44 
SPANISH OAK. 
iated, and supported by short petioles. With the first frost they change 
to a dull red, and fall the ensuing month. The acorns are pretty large, 
of a blackish colour, and partly covered with a fine grey dust, which is 
easily rubbed off between the fingers : they are contained in thick cups 
swollen toward the edge, and distinguished from all other species, by hav- 
ing the upper scales bent inward. The oldest trees alone are productive, 
and their fruit never exceeds a few handsful. 
In the winter it is difficult to distinguish the Scrub Oak from the Black 
Jack Oak, which it nearly resembles. Like that, it is crooked, ramified at 
the height of 2 or 3 feet, and covered with a thick, blackish, deeply fur- 
rowed bark : it is, besides, perfectly similar in the color, texture and 
weight of its wood. At Wilmington, the Scrub Oak is the best fuel, and 
is sold separately ; but notwithstanding its abundance in this district it is 
insufficient -for the supply of the inhabitants : its size alone would exclude 
it from use in the arts. 
The general character of this tree forbids the hopes of advantage that 
might be conceived from its flourishing upon the most sterile soils. 
PLATE XXII. 
Ji branch with leaves and fruit of the natural size. 
SPANISH OAK. • 
GIuercus falcata. Q.foliis longé petiolatls, svhpalmato-lohatis, suhtiis exlmic 
tomentosis, lohis falcatis ; cupulâ crateriformi ; glande subglobosâ. 
Quercus elongata, Wjlld. 
This species, like the Black Jack Oak, begins to show itself in New 
Jersey, near Allentown, about 60 miles from Philadelphia. But even at 
this distance it is smaller than in the immediate vicinity of the city, where 
it acquires its perfect development, and where its leaves exhibit their 
appropriate form. Further south, it is constantly found among the most 
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