LXX. CORYLA CEiE : QUE RCUS. 



869 



liS2. Q. rubra 



The bark is comparatively smooth, of a dark colour, very thick ; and, though 

 in old trees it cracks, yet it never scales off as in the sections A'Ibae and 

 Prinus. The wood is reddish and coarse-grained ; and its pores are often so 

 large as to admit the entrance of a hair. The leaves, when they first come 

 out in spring, are of a fine sulphur colour ; when fully expanded, they are 

 smooth and shining on both sides, large, deeply laciniated, and sometimes 

 slightly rounded at the base, especially on old trees; and, before they fall, they 

 turn of a deep purplish red. According to the younger Michaux, the leaves 

 on old trees often nearly resemble those of Q. falcata. The leaves of Q. 

 falcata are, however, always downy beneath ; while those of Q. rubra are 

 smooth. The leaves of Q. rubra die off of a more purplish red than those of 

 most of the other kinds in this section ; but they often become }ellow before 

 they fall. They vary much in shape, from the age of the plant, or the soil and 

 situation in which it has grown. Fig. 1581., copied from the elder Michaux's 

 Histoire des Chenes, shows the leaves of a seedling a year old ; fig. 1582., from 

 the same work, those of a tree bearing acorns. 



3? 15. Q. cocci'nea Willd. The scarlet Oak. 



Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 199. ; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept.; 



Identification. WiUd. Sp. Fl.,4. 416 

 p. 630. 



Si/nonyrne. Q. rClbra $ Ait. ed. 1. 3. p. 357. 

 ; Engravings. Wang. Forst., t. 9. ; Michx. Quer., t. 31, 32. ; N. Amer. Syl., 1. t. 25 

 I this tree in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. viii. ; and our Jtgs. 1583. and 1584. 



the plate of 



iSpec, Char., cf-e. Leaves smooth, oblong, deeply and widely sinuated, on 

 1 long stalks : lobes divaricated, acute, sharply toothed, bristle-pointed. Calyx 

 ! of the fruit turbinate, half as long as the nut. ( Willd.') A large deciduous 

 j tree. Penn.sylvania to Georgia. Height 80 ft. Introduced in 1691. 



j The leaves, which are chiefly distinguished from those of Q. rubra by 



ihaving longer petioles, are of a beautiful green, shining on both sides ; and, 



ion old trees, laciniated in a very remarkable manner, having usually four deep 



.sinuses on each side, very broad at bottom. The leaves begin to change with 



;the first cold ; and, after several sucessive frosts, turn to a brilliant scarlet, 



instead of the dull red of those of Q. rubra. These leaves differ very greatly 



in shape at different stages in the growth of the tree. When {|uite young, 



idiey are scarcely lobed at all, as may be seen hy fig. 1583., which is taken 



s'rom Michaux's Histoire des Chenes, and represents a seedling a year old ; and 



fe. 1584., a sprig and acorn from an old tree, copied from Michaux. Amidst 



!ill the varieties, however, in the shape of the leaf of the scarlet oak, it may 



iilways be distinguished from that of Q. rubra by the different hue which it 



issumes in autumn ; the colour of Q. coccinea being always a bright scarlet, 



r yellowish red, of more or less intensity; and that of Q. riibra a dull 



3k S 



