BLA< K n \K 



I he <>ak I amih 



i \<; KG U 



Querctu velutina Lam. 



Habit Mid Habitat: A medium -sized h I feet hieh with 



a trunk diameter of 1-8 feet, occasionally L00-150 feet high and i feet 

 in trunk diameter; branches slender, spreading, forming a narrow or 

 wide-spreading, open, rounded crown. Pound most commonly «>n dry 



gravelly or clayey hills and uplands, and poor soils in general, seldom 



n in rich, moist soil. 



Leaves and Buds: Leaves alternate, simple, &-10 inches lonf 

 inches broad, ovate to oblong, often 7-lobed, Bome with .-hallow indenta- 

 tions, broad rounded, pointed lobes, others with wide and deep, rounde I 

 indentations which reach half-way to the midrib or further and narrow- 

 oblong or triangular, bristle-tipped lobes, bright crimson as they unfold 

 from the bud. and covered by long:, loose, scattered, white hairs and be- 

 low with thick pale silvery-white, matted hairs, at maturity thick and 

 firm and more or less leathery, dark and shiny above, pale and more or 

 less hairy beneath, in late autumn turning dull red. dark orange color 

 or brown and falling gradually during the winter; the lobes more or 



-s coarse-toothed, each tooth bristle-tipped. Petioles stout, yellow. 



i inches long, smooth or hairy. Buds ovate to conical, strongly angled, 

 gradually narrowed and obtuse at the apex, hoary-hairy, %-% inch long. 



Flowers and Fruits: Flowers produced in May as the leaves are 



eloping, the staminate in hairy catkins 4-6 inches long; calyx "'.-l- 

 lobed, lobes acute, reddish, hairy; corolla 0; stamens 4-6, yellow; 

 pistillate flowers on short hairy stalks in the axils of the young leav< 

 solitary or in pairs, reddish; stigmas •*>. divergent, red. Acorns ma- 

 turing at the close of the second season, short-stalked or stalkl- 

 solitary or in pairs; acorn thin; cup top-shaped or cup-shaped, in- 

 closing about one-half of the acorn; scales of the cup thin, light or 

 dark brown, hoary, downy on the inner surface; acorn \-j-'\ inch lon^. 

 reddish-brown, often soft-hairy, especially below, ovate, oblong or hem- 

 ispherical, broad and rounded at the base, full and rounded at the apex. 



Bark, Twigs and Wood: Bark of young twigs at first scurfy scaly, 

 later smooth, dark reddi.-h-brown, or mottled gray, thick and nearly 

 black on old trunks, deeply furrowed and often scaly with closely ap- 

 pressed. plate-like scales; inner bark thick, yellow, very bitter, abounds 

 in tannic acid. The wood is hard, heavy, strong, coarse-grained, bright 

 red-brown with thin, paler sapwood, of little valu- pt as fuel. 



Distribution in the State: Black oak is fairly common in the Mis- 

 <"Uv\ forests from which it has entered this state at the southeastern 

 corner and is now found along the Missouri river and the lower court 

 of its tributaries to the mouth of the Piatt*' in CaSS county. 



Remarks: This species is one of the most puzzling of all of the 

 ■.aks because of the variability of the leaves, but it is readily ■: 

 tinguished from the other oaks by the bright yellow color of the 

 inner bark, by the deep red color of the unfolding leaves which become 

 pale and silvery in a few days and by the large, hairy winter budl 





