Handbook of the Trees of New England Part 18

=Quercus rubra, L.=

RED OAK.

=Habitat and Range.=--Growing impartially in a great variety of soils, but not on wet lands.

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to divide west of Lake Superior.

Maine,--common, at least south of the central portions; New Hamps.h.i.+re,--extending into Coos county, far north of the White mountains; Vermont, Ma.s.sachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut,--common; probably in most parts of New England the most common of the genus; found higher up the slopes of mountains than the white oak.

South to Tennessee, Virginia, and along mountain ranges to Georgia; reported from Florida; west to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas.

=Habit.=--The largest of the New England oaks, 50-85 feet high, with a diameter of 2-6 feet above the swell of the roots; occasionally attaining greater dimensions; trunk usually continuous to the top of the tree, often heavily b.u.t.tressed; point of branching higher than in the white oak; branches large, less contorted, and rising at a sharper angle, the lower sometimes horizontal; branchlets rather slender; head extremely variable, in old trees with ample s.p.a.ce for growth, open, well-proportioned, and imposing; sometimes oblong in outline, wider near the top, and sometimes symmetrically rounded, not so broad, however, as the head of the white oak; conspicuous in summer by its bright green, abundant foliage, which turns to dull purplish-red in autumn.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk and lower parts of branches in old trees dark gray, firmly, coa.r.s.ely, and rather regularly ridged, smooth elsewhere; in young trees greenish mottled gray, smooth throughout; season's shoots at first green, taking a reddish tinge in autumn, marked with pale, scattered dots.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds ovate, conical, sharp-pointed. Leaves simple, alternate, 4-8 inches long, 3-5 inches broad, bright green above, paler beneath, dull brown in autumn; outline oval or obovate, sometimes scarcely distinguishable by the character of its lobing from _Q. tinctoria_; in the typical form, lobes broadly triangular or oblong, with parallel sides bristle-pointed; leafstalks short; stipules linear, soon falling.

=Inflorescence.=--Earliest of the oaks, appearing in late April or early May, when the leaves are half-grown; sterile catkins 3-5 inches long; calyx mostly 4-lobed; lobes rounded; stamens mostly 4; anthers yellow: pistillate flowers short-stemmed; calyx lobes mostly 3 or 4; stigmas long, spreading.

=Fruit.=--Maturing in the second year, single or in pairs, sessile or short-stalked: cup sometimes turbinate, usually saucer-shaped with a flat or rounded base, often contracted at the opening and surmounted by a kind of border; scales closely imbricated, reddish-brown, more or less downy, somewhat glossy, triangular-acute to obtuse, p.u.b.escent: acorn nearly cylindrical or ovoid, tapering to a broad, rounded top.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in all well-drained soils, but prefers a rich, moist loam; more readily obtainable than most of our oaks; in common with other trees of the genus, nursery trees must be transplanted frequently to be moved with safety; grows rapidly and is fairly free from disfiguring insects; the oak-pruner occasionally lops off its twigs. When once established, it grows as rapidly as the sugar maple, and is worthy of much more extended use in street and landscape plantations. Propagated from the seed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XLIII.--Quercus rubra.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Sterile flower.

4. Fertile flowers, side view.

5. Fruiting branch.

=Quercus coccinea, w.a.n.g.=

SCARLET OAK.

=Habitat and Range.=--Most common in dry soil.

Ontario.

Maine,--valley of the Androscoggin, southward; New Hamps.h.i.+re and Vermont,--not authoritatively reported by recent observers; Ma.s.sachusetts,--more common in the eastern than western sections, sometimes covering considerable areas; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--common.

South to the middle states and along the mountains to North Carolina and Tennessee; reported from Florida; west to Minnesota, Nebraska, and Missouri.

=Habit.=--A medium-sized tree, 30-50 feet high and 1-3 feet in trunk diameter; attaining greater dimensions southward; trunk straight and tapering, branches regular, long, comparatively slender, not contorted, the lower nearly horizontal, often declined at the ends; branchlets slender; head open, narrow-oblong or rounded, graceful; foliage deeply cut, s.h.i.+ning green in summer and flaming scarlet in autumn; the most brilliant and most elegant of the New England oaks.

=Bark.=--Trunk in old trees dark gray, roughly and firmly ridged; inner bark red; young trees and branches smoothish, often marked with dull red seams and more or less mottled with gray.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, reddish-brown, ovate to oval, acutish, partially hidden by enlarged base of petiole. Leaves simple, alternate, extremely variable, more commonly 3-6 inches long, two-thirds as wide, bright green and s.h.i.+ning above, paler beneath, smooth on both sides but often with a tufted p.u.b.escence on the axils beneath, turning scarlet in autumn, deeply lobed, the rounded sinuses sometimes reaching nearly to the midrib; lobes 5-9, rather slender and set at varying angles, sparingly toothed and bristly tipped; apex acute; base truncate to acute; leafstalk 1-1-1/2 inches long, slender, swollen at base.

=Inflorescence.=--Early in May. Appearing when the leaves are half grown; sterile catkins 2-4 inches long; calyx most commonly 4-parted; p.u.b.escent; stamens commonly 4, exserted; anthers yellow, glabrous: pistillate flowers red; stigmas long, spreading, reflexed.

=Fruit.=--Maturing in the autumn of the second year, single or in twos or threes, sessile or on rather short footstalks: cup top-shaped or cup-shaped, about half the length of the acorn, occasionally nearly enclosing it, smooth, more or less polished, thin-edged; scales closely appressed, firm, elongated, triangular, sides sometimes rounded, h.o.m.ogeneous in the same plant: acorn 1/2-3/4 inch long, variable in shape, oftenest oval to oblong: kernel white within; less bitter than kernel of the black oak.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in any light, well-drained soil, but prefers a fertile loam. Occasionally offered by nurserymen, but as it is disposed to make unsymmetrical young trees it is not grown in quant.i.ty, and it is not desirable for streets.

Its rapid growth, hardiness, beauty of summer foliage, and its brilliant colors in autumn make it desirable in ornamental plantations. Propagated from the seed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XLIV.--Quercus coccinea.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Sterile flowers, side view.

4. Fertile flower, side view.

5. Fruiting branch.

=Quercus velutina, Lam.=

_Quercus tinctoria, Bartram. Quercus coccinea_, var. _tinctoria, Gray._

BLACK OAK. YELLOW OAK.

=Habitat and Range.=--Poor soils; dry or gravelly uplands; rocky ridges.

Southern and western Ontario.

Maine,--York county; New Hamps.h.i.+re,--valley of the lower Merrimac and eastward, absent on the highlands, reappearing within three or four miles of the Connecticut, ceasing at North Charlestown; Vermont,--western and southeastern sections; Ma.s.sachusetts,--abundant eastward; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--frequent.

South to the Gulf states; west to Minnesota, Kansas, Indian territory, and Texas.

=Habit.=--One of our largest oaks, 50-75 feet high and 2-4 feet in diameter, exceptionally much larger, attaining its maximum in the Ohio and Mississippi basins; resembling _Q. coccinea_ in the general disposition of its mostly stouter branches; head wide-spreading, rounded; trunk short; foliage deep s.h.i.+ning green, turning yellowish or reddish brown in autumn.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk dark gray or blackish, often lighter near the seash.o.r.e, thick, usually rough near the ground even in young trees, in old trees deeply furrowed, separating into narrow, thick, and firmly adherent block-like strips; inner bark thick, yellow, and bitter; branches and branchlets a nearly uniform, mottled gray; season's shoots scurfy-p.u.b.escent.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds 1/8-1/4 inch long, bluntish to pointed, conspicuously cl.u.s.tered at ends of branches. Leaves simple, alternate, of two forms so distinct as to suggest different species, _a_ (Plate XLV, 8) varying towards _b_ (Plate XLV, 6), and _b_ often scarcely distinguishable from the leaf of the scarlet oak; in both forms outline obovate to oval, lobes usually 7, densely woolly when opening, more or less p.u.b.escent or scurfy till midsummer or later, dark s.h.i.+ning green above, lighter beneath, becoming brown or dull red in autumn.

Form _a_, sinuses shallow, lobes broad, rounded, mucronate.

Form _b_, sinuses deep, extending halfway to the midrib or farther, oblong or triangular, bristle-tipped.

=Inflorescence.=--Early in May. Appearing when the leaves are half grown; sterile catkins 2-5 inches long, with slender, p.u.b.escent threads; calyx usually 3-4-lobed; lobes ovate, acute to rounded, hairy-p.u.b.escent; stamens 3-7, commonly 4-5; anthers yellow: pistillate flowers reddish, p.u.b.escent, at first nearly sessile; stigmas 3, red, divergent, reflexed.

=Fruit.=--Maturing the second year; nearly sessile or on short footstalks: cup top-shaped to hemispherical; scales less firm than in _Q. coccinea_, tips papery and transversely rugulose, obtuse or rounded, or some of them acutish, often lacerate-edged, loose towards the thick and open edge of the cup: acorn small: kernel yellow within and bitter.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in well-drained soils, but prefers a rich, moist loam; of vigorous and rapid growth when young, but as it soon begins to show dead branches and becomes unsightly, it is not a desirable tree to plant, and is rarely offered by nurserymen. Propagated from seed.

=Note.=--Apparently runs into _Q. coccinea_, from which it may be distinguished by its rougher and darker trunk, the yellow color and bitter taste of the inner bark, its somewhat larger and more pointed buds, the greater p.u.b.escence of its inflorescence, young shoots and leaves, the longer continuance of scurf or p.u.b.escence upon the leaves, the yellow or dull red shades of the autumn foliage, and by the yellow color and bitter taste of the nut.