FAGACEAE 

 White Oak 



Quercus alba L. 



HABIT. A large tree 60-80 feet high, with a trunk diameter 

 of 2-4 feet; forming a short, thick trunk with stout, horizontal, 

 far-reaching limbs, more or less gnarled and twisted in old age, 

 and a broad, open crown. , 



LEAVES. Alternate, simple, 5-9 inches long, about one- 

 half as broad; obovate to oblong; 5-g-lobed, some with broad 

 lobes and shallow sinuses, others with narrow lobes and deep, 

 narrow sinuses, the lobes usually entire; thin and firm; glabrous, 

 bright green above, pale or glaucous beneath; often persistent 

 on the tree through the winter. 



FLOWERS. May, with the leaves ; monoecious ; the stam- 

 inate in hairy catkins 2-3 inches long; the pistillate sessile or 

 short-peduncled, reddish, tomentose; calyx campanulate, 6-8- 

 lobed, yellow, hairy ; corolla o ; stamens 6-8, with yellow anthers : 

 stigmas red. 



FRUIT. Autumn of first season; sessile or short-stalked 

 acorns; cup with small, brown-tomentose scales, inclosing one- 

 fourth of the nut; nut oblong-ovoid, rounded at the apex, about 

 Y^ inch long, light brown ; kernel sweet and edible. 



WINTER-BUDS. Terminal bud Ys inch long, broadly 

 ovoid, obtuse; scales smooth, dark red-brown. 



BARK. Twigs at first bright green, tomentose, later red- 

 dish, and finally ashy gray; thick, light gray or whitish on old 

 trunks, shallowly fissured into broad, flat ridges. 



WOOD. Very heavy, strong, hard, tough, close-grained, 

 durable, light brown, with thin, light brown sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Rare in the Upper Peninsula, common 

 in the Lower Peninsula, especially in the lower half. 



HABITAT. Grows well in all but very wet soils, in all open 

 exposures. 



NOTES. Slow and even of growth. Difficult to transplant. 

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