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OVER-CUP OAK. 
Quercus lyrata. Q. foliis subsessilibus, gJabris, lyrato-sinuosis, sumrnitate 
dilataiâ, divaricato-trilobâ, lobis acuiangulis, terminali tricuspide ; cupmlâ 
depresso-globosa, muric.ato-scabratci ; glande siibtectci. 
In the United States I have met with this interesting species only in the 
lower part of the Carolinas and of Georgia. It probably exists on the 
banks of the Mississippi in Lower Louisiana, and I have observed it on 
the St. John in East Florida, in situations analogous to those in which it 
flourishes a little further north. In Georgia and Carolina it is not exten- 
sively multiplied, and has been distinguished only by the inhabitants of the 
places where it grows. It is called Swamp Post Oak, Over-cup Oak, and 
Water White Oak. The first of these denominations indicates an analogy 
between its foliage and that of the Post Oak, and the second, a remarkable 
peculiarity of its fruit, of which the acorn is covered by the cup. The 
name of Over-cup Oak is the most common in South Carolina, and that of 
Swamp Post Oak on the Savannah in Georgia. 
The Over-cup Oak grows in more humid situations than any other 
species of this genus in the United States. It is never seen in the long 
narrow marshes which intersect the pine-barrens, but is found exclusively 
in the great swamps on the borders of the rivers, which are often overflowed 
at the rising of the waters, and are inaccessible during three-quarters of the 
year. In these gloomy forests it is united with the Large Tupelo, White 
Elm, Wahoo, Planer Tree, Carolinian Poplar, Water Bitternut Hickory 
and Water Locust. 
It expands to a majestic size, and the influence of a deep and constantly 
humid soil is shown in the luxuriancy of its vegetation. On the banks of 
the Savannah I have seen stocks which were more than 80 feet high' and 
from 8 to 12 feet in circumference. The leaves are 6 or 8 inches long, 
smooth, narrow, lyre-shaped, deeply sinuated, and borne by short petioles. 
The lobes, particularly the two upper ones, are truncated, and from their 
resemblance in this respect to those of the Post Oak, is derived the name 
of Swamp Post Oak. The foliage is thick and of a light agreeable tint. 
The acorns, unlike those of the Oaks in general which are of an elongated 
oval shape, are broad, round, and depressed at the summit : they are some- 
times from 12 to 18 lines in diameter from side to side, and from 6 to 10 
lines from the base to the summit. The cup, which is nearly closed, is 
thin, and its scales are terminated by short firm points. 
The bark upon the trunk is white, and the wood, though inferior to that 
of the White Oak and the Post Oak, is more compact than would be sup- 
