DESCRIPTION OF TREES. 161 



all the oaks and one of the most common. It is rather slow 

 in growth and wherever large trees are found, whether by 

 the roadside or in the field, they should be preserved and 

 the most be made of their picturesque grandeur. 



RED OAK (Q, rubra). See Street- or Avenue-trees. 



SWAMP WHITE OAK (Q. bicolor). Somewhat similar 

 in appearance to the last, but rather more upright in 

 growth and with a heavier foliage. It succeeds best in a 

 moist soil. 



PIN- OR SWAMP-OAK (Q. palustris). Fig. 83. This 

 beautiful oak is only of medium size and takes the most 

 regular pyramidal form; the leaves are deeply lobed, dark 

 green in color, changing to a beautiful scarlet-crimson in 

 autumn. Its acorns are small, set in a very shallow cup, 

 and the branches stand out nearly at right angles with the 

 trunk or with age assume a drooping form. It is a tree 

 that should be more planted than it is. 



SCARLET OAK (Q. tinctoria^ var. coccinea). This tree 

 resembles the red oak (see Avenue-tree.) somewhat in out- 

 line, but with a much more deeply lobed leaf and an acorn 

 of medium size nearly half immersed in the cup. It is an 

 upland oak and takes on a beautiful scarlet color in 

 autumn. 



ENGLISH OAK (Q. robur). This oak is medium to large 

 in size, with rather small leaves like our native white oak, 

 but more graceful and compact in outline. It takes a 

 greater variety of forms than any other species, varying 

 from the most close and upright pyramidal form to the 

 low-spreading or weeping tree, and in foliage from the 

 darkest green through the lighter shades of green to golden 

 yellow and to the rich purple shades of the copper beech. 

 In form- of the leaves it varies from those with broad, almost 



