1870

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

FART III.

of the young branches is frequentlycovered with a yellowish corkysubstance, like that which is foundon the liquidambar, and somekinds of elm.” This oak is found,according to Miehaux, in the great-est abundance beyond the Alle- .ghanies, in the fertile districts of -Kentucky and West Tennessee;and in Upper Louisana, near theMissouri. According to Pursh,it is found within the mountains,on dry slate or limestone hills; andin Kentucky, Tennessee, and thecountry of the Illinois; and also onthe banks of the Mississippi and theMissouri. The wood, accordingto Miehaux, is inferior to that of the white oak, and is little esteemed inthe United States ; but, according to Pursh, the wood is excellent. Thereare trees in the Horticultural Society’s Garden, and at Messrs. Loddiges’s.The portrait in our last Volume is from the latter.

S 11. Q. obtusTloba Michx. The blunt-lobed-/«rocrf, nr Post, Oak.

Identification. Michx. Quer., No. I. t. 1.; Pursh, 2. p. 632.; Michx. Arb. Am., 2. p. 36.; Smithin Rees’s Cycl, No. 78.

Synonymcs. Q. stellata Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 452., Ait., No. 26., Wangh. Amer ., 78. t. 6. f. 15., A T .Du Ham., 7. p. 180., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; Iron Oak, Box white Oak, American Turkey Oak (socalled, because the acorns, which are sweet, are eaten by the wild turkeys), upland white Oak,Amer.

Engravings. Michx. Quer., No. 1. t. 1. ; Arb. Amer., 2. t. 4. ; N. Amer. Syl., 1. t 9.; Wangh.Amer., t. 6. f. 15.; our Jig. 1732.; and the plate of this tree in our last Volume.

Spec. Char., $c. Leaves oblong, slightly pubescent beneath, sharply wedge-shaped at the base; lobes obtuse, the lower ones deeply sinuated, and theupper ones dilated, and slightly bilobed. Calyx hemispherical. Fruit oval,and rather smal 1. [Michx., adaptedThe height of this tree, according toMiehaux, rarely exceeds 40 ft., witha trunk not more than 15 in. in dia-meter, and a head disproportion-ately large; owing to the “ earlydivision of the trunk into limbs,with which the secondary branchesform more acute angles than isusual with other trees. Thebranches are, also, bent into elbowsat certain distances, which rendersthe tree easily distinguishable, evenwhen the branches have fallen.”

The bark is thin, and of a greyishwhite. The wood is yellowish, andwith no tinge of red. The leavesare on short petioles, and so deeply lobed as to have almost a star-like shape,whence Wangenheim called it Q. stellata. The upper lobes are much broaderthan the lower ones; and the leaf is attenuated at its base. The texture iscoriaceous, and the colour is a dusky green above, and greyish beneath.In autumn, the ribs assume a rosy tint, but never that purplish red which isobservable in those of the scarlet oak. The acorns, which are producedin abundance, are small, oval, and three parts covered with a slightly ruggedgreyish cup: they are very sweet, and form a delicious food for squirrelsand wild turkeys; whence the tree is, in America, often called the turkeyoak. “ In New Jersey, near the sea, and in the vicinity of Philadelphia,”

*$EL.