OAK FAMILY 
side roots and often care no more fur its tap root which has been its only support 
than the frog cares for the tail of the tadpole after it has got on its own legs.” 
—ROoBERT DOUGLAS in Garden and Forest. 
This genus is one of close family ties and marked resem- 
blances. The bark of every species is heavily charged with 
tannic acid. The roots take hold of the 
earth in two ways; a strong tap root goes 
down deep into.the ground and at the same 
time wide spreading horizontal roots keep 
near the surface. The very poise of the 
tree denotes 
strength and 
this quality 
iS present in 
the humblest 
member of 
the family. 
The leaves 
vary in form. 
In those groups 
which contain the representative spe- 
Sprouting Acorn. 
cies of the genus the leaves are of a 
shape unlike those of any other trees. 
The character of the inflorescence 
is the same in every species. It is 
moncecious; that is, the stamens and 
pistils are separated, borne in different 
flowers, but both kinds of flowers are 
produced on the same branch. These 
appear together, just when the leaves 
are half grown. The staminate flowers 
are found in the axils of quick falling 
bracts which are borne on the rachis — Staminate Aments of Scarlet 
Oak, Quercus coccinea, 
of slender drooping aments produced Ovaries of Preceding: Year. 
from separate or leafy buds in the 
axils of last year’s leaves, or from the axils of the inner 
scales of the terminal bud, or from the axils of the leaves 
324 
