Genus 3. 



BEECH FAMILY. 



621 



12. Quercus nigra L. Water or Black-jack Oak. Fig. 1525. 



Quercus nigra L. Sp. PI. 995. 1753. 



Quercus nigra var. aquatica Lam. Encycl. 1 : 721. 1783. 



Quercus aquatica Walt. Fl. Car. 234. 1788. 



A tree, withjnaximum height of about 8o° and trunk 

 diameter of 4° ; bark gray, rough in ridges. Leaves 

 spatulate or obovate, 1-3-lobed at the apex, or some of 

 them entire and rounded, coriaceous, short-petioled, 

 rather bright green and shining on both sides, finely 

 reticulate-veined, glabrous when mature except tufts 

 of hairs in the axils of the veins beneath, i4'-3' long, 

 the lobes low, usually obtuse and bristle-tipped; styles 

 recurved; fruit maturing the second autumn; cup sau- 

 cer-shaped with a rounded base, <,"-?' broad, its bracts 

 appressed; acorn globose-ovoid, 2-3 times as high as 

 the cup. 



Along streams and swamps or sometimes on the upland, 

 Delaware to Kentucky, Missouri, Florida and Texas. Wood 

 hard, strong, close-grained, light brown ; weight per cubic 

 foot 45 lbs. April-May. Acorns ripe Sept.-Oct. Leaves of 

 seedlings and young shoots incised or pinnatifid, very bristly. 

 Duck-, spotted-, barren-, punk- or possum-oak. 



13. Quercus Phellos L. Willow Oak. 

 Peach or Sand-Jack Oak. Fig. 1526. 



Quercus Phellos L. Sp. PI. 994. 1753. 



A tree, with slightly roughened reddish-brown 

 bark, attaining a maximum height of about 8o° and 

 a. trunk diameter of 3 . Leaves narrowly oblong or 

 oblong-lanceolate, entire, acute at both ends, very 

 short-petioled, bristle-tipped, glabrous or very 

 slightly pubescent in the axils of the veins beneath 

 when mature, 2'-4' long, 4" -12" wide; styles slender, 

 recurved-spreading; fruit maturing in the autumn 

 of the second season ; cup saucer-shaped, nearly flat 

 on the base, 4"-6" broad; acorn subglobose, 4"- 

 6" high. 



In moist woods, Long Island, N. Y., to Florida, Ken- 

 tucky, Missouri and Texas. Wood strong, rather soft 

 and close-grained, reddish-brown ; weight per cubic foot 

 46 lbs. April-May. Acorns ripe Sept.-Oct. 



Quercus heterophylla Michx. f. Hist. Am. 2 : 87, pi. 

 16, the Bartram oak, a hybrid of Q. Phellos with Q. 

 rubra, intermediate in leaf and fruit characters between the two, occurs from Staten Island to North 

 Carolina. Q. Phellos hybridizes also with Q. ilicifolia. 



14. Quercus laurifolia Michx. Laurel or 

 Swamp Oak. Fig. 1527. 



Quercus laurifolia Michx. Hist. Chen. Am. no. 10. pi. 

 17. 1801. 



Trunk sometimes 100° tall, reaching 4° in diam- 

 eter at the base; bark nearly black, with flat ridges. 

 Leaves oblong or oblong-obovate, often somewhat 

 falcate, tardily deciduous, shining above, paler be- 

 neath, glabrous when mature, ii'-6' long, s"-2' wide, 

 entire, or those of young shoots undulate-lobed, the 

 apex bristle-tipped; styles rather short, recurving; 

 fruit maturing in the autumn of the second season ; 

 abortive ovules in the summit of the acorn ; cup 

 saucer-shaped, 4"-6" wide, its base somewhat 

 rounded, its scales ovate, rounded, appressed; acorn 

 ovoid or nearly hemispheric, about 3 times as long as 

 the cup. 



Along streams and swamps, southeastern Virginia to 

 Florida and Louisiana, mostly near the coast. Closely 

 related to the willow oak. Wood dark reddish-brown, 

 strong ; weight per cubic foot 48 lbs. Water-oak. 



