THE SHINGLE OAK 



THE Shingle Oak is a good illustration of an important group of Oaks in which the 

 leaves are narrow and have entire margins. For this reason they suggest the 

 Willows rather than the Oaks, and one accustomed only to the characteristic 

 forms of the leaves shown by the various White, Black or Red Oaks almost needs the 

 reassuring presence of the acorns to be convinced that such leaves really belong to Oak 

 trees. In the case of the present species the leaves suggest those of the Mountain Laurel 

 to an extent that has led it often to be called the Laurel Oak. But as this name is also 

 applied to another form common in the South it would be better to drop it in connection 

 with the Shingle Oak : the form referred to is called the Water Oak by Sargent ; its technical 

 name is Quercus laurifolia, which apparently justifies the Cyclopedia of Horticulture in its 

 use of Laurel Oak as a common name, just as the name Quercus imbricaria indicates that 

 Shingle Oak is an appropriate name for the present species. 



The Shingle Oak reaches its maximum development near the junction of the Ohio 

 and Mississippi Rivers, from whence it radiates in various directions: it extends north 

 to Michigan and Wisconsin, east to Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Alabama, west to Missouri 

 and Kansas, and to Tennessee. Outside these limits the tree has often been planted for 

 shade and ornament, the species being hardy as far north as central New England. The 

 tallest trees are one hundred feet high, but generally they are only about half as high. 

 "The leaves of the Shingle Oak," writes a good observer, "are very narrow, almost linear 

 at first, with their edges so straightly revolute that they almost touch each other. They 

 are slightly hairy, the ground color yellowish green with a purple tinge. The fresh twigs 

 are flushed with red on the upper side where most exposed to the light. The young leaves 

 stand out stiffly from the ends of the branchlets, studding them with sharply outlined 

 stellate clusters. Being so narrow, the foliage is very open and one can see through the 

 tree-top in almost any direction, so that the tree has an appearance quite distinct from 

 other oaks." The acorns are small and broad for their height, and are held in wide, shallow 

 cups. 



The typical form of the group to which the Shingle Oak belongs is the Willow Oak. 

 The leaves of this tree are very slender, their outlines closely resembling those of Willow 

 leaves. The Willow Oak grows along the margins of swamps and water-courses in the 

 same sort of situations that the Willow prefers, and occurs from New York southward to 

 Florida, and westward to Texas. Although it occurs chiefly in states that touch the sea 

 or gulf coast, it is found along fresh rather than salt waters. 



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