THE OAKS 63 



Philadelphia and New York; and a good little specimen 

 seems to thrive in Boston, in the Arnold Arboretum. As 

 a lumber tree, the species is unimportant. 



The Shingle, or Laurel, Oak 



Q. imbricaria, Michx. 



The shingle or laurel oak may be met in any woodland 

 from Pennsylvania to Nebraska, and south to Georgia and 

 Arkansas. It may be large or small; a well-grown speci- 

 men reaches sixty feet, with a broad, pyramidal, open head. 



The chief beauty of the tree, at any season, is the foliage 

 mass — dark, lustrous, pale lined, the margin usually un- 

 broken by any indentations. In autumn the yellow, 

 channelled midribs turn red, and all the blades to purplish 

 crimson, and this color stays a long time. It is a wonder- 

 ful sight to see the evening sunlight streaming through the 

 loose, open head of a laurel oak. No wonder people plant 

 it for shade and for the beauty it adds to home grounds and 

 public parks. 



The Mountain Live Oak 



Q. chrysolepis, Liebm. 



The mountain live oak cannot be seen without chmbing 

 the western slopes of the mountains from Oregon to Lower 

 California, and eastward into New Mexico and Arizona. 

 On levels where avalanches deposit detritus from the 

 higher slopes, sufficient fertihty and moisture are found to 

 maintain groves of these oaks, wide-domed, with massive, 

 horizontal branches from short, buttressed trunks — the 



