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SCRUB OAK. 



Quercus ilicifolia, Wangenheim. 



FOHU — Shrub or small tree with many crooked Intertwined branches; usually 4-8 ft. 

 high with a diameter of 1-3 Inches, but occasionally attaining a height of 18-20 feet. See 

 Fig. 4. 



BARH — Thin, smooth, becoming scaly on elder stems, gray to dark brown in color. 



TWIGS — When young slender, dark green, tinged with red, and tomentose; becoming ^ray 

 to reddish -brown, finally dark brown and smooth. 



BTTDS — Alternate, orate, obtuse, I of an inch long, chestnut-brown; covered by numerous 

 small dark-margined closely appressed scales. 



LEAVES — Alternate, simple, 2-5 inches long, 15-3 inches wide, oborate In outline, with 

 a wedge-shaped base. 3-7-lobed. usually 5; with shallow sinuses and acute and bristle -tipped 

 lobes. Mature leaves dark green and glossy above, covered with a dense whitish pubescence 

 beneath, thick and leathery in texture, with conspicuous yellow midribs and veins. Petioles 

 round, tomentose and about 1 Inch long. 



LEAF-SCAHS — See "Loaf-Scars" under White Oak. page 132. 



FLOWERS — Appear about May when leaves are i developed. Stamlnate aments 4-5 Inches 

 long, often clinging to twigs until late summer. Pistillate flowers borne upon stout tomen- 

 tose stalks, have an involucre ot red scales, and red stigmas. 



FETTIT — An acorn, maturing at end of second season, very abundant, sessile or nearly so, 

 usually clustered, seldom solitary. Nut broadly ovoid, with a flat rounded base, acute or 

 rounded apex, about half enclosed in the cup, light brown, shiny and often slightly striate, 

 I of an Inch broad and long. Cop pale and reddish-brown and soft downy within, covered 

 on the outside with many closely set reddish-brown scales whose free tips form a fringe 

 around the edge of the cup. Kernel bright yellow. 



WOOD — Ring-porous; with conspicuous medullary rays; pale brown, strong, hard, tough, 

 and finu-grained. Commercially not important on account of its small size. Locally used 

 for fuel. 



DISTi:vGXnSHING CHARACTEEISTICS — The Scrub Oak, also known as Bear Oak and 

 Ground Oak, can easily be distinguished by characteristic bristle-poiuied leaves shown on 

 the opposite plate, which turn reddish-brown or brown in autumn, and often persist throughout 

 * the winter. It is small in size and forms dense thickets over large areas, especially recently 

 burned areas. The smooth non-scaly bark, persistent clusters of fruit and the small, brown, 

 bluntly conical buds covered with slight pubescence are characteristic. In habit it resembles 

 the Scrub Chestnut Oak, but the latter has a flaky bark and round-lobed leaves and 

 characteristic fruit. 



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RANGE — Maine to Ohio south to North Carolina and Kentucky. 



DISTRIBTTTION IN PENNSYLVANIA — Common in most of the counties in and east of the 

 Allegheny Mountains. Found in florae of th? counties In the southwestern portion of the State. 

 Sparse in the north-central and" northern parts. 



HABITAT — Usually found on rocky hillsides, sandy plateaus, and mountain tops. It la 

 gregarious and able to flourish upon barren, dry. Infertile soils, but cannot endure much shading, 

 hence it seldom occurs in mixture with other species. It has overgrown extensive areas of 

 burnt-over land In this State. 



IMPORTANCE OF THE SPECIES — ^The Scrub Oak is of no commercial value but Is economlcallj 

 important on account of its ability to grow upon the most exposed and inhospitable situations. 

 This makes it worthy of consideration in protection forests, where It shelters the forest-floor, 

 prevents erosion and enriches the soil with accumulations of humus. In time it Is usually dis- 

 placed by species of greater commercial importance as Chestnut. Scarlet Oak, Chestnut Oak, 

 Maple, and Aspen. Areas once covered with thickets of this species now often have only 

 a few single representatives left. 



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