CHAP. CV.

CORYLA'cETE. QUERCUS.

1885

Engravings . Michx. Quer., t. 34.; N. Araer. Syl., 1.1.04.} our figs. 1753. and 1754.; and theplate’ofthis tree in our last Volume.

Spec. Char., S,c. Leaves downy beneath, obovate-oblong, dilated, widelysinuated; lobes short, obtuse, slightly toothed, bristle-pointed. Calyx ofthe fruit flat underneath; nut globose. ( Wil/d.) A tree, varying from80 ft. to 100 ft. high. Introduced in 1800.

Varieties. Michaux, in his Flora Borealis Americana, givesthe two following forms of this species : —

lQ.f.1 angulosa Michx.; Q. nigra Pursh Arb. Am..,p. 120.; Q. americana Pink. Aim., p. 309.;

1753 * Q- velutina Lam. Did.-, Q. tinetoria Bart.

a Trav., p. 37.; and our jftgs. 1753,1754.—

Jgj Leaves smooth, lobed with angular lobes.

Cup top-shaped. Nut globose, and de-pS pressed at the summit. A native of theshoresof Lake Champlain,in Pennsylvania,

WSS and of high mountains in Carolina and* Georgia.

* Q. t. 2 sinuosa Michx.; Q. nigra Wang.; and our figs. 1755, 1756,

and 1757._Leaves deeply sinuated. Cup flat and turbinated.

Nut ovate. Native of South Carolina and Georgia.

Description, S/-c. Thisoak, according to theyounger Michaux, is theloftiest oak in America,being from 90 ft. to 100ft. high, with a trunkfrom 4 ft. to 5 ft. in dia-meter. The trunk isstraight, and is coveredwith a deeply furrowedbark of middling thick-ness, but always black,or of a very deep browncolour; whence, pro-bably, the tree derivesits common name inAmerica; viz. the blackoak. The dark hue ofthe bark easily distin-guishes this tree from Q.rubra, Q. coccinea, andQ. ambigua, in thenc^thern provinces; but,in the southern ones,

1755

Q. falcata having bark of the same colour, Q. tinetoria can only be dis-tinguished by its buds, which are longer, more acuminate, and more scaly,than those of the former species. The inner bark of Q. tinetoria, if chewed,is very bitter, and gives a yellow tinge to the saliva, which is not the case withthe bark of Q, falcata. The wood is reddish, coarse-grained, and porous,like that of all the red oaks. The leaves are large, deeply laciniated, andresemble those of Q. coccinea, but they have fewer lobes, never exceedingfour or five; while the leaves of the old trees of Q. coccinea have from fiveto seven: they are also less openly and roundly sinuated, less shining, of aduller green, and, during a part of the summer, have their surfaces roughenedwith small glands, which are visible to the eye and sensible to the touch; andwhich are also found on the young shoots. In autumn, the leaves of youngtrees turn to a dull red; but those on old trees become yellow, or of a yel-