FAGACEAE 



Yellow Oak. Black Oak 



Quercus velutina, Lam. 



HABIT. A medium-sized tree 50-60 feet high and 1-3 feet 

 in trunk diameter ; slender branches and stout branchlets form 

 a wide-spreading, rounded crown. 



LEAVES. Alternate, simple, 5-10 inches long, 3-8 inches 

 broad; ovate to oblong; usually 7-lobed, some with shallow 

 sinuses and broad, rounded, mucronate lobes, others with wide, 

 rounded sinuses extending 'half-way to the midrib or farther 

 and narrow-oblong or triangular, bristle-tipped lobes, the lobes 

 more or less coarse-toothed, each tooth bristle-tipped ; thick and 

 leathery; dark green and shining above, pale and more or less 

 pubescent beneath ; petioles stout, yellow, 3-6 inches long. 



FLOWERS. May, when the leaves are half grown; monoe- 

 cious; the staminate in pubescent catkins 4-6 inches long; the 

 pistillate reddish, on short, tomentose peduncles; calyx acutely 

 3-4-lobed, reddish, hairy; corolla o; stamens usually 4-5, with 

 acute, yellow anthers; stigmas 3, divergent, red. 



FRUIT. Autumn of second season; sessile or short- 

 stalked acorns ; cup cup-shaped or turbinate, inclosing about one- 

 half' of the nut;- scales thin, light brown, hoary; nut ovoid, 

 l /2-^4 inch long, red-brown, often pubescent; kernel yellow, 

 bitter. 



WINTER-BUDS. Terminal bud ^ inch long, ovoid to 

 conical, obtuse, strongly angled, hoary-tomentose. 



BARK. Twigs at first scurfy-pubescent, later glabrous,, red- 

 brown, finally mottled gray ; thick and nearly black on old trunks, 

 deeply furrowed and scaly; inner bark thick, yellow, very bitter. 



WOOD. 'Heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained, bright red- 

 brown, with thin, paler sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Southern half of the Lower Peninsula. 



HABITAT. Prefers glacial drift; dry or gravelly uplands; 

 poor soils. 



NOTES. Rapid of growth. Undesirable for street use. 

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