SHINGLE OAK 



(Quercus Imbricaria) 



THE origin of this tree's name has been the subject of considerable 

 controversy. According to one account the name was first used 

 by the French colonists at Kaskaskia, Illinois, nearly 150 years ago. 

 They found that the wood rived well and it was abundant in the vicinity 

 of their settlement. They split it for shingles and covered their cabins. 

 It was the best wood obtainable for the purpose in that region, and they 

 designated the tree shingle oak, a name translated into Latin by the 

 botanist Michaux and still retained as the tree's botanical name. The 

 story of the name appears to be well authenticated, but the fact cannot 

 be denied that as much reason exists for another theory. A person who 

 sees a shingle oak tree in full leaf, particularly if it stands in open ground 

 where its foliage has had opportunity to develop along natural lines, will 

 at once notice the peculiar and characteristic overlapping of the leaves. 

 They suggest the courses of shingles nailed on a roof. No other oak has 

 that arrangement. The similitude is so striking that it would be sur- 

 prising if the name shingle oak were not applied. 



It is not a one-name tree, but following the fashion, it carries 

 several names. It is called laurel oak in some regions. The form and 

 appearance of the leaf give the name. The oak looks like a mammoth 

 laurel tree more than like its own species. The shingle oak is known as 

 jack oak in some parts of Illinois. That is a name liable to be applied to 

 any tree when its real name is not known. In North Carolina they call 

 the tree water oak, which name, like jack oak, is often used to conceal 

 ignorance of the true name. Another southern species (Quercus nigra) 

 is properly named water oak. 



Shingle oak requires good soil for growth but is not partial either 

 to uplands or bottoms. It is found at its best in the lower Ohio river 

 basin and in Missouri, but is comparatively rare in the East. From 

 middle Pennsylvania its range extends southward along the Alleghanics 

 to northern Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and west Arkansas. It is 

 found in Michigan, Wisconsin, and westward to Kansas. 



It manifests a strong tendency to hybridize with other oaks, and it 

 readily crosses with black jack oak, pin oak, and yellow oak. It is 

 believed that a cross between yellow oak and shingle oak produced the 

 species known as lea oak. 



A mature tree may be one hundred feet high and three or four feet 

 in diameter. It has a round or pyramidal attractive crown composed 

 of many slender branches and twigs. The foliage is distinctively 



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