452 CUPULIFERiE. (OAK FAMILY.) 



Var. humilis, Marsh. (Dwarf Chestnut- or Chinquapin-Oak.) 

 (Q. pumila, Michx. Q. Prinus, var. Chincapin, Michx. f, A. DC. Q. pri- 

 noidcs, Wiltd. & Ed. 2.) Foliage as in one other of the preceding forms; 

 acorns and cups similar, but mostly smaller (abundant, sessile or nearly so) ; 

 but is a shrub, only 2° -4° high; seemingly therefore a distinct species, but 

 no good character is found. — Poor soil, sandy barrens, &c., S. New England 

 and New York to Wisconsin and southward. 

 * * * Live Oaks. Leaves coriaceous, evergreen, entire or rarely spiny -toothed. 



6. Q. virens, Ait. (Live Oak.) Leaves small, oblong or elliptical, 

 hoary beneath as well as the branchlets; peduncle usually conspicuous, 1-3- 

 fruited; cup top-shaped; acorn oblong; cotyledons completely united into one 

 mass. — Coast of Virginia and southward. Farther south becoming a large 

 tree : timber invaluable. 



§ 2. Biennial-fruited ; i. e. acorns perfected in the autumn of the second year, 

 therefore on old wood below the leaves of the season : peduncles short and thick or 

 none : kernel bitter ; the abortive ovules at the apex of the seed : calyx of sterile 

 flowers 2 - b-parted : stamens 3-5. 



* Leaves entire or with a few teeth, or somewhat 3 - b-lobed at the summit, coriaceous, 

 inclined to be persistent southward, but none of them really evergreen at the north, 

 the tips or lobes commonly bristle-pointed : acorns globular, small, at most only 6" 

 long. (Intermediate forms, in certain cases probably hybrids, occur between all 

 these species and some of the next section.) 



■*- Leaves not dilated upwards, generally entire : acorn globose. 



7. Q. cinerea, Michx. (Upland Willow-Oak.) Hoariness and shape 

 of the leaves as in No. 6, but commonly more lance-oblong or lanceolate, and 

 rather more downy beneath, and the shallow cups and globular acorns as in the 

 next. — Dry pine-barrens, from E. Virginia southward. 



8. Q. Phellos, L. (Willow-Oak.) Leaves linear-lanceolate, narrowed to 

 both ends, soon glabrous, light green (3' -4' long); cup saucer-shaped. — Sandy 

 low woods, Long Island and New Jersey to Kentucky and southward. — Tree 

 30° - 50° high, remarkable for the willow-like leaves. 



9. Q. imbricaria, Michx. (Laurel or Shingle Oak.) Leaves lan- 

 Cfolate-oblong, thickish, smooth and shining above, downy underneath, the down 

 commonly persistent ; cup between saucer-shaped and top-shaped. — Barrens and 

 0|>en woodlands, New Jersey to Wisconsin and southward. — Tree 30° -50° 

 high ; the wood used for shingles in the Western States, whence the specific 

 name. 



•*- t- Leaves thick, widening or of en much dilated upwards, when they are more or less 

 sinuate or somewhat 3 - 5-lobed: acorns globular-ovoid. 



10. Q. aquatica, Catesby. (Water-Oak.) Leaves glabrous and shining , 

 obovate-spatulate or narrowly wedge-form, with a long tapering base, and an often ob- 

 scurely 3-lobed summit, varying to oblanceolate ; cup saucer-shaped or hemi- 

 spherical.— Wet grounds, around ponds, &c, Maryland to Virginia and south- 

 ward. — Tree 30° -40° high ; running into many varieties, especially southward ; 

 the leaves on seedlings and strong shoots often incised or sinuate-pinnatifid ; 

 then mostly bristle-pointed. 



