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MOSS Y- CUP OAK. 
duERcus OLIVÆFORMIS. Q, fo/us oblougis, glcùbris, siibtus glciucis, 'profunde 
inæqualiterqiie smuato-lobatis ; fructu ovato ; cupula projundim craterata, 
superne crinitâ ; glande olivæformi. 
I HAVE' observed this species of Oak only in the state of New York, on 
the banks of the Hudson above Albany and in Genessee, where it is so 
rare that it has hitherto received no specific name. 
Its leaves are of a light green above and whitish beneath : they resemble 
those of the White Oak in colour , but differ from them in form, being 
larger, and very deeply and irregularly laciniated, with rounded lobes so 
various in shape that it is impossible to find two leaves that are alike. 
The acorns are of an elongated oval form, and are enclosed in cups of 
nearly the same configuration, of which the scales are prominent and 
recurved, except near the edge, where they terminate in slender flexible 
filaments : From this peculiarity I have derived the name of Mossy-cup 
Oak. 
This tree is 60 or 70 feet in height, with a spacious summit and an im- 
posing aspect. The bark is white and laminated ; but the tree is chiefly 
remarkable for the form and disposition of its secondary branches, which 
are slender, flexible, and always inclined toward the earth. This pecu- 
liarity alone would render it a valuable acquisition for parks and gardens. 
As I have met wnth this species only in uninhabited places, I have had 
little opportunity of examining its wood ; as far as I can judge, it is not 
better than that of the White Oak, though far superior to that of the Red 
Oak. 
PLATE III. 
Leaves of the natural size. Fig. 1, Jin acorn with the cup. Fig. 2, .In 
acorn without the cup. 
[See Nuttal’s Supplement, vol. I. p. 14.] 
