64 TREES 



Western counterpart of the live oak of the South, but lack- 

 ing the familiar drapery of pale green moss. 



The leaves are leathery, polished, oval blades, one or two 

 inches in length, with unbroken margins, abundant on in- 

 tricately divided, supple twigs, that droop with their bur- 

 den and respond to the lightest breeze. The leaves per- 

 sist until the bronze-green new foliage expands to replace 

 the old, and keep the tree-tops evergreen. 



The acorns are large, and their thick, shallow saucers are 

 covered with yellow fuzz. For this character, the tree is 

 called the gold-cup oak. In June, the copious bloom is 

 yellow. Even at an altitude of eight thousand feet the 

 familiar gold-cup acorns are borne on shrubby oaks not 

 more than a foot high ! 



The maximum height of the species is sixty feet. The 

 wood is the most valuable oak of the West Coast. It is 

 used for wagons and agricultural implements. 



The Live Oak 



Q, agrifolia. Nee. 



The live oak (Q. agrifolia, Nee.) called also "Encina," is 

 the huge-limbed, holly-leaved live oak of the lowlands, 

 that reaches its greatest abundance and maximum stature 

 in the valleys south of San Francisco Bay. The giant oaks 

 of the University campus at Berkeley stretch out ponder- 

 ous arms, in wayward fashion, that reach far from the 

 stocky trunk and often rest their mighty elbows on the 

 ground. The pointed acorns, usually exceeding an inch in 

 length, are collected by woodpeckers, and tucked away for 

 further reference in holes they make in the bark of the 

 same oaks. 



