HYBRID OAKS 



685 



Quercus imbricaria x palustns ungeim. (1877). Mis-' 

 souri. 



Quercus phellos x velutina;=:Q. heterophylla Michx. 

 f. (1812). Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Staten 

 Island, N. Y. ; -District of Columbia, Virginia, North 

 Carolina, Alabama, Texas. 



Quercus phellos x marilandica Sargent (1895);=Q. 

 rudkini Britt. (1882). Staten Island, N. Y. 



Quercus phellos x rubra (1917) ;=Q. phellos x Q. 

 digitata (3) Small (1895). North Carolina. 



Quercus phellos x ilicifolia Peters (1893). New Jer- 

 sey. 



Quercus michauxii x macrocarpa Sudworth (1897). 

 Southwestern Tennessee. 



The Hawkins Oak, A New Hybrid. 



Through the courtesy of Mr. Joseph Meehan my at- 

 tention was called to a hybrid oak which Mrs. Eugene 

 Hawkins discovered in Carroll county. West Ten- 

 nessee, in October, 1912. An excellent photograph (Fig. 

 5) taken by Mr. W. R. Mattoon shows it to be some 85 

 feet high and 35 inches in diameter. The straight, 

 slightly tapering trunk is free from branches for 40 

 feet. An interesting fact about this tree is that it is 

 growing in a wooded section of the Hawkins estate 

 which is itself a part of the original 25,000-acre grant 

 made in 1791 to Mr. Hawkins' great-grandfather, Isaac 

 Roberts, by the State of North Carolina, then included 

 in a part of the latter state known as the Western Dis- 

 trict, but now a part of West Tennessee. 



Being familiar with the forest trees in that section 

 of Tennessee, Mrs. Hawkins noted with surprise that 

 the flesh of mature acorns from this tree, at first taken 

 to be a red oak (Quercus borealis), was a deep yellow, 

 those of the true red oak having a whitish flesh. A fur- 

 ther careful examination of the tree showed that the 

 trunk bark (Fig. 5) resembles in its marking that of 

 the black oak (Quercus velutina), while the shape and 

 size of some of the leaves (Fig. 1) are very like those 

 of the red oak. Many of the leaves, however, resemble 

 in shape those of the black oak, to which they are all 

 similar in color and texture. The mature acorns (Fig. 

 1) are of the same general shape as those of the red 

 oak, but of smaller size, ranging in length from five- 

 eighths to three-fourths of an inch and in diameter 

 from five-eighths to eleven-sixteenths of an inch. Many 



of the acorns show more or less distinct vertical stripes. 

 The twigs and winter buds of this hybrid are so like 

 those of the red oak as not to be distinguished. 



A superficial comparison of a cross-section of the 

 wood of this hybrid oak (Fig. 2) with that of Quercus 

 borealis (Fig. 3) and of Q. velutina (Fig. 4) shows a 

 unique distinction in the very large number of pores and 

 in their gradual diminution in size in passing from the 

 spring or early-formed wood to the summer or late- 

 formed wood of the annual ring.* The gradual dimi- 

 nution in size of the pores in the wood of the hybrid 

 would seem to indicate a closer relationship to the red 

 oak than to the black oak, in which there is a very ab- 

 rupt change in size from the large pores of the spring- 

 wood to the small pores of the summer-wood. 



It is proposed to designate this hybrid oak as X Quer- 

 cus hawkinsi, in honor of its discoverer, Mrs. Eugene 

 Hawkins, the writer's belief being that* it originated 

 from the crossing of Quercus borealis and Quercus velu- 

 tina, both of which are growing in the vicinity of the 

 hybrid tree. Quercus palustris also occurs in this lo- 

 cality and may possibly be one of the parents. The fact 

 that the striped acorns of Quercus palustris have yellow 

 flesh, and are similar in shape to those of the red oak 

 supports this suspicion. On the other hand, however, 

 the acorns of the black oak are striped and have a yel- 

 low flesh. Moreover, the similarly large size of the 

 leaves of this hybrid oak with the color and texture 

 of the black oak, and the close resemblance of the trunk 

 bark to the black oak would seem to point more strongly 

 to this species as one of the parents than to the pin oak. 



So far as tested the acorns of Quercus hawkinsi ap- 

 pear to be only moderately fertile. Acorns planted by 

 Mr. Joseph Meehan have produced one seedling, which 

 is now about three years old, and a small quantity of 

 acorns planted by the writer at the Letchworth Park 

 Forest and Arboretum at Portage, N. Y., have yielded 

 but one seedling. Some of the leaves of these young 

 plants are identical in shape with those red oak seedlings 

 of comparable age ; while occasional leaves strongly 

 resemble those of young black oak. It will be interest- 

 ing later to note the types of adult leaves produced by 

 these plants. 



The author's cordial thanks.are extended to the Forest Products Lab- 

 oratory at Madison, Wisconsin, for preparing these illustrations. 



rpHE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of Box Manufac- 

 -*- turers, through an agreement with the United' 

 States Food Administration, is working out details of 

 standardized wooden boxes for condensed milk, canned 

 fruit and vegetables for export. The specifications cover 

 the width, length and thicknesses of the sides, ends, tops 

 and bottoms of the various types of boxes, the number 

 and position of the nails to be used, the cleats and iron 

 straps required, and the matching and glueing up of 

 the pieces. A standard scale of prices for the different 

 types of boxes delivered at any point east of the Mis- 

 souri River has been agreed upon. The wooden box in- 

 dustry, through its association, will undertake to see" 

 that the Government's requirements for boxes are taken 

 care of promptly. 



rpHE RECEIPTS from the sale of timber on the 

 -*- National Forests in California amounted to $154,- 

 271.98 for the fiscal year 1917. This is an increase of 59 

 per cent, over the receipts for the fiscal year 1916 and 

 100 per cent, over the receipts for 1915. Twenty-five per 

 cent, of this money goes to the state for the school and 

 road funds of the counties in which the National For- 

 ests are contained. 



T^R. HUGH P. BAKER, dean of the New York State 

 ^-^ College of Forestry, is at the Second R9S3rv3 Offi- 

 cers' Training Camp at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. There 

 are many prominent lumbermen in training at this 

 camp and their practical experience is proving useful. 



