State Board of Forestr*y. 191 



curved, leaves hairy above and below when they unfold, becoming 

 at maturity thick, smooth and bright green above, paler and pub- 

 escent beneath, sometimes silvery pubescent below; acorns sessile 

 or nearly so, solitary or in pairs; nut ovate or oval, 1.5-2 cm. (H-% 

 inch) long, pubescent at the summit, enclosed for M-M its length 

 in a thin, cup-shaped, light or silvery gray cup which is pubescent 

 within and hoary pubescent without; scales acute or somewhat 

 blunt, thickened at the base; kernel sweet and edible. 



This oak has been the subject of much study on account of the 

 great variation of its leaves and fruit. On some trees the leaves from 

 the top of the tree will be very thick, narrow, with long, sharp and 

 incurved teeth, while the leaves from the lower branches will be 

 rather thin, broadly obovate and with short and almost straight 

 teeth. It has not been noted that the depth of the cup varies to 

 any great extent on the same tree, but on some trees the cups are 

 very shallow with oblong nuts, while on other trees the cups are 

 deep and with ovoid nuts. As a rule the acorns with a shallow 

 cup are smaller than those with the deep cup. Specimens with the 

 broad leaves and deep cups have led some to call the tree chestnut 

 oak (Quercus Prinus), from which it may easily be distinguished by 

 the bark on the trunk of the tree. The bark on the chestnut oak 

 is deeply furrowed and in color resembles the red oak group of oaks. 



Distribution. Vermont to Minnesota, south to Florida and west 

 to Texas. Found in all parts of Indiana. In the northern part it 

 is usually found along the banks of streams, where it is often fre- 

 quent. At a distance from the streams and lakes it is generally 

 quite rare. In the western and southwestern parts it is generally 

 frequent along the dry banks of streams and on gravelly or clayey 

 hills. In the southern part of the State it becomes more abund- 

 ant, and is often frequent or common along the bluffs of streams 

 and on the limestone knobs. In our area in good soil it is a large 

 tree. 



The published records of the distribution are as follows: Bar- 

 tholomew and Brown (Elrod); Cass (Benedict and Elrod) and 

 (Coulter); Clark (Baird and Taylor); Dearborn (Colhns); Frank- 

 lin (Meyncke); Gibson (Schneck); Hamilton (Wilson); Jackson 

 (Elrod); Jay (M'Caslin); Jefferson (Coulter) and (Young); Kos- 

 ciusko (Clark); Lake (Higley and Radden); Marion (Wilson); 

 Miami (Gorby); Noble (Van Gorder); Parke (Hobbs); Posey 

 (Schneck) ; Steuben (Bradner) ; Tippecanoe (Cunningham) ; Vigo 

 (Blatchley); Wabash (Benedict and Elrod). 



[13—28415] 



