198 



PRACTICAL FOEESTRY. 



in spring. Acorn ovoid-oblong, about an inch long, set in a 

 shallow, rough cup. The kernel sweet-tasted, or only sHghtly 

 bitter, edible. A large tree, sixty to eighty feet high, with stem 

 six feet and sometimes more in diameter. Wood light-colored, 

 heavy, very tough, and elastic, well-known as one of the most 

 valuable of American forest trees. The wood is very durable, 

 and is always in great demand for a variety of purposes, especi- 

 ally for agricultural implements, carriages, and ties for rail- 

 roads. A common tree in our northern forests, extending south- 

 ward to Florida. The white oak should be given a prominent 

 place in every collection of native forest trees cultivated for 

 economic purposes. 



Q. aquaticaj Catesby. — Water Oak. — Leaves perennial or ever- 

 green, obovate-oblong, or wedged-shape, smooth on both sides ; 

 obtusely three-lobed at the summit, often entire, or on young 

 shoots, toothed or lobed, with bristle-like awns. Acorns small, 

 globular, downy, and set in a shallow saucer-shaped cup. A 

 small tree with smooth bark, seldom growing more than forty 

 feet high. Wood variable, sometimes tough, but more com- 

 monly rather brittle, used principally for fuel. In swamps and 

 along the banks of streams, from Maryland to Florida and west- 

 ward. 



Q. Wcolor, Willd. — Swamp White Oak. — Leaves unequally and 

 deeply sinuate, toothed, almost pinnatifid, whitish, downy be- 

 neath, and bright green above. The leaves intermediate in 

 form, between the white and chestnut oaks, but the species is 

 usually classed with the latter. Acorns nearly an inch long, 

 oblong-ovoid, set in a shallow cup, often mossy-fringed at the 

 margin. A large tree, sixty to eighty feet high, and stem five 

 to eight feet in diameter. Wood closely resembling the white 

 oak, and valuable- Most common in the Northern and West- 

 em States in moist soils, but also found South among the 

 mountains, but on moist or wet ground. Var. Michauxii, Nutt., 

 has smaller leaves, and longer and more slender acorns. A 

 large tree in Southern Illinois, Delaware, Florida, and South 

 Carolina. 



Q. Brcweri, Engelm. — Brewer's Oak. — Leaves small, one and a 

 half to two or three inches long, deeply pinnatifid, lobes obtuse 

 and emarginate, sometimes again lobed on petioles. Acorns 

 sessile, an inch long, sot in a shallow cup. A small shrub, two 

 to six feet high, on the middle or higher elevation of the Sierra 

 Nevada, from Calveras Coimty, Cal., to the Oregon line. 



