Post or Rough Oak Quercus minor
A medium-sized tree, 40 to 50 feet high. Buds and twigs stumpy and thick set with short branching. Buds very round and rusty. Twig persistently rough, alternate leaf-scars, the bark is hard and rough. Acorn enclosed in a deep, saucer-shaped cup.
The branches of the post oak are so thick set, short, and crooked that this oak is seldom confused with any other. It rarely grows to be more than twenty-five or thirty feet high, and the many low, crooked branches, crowded together at the base of the trunk, give, as Emerson says, the effect of the top of a tree whose trunk is under ground. The leaves of the post oak are often held through the winter, and they are so stiff, rough, and abundant that they are, in themselves, a distinguishing mark. The specimen in the Arnold Arboretum, from which the accompanying photograph was taken, holds its leaves later in the spring than any of the other oaks.
The wood is heavy, close-grained, hard, and durable, but it is difficult to season. It is used in the construction of houses, in the manufacture of carriages, and for cooperage, fencing, railway ties, and for fuel.
The specific name, minor (smaller), refers to the height of this oak as compared with that of the larger members of the family.
The post oak is found from Southern Massachusetts—on Cape Cod, on the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Naushon—to Northern Florida and, in certain localities, west to Eastern Kansas.
Black Oak Quercus velutina
A large tree, 70 to 80 and (rarely) 150 feet high. Bark thick, rough, and dark. Twigs smooth, with a bitter taste. Alternate leaf-scars. Buds very downy, sharp-pointed, and large. The acorns are set in a deep, conspicuously scaly cup. The kernel is bitter.
BLACK OAK
Quercus velutina