432 NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER 



WHITE OAK 



Quercus alba L. 



HABIT A large tree with average height of 50-75 ft. and trunk 

 diameter of 1-6 ft., somewhat various in habit, tending in the open 

 to show a broad outline, sometimes 2-3 times as broad as high, with 

 short trunk and lower limbs horizontal or declined, characteristically 

 gnarled and twisted. 



BARK Light gray or nearly white, whence its name; broken by 

 shallow fissures into long, irregular, thin scales which readily flake 

 off. On some trees ridges broken into short oblongs giving a rougher 

 appearance to bark. Bark up to 2 inches thick in older trees; inner 

 bark light. The bark is rich in tannin, is of medicinal value and is used 

 in tanning. 



TWIGS Of medium thickness, greenish-reddish to gray, smooth, 

 sometimes covered with a bloom. LENTICELS forming conspicuous, 

 light-colored, minute, rounded, raised dots. LEAVES frequently remain- 

 ing on tree throughout winter, oblong to obovate with generally 7 

 large blunt lobes. PITH 5-pointed, star-shaped. 



BUDS Broadly ovate, blunt, about 3 mm. long (2-6 mm.), reddish- 

 brown, sometimes slightly hairy. 



FRUIT Maturing in autumn of first year singly or in pairs, sessile 

 or sometimes on slender stalks. NUT ovoid to oblong, rounded at 

 apex, shiny, light chestnut brown, 1.5-2.5 cm. long, enclosed %-}4 

 of its length by deep saucer-shaped to hemispherical cup. Scales of 

 cup white-woolly, thick-knobby at base, with short, blunt tips 

 becoming thinner and flatter at rim of cup. Meat, sweet edible 

 sometimes roasted and used as substitute for coffee, or when boiled 

 said to be a good substitute for chestnuts. 



COMPARISONS The White Oak is the most common of the White 

 Oak group. Its light flaky bark resembles that of several other oaks. 

 It is readily distinguished from the Swamp White Oak by absence of 

 peeling of bark on young branches and by its larger and more 

 pointed buds; from the Post Oak by absence of greenish down on 

 twigs and by generally larger, narrower buds; from the Chinquapin Oak 

 by its blunt buds; from the Dwarf Chinquapin Oak by its larger stature, 

 larger twigs and buds. 



DISTRIBUTION On moist or dry ground and in various soils, 

 sometimes forming nearly pure forests. Quebec and Ontario; south to 

 the Gulf of Mexico; west to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas and 

 Texas. 



IN NEW ENGLAND Maine southern sections; New Hampshire most 

 abundant eastward; in the Connecticut valley confined to the hills in 

 the immediate vicinity of the river, extending up the tributary streams 

 a short distance and disappearing entirely before reaching the mouth 

 of the Passumpsic; Vermont common west of the Green Mountains, 

 less so in the southern Connecticut valley; Massachusetts, Rhode Island 

 common. 



IN CONNECTICUT Common throughout. 



WOOD Strong, very heavy, hard, tough, close-grained, durable, light 

 brown, with thin lighter colored sapwood; the most valuable of the 

 Oaks for timber, used in shipbuilding, for construction and in cooper- 

 age, the manufacture of carriages, agricultural implements, baskets, the 

 interior finish of houses, cabinet making, for railroad ties and fences, 

 and largely as fuel. 



