PIN O \K. SW IMP OAK 

 us palustris Dm /. 



The Oak Familx 



i \(, U i u 



Haiti t and Habitat: A small to medium-sized tree, 70-80 feet 

 tall, with a trunk diameter of 2-3 feet, but commonly much smaller 

 than this. feet tall and t-2 feet in diameter; slender branches form- 

 ing an oblong or rounded or pyramidal crown, becoming open and ir- 

 regular, with rigid and pendulous branches furnished with small, tough, 

 drooping branchlets. Prefers borders of swamps and river bottoms in 

 moist, rich soil, but may bo cultured successfully elsewhere. 



Leaves and Buds: Leaves alternate, simple, i-»> inches long, 2-4 

 inches wide, obovate to ovate or broadly oval in outline 

 shaped, 5-7-lobed by deep, wide, rounded indentations, the lobes few- 



thed, the teeth bristle-pointed, terminal lobe usually 3-toothed toward 

 the apex, pale reddish-irreen as they unfold from the bud. shining 

 ami hairy above, covered with whitish, scurfy down beneath, becoming 

 thin and firm, dark, shining green above, pale preen beneath, turning 



deep scarlet in the late autumn before they fall. Petioles yellowish, 

 slender. V4-2 inches long. Winter-buds chestnut brown, ovate acute. 

 or conical, '*, inch long, smooth or slightly hairy toward the apex. 



Flowers and Fruits: Flowers produced in May when the loaves 

 about half grown. Staminate flowers borne in slender, drooping, 

 hairy catkin- 2-3 inches long:: calyx hairy. 4-5-lobed; stamen- ■!-.'>, yel- 

 low, Pistilllate flowers borne on slv.nl hairy stalks in the axils of the 

 young leaves, hairy: stigmas bright red, recurved. The acorns mature at 

 the close of the second season's growth, borne on short stalks or stalkl- 

 solitary or clustered: acorn flatfish, nearly hemispherical, about '•_• 

 inch in diameter, light brown, inclosed only at the base by the thin, 

 Baucer-shaped cup: cup dark brown and shiny within and covered with 

 closely overlapping, thin reddish-brown more or less hairy scab 



Bark, Twigs and Wood: Bark of young trunk- and branches 



smooth, shiny, light brown, frequently tin-red with red, becoming on old 

 branches and trunks thick, light grayish-brown, generally smoothish 

 or covered by -mall, closely appressed scales; the young twig- are dark 

 led and more or less hairy at first, becoming shiny, green Rn 1 fin«01v 



y-brown. The wood is heavy, hard, strong coarse-grained, light 

 brown, with thin darker-cob pwood; BOmetimes used in construct' 



shingles and fen< ts. 



Distribution in the State: Fin oak does net occur naturally in 



Nebraska, but it occurs in north central Missouri and eastern Ka< 

 that we ma wander into our state some day via the 



southeastern corn 



Remarks: This I f the finest of all of our American 



oaks for str id ornamental planting. It arrows rapidly snd uni- 



formly, and it may !>•■ easily transplanted. Ms shiny, deeply lobed lea - . 

 are beautiful in summer and particularly fin" when the autumn til 

 ear. Many small branchb ' n at a distance give the impression 



of the tree being full of coarse pins, hence the common name. 



—81- 



