142 



CUPULIFERiE. 



Leaves sinuate-pinnatifid, the teeth bristle-pointed, falling in the autumn; 



Aments erect and androgynous (with the pistillate flowers at base and the 

 staminate flowers above), or wholly staminate; filaments several times 

 longer than the small anthers; stigmas linear; fruits maturing in the second 



1. Q. lobata Nee. Valley Oak. A graceful tree commonly 40 

 to 60 ft. high, in typical form broader than tall, with long pendulous 

 branches sometimes sweeping the ground; leaves oblong or obovate, 

 shallowly or deeply sinuate-pinnatifid with entire or toothed lobes, 

 green and nearly glabrous above, pale beneath with a fine close 

 indument and conspicuously yellow-veined, 2^ to 4 in. long; staminate 

 aments 2 to 3 in. long, the calyx-lobes 6 to 8, externally pubescent, 

 stamens 8 or 9; pistillate flowers mostly solitary and sessile; acorns 

 sessile or subsessile; mature nut long-conical, 1^ to 2 in. in length, at 

 first bright-green, later chestnut-brown; cup deep-hemispherical, 

 strongly tuberculate. 



The largest and most beautiful West-American oak, sometimes 80 

 to 100 ft. high and 8 to 20 ft. in trunk diameter. The main stem 

 commonly divides into several wide-spreading branches, which form a 

 broad head with graceful drooping sprays. The bark is dark brown to 

 ashen-gray and is very deeply fissured into narrow plates. This tree, 

 which won the unreserved admiration of all early travelers, is the most 

 characteristic oak in the fields and along the water courses of the 

 Coast Range and interior valleys. "Roble" of the Spanish-Califor- 

 nians. Apr. Fr. Oct. 



2. Q. Garry ana Hook. Pacific Post Oak. Tree 30 to 70 ft. high; 

 branches not drooping but rigid and more tomentose-pubescent; 

 leaves oblong-obovate 4 to 6 in. long, cuneate or rounded at base, 

 shallowly sinuate-pinnatifid, the lobes coarser than in the last; calyx- 

 lobes of the staminate flowers laciniately cut, slightly ciliate; acorns 

 sessile or short-pedunculate; nut oval or slightly obovate, often 

 ventricose, 1 to 1£ in. in length; cup shallow, cup-shaped or turbinate, 

 its scales thin and free or at base thickened and united. 



In the mountains at lower or middle elevations from Santa Cruz 

 and Sonoma Cos. northward; a rare tree within our limits, but abun- 

 dant in northwestern California. 



3. Q. Douglasii H. & A. Blue Oak. Mountain White Oak. 

 Tree usually 20 to 30 ft. high with round-topped head; leaves obovate 

 to oblong or oval, bluish-green above, mostly yellowish and pubescent 

 beneath, with deep or shallow sinuses, the lobes commonly increasing 

 in size from the base upwards or nearly entire, or sometimes with 

 spinescent margin, cuneate or rounded at base, mostly 2 to 3, rarely 

 5 in. long; staminate aments about 1 in. long, the calyx yellow or 

 green, the segments laciniately cut, stamens about 9; acorns sessile or 

 short-ped uncled; nut broadly oval, often ventricose, | to 1 or 1£ in. 

 long, or ovate-acute, 1 to 1£ in. long and very narrow; cup very 

 shallow, thin, with flat or tubercled scales. 



Throughout middle California; most abundant on the dry foothills 

 of the Coast Ranges, especially towards the interior, rarely found on 



nut oblong, obtuse 



year; evergreen tree. 



9. Q. densiflorn. 



