OAK FAMILY 



tomentose, shorter than the calyx-lobes ; stigmas bright red, re- 

 curved. 



Acorns. — Ripen in the autumn of the second season ; sessile or 

 short-stalked, solitary or clustered ; nut nearly hemispherical, about 

 one-half an inch long, less in breadth, light brown, usually striate; 

 cup thin, shallow, saucer-shaped, dark red brown and hairy within 

 and covered by closely appressed ovate, light reddish brown scales, 

 darkest along the margin. Kernel bitter. 



The Pin Oak when young is a most graceful tree. The 

 stem rises an unbroken shaft ; the branches at the top are 

 short, the middle branches are long and 

 drooping and rather overbear the lower ones 

 which sometimes sweep the ground, thus form- 

 ing the beautiful pyramidal head character- 

 istic of the species. The leaves are small, 

 deeply lobed, borne on long petioles which 

 allow them to toss in the wind. These '''" ^^"^^ Qnmui 



pjhntrii. Acorns 



leaves are the especial prey of a gall-fly and i,/ long. 

 are frequently covered with small brown galls. 



The acorns are small, light brown, striped. The name 

 Pin Oak seems to refer to the great number of tiny branches 

 which are intermingled with the large ones. Of this tree Mi- 

 chaux says, " Its secondar)' branches are much more slender 

 and numerous than is common on so large a tree and are so 

 intermingled as to give it at a distance the appearance of 

 being full of pins. This singular disposition renders it dis- 

 tinguishable at first sight in winter and is perhaps the cause 

 of its being called Pin Oak." 



BEAR OAK. SCRUB OAK 



Qiic'i'cus iJuifolia. Qiicrcus punilla. 



A shrub, with numerous intertwined and contorted branches, oc- 

 casionally becoming a small round-topped tree. Found in New 

 England and along the Alleghanies, on rocky hillsides and on sandy 

 plains. 



Bark. — Dark brown, smooth, scaly. Branchlets slender, at firsl 

 dark green, tinged with red, tomentose, later red brown and finally 

 dark brown. 



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