THE SWAMP WHITE OAK 



THE Swamp White Oak is at once distinguished from the White Oak by the fact 

 that the sinuses between the lobes of the leaves are very shallow, giving to the 

 blade a broad effect which is quite different from that of the other species. 

 The acorns also are larger and each is held in a much deeper cup which extends nearly 

 half way to the apex of the nut. As the name indicates, this tree is most likely to be found 

 in rather damp situations, being especially common along the borders of swamps and the 

 banks of streams. The upper surface of the blade of the leaf is of a shining dark yellow- 

 green color, while the under surface is light green and finely downy. In autumn the leaves 

 turn yellow brown or brown and remain upon the twigs far into the winter or even until 

 spring. 



The characteristic growth of the branches, as it is revealed in winter, is well shown 

 in the specimen pictured on the plate. Many of the smaller branches grow downward 

 in a manner that gives the tree a rough, rugged appearance, even for an Oak. The bark 

 of the trunk of good-sized trees is a dark grayish color, made rougher by scales and stria- 

 tions which led one authority to call this "the untidy oak." In younger trees- and on 

 larger branches there are many loose scales which are quite characteristic. Like so many 

 other trees this species in the Ohio Valley attains an enormous size, although in other 

 regions it seldom reaches a height of more than sixty feet or a trunk diameter of more than 

 three feet. One famous tree in New York however had a circumference of twenty-seven 

 feet. 



The flowers of the Swamp White Oak appear in May when the leaves are about 

 one-third grown. The pollen-bearing blossoms are in long catkins, clustered together at 

 the base of the new season's shoots in a way well shown in the picture. A great amount of 

 pollen is shed by these catkins to be scattered far and wide by the wind, some of it fer- 

 tilizing the red stigmas of the seed-bearing flowers. As the leaves unfold they are of a 

 greenish or bronze-green hue seldom showing the red tints so characteristic of many of 

 the other oaks. 



This species ranges from Maine and Vermont west to Ontario, Michigan, and Iowa; 

 south to Arkansas, Kentucky, and the District of Columbia, and extends along the slopes 

 of the Appalachian Mountains to Northern Georgia. It is a valuable tree for street and 

 ornamental planting, especially in wet situations. It grows rather rapidly and although 

 furnishing a home for a great variety of insects it is seldom disfigured by them. 



In the South the Basket Oak or Cow Oak (Quercus Michauxii) occupies much the 

 same place that the Swamp White Oak does in the North. It is an abundant and valuable 

 tree, and by many authorities is considered to be the Southern representative of the 

 Swamp White Oak. 



(I 4 2) 



