ped, with firm, appressed scales, shallow: acorns ovoid to
globose, about 1/2 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.

[Illustration: PLATE XLVI.--Quercus palustris.]

1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower, side view.
4. Fertile flower, side view.
5. Fruiting branch.

=Quercus ilicifolia, Wang.=

_Quercus nana, Sarg. Quercus pumila, Sudw._

SCRUB OAK. BEAR OAK.

=Habitat and Range.=--In poor soils; sandy plains, gravelly or rocky
hills.

Maine,--frequent in eastern and southern sections and upon Mount Desert
island; New Hampshire,--as far north as Conway, more common near the
lower Connecticut; Vermont,--in the eastern and southern sections as far
north as Bellows Falls; Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and
Connecticut,--too abundant, forming in favorable situations dense
thickets, sometimes covering several acres.

South to Ohio and the mountain regions of North Carolina and
Kentucky; west to the Alleghany mountains.

=Habit.=--Shrub or small tree, usually 3-8 feet high, but frequently
reaching a height of 15-25 feet; trunk short, sometimes in peaty swamps
10-13 inches in diameter near the ground, branches much contorted,
throwing out numerous branchlets of similar habit, forming a stiff,
flattish head; beautiful for a brief week in spring by the delicate
greens and reds of the opening leaves and reds and yellows of the
numerous catkins. Sometimes associated with _Q. prinoides_.

=Bark.=--Old trunks dark gray, with small, closely appressed scales;
small trunks and branches grayish-brown, not furrowed or scaly; younger
branches marked with pale yellow, raised dots; season's shoots
yellowish-green, with a tawny, scurfy pubescence.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds 1/8-1/4 inch long, ovoid or conical,
covered with imbricated, brownish, minutely ciliate scales. Leaves
simple, alternate, 3-4 inches long and 2-3 inches broad; when unfolding
reddish above and woolly on both sides, when mature yellowish-green and
somewhat glossy above, smooth except on the midrib, rusty-white, and
pubescent beneath; very variable in outline and in the number (3-7) and
shape of lobes, so