THE TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 59 



nearly approaches in value ; though, not being com- 

 mon, it is much less used in the arts. 



Rock Chestnut Oak. (Var : monticola, Michx.) — 

 This is sometimes called Rock Oak and Chestnut Oak^ 

 and is found as far north as New England. It is an 

 inhabitant only of high rocky or gravelly situations, 

 and hence occurs only in the Middle and Upper Dis- 

 tricts of this State. It is a showy, symmetrical tree 

 in favorable situations, with a luxuriant foliage, 

 sometimes attaining a height of 50 or 60 feet, and a 

 diameter of 3 feet ; but, from the usual barrenness 

 of the soil where it grows, it is seldom seen of these 

 dimensions, and is commonly not more than 30 or 40 

 feet high. In the leaves and fruit it differs very 

 slightly from the Sivamp Chestnut Oak. The timber 

 is valuable but not equal to White Oak^ its pores 

 being more open. In ship-building it is used, in 

 some places, for the lower part of the frame, for knees 

 and ribs. It has a reddish tinge like that of Wiite 

 Oak. For fuel it is inferior only to Hickory. The 

 bark is among the best for tanning. 



5. Chestnut Oak. (Q. Castanea, Willd.) — Not 

 uncommon in the Middle and Western States, but it 

 occurs very scatteringly in the Southern. I have not 

 noticed it in North Carolina, but Michaux mentions 

 a single tree seen by him on the Cape Fear, a mile 

 from Fayetteville. He also found it on the Holston 

 and Nolachucky rivers in East Tennessee, and it 

 ma}^ perhaps be found on those streams in the west- 

 ern part of our State. The tree rises to a height of 



