CALIFORNIA TAXBARK OAK. 



At $18 per cord, an average of the prices since 1850, the value of 

 the bark produced in the period 1851-1907 would be $15,498,000. 

 Practically all of this has been consumed in the manufacture of heavy 

 leather used for belting, harness, saddles, and soles. The California 

 tanneries, up to 1907, turned out 250,000,000 pounds of such leather, 

 valued at $75,000,000. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TANBARK OAK. 



Tanbark oak (Quercus densiflora H. & A.) grows to be from 50 to 

 140 feet high and from 1 to 6 feet in diameter. There are four general 

 forms of growth the roundheaded; the spire-shaped, similar to coni- 

 ferous trees; the shrubby, deep-shade form; and the stunted cha- 

 parral form. In open situations, or in association with madrona and 

 California black oak, the main trunk subdivides into a number of 

 large branches and forms a rounded head, although the height of the 

 crown is greater than its width. In dense, coniferous forests it 

 assumes the spire or cone shape of the trees with which it is associated, 

 and these trees are tallest and have the straightest trunks, with a 

 clear length of from 30 to 80 feet. Under stands of mature Douglas 

 fir or redwood there may be abundant low, shrubby growths of tan- 

 bark oak, since the tree is remarkably shade enduring, and when the 

 dominant forest cover is removed the tanbark oak promptly takes 

 possession of the logged areas. This is exemplified especially on the 

 Mendocino coast. In the interior of California, around Mount Shasta, 

 the stunted tanbark oak in the midst of chaparral assumes many of 

 the characteristics of the shrubs by which it is surrounded, such as 

 low stature, rigid branches, and small, thin leaves. This chaparral 

 form (var. ecJiinoides) is worthless for tanbark. 



Tanbark oak has many chestnutlike characteristics. In the 

 character of its male flowers the tree is a chestnut, but in the character 

 of its female flowers and in its habit it is an oak. By some authors 

 it is referred to the genus Pasania, which includes nearly 1 00 species 

 in southwestern Asia. 



The oaklike characters and the chestnutlike characters are com- 

 pared in the following tabulation: 



CHESTNUTLIKE CHARACTERS. 



Parallel nerves of the toothed leaves. 



Erect catkins. 



Pistillate flowers in same catkins as 

 staminate. 



Stamens of male flowers very much ex- 

 ceeding calyx; rudiments of stamens in 

 pistillate flower. 



A. corns with suggestion of burriness. Nut 

 often vaguely triangular. 



OAKLIKE CHARACTERS. 



Bark very like typical oak bark. 

 Involucre 1-flowered. 

 Ovary 3-celled. 



Cup of the acorn a true cup and not a 

 closed involucre. Kernel oaklike, bit- 

 ter to the taste. 



