FAGACEAE 
Swamp White Oak. Swamp Oak 
Quercus bicolor Willd. [Quercus platanoides (Lam.) Sudw.] 
HABIT.—A large tree 50-70 feet high, with a trunk diameter 
of 2-3 feet; forming a rather open, rugged crown of tortuous, 
pendulous branches and short, stiff, bushy spray. 
LEAVES.—Alternate, simple, 5-7 inches long, 3-5 inches 
broad; obovate to oblong-obovate; coarsely sinuate-crenate or 
shallow-lobed; thick and firm; dark green and shining above, 
whitish and more or less tomentose beneath; petioles stout, 
about % inch long. 
FLOWERS.—May, with the leaves; monoecious; the stam- 
inate in hairy catkins 3-4 inches long; the pistillate tomentose, on 
long, tomentose peduncles, in few-flowered spikes; calyx deeply 
5-9-lobed, yellow-green, hairy; corolla 0; stamens 5-8, with 
yellow anthers; stigmas bright red. : 
FRUIT.—Autumn of first season; acorns on pubescent 
stems I-4 inches long, usually in pairs; cup cup-shaped, with 
scales somewhat loose (rim often fringed), inclosing one-third 
of the nut; nut ovoid, light brown, pubescent at the apex, about 1 
inch long; kernel white, sweet, edible. 
WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud % inch long, broadly 
ovoid to globose, obtuse; scales light brown, pilose above the 
middle. 
BARK.—Twigs at first Iustrous, green, becoming red-brown, 
finally dark brown and separating into large, papery scales which 
curl back; thick, gray-brown on the trunk, deeply fissured into 
broad, flat, scaly ridges. 
WOOD.—Heavy, hard, strong, tough, coarse-grained, light 
brown, with thin, indistinguishable sapwood. 
DISTRIBUTION.—Southern half of Lower Peninsula. 
HABITAT.—Prefers moist, rich soil bordering swamps and 
along streams. 
_ NOTES.—Fairly rapid in growth and reasonably easy to 
transplant. 
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