FAGACEAE 



White Oak , 



Quercus alba, L. 



HABIT. A large tree 60-80 feet high, with a trunk diameter 

 of 2-4 feet; forming a short, thick trunk with stout, horizontal, 

 far-reaching limbs, more or less gnarled and twisted in old age, 

 and a broad, open crown. 



LEAVES. Alternate, simple, 5-9 inches long, about one- 

 half as broad; obovate to oblong; 5-g-lobed, some with broad 

 lobes and shallow sinuses, others with narrow lobes and deep, 

 narrow sinuses, the lobes usually entire ; thin and firm ; glabrous, 

 bright green above, pale or glaucous beneath; often persistent 

 on the tree through the winter. 



FLOWERS. May, with the leaves; monoecious; the stam- 

 inate in hairy catkins 2-3 inches long; the pistillate sessile or 

 short-peduncled, reddish, tomentose ; calyx campanulate, 6-8- 

 lobed, yellow, hairy; corolla o; stamens 6-8, with yellow anthers; 

 stigmas red. 



FRUIT. Autumn of first season; sessile or short-stalked 

 acorns ; cup with small, brown-tomentose scales, inclosing one- 

 fourth of the nut; nut oblong-ovoid, rounded at the apex, about 

 ?4 inch long, light brown ; kernel sweet and edible. 



WINTER-BUDS. Terminal bud % inch long, 'broadly 

 ovoid, obtuse; scales smooth, dark red-brown. 



BARK. Twigs at first bright green, tomentose, later red- 

 dish, and finally ashy gray; thick, light gray or whitish on old 

 trunks, shallowly fissured into broad, flat ridges. 



WOOD. Very heavy, strong, hard, tough, close-grained, 

 durable, light brown, with thin, light brown sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Rare in the Upper Peninsula, common 

 in the Lower Peninsula, especially in- the lower half. 



HABITAT. Grows well in all but very wet soils, in all open 

 exposures. 



NOTES. Slow and even of growth. Difficult to transplant. 



