FAGACEAE 

 Swamp White Oak. Swamp Oak 



Quercus bicolor Willd. [Quercus platanoides (Lam.) Sudw.] 



HABIT. A large tree 50-70 feet high, with a trunk diameter 

 of 2-3 feet; forming a rather open, rugged crown of tortuous, 

 pendulous branches and short, stiff, bushy spray. 



LEAVES. Alternate, simple, 5-7 inches long, 3-5 inches 

 broad ; obovate to oblong-obovate ; coarsely sinuate-crenate or 

 shallow-lobed; thick and firm; dark green and shining above, 

 whitish and more or less tomentose beneath; petioles stout, 

 about J4 inch long. 



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

 inate in hairy catkins 3-4 inches long; the pistillate tomentose, on 

 long, tomentose peduncles, in few-flowered spikes; calyx deeply 

 5-Q-lobed, yellow-green, hairy; corolla o; stamens 5-8, with 

 yellow anthers; stigmas bright red. 



FRUIT. Autumn of first season; acorns on pubescent 

 stems 1-4 inches long, usually in pairs ; cup cup-shaped, with 

 scales somewhat loose (rim often fringed), inclosing one-third 

 of the nut; nut ovoid, light brown, pubescent at the apex, about i 

 inch long; kernel white, sweet, edible. 



WINTER-BUDS. Terminal bud j inch long, broadly 

 ovoid to globose, obtuse; scales light brown, pilose above the 

 middle. 



BARK. Twigs at first lustrous, green, becoming red-brown, 

 finally dark brown and separating into large, papery scales which 

 curl back; thick, gray-brown on the trunk, deeply fissured into 

 broad, flat, scaly ridges. 



WOOD. Heavy, hard, strong, tough, coarse-grained, light 

 brown, with thin, indistinguishable sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Southern half of Lower Peninsula. 



HABITAT. Prefers moist, rich soil bordering swamps and 

 along streams. 



NOTES. Fairly rapid in growth and reasonably easy to 

 transplant. 



105 



