FAGACEAE 
Chinquapin Oak. Chestnut Oak. Yellow Oak 
Quercus muhlenbergii Engelm. [Quercus acuminata (Michx.) 
Houba] 
HABIT.—A medium-sized tree 40-50 feet high, with a trunk 
diameter of 1-3 feet; erect, somewhat short branches form a 
narrow, rounded crown. 
LEAVES.—Alternate, simple, 4-7 inches long, 1-4 inches 
broad; oblong-lanceolate to obovate; coarsely toothed; thick and 
firm; lustrous, yellow-green above, pale-pubescent beneath; 
petioles slender, about 1 inch long. 
FLOWERS.—May, with the leaves; monoecious; the stam- 
inate in hairy catkins 3-4 inches long; the pistillate sessile or in 
short spikes, hoary-tomentose; calyx campanulate, 5-8-lobed, 
yellow, hairy; corolla o; stamens 5-8, with yellow anthers; 
stigmas red. 
FRUIT.—Autumn of first season; sessile or short-stalked 
acorns; cup with small scales, hoary-tomentose, inclosing one- 
half of the nut; nut ovoid, about 34 inch long, light brown; 
kernel sweet, sometimes edible. 
WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud ¥% inch long, conical, 
acute; scales chestnut-brown, scarious on the margin. 
BARK.—Twigs greenish at first, becoming gray-brown, 
finally gray or brown; thin, silvery gray or ash colored and 
flaky on the trunk. 
WOOD.—Heavy, very hard, strong, close-grained, durable, 
dark brown, with thin, pale brown sapwood. 
DISTRIBUTION.—Confined to the southern half of the 
Lower Peninsula. 
HABITAT.—Prefers a limestone soil; dry ‘hillsides; rich 
bottom-lands; rocky river-banks. 
NOTES.—Grows uniformly until maturity. Leaves resemble 
those of the Chestnut. A form-which differs from the type in 
having broader, obovate leaves broadest above the middle and 
a flaky bark has been described and named Quercus Alexanderi 
Britton. , 
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