QUEKCUS TOMENTELLA ISLAND LlVE OAK. 47 



GENUS QUERCUS, L. 



Flowers greenish or yellowish. Sterile flowers in loose, slender, naked catkins, 

 which spring singly or several together from axillary buds ; calyx 2-8-parted or 

 cleft ; stamens 3-12 ; anthers 2-celled Fertile flowers with ovary nearly 3-celled 

 and 6-ovuled, two of the cells and 5 of the ovules being abortive ; stigma 3-lobed ; 

 involucre developing into a hard, scaly cup around the base of the nut or acorn, 

 which is 1-celled, 1 -seeded. 



(Quercus is the ancient Latin name for the Oak supposed to be from the Celtic 

 quer, fine, and cuez, tree.) 



191. QUERCUS TOMENTELLA, ENGELM. 

 ISLAND LIVE OAK, SANTA CATALINA WHITE OAK. 



Ger., Eilandische Stechpalme ; Fr., Chene vert insulaire ; Sp., 



Encina de isla. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS : Leaves persistent, thick, coriaceous, oblong-lanceo- 

 late, from 2 to 4 in. long, acute or occasionally rounded, perhaps cuspidate, at 

 apex, coarsely crenate-dentate with teeth tipped with very small bristles, or entire 

 (often both forms on the same branch) dark bluish green, stellate pubescent above 

 when young, but finally glabrous or nearly so, with prominent mid-riband veins, 

 beneath lighter and, as with the short petioles and branchlets, densely covered 

 with hoary stellate pubescence ; stipules caducous. Staminate flowers in stellate- 

 pubescent pendent bracteate aments, 2 in. or more in length, appearing from the 

 axils of young leaves ; calyx light yellow, pubescent, 5-7-lobed ; stamens 5-10 

 exserted,' with slender filaments and yellow oblong pointed anthers. Pistillate 

 flowers subsessile, in the axils of more terminal leaves or on few-flowered axillary 

 spikes ; calyx and involucral scales stellate- pubescent ; stigma red. Fruit sub- 

 sessile, ripening at the end of the second season, with ovoid nut 1-1 in. long, the 

 thick shell pubescent within toward the apex, and shallow, thickish woody cup, 

 with thin rim, \ to ^ enveloping the nut, tubercled and hoary stellate-tomen- 

 tose outside with small tips of scales free. 



A tree of medium size in sheltered canons, attaining the height of 

 75 ft. (22 m.) or somewhat more, with trunk 2 ft. (0.60 in.) or less in 

 diameter. The bark of trunk is of a light gray color, quite thin and 

 rough on the old. trunks, with longitudinal ridges which flake off in 

 firm scales revealing a red-brown inner bark. 



HABITAT. The Quercus tomentettais distinctively an insular Oak, 

 being found only, so far as known, on certain islands off the coast of 

 southern and Lower California. It was discovered " on a bleak crest 

 near the northeast end of Guadaloupe Island," and has since been 

 found on the Oalifornian islands, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and Santa 

 Catalina. I hive seen it only on Santa Catalina Island, and there 

 found it forming small groves, with a few outlying trees, in a number 

 of sheltered canons. These groves are conspicuous when viewed from 

 a distance on account of the gray-green tint of foliage and the stature 

 of the trees, as they tower above most of the surrounding vegetation. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood heavy, hard, close-grained, com- 

 pact, with open ducts arranged in broad bands parallel with the 



