THE OAK. 
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tallest, of course, being those that have been drawn up in 
forests, at the expense of their branches. Trees growing 
freely in the open are of less height, and are made to appear 
comparative dwarfs by the huge proportions of the bole. In 
the forest this may be no more than ten feet in girth, but in 
A, female flower ; B, male flowers. 
isolated specimens may be as much as fifty-four feet (Cowthorpe 
Oak), with a much broader base. The thick rough bark is 
deeply furrowed in a large network pattern, which affords 
temporary hiding-places for insects. The branches are much 
• given to turn and zig-zag from side to side — a character that 
C 
