File:American forestry (1910-1923) (18140827242).jpg

Title: American forestry
Identifier: americanforestry221916amer (find matches)
Year: 1910-1923 (1910s)
Authors: American Forestry Association
Subjects: Forests and forestry
Publisher: Washington, D. C. : American Forestry Association
Contributing Library: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden
Digitizing Sponsor: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden

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Text Appearing Before Image:
American Forestry VOL. XXII JANUARY, 1916 No. 265 The American White Oak Idcntificatioii and Characteristics By S. B. Detwiler THE oak possesses a sentimental charm for man- kind, perhaps because in days of old, it was closely associated with worship of the gods. In- stinctively we venerate its character as symbolic of strength, permanence and independence. In Europe and America are many historically famous oaks, and the poets from Virgil to Longfellow have celebrated "Jove's own tree." Our high regard for the oaks does not de- pend alone on sentiment, since the value of the wood, bark and acorns rank these trees com- mercially as our most important hardwood. In the "Faery Queen." Spencer speaks of "The builder oak, sole king of forests all," in referring to the use of oak in the enduring structures of past ages. Nearly 300 species of oak are known in the northern hemisphere; about 53 are native to North America, and more than half of them are commercially im- portant. Lumbermen and botanists agree in recog- nizing natural divisions of the oaks into two
Text Appearing After Image:
From Pennsylvania Trees, by J. S. Illick. THE WHITE OAK . Flowering hrancli with immature leaves showing the (s) staminate blossoms and (p) the pistillate blossoms. 2. A staminate or pollen bearing flower, enlarged. 3. A pistillate or seed bearing flower, enlarged. 4. Branch with fullgrown leaves and acorns, about one-half size. 5. Acorn cup, about one- half size. *i. The base of the acorn. 7. The cross-section view of the acorn. S. Germinating acorn with its young root and shoot. 9. A winter branch. 10. The end of a winter branch showing the bud with the over-lai)ping scales, a leaf scar with bundle scars and lenticels enlarged. 11. Cross-section of twig showing five-sided pith, the wood with medullary rays and the inner and outer bark enlarged. classes. The species in the white oak group ripen their acorns in one year, the leaf margins are free from bristles, and the bark and wood are usually light colored. The red or black oak group requires two years to mature their fruit, the leaves have sharp, bris- tle-like points on the margins, and the bark and wood are darker in color than in the white oak group. The white oak is our most important oak and is one of the most widely distributed and most used hardwoods in the LTnited States. It grows from Maine to central Ontario and Minnesota, south to Florida and Te.xas. It is most abun- dant and best developed in the central Mississippi and lower Ohio basins, ind on the western slopes of the Allegheny Moun- tains. Forest grown white oak has a long clean trunk that tapers very little until it branches into a comparatively narrow top. It may attain a height of 1.50 feet, with a trunk 8 feet in diameter, free of branches for 1)0 feet or more. Usually the trees 3

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