THE OAKS 55 



In its youth the swamp white oak is comely and sym- 

 metrical, its untidy moulting habit concealed by the 

 abundant foliage. One botanist calls this species bicolor, 

 because the polished yellow-green upper surfaces contrast 

 so pleasantly with the white scurf that lines each leaf 

 throughout the summer. Yellow is the autumn color. 

 Never a hint of red warms this oak of the swamps, even 

 when planted as a street or park tree in well-drained 

 ground. 



The Basket Oak 



Q. Michauxii, Nutt. 



The basket oak is so like the preceding species as to be 

 listed by some botanists as the southern form of Q. 

 jplatanoides. They meet on a vague line that crosses 

 Maryland, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Both have large 

 leaves silver-lined, with undulating border, of the chestnut 

 oak pattern. Both are trees of the waterside, tail, with 

 round heads of gnarled limbs. The red-tinged white 

 bark sets the basket oak apart from all others. Its head 

 is broader and its trunk stouter than in the other species. 

 The paired acorns are almost without stalks, the nuts 

 large, the kernels sweet. In autumn, farmers turn their 

 hogs into the woods to fatten on tliis oak-mast. The 

 edibility of these nuts may account for the common name, 

 "cow oak." 



The wood splits readily into thin, tough plates of the 

 summer wood. This is because the layer formed in 

 spring is very porous. Bushel baskets, china crates, and 

 similar woven wares arc made of these oak splints. The 

 wood is also used in cooperage and implement construc- 

 tion, and it makes excellent firewood. 



