The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Part 155

5 CARPNUS, L. HORNBEAM. IRON-WOOD.

Sterile flowers in drooping cylindrical catkins, consisting of several stamens in the axil of a simple and entire scale-like bract; filaments very short, mostly 2-forked, the forks bearing 1-celled (half-) anthers with hairy tips. Fertile flowers several, spiked in a sort of loose terminal catkin, with small deciduous bracts, each subtending a pair of flowers, as in Ostrya; but the single involucre-like bractlet is open, enlarged in fruit and foliaceous, merely subtending the small ovate several-nerved nut.--Trees or tall shrubs, with smooth close gray bark, in this and in the slender buds and straight-veined leaves resembling the Beech; leaf-buds and inflorescence as in Ostrya. (The early Latin name.)

1. C. Caroliniana, Walter. (AMERICAN HORNBEAM. BLUE or WATER BEECH.) Leaves ovate-oblong, pointed, sharply doubly serrate, soon nearly smooth; bractlets 3-lobed, halberd-shaped, sparingly cut-toothed on one side, acute. (C. Americana, _Michx._)--Along streams, N. Scotia to Fla., west to Minn., Iowa, E. Kan., and Tex. Tree or shrub, 10--45 high, with ridged trunk, and very hard wood.

6. QUeRCUS, L. OAK.

Sterile flowers in slender naked catkins; bracts caducous; calyx 2--8-parted or lobed; stamens 3--12; anthers 2-celled. Fertile flowers scattered or somewhat cl.u.s.tered, consisting of a nearly 3-celled and 6-ovuled ovary, with a 3-lobed stigma, enclosed by a scaly bud-like involucre which becomes an indurated cup (_cupule_) around the base of the rounded nut or acorn. Cotyledons remaining underground in germination; radicle very short, included.--Flowers greenish or yellowish. Sterile catkins single or often several from the same lateral scaly bud, filiform and hanging in all our species. (The cla.s.sical Latin name.) All flower in spring, and shed their nuts in Oct. of the same or the next year.

-- 1. LEUCOBaLa.n.u.s. _Bark pale, often scaly; leaves and their lobes or teeth obtuse, never bristle-pointed; stamens 6--8; scales of the cup more or less k.n.o.bby at base; stigmas sessile or nearly so; abortive ovules at the base of the perfect seed; inner surface of nut glabrous; fruit maturing the first year, often peduncled; kernel commonly sweetish; wood tough and dense._

[*] _Leaves deciduous, lyrate or sinuate-pinnatifid, pale beneath._--WHITE OAKS.

1. Q. alba, L. (WHITE OAK.) Mature _leaves smooth, pale or glaucous underneath, bright green above_, obovate-oblong, obliquely cut into 3--9 oblong or linear and obtuse mostly entire lobes; _cup hemispherical-saucer-shaped, rough or tubercled at maturity, naked, much shorter than the ovoid or oblong acorn_ (1' long).--All soils, Maine to S. E. Minn., E. Kan., and south to the Gulf. A large and valuable tree; lobes of the leaves short and broad (3--5), or deep and narrow (5--9).

2. Q. stellata, w.a.n.g. (POST OAK. IRON OAK.) _Leaves grayish or yellowish-downy underneath, pale and rough above, thickish_, sinuately cut into 5--7 rounded divergent lobes, the upper ones much larger and often 1--3-notched; _cup deep saucer-shaped, naked, one third or half the length of the ovoid acorn_ (6--9" long). (Q. obtusiloba, _Michx._)--Sandy or sterile soil, Martha's Vineyard to Mich. and E.

Neb., south to Fla. and Tex.; common, especially southward. A small tree with very durable wood.

3. Q. macrocarpa, Michx. (BUR OAK. OVER-CUP or MOSSY-CUP OAK.) _Leaves_ obovate or oblong, _lyrately-pinnatifid or deeply sinuate-lobed, or nearly parted_, sometimes nearly entire, irregular, downy or pale beneath; the lobes sparingly and obtusely toothed, or the smaller ones entire; _cup deep_, thick and woody (9"--2' across), conspicuously imbricated with hard and thick _pointed scales, the upper ones awned_, so as usually to make a mossy-fringed border; _acorn_ broadly ovoid (1--1' long), _half immersed in or entirely enclosed by the cup_.--Rich soil, N. Scotia to W. Ma.s.s. and Penn., west to Minn., central Neb., and Kan. A large and valuable tree; extremely variable in the size and fringe of the acorns.--Var. OLIVaeFoRMIS, Gray, is only a narrower-leaved form with unusually small oblong acorns.

4. Q. lyrata, Walt. (OVER-CUP OAK. SWAMP POST OAK.) Leaves crowded at the end of the branchlets, obovate-oblong, acute at base, more or less deeply _7--9-lobed, white-tomentose beneath_ or at length smoothish, _the lobes triangular to oblong, acute or obtuse, entire_ or sparingly toothed; fruit short-peduncled or sessile; cup round-ovate, thin, _with rugged scales, almost covering the depressed-globose acorn_ (8--10"long).--River swamps, S. E. Mo. to S. Ind., Tenn., N. C., and southward.--A large tree, with flaky bark; intermediate between n. 3 and n. 5.

[*][*] _Leaves coa.r.s.ely sinuate-toothed, but not lobed_ (except slightly in n. 5), _whitish and more or less downy beneath; cup h.o.a.ry, hemispherical or a little depressed, about half as long as the oblong-ovoid edible acorn_.--CHESTNUT-OAKS.

5. Q. bicolor, Willd. (SWAMP WHITE OAK.) _Leaves_ obovate or oblong-obovate, _wedge-shaped at base, coa.r.s.ely sinuate-crenate_ and often rather _pinnatifid_ than toothed, usually _soft-downy and white-h.o.a.ry_ beneath, the main primary veins 6--8 pairs, lax and little prominent; fruiting _peduncle much longer than the petiole_; upper scales of the cup awn-pointed, sometimes forming a mossy-fringed margin; acorn scarcely 1' long.--Borders of streams and swamps, S. Maine to Ont., Minn., and E. Kan., and south in the mountains to N. Ga.--A large tree, with flaky bark.

6. Q. Michauxii, Nutt. (BASKET-OAK. COW-OAK.) Leaves (5--6' long) oval or obovate, acute, _obtuse or even cordate at base_, regularly _dentate_ (commonly not deeply), _rather rigid, usually very tomentose beneath; stamens usually 10_; fruit short-peduncled; cup shallow, tuberculate with hard and stout acute scales, without fringe; acorn 1' long. (Q.

Prinus, var Michauxii, _Chapm._)--Borders of streams and swamps, Del. to Fla., and in the west from S. Ind. to Mo., and south to the Gulf.--A large and valuable tree, with gray flaky bark and large sweet edible acorns. Intermediate forms appear to connect with n. 5, of which Dr.

Engelmann considered it a sub-species.

7. Q. Prnus, L. (CHESTNUT-OAK.) _Leaves_ thick, varying, obovate or oblong to lanceolate, sometimes ac.u.minate, _with an obtuse or acute base, undulately crenate-toothed, pale and minutely downy beneath_, the main primary ribs 10--16 pairs, straight, prominent beneath; fruiting _peduncles shorter than the petioles, often very short_; cup thick (6--12" wide), mostly tuberculate with hard and stout scales; acorn large (sometimes 1--1' long). (Incl. var. monticola, _Michx._)--Rocky banks and hillsides, E. Ma.s.s. to N. Y. and Ont., and south in the mountains to N. Ala. A large tree, with thick and deeply furrowed bark, rich in tannin.

8. Q. Muhlenbergii, Engelm. (YELLOW OAK. CHESTNUT-OAK.) _Leaves_ (5--7'

long) _slender-petioled, often oblong or even lanceolate, usually acute or pointed, mostly obtuse or roundish at base, almost equably and rather sharply toothed_; cup subsessile, shallow, thin, of small appressed scales, 5--7" broad; acorn globose or obovate, 7--9" long. (Q. Prinus, var. ac.u.minata, _Michx._)--Dry hillsides and rich bottoms, Ma.s.s. to Del., along the mountains to N. Ala., west to Minn., E. Neb., and Tex.--Leaves more like those of the Chestnut than any other; the primary veins very straight, impressed above, prominent beneath. A tall tree, with thin flaky bark.

9. Q. prinodes, Willd. Like the last, but of _low stature_ (usually 2--4 high), _with smaller more undulate leaves on shorter petioles_ (3--6" long), and deeper cups with _more tumid scales_. (Q. Prinus, var. humilis, _Marsh._)--Same range as last. Apparently quite distinct at the east, where it is very low, but running into Q. Muhlenbergii at the far west.

[*][*][*] _Leaves coriaceous, evergreen, entire or rarely spiny-toothed._--LIVE OAKS.

10. Q. vrens, Ait. (LIVE OAK.) Leaves small, oblong or elliptical, h.o.a.ry beneath as well as the branchlets; peduncle usually conspicuous, 1--3-fruited; cup top-shaped; acorn oblong; cotyledons completely united into one ma.s.s.--Along the coast from Va. to Fla. and Tex. Becoming a large tree at the south, and formerly extensively used in s.h.i.+p-building.

-- 2. MELAn.o.baLa.n.u.s. _Bark dark, furrowed; leaves deciduous, their lobes and teeth acute and bristle-pointed (at least in youth); stamens mostly 4--6; cup-scales membranaceous; styles long and spreading; abortive ovules near the top of the perfect seed; inner surface of nut tomentose; fruit maturing the second year, sessile or on short thick peduncles; wood porous and brittle._--BLACK OAKS.

[*] _Leaves pinnatifid or lobed, slender-petioled, not coriaceous, the lobes or teeth conspicuously bristle-pointed._

[+] _Mature leaves glabrous on both sides or nearly so, oval, oblong or somewhat obovate in outline, from moderately sinuate-pinnatifid to deeply pinnatifid, turning various shades of red or crimson in late autumn; large trees, with reddish coa.r.s.e-grained wood; species closely related and apparently readily hybridizing._

11. Q. rubra, L. (RED OAK.) _Cup saucer-shaped_ or flat, with a narrow raised border (9--12" in diameter), of rather fine closely appressed scales, sessile or on a very short and abrupt narrow stalk or neck, _very much shorter than the oblong-ovoid or ellipsoidal acorn_, which is 1' or less in length; leaves rather thin, turning dark red after frost, moderately (rarely very deeply) pinnatifid, the lobes ac.u.minate from a broad base, with a few coa.r.s.e teeth; bark of trunk dark gray, smoothish.--Common both in rich and poor soil, westward to E. Minn. and E. Kan. Timber coa.r.s.e and poor.--Var. RUNCINaTA, A. DC., is a form with regular nearly entire lobes and the fruit nearly a half smaller; found near St. Louis.

12. Q. coccinea, w.a.n.g. (SCARLET OAK.) _Cup top-shaped, or hemispherical with a conical base_ (7--9" broad), coa.r.s.ely scaly, covering half or more of the _broadly or globular-ovoid acorn_, the scales somewhat appressed and glabrate, or in western localities yellowish-canescent and squarrose as in var. tinctoria; leaves in the ordinary forms, at least on full-grown trees, bright green, s.h.i.+ning above, turning red in autumn, deeply pinnatifid, the slender lobes divergent and sparingly cut-toothed; buds small; acorns 6--9" long; bark of the trunk gray, the interior reddish.--Moist or dry soil; common, from S. Maine to Del., Minn., N. Mo., and south in the mountains.

Var. tinctria, Gray. (QUERCITRON, YELLOW-BARKED, or BLACK OAK.) Leaves with broader undivided lobes, commonly paler and somewhat p.u.b.escent beneath, turning brownish, orange, or dull red in autumn; cup-scales large and loosely imbricated or squarrose when dry, yellowish gray, p.u.b.escent; bark of trunk darker-colored and rougher on the surface, thicker, and internally orange, much more valuable for the tanner and dyer; buds longer and more pointed; cup sometimes less top-shaped. (Q.

tinctoria, _Bartram_.)--Dry or gravelly uplands, S. Maine to S. Minn., E. Neb. and Tex. Intermediate forms connect this with the type. The bark is largely used in tanning.

Var. ambigua, Gray. (GRAY OAK.) Found along our northeastern borders to Lake Champlain and northward, figured and briefly characterized by Michaux as with the foliage of Q. rubra and the fruit of Q. coccinea. It was considered by Dr. Engelmann as a form of Q. rubra with cups hemispherical or even turbinate.

13. Q. pal.u.s.tris, Du Roi. (SWAMP SPANISH or PIN OAK.) _Cup flat-saucer-shaped_, sometimes contracted into a short scaly base or stalk, fine-scaled (5--7" broad), _very much shorter than the usually globose or depressed acorn_, which is 5--7" long; leaves deeply pinnatifid with divergent lobes and broad rounded sinuses.--Low grounds; rather common, from Ma.s.s. to Del. and Md., west to Minn., E. Kan., and Ark.

[+][+] _Mature leaves soft-downy beneath; cup saucer-shaped, with a somewhat top-shaped base, about half the length of the fully developed small acorn._

14. Q. falcata, Michx. (SPANISH OAK.) _Leaves grayish-downy or fulvous underneath_, obtuse or rounded at base, _3--5-lobed above_ (sometimes entire); _the lobes prolonged, mostly narrow and more or less scythe-shaped_, especially the terminal one, entire or sparingly cut-toothed; acorn globose, 4--5" long.--Dry or sandy soil, Long Island to Fla., and from S. Ind. to Mo. and Tex. A large or small tree, extremely variable in foliage; bark excellent for tanning.

15. Q. iliciflia, w.a.n.g. (BEAR or BLACK SCRUB-OAK.) _Dwarf_ (3--8 high), straggling; _leaves_ (2--4' long) thickish, _obovate, wedge-shaped at base, angularly about 5- (3--7-) lobed, white-downy beneath_; lobes short and triangular, spreading; acorn ovoid, globular, 5--6" long.--Sandy barrens and rocky hills, N. Eng. to Ohio and Ky.

[*][*] _Leaves entire or with a few teeth (or somewhat 3--5-lobed at the summit), coriaceous, commonly bristle-pointed; acorns globular, small (not over 6" long)._

[+] _Leaves thick, widening or often much dilated upward and more or less sinuate or somewhat 3--5-lobed; acorns globular-ovoid._

16. Q. aquatica, Walter. (WATER-OAK.) _Leaves glabrous and s.h.i.+ning, obovate-spatulate or narrowly wedge-form, with a long tapering base_ and an often obscurely 3-lobed summit, varying to oblanceolate; cup saucer-shaped or hemispherical.--Wet grounds, around ponds, etc., Del.

to the Gulf, and from Ky. and Mo. to Tex.--Tree 30--40 high; running into many varieties, especially southward; the leaves on seedlings and strong shoots often incised or sinuate-pinnatifid; then mostly bristle-pointed.

17. Q. ngra, L. (BLACK-JACK or BARREN OAK.) _Leaves broadly wedge-shaped_, but sometimes rounded or obscurely cordate at the base, _widely dilated_ and somewhat 3-lobed (rarely 5-lobed) at the summit, occasionally with one or two lateral conspicuously bristle-tipped lobes or teeth, rusty-p.u.b.escent beneath, s.h.i.+ning above, large (4--9' long); _cup top-shaped_, coa.r.s.e-scaly; acorn short-ovoid.--Dry sandy barrens, or heavy clay soil, Long Island to S. Minn., E. Neb., and southward. A small tree (sometimes 30--40 high), of little value.

[+][+] _Leaves not dilated upward, generally entire; acorn globose._

18. Q. imbricaria, Michx. (LAUREL or s.h.i.+NGLE OAK.) _Leaves lanceolate-oblong_, thickish, smooth, and _s.h.i.+ning above, downy underneath, the down commonly persistent_; cup between saucer-shaped and top-shaped.--Rich woodlands, Penn. to Ga., west to S. Wisc., Iowa, E. Neb., and N. Ark.--Tree 30--90 high. The specific name is in allusion to its early use for s.h.i.+ngles.

19. Q. Ph.e.l.los, L. (WILLOW-OAK.) _Leaves linear-Lanceolate, narrowed to both ends, soon glabrous_, light green (3--4' long); cup saucer-shaped.--Bottom lands or rich sandy uplands, Staten Island to N.

Fla., west to S. Ky., Mo., and Tex.

In addition to the above, the following hybrids have been recognized:--

Q. ALBA MACROCARPA; N. Ill. (_Bebb_); central Ill. (_Hall_).

Q. ALBA STELLATA; N. Ill. (_Bebb_); D. C. (_Vasey_); S. C.

(_Mellichamp_).

Q. ALBA PRINUS; near Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C. (_Vasey._)

Q. IMBRICARIA NIGRA (Q. tridentata, _Engelmann_); S. Ill.

(_Engelmann_).

Q. IMBRICARIA PAl.u.s.tRIS; Mo. (_Engelmann_).

Q. IMBRICARIA COCCINEA (Q. Leana, _Nutt._); Ohio to Mo., and near Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C.