Winter Buds and Leaves.—Buds short, conical, acute. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-5 inches long, bright green, smooth and shining above, duller beneath, with tufted hairs in the angles of the veins; outline broadly obovate to ovate; lobes divergent, triangular, toothed or entire, bristle-pointed; sinuses broad, rounded; leafstalk slender; stipules linear, soon falling.
Inflorescence.—May. Appearing when the leaves are half grown; sterile catkins 2-4 inches long; segments of calyx mostly 4 or 5, obtuse or rounded, somewhat lacerate; stamens mostly 4 or 5, anthers yellow, glabrous: pistillate flowers with broadly ovate scales; stigmas stout, red, reflexed.
Fruit.—Abundant, maturing the second season, short-stemmed: cup saucer-shaped, with firm, appressed scales, shallow: acorns ovoid to globose, about ½ inch long, often striate, breadth sometimes equal to entire length of fruit.
Horticultural Value.—Probably hardy throughout New England; grows in wet soils, but prefers a rich, moist loam; of rapid and uniform growth, readily and safely transplanted, and but little disfigured by insects; obtainable in leading nurseries. Propagated from the seed.
Plate XLVI.—Quercus palustris.
| 1. Winter buds. |
| 2. Flowering branch. |
| 3. Sterile flower, side view. |
| 4. Fertile flower, side view. |
| 5. Fruiting branch. |