POST OAK
(Quercus stellata)

The post oak is usually a medium-sized tree, with a rounded crown, commonly reaching a height of 60 to 80 feet and a diameter of one to two feet, but sometimes considerably larger. It occurs over northern Florida often in the dry woods and on the poorer soils, but is most abundant on the poorer soils of the middle districts.

The bark is rougher and darker than the white oak and broken into smaller scales. The stout young twigs and the leaves are coated at first with a thick light-colored fuzz, which soon becomes darker and later drops away entirely.

The leaves are usually five to eight inches long and nearly as broad, deeply five-lobed with broad rounded divisions, the lobes broadest at the ends. They are thick and somewhat leathery, dark green and rough on the upper surface, lighter green and rough hairy beneath. The small-leaved post oak is common and grows on dry longleaf pine lands.

The flowers, like those of the other oaks, are of two kinds on the same tree, the male in drooping clustered catkins, the female inconspicuous. The fruit is an oval acorn, one-half to one inch long, set in a rather small cup which may or may not be stalked.

The wood is very heavy, hard, close-grained, light to dark brown, durable in contact with the soil. It is used for crossties and fence posts, and along with other oaks of the white oak class for furniture and other purposes.

OVERCUP OAK
(Quercus lyrata)

THE overcup oak, sometimes known as swamp post oak, is a large tree with small, often pendulous branches rarely reaching a height of 100 feet and a diameter of three feet. It occurs in river bottoms and rich low grounds of the Coastal plain and the Mississippi basin, but is nowhere very obundant. In Florida, it is found through the northern portion, where it is in mixture with a wide variety of hardwoods.

The leaves are three to seven inches long, one to four inches broad, oblong, wider towards the point, narrowed at the base, dark green above, whitish and downy beneath, with seven to nine distinct, deep, pointed lobes. They frequently turn to a bright scarlet or to scarlet and orange in the fall. The bark is rough, flaky, gray tinged with red.

The flowers open in April with the unfolding of the leaves. The acorn, or fruit ripens the first year. It is thoroughly characteristic of the species. The large rounded or somewhat flattened acorn, one-half to one inch long, is nearly covered by the ovate or nearly spherical cup, which is thickened at the base but gradually grows thinner to the thin, often irregularly split, margin of the cup. The name of the tree comes from this characteristic.

The wood is heavy, hard, strong and durable and is used for the same purposes as that of white oak.

SWAMP CHESTNUT OAK (Basket Oak)
(Quercus prinus)

IN the appearance of its bark and branches, this oak closely resembles the ordinary white oak, but may be distinguished by means of the leaf and acorn. The tree attains heights of about 100 feet and diameters of about four feet. It grows in the shallow river swamps and wet woods of Florida above the northern part of the peninsula.

The leaves are oval, broader towards the point and notched on the edge somewhat like the chestnut oak. They vary from four to eight inches in length, are downy beneath and turn a rich crimson in the fall. The bark is a very light gray, often tinged with red, and on

old trees is broken into broad flakes or divided into strips.

The acorn, or fruit, attains a diameter of more than an inch and a length of one and one-half inches.

The acorn, which is a bright shiny brown and set in a rather shallow cup, is considerably larger than that of the white oak. It is frequently eaten by cows and this fact gives the tree one of its common names.

The wood is heavy, hard, tough, strong, and takes an excellent polish. It is used in manufacturing lumber, veneer, boards (shakes), tight cooperage; for fuel and fence posts; and extensively for making baskets.

CHINKAPIN OAK (Pin Oak)
(Quercus muhlenbergii)

THIS oak, which is an excellent timber tree, occurs in western Florida, although scattered and nowhere in abundance. It grows on various classes of soils, and in all moisture conditions except in swamps, and is a very tenacious tree on shallow, dry soil. The bark is light gray, and breaks up into short narrow flakes on the main trunk and old limbs.

It reaches a height of 50 to 80 feet. The straight shapely trunk bears a round-topped head composed of small branches, which makes it an attractive shade tree.

The leaves are oblong, three to seven inches in length, one and one-half to three inches wide, and equally toothed or notched on the edges, resembling the leaves of the chestnut oak. The fruit, which ripens in the fall of the first season, is light to dark brown when ripe, and edible if roasted. This acorn is from one-half to nearly an inch long, usually less than one inch in diameter and is set in a shallow cup attached without a stalk or by a very short stalk.

The wood is heavy, very hard, tough, strong, durable, and takes an excellent polish. It is used in manufacturing lumber and timbers, crossties, fence-posts, and for fuel. A portion of the lumber no doubt goes into furniture.

LIVE OAK
(Quercus virginiana)

THE live oak extends from southeastern Virginia through the lower Atlantic and Gulf coastal regions into Texas and Mexico. All of Florida is included except some of the Keys. It is a tree of striking character from its wide-spreading habit, sometimes reaching more than 100 feet in spread; with a short, stout trunk, three to four feet in diameter, dividing in several large limbs with nearly horizontal branches, forming a low, dense,
round-topped head. Its height is commonly from 40 to 50 feet. The bark on the trunk and large branches is dark brown tinged with red, and slightly furrowed. It grows to largest size on the rich hammocks and low ridges near the coast and only a few feet above the water level. In very sandy soil it is a tall shrub. It is one of the most desirable trees of the Coastal Plain for road-side and ornamental planting. It is of moderately slow growth but long-lived and handsome.

The leaves are simple, evergreen, thick, leathery, oblong, smooth above, pale and silvery white beneath, and edges slightly rolled under; from two to four inches in length and one to two inches in breadth.

The fruit is an acorn about an inch long and one-third inch wide, borne on a long stem or peduncle; it is oblong, dark brown and lustrous. and set in a top-shaped, downy cup of a light reddish brown color.

The wood is very heavy, hard, strong and tough, light brown or yellow, with nearly white, thin sapwood. It was formerly largely used, and still is occasionally, for ships' knees in building wooden ships.

SHUMARD OAK
(Quercus shumardii Buckl.)

THE Shumard oak is not as common as other Florida oaks. It is a handsome, large tree with lustrous foliage, well adapted to shade tree usage. Height is 100 ft. and over, with trunks three to five feet in diameter. The crowns are open, wide, and symmetrical unless crowded. Shumard Oak trunks are tall and straight. The bark is gray-brown, rough, with vertical furrows. Twigs are gray to grayish brown, slender and smooth.
Leaves are deciduous, alternate, simple, shining green above, paler with tufts of hair in vein junctures underneath. They are six to eight inches long, broad based, and margins have seven to nine deep lobes, with several sharp bristle tips on lobes. Acorns mature the second season, downy striped three-quarters to one inch long, in thick, shallow cups which have nearly smooth scales, and very short stalks between cup and twig. Acorns are single or paired.

The species occurs in disjunct areas. Some appear in the Alachua-Marion County area; some are in Dixie County. They are most numerous west of the Ochlockonee River, and are frequent in Florida Caverns State Park at Marianna. The species has high potential for urban avenue plantings due to good form, bright color, and attractive foliage.

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