310 



WEEDS AND USEFUL PLANTS. 



grey bark. Leaves 4 -6 inches long, subeoriaceous, smooth, nearly equally pinnatifid, 

 usually with 3-4 lobes on each side (sometimes cuneate and 3-lobed) ; petioles half an 

 inch to an inch long. Acorn rather large, seated in a shallowish bowl-shaped cup, which 

 is pubescent and rough externally with roundish tubercles the fruit generally in pairs, 

 sessile on a common peduncle about half an inch long. 

 Woodlands, throughout the United States : often abundant in moist low clayey grounds. 



Obs. This is one of our finest and most valuable forest trees, and 

 frequently attains to an enormous size. Its prevalence, however, is not 

 so indicative of a good soil, as that of the Q,. tilicto'ria, or Black Oak. 

 The timber is firm and durable, though somewhat liable, when in the 

 form of boards and scantling, to warp or spring. It is extensively used 

 in the mechanic arts, especially by the wheel- wright, the mill-wrig-ht, 

 and the ship-wright. The keels of some of our finest national vessels 

 have been obtained from this Oak. It also affords the best quality of 

 coopers' stuff, for making liquor-casks. The bark is astringent and 

 tonic, and is frequently employed in medical practice. The acorns are 

 sweet, affording a nutritious and favorite food of swine. On young 

 trees the leaves are remarkably persistent, after they are killed by the 

 frost, in autumn. 



** CHESTNUT OAK GROUP. Leaves coarsely and obtusely sinuate-toothed, 

 but not lobed, whitish, and more or less downy beneath : cup hoary ; acorns 

 sweetish. 



4. d. Pri'nus, L. Leaves obovate 

 and elliptic-oblong, acute or acu- 

 minate, finely pubescent beneath, 

 coarsely and nearly equally sinuate- 

 dentate. the teeth obtuse ; fruit 

 on short common peduncles ; cupule 

 nearly hemispherical ; acorn oval. 



Swamp Chestnut Oak. Chestnut 

 White Oak. 



Stem 60-80 or 90 feet high, and 2-3 or 4 

 feet in diameter. Leaves 5-8 inches long, 

 penni-nerved with a coarse obtuse tooth for 

 each nerve, and a small callus at the apex 

 of each ; petioles 1 - near 2 inches long. 

 Fruit in pairs (1 often abortive) , on a com- 

 mon peduncle about half an inch long. 

 Acorn large, oval or ovoid-oblong, seated in 

 a scaly bowl-shaped cup which embraces 

 nearly one third of the nut. 



Moist low woodlands : Pennsylvania to 

 Florida. 



203 

 Obs. This species, which is often a fine tree, presents some marked 



FIG. 203. The Swamp Chesnut Oak (Quercus Prinus.) 



