OAK FAMILY. 



313 



SiiixGLE Ql'eecus. Laurel or Shingle Oak. 



Stem 40-60 feet high, and 1-2 feet in diameter, vith a smoothish bnrk : branches 

 numerous and irregular. Leaves 3-5 inches long, entire, somewhat crowded on short 

 petioles. Acorn ra'iher small, roundish above, with a broad fiattish base so as to be 

 nearly hemispheric;^.!, seated in a shallow subsessile cup. 



Banks of streams. I^ew Jersey, southward, and in the Western States. 



OJ)S. Thi.s species — being chiefly confined to the country west of the 

 Alleghany Mountains — is but little known in the east ; and although 

 deriving its specific name from the roofing material which it affords, its 

 timber is said to be of an inferior quality — even for that purpose. 

 »:< * * Black and Red Oak Group. Leaves deciduous., bristle-2)oiiitedj 

 repaid or acutely sinuate-lob ed. 

 t Mature leaves downy underneath. 



9. Q,. ni gra, L. Leaves somewhat coriaceous, cuneate, dilated at apex, 

 retuse or obscurely 3-lobed, smooth above, covered with a russet pul- 

 verulent iDubescence beneath, when young the nerves setaceously mucro- 



■ nate ; cupule subturbinate ; acorn ovoid. 



j! Black Querccs. Black Jack, Barren Oak. 



l' Stern 15-80 or 40 feet high, and 6-12 or 16 inches in diameter, with a thickish 

 ' furrowed dark-colored bark; bra-aches numerous. Leaves 5-S inches long, much dila- 

 I ted at apex (4-6 inches wide), narrowed towards the base, on short petioles. Aconi 

 1 ovoid, seated in a rather deep or bowl-shaped subsessile cup. 

 Sterile soils : 'Suvf Jet&ej to Illiaois and southward- 



Ohs. This small tree— abundant in Maryland, and well known by the 

 I name of " Black Jack," — is chiefly valuable for fuel. The nearly related 



Fig. 206. The Willow Oak (Qurcus Phellos.) 

 Fig. 207. The Laurel or Shingle Oak (Quercus imbricaria). 208. An acorn. 



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