Quercus 1305 



A tree ^ of this kind is growing in the Arnold Arboretum, from the acorns of which 

 Elwes has raised seedlings, which are not, however, growing vigorously at Coles- 

 borne, where the summers are too short and cold for it. (A. H.) 



This is one of the most widely distributed oaks in North America, and extends 

 farther to the northward and westward than any other of the eastern species. Its 

 natural range is from Manitoba, the eastern foothills of the Rockies in Montana, the 

 Dakotas, Nebraska, central Kansas, Indian Territory, and eastern Texas, eastward 

 to the Atlantic coast. In the north-western states and about the Great Lakes, it 

 sometimes grows in pure stands, forming the characteristic " oak openings," which 

 are an intermediate region between the prairie and the forest. It resisted well the 

 fires which constantly swept over this country before it was settled. An excellent 

 picture of the type of tree found here is given in Garden and Forest, iii. 407 

 (1890), representing an oak near Whitewater, Wisconsin. In Manitoba, according to 

 Macoun,^ it forms thickets and open forests in many parts, sometimes becoming a fine 

 tree, but dies out west of the Assiniboine. In Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and 

 westward through the valley of the St. Lawrence to Ontario, it is not so common and 

 does not attain as large a size as Q. alba. It is most abundant and most important in 

 the low ground of the Mississippi basin, where it is associated with white oak, lime, 

 white ash, poplar, black walnut, and hickories. The largest dimensions given by 

 Ridgway are of trees in Wabash county, Illinois, measured by Dr. J. Schneck — 

 165 ft. by 22 ft., with a trunk 72 ft. long ; and 162 ft. by 20 ft. East of the Alle- 

 ghanies it is rare and local ; and in the northern and north-western limits of its 

 distribution, where the climate is cold and very dry, it dwindles to a mere shrub. 



This species was introduced into England in 181 1, but was rare in Loudon's 

 time. Like most of the white oaks from eastern North America, it cannot be said 

 to thrive in this country. From acorns which I gathered from a tree of no 

 great size near Ottawa, I raised seedlings which, at first, were more vigorous than 

 any of the American oaks that I raised at the same time, except the hybrid 

 between this species and Q. alba, but are now, like the latter, apparently suffering 

 from the soil and climate. 



The best specimen we have seen is a tree at Eastnor Castle, which was 40 ft. 

 high by 3 ft. in girth in 1905. Smaller trees are growing at Hildenley, Yorkshire, 

 in Kew Gardens, at Tortworth, Orton, Fota, and Castlewellan. It does not appear to 

 ripen fruit in this country, but I collected specimens with ripe acorns in September 1907 

 from a tree in M. Allard's arboretum at Angers, France. At Les Barres it seems to 

 endure calcareous soil better than other American oaks, and has attained 13 metres in 

 height ; but Pardd does not think it likely to have any value as a forest tree in France. 



According to Pinchot,^ the burr oak is one of the most valuable hardwood trees 

 in North America. The wood is heavy, hard, very strong, and durable ; and in the 

 market is not distinguished from white oak, and is used for the same purposes. 



(H. J. E.) 



1 This tree is one of several raised in the Arnold Arboretum from acorns taken from a hybrid oak growing near Charle- 

 ville Vermont. They reproduce the foliage of the parent, and grow more rapidly than trees of Q. alba and Q. viacrocarpa in 

 the Lme plantation. Cf. Sargent, Silva N. Amer. viii. i8, note 3, t. 350 (1895). 



2 In Proc. Roy. Soc. Canada, xii. pt. 4. P- 12. ^ ^7.5. forest Service Circular No. 56 (1907). 



2 R 



