THE BEECH, CHESTNUT, AND OAKS 



qtows to be more than two or three feet hi^h. 

 It is found in Massachusetts and in the South 

 and West. 



It is a small shrub of no commercial value, 

 although its little branches are rich in tannin. 

 The specific name, prinoides, means prinus- 

 like, the name of the chestnut oak, and refers 

 to the general resemblance between the two 

 species. 



Post or Rough ^ medium-sized tree, 40 to ^ofeet 

 Oak high. Buds and twigs stumpy 



Quercus minor ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^^ branch _ 



i?ig. Buds very round and rusty. Twig persist- 

 ently rough, alternate leaf-scars, the bark is hard 

 a?id rough. Acorn enclosed in a deep, saucer- 

 shaped cup. 



The branches of the post oak are so thick set, 

 short, and crooked that this oak is seldom con- 

 fused with any other. It rarely grows to be 

 more than twenty-five or thirty feet high, and 

 the many low, crooked branches, crowded to- 

 gether at the base of the trunk, give, as Emer- 

 son says, the effect of the top of a tree whose 

 trunk is under ground. The leaves of the post 

 oak are often held through the winter, and they 

 are so stiff, rough, and abundant that they are, in 

 themselves, a distinguishing mark. The speci- 

 men in the Arnold Arboretum, from which the 



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