The Oaks 



pubescent beneath; autumn colour yellow and brown. Flowers 

 in May. solitary or paired; staminate yellow; pistillate on short 

 spurs ; stigmas short, dark red. Acorns usually solitary, peduncled, 

 annual, i to i\ inches long, shining, brown; cup thin, downy 

 lined, covered with smaU tubercular scales. Kernel sweet, 

 edible. Preferred habitat, rocky upland soil, like the sides of 

 ravines and stream borders. Distribution, southern Maine to 

 western New York; south to Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee; 

 along mountains into Georgia and Alabama. Uses: A handsome 

 tree for parks; grows well in dry ground; lumber used for railroad 

 ties, fencing and fuel; bark, in tanning leather. 



The chestnut oak is the type of a group of white oaks whose 

 leaves are like those of a chestnut tree. This group has sweeter 

 nuts than any other oaks. All but this species have pale bark. 

 Quercus Prinus has bark so dark in colour and so deeply furrowed 

 that it has often been mistaken for one of the black oak group, 

 although its wavy leaf margins and annual fruit deny the 

 insinuation most emphatically. 



It is a vigorous tree, and grows very rapidly in dry soil. 

 Its acorns in their fuzzy cups often sprout before they fall to the 

 ground! The tree is handsome, and worthy a place in any 

 plantation. It finally makes the best of fuel. 



The name, "rock chestnut oak," refers to the hardness of its 

 wood. "Tan-bark oak" calls attention to the tannin which 

 makes this tree the prey of "peelers" throughout its range. 

 Only the black oak yields as good bark to the tanner. 



The Yellow Oak {Quercus acuminata, Sarg.) has smaller and 

 narrower leaves than Quercus Prinus, and the margins are coarsely 

 and sharply toothed. They closely resemble chestnut leaves in 

 form, but are lined with pale pubescence. The tree reaches i6o 

 feet in height in the lower Ohio Valley and extends from Vermont 

 to Minnesota, and south to Alabama and Texas. It prefers dry 

 soil, and is a worthy shade and ornamental tree. The silvery 

 grey bark and handsome leaves, shining yellow-green above and 

 white beneath, trembling on slender petioles, make it a beautiful 

 object in any landscape. The yellow-green of the foliage mass 

 gives the tree its common name. 



The Chincapin Oak {Quercus prinoides, Willd.) is a shrub, 

 which spreads by underground stems. Its opening leaves are 

 silvery below and orange-red above. In autumn they turn 



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