OAK FAMILY. 397 



vate or oblong-sinuate leaves narrowed at base ; and acorn and cup like 

 that of Q. Muhlenbergii, but very much smaller ; producing little abor- 

 tive acorns in the axils of some of the scales of the cup. 



* * * LIVE OAK, with evergreen coriaceous leaves, not lobed. 



Q. vlrens, Ait. LIVE OAK. Barrens or sands along the coast, trom 

 Va. , S. ; small or large tree, or a mere shrub, with very durable firm wood, 

 the branchlets and lower face of the small oblong entire (or rarely spiny- 

 toothed) leaves hoary ; conspicuous peduncle bearing 1-3 small fruits, 

 with top-shaped cup and oblong acorn. 



2. BIENNIAL-FRUITED OAKS, the acorns not maturing until the autumn 

 of the second year, and therefore borne on old wood below the leaves of 

 the season, on short and thick peduncles or none; kernel always bitter; 

 tip or lobes of the leaves commonly bristle-pointed. 



* BLACK and RED OAKS, with long-petioled and simiate-lobed or pinnatifid 

 deciduous leaves. 



H- Mature leaves smooth on both sides or nearly so, generally ovate, oblong, 

 or some of the larger obovate in outline, and varying from sinuately to 

 deeply pinnatifld, turning various shades of red or crimson in late 

 autumn ; wood coarse-grained. 



w Leaves with wedge-shaped base and short petiole, rather thick and cori- 

 aceous. 



Q. Catesbsei, Michx. TURKEY or BARRENS SCRUB OAK. Small tree 

 in pine barrens, N. Car., S. ; leaves deeply pinnatifid or 3-5-cleft, the 

 long and narrow or unequal lobes somewhat scythe-shaped and often 

 nearly entire ; cup very thick and of coarse scales, 1' or less broad, half 

 inclosing the ovoid nut. 



+ Leaves mostly rounded or obtuse at the base, slender-petioled, thinner. 



Q. rfcbra, Linn. RED OAK. Common in rich and poor soil in N. 

 States; large open-topped tree, with dark gray smoothish bark, very- 

 coarse reddish wood, and thinnish moderately pinnatifid leaves ; cup 

 saucer-shaped, sessile or on a short and abrupt narrow neck, of fine close 

 scales, very much shorter than the nearly oblong acorn, which is I 1 or 

 less in length. 



Q. cocclnea, Wang. SCARLET OAK. Dry or barely moist soil, Me. 

 to Minn., and S.; large tree with gray bark, the interior reddish, rather 

 firm leaves more or less glossy above and deeply pinnatifid ; cup coarse- 

 scaly, top-shaped or hemispherical with a conical scaly base, covering 

 half or more of the roundish acorn (this '-4' long). 



Var. tinctdria, Gray. QUERCITRON, YELLOW-BARKED, or BLACK OAK. 

 Bark of trunk darker-colored, thicker, rougher, internally orange (quer- 

 citron), and much more valuable to the tanner and dyer; cup less top- 

 shaped ; leaves less pinnatifid or some of them barely sinuate, thinner, 

 less glossy, and more like those of Q. rubra. Ranges with the species. 



Q. paliistris, Du Roi. SWAMP 'SPANISH or PIN OAK. Low grounds, 

 Mass, to Minn., and S. ; middle-sized tree, with less coarse wood, deeply 

 pinnatifid smooth leaves with their divergent lobes separated by broad 

 and rounded sinuses ; cup flat-saucer-shaped, with a short scaly base or 

 stalk, of fine scales, very much shorter than the roundish acorn, which is 

 barely % ' in length. 



i- -f- Leaves downy beneath even when mature; cup saucer-shaped with 

 top-shaped base. 



Q. falcata, Michx. SPANISH OAK. Dry soil, Long Island to Mo., and 

 S.; large tree, with oblong leaves obtuse or rounded at base, 3-5-lobed 



