[ 50 3 
GRAY OAK< 
Q,üercus borealis. Q. foliis sinuatis, glabris, sinitbus subacutis ; cupulâ 
subscutelîatâ ; glande turgîde ovatâ. 
The Gray Oak appears, by my father’s notes, to be found further north 
than any other species in America ; in returning from Pludson’s Bay he 
saw it on the St. Lawrence between Quebec and Malabaie, in latitude 
47° 50'. Under that parallel, and near Halifax in Nova Scotia, where I 
first observed it, it is not more than 40 feet high ; and though the bloom 
is annual, the winter is so rigorous and long that the fruit is said to be 
matured only once in three or four years. Three degrees further south, 
in Maine and New Hampshire, and on the shores of Lake Champlain in 
Vermont, it is more multiplied, and is 50 or 60 feet in height and 18 inches 
in diameter. It is called by the inhabitants Gray Oak, but it has been 
confounded by botanists with the Red Oak, to which it bears a close ana- 
logy in its foliage, as it does to the Scarlet Oak in its fruit : on this resem- 
blance I have founded the latin specific name ambigua. 
The leaves are large, smooth, and deeply sinuated at right angles to the 
main rib. The acorns are of the middle size, rounded at the end, and 
contained in scaly cups. 
The wood is similar to that of the other species included under the 
common name of Red Oak, Its coarse and open texture renders it unfit 
for any use except to contain dry wares ; but in districts where Oak wood 
is rare, recourse is had, for other purposes, to several species of inferior 
quality, which are still superior to the Birch, the Beech, and the Pine. 
Thus the Gray Oak is employed for the knees of vessels and for wheel- 
wright’s work ; it is even preferred to the Red Oak, as being stronger and 
more durable. 
This tree is without interest, as the regions in which it grows possess 
other species in every respect more valuable, such as the White Oak, the 
Swamp White Oak, and the Rock Chesnut Oak. 
PLATE XXVI. 
A branch with leaves and fruit of the natural size. 
