54 TREES 



handsomest and largest, and squirrels are delighted with 

 its sweet kernel. 



The Mississippi Valley Chestnut Oak 



Q. acuminata, Sarg. 



In the Mississippi Valley the chestnut oak is Q. acu- 

 minata, Sarg., with a more slender and more finely-toothed 

 leaf that bears a very close resemblance to that of the 

 chestnut. The foliage mass is brilliant, yellow-green, each 

 leaf with a pale lining, and hung on a flexible stem. 

 "Yellow oak" is another name, earned again when in 

 autumn the leaves turn to orange shades mingled with red. 



On the Wabash River banks these trees surpass one 

 hundred feet in height and three feet in diameter. The 

 base of the trunk is often buttressed. Back from the rich 

 bottom lands, on limestone and flinty ridges, where water 

 is scarce, these trees are stunted. In parks they are 

 handsome, and very desirable. The bark is silvery white, 

 tinged with brown, and rarely exceeds one half an inch in 

 thickness. 



The Swamp White Oak 



Q. platanoides, Sudw. 



The swamp white oak loves to stand in wet ground, 

 sometimes even in actual swamps. Its small branches 

 shed their bark like the buttonwood, the flakes curling 

 back and showing the bright green under layer. On 

 the trunk the bark is thick, and broken irregularly 

 into broad, flat ridges coated with close, gray-brown 

 scales often tinged with red. 





