The _leaves_ are alternate, simple, 5 to 10 inches long and 3 to 8
inches wide, thick leathery shallow or deeply lobed, the shape varying
greatly. When mature, the leaves are dark green and shiny on the upper
surface, pale on the lower, more or less covered with down, and with
conspicuous rusty brown hairs in the forks of the veins.
The _winter buds_ are large, strongly angled, gray and hairy. The
_fruit_ matures the second season. The light brown nut is from 1/2 to 1
inch long, more or less hemispherical in shape, and from 1/2 to 3/4
enclosed in the thin, dark brown, scaly cup. The scales on the upper
part of the cup are loosely imbricated. The kernel is yellow and
extremely bitter.
The _wood_ is hard, heavy, strong, coarse-grained and checks easily. It
is a bright red-brown with a thin outer edge of paler sapwood. It is
used for the same purposes as red oak, under which name it is put on the
market. Its growth is rather slow.
The jack oak, _Quercus ellipsoidalis_ Hill, is a smaller tree found
frequently alongside black oak in the northern third of the State. The
acorn is ellipsoid, small and enclosed in a deep cup, whose scales are
closely appressed. The winter buds are slightly angular, smooth, and
red-brown in color. Many small, drooping branches are sent out near
the ground, which soon die, and the stubs or "pins" have given this
oak the name of northern pin oak.
+PIN OAK+ _Quercus palustris_ Muench.
PIN oak is rarely found naturally except on the rich moist soil of
bottom lands and the borders of swamps. It is usually not abundant in
any locality, but found scattered with other kinds of trees. It more
commonly attains heights of 50 to 70 feet, with diameters up to 2 feet,
but sometimes larger. The tree commonly has a single, upright stem with
numerous long, tough branches, the lower ones drooping, the middle
horizontal, and the upper ascending. Many of the lower branches soon die
and their stubs are the "pins" which give the tree its name.
[Illustration: PIN OAK