The Oaks 



groves of it, mingled with white oaks, are comrnon among conifers 

 on mountain slopes and high valleys throughout California and 

 north to the middle of Oregon. 



The black bark of this oak is twice as rich in tannin as hem- 

 lock bark. The wood is rich in colour and wavy grained, but 

 lumbermen dislike it. It dries very slowly, and is likely to be 

 perforated with "pin knots," which mar and weaken it. 



Pin Oak, Swamp Spanish Oak (Quercus palustris, Linn.) 

 — A graceful, pyramidal tree when young, becoming oblong and 

 irregular, at length; 50 to 120 feet high; branches horizontal, 

 short. Bark grey-brown, shining, smooth, becoming scaly on 

 trunk; twigs red, tomentose. Wood hard, tough, strong, heavy, 

 coarse grained, light brown, variegated. Buds small, acute, 

 brown. Leaves alternate, 4 to 6 inches long, deeply 5 to 7-lobed 

 with wide sinuses almost to the midrib, shining above, dull and 

 pale beneath, scarlet in autumn. Flowers in May, with half- 

 grown leaves; staminate, in hairy catkins, 2 to 3 inches long; pis- 

 tillate on short hairy peduncles, with bright red stigmas. Acorns 

 ripe in autumn of second year, J to ^ inch long, pale brown, 

 streaked, broader than long and set in a shallow saucer-like cup, 

 of close, reddish scales, which is lined with hair; kernel white, 

 bitter. Preferred habitat, low, moist soil. Distribution, Massa- 

 chusetts to Delaware; west to Wisconsin and Arkansas. Uses: 

 Handsome rapid-growing tree for avenues or lawns. It has 

 fibrous roots and so transplants easily. Wood used in construc- 

 tion, cooperage, for interior finish of houses, and for shingles and 

 clapboards. 



The tourist who visits Washington and takes the trolley rides 

 recommended by the guide book must have noted the superb 

 avenues of native trees that give character and dignity to the 

 whole city. For long stretches a single species holds uninterrupted 

 sway, and the distinctive traits of the various kinds are thus 

 impressed upon the observer, even as he flies by them on the car. 

 I remember the beautiful pin oaks on the way from the capitol to 

 the navy yard. Only a few years ago they were little striplings 

 from the nurseries. Now they are goodly shade trees, and the 

 beauty of youth is still upon them. Each tree is a glistening 

 pyramid of leaves, that dance as the breeze plays among them; 

 for the leaf stems and the twigs are slender and flexible, and the 

 blades, catching the wind, keep the treetop in a continual flutter. 



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