122 Trees with Simple Leaves. [Am 



It is very probable that the "Black* Oak" and the 

 "Scarlet Oak" ought to be considered as one, and de- 

 scribed, not as species and variety, but as slightly different 

 forms of the single species Q. coccinea. Though the 

 most distinctive leaves of the " Black Oak " are easily 

 recognized, often others are so nearly like those of the 

 "Scarlet Oak" that it is not easy to distinguish between 

 them ; and the same is true of the fruit and the bark. 

 Michaux f. says : " The only constant difference between 

 the acorns of the Scarlet Oak and the Black Oak is in the 

 kernel, which is white in the Scarlet Oak and yellow in 

 the Black Oak." 



The Gray Oak (Q. c., ambigua, Gray) is a variety 

 sometimes found along the northeastern boundary of the 

 States (as far as Lake Champlain) and northward. It 

 combines the foliage of the Red Oak with the acorn of 

 the Scarlet Oak. 



Fig. 63. Red Oak. Q. rubra, L. 



Leaves, SIMPLE ; ALTERNATE ; EDGE LOBED (edges of the 

 lobes mostly entire, but slightly toothed toward the 

 ends). 



Outline, about oval. Base, short wedge-shape, or rounded. 

 Ends of the lobes and of their one to three slight 

 teeth, pointed and bristle-tipped. 



Leaf, six to nine inches long, three to five inches wide ; 

 both surfaces smooth. Lobes, nine to thirteen, usually 

 very tapering from the base, with the hollows between 

 them rounded and narrow and extending about half 

 way to the middle rib. 



Bark of trunk, dark, greenish-gray, and continuing smooth 

 longer than on any other oak, never becoming as 

 rough, for example, as that of the black oak. 



