OAK 



OAKESIA 



1111 



lar prejudice, and have shown that by using good trees 

 and by giving proper subsequent care and attention, 

 Oaks will grow as easily and develop as rapidly as 

 many other species, and are very satisfactory. A Pin Oak 

 in the grounds of the writer, about 65 years old, is more 

 than 70 ft. in height, GO ft. in spread of branciies, and 

 11 ft. in circumference of trunk 3 ft. from the ground. 

 A Swamp White Oak in the same lawn is about 50 years 

 old, and is 50 ft. in height, 54 ft. in spread of branches 

 and 7 ft. in circumference of trunk 3 ft. from ground. 

 These trees are growing on a rich, sandy loam, which 

 is well drained by a substratum of gravel and sand. 



A notable object lesson in the use of Oaks in orna- 

 mental planting is found in Fairmount Park, Philadel- 

 phia, Pa. After the close of the Centennial Exhibition 

 which was held there in 1870, the buildings were 

 removed, the grounds cleared, and from 1880 to 1884 

 thousands of Oaks were planted in this section; a ma- 

 jority of them Pin Oaks, but interspersed with them 

 White, Swamp White, Red, Scarlet, Black, Chestnut, 

 Willow, Bur, Shingle, etc., as well as maples, ash. lin- 

 dens, elms, poplars, buttonwoods and some others. 

 These Oaks are now from 20 to 40 ft. high, and from 2X 

 to 3% ft. in circumference measured at 3 ft. above the 

 ground, and are equal or superior in size and develop- 

 ment to most of the other trees, which were planted at 

 the same time, excepting Carolina poplar and button- 

 wood. These trees are on level land and in heavy clay 

 soil, which appears to be a favorite condition for most 

 of the larger growing species of Oaks. Pig. 1507 may 

 suggest an idea of the remarkable progress and devel- 

 opment which these trees have made in from 16 to 20 

 years. There are few trees even among those which are 

 considered fast-growing varieties that will show better 

 measureinents or more symmetrical developments at 

 the same age. 



If seedling Oaks are taken up when one or at most 

 two years old, transplanted every three years, and 

 well cultivated on good land, they will form fine trees, 

 with root systems which can be moved with but little 

 risk until they attain considerable size, but unless they 

 have had such culture, the transplanting of any but 

 very small trees is usually unsatisfactory. Attempts at 

 moving trees which have stood too long without trans 

 planting or which have grown without cultivation have 

 generally resulted in failure, and such experiences have 

 caused the prejudice which has prevented their more 

 general use. Under favorable circumstances most Oaks 

 are rapid growers, but unless conditions are favorable 

 their roots do not become readily reestablished in the 

 soil after transplanting, and for this reason they are 

 often slow to start into vigorous growth. For this rea- 

 son judicious nursing, with plenty of manure and water 

 and cultivation of the soil, will be abundantly rewarded 

 by shortening the period of convalescence. 



While many .soft-wooded trees transplant more readily 

 than Oaks and will grow more rapidly immediately 

 after transplanting, still the Oaks will in time outgrow 

 most of them, and will be in their prime when many of 

 the companions of their youth are declining or gone. 

 The best Oaks for planting in the northeastern and 

 middle section of the U. S. are White, Swamp White, 

 Mossy-cup, Scarlet, Pin, Red, Willow, Laurel or Shin- 

 gle and Chestnut. Of these the Pin is at present the 

 most popular, because it develops quickly a thick, com- 

 pact head, forming a beautiful symmetrical tree while 

 quite young; but after it is 25 or 30 years old the in- 

 terior branches of this dense head begin to die and a 

 tangled mass of dead brush soon accumulates. Unless 

 this is removed (and it is not an easy task), it gives 

 the tree a neglected and unsightly appearance. Other 

 species of this type have this tendency also. The White 

 and Chestnut Oaks and their allies have more spread- 

 ing branches, are more open-headed, and are not sub- 

 ject to this objectionable characteristic, but they con- 

 tinue to increase in size, with unimpaired beauty and 

 symmetry of form, for centuries. 



Plate XXI shows a group of Oaks familiar to many 

 who have traveled between Philadelphia and New 

 York via the Pennsylvania railroad. The trees stand 

 about 100 yards north of the railroad track in a field a 

 quarter of a mile east of a small station called Anda- 

 lusia, 7 miles west of Bristol. The large tree is a White 



Oak, measuring 15 ft. in circumference 3 ft. from the 

 ground, with branches spreading 78 ft. in diameter. It 

 is a typical specimen of the habit of this tree as it 

 grows in open land. The middle tree is a Pin Oak prob- 

 ably 50 or 60 years old. It has several dead branches 

 and is evidently declining. The next tree is a Willow Oak. 

 They stand in heavy clay soil on rather low land, but 

 not swampy. There are numerous fine specimens of 

 Oaks in this locality, which for many years have at- 

 tracted the attention of travelers. The Black .Jack and 

 Scrub Oaks, which as bushes and small trees cover 

 large areas of the sandy belt stretchiug along the At- 

 lantic coast from Long Island to Florida, and the Rock 



1507. Avenue of Pin Oaks 



Fairmount Park PhlUdelphia planted about 1884 



Chestnut and other species, which find subsistence on 

 the steep and rocky hill-sides of tlie eastern states, do 

 not often attain large size. Nevertheless their presence 

 is of great economic value in covering barren wastes 

 with vegetation, where few other trees can find enough 

 to support life. In many other situations these dwarf 

 Oaks are admirably adapted for producing desirable 

 effects. 



The "grand old Oaks of England " have been admired 

 and venerated for centuries, but in this country the 

 American Oaks are far superior to any of the Euro- 

 pean species, as they develop faster and are more en- 

 during. Qiiercus Robnr, which is the European spe- 

 cies most commonly planted in this country, appears to 

 be short-lived here, usually declining before it reaches 

 50 years of age. 



Everywhere in the southern states the Live-Oak is 

 popular (Fig. 1508). It is associated with every old 

 plantation. It is the characteristic tree of the country 

 from the Carolinas south and west. 



Samuel C. Moon. 



0AE£SIA (Wm. Oakes, New England botanist). 

 IjiUdce<e. A genus of 2 species of American hardy per- 

 ennial herbs, having the graceful habit of such choice 

 wild flowers as the Solomon's Seal and more particularly 

 the common bell-wort, Uviilaria perfoliata. In moist 

 woods it grows about a foot high and bears one or few 

 pendulous, yellow, 6-parted fls. about % in. long. The 2 

 kinds can be transferred from the woods. O. sessifi- 

 folia is also offered by a few dealers in hardy plants. 

 It prefers a rich light soil in a rather moist, partially 

 shaded position, and improves greatly under cultivation. 



The Oakesias can be easily told from Uvularias by 

 their leaves, which are merely sessile instead of per- 

 foliate, i. e., the base of the leaf does not surround the 

 stem as it does in Uvnlaria. Oakesias were formerly 

 placed in Uvnlaria, but in 1879 Watson removed them, 

 largely because of the seeds, which are brown and 

 nearly spherical in both groups, but in Oakesia they 

 have a very much swollen, spongy, brown ridge, while 

 in Uvnlaria they are covered by a thin white aril (an 

 appendage growing from near the point where the seed 

 is attached to the ovary) . Other generic characters are : 

 fls. few, solitary on short pedicels opposite the Ivs.; 

 segments without callosities : capsule membranous, 

 elliptical, acutish at each end, very tardily dehiscent: 

 Ivs. more or less rough on the margins. 



