Issued June 17, 1907. 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



FOREST SERVICE CIRCULAR 106. 



GIFFORD PINCHOT, Forester. 



FOREST PLANTING LEAFLET. 



WHITE OAK (Quercus alba). 



FORM AND SIZE. 



White oak, when grown in the forest* is characterized by a long, 

 clean trunk of rather uniform diameter, surmounted by a compara- 

 tively small crown. In the open the crown becomes rounded and 

 massive, much greater in breadth than in height, supported by a 

 short, sturdy trunk. Under average conditions the tree grows to a 

 height of from 60 to 100 feet, with a diameter of from 2 to 4 feet. 

 In the Southern Appalachians speciirens much exceeding these 

 diir ensions are often found. Near the western limits of its range the 

 tree is smaller. 



RANGE. 



White oak is common in the eastern United States; a line marking 

 the general boundary of its range would extend from southern Maine 

 and the valley of the St. Lawrence westward through Ontario, Michi- 

 gan, and Wisconsin to central Minnesota; thence south through 

 eastern Nebraska and Kansas to Texas; and east to Florida through 

 the intervening Gulf States. The region of best development is on 

 the lower slopes of the Alleghenies and in the valley of the Ohio and 

 its tributaries. 



The white oak forms pure forests and is also found in mixture 

 with other hardwoods, such as chestnut, elm, basswood, hickory, 

 maple, black walnut, yellow poplar, red oak, yellow oak, scarlet oak, 

 post oak, and chestnut oak. 



Artificial propagation may be carried on throughout its entire 

 range. 



471 No. 10607 



