FAGACEAE 
>: Yellow Oak. Black Oak 
Quercus velutina Lam. ; 
_ HABIT.—A medium-sized tree 50-60 feet high and 1-3 feet 
in trunk diameter; slender branches and stout branchlets form 
a wide-spreading, rounded crown. 
LEAVES.—Alternate, simple, 5-10 inches long, 3-8 aches 
broad;- ovate to oblong; usually 7-lobed, some with shallow 
sinuses and broad, rounded, mucronate lobes, others with wide, 
rounded sinuses extending half-way to the midrib or farther 
and narrow-oblong or triangular, bristle-tipped lobes, the lobes 
more or less coarse-toothed, each tooth bristle-tipped; thick and 
leathery; dark green and shining above, pale and more or less 
pubescent beneath; petioles stout, yellow, 3-6 inches long. 
FLOWERS.—May, when the leaves are half grown; monoe- 
cious; the staminate in pubescent catkins 4-6 inches long; the 
pistillate reddish, on short, tomentose peduncles; calyx acutely 
3-4-lobed, reddish, hairy; corolla 0; stamens usually 4-5, with 
acute, yellow anthers; stigmas 3, divergent, red. : 
FRUIT.—Autumn of second season; sessile or short- 
stalked acorns; cup cup-shaped or ‘turbinate, inclosing about one- 
half of the nut; scales thin, light brown, hoary; nut ovoid, 
1%4-3%4 inch long, red-brown, often pubescent; kernel yellow, 
bitter. 
WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud 4% inch long, ovoid to 
conical, obtuse, strongly angled, hoary-tomentose. 
BARK,—Twigs at first scurfy-pubescent, later glabrous, red- 
brown, finally mottled gray; thick and nearly black on old trunks, 
deeply furrowed and scaly; inner bark thick, yellow, very bitter. 
WOOD.—Heavy, ‘hard, strong, coarse- grained, bright red- 
brown, with thin, paler sapwood. 
DISTRIBUTION.—Southern half of the Lower Peninsula. 
HABITAT.—Prefers glacial drift; dry or gravelly uplands; 
poor soils. 
NOTES.—Rapid of growth. Undesirable for street use. 
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