Part 33

=Quercus rubra=, L.

=Form=.—Height 60-100 feet, diameter 2-5 feet; trunk long and free from limbs when standing in close growth, with a narrow or rounded open crown.

=Leaves=.—Alternate, simple, 5-9 inches long, with 5-7 toothed, bristle-tipped lobes, becoming narrower outward from rounded sinuses, thin and firm, smooth, lusterless dark green above, paler beneath.

=Flowers=.—May, with the leaves; monoecious; the staminate flowers in long hairy catkins, the pistillate on short smooth stalks.

=Fruit=.—Acorns maturing the second autumn after the flowers; cup shallow, saucer-shaped, enclosing only the base of the nut; scales closely-appressed and somewhat glossy; nut oblong-ovoid, 1 inch long; kernel white, bitter.

=Bark=.—Rough with long fissures and flat-topped ridges, gray brown, inner bark light red, not bitter.

=Wood=.—Heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, light red-brown.

=Range=.—Southern Canada and Minnesota to Florida and Texas.

=Distribution in West Virginia=.—A common tree in all parts of the State. Most abundant and of superior size and quality in the high hilly and mountain sections.

=Habitat=.—Rich loamy or gravelly soils of bottom lands, slopes and ridges.

=Notes=.—The Red Oak is most frequently confused with the Black Oak from which it can be distinguished by the light red inner bark, the shallow-cupped acorns and the dull green leaves. This oak is extensively sawed into lumber which is easily worked and capable of a fine finish for furniture and interior work. As a tree for the park or lawn there are few which surpass it.

PIN OAK

=Quercus palustris=, Michx.

=Form=.—Height 50-75 feet, diameter 2-3 feet; trunk usually straight and bearing a conic, well-shaped crown, lower limbs usually drooping and curving upward at the tips.

=Leaves=.—Alternate, simple, much smaller than those of the Red Oak, with 3-7, coarse-toothed, bristle-tipped lobes, with rounded sinuses; dark green and shining above, pale below, and smooth except for bunches of brownish tomentum in the axils of the principal veins.

=Flowers=.—Appear with the leaves; monoecious; staminate flowers in catkins 2-3 inches long; pistillate short-stalked and with red styles.

=Fruit=.—Acorns maturing in autumn of second year after the flowers; cup thin, shallow, about ½ inch across, enclosing about ¼ of the nut; kernel yellowish, bitter.

=Bark=.—Not as rough as that of most of the oaks, but with shallow fissures and broad flat ridges.

=Wood=.—Heavy, hard, strong, light-brown.

=Range=.—Massachusetts and Michigan to Virginia, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

=Distribution in West Virginia=.—Not a common tree. Plentiful near Princeton, Mercer County, and less common in Hardy and Morgan counties; doubtless growing locally in most of the counties south of the Great Kanawha River.

=Habitat=.—Prefers low ground along streams and borders of swamps.

=Notes=.—Pin Oak leaves resemble those of Scarlet Oak, but the appearance of the whole tree is quite different from it. The drooping lower branches and the location of the tree most readily distinguish it, and a comparison of its small acorns with the large acorns of the Scarlet Oak will serve to separate the two species. It is unexcelled as a tree for parks where it grows with a straight trunk and beautiful rounded crown.

SCARLET OAK

=Quercus coccinea=, Muench.

=Form=.—Height, 60-80 feet; diameter 2-3 feet; trunk tapering, usually straight; crown open, and narrow when crowded.

=Leaves=.—Alternate, simple, 3-6 inches long, usually with 7 lobes which are deeply toothed and bristle-tipped at the apex, and separated by oblique sinuses; thin and firm, bright green above, paler beneath, lustrous on both sides; brilliant scarlet in the fall.

=Flowers=.—May, with the leaves; monoecious; staminate flowers on long catkins; the pistillate on short stalks in the leaf axils.