QUERCUS OAK. 249 



rhubarb in the mildness of its action and freedom from irritating proper- 

 ties. It has been used with best effect in habitual constipation. 



CUPULIFER/E. 



Character of the Order. — Trees or shrubs with alternate, simple, feather- 

 veined leaves, furnished with very deciduous stipules, forming the bud- 

 scales. Flowers monoecious ; the staminate in catkins ; the pistillate sol- 

 itary, clustered or spiked, and provided with an involucre which forms a cup- 

 like receptacle, or an entire covering to the 1-celled, 1-seeded nut. Calyx 

 adherent to the ovary, the minute teeth crowning its summit. Ovary more 

 or less 2- to 7-celled, each cell 1-ovuled, only one of which matures. Seeds 

 comparatively large, thick and fleshy, often edible. 



An order of few genera, but comprising many valuable species. The 

 oak (Quercus), chestnut (Castanea), and beech (Fagus), are among the most 

 important. 



QUERCUS.— Oak. 



Q u ere us alba Linn e. — White Oak. 



Description. — Staminate flowers in long, slender, pendulous catkins ; 

 stamens 5 to 12, surrounded by narrow scales which are sometimes united 

 into an irregular perianth. Pistillate flow T ers scattered or clustered ; peri- 

 anth more or less 6-lobed, adherent to the ovary, which is about 3-celled, 

 the whole enclosed by a scaly, bud-like involucre which becomes a hard, 

 woody cup about the base of the rounded nut or acorn. 



A large tree, sometimes growing to the height of 70 to 80 feet, with a 

 diameter of 6 to 7 feet. Leaves ovate or obovate-oblong in general out- 

 line, obliquely and deeply cleft into 3 to 9 oblong, obtuse lobes. When 

 young they are reddish above, whitish and downy beneath, but at matu- 

 rity bright green above, and smooth, pale, or glaucous beneath. Cup 

 hemispherical-saucer- shaped, rough or tuberculated at maturity, naked, 

 much shorter than the ovoid or oblong (1 inch long), sweetish, edible 

 acorn. The bark is very light-colored, whence the specific name of the tree. 



Habitat. — From Canada to Florida and westward ; common. 



Part Used. — The bark, deprived of the corky layer — official name, 

 Quercus alba. — United States Pharmacopoeia. 



Constituents. — The only important constituent of oak bark is tannin. 



Preparations. — There are no official preparations. It is usually em- 

 ployed, whether internally or topically, in decoction. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — Oak bark is astringent by virtue of its 

 tannin, and is used for the same purposes as other vegetable astringents. 

 The decoction is sometimes employed externally to prevent the formation 

 of bed-sores. 



Many other indigenous species of oak possess essentially similar prop- 

 erties. 



