TURKEY OAK 



(Quercus Catesbai) 



THE claim that this tree is called turkey oak because turkeys feed 

 on the acorns, is not well founded. In common with nearly all 

 members of the black oak group, to which this species belongs, the acorns 

 of turkey oak are bitter, and unless animals are pressed by hunger they 

 do not eat them. It is evident that the shape of the leaves gives this tree 

 its name. They bear considerable resemblance to the foot of a turkey. 

 There is at least enough similitude to suggest the name, and it is not 

 inappropriate. Many people now use the term without thinking of its 

 origin, and if asked their opinion say that fondness of turkeys for the 

 acorns led to the name. 



The tree has other names in different regions. In North 

 Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Florida it is known as 

 scrub oak. The name fits it well in certain places, for when it grows 

 on poor soil and in adversity, it degenerates into a low, straggling thicket, 

 frequently not trees at all, but shrubs. It is called black jack in South 

 Carolina but the name belongs to another species (Quercus marilandica). 

 In the same state it is known as barren scrub oak, because it is very small 

 and is found on poor lands popularly known as barrens. Some call it 

 forked-leaf black jack, but the name is usually shorter, and forked-leaf, 

 or forked-leaf oak, is a name well understood among lumbermen, and the 

 people generally over much of the tree's range. Some of the leaves show 

 clearly-defined three forks, the middle one longer than the others; but 

 in other leaves, often from the same tree, the forks are not so regularly 

 outlined. This tree, like many other oaks, exhibits considerable 

 variation in the forms of leaves. 



There is nothing peculiar in the form and appearance of the acorns. 

 They average about one inch long and three-quarters of an inch wide, 

 and sit in shallow cups. They mature the second year. The bark of 

 old trees is black near the ground, rather rough, and an inch or more 

 thick. 



It is difficult to name an average size for turkey oak. The largest 

 trunks are three or four feet in diameter and eighty feet high, but the 

 trees cut for sawlogs are only fifty or sixty feet high and two in diameter, 

 in most of the regions. As previously stated, much of the stand is 

 stunted and some of it is only brush. All sizes are found, from large, 

 first rate trunks down to shrubs. Large trees which grow in forests, 

 prune themselves well and their trunks compare favorably with red oaks. 



The tree's range has its northeastern limit in North Carolina, and 



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