302 



The Oaks 



The wood is rather soft, strong, somewhat coarse-grained, and light brown; 

 its specific gravity is about 0.75. It is used to a small ejrtent for general construc- 

 tion and in wagon making. 



The Willow oak is extensively planted as a shade and street tree from Phila- 

 delphia southward, and is hardy in southern New England. It is also known as 

 the Peach oak. Water oak. Swamp oak, and Pin oak. 



It hybridizes with several other oaks; the best known hybrid is Bartram's oak, 

 Q. heterophylla Michaux, a cross with the Red oak, Q. rubra Linnaeus, having 

 characters of both species; the observation of seedlings has demonstrated its origin; 

 it has been found from Staten island. New York, to North Carolina. Rudkin's 

 oak, Q. Rudkini Britton, from New Jersey, is considered a hybrid with the Black 

 Jack, Q. marylandica Muenchausen, but it may, perhaps, be a distinct species. 

 From South Carolina a cross is reported with the Spanish oak, Q. triloba Michaux. 

 A probable hybrid with Q. ilicifolia Wangenheim has been found in New Jersey. 



19. CHAPMAN'S WATER OAK — Quercns hybrida (Chapman) SmaU 



Quercus aquatica hybrida Chapman 



A tree of rocky or sandy shores from Georgia to Florida and Mississippi, 



attaining a maximum height of 

 25 meters. 



The bark is rough; the twigs 

 are slender, smooth and ashy 

 gray; buds oval, light brown. 

 The leaves are oblong to wedge- 

 shaped, 6 to 12 cm. long, some- 

 times 3-lobed or notched at the 

 apex, otherwise entire on the 

 margin, gradually or abruptly 

 narrowed at the base. They are 

 deciduous, dark green and 

 smooth on both sides, the mid- 

 rib impressed above, prominent 

 and brownish beneath ; the leaf- 

 stalk is very short, stout and 

 grooved. The fruit ripens the 

 second season, and is quite ses- 



FiG. 254. — Chapman's Water Oak. 



sile; nut subglobose or ovoid -globose, 10 to r2 mm. long, Ught brown; shell 

 thin; cup shallow, saucer shaped, 10 to 12 mm. across, thin, embracing only the 

 base of the nut and covered by close, blunt hairy scales with dry crisp margins. 



