23. Quercus Muhlenbergii Engelm. Chestnut Or Yellow Oak

Fig. 1536

Quercus Prinus acuminata Michx. Hist. Chen. Am. no. 5. pl. 8. 1801.

Quercus Muhlenbergii Engelm. Trans. St. Louis Acad. 3: 391. 1877.

Quercus acuminata Sarg. Gard. & For. 8: 93. 1895.

A tree with close or flaky bark, much resembling the chestnut; maximum height about 1600, and trunk diameter 3 1/20. Leaves oblong, lanceolate or obovate, apex acuminate or acute, base narrowed or rounded, coarsely toothed, when mature dark green and shining above, pale gray-tomentulose and prominently veined beneath, 4'-6' long, 1'-2 1/2' wide; petioles slender, 1/2'-1' long; fruit sessile or very short-peduncled, maturing the first season; cup hemispheric, 5"-8" broad, its bracts floccose, ovate, acute or cuspidate, appressed; acorn ovoid, 6"-10" high, about twice as high as the cup.

In dry soil, preferring limestone ridges, Vermont and Ontario to Minnesota, Nebraska, Alabama and Texas. Wood hard, strong, dense, close-grained, durable, dark brown; weight per cubic foot 54 lbs. May-June. Acorns ripe Oct.-Nov., edible. Pin-, shrub-, scrub-, chinkapin- or yellow chestnut-oak.

Quercus Alexanderi Britton, at first supposed to be separable from Q. Muhlenbergii by its obovate leaves and flaky bark; does not now appear to be specifically distinct from that species.

24. Quercus Prinoides Willd. Scrub Or Dwarf Chestnut Oak

Fig. 1537

Quercus prinoides Willd. Neue Schrift. Ges. Nat. Fr.

Berlin 3: 397. 1801. Q. prinoides rufescens Rehder, Rhodora 9: 61. 1907.

A shrub, 2°-15° tall, sometimes tree-like, the bark gray, the twigs glabrous or pubescent. Leaves obovate, coarsely toothed, when mature bright green and somewhat shining above, gray-tomentulose beneath, 2 1/2'-5' long, 2'-3' wide, mostly acute or short-acuminate at the apex, narrowed at the base, the teeth short, triangular, subacute or obtuse; petioles slender, 3"-9" long; fruit sessile, maturing the first season; cup hemispheric, thin, about 1/2 broad and one-half as high, its bracts floccose, triangular-ovate or oblong-lanceolate, appressed; acorn ovoid, obtuse, 2-3 times as long as the cup; seed sweet.

In dry sandy or rocky soil, Maine to Minnesota, south to Alabama and Texas. April-May. Acorns ripe Sept.-Oct. Chinkapin or running white-oak.

25. Quercus Virginiana Mill. Live Oak

Fig. 1538

Quercus virginiana Mill. Gard. Diet. Ed. 8, no. 16. 1768. Quercus virens Ait. Hort. Kew. 3: 356. 1789.

A tree, with rough brown bark, attaining a maximum height of about 6o° and trunk diameter of 7o, but often shrubby, the young shoots puberulent. Leaves evergreen, coriaceous, oblong, elliptic or oblanceolate, apex obtuse, base narrowed or rounded, entire or with a few bristle-tipped teeth, bright green and glabrous above, pale green and puberulent or becoming glabrous beneath, 1'-3' long; petioles stout, 1"-3" long; fruit peduncled, maturing the first season; peduncle 1/4'-1' long; cup turbinate, 5"-8" broad, its bracts closely appressed; ovate or lanceolate; acorn ovoid-oblong, about twice as high as the cup; seed not edible; cotyledons united.

In dry soil, Virginia to Florida, Texas and Mexico, mostly near the coast. Also in Cuba. Wood very hard; tough, close-grained and dense; color yellow-brown; weight per cubic foot 59 lbs. March-April. Acorns ripe Sept.-Oct.