Trees of New York State 185 



FAGACEAE 



Qnercus Prinus L. [Quercus Michauxii Nutt.] 



Chestnut Oak 



Habit — Usually a medium sized tree 30-70 feet in height with a trunk 

 diameter of 1-4 feet, rarely under favorable conditions 100 feet tall. 

 In the open the bole breaks up 15-20 feet above the ground into stout, 

 spreading limbs which form a broad, low, open, rounded crown. Trees 

 under forest conditions have a stout, columnar bole which continues well 

 into the high, reduced crown. 



Leaves • — ■ Alternate, obovate, oblong, or lanceolate, 5-9 inches long, 2-4 inches 

 wide, rounded to acuminate at the apex, cuneate at the base, undulately 

 crenate-toothed, at maturity thick, firm, yellowish green and somewhat 

 lustrous above, pale and somewhat pubescent beneath, borne on stout or 

 slender petioles V^-l inch long. 



Flowers — Appearing in late May or early June when the leaves are about 

 one-fourth grown, monoecious. Staminate flowers in interrupted, filiform, 

 pendulous, hairy aments 2-3 inches long which are borne on the growth 

 of the preceding season or from the axils of the inner scale of the terminal 

 bud. Calyx campanulate, light yellow, pubescent, deeply cut into 7-9 

 acute lobes. Stamens 7-9, with slender glabrous filaments and oblong, 

 glabrous, notched, bright yellow anthers. Pistillate flowers in groups of 

 2-3 (occasionally solitary), pedunculate, borne in the axils of the leaves 

 of the season, each subtended by the broadly ovate, hairy involucral scales. 

 Calyx campanulate, adnate to the ovary, with shallow, ciliate lobes. 

 Pistil consisting of a 3-celled (rarely 4-5-eelled) ovary surmounted by 3 

 short, dilated, spreading, reddish styles stigmatic on the inner surface. 



Fruit — An acorn, borne solitary or in pairs on a short peduncle, ripening 

 the first season. Nut oval or ovate, light chestnut-bro^vn and lustrous at 

 maturity, round-pointed at the apex, %-li/^ inches long, enclosed for 

 about one-third of its length in the cup. Cup bowl-shaped, thin, pale 

 bro\\ii and pubescent within, hcary-pubescent ^^•ithout, the scales toward 

 the base tuberculate. 



Winter characters — Twigs stout, bitter, pale-lenticellate, smooth, orange to 

 reddish brown, becoming brown or dark brown the second year. Buds 

 alternate, those near the branch-tip clustered about the terminal bud, 

 ovate-conical, acute, light chestnut-brown and pilose, i/4-% of an inch 

 long. Mature bark dark reddish brown to nearly black, thick, very rough, 

 characteristically divided by deep fissures into broad, rounded, continuous, 

 longitudinal ridges, scaly at the surface. 



Habitat — An upland species preferring well-drained sites on ridges, wooded 

 hilltops, the sides of high rocky glens, climbing higher near the southern 

 limits of its range. 



Range — Southern Maine to Ontario, south along the mountains to northern 

 Georgia and Alabama. Zones A, B, and 0. 



Uses — -Wood heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, durable in contact with the 

 soil, dark brown with paler sapwood, somewhat inferior to that of White 

 Oak in value. Used for construction, railroad ties, fencing, etc. The 

 bark is an important source of tannin. 



