THE SCARLET OAK 



THIS is one of the most beautiful members of the great Oak family and it is especially 

 notable for the brilliant beauty of its shining autumn foliage. It belongs to 

 the group of Oaks that have bristle-pointed leaves, being similar in some respects 

 to the Red Oak on the one hand and the Black Oak on the other. It is distinguished from 

 the former by its much smaller acorns with hemispherical rather than flat cups, and from 

 the latter by the fact that its inner bark is not yellow. The leaves are normally deeply 

 incised, the rounded depressions between the lobes extending nearly to the midrib. 



The blossoms of the Scarlet Oak appear rather early in spring when the leaves are 

 about half grown. They are similar to those of the other Oaks, the pollen-bearing flowers 

 being arranged in long catkins at the base of the new season's growth, and the red seed- 

 bearing flowers being arranged singly in the axils of the young leaves. The stigmas of 

 the latter are very large and spreading, an obvious method of increasing the chances of 

 receiving some of the wind-blown pollen grains. The acorns from these flowers require 

 two years for their development, and though small they are very attractive in form and 

 coloring. Some of them are sessile, others have short stalks. They are borne in beautiful 

 little cups which generally reach half way to the tip of the acorn, being thin-edged at the 

 top and having the scales pressed closely against each other. If the fancy of the poet is 

 true, these would be excellent cups for those elves of which he wrote : 



"All their elves for fear 

 Crept into acorn cups and hid themselves." 



In the more northern parts of its range the Scarlet Oak seldom attains a greater 

 height than thirty feet or a greater trunk diameter than two feet, but further south it 

 frequently attains a larger size. Its range extends from New England to Ontario, Michigan, 

 and Minnesota, south to Illinois and the District of Columbia, and along the slopes of the 

 Alleghany Mountains to North Carolina and Tennessee. It is especially abundant in the 

 coast region from Massachusetts to New Jersey, and is most likely to be found in dry soils. 



The Scarlet Oak is desirable for planting in parks and private grounds on account 

 of its brilliant autumnal coloring and the general beauty of the tree at other seasons. It 

 grows readily from seed but the young trees are likely to be unsymmetrical, so that it 

 is not especially desirable for planting in rows along streets or driveways where uniformity 

 of appearance is required. It is quite free from insect or fungus enemies and grows rapidly. 



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