RED OAK (Quercus rubra, Linn.). 50 to 150 feet. Large, • spreading, round-domed tree, with stout branches and slender twigs. Bark reddish brown, tinged with gray, furrowed deeply between broad, broken ridges; twigs red, smooth, after leaves fall. Wood reddish brown, coarse-grained, heavy, hard, strong, with large rings and medullary rays; used in construction and finish of houses, for furniture, cooperage, and fuel. Inferior to white oak. Leaves 5 to 9 inches long, thin, oblong or obovate, variable in shape, with 7 to 9 triangular lobes, set off by triangular sinuses, tipped by teeth and bristly points. Upper surface smooth, dull green above, yellow
green, tufted with rusty hairs below. Red in autumn. Flow ers May, staminate catkins 4 to 5 inches long, clustered, hairy; pistillate on short 2- to 3-flowered stalks; stigmas green, long. Acorns ripe second autumn, large, 1 to 11 inches long, broad at base, set in shallow, scaly saucer, reddish brown, fuzzy lined. Kernel bitter, white. Dist.: Stream borders, rich woodlands, Nova Scotia to Minnesota; south to Georgia, Tennessee, and Kansas. Yields tanbark. Superb, quick growing shade and ornamental tree.