O AK FAMILY 



U'ooJ. — Bright brown tinged with red. sapwood paler; heavy, 

 hard, strong, coarse-grained, checks in drying. Sp. gr., 0.7045; 

 weight of CM. ft., 43.90 lbs. 



U'i/i/i-r Bi/i/s. — Brown, ovate, angled, obtuse, covered with to- 



mentiim, one-toiirth to one-hall inch long. 



Lc\>:'iS. — Alternate, ti\e to six inches long, three to four inches 

 wide, ovate 01" ol)o\ate, iisualh' se\en-lobed and sometimes di\ided 

 nearly to the middle by wide, rounded sinuses into narrow, obovate, 

 dent.ite lobes with stout bristle-pointed teeth; or sometimes the 

 lobes are nearly entire, tapering gradually from a broad base, 

 each tipped with a bristle ; or the sinuses are shallow, the heavy 

 part of the leaf toward the apex, the lobes bioad-dentate or sinu- 

 ate-dentate, but always tipped with a bristle. The terminal lobe is 

 oblong, elongated, acute, with large or small teeth ; or, it is broad 

 and coarsely repandly-dentate. They come out of the bud convolute, 

 bright crimson, covered with white hairs above, and coated below 

 \\ith sih'ery-white tomentum. The lobes are tipped with long white 

 hairs. When full grown the leaves are thick, leathery, dark shining 

 green .above and yellow green, brownish, or tawn)-, more or less 

 pubescent below ; midribs stout, primary veins conspicuous. In 

 autumn they turn brown, or dull red, or yellow and brown and fall 

 late, sometimes remaining untd spring. Petioles long, yellow, gen- 

 erally fl.ittened on upper side. Stipules linear, hairy, caducous. 



fiOTCi'rs. — May, when lea\'es are halt grown. Staininate flowers 

 borne in the a.xils of brown, hairy, fugacious bracts, in hairy or to- 

 mentose aments four to six inches long. Calyx of staminate flower, 

 hairy, reddish ; lobes o\ate. shorter than the four stamens ; anthers 

 acute, yellow. Pistillate flowers borne on short tomentose peduncles, 

 reddish ; involucral scales oiate. shorter than the acute, hairy calyx- 

 lobes ; stigmas reflexed. bright red. 



Acoriis. — Ripen in autumn of second year, sessile, or stalked, soli- 

 tary or in pairs ; nut o\ ate-oblong, obovate, oval, or hemispherical, 

 broad and rounded at base, rounded at apex, light reddish brown 

 often striate, frequently pubescent, from one-half to one inch long ; 

 cup cup-shaped or turbinate, embraces one-third to one-half the 

 nut, covered with chestnut brown scales which at base are closely 

 appressed but above are looser, and at the rim form a fringe-like 

 border. Kernel yellow and bitter. 



The name Black (~)ak refers evidentlv to the color of the 

 bark of the trunk whicii is almost or qtiite black. The inner 

 bark is deep 3-ellow and this characteristic is persistent and 

 unchangintj. Before the era of modern dves this inner bark 

 was highly prized because of a yellow the which was obtained 

 from it called quercitron. 



The tree is protean in the form of its leaves. Besides its 



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