Quercus 1 247 



merits for clap-boards, for the interior finish of houses, and for dry cooperage. Of late 

 years it had been increasingly used for making a cheap class of furniture, as chairs, 

 tables, and other articles. Its very objectionable defect, that of shrinking and 

 checking badly when drying, has been in a large degree overcome by treatment in 

 the dry kiln. Its additional uses are : shipbuilding (to a limited extent), house- 

 building, agricultural implements, baskets, wood alcohol, acetate of lime, and 

 shingles. (H. J. E.) 



QUERCUS COCCINEA, Scarlet Oak 



Quercus coccinea, Muenchhausen, Hausv. v. 254 (excl. b) (1770); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iii. 

 1879 (1838); Sargent, Silva N. Anier. viii. 133, tt. 412, 413 (1895), and Trees N. Amer. 236 

 (1905)- 



A tree attaining in America 80 ft. in height and 10 ft. in girth. Bark smooth 

 and thin on young trees ; on old trunks divided by shallow fissures into scaly ridges. 

 Young branchlets shining, glabrous, with white lenticels. Buds ovoid, acute, ^ to ^ 

 in. long, covered above the middle with whitish pubescence. Leaves (Plate 333, 

 Fig. 6) ^ deciduous late in autumn, turning brilliant scarlet before they fall, 3 to 6 in. 

 long, 2\ to 4 in. broad, obovate or oval, very variable in shape, as a rule more 

 deeply lobed than Q. rubra, the sinuses often extending to near the midrib ; usually 

 with seven to nine spreading oblong, often falcate lobes, each with two to five bristle- 

 tipped teeth towards the apex ; base truncate or cuneate ; shining and glabrous on 

 both surfaces, except for occasional inconspicuous axil-tufts beneath ; petiole slender, 

 glabrous, i^ to 2^ in long. 



Fruit ripening in the second year, solitary or in pairs, sessile or short-stalked ; 

 acorn ^ to f in. long, ovoid, rounded at the base and apex ; enclosed for half its 

 length in a deeply turbinate thin cupule, i to f in. broad at the rim, covered with 

 closely appressed ovate acute slightly pubescent scales. The base of the cupule is 

 formed by a narrow prolongation, resembling a thickened stalk, but differing from a 

 true peduncle in being covered with scales. 



Quercus ambigua, Michaux f. Hist. Arb. Am. ii. 120, t. 24(1812); Loudon, 

 Arb. et Frut. Brit. iii. 1881 (1838). 



Quercus borealis, Michaux f., N. Amer. Sylva, i. 98, t. 26 (1819); Britten, Man. Fl. N. States, 334 



(1901); Small, Flora South-eastern U.S. 1322 (1903). 

 Quercus coccinea, var. ambigua, Asa Gray, Manual, 454 (1867). 



Described by the younger Michaux as a large tree with the leaves of Q. rubra 

 and the fruit of Q. coccinea. It was first seen by his father on the banks of the St. 

 Lawrence near Quebec, and was found by himself in Maine, New Hampshire, 



1 The figure is drawn from a wild specimen, and represents an extreme form of the leaf. Many wild specimens and most 

 of the trees in cultivation have leaves more like Q. rubra in lobing. 



