CHESTNUT OAK; TANBARK OAK; ROCK OAK (Quercus 

 Prinus, Linn.). 50 to 100 feet. Tree with broad, irregular 

 head of large limbs spreading from a short trunk. Bark 

 nearly black, furrowed into wide, rounded, scaly ridges; 

 branches smooth, with lustrous, purplish bark. Wood dark, 

 reddish brown, close-grained, tough, heavy, durable in con- 

 tact with soil, used for fencing, railroad ties, and bark for tan- 

 ning leather. Leaves 5 to 9 inches long, obovate, not lobed, 

 but coarsely toothed, thick, yellow-green above, pale, usually 

 pubescent beneath; resembling foliage of chestnut. Flowers 

 in May; staminate in long, hairy catkins; pistillate on short 

 spikes, few-flowered, with red stigmas. Acorns solitary, 

 stalked, rarely in pairs, 1 to 1| inches long, almost 1 inch 

 broad, blunt-tipped, chestnut-brown, shining, half buried in 

 thin cup, reddish brown, hoary, pubescent, with thick, pointed 

 or knobbed scales. Kernel sweet, edible. Dist.: Southern 

 Maine to western New York; south into Maryland, Kentucky, 

 and Tennessee; along mountains to Georgia and Alabama. 

 Superb, annual-fruited tree of the white oak group. 



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