Bark.—Resembling that of the white oak, but rather a darker gray, rougher and firmer; upon old trunks furrowed and cut into oblongs; small limbs brownish-gray, rough-dotted; season's shoots densely tawny-tomentose.
Winter Buds and Leaves.—Buds small, rounded or conical, brownish, scales minutely pubescent or scurfy. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-8 inches long, two-thirds as wide, thickish, yellowish-green and tomentose upon both sides when young, becoming a deep, somewhat glossy green above, lighter beneath, both sides still somewhat scurfy; general outline of leaf and of lobes, and number and shape of the latter, extremely variable; type-form 5-lobed, all the lobes rounded, the three upper lobes much larger, more or less subdivided, often squarish, the two lower tapering to an acute, rounded, or truncate base; sinuses deep, variable, often at right angles to the midrib; leafstalk short, tomentose; stipules linear, pubescent, occasionally persistent till midsummer. The leaves are often arranged at the tips of the branches in star-shaped clusters, giving rise to the specific name stellata.
Inflorescence.—May. Sterile catkins 1-3 inches long, connecting thread woolly; calyx 4-8 parted, lobes acute, densely pubescent, yellow; stamens 4-8, anthers with scattered hairs: pistillate flowers single or in clusters of 2, 3, or more, sessile or on a short stem; stigma red.
Fruit.—Maturing the first season, single and sessile, or nearly so, or in clusters of 2, 3, or more, on short footstalks: cup top-shaped or cup-shaped, ⅓-½ the length of the acorn, about ¾ inch wide, thin; scales smooth or sometimes hairy along the top, acutish or roundish, slightly thickened at base: acorn ½-1 inch long, sweet.
Horticultural Value.—Hardy in New England; prefers a good, well-drained, open soil; quite as slow-growing as the white oak; seldom found in nurseries and difficult to transplant. Propagated from the seed.
Plate XXXVIII.—Quercus stellata.
| 1. Winter buds. |
| 2. Flowering branch. |
| 3. Sterile flower, back view. |
| 4. Sterile flower, front view. |
| 5. Fertile flower. |
| 6. Fruiting branch. |