2T>r> AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



instance, what in 1880 was supposed to be a rather insignificant variety, 

 occupying a restricted area in Texas, was found by 1905 to be a separate 

 species, covering sixteen states in whole or in part. Similar progress 

 concerning the forests has been made all over the country, not only by 

 botanists but by lumbermen. Trees which were formerly considered so 

 nearly alike that no distinctions were made, are now recognized to be 

 quite different. 



The Texan red oak is frequently called spotted oak. The appear- 

 ance of the bark suggests the name. Large, irregular, whitish patches 

 cover the trunks. That peculiarity is not noticeable everywhere and on 

 all trees, but is common west of the Mississippi river. The tree is some- 

 times known as Spanish oak in the southwestern part of its range, but 

 the name is ill-advised, for the true Spanish oak (Quercus digitata) occurs 

 in the same region. The most usual name for this species, in nearly all 

 parts of its range, is simply red oak. 



The Texan red oak varies greatly in size of trees, as is natural in so 

 wide a geographical range. Trees have been reported 200 feet high and 

 eight feet in diameter; but sizes like that are extraordinary and attempts 

 to locate anything approaching them at this day have not been success- 

 ful. The average in the lower Mississippi valley is eighty or ninety feet 

 in height, and two or three in diameter. In Texas this size is seldom 

 reached, the average not much exceeding half of it. 



The leaves of Texan red oak are about half the size of those of the 

 northern species. That alone will not serve to separate them, because 

 of such great variation. It applies only to averages. The southern 

 trees' leaves are from three to six inches long, two to five wide; the 

 northern species bears leaves from five to nine inches long and four to six 

 wide. The acorns of the two species do not show so much difference in 

 size. The states which use Texan red oak in largest amounts are 

 Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, though some of 

 this wood finds its way to northern markets where it passes as red oak 

 without any questions. That condition renders very difficult the task of 

 separating the woods. It is not so difficult further south where the true 

 red oak is seldom seen. Shipments go north, not south. The two red 

 oaks mingle in the lumber yards north of the Ohio river, but seldom 

 south of the Tennessee river. 



Investigations made by the Forest Service of the utilization of 

 woods in various states show that factories report the annual use of 

 Texan red oak as follows : Louisiana 1,777,000 feet, Mississippi 2,400,000, 

 Texas 2,814,000, Alabama 5,500,000, and Arkansas 39,301,000. This 

 does not include lumber or other forest products used in the rough, or 

 lumber shipped out of the respective states. 



