67. QuERCi's PRIJOJS ROCK OAK. 33 



NOTE. Prof. C. S. Sargent mentions 3 m. (nearly 10 feet) as an ex- 

 treme thickness of trunk which this tree sometimes attains. Such di- 

 mensions must certainly he very rare. The following quoted from Prof. 

 Sargent is of special interest as relating to a famous and gigantic tree 

 of this species: 



"The greatest Swamp White Oak of which any record has been pre- 

 served is known as 'The Wadsworth Oak.' It stood on the intervale of 

 the Genesee river in western New York, on the Wadsworth estate, where 

 many large Swamp Oaks still exist. Mr. S. B. Buckley published, many 

 years ago, a note on this tree in the American Journal of Science and 

 Arts, from which it appears that in July, 1851, when he visited it, the 

 trunk varied little in size from the ground to the branches, and that it 

 had an average circumference of twenty-seven feet. Its smallest circum- 

 ference was twenty-four feet. 'It was situated in a pasture, and the 

 ground was bare and hard beneath it from the tramping of cattle and 

 visitors. The big tree seems fated soon to die/ The prediction, unfor- 

 tunately, came true, and a few years later this tree, the pride of all the 

 country round, was undermined and washed away by the gradual chang- 

 ing of the bed of the river, near whose banks it had stood for centuries,," 



67. QUERCUS PRINUS, L. . 



ROCK OAK, CHESTNUT OAK. 



Ger., Felsen-Eiche; Fr., Chene de roche; Sp., Roble de las rocas. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: Leaves varying from obovate to lanceolate and often ob- 

 long 1 , acute or acuminate with acute or obtuse base, undulately crenate- toothed, the 

 teeth terminating the 10-16 pairs of straight primary veins, pale and somewhat pu- 

 bescent beneath; petioles long. Flowers with 6-8 stamens; stigmas sessile or nearly 

 so. Fruit, acorns maturing the first year, with short peduncles, about \ in. or less in 

 length (shorter than the petioles) and ovoid nut (often 1 inch in length) with edible 

 kernel, and covered half its length or less by a firm, thin-edged cup, the edges usu- 

 ally flaring out at maturity, composed of small, tubercular, appressed scales. 



(Priiius is from the ancient Greek itpivos, a name applied to a species of Oak.) 



A large, handsome tree sometimes attaining the height of 80 ft. (26 m.) 

 or more, and 3 or 4 ft. (I m.) and sometimes more in diameter of trunk, 

 with leaves considerably resembling those of the chestnut, and a peculiar 

 'bluish-gray bark witli very prominent rounded and firm ridges. This 

 curious bark is a v<-ry striking and characteristic feature. 



HABITAT. North-eastern United States, southern Ontario and south- 

 ward along the Alleghanies growing on dry, rocky slopes. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood heavy, hard, quite strong and tough, 



durable in contact with the soil and of a rich brown color with brownish 



white sap-wood. Specific Gravity, 0.7499; Percentage of Ash, 0.77; 



Relative Approximate Fuel Value, 0.7441; Coefficient of Elasticity, 



5 



