THE ROCK CHESTNUT OAK 



THE Chestnut Oak receives its common name on account of the general resemblance 

 of the leaf to that of the Chestnut, a fact which enables one to distinguish the 

 species from the other Oaks at a glance. It belongs to the group of White Oaks 

 in which the leaf lobes are rounded and the acorns mature the first season. It is essentially 

 an Eastern species, and is rather a local tree over a large part of its range, which extends 

 from Maine to Maryland and along the mountains to Georgia and Alabama. It reaches 

 westward to Lakes Champlain and Erie, and to Kentucky. It is generally an Oak of the 

 highlands, being found chiefly along the higher banks of rivers though sometimes it grows 

 at the water's edge. It forms a predominant element of the forest along the bases of the 

 mountains in the southern part of its range. It is in this region that the trees reach their 

 largest size and sometimes attain a height of a hundred feet and a trunk diameter of six 

 feet. More commonly, however, a full-sized tree reaches a height of sixty feet with a trunk 

 diameter of but three feet, and very often the trees are much smaller than this, especially 

 in dry, hilly situations. Good-sized trees commonly show pronounced and distinctive 

 ridges in the bark of the trunk. 



The young leaves are of a beautiful yellow-green or bronze color, brilliantly shining 

 on the upper surface but covered with a dense pubescence on the lower surface. As they 

 reach maturity they are rather thick, even for an Oak leaf, and on the upper surface are 

 of a shining dark yellow-green color, while on the lower surface they are much paler and 

 slightly pubescent. Before falling in autumn they change first to yellow and then to a 

 deep yellow-brown color. The acorns have short stalks, these stalks being shorter than 

 the rather long petioles of the leaf. They are commonly borne singly or sometimes in 

 pairs and are of a beautiful rounded shape with the cup extending about one-third of the 

 distance towards the tip of the nut, the scales being indicated by the slightly roughened 

 appearance, which is more pronounced toward the base. The kernel of this acorn is whitish 

 in color and sweetish in taste, and is a favorite article of food with the squirrels. 



The Chestnut Oak, which is also called the Rock Chestnut Oak, is an unusually 

 attractive tree for ornamental planting, and it has the special advantage for this purpose 

 that it may be more readily transplanted than most of the Oaks. It grows rapidly and is 

 seldom attacked by enemies and is an excellent tree for streets and avenues. 



The Yellow Chestnut Oak (Quercus acuminata) is a closely related form in which 

 the tips of the leaves are more acuminate. It is widely distributed throughout the eastern 

 region of the United States extending from Massachusetts west to Nebraska and south 

 to Louisiana and Alabama. In the basin of the Wabash river it reaches a height of one 

 hundred and sixty feet 



(MS) 



