CHAP. CV 



CORYLA^E.E. QUE'RCUS. 



1891 



which subsist in them during the greater part 

 of the year. They are composed principally of 

 the Pinus palustris, Quercus obtusiloba, Q. 

 nigra, Q. tinctoria, and Q. coccinea. In the 

 Carolinas and Georgia, where the soil gradually 

 improves in retiring from the shore towards the 

 mountains, the Black Jack oak forms a band 

 15 or 20 miles broad, between the pine barrens 

 and the forests of nobler trees. In Kentucky 

 and Tennessee, the Black Jack oak is only seen 

 in the savannahs, where it is widely diffused ; — ,j \V, 

 and where, preserved by the thickness of its p^\ / 

 bark, and its insulated position, it survives the ^O^n 

 conflagrations that almost every year consume V^ ' 

 the grass ; the fire, driven forward by the wind, \> ; 

 having only time to devour its foliage. In the 

 pine barrens, this oak grows chiefly on the 

 edges of the branch swamps, where the soil is 



little stronger than is necessary for the pines. With Q. cinerea and Q. Cates- 

 ba?i,it possesses itself of the pine lands that have been cleared for cultivation, 

 and afterwards abandoned on account of their sterility ; and in these situations it 

 becomes larger than in the forests. (N. Amer. Syl., i. p. 80.) In New Jersey 

 and Philadelphia, this species is called the barrens oak ; and in Maryland and 

 the more southern states, the Black Jack oak. The specific name of nigra was 

 given to it by Linnaeus, from the blackness of its bark and general appearance ; 

 but Michaux preferred the name of ferruginea, not only because the under 

 surface of the leaves is of a rusty brown, but because Q. tinctoria, in America, 

 is generally known by the name of the black oak. The wood is heavy and 

 compact; but it decays so rapidly, when exposed to the weather, that it is not 

 used in the arts : it makes excellent fuel, and is sold in Philadelphia for only 

 a little less than hickory, and for one third more than every other kind of wood. 

 Notwithstanding the 

 leathery texture of 

 the leaves of this 

 tree, they are attacked 

 by the larva of Pha- 

 lae^na lucida Sm. and 

 Abb. Ins., t. 58., syn. 

 Dryocampa lucida 

 Harris, P. virginiensis 

 Dru. Ins., 2. t. 13. f. 

 2., and our Jig. 1766., 

 the transparent-wing- 

 ed white-spot moth. 

 The caterpillar of this 

 moth is pink, streak- 

 ed with a yellowish 

 green; and the perfect 

 insect pink, brown, 

 and yellow. The ca- 

 terpillar buries itself 

 in the ground, but 

 remains there only a 

 short time; one ob- 

 served by Abbott bu- 

 ried itself on the 12th 

 of July, and the moth 

 appeared on the 26th. The larva of P. quernaria Sm. and Abb. Ins., t. 93., 

 the American oak beauty, also feeds on the leaves of this species. There are 



6 G 3 



