QUERCUS PRIMUS, L. 83 



South to Delaware and along the mountains to Georgia, extend- 

 ing nearly to the summit of Mt. Pisgah in North Carolina ; west to 

 Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. 



Habit. A small or medium-sized tree, 25-50 feet high, 

 with a trunk diameter of 1-2-J- feet, assuming noble propor- 

 tions southward, often reaching a height of 75-100 feet and 

 trunk diameter of 5-6 feet ; trunk tall, straight, continuous to 

 the top of the tree, scarcely tapering to the point of ramifica- 

 tion, surmounted by a spacious, open head. 



Bark. Bark of trunk and large branches deep gray to 

 dark brown or blackish, in firm, broad, continuous ridges, 

 with small, close surface scales; bark of young trees and of 

 branchlets smooth, brown, and more or less lustrous ; season's 

 shoots light brown. 



Winter Buds and Leaves. Buds ovate to cylindrical, mostly 

 acute, brownish. Leaves simple, alternate, 5-8 inches long, 

 2-5 inches wide, dark green and smooth above, paler and 

 more or less downy beneath ; outline obovate to oval, undulate- 

 crenate ; apex blunt-pointed ; base wedge-shaped, obtuse or 

 slightly rounded, often unequal-sided ; veins straight, parallel, 

 prominent beneath ; leafstalk -! inches long ; stipules 

 linear, soon falling. 



Inflorescence. May. Sterile catkins 2-3 inches long ; calyx 

 5-9-parted, yellow, hairy ; divisions oblong, densely pubescent ; 

 stamens 5-9; anthers yellow, glabrous: pistillate flowers 

 with hairy scales and dark red stigmas. 



Fruit. Seldom abundant, maturing the first season, varia- 

 ble in size, on stems usually equal to or shorter than the leaf- 

 stems : cup thin, hemispheric or somewhat top-shaped, deep ; 

 scales small, knobby -thickened at the base : acorns f- 1 inches 

 long, ovoid-conical, s.weet. 



Horticultural Value. Hardy throughout New England ; pre- 

 fers a light gravelly or stony soil ; rapid-growing and free 

 from disease ; more easily and safely transplanted than most 

 oaks ; occasionally offered by nurserymen, who propagate it 

 from the seed. Its vigorous, clean habit of growth and hand- 

 some foliage should give it a place in landscape gardening 

 and street use. 



