174 Eleventh Annual Report 



ridges of the bark very firm, the wood of such trees is usually con- 

 sidered much tougher than those with a more flaky bark; twigs at 

 first green, often tinged with red, hairy, becoming reddish-brown, 

 smooth and glossy, covered with a glaucous bloom, finally becom- 

 ing an ash gray; winter buds broadly ovate, blunt, reddish-brown, 

 smooth, about 2 mm. (1/10 inch) long; leaves mostly obovate in 

 outline, varying to oblong, 1-2 dm. (4-8 inches) long, with yellow 

 midrib and prominent lateral veins, the margin very variable, usu- 

 ally with 7 lobes, sometimes with 3-9, lobes ascending, usually blunt 

 and entire, sometimes with 1 or 2 secondary lobes, sinuses of the 

 lobes rounded at the base, blades wedge-shaped at base, acute to 

 rounded at the apex, reddish when they unfold, pubescent, becom- 

 ing a bright green above, paler or glaucous beneath, smooth both 

 above and below; flowers appear in May when the leaves are about 

 one fourth grown; acorns sessile or sometimes stalked; nut ovoid 

 to oblong, inclosed from 34 to 1/3 of its length in the cup-shaped 

 cup, 1.5-2 cm. (about 1 inch) across; scales of cup obtuse and 

 woolly. 



Distribution. Southern Maine, Ontario westward to Minnesota 

 and southward to Florida and Texas. Found in all the wooded 

 parts of Indiana. 



The white oak is one of the largest trees that grows in the State. 

 It is adapted to several kinds of soil and is frequent to very com- 

 mon in all situations in Indiana, except in low and poorly drained 

 soil. It attains its greatest size in rich, moist and well-drained low- 

 lands. In point of number it ranks second among Indiana trees. 

 In the north-central part of the State it forms the principal stand 

 on the clay ridges, which are popularly known as 'Vhite oak" 

 ridges. The soil of these ridges is the poorest of the locality, except 

 where there are black oak (Quercus velutina) ridges. In the north- 

 ern counties where the ridges are composed of more sand and gravel, 

 they are more frequently covered with a mixture of white and black 

 oaks and about an equal number covered with a pure stand of each 

 species. In the vicinity of Lake Michigan the white oak is rarer 

 and the black oak is the prevailing species. In the central part of 

 the State the white oak is frequent in moist rich woods where beech 

 and maple are not the principal stand. In the southern counties 

 it is frequently found in pure stands on the hills and slopes, and is 

 more or less frequent on the lower slopes of all the hills. In this 

 section the hills usually have white oak, black oak, beech, or maple 

 for the principal stand. In the southwestern counties it is frequent 

 in moist, rich and well-drained soil. 



