OAK FAMILY 
IVood.—Light brown ; hard, strong. 
Winter Buds.—Dark chestnut brown, ovate, obtuse, one-eighth 
of an inch long. 
Leaves.—Alternate, two to five inches long, one and one-half to 
two and one-half inches wide, wedge-shaped at base, usually five- 
lobed, sometimes three, sometimes seven-lobed ; every lobe bristle- 
tipped; sinuses wide and shallow ; form of lobes variable. They 
come out of the bud convolute, dull red and coated with tomentum, 
when half grown are pale green; when full grown thick, dark green 
and shining above, covered with pale or silvery pubescence below ; 
midribs stout, yellow, primary veins conspicuous. In autumn 
they turn dull red or yellow. Petioles slender, terete, downy, one 
to one and one-half of an inch long. Stipules linear, caducous. 
Flowers.—May, when leaves are half grown. Staminate flowers 
are borne in reddish, hairy aments four to five inches long which often 
remain until midsummer. Calyx is red or reddish green, hairy, 
three to five rounded lobes, shorter than the stamens. Stamens 
three to five; filaments short ; anthers bright red, becoming yellow. 
Bracts linear, red, hairy. Pistillate flowers borne on stout tomen- 
tose peduncles. Involucral scales red, as long as the calyx lobes, 
tomentose ; stigmas dark red. 
Acorns.—Abundant, ripen in autumn of second year, sessile or 
stalked, in pairs or solitary. Nut somewhat variable in form, ovoid, 
broad, acute or rounded at apex, one-half inch long, light brown, 
shining, sometimes striate ; cup cup-shaped, embracing half the nut, 
thick, light reddish brown, the free tips of upper scales forming a 
fringe-like border. Kernel deep yellow. 
This little, straggling, shrubby oak loves rocky hillsides 
and dry sandy barrens. Wherever it grows it indicates 
the sterility of the soil. The 
name Scrub Oak follows it every- 
where, but the early settlers of 
New England called it Bear Oak 
as well, because the bears loved 
its bitter little acorns. It pro- 
duces these in great numbers ; 
a fruiting branch is often very 
Bear Oak, Quercus tlicifolia. 
Acorns 14! long. 
picturesque because of them. It 
rarely rises more than six or 
eight feet and its stem is usually one or two inches in diam- 
eter. Both Jeaves and acorns are variable in form. 
This is one of the gregarious trees, it is never found as a 
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