2-3 feet; attaining southward of the Great Lakes and in the Ohio basin
much greater dimensions; roughest of all the oaks, except the bur oak,
in general aspect; trunk erect, continuous, in young trees often beset
at point of branching with down-growing, scraggly branchlets, surmounted
by a rather regular pyramidal head, the lower branches horizontal or
declining, often descending to the ground, with a short, stiff,
abundant, and bushy spray; smaller twigs ridgy, widening beneath buds;
foliage a dark shining green; heads of large trees less regular, rather
open, with a general resemblance to the head of the white oak, but
narrower at the base, with less contorted limbs.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk and larger branches thick, dark grayish-brown,
longitudinally striate, with flaky scales; bark of young stems,
branches, and branchlets darker, separating in loose scales which curl
back, giving the tree its shaggy aspect; season's shoots
yellowish-green.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds brown, roundish-ovate, obtuse. Leaves
simple, alternate, 3-8 inches long, 2-4 wide, downy on both sides when
unfolding, at maturity thick and firm, smooth and dark shining green
above, slightly to conspicuously whitish-downy beneath, in autumn
brownish-yellow; obovate, coarsely and deeply crenate or obtusely
shallow-lobed, when opening sometimes pointed and tapering to a
wedge-shaped base, often constricted near the center; leafstalk short;
stipules linear, soon falling.
=Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile catkins 2-3 inches long, thread hairy;
calyx deeply 3-7-parted, pale yellow, hairy; stamens 5-8; anthers
yellow, glabrous: pistillate flowers tomentose, on rather long, hairy
peduncles; stigmas red.
=Fruit.=--Variable, on stems 1-3 inches long, maturing the first season,
single or frequently in twos: cup rounded, rather thin, deep, rough to
mossy, often with fringed margins: acorn about 1 inch long,
oblong-ovoid, more or less tapering: meat sweet, edible.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in any good
soil, wet or dry, but prefers a position on the edge of moist or boggy
land, where its roots can find a constant supply of water; growth fairly
rapid; seldom affected by insects or disease; occasionally offered by
nurserymen and rather less difficult to transplant than most of the
oaks. Its sturdy, rugged habit and rich dark green foliage make it a
valuable tree for ornamental plantations or even for streets.
[Illustration: PLATE XL.--Quercus bicolor.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower, side view.
4. Sterile flower, front view.
5. Fertile flowers.
6. Fruiting branch.
=Quercus Prinus, L.=
CHESTNUT OAK. ROCK CHESTNUT OAK.
=Habitat and Range.=--Woods, rocky banks, hill slopes.
Along the Canadian shore of Lake Erie.
Maine,--Saco river and Mt. Agamenticus, near the southern coast (York
county); New Hampshire,--belts or patches in the eastern part of the
state and along the southern border, Hinsdale, Winchester, Brookline,
Manchester, Hudson; Vermont,--western part of the state throughout, not
common; abundant at Smoke mountain at an altitude of 1300 feet, and
along the western flank of the Green mountains, at least in Addison
county; Massachusetts,--eastern sections, Sterling, Lancaster, Russell,
Middleboro, rare in Medford and Sudbury, frequent on the Blue hills;
Rhode Island,--locally common; Connecticut,--common.
South to Delaware and along the mountains to Georgia, extending
nearly to the summit of Mt. Pisgah in North Carolina; west to
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama.
=Habit.=--A small or medium-sized tree, 25-50 feet high, with a trunk
diameter of 1-2-1/2 feet, assuming noble proportions southward, often
reaching a height of 75-100 feet and trunk diameter of 5-6 feet; trunk
tall, straight, continuous to the top of the tree, scarcely tapering to
the point of ramification, surmounted by a spacious, open head.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk and large branches deep gray to dark brown or
blackish, in firm, broad, continuous ridges, with small, close surface
scales; bark of young trees and of branchlets smooth, brown, and more or
less lustrous; season's shoots light brown.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds ovate to cylindrical, mostly acute,
brownish. Leaves simple, alternate, 5-8 inches long, 2-5 inches wide,
dark green and smooth above, paler and more or less downy beneath;
outline obovate to oval, undulate-crenate; apex blunt-pointed; base
wedge-shaped, obtuse or slightly rounded, often unequal-sided; veins
straight, parallel, prominent beneath; leafstalk 1/2-1-1/2 inches long;
stipules linear, soon falling.
=Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile catkins 2-3 inches long; calyx
5-9-parted, yellow, hairy; divisions oblong, densely pubescent; stamens
5-9; anthers yellow, glabrous: pistillate flowers with hairy scales and
dark red stigmas.
=Fruit.=--Seldom abundant, maturing the first season, variable in size,
on stems usually equal to or shorter than the leaf-stems: cup thin,
hemispheric or somewhat top-shaped, deep; scales small, knobby-thickened
at the base: acorns 3/4-1-1/2 inches long, ovoid-conical, sweet.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers a light
gravelly or stony soil; rapid-growing and free from disease; more easily
and safely transplanted than most oaks; occasionally offered by
nurserymen, who propagate it from the seed. Its vigorous, clean habit of
growth and handsome foliage should give it a place in landscape
gardening and street use.
[Illustration: PLATE XLI.--Quercus Prinus.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower, back view.
4. Sterile flower, front view.
5. Fertile flowers.
6. Fruiting branch.
7. Variant leaf.
=Quercus Muhlenbergii, Engelm.=
_Quercus acuminata, Sarg._
CHESTNUT OAK.
=Habitat and Range.=--Dry hillsides, limestone ridges, rich bottoms.
Ontario.
Vermont,--Gardner's island, Lake Champlain; Ferrisburg (Pringle);
Connecticut,--frequent (J. N. Bishop, 1895); on the limestone formation
in the neighborhood of Kent (Litchfield county, C. K. Averill); often
confounded by collectors with _Q. Prinus_; probably there are other
stations. Not authoritatively reported from the other New England
states.
South to Delaware and District of Columbia, along the mountains to
northern Alabama; west to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Indian
territory, and Texas.
=Habit.=--A medium-sized tree, 30-40 feet high, with a trunk diameter of
1-2 feet, attaining much greater dimensions in the basins of the Ohio,
Mississippi, and their tributaries; trunk in old trees enlarged at the
base, erect, branches rather short for the genus, forming a narrow
oblong or roundish head.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk and large branches grayish or pale ash-colored,
comparatively thin, flaky; branchlets grayish-brown; season's shoots in
early summer purplish-green with pale dots.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds ovate, acute to obtuse, brownish. Leaves
simple, alternate; in the typical form as recognized by Muhlenburg, 3-6
inches long, 1-1/2-2 inches wide, glossy dark green above, pale and
minutely downy beneath; outline lanceolate or lanceolate-oblong, with
rather equal, coarse, sharp, and often inflexed teeth; apex acuminate;
base wedge-shaped or acute; stipules soon falling. There is also a form
of the species in which the leaves are much larger, 5-7 inches in length
and 3-5 inches in width, broadly ovate or obovate, with rounded teeth;
distinguishable from _Q. Prinus_ only by the bark and fruit.
=Inflorescence.=--May. Appearing with the leaves; sterile catkins 2-4
inches long; calyx yellow, hairy, segments 5-8, ciliate; stamens 5-8,
anthers yellow: pistillate flowers sessile or on short spikes; stigma
red.
=Fruit.=--Maturing the first season, sessile or short-peduncled: cup
covering about half the nut, thin, shallow, with small, rarely much
thickened scales: acorn ovoid or globose, about 3/4 inch long.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in New England; grows in all good dry or
moist soils, in open or partly shaded situations; maintains a nearly
uniform rate of growth till maturity, and is not seriously affected by
insects. It forms a fine individual tree and is useful in forest
plantations. Propagated from seed.
[Illustration: PLATE XLII.--Quercus Muhlenbergii.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower.
4. Fertile flowers.
5. Fruiting branch.
=Quercus prinoides, Willd.=
SCRUB WHITE OAK. SCRUB CHESTNUT OAK.
More or less common throughout the states east of the Mississippi;
westward apparently grading into _Q. Muhlenbergii_, within the limits of
New England mostly a low shrub, rarely assuming a tree-like habit. The
leaves vary from rather narrow-elliptical to broadly obovate, are rather
regularly and coarsely toothed, bright green and often lustrous on the
upper surface.
=Quercus rubra, L.=
RED OAK.
=Habitat and Range.=--Growing impartially in a great variety of soils,
but not on wet lands.
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to divide west of Lake Superior.
Maine,--common, at least south of the central portions; New
Hampshire,--extending into Coos county, far north of the
White mountains; Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and
Connecticut,--common; probably in most parts of New England the most
common of the genus; found higher up the slopes of mountains than the
white oak.
South to Tennessee, Virginia, and along mountain ranges to Georgia;
reported from Florida; west to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, and
Texas.
=Habit.=--The largest of the New England oaks, 50-85 feet high, with a
diameter of 2-6 feet above the swell of the roots; occasionally
attaining greater dimensions; trunk usually continuous to the top of the
tree, often heavily buttressed; point of branching higher than in the
white oak; branches large, less contorted, and rising at a sharper
angle, the lower sometimes horizontal; branchlets rather slender; head
extremely variable, in old trees with ample space for growth, open,
well-proportioned, and imposing; sometimes oblong in outline, wider near
the top, and sometimes symmetrically rounded, not so broad, however, as
the head of the white oak; conspicuous in summer by its bright green,
abundant foliage, which turns to dull purplish-red in autumn.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk and lower parts of branches in old trees dark
gray, firmly, coarsely, and rather regularly ridged, smooth elsewhere;
in young trees greenish mottled gray, smooth throughout; season's shoots
at first green, taking a reddish tinge in autumn, marked with pale,
scattered dots.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds ovate, conical, sharp-pointed. Leaves
simple, alternate, 4-8 inches long, 3-5 inches broad, bright green
above, paler beneath, dull brown in autumn; outline oval or obovate,
sometimes scarcely distinguishable by the character of its lobing from
_Q. tinctoria_; in the typical form, lobes broadly triangular or oblong,
with parallel sides bristle-pointed; leafstalks short; stipules linear,
soon falling.
=Inflorescence.=--Earliest of the oaks, appearing in late April or early
May, when the leaves are half-grown; sterile catkins 3-5 inches long;
calyx mostly 4-lobed; lobes rounded; stamens mostly 4; anthers yellow:
pistillate flowers short-stemmed; calyx lobes mostly 3 or 4; stigmas
long, spreading.
=Fruit.=--Maturing in the second year, single or in pairs, sessile or
short-stalked: cup sometimes turbinate, usually saucer-shaped with a
flat or rounded base, often contracted at the opening and surmounted by
a kind of border; scales closely imbricated, reddish-brown, more or less
downy, somewhat glossy, triangular-acute to obtuse, pubescent: acorn
nearly cylindrical or ovoid, tapering to a broad, rounded top.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in all
well-drained soils, but prefers a rich, moist loam; more readily
obtainable than most of our oaks; in common with other trees of the
genus, nursery trees must be transplanted frequently to be moved with
safety; grows rapidly and is fairly free from disfiguring insects; the
oak-pruner occasionally lops off its twigs. When once established, it
grows as rapidly as the sugar maple, and is worthy of much more extended
use in street and landscape plantations. Propagated from the seed.
[Illustration: PLATE XLIII.--Quercus rubra.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower.
4. Fertile flowers, side view.
5. Fruiting branch.
=Quercus coccinea, Wang.=
SCARLET OAK.
=Habitat and Range.=--Most common in dry soil.
Ontario.
Maine,--valley of the Androscoggin, southward; New Hampshire and
Vermont,--not authoritatively reported by recent observers;
Massachusetts,--more common in the eastern than western sections,
sometimes covering considerable areas; Rhode Island and
Connecticut,--common.
South to the middle states and along the mountains to North
Carolina and Tennessee; reported from Florida; west to Minnesota,
Nebraska, and Missouri.
=Habit.=--A medium-sized tree, 30-50 feet high and 1-3 feet in trunk
diameter; attaining greater dimensions southward; trunk straight and
tapering, branches regular, long, comparatively slender, not contorted,
the lower nearly horizontal, often declined at the ends; branchlets
slender; head open, narrow-oblong or rounded, graceful; foliage deeply
cut, shining green in summer and flaming scarlet in autumn; the most
brilliant and most elegant of the New England oaks.
=Bark.=--Trunk in old trees dark gray, roughly and firmly ridged; inner
bark red; young trees and branches smoothish, often marked with dull red
seams and more or less mottled with gray.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, reddish-brown, ovate to oval,
acutish, partially hidden by enlarged base of petiole. Leaves simple,
alternate, extremely variable, more commonly 3-6 inches long, two-thirds
as wide, bright green and shining above, paler beneath, smooth on both
sides but often with a tufted pubescence on the axils beneath, turning
scarlet in autumn, deeply lobed, the rounded sinuses sometimes reaching
nearly to the midrib; lobes 5-9, rather slender and set at varying
angles, sparingly toothed and bristly tipped; apex acute; base truncate
to acute; leafstalk 1-1-1/2 inches long, slender, swollen at base.
=Inflorescence.=--Early in May. Appearing when the leaves are half
grown; sterile catkins 2-4 inches long; calyx most commonly 4-parted;
pubescent; stamens commonly 4, exserted; anthers yellow, glabrous:
pistillate flowers red; stigmas long, spreading, reflexed.
=Fruit.=--Maturing in the autumn of the second year, single or in twos
or threes, sessile or on rather short footstalks: cup top-shaped or
cup-shaped, about half the length of the acorn, occasionally nearly
enclosing it, smooth, more or less polished, thin-edged; scales closely
appressed, firm, elongated, triangular, sides sometimes rounded,
homogeneous in the same plant: acorn 1/2-3/4 inch long, variable in
shape, oftenest oval to oblong: kernel white within; less bitter than
kernel of the black oak.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in any
light, well-drained soil, but prefers a fertile loam. Occasionally
offered by nurserymen, but as it is disposed to make unsymmetrical young
trees it is not grown in quantity, and it is not desirable for streets.
Its rapid growth, hardiness, beauty of summer foliage, and its brilliant
colors in autumn make it desirable in ornamental plantations. Propagated
from the seed.
[Illustration: PLATE XLIV.--Quercus coccinea.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flowers, side view.
4. Fertile flower, side view.
5. Fruiting branch.
=Quercus velutina, Lam.=
_Quercus tinctoria, Bartram. Quercus coccinea_, var. _tinctoria, Gray._
BLACK OAK. YELLOW OAK.
=Habitat and Range.=--Poor soils; dry or gravelly uplands; rocky ridges.
Southern and western Ontario.
Maine,--York county; New Hampshire,--valley of the lower Merrimac and
eastward, absent on the highlands, reappearing within three or four
miles of the Connecticut, ceasing at North Charlestown;
Vermont,--western and southeastern sections; Massachusetts,--abundant
eastward; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--frequent.
South to the Gulf states; west to Minnesota, Kansas, Indian
territory, and Texas.
=Habit.=--One of our largest oaks, 50-75 feet high and 2-4 feet in
diameter, exceptionally much larger, attaining its maximum in the Ohio
and Mississippi basins; resembling _Q. coccinea_ in the general
disposition of its mostly stouter branches; head wide-spreading,
rounded; trunk short; foliage deep shining green, turning yellowish or
reddish brown in autumn.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk dark gray or blackish, often lighter near the
seashore, thick, usually rough near the ground even in young trees, in
old trees deeply furrowed, separating into narrow, thick, and firmly
adherent block-like strips; inner bark thick, yellow, and bitter;
branches and branchlets a nearly uniform, mottled gray; season's shoots
scurfy-pubescent.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds 1/8-1/4 inch long, bluntish to pointed,
conspicuously clustered at ends of branches. Leaves simple, alternate,
of two forms so distinct as to suggest different species, _a_ (Plate
XLV, 8) varying towards _b_ (Plate XLV, 6), and _b_ often scarcely
distinguishable from the leaf of the scarlet oak; in both forms outline
obovate to oval, lobes usually 7, densely woolly when opening, more or
less pubescent or scurfy till midsummer or later, dark shining green
above, lighter beneath, becoming brown or dull red in autumn.
Form _a_, sinuses shallow, lobes broad, rounded, mucronate.
Form _b_, sinuses deep, extending halfway to the midrib or farther,
oblong or triangular, bristle-tipped.
=Inflorescence.=--Early in May. Appearing when the leaves are half
grown; sterile catkins 2-5 inches long, with slender, pubescent threads;
calyx usually 3-4-lobed; lobes ovate, acute to rounded, hairy-pubescent;
stamens 3-7, commonly 4-5; anthers yellow: pistillate flowers reddish,
pubescent, at first nearly sessile; stigmas 3, red, divergent,
reflexed.
=Fruit.=--Maturing the second year; nearly sessile or on short
footstalks: cup top-shaped to hemispherical; scales less firm than in
_Q. coccinea_, tips papery and transversely rugulose, obtuse or rounded,
or some of them acutish, often lacerate-edged, loose towards the thick
and open edge of the cup: acorn small: kernel yellow within and bitter.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in
well-drained soils, but prefers a rich, moist loam; of vigorous and
rapid growth when young, but as it soon begins to show dead branches and
becomes unsightly, it is not a desirable tree to plant, and is rarely
offered by nurserymen. Propagated from seed.
=Note.=--Apparently runs into _Q. coccinea_, from which it may be
distinguished by its rougher and darker trunk, the yellow color and
bitter taste of the inner bark, its somewhat larger and more pointed
buds, the greater pubescence of its inflorescence, young shoots and
leaves, the longer continuance of scurf or pubescence upon the leaves,
the yellow or dull red shades of the autumn foliage, and by the yellow
color and bitter taste of the nut.
[Illustration: PLATE XLV.--Quercus velutina.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower, 4-lobed calyx.
4. Sterile flower, 3-lobed calyx.
5. Fertile flower.
6. Fruiting branch.
7. Fruit.
8. Variant leaf.
=Quercus palustris, Du Roi.=
PIN OAK. SWAMP OAK. WATER OAK.
=Habitat and Range.=--Low grounds, borders of forests, wet woods, river
banks, islets in swamps.
Ontario.
Northern New England,--no station reported; Massachusetts,--Amherst
(Stone, _Bull. Torrey Club_, IX, 57; J. E. Humphrey, _Amherst Trees_);
Springfield, south to Connecticut, rare; Rhode Island,--southern
portions, bordering the great Kingston swamp, and on the margin of the
Pawcatuck river (L. W. Russell); Connecticut,--common along the sound,
frequent northward, extending along the valley of the Connecticut river
to the Massachusetts line.
South to the valley of the lower Potomac in Virginia; west to
Minnesota, east Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Indian territory.
=Habit.=--A medium-sized tree, 40-50 feet high, with trunk diameter of
1-2 feet, occasionally reaching a height of 60-70 feet (L. W. Russell),
but attaining its maximum of 100 feet in height and upward in the basins
of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers; trunk rather slender, often fringed
with short, drooping branchlets, lower tier of branches short and mostly
descending, the upper long, slender, and often beset with short, lateral
shoots, which give rise to the common name; head graceful, open, rounded
and symmetrical when young, in old age becoming more or less irregular;
foliage delicate; bright shining green in autumn, often turning to a
brilliant scarlet.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk dark, furrowed and broken in old trees, in young
trees grayish-brown, smoothish; branchlets shining, light brown.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds short, conical, acute. Leaves simple,
alternate, 3-5 inches long, bright green, smooth and shining above,
duller beneath, with tufted hairs in the angles of the veins; outline
broadly obovate to ovate; lobes divergent, triangular, toothed or
entire, bristle-pointed; sinuses broad, rounded; leafstalk slender;
stipules linear, soon falling.
=Inflorescence.=--May. Appearing when the leaves are half grown; sterile
catkins 2-4 inches long; segments of calyx mostly 4 or 5, obtuse or
rounded, somewhat lacerate; stamens mostly 4 or 5, anthers yellow,
glabrous: pistillate flowers with broadly ovate scales; stigmas stout,
red, reflexed.
=Fruit.=--Abundant, maturing the second season, short-stemmed: cup
saucer-shaped, with firm, appressed scales, shallow: acorns ovoid to
globose, about 1/2 inch long, often striate, breadth sometimes equal to
entire length of fruit.
=Horticultural Value.=--Probably hardy throughout New England; grows in
wet soils, but prefers a rich, moist loam; of rapid and uniform
growth, readily and safely transplanted, and but little disfigured by
insects; obtainable in leading nurseries. Propagated from the seed.
[Illustration: PLATE XLVI.--Quercus palustris.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower, side view.
4. Fertile flower, side view.
5. Fruiting branch.
=Quercus ilicifolia, Wang.=
_Quercus nana, Sarg. Quercus pumila, Sudw._
SCRUB OAK. BEAR OAK.
=Habitat and Range.=--In poor soils; sandy plains, gravelly or rocky
hills.
Maine,--frequent in eastern and southern sections and upon Mount Desert
island; New Hampshire,--as far north as Conway, more common near the
lower Connecticut; Vermont,--in the eastern and southern sections as far
north as Bellows Falls; Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and
Connecticut,--too abundant, forming in favorable situations dense
thickets, sometimes covering several acres.
South to Ohio and the mountain regions of North Carolina and
Kentucky; west to the Alleghany mountains.
=Habit.=--Shrub or small tree, usually 3-8 feet high, but frequently
reaching a height of 15-25 feet; trunk short, sometimes in peaty swamps
10-13 inches in diameter near the ground, branches much contorted,
throwing out numerous branchlets of similar habit, forming a stiff,
flattish head; beautiful for a brief week in spring by the delicate
greens and reds of the opening leaves and reds and yellows of the
numerous catkins. Sometimes associated with _Q. prinoides_.
=Bark.=--Old trunks dark gray, with small, closely appressed scales;
small trunks and branches grayish-brown, not furrowed or scaly; younger
branches marked with pale yellow, raised dots; season's shoots
yellowish-green, with a tawny, scurfy pubescence.