(H4) 



name is well taken for the bark is very dark in color, almost 

 black. 



The leaf-blade is ovate in general outline, but its lobes 

 divide the blade almost halfway to the middle. From its 

 wedge-shaped base to the bristle-tipped apex the blade is 

 sometimes as long as 10 inches, and the veins and sometimes 

 the whole surface of the leaf-blade is hairy. When the 

 leaves are about half unfolded the flowers appear, followed 

 subsequently by the acorns. These are solitary or in pairs, 

 often striped, or covered with fine reddish hairs. The cup 

 encloses almost half the nearly globose nut. 



For ordinary construction purposes the wood of the black 

 oak is of very little value. The bark, however, is used as 

 a yellow dye and in tanning leather. The tree grows freely 

 from Maine to Florida and westward, and is common 

 throughout the Hudson Valley. (Plate 140.) 



Gray Oak Quercus borealis 



This little-known oak occurs sparingly in the northern 

 part of the Hudson Valley, and also in the mountains as far 

 south as the Carolinas. It has some characteristics in com- 

 mon with the red and scarlet oaks; its acorns have flat saucer- 

 shaped cups, similar to those of the red oak. One char- 

 acteristic that may distinguish it from these trees is the fact 

 that its leaves usually hang on longer in the autumn than do 

 the leaves of the red and scarlet kinds. The tree is difficult 

 to identify. The gray oak is alleged to grow further north 

 than any other oak. 



Scarlet Oak Quercus coccinea 



This tree takes its name from the brilliant scarlet coloring 

 of its young leaves and the magnificent coloring of its au- 

 tumnal foliage. When mature the leaves become bright 

 green and shining. The tree often attains a height of 70 

 feet and a trunk diameter of 3 feet. 



The broadly oval leaf-blades are divided almost to the 

 middle by their lobes which are from 5 to 9 in number and 



