DECIDUOUS TREES. 311 



The Yellow Chestnut Oak. Q. p. accuminata. — This variety 

 differs little from the Q_. prinus. The leaves are more pointed, 

 and their petioles are longer. This is not the yellow oak of western 

 woodsmen, which is a variety of the red oak, Q. rubra. 



The Dwarf Chestnut Oak. or Chinquapin. Q. prinus 

 pumila. — "A low tree twenty to thirty feet high. Highly orna- 

 mental when in full bloom, and most prolific in acorns when but 

 three or four feet high " (Loudon). We have not seen it in rich 

 open ground. 



The Red Oak Group. 



These are all distinguished by a more upright p^ „ 

 growth of their branches when young than the white 

 oaks , resembling in this quality the chestnut oaks. 

 The branches generally form an acute angle with the 

 main stem, and grow most from their points, so that 

 they are straighter and longer in one direction than 

 those of the white oak group, and consequently form 

 trees more open and straggling. The bark is quite 

 smooth and lighter colored till the tree attains con- 

 siderable size, and even on full grown trees is never 

 deeply furrowed. Their growth is more rapid than 

 any of the white oak group, and about the same 

 as that of the chestnut oaks. The above cut gives 

 the characteristic form of young trees, and the usual form of the 

 leaf 



The Red Oak. Quercus rubra. — A large rapid-growing tree 

 common in all parts of the northern States and Canada. Its early 

 growth is upright but rather straggling. The bark is smooth until 

 the tree is about twenty years old, when it becomes somewhat 

 furrowed, but not deeply, like that of the black oak. The branches 

 are not numerous, but straight and smooth, set at an angle of about 

 45° with the stem ; the foliage tending to their extremities. In 

 color the foliage varies considerably. On the coast of Maine we 



