IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 179 



into preclominaDt or subordinate numerical positions. Let 

 us pass over to the bluff side next the river, and here we 

 ma}^ expect to find a few chestnut oaks {Q. acuminata Mx.)- 

 Sarg. As the chestnut oaks we usually find are few and 

 small, we look upon them as curiosities in the oak line. 

 Rarely do we find a Quercitron or black oak [Q. velutina 

 Lam.) mixed in our typical oak grove. 



Let us pass to southeastern or southern Iowa, and we 

 find the relations of the bur, white, scarlet, and red oak 

 remaining much the same as in eastern Iowa, except that 

 the shingle oak {Q. imhricaria Mx.) or laurel oak, as it is 

 called in Iowa, makes itself numerous on the uplands, dis- 

 placing in many localities the scarlet oak. On the second 

 bottoms we find the swamp white oak {Q. phdanoides: 

 (Lam.) Ludw.) flourishing, and in the swampy portions of 

 the lower bottom the pin oak {Q. palustris Du Roi) occurs'- 

 abundantly. The swamp white oak and the pin oak some- 

 times intermingle on neutral ground, but not to mutual 

 benefit. Returning to the uplands we find groves of black- 

 jack or barren oak [Q. manjlandica Muench) growing fre- 

 quently on rather sterile soil. The trees are small, rough 

 formed, apparently stunted, much branched, so much so 

 that getting wood from these groves is slow and laborious. 

 Infrequently we find a water oak [Q. nir/ra L.) in these 

 black-jack groves. This species occurs along streams and 

 swamps in the eastern portion of the United States, but in 

 Iowa we have seen it only on the uplands. Passing out on 

 the prairie we find many colonies of the ground or scrub 

 chestnut oak [Q. prinoides Willd.). The species is small, 

 only two or three feet high, of heavy root, and of no 

 economic value save the acorns, which are stored by the 

 prairie squirrels. The roots are a rather formidable obstacle 

 to the breaking of the sod, taxing the patience of the 

 breaker and the draft team. On the prairie, too, we find 

 the bur oak. Instead of the fine, large trees we have 

 scrubs, only a few feet high, but seemingly thriving, in 

 small colonies, and apparently striving to be the prototype 

 of a future forest. 



