3o8 



The Oaks 



autumn of the second year, is sessile or nearly so; nut oblong-oval, i8 to 35 mm. 

 long, brown, often striped, the apex hairy; shell thin and hard, slightly hairy 

 within; cup top-shaped, deeply saucer-shaped, or sometimes higher than wide, 12 

 to 15 mm. across, greenish and hair}^ within, thick and embracing one third to one 

 half the nut, covered by thin, brown somewhat hairy scales. 



The wood is very hard and strong, close-grained, hght reddish brown; its specific 

 gravity is about 0.78. It is used for fuel. 



Abram's oak, Q. Morekus Kellogg, is supposed to be a hybrid with the Cah- 

 fornia black oak, Q. Kelloggii Newberry. Price's oak, Q. Pricei Sud worth 

 recently described, and perhaps distinct, has saucer-shaped acorn-cups. 



25. MYRTLE OAK Quercus myrtifolia Willdenow 



Also called Scrub oak, this much branched evergreen shrub, rarely becomes a 



tree 6 meters tall, with a trunk diameter of i dm., growing on dry sandy ridges 



along the coast and adjacent islands from South Carolina to Florida and Louisiana. 



The bark is sUghtly furrowed near the base, otherwise it is smooth and dark 



brown. The twigs are slender, hairy 

 at first, but becoming smooth, hght 

 brown to dark gray. The winter 

 buds are ovoid or oval, narrowed 

 to a sharp point, the scales close and 

 brown. The leaves are obovate or 

 oval, 2 to 5 cm. long, blunt or bristle- 

 pointed, variously wedge-shaped, 

 rounded or sometimes heart-shaped 

 at the base, entire on young shoots," 

 sometimes wavy or toothed on the 

 revolute margin. They are thick 

 and leathery, shining, dark green and 

 smooth with a yellowish midrib and 

 prominent venation above, yellowish 

 green or brownish, smooth or some- 

 what hairy, especially at the axils of 

 the principal veins beneath, persisting until the second season, when they gradually 

 fall off. The leaf-stalk is stout, hairy, and yellow, i to 3 mm. long. The flowers 

 appear in March or April. The staminate catkins are hairy, 2.5 to 4 cm. long, 

 their calyx hairy, the 5 lobes thin, ovate and sharp-pointed; stamens exserted; 

 anthers small, sharp-pointed, smooth and yellow. The pistillate flowers are ses- 

 sile or nearly so, single or two together; involucre woolly and reddish; styles long, 

 recun^ed. The fruit, usually ripening at the end of the second season, is sessile 

 or nearly so; nut ovoid or oblong-ovoid, i to 1.5 cm. long, dark brown and shining, 

 often striped, hairy at the apex; shell thin, woolly inside; cup saucer- shaped, 10 to 



Fig. 260. Mvrtle Oak. 



