AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



to distinguish it from other willow oaks which grow in swamps, sand jack, referring to 

 the land on which it grows, high-ground willow oak, turkey oak, shin oak and cinna- 

 mon oak. No reason is known for the last name which is not used outside of Florida. 

 The tree grows in a narrow strip along the coast from North Carolina to Texas, 

 crossing northern Florida. The blue jack oak sometimes attains a height of fifty 

 feet and a diameter of twenty inches; but that is its best. It is usually fifteen or 

 twenty feet high and a few inches in diameter. The leaves are from two to five 

 inches long and quite narrow, closely resembling those of willow. The acorns are 

 abundant, but small. The tree is of so little value that it does not interest the 

 lumberman. It occupies waste land, and may produce a little fuel without crowding 

 more valuable trees, but is in every way inferior to the black jack oak (Quercus 

 marilandica), which overlaps its range a little, but is a northern species. The wood 

 of blue jack oak is hard, strong, light brown in color, with darker-colored sapwood. 



