286 



The Oaks 



4. SCHNECK'S OAK Quercus Schneckii Britton 



Querais texana Sargent, not Buckley 



This large tree, greatly resembling the Pin oak in general appearance, occurs 

 from North Carolina to Illinois, Iowa and southward to Florida and Texas. Its 

 maximum height is 65 meters, with a trunk diameter of 2.5 m. 



The trunk is much buttressed, tall and straight. The branches are tough, 

 pendulous below, spreading above, the tree usually round-topped. The bark is 



sparsely furrowed into broad ridges of a reddish 

 brown color, or on younger stems smooth and 

 gray. The twigs are stout and brittle, hairy at 

 first, soon becoming smooth, light green, orange 

 or reddish brown, and finally brown or gray. 

 The winter buds are ovoid or oblong, about 4 

 mm. long, pointed or rounded at the apex. The 

 leaves are ovate to obovate in outline, 6 to 20 

 cm. long, the 5 to 9 lobes oblong to triangular, 

 spreading or ascending, bristle-tipped, sometimes 

 toothed, their sinuses usually wide and rounded, 

 extended about half-way to the midrib or more; 

 they are tapering at the base, thin, bright dark 

 green and shining above, paler and smooth, ex- 

 cept for tufts of hairs at the axils of the princi- 

 pal veins, beneath. The leaf-stalk is slender, 2 

 to 5 cm. long. The flowers appear in the spring, the pistillate ones having rather 

 short, spreading, light red styles. The short-stalked fruit ripens in the autumn 

 of the second season; nut ovoid, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long, reddish brown, sometimes 

 striped with darker lines; cup embracing about one third of the nut, deeply sau- 

 cer-shaped, its scales light brown, blunt and woolly. 



The wood is similar to that of the eastern Red oak and is used as such, being 

 considered by lumbermen as of better grade and more durable. 



Fig. 238. Schneck's Oak. 



5. TURKEY OAK Quercus Catesbaei Michaux 



A small tree of dry sandy portions of the coastal plain from North Carolina 

 to Florida and eastern Louisiana; its maximum height is 20 meters, with a trunk 

 diameter of i m. 



The branches are mostly rather stout, spreading, forming an irregular narrow 

 or more or less rounded tree. The bark is up to 2.5 cm. thick, deeply fissured 

 into irregular ridges and broken into small thick close plates, with a reddish inte- 

 rior, dark brown to nearly black externally. The twigs are stout, densely woolly 

 at first, soon becoming smooth and passing through various shades of red to brown. 

 The buds are ovoid, 12 mm. long, sharp-pointed and covered by light brown ap- 



