2 8o TREES GROWING IN DRY SOIL. 



is well known its wood is especially valued. For railroad ties, 

 staves, cooperage, ship-building and many purposes it is used. 

 In quality it is similar to that of the white oak, page 188, and in 

 fact the trees were for a long time confused one with the other. 

 Towards the western limit of its range it grows abundantly 

 with Black-jack, Quercus Marylandica, and forms a belt which 

 was familiarly known to early settlers of that part of the coun- 

 try as " Cross Timbers." In New England the post oak often 

 becomes a shrub, when its branches are low and contorted. 



BLACK-JACK. BARREN OAK. {Plate CL/II.) 

 Quercus Maryldndica. 



FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Beech. Head, irregular; branches^ 8-35-50 feet. Long Island south- May, June. 



stout, contorted. ward and west- Fruit: Oct., Nov. 



ward. 



Bark: blackish; rough; ridged and separating into close scales. Leaves: 

 simple; alternate; broadly obovate; rounded or slightly cordate at the base, 

 widening above the middle of the leaf and forming three or five very short, 

 slight lobes; rounded at the apex or slightly pointed; bristle-tipped. Sinuses: 

 shallow; dark green and glossy above with fine star-like hairs, covered with 

 a rusty pubescence underneath when young, at maturity glabrous. Ribs : dis- 

 tinct and branching conspicuously above the middle. Staminate catkins : two 

 to four inches long; pubescent. Pistillate ones : growing on short peduncles 

 and covered with a white wool. Acorns: small; ovoid; sessile or nearly so. 

 Cup : deep ; top-shaped ; and covered with coarse, compressed scales ; 

 pubescent. Nut : dark brown ; edible ; sweet. 



There is something very interesting about Black-jack. Per- 

 haps it is its common name which fixes it so firmly in the 

 memory and makes the tree an old friend after it has once been 

 seen. Much character is displayed about its unusually shaped 

 leaves, and although they have somewhat departed from the 

 orthodox conception of beauty, they have a firm, broad out- 

 line of their own. When they unfold in the spring they are 

 bright pink on the upper side, a feature curious to recall when 

 they have attained their large size and dark, lustrous greenness 

 of maturity. Black-jack has a decided preference for dry, 

 sterile soil. The wood it bears is dark brown and strong, but 

 it checks badly in drying. It is therefore mostly used for fuel 

 and for making charcoal. 



