Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/824

* OAK. 702 OAK. 100 01- cvfii 150 foet, and have thick trunks and vide-si)ica(ling branches. The trunk is often four, si.x, or even eight feet in diameter. The oak succeeds best in loamy soils, and especially in those that arc somewhat calcareous. The tim- ber is very solid, durable, peculiarly insuscepti- ble of the inlluciice of iiiuisture. and therefore eminently adapted to sliip building'. It is also employed in carpentry, mill work, etc. The bark abounds in tannin, and cuntains a peculiar bitter principle called (pierciiicand is used in medicine, chiefly in gargles, on account of its a.stringency, sometimes also as a tonic: it is used along with gall-nuts in the manufacture of ink; but most of all for tanning (see B.bk), on which account the oak is often jdanted as copse-wood (see Cop.sf.) in situations where it cannot be expected to attain great size as a tree. The acornj of some trees cork of commerce is obtained, is a native of Spain and the north of Africa. (See Cokk.) The Valonia oak (Queicus .fjfjilops), of Eastern Europe and Asia and extensively planted in Algeria and elsewhere, is celebrated for the amount of tannin contained in its acorns and cups, large quantities of which are )ised in tan- ning leather. The gall oak {Qucrciis lusitiinica), a eonunou, low shrub native of Asia Jlinor, is noted for the galls produced upon its leaves by insects. In the United States more than oO species of oaks are found with a score or more additional described varieties and hybrids. Some sp<(ies arc very restricted in their distribution, being known from only a single locality, where others range from Maine to Jlinnesota and southward to the Gulf of Mexico. The American si)ecics, and O.IK LEAVES. 1, Black oak (Qupmis relutina) ; 2. Live oak (Quercus YlrgiDiunn) : 3, Rock Chestnut oak iijufn-iis primus) ; 4, Tin fmk {QiiiTrtts f mltistris) ; 5^ Ulack Jack oak (Quercus Mnryl^iaUlca); 6, Com oak ((^uerous ««6er) : 7, Spanish oak {tjuercus dittititta). are also much less bitter than others, and species occur which produce acorns as sweet as chestnuts. Economically considered the principal oak of Europe, also distributed over Western Asia, is Qutrcits robiir, the British oak, of which there are two well-known varieties, peduiiculoln and se.isiU/lorn, so named because in the former the acorns have stalks, in the latter not. These and other dilferences in habit have no apparent inlluenee upon the value of the timber. Of these varieties, which some botanists call distinct spe- cies, pcdunctilala is more abundant in the north and sensiliflora, often called durmast oak, in the south. The Turkey, or Adriatic oak, some- times called Austrian oak (Qiicrcus Cerrifi) . na- tive to Southeastern Eurojje, is large and valuable and extensively planted. Its leaves are acutely lobed and the cu])s of the acorns have long acute bracts, from which it is called mossy- cupped. The holm or evergreen nrik (Qmrcus Ilex) is an evergreen s|K'cies occurring commonly in the south of Europe. It is more fully de- scribed under li.EX. The cork oak (Qiirrcim Pscudo-subrr), from the bark of which the ])ossibly the others, readily fall into two great groups, the white oaks and black oaks, re- spectively, the former with nnind-lobed, never bristle-tipped leaves, and acorns which ripen the first year; the latter with acute bristle- tipped leaf lobes, and fruits which mature the sci-ond year. The American white oak {Qiicrriis alliii). a large tree of rather rapid growth and tcnigh, hard, strong, close-grained wood, is one of the UKist valuabii' of tiniln'r trees. It is found from Canada to the tiulf and west to Texas. The bur oak, or mossy -cup oak {Qticrciin macro- carim), is n large tree of much the appearance and distribution of the white oak and is one of the most valuable oaks for Western planting. Its timlK'r is coarser grained and not so strong, but otherwise e(|uals that of the former species. The red oak {Qiicrciis riibrn) and the scarlet oak iQiiiroi.s cocrim-n) are large, valuable tree-< that occupy about the .same territory. They belong to the second class of oaks mentioned above. Their timber is coarse-grained, heavy, hard, and strong, and is used in various kinds of buililing and for furniture. No difTerence between the