The Oaks 



fencing; also for cooperage and construction. Seldom distin- 

 guished in the trade from white oak. 



The post oak looks like a tree with its trunk buried in the 

 ground. Its head is broader at the top, no matter how it is 

 crowded in the woods, and the multitude of stubby branches are 

 "full of elbows," i. e., the angles between limb and branch are all 

 wide open, giving the tree a distinct character. 



The foliage is another means of knowing the post oak. At 

 a distance it looks almost black in summer. Come nearer. 

 The leaf lining is coated with greyish pubescence. The texture 

 of a leaf makes you cringe as you crumple it in your hands. It is 

 thick and leathery, and roughened above by wonderfully branched 

 iiairs, that are star-like under a magnifier. Three broad, squarish 

 lobes form the top, and the blade tapers from these to the stubby 

 petiole. Sometimes there are five lobes altogether; sometimes 

 only the three at the top. Each twig holds out a cluster of these 

 leaves, like a fan. In the autumn they turn yellow or brown, 

 but the twigs will not let them go. A characteristic post oak is 

 densely leafy all winter, and until the opening shoots push the 

 stubborn old leaf stalks out of the way. This habit gives the post 

 oak much of its picturesqueness in winter, for the foliage does not 

 entirely conceal its ruggedness and crookedness of limb. 



The acorns are trim and dainty. The annual crop rarely 

 fails. They are very sweet, and in the old days were devoured 

 by wild turkeys. Then people knew it as the turkey oak. 



The names of this species, iron oak and post oak, indicate the 

 reputation of its wood for durability in contact with the soil and 

 with water. Post-oak staves from Baltimore were preferred in 

 the West Indian trade in sugar, rum and other barrelled com- 

 modities. "Knees" of post oak are always in demand, and, 

 where trees attained sufficient size, the timbers are used in the 

 framework and sides of ships. 



Chestnut Oak, Tan-bark Oak (Quercus Prinus, Linn.) — 

 A forest tree with broad, irregular head on a short trunk, 50 to 100 

 feet high. Bark dark brown, deeply furrowed, rich in tannic acid; 

 twigs smooth. Wood dark, reddish brown, close grained, with 

 conspicuous medullary rays, tough, heavy, hard, strong, durable 

 in contact with soil. Buds pointed, long, smooth, greyish red. 

 Leaves alternate, 5 to 9 inches long, obovate, with coarse teeth 

 rounded at the tops, thick, yellowish green above, paler, usually 



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