Bark.—Bark of trunk and large branches deep gray to dark brown or blackish, in firm, broad, continuous ridges, with small, close surface scales; bark of young trees and of branchlets smooth, brown, and more or less lustrous; season's shoots light brown.
Winter Buds and Leaves.—Buds ovate to cylindrical, mostly acute, brownish. Leaves simple, alternate, 5-8 inches long, 2-5 inches wide, dark green and smooth above, paler and more or less downy beneath; outline obovate to oval, undulate-crenate; apex blunt-pointed; base wedge-shaped, obtuse or slightly rounded, often unequal-sided; veins straight, parallel, prominent beneath; leafstalk ½-1½ inches long; stipules linear, soon falling.
Inflorescence.—May. Sterile catkins 2-3 inches long; calyx 5-9-parted, yellow, hairy; divisions oblong, densely pubescent; stamens 5-9; anthers yellow, glabrous: pistillate flowers with hairy scales and dark red stigmas.
Fruit.—Seldom abundant, maturing the first season, variable in size, on stems usually equal to or shorter than the leaf-stems: cup thin, hemispheric or somewhat top-shaped, deep; scales small, knobby-thickened at the base: acorns ¾-1½ inches long, ovoid-conical, sweet.
Horticultural Value.—Hardy throughout New England; prefers a light gravelly or stony soil; rapid-growing and free from disease; more easily and safely transplanted than most oaks; occasionally offered by nurserymen, who propagate it from the seed. Its vigorous, clean habit of growth and handsome foliage should give it a place in landscape gardening and street use.
Plate XLI.—Quercus Prinus.
| 1. Winter buds. |
| 2. Flowering branch. |
| 3. Sterile flower, back view. |
| 4. Sterile flower, front view. |
| 5. Fertile flowers. |
| 6. Fruiting branch. |
| 7. Variant leaf. |