442 NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER. 



DWARF CHINQUAPIN OAK 



Scrub Chestnut Oak, Chinquapin Oak, Scrub Oak. 



Quercus prinoides Willd. 



HABIT A low shrub generally 2-4 ft. high or occasionally reaching 

 15 ft. in height, forming broad clumps by prolific stolons. 



BARK Light brown, scaly; scaliness evident when trunk reaches a 

 diameter of l 1 /^ inches. 



TWIGS Slender; generally not over 2 mm. thick, orange to reddish- 

 brown; generally smooth; a variety, rufescens Render with yellowish 

 hairs on twigs. LENTICELS pale, rather conspicuous. LEAVES 

 oblanceolate to obovate-oblong, coarsely wavy-toothed. PITH 

 5-pointed, star-shaped. 



BUDS Spherical to ovate, rounded or slightly narrowed at apex, 

 about 3 mm. long. SCALES chestnut brown, thin, scarious and slightly 

 hairy on edges; small collateral buds sometimes present on either side 

 of axillary bud. 



FRUIT Maturing the first season, produced in groat abundance, ses- 

 sile or short-stalked, singly or in pairs. NUT oval, light chestnut 

 brown and shiny, apex blunt-pointed and covered with pale down, 15 

 to 25 mm. long. CUP thin, deep cup-shaped, covering */ or more 

 of nut; scales pale woolly, more or less knobby, thickened at base 

 of cup, thinner toward rim. Meat sweet. 



COMPARISONS In habit the Dwarf Chinquapin Oak most nearly 

 resembles the Bear Oak but is smaller when of the same age; has flaky 

 bark, after reaching a trunk diameter of iy 2 inches or more, while the 

 bark of the Bear Oak is close, for the most part smooth, even on old 

 specimens not flaky though developing small close scales. It further 

 belongs to the White Oak group (see page 338) and since both these 

 two Scrub Oaks produce fruit in great abundance acorns are generally 

 accessible and easily distinguished. The Bear Oak generally has redder, 

 sharp-pointed buds while those of the Dwarf Chinquapin Oak are 

 blunt with edges of scales ashy with fine wool or mealy scurfiness. 

 Moreover, except in variety rufescens, twigs of the Dwarf Chinquapin 

 Oak are smooth. The Chestnut Oak and the Chinquapin Oak are 

 distinguished by their larger and sharp-pointed buds. The buds of 

 the Swamp White Oak are somewhat similar to those of the Dwarf 

 Chinquapin Oak but the larger size of the tree and peeling of the bark 

 on branchlets of the Swamp White Oak are distinctive. Further west 

 apparently the species inter-grades into the Chinquapin Oak. 



DISTRIBUTION Dry woods, rocky slopes and hillside pastures, some- 

 times in open sandy soil. From Maine south to North Carolina, west 

 to Kansas, Nebraska and Texas. 



IN NEW ENGLAND More or less common throughout. 



IN CONNECTICUT Occasional or frequent. 



"WOOD From small size of plant, of no economic value except as fuel. 



