134 



FAMILY 



THE BEECH FAMILY. 



b. Leaves pmnately lobed. 



OVERCUP OAK. SWAMP OAK. {Plate XL VL.) 

 Quercus Lyrata. 



SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Beech. Routided; branches 50-100 /t-^j'. Texas, Florida and March-May. 



pendulous. Missouri., northtvard. 



Bark: reddish or grey. Leaves: broadly-obovate ; petioled ; wedge-shaped or 

 narrowed at the base and lyrately-pinnatifid into from five to nine broadly lanceolate 

 lobes which are entire or toothed, the upper pair widely divergent. Sinuses: 

 rounded, deep. Dark green and glabrous above, covered underneath with a sil- 

 very whi'te tomentum, or being nearly smooth. Acorns : solitary ; sessile, or grow- 

 ing on slender peduncles. Ctip : rounded ; thin, with ovate, pointed scales and 

 almost covering the nut. 



Along streams or often in ground that is wet throughout the year this oak 

 seems to grow frequently with such companions as the sweet gum, the elm 

 and the cow or basket oak. Sometimes its graceful branches droop so low 

 as to touch the ground. When in the aututnn its foliage has turned to scar- 

 let and orange, and it is lit by a ruddy gleam of sunlight it looks very gay, 

 but not more so, however, than the sweet gum. 



Q. cilba, the white oak, stands often a solitary, towering form, a grey and 

 stately sentinel for many years ; or again numbers of the species are seen 

 together forming vast and valuable forests. The tree's pale grey bark, con- 

 siderably less rough than that of most other oaks, is one of its distinctive 

 features. Its leaves are obovate, and pinnately divided into from three to nine 

 ascending lobes which extend well into the midrib and are entire, or toothed. 

 Above they are bright green, but paler underneath and somewhat glaucous. 

 On the same tree often different forms of leaves will be seen, they being 

 very variable. Early in the spring, they are as they unfold, a bright red, 

 though paler below and covered with a soft pubescence. Soon, however, 

 this bright colour fades and they turn to conventional green. It is then not 

 until very late in the autumn that they again become a deep red and cling, 

 as the half-persistent foliage of some entire-leaved oaks, to the trees long 

 after those of most other deciduous ones have fallen. As a timber tree the 

 white oak is of considerable renown, being used for ship building, in various 

 constructions, interiour finish and innumerable other ways. 



Q. mhior, post oak or iron oak, bears a darkly coloured leaf of such 

 brusque, decided outline that it can readily be identified among a bundle of 

 leaves of the various species. Its largest lobes frequently spread out at almost 

 right angles from the midrib and are again lobed or hollowed at their apices. 

 Underneath they are covered with a greyish down while above they are 

 either smooth in age or roughened by fine hairs. Through the south this 

 tree is well known, and its timber, which is similar to that of the white oak, 



