BLACK JACK; BARREN OAK; JACK OAK (QilereU8 Mari landica, Muench.). 20 to 50 feet. Black-trunked, contorted, spreading shrub or tree with open, irregular head, the stout branchlets coated with pale, thick tomentum, of articulate and stellate hairs, giving a rough feeling. Bark nearly black, in squarish plates, scaly. _Wood heavy, hard, strong, brown, used for fuel and charcoal. Leaves broadly obovate, wedge shaped basal half, the apex broadening into 3 lobes, plain or wavy margins, and bristly tips; firm, thick, orange-scurfy be neath; 6 to 7 inches long and broad. Petioles stout. Acorns
single or paired, i inch long, rounded, yellow-brown, often striped, deep in a reddish-brown, loose-scaled cup lined with fuzz, thick-rimmed. Dist.: New York to Nebraska; south to Florida and Texas. Dry, sandy or clay barrens.