BLACK OAK 
deep scallops reaching almost to the midrib. They suggest that material must 
be cheap or else there has been lavish expense in their creation, if so much has 
been cut out. 
—HeEnry D, THOREAU. 
A Scarlet Oak growing in the open forms a round dome- 
like head whose lower branches frequently sweep the ground. 
Its leaves are a bright shining green, borne on slender peti- 
oles so that they respond to every zeph- 
yr’s breath. Their spring-time tint is 
bright pink and silvery white, but by the 
time the flowers come the leaves are 
pale green, growing darker as they grow 
older, but never even in midsummer do 
they become dark green. The especial 
Scarlet Oak, Quereus glory of the species lies in the brilliant 
a eet color which the leaves assume late in 
autumn. The autumnal tints of other 
oaks are beautiful, but they pale their fires before the ruddy 
gleam of the Scarlet. 
The acorns greatly resemble those of the Black Oak, but 
the kernel is white instead of yellow. This difference is 
characteristic and persistent and may often decide the ques- 
tion of species for a doubtful tree. 
BLACK OAK. YELLOW OAK 
Quércus velutina, Quércus tinctoria. 
A tree ordinarily seventy to eighty feet high; in the lower Ohio 
valley reaching one hundred and fifty feet with slender branches and 
narrow open head. Prefers the glacial drift, but is found on the 
mountain side ; ranges farther south than any other of the Red Oak 
group. 
Bark.—Dark brown or black on old trees, deeply furrowed, scaly; 
on young trees, stems and branches, smooth. Inner bark is deep 
orange yellow, heavily charged with tannic acid and largely used in 
tanning. Branchlets stout, covered with rusty tomentum at first, 
later they become reddish brown, finally dark brown. 
