276 SELECT PLANTS FOR INDUSTRIAL CULTURE 



Quercus alba, Linne.* 



The White or Quebec Oak. From Canada to Florida, west to 

 Texas. A most valuable timber tree, 100 feet high ; diameter 

 of stem 7 feet. Trunk sometimes 65 feet long to first branch. 

 This tree attains a great age ; succeeds best in rich woodlands ; 

 and is of quicker growth than the English Oak. The timber 

 is pliable, most durable, one of the very best of all woods 

 for casks, also of first-class value for cabinet-work, for machi- 

 nery, spokes, naves, beams, plough-handles, agricultural im- 

 plements, railway-ties, carriages, flooring, basket material 

 (Sargent), railway-ties (Robb) ; it is also largely employed in ship- 

 building ; the young saplings serve for hoofs and whip-handles. 

 The bark contains about 8 per cent, tannin. 



Quercus annulata, Smith. 



A large evergreen Oak of Nepal, which provides a very good 

 timber. It does not ascend quite so high as Q. incana. Q. spicata 

 (Smith), another very large Himalayan Oak, ascends only to 5,000 

 feet ; it is known also from Borneo, Java, and Sumatra. 



Quercus aquatica, Walter. 



North America. Height of tree, 60 feet ; it furnishes a superior 

 bark for tanning, also wood for ship-building. This Oak should be 

 chosen for planting in wet ground or for bordering streams. 



Quercus Castanea, Nee. 



The Mexican Chestnut Oak. It furnishes edible acorns. 



Quercus Cerris, Linne. 



South Europe, South-West Asia. Turkey or Mossy-cupped Oak. 

 Of the height of the English Oak, in suitable localities of quick 

 growth. The foliage deciduous, or also evergreen. The wood 

 available for wheelwrights, cabinet-makers, turners, coopers ; also 

 for building purposes. Structure of the wood similar to that of 

 the British Oak ; the sapwood larger, the heartwood of a more 

 saturated brown, and the large rays more numerous, giving it a 

 most varied and beautiful wainscot grain (Brandis). 



Quercus Chinensis, Bunge. 



North China. One of the hardiest among the evergreen Oaks. 



Quercus chrysolepis, Liebmann. 



California. According to Yasey this evergreen Oak rarely exceeds 

 50 feet in height, but supplies the hardest oak-wood on the Pacific 

 coast. Dr. Gibbons observes that it holds a primary rank among 

 Californian forest trees, but is of sparse occurrence ; in suitable 



