386] ENGELMANN-OAKS OF THE UNITED STATES. 1 5 
nus in 1851 from the American Fork of the Sacramento River, but, through 
a mistake of mine, he located it near Chihuahua. Since then nothing fur¬ 
ther, I believe, has been published about this remarkable oak, though an 
abundance of material and very full notes have been gathered by different 
collectors, principally by Prof. W. H. Brewer and Dr. H. Bolander. 
This species is found throughout the western parts of California from 
Shasta to San Diego, principally in the region of the foot-hills, but does 
not ascend the higher mountains. In some localities it makes a “magnifi¬ 
cent tree” 40 to 60 feet high, with a trunk occasionally 6 feet in diameter, 
but branching 5 or 6 feet from the ground, as most of the large Californian 
oaks of both groups are wont to do. On the coast ranges from Monte Dia¬ 
blo to San Diego it also occurs as a small shrub with small leaves. 
The bark is pale and smoothish in younger, very rough and black in 
older trees. The firm, leathery leaves persist 14 or 15 months on the 
branches; they vary excessively, often on the same tree, from broad ovate 
to narrowly lanceolate; cordate, obtuse, or acute, at base; the margin 
entire, or with a few teeth or sharply and closely dentate; shoots or young 
trees have usually dentate, old and fertile ones more commonly entire 
leaves. In the earliest age the leaves are very slightly concave, and in 
vernation imbricate; they bear on both sides articulated hair, but soon 
become glabrous; the full grown leaves are mostly dark green and shin¬ 
ing, and delicately reticulate, principally on the upper surface. They are 
usually 2-4 inches long and half as wide, or rarely narrower; petioles 
5-9 lines long; in var. fruticosa the leaves are only i-i£ inches long, 
oval, entire, or often very sharply and deeply lobed-dentate; petioles 1-2 
lines long. 
The rhachis of the aments is stellate-canescent, or nearly glabrous; 
calyx-lobes 5 or 6, large and broad, nearly glabrous or ciliate-bearded; 
anthers 3-6, often pointed. Bracts of the sessile (or often peduncled) female 
flowers large, orbicular, membranaceous; the long^ recurved styles not 
rarely 4 or 5 in number. Acorns always elongated, 9-18 lines long, im¬ 
mersed ^ to f in the cup, which I find varying from 6-11 lines in depth 
and 5-6 lines in width; cup-scales elongated acutish, light brown, and 
nearly glabrous. 
On one hand this species approaches to agrifolia , and on the other 
to Sonomensis. 
Dr. Kellogg, in Proc. Cal. Ac. 2, 36 (DC. Prod. 16, 2, 79), scantily de¬ 
scribes an oak under the name of. «^. Mbrehus , which I have no means of 
identifying; possibly it may belong hefe. 
19. «^. myrtifolia , Willd. Willdenow’s description of the foliage, 
which cannot possibly refer to any other oak, together with his locality, 
makes it certain that in Dr. Mellichamp’s very complete specimens we 
have his plant before us, and, thanks to him, I can now reestablish this 
little known and often doubted species. It grows on the poorest sand 
ridges near BlufFton, together with Pinus australis , very rare there, 
but apparently extending along the coast to Florida. It makes an ever- 
