62 
THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
Azalea canescens has been given, is the really fragrant 
plant. More information upon this point is still desirable. 
In general appearance the second species is much like A. 
nudWora, the principal difference being that its leaves are 
broader and canescent or denvSely v^hite pubescent beneath 
and the corolla tube is glandular. The stamens also are 
said to be less exserted. It would be an excellent thing if 
observers v^ould make a further study of the shrubs this 
year with a view to settling the question of fragrance. 
STUDY OF OAK TREES NEAR CHICAGO. 
BY MARY LEE VAN HOOK. 
IN this region oak trees, undoubtedly, have the supre- 
macy, though other trees are sufficiently numerous to 
attract some attention, especially in ravines and on the 
slopes. Even a few miles away from the Lake, where the 
soil is richer, elms, cottonwoods, and maples grow well ; 
but here near the Lake oak trees control the uplands 
almost to the exclusion of other kinds. 
White, swamp-white, red, black and bur-oaks are the 
varieties oftenest seen, though there are a few scarlet oaks 
as well. The white oak is the dominating species — rather 
a surprising fact when one considers the immense number 
of acorns eaten by squirrels and jay-birds. One squirrel 
can eat at one meal at least twenty acorns, often more, 
and he usuall3^ chooses the white oak or bur-oak variety. 
These acorns are large and the sweetest of any, with a 
decided chestnut flavor; no wonder they are chosen. 
There are two kinds of squirrels here, red and grey, many 
of each, and the groves are full of blue-jays, so that the 
consumption of acorns during autumn and winter months 
must make an appreciable difference in the number of 
young trees for the following spring. However, squirrels 
and jay -birds both have the trick of burying nuts, a habit 
which amounts to planting trees since they never find all 
that they bury ; and so in celebrating every day as Arbor 
Day they perhaps make up for the number of acorns which 
they eat. 
