LXX. CORYLA'CE.E : QUE'RCUS. 869 



1581. Q. rubra. 1582. Q. rubra. 



The bark is comparatively smooth, of a dark colour, very thick ; and, though 

 in old trees it cracks, yet it never scales off as in the sections A'lbae and 

 / J rinus. The wood is reddish and coarse-grained ; and its pores are often so 

 large as to admit the entrance of a hair. The leaves, when they first come 

 out in spring, are of a fine sulphur colour; when fully expanded, they are 

 smooth and shining on both sides, large, deeply laciniated, and sometimes 

 slightly rounded at the base, especially on old trees; and, before they fall, they 

 turn of a deep purplish red. According to the younger Michaux, the leaves 

 on ^old trees often nearly resemble those of Q. falcata. The leaves of Q. 

 falcata are, however, always downy beneath ; while those of Q. rubra are 

 smooth. The leaves of Q. rubra die off of a more purplish red than^those of 

 most of the other kinds in this section ; but they often become yellow before 

 they fall. Thev vary much in shape, from the age of the plant, or the soil and 

 situation in which it has grown. Fig. 1581., copied from the elder Michaux's 

 Histoire des C/ienes, shows the leaves of a seedling a year old j fig. 1582., from 

 the same work, those of a tree bearing acorns. 



15. Q. COCCI'NEA Wild. The scarlet Oak. 



Identification. Willd. Sp. PI., 4. 446. ; Michx. Fl. Bor. Araer., 2. p. 199. ; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. 



p. 630. 



Synonyme. Q. riibra Ait. ed. 1. 3. p. 357. 

 Engravings. Wang. Forst., t. 9. ; Michx. Quer., t. 31, 32. ; N. Amer. Syl., 1. t. 25. ; the plate of 



this tree in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. viii. ; and our figs. 1583. and 1584. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves smooth, oblong, deeply and widely sinuated, on 

 long stalks : lobes divaricated, acute, sharply toothed, bristle-pointed. Calyx 

 of the fruit turbinate, half as long as the nut. ( Willd.') A large deciduous 

 tree. Pennsylvania to Georgia. Height 80 ft. Introduced in 1691. 



The leaves, which are chiefly distinguished from those of Q. rubra by 

 having longer petioles, are of a beautiful green, shining on both sides ; and, 

 on old trees, laciniated in a very remarkable manner, having usually four deep 

 sinuses on each side, very broad at bottom. The leaves begin to change with 

 the first cold ; and, after several sucessive frosts, turn to a brilliant scarlet, 

 instead of the dull red of those of Q. rubra. These leaves differ very greatly 

 in shape at different stages in the growth of the tree. When quite young, 

 they are scarcely lobed at all, as may be seen by fig. 1583., which is taken 

 from Michaux's Histoire des Chenes, and represents a seedling a year old ; and 

 fig. 1584-., a sprig and acorn from an old tree, copied from Michaux. Amidst 

 all the varieties, however, in the shape of the leaf of the scarlet oak, it may 

 always be distinguished from that of Q. rubra by the different hue which it 

 assumes in autumn ; the colour of Q. coccinea being always a bright scarlet, 

 or yellowish red, of more or less intensity ; and that of Q,. rubra a dull 



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