CHAP. CV.

CORYLA'CETE. QUE'RCUS.

1883

ern states, it forms a noble tree, 80 ft. high, with 1750

a trunk 4ft. or 5ft. in diameter; while in NewJersey the tree is never above 30 ft. high, witha trunk only 4 in. or 5 in. thick. The bark isthick, black, and deeply furrowed; and thewood is reddish and coarse-grained, with openpores, like that of the red oak. The leaves arealso extremely different : on the trees in thesouth, they are falcate, like those iny%. 1750.,copied from the plate of this tree in the NorthAmerican Sylva , i. t. 23. In New Jersey, theleaves are three-lobed (like those shown in fig.

1751., from the Histoire des Chenes), except afew on the summit, which are slightly falcated.

Generally, the lower branches of all trees of

this species, growing in moist and shaded situations, have their leaves trilobed;while those on the upper branches are falcated, with their lobes even morearched than those shown in fig. 1750. This remarkable difference led the elderMichaux to' describe the specimens which hefound growing in very cold bad land as Q.triloba; and on the young shoots of these spe-cimens he frequently found leaves deeply den-ticulated or lobed, like those of Q. rubra orQ. coccinea, as represented at a in fig. 1751.

The stumps of trees that have been felled, also,frequently send up shoots bearing leaves deeplydenticulated at right angles to the main rib.

Amidst all these changes, however, the leavesof Q. falcata preserve one striking character-istic ; which is, that there is always “ a thickdown upon the under side of the leaves, andupon the young shoots to which they areattached.” The acorns are small, round, brown,and contained in slightly scaly, shallow, top-shaped cups, supported on short peduncles :they resemble those of Q. Banisteri, and, likethem, preserve the power of germination for along time. The growth of this tree, accordingto the elder Michaux, is extremely rapid and vigorous, even on the worstsoils. The most northern boundary of Q. falcata is the neighbourhoodof Allentown, in New Jersey, about 60 miles from Philadelphia. Even atthis distance, says the younger Michaux, the leaves are smaller than in theimmediate vicinity of the city, where they begin to assume their appropriateform. Farther south, Q. falcata is constantly found among the most com-mon trees in the forests; but it is less frequent near the mountains, andin the country beyond. “ In Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, it is knownby the name of the Spanish oak ; and, in the Carolinas and Georgia, by thatof the red oak.” Michaux adds that, in an old English work which he foundin “ the library at Charleston, it is said to have been called the Spanish oakby the first settlers, from the resemblance of its leaves to those of Q. Velani,which grows in Spain.” If Q. ^E'gilops is the oak meant, the resemblancemust have been very slight. The name of the red oak was probably derivedfrom the great analogy between the wood of this species and that of Q. rubra.The wood of the Spanish oak is, however, better than that of the latter, thoughit is, also, too porous to contain wine or spirits; and, from its want of dura-bility, it is considered greatly inferior to that of the oaks belonging to thesection A'lbce. “ The principal merit of the Spanish oak,” says the youngerMichaux, “ consists in its bark. This is preferred for tanning coarse leather,which it renders whiter and more supple; it is consequently sold, at Phila-