238 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



feet in the mountains of southern California. It is found scattered through the coast 

 range and the Sierra Nevadas from Mcndocino county to Lower California, 700 miles 

 or more. It grows from sprouts and from acorns. The leaves adhere to the twigs 

 thirteen months, and fall after the new crop has appeared. The wood is light brown, 

 hard, and brittle. No use is made of it, except to a small extent for fuel. On tin- 

 mountains it grows in thickets scarcely five feet high, but they cover the ground in 

 dense jungles, and the roots go deep in the ground. The species is valuable chiefly 

 for protection toteep slopes which would otherwise be without much growth of any 

 kind. Being low on the ground, forest fires are particularly destructive to this oak ; 

 but its ability to send up sprouts repairs the damage to some extent. 



EMORY OAK (Quercus emoryi) grows among the mountains of western Texas, 

 New Mexico, and Arizona, attains a height from thirty to seventy feet, and a diam- 

 eter from one to four. The largest size is found only in sheltered canyons, while on high 

 mountains and in exposed situations the tree degenerates to a shrub. It always has 

 a crop of leaves. The old do not fall until the new appear. In shape, the leaves 

 somewhat resemble those of box elder. The acorns ripen from June to September, 

 the exact time depending upon the tree's situation. Trunks large enough for use are 

 not scarce, but the wood is not of high class. Stair railing and balusters have been 

 made of it in Texas, but the appearance is rather poor. The grain is coarse, the figure 

 common, the color unsatisfactory. The heart is very dark, but the tones are not 

 uniform, and flat surfaces, such as boards and panels, show streaks which are not 

 sufficiently attractive to be taken for figure. Trunks are apt to be full of black knots 

 which mar the appearance of the lumber. The medullary rays are numerous and 

 broad, and in quarter-sawing, the size and arrangement of the "mirrors" are all that 

 could be desired, but they have a decidedly pink color which does not contrast very 

 well with the rest of the wood. The weight of this oak exceeds per cubic foot white 

 oak, by more than ten pounds; but it has scarcely half the strength or half the 

 elasticity of white oak. The springwood is filled with large pores, the summerwood 

 with smaller ones. It rates high as fuel, and that is its chief value. Large quantities 

 are cut for cordwood. Railroad ties are made of it, and more or less goes into mines 

 as props and lagging. Stock ranches make fences, sheds, and corrals of this oak, and 

 live stock eats the acorns. The human inhabitants likewise find the Emory oak acorn 

 crop a source of food. Mexicans gather them in large quantities and sell what they 

 can spare. The market for the acorns is found in towns in northwestern Mexico. 



