OAK FAMILY 
It seems idolatry with some excuse 
When our forefather Druids in their oaks 
Imagined sanctity. é 
—COwPeER. 
The White of all American oaks is most akin to the common and familiar 
tree of European countries, the oak of myths and of poetry, of Dodona and 
Hercynia, the tree which Celt and Briton worshipped, which shaded the Druid’s 
sacred fire and has at all times been the emblem of strength and longevity. 
—Garden and Forest. 
Although called the White Oak it is very unusual to find an 
individual with an absolutely white bark, the usual color isan 
ashen gray. All in all, this is the most valuable as well as 
the most stately and beautiful of our oaks. In the forest it 
reaches a magnificent height, in the open it develops into a 
massive broad-topped tree with great limbs striking out at 
wide angles and carrying the idea of rugged strength to the 
yery tips of their branches. 
In spring the young leaves are exquisite in their delicate 
silvery pink, covered with soft down as with a blanket. The 
petioles are short, and the leaves which cluster close to the 
ends of the shoots are pale green and downy with the result 
that the entire tree has a misty, frosty look which 1s very 
beautiful. This lovely vision continues for several days pass- 
ing through the opalescent changes of soft pink, silvery white 
and finally yellow green. 
The autumnal tints of the White Oak are also beautiful ; its 
rich purplish red glows in the forest and gives a splendor to 
November days long after the maples and sumachs have shed 
their leaves. 
The leaves unfold late ; although they vary in form some- 
what they keep fairly true to the type and need never be mis- 
taken. The most divergent form approaches a skeleton leaf. 
Oblong or obovate, they are usually seven-lobed with both 
‘obe and sinus rounded and the lobe destitute of a bristle at 
ts apex. The acorn is the product of the blossom of the 
year and the kernel is sweet; not sweet like that of the 
chestnut or hickory but sweet compared to other acorns. 
The White Oak lives long. The famous Charter Oak of 
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