BUR OAK; MOSSY CUP OAK (Quercus macrocarpa, Michx.) 

 75 to 160 feet. Irregularly round-headed, ruggedly pictur- 

 esque, unsymmetrical tree. Bark gray-brown, deeply fissured, 

 shaggy; branches ridged, shedding plates of bark; twigs stout, 

 pubescent, and winged with corky ridges. Wood brown, close- 

 grained, heavy, durable, with conspicuous pith rays, used as 

 the highest grade of white oak in the lumber trade. Leaves 

 6 to 12 inches long, obovate, 5 to 7-lobed, two wide sinuses 

 opposite, below the middle, cutting the leaf almost in two. 

 Upper surface lustrous, dark green; lining silvery pubescent. 

 Flowers: staminate in profuse, clustered catkins, with opening 

 leaves; pistillate in greenish, few-flowered clusters, red-tipped. 

 Acorns annual, \ to 2 inches long, fuzzy, in deep, brown, 

 hairy cup, covered with loose, shaggy scales, fringed around 

 the top. Kernel white, sweet. Dist.: Nova Scotia to Mon- 

 tana; south to Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. Thrives 

 in many soils and climates. Fine park oak. 



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