384 



GENERAL BOTANY 



It rarely occurs alone, but rather in mixed forests with other 

 oaks, chestnuts, basswoods, and tulip trees. The white oak is 

 comparatively tolerant in early life, growing under the shade of 

 other trees if the canopy is not too low or too dense. In such 



situations it grows 

 very slowly for a 

 long period (as many 

 as fifty years), when 

 it will take on new 

 life and grow with 

 great rapidity if the 

 trees which shade it 

 are logged so as to 

 expose it to the sun- 

 light. When full- 

 grown it is of the 

 spreading type, and 

 its top forms a broad 

 dome with numerous 

 branches (Fig. 236). 

 It usually reaches a 

 height of from 60 to 

 100 feet, with a diam- 

 eter of from 2 to 4 

 feet, although it may 

 grow to a height of 

 150 feet, with a di- 

 ameter of from 6 to 

 8 feet. The bark on 

 the young twigs and 

 branches is greenish gray, but on the mature trunk it varies 

 from pale gray to white, with shallow fissures and flaky scales. 

 The leaves are deeply lobed, with the rounded lobes charac- 

 teristic of the white, as distinct from the black, oaks. The buds 

 in the wintering shoots are short and blunt, reddish gray in 

 color, and sometimes covered with a distinct bloom. The white 

 oak is easily identified by the above characteristics. 



FIG. 237. Stand of young white oak timber on 



bottom land of a small creek 

 Photograph furnished by United States Forest Service 



