FAGACEAE 



Chinquapin Oak. Chestnut Oak. Yellow Oak 



Quercus muhlenbergii, Engelm. [Quercus acuminata, (Michx,} 



Houba] 



HABIT. A medium-sized tree 40-50 feet high, with a trunk 

 diameter of 1-3 feet; erect, somewhat short branches form a 

 narrow, rounded crown. 



LEAViES. Alternate, simple, 4-7 inches long, 1-4 inches 

 broad ; oblong-lanceolate to obovate ; coarsely toothed ; thick and 

 firm; lustrous, yellow-green above, pale-pubescent beneath; 

 petioles selnder, about I inch long. 



FLOWERS. May, witn the leaves ; monoecious ; the stam- 

 inate in hairy catkins 3-4 inches long; the pistillate sessile or in 

 short spikes, hoary-tomentose ; calyx campanulate, 5-8-lobed, 

 yellow, hairy, corolla o; stamens 5-8, with yellow anthers; 

 stigmas red. 



FRUIT. Autumn of first season; sessile or short-stalked 

 acorns; cup with small scales, 'hoary-tomentose, inclosing one- 

 half of the nut; nut ovoid, about ^ inch long, light brown; 

 kernel sweet, sometimes edible. 



WINTER-BUDS. Terminal bud ^ inch long, conical, 

 acute; scales chestnut-brown, scarious on the margin. 



BARK. Twigs greenish at first, becoming gray-brown, 

 finally gray or brown; thin, silvery gray or ash colored and 

 flaky on the trunk. 



WOOD. Heavy, very hard, strong, close-grained, durable, 

 dark brown, with thin, pale brown sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Confined to the southern half of the 

 Lower Peninsula. 



HABITAT. Prefers a limestone soil; dry hillsides; rich 

 bottom-lands ; rocky river-banks. 



NOTES. Grows uniformly until maturity. Leaves resemble 

 those of the Chestnut. A species which differs from the type in 

 having broader, obovate leaves broadest above the middle and 

 a flaky bark has been described and named Quercus Alexanderi, 

 Britton. 



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