OAK FAMILY. 



313 



SHINGLE QUERCUS. Laurel or Shingle Oak. 



Stem 40-60 feet high, and 1-2 feet in diameter, with a sraoothish bark ; branches 

 numerous and irregular. Leaves 3-5 inches long, entire, somewhat crowded on short 

 petioles. Acorn rather small, roundish above, with a broad flattish base so as to be 

 nearly hemispherical, seated in a shallow subscssile cup. 



Banks of streams. New Jersey, southward, and in the Western States. 



203 



207 



Obs. This species being chiefly confined to the country west of the 

 Alle^hany Mountains is but little known in the east ; and although 

 deriving its specific name from the roofing material which it affords, its 

 timber is said to be of an inferior quality even for that purpose. 

 * * * BLACK AND RED OAK GROUP. Leaves deciduous, bristle-pointed, 

 rcpand or acutely smuate-lobed. 



f Mature leaves downy underneath. 



9, Q. ni'gra, L. Leaves somewhat coriaceous, cuneate, dilated at apex, 

 retuse or obscurely 3-lobed, smooth above, covered with a russet pul- 

 verulent pubescence beneath, when young the nerves setaceously mucro- 

 nate ; cupule subturbinate ; acorn ovoid. 



BLACK QUERCUS. Black Jack. Barren Oak. 



Stem 15-30 or 40 feet high, and 6-12 or 15 inches in diameter, with a thickish 

 furrowed dark colored bark; branches numerous. Leaves 5-8 inches long, much dila- 

 ted at apex (4 -6 inches wide), narrowed towards the base, on short petioles. Acorn 

 ovoid, seated in a rather deep or bowl-shaped subsessile cup. 



Sterile soils : New Jersey to Illinois and southward. 



Obs. This small tree abundant in Maryland, and well known by the 

 name of " Black Jack," is chiefly valuable for fuel. The nearly related 



FIG. 206. The Willow Oak (Quercus Phellos.) 

 FIG. 207. The Laurel or Shingle Oak (Quercus imbricaria). 208. An acorn. 



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