252 RED OAK CLASS 



lives to a good old age. Its branches are slender when 

 close-grown and even then form a somewhat open crown. It 

 will grow tall and slender when crowded, as it is a moder- 

 ately light-demanding tree, but when grown in the open it 

 has a stocky, rapidly tapering stem, with wide-spreading 

 limbs from the ground up, and forms a round crown. No 

 other Oak produces so many differently shaped leaves on 

 the same tree as this. So far as its leaf form is concerned, it 

 apparently has not decided what one to adopt exclusively. 



Its wood is strong, heavy, and hard, but not tough. It 

 is more durable than Red Oak, but not equal to White 

 Oak, and it checks when seasoning. The heartwood is light 

 brown, somewhat tinged with red, with lighter-colored and 

 rather thin sapwood. It is coarse-grained, and its spring 

 and summer wood easily distinguished. The medullary rays 

 are thin and inconspicuous for an Oak. It is used for nearly 

 all purposes for which Red Oak is suitable. 



Formerly its inner bark was in considerable demand, as 

 an extract of it was largely used as a yellow dye. It bore 

 the name of " quercitron " and was a distinctive article of 

 commerce, and the tree was consequently called Quercus 

 tinctorium. The inner bark is rich in tannin, astringent, 

 and extremely bitter. 



It is tap-rooted, and so far as can be ascertained stub- 

 bornly so. While no experience in propagating can be 

 pointed out, it is safe to say that it can be accomplished 

 far better by planting the acorns where the trees are to 

 grow than by any other method ; and planting young 

 trees from the nursery would not be likely to succeed. It 

 does not sprout freely. It is a fairly good seeder with not 

 very large acorns, which are intensely bitter and astringent, 

 and they require two years to mature. Should cultivation 

 be undertaken, the acorns should be gathered and treated 

 the same as recommended for other Oaks. Since the intro- 

 duction of aniline dyes, the value of the tree has been 

 greatly lessened, and attempts at its propagation would be 

 warranted only where no better trees can be grown. 



