Handbook of the Trees of New England

by Lorin Low Dame; Henry M. Brooks

Plate XLIV.—Quercus coccinea.

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Sterile flowers, side view.

4. Fertile flower, side view.

5. Fruiting branch.

Quercus velutina, Lam.

Quercus tinctoria, Bartram. Quercus coccinea, var. tinctoria, Gray.

Black Oak. Yellow Oak.

Habitat and Range.—Poor soils; dry or gravelly uplands; rocky ridges.

Southern and western Ontario.

Maine,—York county; New Hampshire,—valley of the lower Merrimac and eastward, absent on the highlands, reappearing within three or four miles of the Connecticut, ceasing at North Charlestown; Vermont,—western and southeastern sections; Massachusetts,—abundant eastward; Rhode Island and Connecticut,—frequent.

South to the Gulf states; west to Minnesota, Kansas, Indian territory, and Texas.

Habit.—One of our largest oaks, 50-75 feet high and 2-4 feet in diameter, exceptionally much larger, attaining its maximum in the Ohio and Mississippi basins; resembling Q. coccinea in the general disposition of its mostly stouter branches; head wide-spreading, rounded; trunk short; foliage deep shining green, turning yellowish or reddish brown in autumn.