Handbook of Trees of the Northern States a 



Ca 



151 



This intcrestiiiE; Oak is usually not more 

 than 70 oi 80 ft. iu lu'i;;lit nr with truiik more 

 than - or 3 ft. in diameter, but in the stately 

 forest^ of the lower Oliio ta~iii it nrra^i.ina lly 

 attains 100 ft. in heiiiht with trunk t or 5 ft. 

 in thickness. When isolated it develops a wide 

 rounded lop of >titl' far-reaeliin^ bramhes ana 

 stuut branehlets. The droO|)ing nature of I lie 

 leaves i;ive the tree a peeuliar aspeet whieh is 

 at onee noticeable and (|uite dilVerent from that 

 of other Oaks. It is an abundant tree of the 

 South Atlantic and Gulf states, extendini,' up 

 into the noi tlwa^tern states only alonL! the 

 cojst and in tie' ili-.-issip]ii N'alley. The name 

 Spanish Oik is said to have been ^i\'en to this 

 tree by early Spanish settler.^ on accnunt of a 

 similarity in its leaves to those of an (Jak they 

 were familiar with in Spain. 



Its wood is heavy, a cu. ft. when absolutely 



dry weighinr' 4.3.18 llis., hard and -tron;.' and 



is used for the same purposes as the Red Oak. 



Its bark also is rich in tannin. - 



//cr;re,s variable, ot)lon'i to <il)Ovate, roimded or 

 wedee-sbaped at base and often irregidarly deeply 

 pinaatitid with 3-7 nhliiioe and often falcate or 

 loQs: and narrow entire or dentate and liristle- 

 tipped acuminate lohes or sometimes with merely 

 3 short-spreading lolies at apex, lnstrou,s dork 

 green above and gray or pul)escent beneath. 

 Flnirmt: staminate with tbin scarions pubescent 

 4-5-lobed calvx: stigmas slender, dark red, Fndt 

 sessile or short-stalkef] aforn, about y> in, long 

 and not more than one-third covered by the thin 

 flat or turbinate shallow cnp covered with thin 

 obtuse closely appressed scales. 



1. Syn, Quercus falcata Miehx, 



2. A, W., XI, 269. 



