IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
179 
into predominant or subordinate numerical positions. Let 
us pass over to the bluff side next the river, and here we 
may expect to find a few chestnut oaks ( Q . acuminata Mx.)- 
Sarg. As the chestnut oaks we usually find are few and 
small, we look upon them as curiosities in the oak line. 
Rarely do we find a Quercitron or black oak ( Q . velutina 
Lam.) mixed in our typical oak grove. 
Let us pass to southeastern or southern Iowa, and we 
find the relations of the bur, white, scarlet, and red oak 
remaining much the same as in eastern Iowa, except that 
the shingle oak (Q. imbricaria Mx.) or laurel oak, as it is 
called in Iowa, makes itself numerous on the uplands, dis- 
placing in many localities the scarlet oak. On the second 
bottoms we find the swamp white oak ( Q . platanoides 
(Lam.) Ludw.) flourishing, and in the swampy portions of 
the lower bottom the pin oak (Q. palustris Du Roi) occurs 
abundantly. The swamp white oak and the pin oak some- 
times intermingle on neutral ground, but not to mutual 
benefit. Returning to the uplands we find groves of black- 
jack or barren oak ( Q . marylandica Muench) growing fre- 
quently on rather sterile soil. The trees are small, rough 
formed, apparently stunted, much branched, so much so 
that getting wood from these groves is slow and laborious. 
Infrequently we find a water oak ( Q . nigra L.) in these 
black-jack groves. This species occurs along streams and 
swamps in the eastern portion of the United States, but in 
Iowa we have seen it only on the uplands. Passing out on 
the prairie we find many colonies of the ground or scrub 
chestnut oak (Q. prinoides Willd.). The species is small, 
only two or three feet high, of heavy root, and of no 
economic value save the acorns, which are stored by the 
prairie squirrels. The roots are a rather formidable obstacle 
to the breaking of the sod, taxing the patience of the 
breaker and the draft team. On the prairie, too, we find 
the bur oak. Instead of the fine, large trees we have 
scrubs, only a few feet high, but seemingly thriving, in 
small colonies, and apparently striving to be the prototype 
of a future forest. 
