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SCRUB OAK. 

 Quercus ilicifolia, Wangenheim. 



FORM — Shrub or small tree with many crooked intertwined branches; usually 4-8 

 high with a diameter of 1-3 inches, but occasionally attaining a height of 18-20 feet. 

 Fig. 4. 



BARK — Thin, smooth, becoming scaly on older stems, gray to dark brown in color. 



TWIGS — When youog slender, dark green, tinged with red, and tomentose; becoming gt 

 to reddish-brown, finally dark brown and smooth. 



BUDS — Alternate, ovate, obtuse, i of an inch long, chestnut-brown; covered by numeroi 

 small dark-margined closely appressed scales. 



LEAVES — Alternate, simple, 2-5 inches long, li-3 inches wide, obovate in outline, wi 

 a wedge-shaped base, 3-7-lobed, usually 5; with shallow sinuses and acute and bristle-tipp 

 lobes. Mature leaves dark green and glossy above, covered with a dense whitish pubescen 

 beneath, thick and leathery in texture, with conspicuous yellow midribs and veins. Petiol 

 round, tomentose and about 1 inch long. 



LEAF-SCARS — See "Leaf-Scars" under White Oak, page 132. 



FLOWERS — Appear about May when leaves are J developed. Stamlnate aments 4-5 incl 

 long, often clinging to twigs until late summer. Pistillate flowers borne upon stout tome 

 tose stalks, have an involucre ot red scales, and red stigmas. 



FRUIT — An acorn, maturing at end of second season, very abundant, sessile or nearly 

 usually clustered, seldom solitary. Nut broadly ovoid, with a flat rounded base, acute 

 rounded apex, about half enclosed in the cup, light brown, shiny and often slightly stria' 

 I of an inch broad and long. Cup pale and reddish-brown and soft downy within, covei 

 on the outside with many closely set reddishrbrown scales whose free tips form a frir 

 around the edge of the cup. Kernel bright yellow. 



WOOD — Ring-porous; with conspicuous medullary rays; pale brown, strong, hard, tou 

 and fine-grained. Commercially not important on account of its small size. Locally u 

 for fuel. 



DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS— The Scrub Oak, also known as Bear Oak ; 



Ground Oak, can easily be distinguished by characteristic bristle-pointed leaves shown 

 the opposite plate, which turn reddish-brown or brown in autumn, and often persist through* 

 the winter. It is small in size and forms dense thickets over large areas, especially recei 

 burned areas. The smooth non-scaly bark, persistent clusters of fruit and the small, broi 

 bluntly conical buds covered with slight pubescence are characteristic. In habit it reseml 

 the Scrub Chestnut Oak, but the latter has a flaky bark and round-lobed leaves i 

 characteristic fruit. 



RANGE — Maine to Ohio south to North Carolina and Kentucky. 



DISTRIBUTION IN PENNSYLVANIA— Common in most of the counties in and east of 

 Allegheny Mountains. Found in some of the counties in the southwestern portion of the Sts 

 Sparse in the north-central and northern parts. 



HABITAT — Usually found on rocky hillsides, sandy plateaus, and mountain tops. It a 



gregarious and able to flourish upon barren, dry, infertile soils, but cannot endure much shadi , 



hence it seldom occurs in mixture with other species. It has overgrown extensive areas t 

 burnt-over land in this State. 



IMPORTANCE OF THE SPECIES — The Scrub Oak is of no commercial value but is economictr 

 important on account of its ability to grow upon the most exposed and inhospitable situatlc. 

 This makes it worthy of consideration in protection forests, where it shelters the forest-fl(. 

 prevents erosion and enriches the soil with accumulations of humus. In time it Is usually <i- 

 placed by species of greater commercial importance as Chestnut. Scarlet Oak, Chestnut 0 . 

 Maple, and Aspen. Areas once covered with thickets of .this species now often have c9 

 a few single representatives left. 



