874 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM, 



Q. CatesbaV. 



1592. Q. Catesb. A i. 



pretty large, of a blackish colour, and partly covered with a fine grey dust, 

 which is easily rubbed off between the fingers : they are contained in thick 

 cups, swollen towards the edge, with the upper scales bent inwards. The 

 leaves vary very little, as will be seen by fig. 1592., in which a represents a 

 seedling of one year's growth, and b a leaf from a plant two years old. 



$ vi. Nlgrce. Black American Oaks. 



Sect. Char., $c. Leaves wedge-shaped, or imperfectly lobed ; mucronated, but 

 the mucros generally dropping off when the leaves have attained their full 

 size. Leaves dying off of a blackish green, and in America frequently per- 

 sistent. Bark black, and not scaling off. Fructification biennial. Nut 

 ovate, with a persistent style, and sometimes marked with dark lines. Trees 

 from 20ft. to 40 ft. high; and one of them, a miniature tree, often not 

 exceeding 3 ft. in height. Rate of growth less rapid than in the preceding 

 sections. 



* 21. Q. NfGRA L. The Black Jack Oak. 



Identification. Lin. Sp. PL, 1413. ; Michx. Quer., No. 12. ; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 629. 

 Synonymes. Q. marylandica, &c., Rait j Q. ferruginea Michx. N. Amer. Syl. 1. p. 79. t. 20. ; Q. 

 'aqu&tica Lodd. Cat. ed. 1836 ; Barrens Oak, Amer. 



wings. Michx. Quer., t. 22, 23. ; and our fig. 1593. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves wedge-shaped, somewhat heart-shaped at the base ; 



dilated, abrupt, and very slightly 3- 



lobed at the end ; the middle lobe 



shortest, smooth above, rusty be- 

 neath. Calyx hemispherical, with 



membranous scales. Nut roundish 



ovate. (Willd.*) A low deciduous 



tree. New Jersey, Maryland, and 



Virginia. Height 20 ft.' to 30 ft. 



Introduced before 1739. 



The Black Jack Oak, according to 

 Michaux, is sometimes 30 ft. high, and 

 8 or 10 in. in diameter, but commonly 

 does not exceed half these dimensions. 

 Its trunk is generally crooked ; and it 

 is covered with a very hard, thick, and 

 deeply furrowed bark, which is black 

 on the outside, though the inner bark 

 is of a dull red. The head of the tree 

 is broad and spreading, even in the 1592. o. mra. 



