304 OAK FAMILY. 



Q. imbric^ia. Laurel or Shingle Oak. Rather sterile soil, from New 

 Jersey W. & S. W. : a middle-sized tree, with laurel-like lance-oblong leaves 

 glossy above, more or less downy beneath. 



H- -t- Leaves widening upwards, where they are sometimes moderately 3-5-hbed: 

 acorns globular, ovoid, small, 



Q. aquatics, Water Oak. Wet ground from Maryland S. : a small 

 tree, with vtry smooth and glossy obovate-spatulate oblanceolate or wedge- 

 o'lilong leaves long-tapering at base ; cup saucer-shaped. 



Q. nigra, Black-Jaok or Barren Oak. Barrens, from New York S. 

 & W. : low tree (8°- 25° high), with wedge-shaped leaves widely dilated and 

 mostly 3-lobed at summit, but often rounded at the narrow base, rusty-downy 

 beneath, smooth and glossy above ; cup top-shaped, coarse-scaly. 



* * Black and Red Oaks, with long-petioled and sinuate-tobed or pinnatijid 

 deciduous leaves. 

 ^~ Downy beneath even when mature ; cup saucer-shaped with top-shaped base. 



Q. ilicifdlia, Bear or Black Scrub-Oak. Sterile hills and barrens, 

 mostly N. & W. : shrub 3° - 8° high, straggling ; leaves obovate with wedge- 

 shaped base, above angularly 3 - 7-lobed, whitish-downy beneath ; acorn ovoid, 

 barely i' long. 



Q. falc&ta, Spanish Oak. Dry soil. New Jersey to 111. "nd S. : large 

 tree, with oblong leaves obtuse or rounded at base, 3-.')-lobed above, grayish or 

 yellowish-downy beneath, the lobes mostly narrow and entire or sparingly 

 toothed and somewhat curved ; acorn globular, hardly ^' long. 



■<- -I- Mature leaves smooth on both sides or nearly so, generally ovate, oblong, or 

 some of the larger obovate in outline, and varying from sinuately to deeply 

 pinnalijid, turning various shades of red or crimson in late autumn : wood 

 coarse-grained. 

 ** Leaves with wedge-shaped base and short petiole, rather thick and coriaceous. 



Q. CatesbSBi, Turkey or Barrens Scrub-Oak. Small tree in pine 

 barrens S. : leaves deeply pinnatifid or 3 - .5-cleft, the long and narrow or un- 

 equal lobes somewhat scythe-shaped and oft«n nearly entire ; cup very thick 

 and of coarse scales, 1' or less broad, half enclosing the ovoid nut. 



++ ++ Leaves mostly rounded or obtuse at the base, slender-petioled, thinner. 



Q. COCCinea, Scarlet Oak. Dry or barely moist soil : large tree, with 

 gray bark, the interior reddish, rather firm leaves more or less glossy above and 

 deeply pinnatifid ; cup coarse-scaly, top-shaped or hemispherical with a conical 

 scaly base, covering half or more of the roundish acorn (this J'-f long). 



Var. tinct6ria, Quercitron, Yellow-barked, or Black Oak. Bark 

 of trunk darker-colored, thicker, rougher, internally orange (quercitron), and 

 much more valuable to the tanner and dyer ; cup less top-shaped ; leaves lesi 

 pinnatifid or some of them barely sinuate, thinner, less glossy, and more like 

 those of the next. 



Q. rflbra, Red Oak. Common in rich and poor soil : large tree, with 

 dark gray smoothish bark, very coarse reddish wood, and thinnish moderately 

 pinnatifid leaves ; cup saucer-shaped, sessile or on a short and abrupt narrow 

 neck, of fine close scales, very much shorter than the nearly oblong acorn (this 

 1' or less in length). 



Q. paltistris, Swamp Spanish or Pin Oak. Low grounds, only N. : 

 middle-sized tree, with less coarse wood, deeply pinnatifid smooth leaves with 

 their divergent lobes separated by broad and rounded sinuses ; cup flat-saucer- 

 shaped with a short scaly base or stalk, of fine scales, very much shorter than 

 the roundish acorn, which is barely ^ in length. 



2. CASTANEA. CHESTNUT. (Classical name, taken from that of a 

 town in Thessaly . ) Flowers in summer, appearing later than the elongated 

 strongly straight-veined and merely serrate leaves. 



C. V^sca, European Chestnut : seldom planted : large tree, with oblong- 

 lanceolate pointed leaves beset with coarse sharp-pointed teeth, when mature 

 smooth and green both sides ; nuts 2 or 3 in each involucre. 



