CHAP. CV. 



QUE'RCUS. 



1871 



says Michaux, " this species is thinly disseminated in the forests, and has 

 hitherto been considered as a variety of the white oak. In Maryland, and 

 a great part of Virginia, where it abounds, it is called the box white oak, and 

 sometimes the iron oak, and the post oak. The last denomination only is 

 used in the Carolinas, Georgia, and East Tennessee." The steep banks of 

 the Hudson, near New York, form its most northern boundary ; and even 

 here, Michaux observes, it is only preserved by the influence of the sea air, 

 which somewhat moderates the severity of the winters. It thrives but in a 

 dry, sandy, or gravelly soil, not far from the sea; but it attains its largest size 

 near Baltimore. The farthest point at which it was found to the west, was 

 about 150 miles from Philadelphia, on the road to Pittsburg. It is most 

 abundant in Virginia and Maryland, between the Alleghanies and the sea. 

 " Growing in a less humid soil, its timber is less elastic, but finer grained, 

 stronger, and more durable, than that of the white oak : hence it is pre- 

 ferred, in America, for posts, and is used with advantage by wheelwrights 

 and coopers." (Michx.) In ship-building, it is employed principally for the 

 knees, as it seldom produces planks large enough for the sides. The pre- 

 ference given, in the West Indies, to the staves for casks procured from 

 Baltimore and Norfolk is due, in a great measure, to their being made, in 

 those districts, of the post oak. (Michx.) Pursh calls this species the 

 upland white, or iron, oak; and says that it is a spreading tree, from 

 50 ft. to 60 ft. high, the timber of which is of great value in ship-building. 

 It was introduced into England in 1819; and there are plants of it in the 

 Horticultural Society's Garden, and at Messrs. Loddiges's. 



12. Q. LYRA V TA Walt. The lyrate, or over-Cup, Oak. 



Identification. Walt. Carol., 235. ; Willd., No. 72. ; Ait., No. 27. ; Pursh, 2. p. 632. ; Michx. Quer. , 



No. 3. t. 4. ; N. Du Ham., 7. p. 181. ; Smith in Rees's Cycl., No. 79. 

 Synonymes. Swamp Post Oak, Water white Oak, Amer. 

 Engravings. Michx. Quer., No. 3. t. 4. ; and our figs. 1733. and 1734. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves subsessile, glabrous, ly- 

 rately sinuated ; much contracted in the middle, 

 but dilated at the summit, and attenuated at the 

 base ; lobes angular ; the upper part of the leaf 

 divided into three lobes, which are tricuspidate 

 at their extremities. Calyx globular, rough, and 

 almost covering the acorn. (Michx.} The over- 

 cup oak, according to the younger Michaux, 

 forms a noble tree, of which he has seen spe- 

 cimens, on the banks of the Savannah, more than 



80ft. high, with a trunk from 8ft. to 12ft. in * ^^ 1733 



circumference. The elder Michaux, however, states its ordinary height to 

 be between 50ft. and 60 ft. The leaves are from 6 in. to 8 in. long, smooth, 

 narrow, lyre-shaped, deeply sinuated, and 

 borne on short petioles. The lobes, espe- 

 cially the upper ones, are somewhat trun- 

 cated; and, from the resemblance in this 

 respect to those of the post oak, this species 

 has obtained the name of the swamp post oak. 

 The foliage is thick, and of a light agreeable 

 tint ; and the bark is white. The acorns are 

 broad, round, and depressed ; and the cups, 

 which are nearly closed over them, are thin 

 and scaly, each scale being terminated by a 

 short firm point, or bristle. (Michx.) Pursh, 

 speaking of this tree, says that it is only from 

 8* ft. to 15ft. high; but, as all the other 

 writers who have mentioned it describe it as 



a large tree, with a majestic appearance, and &/r* 1734 



most luxuriant vegetation, Pursh's account of its height is probably a mis- 



6 F 



