450 KEW EXGLAXD TREES IN" WINTER. 



SCARLET OAK 



Quercus coccinea Muench. 



HABIT — A tree of medium size, 30-50 ft. hig"h with trunk diameter of 

 1-3 ft., larger furtlier soutli; trunk tends to be continuous into the 

 crown, narrowed and giving- oft" ascending branches above and 

 horizontal, often terminally declined branches below; limbs long and 

 comparatively slender for an Oak, forming a rather narrow, open head. 



BARK — Of young trunks and limbs smooth, light brown, on older 

 trunks and limbs up to 2.5 cm. thick, divided by shallow furrows into 

 Irregular ridges "^'hich in general are neither so regularly flat-topped 

 as the ridges of the Red Oak nor so roughly broken up as those of the 

 Black Oak. The bark therefore may be considered as intermediate in 

 character between these two species. Inner bark, reddish not bitter. 



TM'IGS — Mediumly stout to slender, light red to orange red. LENTI- 

 CELS — numerous. minute, pale, inconspicuous. LKAVES — broadly 



oval or obovate. with bristle-tipped lobes separated by deep rounded 

 sinuses. PITH — 5- pointed, star-sliaped. 



BL^DS — Broadly oval to ovate, narrowed above to a typically rather 

 blunt apex, "^videst at or slightly belo^v middle, dark reddish-brown, 4-S 



mm. long, pale woolly above middle, lower lialf mostly free from wool. 

 BUD-SCALES — numerous, free from distinct longitudinal striations. 



FRUIT — Maturing in autumn of second season, sessile or short-stalked, 

 singly or in pairs. NUT — oval to oblong, variable in shape. 1 to 2.5 

 cm. long, light reddish-brown, occasionally striate. CUP — thin, top- 

 shaped ur cup-sbaped. constricted at base, enclosing % to \^ of nut. 

 Scales, light reddish-brown, thin, closely overlapping, slightly downy, 

 tips of scales at rim typically appressed against the nut — not spread- 

 ing. Meat pale yello\v. slightly bitter. Immature acorns appressed, 

 rather smooth and shiny, light brown, main basal scales generally 

 reaching less than halfway up giving appearance of 2 rows of scales. 



COMPARISON'S — The size and shape of the acorn cup as well as the 

 greater woolliness of the upper part of the buds distinguish this species 

 from the Red Oak. From ttie Black Oak it is distinguished by the 

 appressed scales of acorn cup. by the fatter tiuds which are less woolly, 

 and that only above the middle, and by the pale inner bark. See also 

 under Black Oak. 



DI^^RIBUTIOX — Most common on dry, sandy soil. Ontario; south to 

 the middle states and along the mountains to North Carolina and Ten- 

 nessee; reported from Florida; west to Minnesota, Nebraska and Mis- 

 souri. 



IN NEW ENGLAND — Maine — valley of the Androscoggin, southward; 

 New Hampshire and Vermont — not authoritatively reported by recent 

 observers; Massachusetts — more common in the eastern than western 

 sections, sometimes covering considerable areas; Rhode Island — common. 



IN CONNECTICUT — Frequent throughout. 



"WOOD — Heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained, light or reddish-brown, 

 with thick darker colored snpwood, less valuable than wood of Red Oak 

 but used for the same purposes. 



