14. Quercus Laurifolia Michx. Laurel Or Swamp Oak

Fig. 1527

Quercus laurifolia Michx. Hist. Chen. Am. no. 10. pl. 17. 1801.

Trunk sometimes 100° tall, reaching 40 in diameter at the base; bark nearly black, with flat ridges. Leaves oblong or oblong-obovate, often somewhat falcate, tardily deciduous, shining above, paler beneath, glabrous when mature, 1 1/2'-6' long, 5-2' wide, entire, or those of young shoots undulate-lobed, the apex bristle-tipped; styles rather short, recurving; fruit maturing in the autumn of the second season; abortive ovules in the summit of the acorn; cup saucer-shaped, 4"-6" wide, its base somewhat rounded, its scales ovate, rounded, appressed; acorn ovoid or nearly hemispheric, about 3 times as long as the cup.

Along streams and swamps, southeastern Virginia to Florida and Louisiana, mostly near the coast. Closely related to the willow oak. Wood dark reddish-brown, strong; weight per cubic foot 48 lbs. Water-oak.

14 Quercus Laurifolia Michx Laurel Or Swamp Oak 152714 Quercus Laurifolia Michx Laurel Or Swamp Oak 1528

15. Quercus Imbricaria Michx. Shingle Oak

Fig. 1528

Q. imbricaria Michx. Hist. Chen. Am. 9. pl. 15,16. 1801.

A forest tree, with maximum height about 100°, and trunk diameter of 3 1/2°. Leaves oblong or lanceolate, entire, coriaceous, acute at both ends, short-petioled, bristle-tipped, dark green above, persistently brown-tomentulose beneath, 3'-7' long, g"-2' wide; styles recurved; fruit maturing the second autumn; cup hemispheric or turbinate, 5"-7" broad, its bracts appressed; acorn subglobose, 5'-7" high.

Central Pennsylvania to Michigan, Nebraska, Georgia, Tennessee and Arkansas. Reported from eastern Massachusetts. Wood hard, coarse-grained, light reddish-brown; weight per cubic foot 47 lbs. April-May. Lea-, Jack- or Laurel-oak.

Quercus Leana Nutt. Sylva 1: 134, pl. 5b, is a hyhrid of this and Q. velntina, with intermediate characters. Ohio to Missouri and District of Columbia.

Quercus tridentata Engelm. Q. nigra var. tridentata A. DC. Prodr. 16: Part 2, 64, is a hybrid with Q. marilandica. Illinois and Pennsylvania. A hybrid with Q. palusiris has been found near St. Louis, Mo., and in Iowa.

16. Quercus Alba L. White Oak

Fig. 1529

Quercus alba L. Sp. PI. 996. 1753.

A forest tree, with light gray bark scaling off in thin plates; maximum height about 1500, trunk diameter up to 8°. Leaves obovate in outline, green above, pale and more or less glaucous beneath, pubescent when young, nearly glabrous when old, thin, pinnatifid into' 3-9 oblong obtuse ascending toothed or entire lobes, 4'-7' long, 2'-4 1/2' wide; petioles about 1/2 long; styles short, erect; fruit maturing the first season, peduncled; cup depressed-hemispheric, 7"-10" broad, its bracts thick, obtuse, woolly or at length glabrate, closely appressed; acorn ovoid-oblong, 1' high or less, 3-4 times as high as the cup.

Maine to Ontario, Minnesota, Florida and Texas. Wood hard, strong, tough, close-grained; color brown; weight per cubic foot 46 lbs. May-June. Acorns ripe Sept.-Oct.

Hybrids with Q. macrocarpa have been observed in Illinois; with Q. stellata, from Illinois to Virginia and South Carolina, and with Q. Prinus, near Washington, D. C. and New York. Stave-oak.

16 Quercus Alba L White Oak 152916 Quercus Alba L White Oak 1530