Part 18

The specific name refers to the light color of the wood and bark in contrast with that of the black oaks. It is found from Southern Maine to Northern Florida and westward.

Quercus platanoides]

A large tree, 60 to 80 feet high, common in swamps and where the soil is moist. The bark shags off along the branches, and the trunk is more deeply fissured than that of the white oak. The twigs are coarser than those of the white oak, often shorter in length, and the stems are rounder. Short, thick-set buds and alternate leaf-scars. Acorns set in a shallow cup, often mossy-fringed at the margin; the nut is sweet and edible.

Page 86 ]

When once the swamp white oak’s peculiarities are known it is seldom confused with any other oak, even in winter. Its unkempt appearance, the peeling away of the bark along the branches, and its generally straggling habit of growth distinguish it quite as much in the winter as at any other season of the year; it is at all times the untidy member of the oak family. The branches begin very low down on the trunk of this oak, and one can distinguish the tree from a distance in this way. Emerson says that in warm and sheltered situations it is a neat and beautiful tree, but that when it is too much exposed to the east or north wind it shows the effect by its ragged appearance; as one sees the tree generally through Southeastern New England one deduces from its appearance that the prevalent winds are those from the east and north.

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, and tough, and is used for the same things that that of the white oak is used for, and is not distinguished from it commercially.

The specific name, platanoides (platanus-like), comes from the generic name of the plane tree or buttonwood, and refers to the bark of the young trees, which, like that of the buttonwood, separates and curls off in large thin flakes along the branches.

The swamp white oak grows in low, wet ground throughout the Northeastern States.

Quercus macrocarpa]

A large tree, sometimes 160 feet high. The bark is corky, with corky ridges along the twigs. The buds are like those of the swamp white oak, but the scales are more pointed. Often the dried stipule or a piece of it is left, as it is persistent in this species. Alternate leaf-scars. The acorn is almost entirely enclosed in a thick cup with a mossy fringed border.

The curious corky ridges along the twigs distinguish the mossy cup oak at all seasons of the year, and its aspect in winter is unusual and picturesque, owing to this peculiarity.

Quercus macrocarpa

Page 88 ]

The branches are irregular, the buds are small, and the acorns are large and enclosed for more than half their length in a cup covered with prominent scales and bordered with a thread-like fringe. Michaux says that these threads do not appear when the tree is in the midst of a forest or when the summers are not very warm.

The wood of the mossy cup oak is even more valuable than that of the white oak. It is heavy, strong, hard, tough, close-grained, and durable in contact with the soil. It is used for the same purposes as that of the white oak.

One can easily trace the family resemblance between the mossy cup oak and the cork tree of Southern Europe, which yields the cork of commerce.

The specific name, macrocarpa, comes from two Greek words meaning large fruit, and refers to the cups and acorns. The mossy cup oak is found in the West and in certain localities in New England. It is found on the banks of the Penobscot River in Maine, on the shores of Lake Champlain in Vermont, and among the Berkshire Hills, near Stockbridge, and on the banks of the Ware River in Massachusetts.

Quercus prinus]

A middle-sized or small tree usually, although it is sometimes 100 feet high. The bark does not flake. The buds are pointed,—an exception for the white oaks. The buds are long in proportion to their width. There is no pubescence on the bud, the edges of the scales are bleached and have turned gray, the centres remaining a rich reddish brown. Smooth, glossy twigs, move apt to be ridged than those of the white oak. Alternate leaf-scars. The acorn is covered nearly halfway with a thick cup. The kernel is sweetish and edible.

The chestnut oak is distinguished in winter by its beautiful smooth bark and by its pointed buds, entirely unlike those of the other white oaks. It sometimes grows to be a large tree, but in New England it is usually middle-sized or small.

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, and close-grained, and is used for making fences, railway ties, and for fuel. The bark is rich in tannin, and is used for tanning leather.

The specific name was derived from the Greek, and was the ancient name for an oak tree.

The chestnut oak is found on the banks of the Saco River and near Mount Agamenticus in Southern Maine, among the Blue Hills and in rich woods in Massachusetts, and it becomes more common as one goes south.

Quercus minor

Page 91 ]

The dwarf chestnut, or chinquapin oak (Quercus prinoides), is the smallest member of the oak family in New England, and seldom grows to be more than two or three feet high. It is found in Massachusetts and in the South and West.

It is a small shrub of no commercial value, although its little branches are rich in tannin. The specific name, prinoides, means prinus-like, the name of the chestnut oak, and refers to the general resemblance between the two species.

Quercus minor]