32 HOUGH'S AMERICAN WOODS. 



66. QUERCUS BICOLOR, WILLD. 



SWAMP WHITE OAK. 



Ger., ZioeifarUge Eiclie; Fr., Chtne de Marais; Sp., Roble bianco de 



pantano. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: Leaves obovate or obovate oblong, 5-7 inches in length; 

 wedge-shaped and subentire at base, with large, irregular, obtusely pointed, teeth, or 

 sometimes merely a wavy margin above, and with often a single sinus on each side 

 at the middle, extending half-way to the midrib; smooth and green above, soft-downy 

 and whitish beneath; primary veins 6-8 pairs; petioles very short. Flowers with 

 6-8 stamens; stigmas sessile or nearly so. Fruit, acorns maturing the first year, 

 often in pairs, on long peduncles (1-2 inches in length); cup hemispherical witli 

 upper scales awn-pointed and sometimes forming a mossy-fringed margin ; nut ob- 

 long or ovoid, scarcely 1 inch in length and with eatable kernel. 



(Bicolor is the Latin for of two colors, alluding to the difference in color of the op- 

 posite sides of the leaves.) 



A large and beautiful tree with ample parti-colored foliage, which when 

 first appearing is of delicate red, brown and light-green, and softly 

 pubescent; later a dark green with whitish under surfaces and in autumn 

 assuming dull yellow and brown tints. In favorable situations it attains 

 the height of 75-100 feet (23-30 m.) and sometimes 5ft. (1.50 m.') or more 

 in diameter of trunk. 



When growing by itself it develops a wide-spreading top with intricate 

 branches, the lowermost of which are often pendulous. The bark of 

 young trees separates into thin, papery scales, but on old trunks becomes 

 rough with longitudinal, scaly ridges, and is then of a pale gray color, 

 very much resembling the bark of the White Oak. 



HABITAT. North-eastern United States from Canada to Virginia, 

 westward to Iowa and Missouri, and southward along the mountains to 

 Georgia, growing in rich bottom-lands along the streams and in swampy 

 woods. It attains its greatest development in the region south of the 

 great lakes. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood heavy, hard, strong and tough, of a 

 light pinkish brown color with whitish sap-wood. Specific Gravity, 

 0.7662; Percentage of Ash, 0.58; Relative Approximate Fuel Value, 

 0.7618; Coefficient of Elasticity, 90636; Modulus of Rupture, 909; Re- 

 sistance to Longitudinal Pressure, 490; Resistance to Indentation, 221 ; 

 Weight of a Cubic Foot in Pounds, 47. 75. 



USES. The wood of this species is quite as valuable as that of the 

 White Oak (Q. alba) from which it is not distinguished in market or in 

 usage. It is employed for many purposes, as for furniture, interior finish- 

 ing, ship-building, the manufacture of agricultural implements, baskets, 

 in cooperage, etc., and is an excellent fuel. 



MEDICINAL PROPERTIES are not known of this species. 



