OAK. 295 
Tennessee, Indian Territory and Texas. In Minnesota common 
or abundant in all except the extreme northeastern part. 
Propagation.n—Very easily grown from seeds planted in au- 
tumn. The seedlings in good prairie soil attain a height of 
about four feet in five years. 
Propertics of wood—Heavy, hard, rather brittle, coarse 
grained and very durable in contact with the soil; color, rich 
brown with much lighter brown sapwood. Specific gravity 
0.7453; weight of a cubic foot 46.45 pounds. 
Uses—The Bur Oak is the most magnificent, most durable 
and longest lived tree for planting throughout this whole sec- 
tion. It is also one of the most valuable timber trees of North 
America. Although its wood is rather coarser grained and in- 
ferior in strength to that of the White Oak, with which it is 
commercially confounded, yet it is used for the same purposes. 
Quercus rubra. Red Oak. 
Leaves oblong-obovate to oblong, moderately sometimes 
deeply pinnatifid with rounded sinuses, seven to nine narrow 
lobes, these and the teeth being bristle pointed; mature leaves 
rather thin, turning dark red after frost in autumn. Cup saucer- 
shaped or flat, with a narrow raised border of fine scales, sessile 
or on a very short stalk, very much shorter than the acorn, 
which is oblong-ovoid or turgid-ovoid, one inch or less in 
length, with a bitter kernel. Two years are required to ripen 
the nut, which is consequently found on the old wood below 
the leaves of the season. Bark smoother than that. of most 
oaks. A tree seventy to eighty or more feet high, with a trunk 
three or four feet in diameter. 
Distribution —From Nova Scotia to the divide west of Lake 
Superior and to central Kansas, south to Georgia and Ten- 
nessee. In Minnesota found along the Mississippi river and 
occasionally in other parts, but is not very common anywhere 
in the state. 
Propagation.—Easily grown from fall sown seeds. 
Properties of wood.—Heavy, hard, strong, coarse grained and 
liable to check badly in drying. Specific gravity 0.6621; weight 
of a cubic foot, 41.25 pounds. 
Uses.—The Red Oak has been used to a limited extent in this 
country and Europe as an ornamental tree, for which its stately 
