WATER OAK; LAUREL OAK (Quercus laurifolia, Michx.). 50 

 to 100 feet. Tall, graceful, broad-domed tree of many slender 

 branches. Trunk 2 to 4 feet in diameter. Bark brown, scaly, 

 becoming darker, roughened by irregular fissures at base of 

 trunk. Branches reddish, smooth. Wood heavy, hard, strong, 

 but making poor lumber; used for fuel. Leaves leathery, shin- 

 ing, dark green above, paler beneath; oblong-oval, pointed at 

 base and apex, entire margins, often curved to sickle form, ribs 

 and petiole yellow ; length 3 to 4 inches. Acorns on short stalks, 

 if any; solitary, fuzzy, brown, striped with green, \ inch long, 

 i enclosed in thin, red-brown, silky lined cup. Dist.: Swamp 

 and stream borders; Dismal Swamp, Virginia, to Florida; west 

 to Louisiana. Largest and most common in eastern Florida. 

 Favorite street and yard tree in its range. Foliage near ever- 

 green, rivals live oak in beauty. 



