136 THE BEFXH FAMILY. 



has a large field of usefulness. In Texas and the Indian territory it forms 

 with Ouercus Marylandica, the " cross timbers." Along the lower slopes 

 of the Alleghanies the country people call it by the same name as they do 

 Quercus digitata, the turkey oak, one which in this case has arisen because 

 wild turkeys feed on its acorns which have a sweet meat. 



Q. macrocarpa, mossy-cup oak, or bur oak, was discovered in 1795 near 

 Nashville by the elder Michaux. It is undoubtedly one of the most beauti- 

 ful as well as the largest and most valuable trees of this remarkable genus. 

 Its distribution also is perhaps wider than that of any other oak, as it has 

 strongly the power to adapt itself to various climatic conditions. By the 

 broad corky wings on its young branches it can be distinguished. Its great 

 leaves from six to fifteen inches long are much lobed, especially near the 

 middle of the blades. In outline they are obovate, and irregularly lobed or 

 pinnatifid into five to seven oblong lobes which are again lobed and toothed. 

 So deeply cleft is the leaf below the larger lobes that the sinus sometimes 

 extends to within an eighth of an inch of the midrib. A soft, pale or 

 occasionally rusty down covers them on their under sides. But the very 

 large acorns are to many, the tree's most attractive feature. Often they 

 are two and a half inches broad with a cup so deeply and finely fringed 

 about its summit as to apparently imbed the nut in a small bird's nest. As 

 the tree occurs northward these acorns become much smaller and as the 

 fringe therefore is proportionately reduced in length this bit of beauty is les- 

 sened. While the timber of the bur oak is similar to that of Quercus alba 

 it is superiour to it in strength. 



C. Leaves, entire, sometimes toothed, or rarely bristle-tipped. 



LIVE OAK. {Plate XL VII.) 

 Quercus Virginidna. 



FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Beech. Cro7vn, sp7end- ^o-6o/eet. Mexico to March, April, 



itig, broad. Florida and Virginia. Fruit: Sept., Oct. 



Baik : dark brown ; deeply furrowed. Branches: greyish brown and covered 

 with pale lenticels. Leaves : with petioles about a quarter of an inch long ; ovate- 

 lanceolate ; with rounded or pointed apex and rounded or pointed base ; entire, 

 the edges inclined to curve inward. Occurring also in a spatulate form with 

 minute side teeth towards the apex. Dark green and glossy above, lighter and 

 pubescent underneath ; thick ; firm ; evergreen. Fioweis : appearing with the 

 young leaves ; the staminate ones growing in long axillary catkins. Acorns : 

 l3orne on long stems. Cup : grey, or light brown ; deep ; pointed at the base and 

 covered with closely compressed, fine and downy scales ; slightly fringed about 

 the top. Nui : dark brown ; oval ; lustrous, smooth. 



Few trees have been more lauded or written about than the live oaks, and 

 almost inseparably with the mention of them come thoughts of the tilland- 



