Value for planting: The pin oak is an extremely graceful tree and is therefore extensively used for planting on lawns and on certain streets where the tree can find plenty of water and where conditions will permit its branches to droop low.
Commercial value: The wood is heavy and hard but coarse grained and liable to check and warp. Its principal use is in the construction of houses and for shingles.
Fig. 64.—Leaf and Fruit of Pin Oak.
Chestnut (Castanea dentata)
Distinguishing characters: The bark in young trees is smooth and of a marked reddish-bronze color, but when the tree grows older, the bark breaks up into diamond-shaped ridges, sufficiently characteristic to distinguish the tree at a glance, see [Fig. 65]. A close examination of the terminal twig will show three ridges and two grooves running down along the stem from the base of each leaf or leaf-scar. The twig has no true terminal bud. The fruit, a large, round bur, prickly without and hairy within and enclosing the familiar dark brown, sweet edible nuts is also a distinguishing mark of the tree.
Leaf: The leaves are distinctly long and narrow. They are from 6 to 8 inches long.
Form and size: The chestnut is a large tree with a massive trunk and broad spreading crown. The chestnut tree when cut, sprouts readily from the stump and therefore in places where the trees have once been cut, a group of two to six trees may be seen emerging from the old stump.