 e 1 1 i p s o i d a 1 i s, ellipsoidal, referring to the shape of the acorns. 



Sterile soil, southern Michigan, and Illinois, to Manitoba and Iowa. 

 In Minnesota apparently throughout the whole state except the north- 

 eastern corner, but reports have so confused this species with the next 

 that it is difficult to limit its distribution. In the east central part of 

 the state it covers large areas of sterile sandy soil with a copse-like 

 growth. In prairie districts, it appears sometimes as a low shrub 1-3 m. 

 high. The common "black oak" of the region around the Twin Cities. 



Wood light brown, strong, coarse, hea'vy, used only for fuel. 



Quercus coccinea M uenclihause n 1770 Scarlet Oak 



Tree 10-20 m. (33-65 ft.) high, 3-6 dm. in diameter, occasionally 

 larger ; bark rather smooth, divided by shallow fissures into irregular 

 ridges and plates, dark brown or grayish, inner bark reddish; buds oval, 

 acute, 3-5 mm. long, 1.5-3 mm. wide, slightly hairy towards the top J 

 leaves oval in outline, deeply cut into five or seven lobes, broadest about 

 the middle, the lobes again lobed or toothed, all the ultimate divisions 

 acute and bristle-pointed, tip of leaf acute, bristle-pointed* base truncate 

 or broadly wedge-shaped, bright glossy green above, somewhat paler be- 

 low, slightly downy when young, but soon becoming smooth except for 

 a few tufts of small hairs in the axils of the large veins beneath, turning 

 bright scarlet in autumn and persisting throughout the winter, 8-12 cm. 

 long, 7-11 cm. wide, petioles 2.5-4 cm. long; flowers appearing with the 

 leaves opening when they are about half grown, staminate catkins slender, 

 smooth or nearly so, about 8 cm. long, flowers scattered, about 2.5 cm. 

 in diameter, pistillate flowers short stalked; acorns ripening the second 

 season, solitary or in pairs, sessile or borne on peduncles 12 mm. long, 

 or less; acorn oval, round, or somewhat elongated, 15-18 mm. long, about 

 13 mm. wide, light brown, often slightly downy, seed pale yellow, bitter, 



