Part 35

=Distribution in West Virginia=.—Confined, as far as known, to a few trees on the north side of Great Kanawha River near Charleston.

=Habitat=.—Dry soil.

=Notes=.—This tree, which is rare in West Virginia, must be listed in the class of unimportant trees. Its wood is comparatively inferior and it is less desirable for ornamental purposes than many other species.

SCRUB OAK

=Quercus ilicifolia=, Wang.

=Form=.—Height 4-20 feet, diameter 2-6 inches; trunk short, branches stiff, contorted forming a flat-topped irregular head.

=Leaves=.—Alternate, simple, 2-5 inches long, usually 5-lobed, with shallow sinuses and sharp, bristle-tipped divisions of the lobes; leathery, dark green and lustrous above, coated beneath with a dense white pubescence.

=Flowers=.—May, with the leaves; monoecious; staminate flowers on long catkins, the pistillate on short tomentose stalks, and with red stigmas.

=Fruit=.—Acorns mature in second autumn after the flowers; cup deep, reddish-brown and soft downy within, with light brown scales, the outer row forming a narrow fringe around the edge; nut ovoid, about half enclosed in the cup; kernel yellow.

=Bark=.—Dark gray and scaly on old trunks.

=Wood=.—Strong, hard, with brown heartwood.

=Range=.—Maine to southern Virginia, west to Ohio.

=Distribution in West Virginia=.—Common along the Alleghany Mountains and in the Eastern Panhandle.

=Habitat=.—Dry soils of slopes and mountain tops.

=Notes=.—This oak is usually a shrub in West Virginia, but it sometimes reaches the form and size of a small tree. In many places it grows in dense thickets covering large areas on mountain sides and flats. The red-brown dry leaves often hang on over winter, giving rise to a common local name, “Red-brush.”

BLACK JACK OAK

=Quercus marilandica=, Muench.

=Form.=—Height 30-50 feet, diameter 12-18 inches; crown narrow and compact with short stout branches.

=Leaves.=—Alternate, simple, 6-7 inches long, nearly as wide as long, rounded and narrow at the base, broadening outward, with about 3 broad and shallow lobes which are dentate; leathery, dark green and lustrous above, paler and often coated with a rusty, scurfy pubescence beneath.

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

=Fruit.=—Acorns mature the second autumn after the flowers; cup deep, covering about ½ of the nut, downy within, scales large, reddish-brown and loose.

=Bark.=—Rough, with deep fissures and dark ridges which are broken into broad angular plates.

=Wood.=—Heavy, hard, strong, dark brown.

=Range.=—New York to Florida and Texas, west to Nebraska.

=Distribution in West Virginia.=—Observed only on the western slope of Blue Ridge Mountains in Jefferson County.

=Habitat.=—Sandy or heavy clay soils.

=Notes.=—The Black Jack Oak is very rare and scrubby in growth in this State. It has no value as a timber tree, but is desirable for ornamental purposes.

LAUREL OAK