216 Oak (Cupuliferce) 



Leaves, usually three or four inches long, but with many 

 smaller leaves of varying size on the same branch ; 

 nearly smooth, slightly hairy on the straight and 

 distinct ribs, and in their angles. 



Fruit, in a loose, drooping cluster, with leaf-like, strongly 

 three-lobed scales ; dark, small, egg-shape, placed in 

 pairs base to base ; clustered nutlets. October. 



Found, along streams and in swamps ; quite common 

 north, south, and west ; southward often as a tree. 



A shrub (or sometimes a small tree) usually ten to 

 twenty feet high, but in the southern Alleghany Moun- 

 tains sometimes reaching a height of fifty feet. Its wood 

 is white, very compact, and strong. 



(5) Genus QUERCUS, L. 



Flowers, small, greenish or yellowish, the staminate form 

 with a two- to eight-lobed calyx, and with three to 

 twelve stamens, in slender, drooping clusters ; the 

 pistillate form with a seed-case containing three more 

 or less complete cells, and six young seeds (only one 

 of which develops), and with a three-lobed stigma 

 all in a scaly, bud-like wrap, which becomes the cup 

 of the acorn. 



Leaves, simple, alternate. 

 Fruit, an acorn. 



Fig. 102. Dwarf Chestnut Oak. Scrub-Oak. Q. Muhlenbergii, 

 Eng. var. hiimilis, Britton. ( Q. pritioides, Willd.). 



Leaves, three to four inches long, with large, or sometimes 

 small wavy teeth, usually four to eight on each side, 

 light green and polished above, whitish or bluish, 

 and fine downy beneath. Leaf-stem, one quarter to 

 three quarters of an inch long. 



