THE WOODS IN BLOOM 



149 



Oaks which mature their fruit in one season belong to the 

 group of White Oaks ; those on which the acorns remain very 

 small the first summer and do not mature before the second 

 autumn are Black Oaks. Gray's " Manual " describes nine- 

 teen species of oaks from the northern United States east 

 of the Eocky Mountains. The same common name is often 

 applied to different species. 



12. The flowers of the Scarlet Oak resemble closely 

 those of the bur oak ; but the pistillate flowers grow in 

 pairs on short pedicels from the leaf-axils, and small acorns 

 can always be found on last season's wood, which shows the 

 tree to be one of the Black Oaks. 



FIG. 3"). SCARLET OAK. a, twig with leaves and young acorns; 6, 

 pistillate flowers ; c, staininate flowers. All reduced. 



