188 
IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
or the upper acute, appressed. Quercus ambigua Mx., L 
Hist. Arb. Am., 2, 120, PL 24, 1812. 
The red oak is a common tree of the upland woods, flow- 
ering in May and June, and ripening its acorns in October 
or November. With us individual trees rarely measure 
four feet in diameter, and the majority range from two to 
three feet. The bark is dark gray, and but slightly rough- 
ened on the branches, but is rarely deeply furrowed 
and darker colored on the trunk. The tree is a rapid 
grower, but gives coarse-grained wood from which inferior 
lumber may be sawed, or when dry, a rapid burning fire 
wood giving considerable heat may be had. Some use has 
been made of this oak for certain kinds of furniture. In 
the days of board fences this oak was taken by the farmers 
to local mills and made into six or eight-inch width lum- 
ber for fence material. The users claimed that the lumber 
from this species was less liable to warp than other availa- 
ble kinds. A limited use of the red oak for fence posts 
showed early decay of the portions in contact with the 
soil. This oak does very well for foundation piling. 
The species ranges west of our limits to Kansas and 
Texas and eastward to Nova Scotia. Within our limits the 
primeval individuals have been mostly removed, but a 
sturdy second growth has taken their places. Our speci- 
mens are from Johnson, Appanoose, Decatur, Ringgold, 
Union, Page, Fremont, and Pottawattamie counties. We 
have observed the species in Winneshiek, Allamakee, Clay- 
ton, Wapello, Lee, Van Buren, Taylor, and Montgomery 
counties. The State University herbarium has specimens 
from Winnebago, Cerro Gordo, Dallas, Louisa, Webster, 
Emmet, and Delaware counties. Professor Macbride 
reports the species from Humboldt, Dickinson, and 
Dubuque counties; Professor Pammel, from Woodbury, 
Hardin, and Boone counties; Messrs. Nagel and Haupt, 
from Scott county; Professor Fink, from Fayette county;. 
Professor Bessey, from Des Moines county; Messrs. Barnes, 
Reppert, and Miller, from Muscatine county; Mr. Gow, 
from Adair county; Mr. Mills, by letter, from Henry 
county; and Mr. J. P. Anderson, by note, from Lucas. 
