Fig. 241
This has usually been considered a hybrid betweenQuercus PhellosandQuercus velutinaorQuercus borealisvar.maxima; first known in the eighteenth century from an individual growing in a field belonging to John Bartram on the Schuylkill River, Philadelphia. What appears to be the same form has since been discovered in a number of stationsfrom New Jersey to Texas, and it is possible thatQuercus heterophyllamay, as many botanists have believed, best be considered a species.
×Quercus subfalcataTrel., believed to be a hybrid ofQuercus PhellosandQ. rubrahas been found at Wickliffe, Ballard County, Illinois, at Campbell, Lawrence County, Mississippi, Fulton, Hempstead County, Arkansas, and Houston, Harris County, Texas; its var.microcarpaSarg., probably of the same parentage, originated in a Dutch nursery.
×Quercus ludovicianaSarg., believed to be a hybrid ofQuercus PhellosandQ. rubravar.pagodæfoliagrows in low wet woods ten miles west of Opelousas, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana.
Fig. 242
Leaveselliptic or rarely slightly broadest above the middle, acuminate at the ends, apiculate at apex, occasionally lanceolate or oblong-obovate and rounded at apex (var.hybridaMichx.) sometimes 3-lobed at apex, the terminal lobe acuminate, much larger than the others (var.tridentataSarg.), frequently unequally lobed on vigorous branches of young trees, with small nearly triangular lobes, when they unfold in spring yellow-green, or later in the season often pink or bright red, and slightly puberulous, at maturity thin, green, and very lustrous above, light green and less lustrous below, usually 3′—4′ long and ¾′ wide, with a conspicuous yellow midrib; falling abruptly in early spring leaving the branches bare during only a few weeks; petioles stout, yellow, rarely more than ¼′ in length.Flowers: staminate in red-stemmed hairy aments 2′—3′ long; calyx pubescent on the outer surface, divided into 4 ovate rounded lobes; pistillate on stout glabrous peduncles, their involucral scales brown and hairy, about as long as the acute calyx-lobes; stigmas dark red.Fruitsessile or subsessile, generally solitary; nut ovoid to hemispheric, broad and slightly rounded at base, full and rounded at the puberulous apex, dark brown, about ½′ long, inclosed for about one fourth its length in a thin saucer-shaped cup red-brown and silky-pubescent on the inner surface, and covered by thin ovate light red-brown scales rounded at apex and pale-pubescent except on their darker colored margins.
A tree, occasionally 100° high, with a tall trunk 3°—4° in diameter, and comparatively slender branches spreading gradually into a broad dense round-topped shapely head, and slender glabrous branchlets dark red when they first appear, dark red-brown during their first winter, becoming reddish brown or dark gray in their second season.Winter-budsbroadly ovoid or oval, abruptly narrowed and acute at apex,1/16′—⅛′ long with numerousthin closely imbricated bright red-brown scales ciliate on the margins.Barkof young trees ½′—1′ thick, dark brown more or less tinged with red, roughened by small closely appressed scales, becoming at the base of old trees 1′—2′ thick, nearly black, and divided by deep fissures into broad flat ridges.Woodheavy, very strong and hard, coarse-grained, liable to check badly in drying, dark brown tinged with red, with thick lighter colored sapwood; probably used only as fuel.
Distribution.Sandy banks of streams and swamps and rich hummocks in the neighborhood of the coast; North Carolina (near Newbern) southward to the shores of Bay Biscayne and the valley of the Caloosahatchie River, Florida, and in the interior of the peninsula to the neighborhood of Lake Istokpaga, De Soto County, and westward to eastern Louisiana, ranging inland to Darlington, Darlington County, South Carolina, to the neighborhood of Augusta, Richmond County, Mayfield, Hancock County, Albany, Dougherty County, Cuthbert, Randolph County, and Bainbridge, Decatur County, Georgia, Georgiana, Butler County, and Berlin, Dallas County, Alabama, Rockport, Copiah County, Mississippi, and to the neighborhood of Bogalusa, Washington Parish, Louisiana (R. S. Cocks); nowhere abundant, but most common and of its largest size in eastern Florida.
Quercus brevifoliaSarg.
Fig. 243
Leavesoblong-lanceolate to oblong-obovate, gradually narrowed and cuneate or sometimes rounded at base, acute or rounded and apiculate at apex, entire with slightly thickened undulate margins, or at the ends of vigorous sterile branches occasionally 3-lobed at the apex and variously lobed on the margins (βdentato-lobataA. De Candolle), when they unfold bright pink and pubescent on the upper surface, coated on the lower with thick silvery white tomentum, at maturity firm in texture, blue-green, lustrous, conspicuously reticulate venulose above, pale-tomentose below, 2′—5′ long, ½′—1½′ wide, with a stout yellow midrib and remote obscure primary veins forked and united within the margins; turning red and falling gradually late in the autumn or in early winter; petioles stout, ¼′—½′ in length.Flowers: staminate in hoary-tomentose aments 2′—3′ long; calyx pubescent, bright red and furnished at apex with a thick tuft of silvery white hairs before opening, divided into 4 or 5 ovate acute lobes, becoming yellow as it opens; stamens 4 or 5; anthers apiculate, dark red in the bud, becoming yellow; pistillate on short stout tomentose peduncles, their involucral scales about as long as the acute calyx-lobes and coated withpale tomentum; stigmas dark red.Fruitproduced in great profusion, sessile or raised on a short stalk rarely ¼′ long; nut ovoid, full and rounded at the ends or subglobose, about ½′ long, often striate, hoary-pubescent at apex, inclosed only at the base or for one half its length in a thin saucer-shaped or cup-shaped cup bright red-brown and coated with lustrous pale pubescence on the inner surface, and covered by thin closely imbricated ovate-oblong scales hoary-tomentose except on the dark red-brown margins.
A tree on dry hills, usually 15°—20° high, with a trunk 5′—6′ in diameter, stout branches forming a narrow irregular-head, and thick rigid branchlets coated at first with a dense fulvous or hoary tomentum of fascicled hairs, soon becoming glabrous or puberulous, dark brown sometimes tinged with red during their first winter and darker in their second year; or in low moist soil often 60°—75° high, with a trunk 18′—20′ in diameter, and a broad round-topped shapely head of drooping branches.Winter-budsovoid, acute, with numerous rather loosely imbricated bright chestnut-brown scales ciliate on the margins, often ¼′ long on vigorous branches, frequently obtuse and occasionally much smaller.Bark¾′—1½′ thick, and divided into thick nearly square plates 1′—2′ long, and covered by small dark brown or nearly black scales slightly tinged with red.Woodhard, strong, close-grained, light brown tinged with red, with thick darker colored sapwood; probably only used as fuel.
Distribution.Sandy barrens and dry upland ridges, and in the rich moist soil of the pine-covered flats of the Florida peninsula; North Carolina southward to the shores of the Indian River and Peace Creek, Florida, and along the Gulf coast to the valley of the Brazos River, Texas; in the Atlantic and middle Gulf states mostly confined to a maritime belt 40°—60° wide, extending across the Florida peninsula as far south as the sand hills in the neighborhood of Lake Istokpoga, De Soto County, and west of the Mississippi River, ranging inland to the neighborhood of Dallas, Dallas County, Texas and to southeastern Oklahoma (near Antlers, Pushmataha County).
×Quercus dubiaAshe, believed to be a hybrid ofQuercus cinereaandQ. laurifoliaoccurs at Abbottsburg, Bladen County, North Carolina, on the coast of South Carolina, in southern Georgia and northern and central Florida, and at Mississippi City, Lincoln County, Mississippi.
×Quercus subintegraTrel., a supposed hybrid ofQuercus cinereaandQ. rubraoccurs at Lumber City, Telfair County, Georgia, Lake City, Columbia County, Florida, and at Berlin, Dallas County, Alabama.
×Quercus sublaurifoliaTrel., a supposed hybrid ofQuercus cinereaandQ. laurifoliaoccurs at Folkston, Charlton County, Georgia, and at Biloxi, Harrison County, Mississippi.
×Quercus carolinensisTrel., believed to be a hybrid ofQuercus cinereaandQ. marilandicaoccurs at Newbern, Craven County, North Carolina, Lumber City, Telfair County and Climax, Decatur County, Georgia, and near Fletcher, Hardin County, Texas.
×Quercus caducaTrel., believed to be a hybrid ofQuercus cinereaandQ. nigra, occurs at Folkston, Charlton County and Lumber City, Telfair County, Georgia, Jacksonville, Duval County, and Gainsville, Alachua County, Florida, Mississippi City, Harrison County, Mississippi, and at Milano, Milano County and Bryan, Brazos County, Texas.
×Quercus oviedoensisSarg., believed to be a hybrid ofQuercus cinereaandQ. myrtifolia, has been found near Oviedo, Orange County, Florida.
Fig. 244
Leavesoblong-lanceolate to oblong-obovate, apiculate and acute or rounded at apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate or rounded at base, entire with slightly thickened, revolute often undulate margins, or sometimes more or less 3-lobed, or on sterile branches occasionally repand-lobulate, when they unfold bright red, soon becoming yellow-green, covered with scurfy rusty pubescence on the upper surface and hoary-tomentose on the lower, at maturity thin, glabrous, dark green, and very lustrous above, pale green or light brown and pubescent below, 4′—6′ long, ¾′—2′ wide, with a stout yellow midrib, numerous slender yellow veins arcuate and united at some distance from the margins, and reticulateveinlets; late in the autumn turning dark red on the upper surface; petioles stout, pubescent, rarely more than ½′ in length.Flowers: staminate in hoary-tomentose aments, 2′—3′ long; calyx light yellow, pubescent, and divided into 4 acute segments; pistillate on slender tomentose peduncles, their involucral scales covered with pale pubescence and about as long as the acute calyx-lobes; stigmas greenish yellow.Fruitsolitary or in pairs, on stout peduncles often nearly ½′ in length; nut nearly as broad as long, full and rounded at the ends, dark chestnut-brown, often obscurely striate, ½′—⅔′ long, inclosed for one third to one half its length in a thin cup-shaped or turbinate cup bright red-brown and lustrous on the inner surface, and covered by thin ovate light red-brown scales rounded or acute at the apex and pubescent except on their darker colored margins.
A tree, usually 50°—60° high, with a trunk rarely exceeding 3° in diameter, or rarely 100° high, with a long naked stem 3°—4° in diameter, slender tough horizontal or somewhat pendulous branches forming a narrow round-topped picturesque head, and slender branchlets dark green, lustrous, and often suffused with red when they first appear, soon glabrous, light reddish brown or light brown during their first winter and dark brown in their second year.Winter-budsovoid, acute, about ⅛′ long, obscurely angled, and covered by closely imbricated light chestnut-brown lustrous scales erose and often ciliate on the margins.Barkon young stems and branches thin, light brown, smooth, and lustrous, becoming on old trunks ¾′—1½′ thick, and slightly divided by irregular shallow fissures into broad ridges covered by close slightly appressed light brown scales somewhat tinged with red.Woodheavy, hard, rather coarse-grained, light brown tinged with red, with thin lighter colored sapwood; occasionally used in construction, and for clapboards and shingles.
Distribution.Rich hillsides and the fertile bottom-lands of streams; Lehigh County (Allentown to Dorney’s Park), Bedford, Huntington, Franklin and Union Counties, Pennsylvania, westward through Ohio to southern Michigan, southern Wisconsin and southeastern and southern Iowa (Muscatine to Taylor County), and southward to the District of Columbia, along the Appalachian Mountains and their foothills, up to altitudes of 2200°, to the valley of the Little Tennessee River, North Carolina, and to northern Georgia (Wilkes County), and middle Tennessee; through Missouri to northeastern Kansas and southeastern Nebraska, and in northern and southern Arkansas (Fulton, Hempstead County); comparatively rare in the east; one of the most abundant Oaks of the lower Ohio basin; probably growing to its largest size in southern Indiana and Illinois.
Occasionally planted as an ornamental tree in the northern states, and hardy as far north as Massachusetts.
×Quercus LeanaNutt., scattered usually in solitary individuals from the District of Columbia and western North Carolina to southern Michigan, central and northern Illinois and southeastern Missouri, is believed to be a hybrid between this species andQuercus velutina.
×Quercus tridentataEngelm., described as a hybrid ofQuercus imbricariaandQ. marilandicafirst found at Allenton, Saint Louis County, Missouri, occurs also near Olney, Richland County, Illinois.
×Quercus exactaTrel., believed to be a hybrid ofQuercus imbricariaandQ. palustris, occurs near Olney, Richland County, Illinois, and at Crown Point, Lake County, Indiana.
Fig. 245
Leaveslanceolate or oblong-lanceolate to elliptic, occasionally somewhat falcate, acute and often apiculate at apex, cuneate or rounded or cordate at the narrow base, entire or repandly serrate above the middle with occasionally small minute rigid spinose teeth, or on vigorous shoots serrate-lobed with oblique acute lobes, when they unfold light red, covered with close pale pubescence above and coated below with thick hoary tomentum, at maturity thick and firm, dark yellow-green and lustrous on the upper surface, covered on the lower with thick silvery white or fulvous tomentum, 2′—4′ long, ½′—1′ wide, with thickened revolute margins; turning yellow or brown and falling gradually during the spring after the appearance of the new leaves; petioles stout, flattened, pubescent or tomentose, ⅛′—¼′ in length.Flowers: staminate in slender aments 4′—5′ long; calyx slightly tinged with red, covered with pale hairs and divided into 4 or 5 broadly ovate rounded lobes; anthers acute, apiculate, bright red becoming yellow; pistillate mostly solitary, sessile or short-stalked, their involucral scales thin, scarious, and soft-pubescent; stigmas dark red.Fruitsessile or borne on a stout peduncle up to ½′ in length, usually solitary; nut ovoid, acute or rounded at the narrow hoary-pubescent apex, dark green and often striate when ripe, becoming light chestnut-brown in drying, ½′—⅔′ long, the shell lined with white tomentum, inclosed for about one third its length in a turbinate thick cup pubescent on the inner surface, and covered by thin broadly ovate light chestnut-brown scales rounded at apex and clothed, especially toward the base of the cup, with soft silvery pubescence.
A tree, usually 20°—30° or sometimes 60° high, with a tall trunk 10′—15′ in diameter, slender branches spreading into a narrow round-topped inversely conic head, and stout rigid branchlets coated at first with thick hoary tomentum disappearing during the first winter, becoming light red-brown often covered with a glaucous bloom and ultimately nearly black; frequently a shrub.Winter-budsovoid, obtuse, about ⅛′ long, with thinlight chestnut-brown scales.Bark¾′—1′ thick, nearly black, deeply divided into broad ridges broken on the surface into thick plate-like scales.Woodheavy, very strong, hard, close-grained, dark brown, with thick lighter colored sapwood.
Distribution.Scattered but nowhere abundant through Pine-forests on the slopes of cañons and on high ridges usually at altitudes between 6000°—7000° above the sea on the mountains of western Texas, and of southern New Mexico and Arizona; in northern Chihuahua and Sonora.
Fig. 246
Leavesoval, orbicular or oblong, rounded or acute and apiculate at apex, rounded or cordate at base, entire or sinuate-dentate with slender rigid spinose teeth, when they unfold tinged with red and coated with caducous hoary tomentum, at maturity subcoriaceous, convex, dark or pale green, dull and obscurely reticulate above, paler, rather lustrous, glabrous or pubescent below, with tufts of rusty hairs in the axils of the principal veins, or sometimes covered above with fascicled hairs and coated below with thick hoary pubescence, ¾′—4′ long and ½′—3′ wide, with thickened strongly revolute margins; falling gradually during the winter and early spring; petioles stout or slender, pubescent or glabrous, ½′—1′ in length.Flowers: staminate in slender hairy aments 3′—4′ long; calyx bright purple-red in the bud, sometimes furnished with a tuft of long pale hairs at the apex, glabrous or glabrate, divided nearly to the base into 5—7 ovate acute segments reddish above the middle; pistillate sessile or short-stalked, their involucral scales bright red and covered with thick hoary tomentum, or glabrous or puberulous; stigmas bright red.Fruitsessile or nearly so, solitary or in few-fruited clusters; nut elongated, ovate, abruptly narrowed at base, gradually narrowed to the acute puberulous apex, light chestnut-brown, ¾′—1½′ long, ¼′—¾′ thick, the shell lined with a thick coat of pale tomentum, inclosed for one third its length or only at the base in a thin turbinate light brown cup coated on the inner surface with soft pale silky pubescence, and covered by thin papery scales rounded at the narrow apex, and slightly puberulous, especially toward the base of the cup.
A tree, occasionally 80°—90° high, with a short trunk 3°—4° or rarely 6°—7° in diameter, dividing a few feet above the base into numerous great limbs often resting on the ground and forming a low round-topped head frequently 150° across, and slender dark gray or brown branchlets tinged with red, coated at first with hoary tomentum persistent until the second or third year; or with a trunk, rising to the height of 30° or 40°, and crowned by a narrow head of small branches; often much smaller; frequently shrubby in habit,with slender stems only a few feet high.Winter-budsglobose and usually about1/16′ thick, or ovoid-oblong, acute, and sometimes on vigorous shoots nearly ¼′ in length, with thin broadly ovate closely imbricated light chestnut-brown glabrous or pubescent scales.Barkof young stems and branches thin, close, light brown or pale bluish gray, becoming on old trunks 2′—3′ thick, dark brown slightly tinged with red, and divided into broad rounded ridges separating on the surface into small closely appressed scales.Woodheavy, hard, close-grained, very brittle, light brown or reddish brown, with thick darker colored sapwood; valued and largely used for fuel.
Distribution.Usually in open groves of great extent from Sonoma County, California, southward over the coast ranges and islands to the San Pedro Mártir Mountains, Lower California; less common at the north; very abundant and of its largest size in the valleys south of San Francisco Bay and their commonest and characteristic tree; frequently covering with semiprostrate and contorted stems the sand dunes on the coast in the central part of the state; in southwestern California the largest and most generally distributed Oak-tree between the mountains and the sea, often covering low hills and ascending to altitudes of 4500° in the cañons of the San Jacinto Mountains.
Occasionally cultivated as an ornamental tree in temperate western, and in southern Europe.
Fig. 247
Leavesnarrowly lanceolate to broadly elliptic, generally oblong-lanceolate, acute or rounded and generally apiculate at apex, rounded or truncate or gradually narrowed and cuneate at base, entire, serrulate or serrate or sinuate-dentate with spreading rigid spinescent teeth, when they unfold thin, dark red, ciliate, and covered with pale scattered fascicled hairs, at maturity thick and coriaceous, glabrous and lustrous, dark green on the upper and paler and yellow-green on the lower surface, usually 1′—1½′ long and about ⅔′ wide, with obscure primary veins and conspicuous reticulate veinlets, gradually deciduous during their second summer and autumn; petioles coated at first with hoary tomentum, usually pubescent or puberulous at maturity, ⅛′ to nearly 1′ in length.Flowers: staminate in hairy aments 3′—4′ long; calyx tinged with red in the bud, divided into broadly ovate ciliate glabrous light yellow lobes shorter than the 3—6 stamens; pistillate sessile or short-stalked, their involucral scales and peduncle hoary-tomentose.Fruitsessile, short-stalked or occasionally spicate; nut slender, oblong, abruptly narrowed at base, pointed and pilose at the apex, ¾′—1½′ long, about ⅓′ thick, light chestnut-brown, often striate, the shell lined with a scanty coat of pale tomentum, more or less inclosed in the thin turbinate sometimestubular cup ½′—1′ deep, or rarely cup-shaped and shallow, light green and puberulous within, and covered by oblong lanceolate light brown closely imbricated thin scales, sometimes toward the base of the cup thickened and rounded on the back, usually pubescent or puberulous, especially above the middle, and frequently ciliate on the margins.
A tree, usually 70°—80° high, with a short trunk 4°—6° in diameter, stout spreading branches forming a round-topped head, and slender rigid branchlets coated at first with hoary tomentum or covered with scattered fascicled hairs, puberulous or glabrous and rather light brown during their first season, gradually growing darker in their second year; usually much smaller and sometimes reduced to an intricately branched shrub, with numerous stems only a few feet tall.Winter-budsovoid or oval, acute, ⅛′—¼′ long, with closely imbricated light chestnut-brown ciliate scales.Barkon young trees and large branches thin, generally smooth and light-colored, becoming on old trunks 2′—3′ thick, and divided into broad rounded often connected ridges separating on the surface into small thick closely appressed dark brown scales slightly tinged with red.Woodheavy, very hard, strong, close-grained, light brown tinged with red, with thick lighter colored sapwood; sometimes used for fuel.
Distribution.Lower slopes of Mt. Shasta southward through the coast region of California to the Santa Lucia Mountains, and to Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands, and along the slopes of the Sierra Nevada to Kern County, up to altitudes of 2000° at the north and of 4500° at the south; as a shrub 4°—6° high with small thick leaves (var.frutescensEngelm.) on the desert slopes of the San Bernardino, San Jacinto and Cuyamaca mountains, at altitudes of 5000°—7000° above the sea, and on San Pedro Mártir in Lower California; nowhere common as a tree, but most abundant and of its largest size in the valleys of the coast region of central California at some distance from the sea, and on the foothills of the Sierra Nevada; very common as a shrub in the cañons of the desert slopes of the mountains of southern California; near the coast and on the islands small and mostly shrubby.
×Quercus morehusKell., a supposed hybrid betweenQuercus WislizeniiandQ. Kelloggiioccurs in Lake County, California.
Fig. 248
Leavesoval to oblong-obovate, acute and apiculate or broad and rounded at apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate or broad and rounded or cordate at base, entire, with much thickened revolute sometimes undulate margins, or on vigorous shoots sinuate-dentate and lobed above the middle, when they unfold, thin, dark red, coated below and on thepetioles with clammy rusty tomentum and densely pubescent above, at maturity thick and coriaceous, lustrous, dark green, glabrous and conspicuously reticulate-venulose above, paler, yellow-green, or light orange-brown, glabrous or pubescent below, with tufts of rusty hairs in the axils of the veins, ½′—2′ long and ¼′—1′ wide; falling gradually during their second year; petioles stout, pubescent, yellow, rarely more than ⅛′ in length.Flowers: staminate in hoary pubescent aments 1′—1½′ long; calyx coated on the outer surface with rusty hairs and divided into 5 ovate-acute, segments shorter than the 2 or 3 stamens; pistillate sessile or nearly sessile, solitary or in pairs, their involucral scales tomentose and tinged with red.Fruitsolitary or in pairs, sessile or short-stalked; nut subglobose or ovoid, acute, ¼′—½′ long, dark brown, lustrous and often striate, puberulous at apex, the shell lined with a thick coat of rusty tomentum, inclosed for one fourth to one third its length in a saucer-shaped or turbinate cup light brown and puberulous within, and covered by closely imbricated broad-ovate light brown pubescent scales ciliate on the margins and rounded at their broad apex.
A round-topped tree, rarely 40° high, with a trunk 4′—5′ or rarely up to 15′ in diameter, short or rarely long spreading branches and slender branchlets coated at first with a thick pale fulvous tomentum of articulate hairs usually persistent during the summer, light brown more or less tinged with red or dark gray, and pubescent or puberulous during their first winter, becoming darker and glabrous in their second season; more often an intricately branched shrub, with slender rigid stems 3°—4° or rarely 15°—20° high and 1′—3′ in diameter.Winter-budsovoid or oval, gradually narrowed to the acute apex, with closely imbricated dark chestnut-brown slightly puberulous scales.Barkthin and smooth, becoming near the ground dark and slightly furrowed.
Distribution.Dry sandy ridges on the coast and islands of South Carolina to Bay Biscayne, Florida, crossing the central peninsula and from the valley of the Caloosahatchee River, westward along the coast of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi; most abundant on the islands off the coast of east Florida, and of Alabama and Mississippi; often covering large areas with low impenetrable thickets; perhaps of its largest size in Orange County, on Jupiter Island, and on the coast west of the Apalachicola River, Florida.
Fig. 249
Leavesoblong-ovate to elliptic, acute or cuspidate at apex, cordate, rounded or cuneate at base, mostly entire on old trees, often dentate or sinuate-dentate on young trees with 1 or 2 or many spinescent teeth, the two forms often appearing together on vigorous shoots, clothed when they unfold with a thick tomentum of fulvous hairs soon deciduous from theupper and more gradually from the lower surface, at maturity thick and coriaceous, bright yellow-green and glabrous above, more or less fulvous-tomentose below during their first year, ultimately becoming glabrate and bluish white, 1′—4′ long, ½′—2′ wide, with thickened revolute margins; deciduous during their third and fourth years; petioles slender, yellow, rarely ½′ in length.Flowers: staminate in slender tomentose aments 2′—4′ long; calyx light yellow, pubescent, divided usually into 5—7 broadly ovate acute ciliate lobes often tinged with red above the middle; pistillate sessile or subsessile or rarely in short few-flowered spikes, their broadly ovate involucral scales coated with fulvous tomentum; stigmas bright red.Fruitusually solitary, sessile or short-stalked; nut ellipsoidal or ovoid, acute or rounded at the full or narrow slightly puberulous apex, light chestnut-brown, ½′—2′ long and about as thick, the shell lined with a thin coat of loose tomentum, with abortive ovules scattered irregularly over the side of the seed, inclosed only at the base in a thin hemispheric or in a thick turbinate broad-rimmed cup pale green or dark reddish brown within, and covered by small triangular closely appressed scales with a short free tip, clothed with hoary pubescence, or often hidden in a dense coat of fulvous tomentum.
A tree, usually not more than 40°—50° high, with a short trunk 3°—5° in diameter, dividing into great horizontal limbs sometimes forming a head 150° across, and slender rigid or flexible branchlets coated at first with thick fulvous tomentum, becoming during their first winter dark brown somewhat tinged with red, tomentose, pubescent, or glabrous, and ultimately light brown or ashy gray; occasionally in sheltered cañons producing trunks 8°—9° in diameter; on exposed mountain sides forming dense thickets 15°—20° high.Winter-budsbroadly ovoid or oval, acute, about ⅛′ long, with closely imbricated light chestnut-brown usually puberulous scales.Bark¾′—1½′ thick, light or dark gray-brown tinged with red, and covered by small closely appressed scales.Woodheavy, very strong, hard, tough, close-grained, light brown, with thick darker colored sapwood; used in the manufacture of agricultural implements and wagons.
Distribution.Southern Oregon, along the California coast ranges and the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada to the San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains; of its largest size in the cañons of the coast ranges of central California and on the foothills of the Sierra Nevada; ascending to altitudes of 8000°—9000° above the sea; near the southern boundary of California, on the mountains of northern Lower California and Sonora and in Arizona (Santa Rita and Huachuca Mountains, on Beaver Creek and in Copper Cañon near Camp Verde, and in Sycamore Cañon south of Flagstaff), usually shrubby, with rigid branches, rigid coriaceous oblong or semiorbicular spinose-dentate leaves, subsessile or pedunculate fruit, with ovoid acute nuts 1′—1½′ long, their shells lined with thick or thin pale tomentum, and purple cotyledons (var.PalmeriEngelm.—Quercus WilcoxiiRydb.)
Fig. 250
Leavesoblong-lanceolate, acute, sometimes cuspidate or occasionally rounded at apex, broad and rounded or gradually narrowed and abruptly cuneate at base, remotely crenate-dentate with small remote spreading callous tipped teeth, or entire, when they unfold light green tinged with red, covered above with scattered pale fascicled hairs and below and on the petioles with thick hoary tomentum, at maturity thick and coriaceous, dark green, glabrous and lustrous on the upper surface, pale and covered with fascicled hairs on the lower surface, 2′—4′ long, 1′—2′ wide, with thickened strongly revolute margins, and a pubescent midrib; gradually deciduous during their third season; petioles stout, pubescent, about ½′ in length.Flowers: staminate in pubescent aments 2½′—14′ long, calyx light yellow, pubescent, divided into 5—7 ovate acute lobes; pistillate subsessile or in few-flowered spikes on short or elongated pubescent peduncles, their involucral scales like the calyx coated with fascicled hairs; stigmas red.Fruitsubsessile or short-stalked; nut ovoid, broad at base, full and rounded at apex, about 1½′ long and ¾′ thick, inclosed only at the base in a cup-shaped shallow cup thickened below, light brown and pubescent on the inner surface, and covered by thin ovate acute scales, their free chestnut-brown tips more or less hidden in a thick coat of hoary tomentum.
A tree, 30°—40°, or occasionally 60° high, with a trunk 1°—2° in diameter, spreading branches forming a shapely round-topped head, and slender branchlets coated at first with hoary tomentum, becoming light brown tinged with red or orange color.Winter-budsovoid, acute or obtuse, nearly ¼′ long, with many loosely imbricated light chestnut-brown scales more or less clothed with pale pubescence.Barkthin, reddish brown, broken into large closely appressed scales.Woodheavy, hard, close-grained, compact, pale yellow-brown, with lighter colored sapwood.
Distribution.Deep narrow cañons and high wind-swept slopes of Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and Santa Catalina islands, California; on Guadalupe Island off the coast of Lower California.
Fig. 251
Leavesoblong-lanceolate, acute and mucronate at apex, cordate or rounded at the slightly narrowed base, entire or remotely repand-serrate with 1—5 pairs of acute rigid oblique teeth, when they unfold thin, light green more or less tinged with red and covered with silvery white tomentum, at maturity thick, rigid, coriaceous, dark green, very lustrous and glabrous or coated above with minute fascicled hairs, pale and glabrous or puberulous below, usually with 2 large tufts of white hairs at the base of the slender midrib, obscurely reticulate-venulose, 1′—2½′ long, ½′—1′ wide; falling gradually in April with the appearance of the new leaves; petioles stout, pubescent, about ¼′ in length.Flowers: staminate in hoary tomentose aments; calyx light yellow, hairy on the outer surface, divided into 5—7 ovate acute lobes; pistillate sessile or short-stalked, their involucral scales covered with hoary tomentum.Fruitripening irregularly from June to September, sessile or short-stalked; nut oblong, oval, or ovate, narrowed at base, rounded at the narrow pilose apex, ½′—¾′ long, about ⅓′ thick, dull light green when fully grown, dark chestnut-brown or nearly black at maturity, with a thin shell lined with thick white tomentum, inclosed for from one third to one half its length in the deeply cup-shaped or nearly hemispheric cup light green and pubescent within, and covered by closely imbricated broadly ovate acute thin and scarious light brown scales clothed with short soft pale pubescence.
A tree, usually 30°—40° high, with a short trunk 2°—3° in diameter, stout rigid rather drooping branches forming a round-topped symmetrical head, and slender rigid branchlets covered at first with close hoary tomentum, bright red, pubescent or tomentose in their first winter, ultimately glabrous and dark red-brown or black; sometimes 60°—70° high, with a trunk 4°—5° in diameter, with a head occasionally 100° across; or at high altitudesor on exposed mountain slopes a low shrub.Winter-budsellipsoidal, acute, about ¼′ long, pale pubescent toward the apex, with thin closely imbricated light chestnut-brown ciliate scales.Bark1′—2′ thick, dark brown or nearly black, deeply divided into large oblong thick plates separating into small thin closely appressed scales.Woodheavy, strong, brittle, close-grained, dark brown or almost black, with thick bright brown sapwood tinged with red. The sweet acorns are an important article of food for Mexicans and Indians, and are sold in the towns of southern Arizona and northern Mexico.
Distribution.Mountain ranges of western Texas, southern New Mexico, Arizona south of the Colorado plateau, and of northern Mexico; in Texas common in the cañons and on the southern slopes of the Limpio and Chisos mountains; the most abundant Oak of southern New Mexico and Arizona, forming a large part of the forests covering the mountain slopes and extending from the upper limits of the mesa nearly to the highest ridges; attaining its largest size and beauty in the moist soil of sheltered cañons.
Fig. 252
Leavesoblong, rounded and acute at apex, broad and abruptly cuneate or rounded at base, usually about ¾′ long and ½′ wide, spinescent with a few minute teeth, or undulate and entire or coarsely spinescent, with an obscure midrib and primary veins, conspicuous reticulate veinlets, and stout petioles rarely ⅛′ long; or sometimes oblong to oblong-obovate and divided by deep sinuses into 5—9 oblong acute rounded or emarginate bristle-tipped lobes, the terminal lobe 3-lobed, rounded or acute, 2′—4′ long and 1′—1½′ wide, with primary veins running to the points of the lobes, obscure reticulate veinlets, and petioles sometimes 1′ long, thin when they unfold and clothed with scattered fascicled hairs, or rarely tomentose above and coated below and on the petioles with hoary tomentum, at maturity thick and firm, dark green and glabrous on the upper surface, paler and more or less pubescent on the lower surface; mostly deciduous during the winter.Flowers: staminate in pubescent aments; calyx divided into 4—7 ovate lanceolate hairy segments; pistillate sessile or stalked, in long many-flowered tomentose spikes, their involucral scales and calyx hoary-tomentose; stigmas red.Fruitsessile or short-stalked; nut ovoid, broad at base, broad and rounded or acute at apex, ½′—1′ long, ⅓′—⅔′ thick, inclosed for one half to two thirds its length in a deep cup-shaped or hemispheric cup light brown and pubescent within, covered by ovate pointed scales coated with pale or rufous tomentum, usually much thickened, united and tuberculate, those above with free acute tips forming a fringe to the rim of the cup, or frequently with basal scales but little thickened and furnished with long free tips; in var.AlvordianaJeps., with a nut 1½′—1⅝′ long, ¼′—½′ thick, gradually narrowed and acute at apex, inclosed only at base in a shallow cup-shaped cup.
A tree, rarely 20° high, with a trunk 12′—18′ in diameter, small branches forming a round-topped head, and slender branchlets coated at first with hoary tomentum, becoming in their first winter ashy gray or light or dark reddish brown and usually pubescent or tomentose; more often an intricately branched rigid shrub, with stout stems covered by pale gray bark and usually 6°—8° high, often forming dense thickets.Winter-budsellipsoidal, generally acute,1/16′—⅛′ long, with thin pale red often pilose and ciliate scales.Barkof the trunk bright brown and scaly.
Distribution.California; western slopes of the central Sierra Nevada; common on the coast ranges south of San Francisco Bay and on the islands off the coast of the southern part of the state, ranging inland to the borders of the Mohave Desert and to the cañons of the desert slopes of the San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains, and southward into Lower California; arborescent only in sheltered cañons of the islands; the var.Alvordiana, in the San Emidio Cañon of the coast ranges of Kern County and on the San Carlos Range, Fresno County; north of San Francisco Bay replaced by the varietybullataEngelm. ranging to Mendocino County and to Napa valley.
×Quercus MacDonaldiiGreene, a shrub or small tree with characters intermediate between those ofQuercus dumosaandQ. Engelmannii, is usually considered a hybrid of these species. It occurs on Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Islands, and in Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles Counties, California.
Fig. 253
Leavesoblong, elliptic or obovate, rounded or acute at apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate or rarely rounded or cordate at base, usually entire with slightly revolute margins, or rarely spinose-dentate above the middle, thin, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, pale and pubescent on the lower surface, 2′—5′ long, ½′—2½′ wide, and inconspicuously reticulate-venulose, with a narrow yellow midrib, and few slender obscure primary veins forked and united at some distance from the margins; gradually turning yellow or brown at the end of the winter and falling with the appearance of the new leaves in the spring; petioles stout, rarely more than ¼′ in length.Flowers: staminate in hairy aments 2′—3′ long; calyx light yellow, hairy, divided into 5—7 ovate rounded segments; anthers hirsute; pistillate in spikes on slender pubescent peduncles 1′—3′ long, their involucral scales and ovate calyx-lobes coated with hoary pubescence; stigmas bright red.Fruitusually in 3—5 fruited spikes or rarely in pairs or single on stout light brown puberulous peduncles 1′—5′ long; nut ellipsoidal or slightly obovoid, narrowed at base, rounded or acute at apex, dark chestnut-brown and lustrous, about 1′ long and ⅓′ thick, inclosed for about one fourth its length in a turbinate light reddish brown cup puberulous within,its scales thin, ovate, acute, slightly keeled on the back, covered by dense lustrous hoary tomentum and ending in small closely appressed reddish tips;seedsweet, with light yellow connate cotyledons.
A tree, 40°—50° high, with a trunk 3°—4° in diameter above its swollen buttressed base, usually dividing a few feet from the ground into 3 or 4 horizontal wide-spreading limbs forming a low dense round-topped head sometimes 130° across, and slender rigid branchlets coated at first with hoary tomentum, becoming ashy gray or light brown and pubescent or puberulous during their first winter and darker and glabrous the following season; occasionally 60°—70° tall, with a trunk 6°—7° in diameter; often shrubby and occasionally not more than a foot high.Winter-budsglobose or slightly obovoid, about ⅙′ long, with thin light chestnut-brown scales white and scarious on the margins.Barkof the trunk and large branches ½′—1′ thick, dark brown tinged with red, slightly furrowed, separating on the surface into small closely appressed scales.Woodvery heavy, hard, strong, tough, close-grained, light brown or yellow, with thin nearly white sapwood; formerly largely and still occasionally used in shipbuilding.
Distribution.Shores of Mobjack Bay, Virginia, southward along the coast and islands to southern Florida, and along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico to northeastern Mexico, spreading inland through Texas to the valley of the Red River and to the mountains in the extreme western part of the state; on the mountains of Cuba, southern Mexico, and Central America; most abundant and of its largest size on the Atlantic and east Gulf coasts on rich hummocks and ridges a few feet above the level of the sea; abundant in Texas in the coast region, near the banks of streams, and westward toward the valley of the Rio Grande often forming the principal part of the shrubby growth on low moist soil; in sandy barren soil in the immediate vicinity of the seacoast or on the shores of salt water estuaries and bays often a shrub, sometimes bearing fruit on stems not more than a foot high (var.maritima, Sarg., and var.dentataSarg.).
Occasionally planted as a shade and ornamental tree in the southern United States.
Variable in habit and in the size and thickness of the leaves the different forms ofQuercus virginianashow little variation in their fruit. The most important of these varieties is
Quercus geminataSmall.