XIX.] AMERICAN LIVE OAK. 171 



AMERICAN LIVE OAK (Quercus virens). 



This tree is of very moderate dimensions when com- 

 pared with the White Oak, its usual height being only 

 about 35 to 45 feet, with a diameter of 12 to 18 inches. 

 It is an evergreen, and is found principally in the 

 Southern States of North America, and near to the 

 sea-coast, which it seems to prefer to the more inland 

 and sheltered situations. 



The wood is dark brown in colour, hard, tough, 

 strong, heavy, and very difficult to work, on account 

 of the grain being waved or twisted. Its pores are 

 very minute and the medullary rays unusually bright 

 and distinct. 



The largest logs of live Oak that I have seen im- 

 ported did not exceed about 18 feet in length by 12 

 inches square, and generally they were of much smaller 

 dimensions. They are usually of a crooked or compass 

 shape, and are, therefore, very suitable for the framing 

 of ships of from 300 to 800 tons burthen, in which only 

 small scantlings are required. It is used extensively 

 for this purpose in the Southern States; it makes good 

 mallets for carpenters, and would be useful for cogs in 

 machinery, and many other services where great weight 

 is not an objection. 



Judging from the appearance of this timber, it is 

 stronger than any other known Oak, but, as it was im- 

 possible to obtain a single straight specimen of the 

 prescribed dimensions, viz., 2x2x84 inches, the usual 

 tests could not be applied, and there are consequently 

 no tables to show what it would actually bear. 



