70 



Common Trees 



CHESTNUT OAK 



Quercus Prinus, Engelmann 



THE CHESTNUT Oak, also called Rock Oak, and Tanbark 

 Oak, is an important forest tree. Its importance will 

 grow, for it produces valuable wood, and yields bark rich 

 in tannin. 



The leaves are simple, alternate, stiff, 5 to 9 inches long, 

 2 to 4 inches wide, coarse- 

 ly toothed along margin. 



The flowers are similar 

 and the wood ranks close 

 to White Oak. 



The fruit is a large 

 acorn maturing in one sea- 

 son. The nut is 1 to 1^4 

 inches long, oval, smooth, 

 glossy, chestnut - brown. 

 The cup is thin, deep, 

 hairy inside, covers one- 

 third of nut. 



The bark on young 

 stems and branches is 

 smooth, thin, yellowish- 

 brown. On old trunks it 

 is thick, brown to black, 

 deeply furrowed. The bark 

 ridges are high, sharp and 

 angular. At the bottom of 

 the furrows the bark is 

 cinnamon-red. It is rich 

 in tannin. 



The twigs are slender, 

 angular, orange-brown. The buds are light-brown, x /\ Xo]/i 

 of an inch long, sharp-pointed, and clustered at tip of twigs. 



The Chestnut Oak is found from Maine to Ontario, south 

 to Alabama and Tennessee. It reaches its best development 

 in the Alieghenies of Pennsylvania and southward. In New 

 York this tree js abundant on dry soil in the Hudson valley 

 northward to Lake Champlain and westward across the State 

 to Lake Erie. 



A closely related tree occurring chiefly on limestone soils 

 of central New York and the Hudson valley is the Yellow 

 Oak — Quercus Muhlenbergii, Engelmann. This tree is lim- 

 ited largely to the main valleys and the bordering lower 

 slopes. 



CHESTNUT OAK 



One-third natural size. 



Twig section and bud scales enlarged. 



