132 THE BEECH FAMILY. | 



glossy while underneath they are brownish. The very small acorns are 

 rather light coloured, and mature the second year. 



^ i 



A. A. A. Leaves not bristle-tipped. I 



a. Crenate and dentate. 



COW OAK. BASKET OAK. 



Qucrcus Micha iixii. 



Bark : ashy grey, breaking off in thin flakes. Branchlets : marked with pale 

 lenticels. Leaves: obovate, or oblong with slender petioles, pointed at the apex 

 and wedge-shaj^ed or rounded at the base, the margin marked with small pointed 

 or rounded lobes, l^right green and lustrous above, covered underneatli with a 

 silvery grey tomentum. Acorns: sessile, or with short peduncles. O/// rounded. 

 Nut : ovoid, considerably higher than the cup, and ripening during the first sea- 

 son. Kernel: edible; sweet. 



Of this group of southern white oaks there is hardly one more handsome 

 than Quercus Michauxiiwith its tall, column-like trunk covered as it is with 

 an attractive light grey bark. It grows in bottom lands and low swamps 

 which often during the greater part of the year are covered with water. 

 By Mark Catesby it was first described and he thought it probably the equiv- 

 alent of Quercus Prinus, the rock chestnut oak, which it somewhat 

 resembles ; and for some time it passed either for, or as a variety of the last 

 mentioned tree, until in fact its characters were well set forth by Mr. Nuttall 

 and other notable writers. As a timber tree it is very important, being use- 

 ful in constructions of various sorts, for agricultural implements, fences, 

 cabinet work and many other things. To the nut's meat there is an un- 

 usually sweet taste, a fact which small domestic animals appreciate and 

 for which the negroes have an especial fondness. 



Q. acinnindta, chestnut oak, or yellow oak, is one of our well known trees, 

 and is renowned for its majestic and forcible beauty. At most, it grows as 

 tall as 1 60 feet, sending up a straight shaft covered with a silvery white 

 bark which is broken into thin scales. Its crown is rather narrow although 

 finely shaped. The leaves hug the branches closely. They are obovate, or 

 lanceolate, from five to seven inches long and in general appearance much 

 resemble those of the true chestnut tree. Above they are green and shiny, 

 pale or silvery white underneath and covered with a fine, grey tomentum. 

 Through the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee these leaves 

 hold to their best known outline. When they assume, however, broader 

 forms they resemble the foliage of Quercus Prinus, but can even then be dis- 



