78 TREES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



Bark. Eesembling that of the white oak, but rather a 

 darker gray, rougher and firmer; upon old trunks furrowed 

 and cut into oblongs; small limbs brownish-gray, rough- 

 dotted; season's shoots densely tawny -tomentose. 



Winter Buds and Leaves. Buds small, rounded or conical, 

 brownish, scales minutely pubescent or scurfy. Leaves simple, 

 alternate, 3-8 inches long, two-thirds as wide, thickish, 

 yellowish-green and tomentose upon both sides when young, 

 becoming a deep, somewhat glossy green above, lighter beneath, 

 both sides still somewhat scurfy ; general outline of leaf and of 

 lobes, and number and shape of the latter, extremely variable ; 

 type-form 5-lobed, all the lobes rounded, the three upper lobes 

 much larger, more or less subdivided, often squarish, the two 

 lower tapering to an acute, rounded, or truncate base ; sinuses 

 deep, variable, often at right angles to the midrib; leafstalk 

 short, tomentose ; stipules linear, pubescent, occasionally per- 

 sistent till midsummer. The leaves are often arranged at 

 the tips of the branches in star-shaped clusters, giving rise 

 to the specific name stellata. 



Inflorescence. May. Sterile catkins 1-3 inches long, con- 

 necting thread woolly ; calyx 4-8-parted, lobes acute, densely 

 pubescent, yellow ; stamens 4-8, anthers with scattered hairs : 

 pistillate flowers single or in clusters of 2, 3, or more, sessile 

 or on a short stem ; stigma red. 



Fruit. Maturing the first season, single and sessile, or 

 nearly so, or in clusters of 2, 3, or more, on short footstalks : 

 cup top-shaped or cup-shaped, -J-- % the length of the acorn, 

 about f inch wide, thin ; scales smooth or sometimes hairy 

 along the top, acutish or roundish, slightly thickened at 

 base : acorn ^-1 inch long, sweet. 



Horticultural Value. Hardy in New England ; prefers a 

 good, well-drained, open soil ; quite as slow-growing as the 

 white oak ; seldom found in nurseries and difficult to trans- 

 plant. Propagated from the seed. 



PLATE XXXVJII. QUERCUS STELLATA. 



1. Winter buds. 4. Sterile flower, front view. 



2. Flowering branch. 5. Fertile flower. 



3. Sterile flower, back view. 6. Fruiting branch, 



