WILLOW OAK 



WILLOW OAK 



Qut'i'i-ns pJu'llos. 



A tree seventy to eighty feet high, ranging from southern New 

 York along the inland plain to Florida, is also found in the south- 

 western states. Hybridizes easily. 



Bark. — Pale reddish brown, stem of young tree smooth, that of 

 old trees covered with shallow fissures and scaly. Branchlets 

 slender, smooth, reddish brown, later dark brown or grayish brown. 



Wood. — Pale reddish brown, sapwood paler; hea\-y, strong, 

 coarse-grained. Occasionally used in construction. Sp. gr. , 0.7472 ; 

 weight of cu. ft., 46.56 lbs. 



M'iiitLi- Biiiis. — Brown, o\ate, acute, one-eighth of an inch long. 

 Lcdi'is. — Alternate, linear, oblong, narrowed at both ends, some- 

 times falcate, two to h\'e inches long, one-half to one inch wide, 

 wedge-shaped at base, entire or slightly undulate at margin, sharply 

 acute at ape.x. They come out of the bud in\olute, pale yellow 

 green, shining above, coated with pale down beneath ; when full 

 jrown are light green, smooth and shining above, palergreen below ; 

 midribs yellow, rounded above, primary veins obscure. In autumn 

 (hey turn pale yellow and fall late. Petioles stout, and grooved, 

 stipules caducous. 



Fio-vci's. — May, when leaves are small. Staminate flowers borne 

 in hairy slender amerits t"0 to three inches long. 

 Calyx yellow, hairy, divided into four to five acute 

 lobes. Stamens four to fi\e ; anthers oblong, yel- 

 low. Pistillate flowers are borne on short, smooth 

 peduncles. Involucral scales are brown, hairy, as 

 long as the calyx lobes; stigmas bright red, re- 

 flexed. 



Acoyiis. — Not abundant. Ripen in autumn of 

 second year, short stalked, solitar)' or in pairs. 

 Nut half-sphere, half an inch in diameter, pale 

 yellow brown, downy, sometimes striate ; cup 

 saucer-shaped, covers the base of nut only ; scales dark reddish 

 orown, thin, ovate, hairy. Kernel orange yellow and very bitter. 



Willow Oak, 0,1, 

 pll,-l/os. A c .3 

 5-2' in diamet' 



The "Willow Oak is a most interesting tree. In the first 

 place its leaf is an anomaly among northern oaks for it has 

 the shape, poise, and general appearance of that of the wil- 

 low. Then, too, the shoots ai^e straight and slender, so in its 

 spray it resembles the willow. Like its namesake it loves to 

 keep its feet in water, seeks the low wet borders of swamps 



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