80 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 



then turn a pale yellow. In moist woods and on sandy uplands 

 the tree occurs as well as by the borders of swamps. 



LAURELOAK. SHINGLE OAK. WATER OAK. (Plate XXX.) 



Quercus laurifblia. 



FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Beech. Head, dense, round-topped; 30-80 _/<?^, Penn. to Iowa and March, April, 



branches, slender. or higher, southward to Fla. Fruit: Oct. 



Bark : nearly black, flatly and broadly ridged. Leaves: simple; alternate; 

 with grooved, yellow petioles; long oblong with pointed and bristle-tipped 

 apex and pointed base. Edge entire, although the leaves of young shoots are 

 sometimes undulately-lobed. Bright green, smooth, stiff and glossy above. 

 Flowers: slightly downy below. Acorns: small; almost sessile. Cup: saucer- 

 shaped, with closely compressed scales. Nut: globular or ovoid. Kernel: 

 bitter. 



Two things are most noticeable about this tree : its tall 

 stately trunk and its dark, lustrous head of laurel-like foliage. 

 Within its centre it seems as though the breezes must be held 

 and not allowed to rush madly through as is their wont. The 

 tree is rather generally found east of the Alleghanies. Like that 

 of the willow oak its reddish-brown wood is poor and of little 

 value. One of its common names connects it with the making 

 of shingles, for which purpose it is largely used. 



COriilON FRINGE TREE. OLD MAN'S BEARD. 



{Plate XXXI.) 

 Chiondnthus Virginica. 



Bark: brown, or ashy grey and divided into thin scales. Leaves: large; 

 simple ; opposite; petioled; ovate or obovate, with pointed or rarely rounded 

 apex and pointed or narrowed at the base. Dark green and smooth above ; 

 pubescent underneath when young; thick. Flowers: snow-white; faintly fra- 

 grant; growing in loose, drooping panicles. Calyx: small; four-lobed; tubular. 

 Corolla: with four slender petals, three quarters of an inch long, barely united 

 at the base. Stamens: two, very short. Pistil: one. Fruit: bluish purple ; 

 oval; glaucous and containing one seed. 



The blossoms of the fringe tree are among those things of 

 nature that are seen by all. They make no demand upon that 



