IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
61 
IJlmiis ainericana L. White elm. Common on banks of 
streams and in valleys, sometimes growing a little way up the 
sides of bluffs and occasionally found on upland. Attains its 
greatest size on low ground. Well distributed throughout the 
county. Frequently planted as a shade tree 
TJlmus fulva L. Red elm. Slippery elm. Found only on 
low land. Common. A smaller species than the preceding. 
Ulmus racemosa Thomas. Rock elm. A rare species which 
we have not found within the county. Has been reported by 
an early settler, well acquainted with the native timber, as 
growing in scattered locations along the west branch of the 
Middle Nodaway. 
Quercus macrocarpa Michx. Bur oak. Scrub oak. This 
species is very common and occurs most frequently on the 
sides and summits of river bluffs and on the high prairie, 
where it is a gnarled, stunted, shrubby tree, varying in height 
from ten to twenty feet. Occasionally, however, it may be 
found growing in rich river bottoms, where it becomes much 
straighter, resembling the white oak in its habit of growth 
and attaining a height of thirty or forty feet. It is the most 
abundant species of oak and one of the most abundant trees in 
Adair county. On the prairie it and the hazel appear to be 
inseparable companions. The bur oak is almost the only tree 
which safely resisted the prairie fires and grew in abundance 
on the open prairie, before the advent of civilization. Clumps 
of it are found scattered over the prairie at intervals — 
remnants, evidently, of the more abundant growth which once 
covered the country. 
Quercus rubra L. Red oak. A handsome, straight tree, 
found in tolerable abundance on the bluffs near the larger 
streams and occasionally on bottom land or in thickets of bur 
oak on the high prairie. 
Quercus alba White oak. Not uncommon. Found along 
the larger streams — seldom, if ever, on prairie. Prefers rough, 
clay bluffs. 
Quercus coccinea var. ti^ictoria Wang. Black oak. Not so 
abundant as the red oak and occupies the same habitat. Does 
not attain the size of either of the preceding spe’cies. 
Negunclo aceroides Moench. Box elder. This is probably 
the most common of all the trees native to Adair county. It is 
found along all the streams wherever there is any timber at 
all and is often planted on lawns and in groves on the prairie, 
where it flourishes. 
