Handbook or Tijees of the jSTortiiekn States and Canada. 151 



This interesting Oak is usually not more 

 than 70 or 80 ft. in height or with trunk more 

 than 2 or 3 ft. in diameter, but in the stately 

 forests of tlie lower Ohio basin it oecasionally 

 attains 100 ft. in height with trunk 4 or 5 ft. 

 in thiekness. When isolated it develops a wide 

 roiiiiilcd top of still" far-reaching branches and 

 stout biiUU'hk'ts. The drooping nature of llic 

 leaves give the tree a jicculiar asjiecl which is 

 at once noticeable and quite ditl'erent from that 

 of other Oaks. It is an al)undant tree of the 

 South Atlantic and (iulf states, extending up 

 into the northcastcni states only along the 

 coast and in the Mississippi X'alley. The name 

 Spanish Oak is said to have been given to this 

 tree by' early Spanish settlers on account of a 

 similarity in its leaves to those of an Oak they 

 were familiar with in Spain. 



Its vi'ood is heavy, a cu. ft. when absolutely 



dry weigiiing 4.3.18 lbs., hard and strong and 



is used for the same purposes as the Red Oak. 



Its bark also is rich in tannin. 2 



/.((/rr.v variable, oblons; to obovato, rounded or 

 wed-c sliaped at base and often irre.i;iilai-l.v deeply 

 phitiatifid with 3-7 olilique and often falcate or 

 Inii'j; and narrow entire or dentate and bristle- 

 tipped acnniinate lobes or sometimes with merely 

 8 shoi't-spreadinsf lobes at apex, lustrous dark 

 preen above and gray or pubescent beneath. 

 FIniccrs: staminate with thin scarious pube.scent 

 4-r)-lobed calyx : stismas slender, dark red. Fniil 

 sessile or short-stalked aroi-n, about % in. Ions 

 and not more than one-third coverpd by the thin 

 flat or turbinate shallow cn|) covered with thin 

 obtuse closely appressed scales. 



1. Syn. Qucrciis falcafa Michx. 



2. A. W., XI, 26!). 



