290 



The Oaks 



It is rarely planted for ornament, as the Scarlet oak and the Red oak, over 

 which it has no advantages, much excel it in beauty. 



It is also called YeUow oak, Quercitron oak. Yellow-barked oak. Yellow bark. 

 Dyer's oak, Tan bark oak, and Spotted oak. 



7. GRAY OAK — Quercus borealis F. A. Michaux 



Quercus ambigua F. A. Michaux not H. B. K. 



A tree very similar to the Red oak in foliage and general appearance, but with 

 acorns resembhng those of the Scarlet oak. It occurs from Quebec and Ontario 

 southward to New York and Pennsylvania, and perhaps, in the mountains to North 

 Carohna, attaining a maximum height of 18 meters and a trunk diameter of 4.5 

 dm. 



The twigs are rather slender, hairy at first, becoming smooth, reddish brown 



or grayish brown. The winter 

 buds are narrowly ovoid, sharp- 

 pointed, brown and downy. The 

 leaves are ovate to obovate in 

 outhne; the 7 to 13 lobes are 

 wedge-shaped, usually with 

 several long bristle-tipped teeth, 

 the sinuses rather narrow, ex- 

 tending to a little beyond the 

 middle and more or less rounded, 

 the leaf base broadly tapering 

 or obtuse; they are thin and 

 firm, deep green and dull, with 

 broad, yellowish midrib above, 

 paler and smooth except at the 

 axils of the veins beneath. The 

 leaf-stalk is slender, slightly 

 grooved, thickened at the base, 3 

 to 5 cm. long. The pistillate flowers are bright red with long spreading styles. 

 The acorns, ripening in the autumn of the second season, are sohtary or 2 or 3 

 together; nut ovoid, about 2.5 cm. long; cup top-shaped or hemispheric, 1.5 to 2 

 cm. across, reddish brown and hairy inside, embracing one third to one half of the 

 nut, covered with broad, blunt, reddish, rather smooth scales. 



The wood resembles that of the Red oak, and is used for the same purposes, 

 but it is said to be stronger and more durable. 



The tree is supposed to occur further north than any other oak of our area, 

 and should prove to be very desirable in the north for parks and shade. 



Fig. 242. — Gray Oak. 



