188 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



or the upper acute, appressecl. Q/iercus amhigiia Mx., f. 

 Hist. Arb. Am., 2, 120, PI. 24, 1812. 



The red oak is a common tree of the upland woods, flow- 

 Qxm^ in May and June, and ripening its acorns in October 

 or November. With us individual trees rarely measure 

 four feet in diameter, and the majority range from two to 

 three feet. The bark is dark gray, and but slightly rough- 

 ened on the branches, but is rarely deeply furrowed 

 and darker colored on the trunk. The tree is a rapid 

 grower, but gives coarse-grained wood from which inferior 

 lumber may be sawed, or when dry, a rapid burning fire 

 wood giving considerable heat may be had. Some use has 

 been made of this oak for certain kinds of furniture. In 

 the days of board fences this oak was taken by the farmers 

 to local mills and made into six or eight-inch width lum- 

 ber for fence material. The users claimed that the lumber 

 from this species was less liable to warp than other availa- 

 ble kinds. A limited use of the red oak for fence posts 

 showed early decay of the portions in contact with the 

 soil. This oak does very well for foundation piling. 



The species ranges west of our limits to Kansas and 

 Texas and eastward to Nova Scotia. ' Witliin our limits the 

 primeval individuals have been mostly removed, but a 

 sturdy second growth has taken their places. Our speci- 

 mens are from Johnson, Appanoose, Decatur, Ringgold, 

 Union, Page, Fremont, and Pottawattamie counties. We 

 have observed the species in Winneshiek, Allamakee, Cla}^- 

 ton, Wapello, Lee, Van Buren, Taylor, and Montgomery 

 counties. The State University herbarium has specimens 

 from Winnebago, Cerro Gordo, Dallas, Louisa, Webster, 

 Emmet, and Delaware counties. Professor Macbride 

 reports the species from Humboldt, Dickinson, and 

 Dubuque counties; Professor Pammel, from Woodbury, 

 Hardin, and Boone counties; Messrs. Nagel and Haupt, 

 from Scott county; Professor Fink, from Fayette county; 

 Professor Bessey, from Des Moines county; Messrs. Barnes, 

 Reppert, and Miller, from Muscatine county; Mr. Gow, 

 from Adair county; Mr. Mills, by letter, from Henry 

 county; and Mr. J. P. Anderson, by note, from Lucas 



