218 Oak (Cupitliferce) 



Fruit, middle size, abundant, sweet, egg-shape. Cup, 

 rounded, with small scales. September. 



Found, from Massachusetts westward and southward; 

 not common. 



A shrub seldom, if ever, more than three or four feet 

 in height ; one of the smallest of the oaks. 



Fig. i03.-^Bear Oak. Shrub Oak. Scrub-Oak. Q. ilitifblia, 



Willd. 



Leaves, two to four inches long, with three to seven 



(usually five) angular, often bristle-tipped lobes, 



beneath downy, especially in the axils of the veins, 



and very silvery or grayish-white. Leaf-stem very 



variable in length. 



Fruit, abundant, oval or egg-shape, about one half inch long, 

 dark brown, marked lengthwise with pale lines. Cup, 

 saucer-shape with a top-shaped base. September. 



Found, on barren and sandy soil from New England 

 southward ; common. 



A much branching, straggling shrub three to eight 

 feet high, often growing in masses ; called " bear oak," 

 possibly from the liking of bears, when bears were 

 common, for the abundant acorns. 



From Note-Book. 

 February. Bear Oak. The silver-backed, little brown 

 leaves still cling thickly to the crowded and scraggy 

 branches. Most of the many acorns have fallen ; a few 

 cups remain in place. 



(6) Genus Castanea, Tourn. (Chestnut.) 

 Fig. 104. Dwarf Chestnut. Chinquapin. C. piimila, Mill. 

 Flowers, yellowish-white, appearing later than the leaves. 

 Calyx, mostly six-lobed ; the staminate with eight 



