342 The Oaks 



rounded or notched at the apex, the base narrowed, wedge-shaped or rounded; 

 they are thick and firm, shining, with scattered hairs above, densely gray or yel- 

 lowish hairy beneath, the midrib broad, prominent beneath; the leaf-stalk is slightly 

 flattened, hairy, 12 to 20 mm. long. The flowers appear from March to May, 

 according to latitude, when the leaves are about one half unfolded, the stami- 

 nate catkins 7.5 to 10 cm. long and hairy; calyx usually 5-lobed, hairy and yel- 

 low; anthers broad, notched, hairy. The pistillate flowers are usually sessile, 

 hairy; styles very short, broad, spreading and bright red. The fruit is usually 

 sessile, sometimes short-stalked, often in pairs or clustered; nut ovoid, 1.5 to 2 

 cm. long, hairy at apex; cup hemispheric, narrowed at base, 1.5 to 2 cm. across, 

 pale, hairy within, thin and embracing one third to one half the nut, its scales thin, 

 rather flat, pale woolly. 



The wood is hard, close-grained and brown, its specific gravity about 0.84. 

 It is quite durable in contact with the soil and is much used for railroad ties and 

 fencing, carriage work and cooperage. 



This beautiful tree should be more often seen in our parks and pubhc grounds, 

 though it is of slow growth and demands a light soil. 



It is also knowTi as Box w^hite oak. Iron oak, Overcup oak. White oak. Box 

 oak, and Brash oak. 



Boynton's oak, Quercus Boyntoni Beadle, a shrub forming large clumps, 

 sometimes becomes tree-Hke, 5 meters tall, with a trunk diameter of i dm., and 

 grows in rocky soil in Georgia and Alabama. It differs from the Post oak in its 

 smaller stature, smaller, narrow, wedge-shaped leaves, the shallow lobes of which 

 are confined to the upper half of the leaf; the smaller fruit has a more top-shaped 

 cup. 



63. WHITE OAK Quercus alba Linnaeus 



This majestic tree of rich woods from southern Maine to Ontario and Minne- 

 sota, southward to Florida and Texas, attains a maximum height of about 45 

 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 m. It is sometimes called Stave oak on account 

 of the use of the wood in cooperage. 



The branches are stout and spreading, the tree being broad, sometimes broader 

 than high, if growing in the open; in the forest the trunk is usually free of 

 branches for half of its height or more, the branches short, forming a narrow head. 

 The bark is up to 5 cm. thick, shallowly fissured into flat ridges, or on younger 

 stems broken into thin scales of a light gray or nearly white color. The twigs are 

 slender, light reddish green, and woolly, soon becoming reddish brown, smooth 

 and shining, and finally light gray. Winter buds blunt, about 2 mm. long, reddish 

 brown. The leaves are mostly obovate in outline, i to 2 dm. long, the 3 to 9 

 lobes ascending, the lobes blunt at the apex, entire or with i or 2 secondary lobes; 

 sinuses wide and rounded at the bottom, usually very deep; they are narrowly 

 wedge-shaped at the base, light red and ver}^ woolly when unfolding, becoming 

 thin and firm, bright green, shining or dull and smooth above, pale, glaucous 



