FAGACE^E 



251 



orange color internally, becoming f'-l|' thick on old trunks, and deeply divided into broad 

 rounded ridges broken on the surface into thick dark brown or nearly black closely ap- 

 pressed plate-like scales. Wood heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained, bright brown tinged 

 with red, with thin lighter colored sap wood; of little value except as fuel. The bark 

 abounds in tannic acid and is largely used in tanning, as a yellow dye, and in medicine. 



Distribution. Dry gravelly uplands and ridges; coast of southern Maine to northern 

 Vermont, southern and western Ontario, the southern peninsula of Michigan, north- 

 western, eastern and southern Iowa, and southeastern Nebraska, and southward to 

 western Florida, southern Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, eastern Kansas, northeastern 

 Oklahoma and eastern Texas to the valley of the Brazos River; one of the commonest 

 Oaks on the gravelly drift of southern New England and the middle states; ascending 

 on the southern Appalachian Mountains to altitudes of about 4000, and often forming a 

 large part of the forest growth on their foothills; abundant in all parts of the Mississippi 



Fig. 230 



basin, and of its largest size in the valley of the lower Ohio River; the common species 

 of the Black Oak group reaching the south-Atlantic and Gulf Coast, and here generally 

 scattered on dry ridges through the maritime Pine belt. 



Quercus velutina, which is more variable in the form of its leaves than the other North 

 American Black Oaks, is easily recognized by the bright yellow color of the inner bark, 

 in early spring by the deep red color of the unfolding leaves, becoming pale and silvery in 

 a few days, and by the large tomentose winter-buds. From western Missouri to north- 

 western Arkansas a form occurs (var. missouriensis Sarg.) with the mature leaves covered 

 above with fascicled hairs, and coated below and on the petioles and summer branchlets 

 with rusty pubescence, and with broader more loosely imbricated hoary-tomentose cup- 

 scales. 



9. Quercus Kelloggii Newb. Bkck Oak. 

 Quercus calif ornica Coop. 



Leaves oblong or obovate, truncate, cuneate or rounded at the narrow base, 7 or 

 rarely 5-lobed by wide and deep or shallow and oblique sinuses rounded in the bottom, 

 the terminal lobe ovate, 3-toothed at the acute apex, the lateral lobes tapering gradually 

 from the base or broad and obovate, coarsely repand-dentate with acute pointed teeth, 

 or rarely entire, when they unfold dark red or purple and pilose above and coated below 

 and on the petioles with thick silvery white tomentum, at maturity thick and firm, 



