THE BLACK OAK OR YELLOW-BARK OAK 



IN its leaves the Black Oak or Yellow-bark Oak bears a general resemblance to the Red 

 Oak, from which, however, it is at once distinguished at any season of the year by 

 its orange-yellow inner bark, easily found by cutting out a bit of bark on the trunk 

 or one of the larger limbs with a penknife. In autumn it is readily known by its smaller 

 acorns in cups that extend half way to the top of the nut, and are not broad and shallow 

 as are those of the Red Oak. There are two forms of leaves: one, the broad leaves with 

 rather shallow lobes like the typical leaves of the Red Oak, the other, narrower leaves with 

 rather deeply cut lobes suggestive of the typical leaves of the Scarlet Oak though not so 

 deeply cut. The yellow inner bark, however, will at once distinguish either form of the 

 Black Oak. 



When the handsome leaves of this tree have fallen away they reveal, in the case of 

 specimens in open situations, a splendid tree with the interlacing branches very irregularly 

 curved and with a wide-spreading, rounded outline which is very attractive. This character 

 of the tree is well shown in the noble specimen illustrated on the plate. The bark of the 

 young shoots is light grayish or reddish brown, more or less roughened by slightly raised 

 oval dots. The rather large leaf-scars are on slightly elevated bases and the large sub- 

 conical buds are densely covered with a light brown down which is quite characteristic. 



The Black Oak comes into blossom soon after the young leaves begin to develop. 

 The blossoming conditions are well represented in the upper left-hand picture on the 

 plate, where the long, pollen-bearing catkins are shown hanging down from the base of 

 the new season's shoot, and the stalked seed-bearing flowers are shown in the axils of the 

 new leaves, the size of which at blossoming- time is indicated in the single leaf with its 

 long, bristle-pointed lobes. For a few days these blossoming Oak trees present a striking 

 appearance. The young leaves are densely woolly on both surfaces and are generally 

 more or less reddish on the upper surface. 



The Black Oak is found as an indigenous tree from New England to Minnesota, 

 west to Kansas and Texas, and south to Florida. Its value for planting as an ornamental 

 tree is lessened by the fact that it is often seriously attacked by the gall insects that make 

 the so-called Oak Apples, as well as by the tendency of the trees to become unsightly 

 through the persistence of dead branches. 



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