THE BEECH FAMILY. 125 



shaped cup above which the ovate, smooth nut arises four or five times, or 

 more high. In early spring the look of the stalwart tree is greatly enlivened 

 by its slender staminate aments as they dangle among the young leaves. 



Q. Gcoroiana {^Platc XLIII.) is mostly a shrubby species of oak from 

 six to eight feet high, but sometimes attains the proportions of a tree thirty 

 feet tall. It is found on Stone Mountain in Georgia and along the rockv 

 banks of the Yellow river. It is, in fact, very local in its habitat. lis 

 small, obovate leaves have a wedge-shaped base and from three to five 

 variously formed lobes with persistent, bristle tips. The acorns with saucer- 

 shaped cups also are small, two usually growing together on short pedun- 

 cles. As the tree grows in thick clumps it is more of a botanical curiosity 

 than worthy of admiration. Economically it is regarded as being of no use 

 whatever. 



Q. vclufina, black oak or quercitron, is, in the outline of its foliage, one of 

 the most variable of the genus. Sometimes its leaves occur in a narrow 

 form when they are nearly identical with those of the scarlet oak. Again 

 they become very broad with ruggedly-formed, rounded and dissimilar lobes 

 which have lost nearly all trace of their bristle tips. On the upper surfaces 

 of these leaves small glands are perceptible in the spring and early summer, 

 while underneath they show a rusty tomentum. The buds are long, pointed 

 and scaly and the acorns have a top-shaped, scaly cup which extends into a 

 short, thick peduncle. The kernel of the nut is bright yellow. The black 

 oak is so called from the very dark colouring of its outer bark, the inner one 

 being a vivid orange. It is a large tree attaining a height usually of from 

 seventy to ninety feet and very conspicuous in the autumn from the rich, 

 russet and red shades of its foliage. 



Q. ii\gra, water oak, a large forest tree which is found growing in 

 swamps and along the banks of streams, is not known to extend farther 

 northward than Delaware. In outline its leaves are somewhat obovate with 

 from one to three blunt and not always bristle-tipped lobes near their apices. 

 On both sides they are green and lustrous with the exception of a few tufted 

 bits in the axils of the veins underneath. The acorns are small with saucer- 

 shaped cups. 



A. Leaves b7'istle-tipped. dii'ided. 



b. Covered with tomentum on the lower surface. 

 SPANISH OAK. TURKEY OAK. 



(2uercus digitata. 



Bark: bruwnish red or almost l^lack ; rougli and broatUy-furrowcd. LdiX'iS: 



