12 
THE NATIVE TREES OF RHODE ISLAND. 
contrast agreeably with the foliage of the black oak, which takes 
the sober shades of orange and buff. The wood of the scarlet 
oak is of inferior grade, but the scenic value of the tree should 
preserve it for that alone. 
THE PIN OAK. 
The pin oak grows as a native in the south-western portion of 
this State. Some fine specimens are near the Stonington railroad 
bridge, where it spans the Pawcatnck river at Wood River Junc- 
tion, also, around muddy pools in Charlestown, on the way to the 
old Indian burying ground. This is at the northern limit of the 
native growth of this oak. It is the most graceful and ornamental 
of the oaks of this latitude. It is becoming greatly esteemed for 
lawn and avenue planting. Thomas Meehan, of Germantown, 
Penn., a man of highest authority in aboriculture, says of it — “an 
oak distinguished from all others by its peculiar beauty. . . . 
As the tree grows, the lower branches droop until they touch the 
ground. As an avenue tree it is un equaled, and it will also thrive 
in cities as a street tree. A row in Pairmount Park, Philadelphia, 
is much admired.” Mr. Meehan remarks, too, that it is easily 
transplanted. Some young trees of this kind, in Roger Williams 
Park, Providence, are doing well, and seem perfectly hardy, as 
they would probably be, in somewhat sheltered locations, in any 
part of the State. 
OTHER OAKS. 
Space is not allowed for more than a brief mention of the re- 
maining, and less important, oaks of the State. The chestnut 
oak appears in two or three varieties. The “ rock ” chestnut oak 
grows here and there, upon rocky ridges, as a tree thirty or forty 
feet high, and, if it did not bear acorns, it might readily be mistaken 
for a real chestnut tree. The leaf, bark, and trunk resemble those 
of a vigorous young chestnut tree. The acorns are few and sweet. 
The wood is esteemed both for fuel and domestic work — stakes, 
rails, pins, etc. 
