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SCARLET OAK 



{Quercus coccinca Mueneh.) 



CCARLET OAK, also known as pin, Spanish or 

 spotted oak, occurs usually on dry, rocky, or 

 sandy soils, but is nowhere very abundant or of first 

 importance. It usually reaches a height of 60 or 80 

 feet, with a trunk diameter of 2 or 3 feet, and is 

 sometimes larger. The branches droop at the end 



and form a 

 narrow, open 

 crown and the 

 trunk tapers 

 rapidly. The 

 bark on young 

 stems is 

 smooth and 

 light brown. 

 On old trunks 

 it is divided 

 into ridges not 

 so rough as 

 those of the 

 black oak and 

 not so flat-top- 

 ped as those of 

 the northern 

 red oak. The 

 bark is often 

 mottled or 

 spotted with gray. The inner bark is reddish. 



The leaves are simple, alternate, somewhat oblong 

 or oval, 3 to 6 inches long, 2^4 to 4 inches wide, 

 usually 7-lobed, the lobes bristle-pointed and sepa- 

 rated by rounded openings extending at least two- 

 thirds of the distance to the njidrib, giving the leaves 

 a very deeply "cut" appearance. The leaves turn a 

 brilliant scarlet in the autumn before falling. The 

 flowers are of two kinds on the same tree and ap- 

 pear when the leaves are two thirds or one-half 

 grown. The fruit takes 2 years to mature. The 

 acorn is one-half to 1 inch long, reddish brown, 

 often striped, and about half-enclosed in the cup. 



The wood is heavy, hard, strong and coarse- 

 grained. The lumber is sold as red oak and has the 

 same uses. It is usually somewhat inferior in qual- 

 ity and sometimes known as pin oak. Scarlet oak 

 is used considerably in ornamental planting. 



SCARLET OAK 

 Leaf one-third natural 

 Twig, one-half natural s 



42 



