I 

 Quercus. CUPULIFER^E. 95 



* Abortive ovules at the base or rarely at the side (in n. 8) of the seed: stamens 

 5 to 10 (usually 6 to 8) : stiymas sessile or subsess'de. Bark usually liyht- 

 colored : wood dense and durable. WHITE OAKS. 



-t- Acorns maturing in the first season, ylabrous within. 

 ++ Leaves deciduous. 



1. Q. lobata, Nee. A large stately tree, with glabrous slender often pendent 

 branches : leaves pubescent beneath, oblong or obovate, deeply lobed or pinnatih'd, 

 usually 2 to 3 or rarely 4 inches long, on short petioles (2 to 6 lines long) ; lobes 

 obtuse, retuse, or sometimes lobe-dentate : calyx with 6 or 8 triangular-lanceolate 

 pubescent and ciliate lobes, bearing as many orbicular anthers : acorns subsessile ; 

 nut elongated-conical (1| to 2 1- inches long), usually pointed; cup deeply hemi- 

 spherical, almost always strongly tuberculated. Ann. Cienc. Nat. iii. 278 ; A. DC. 

 Prodr. x.vi 2 . 24; Torr. Bot. Wilkes Exped. t. 15; Engelm. 1. c. 388. Q. Hindsii, 

 Benth. Bot. Sulph. 55 ; Newberry, Pacif. R. Rep. vi. 29, t. 1 and fig. 7. Q. Man- 

 somi, Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad. i. 25 1 



Common throughout the State, on the plains and in the foothills, or in the southern part of the 

 State somewhat higher in the mountains. A majestic tree, sometimes 15 or 20 feet in girth, 100 

 feet high, and with a wider spread of branches (Brewer), which often hang down to the ground : 

 bark gray and in old trees often 4 or 5 inches thick : winter-buds oval, only about 2 lines long, 

 pubescent on the edges of the bright brown scales : young leaves canesceut on both sides. The 

 wood is said to be brittle. "Roble " of the Mexicans. 



2. Q. Garryana, Dougl. A large tree, with thicker more rigid tomentose or 

 pubescent branchlets and coarser foliage : leaves 4 to 6 inches long by 2 to 5 inches 

 wide, on petioles | to 1 inch long, coarsely lobed-pinnatifid ; lobes broad, obtuse or 

 sometimes acutish, entire or again notched or lobed, dull-green above, beneath 

 strongly reticulated, pale or yellowish, and somewhat pubescent : calyx-lobes 7 or 8, 

 linear-lanceolate, ciliate : anthers 6 or 8 : acorns sessile or shortly peduncled ; nut 

 oval, often ventricose, obtuse, 1J to 1^ inches long; cups small and very shallow, 

 with small lanceolate slightly pubescent scales, or sometimes thicker with inflated 

 scales. Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. ii. 159; Nutt. Sylva, i. 1, t. 1. Q. Neaii, Liebm. 

 Dansk. Vidensk. Selsk. Forhandl. 1854, 173. 



A common oak of the lower country and in the valleys north of San Francisco Bay, extending 

 into Oregon and to British Columbia, where it is the only species. It is a large tree, often 10 or 

 12 feet in circumference and 60 or 70 feet high (Brewer, or even 100 feet high according to Nut- 

 tall), with hard but, it is said, brittle wood : bark thinner than in the last, only 1 or 1 inches 

 thick even in large trees. This species has often been confounded with the last and with the fol- 

 lowing species, but the thick strongly reticulated leaves, and especially the large lanceolate 

 and densely tomentose winter-buds (4 or 5 lines in length), are characteristic and readily dis- 

 tinguish it. 



3. Q. Douglasii, Hook. & Am. A rather large tree, with pubescent branchlets: 

 leaves smaller (usually only an inch or two long), oblong, sinuate or with shallow 

 lobes or sometimes almost entire, on short petioles (3 lines long), bluish-green and 

 at last glabrate above, pubescent beneath : acorn sessile or on a short peduncle ; cup 

 hemispherical, with ovate-lanceolate flat rarely tubercled scales ; nut long-oblong 

 (f to 1^ inches long), mostly tapering and acutish. Bot. Beechey, 391; Hook. 

 Icon. t. 382, 383; Nutt. Sylva, i. 10, t. 4. 



On dry foothills of the Coast Ranges, from Monte Diablo and Mount Oso to Sacramento Valley, 

 but not observed in the extreme northern or southern parts of the State. A fine tree, but smaller 

 than the last, and known as the Mountain White Oak or Blue Oak. It resembles a middle- 

 sized White Oak of the Eastern States (Q. alba) in its size, pale scaly bark, and quality of its tim- 

 ber. The largest trees seen by Professor Brewer had a circumference of 9 feet. The winter-buds 

 are oval, about 2 lines long, reddish brown and only slightly pubescent. The three preceding 

 species have often been confounded and certainly vary much in the size and shape of the leaves 

 and acorns (both nuts and cups), but they are believed to be well-distinguished species, always 

 recognizable by the characters above enumerated. 



