Oaks belong to the beech family, that is, the “foodtrees,”[3] though most acorns are too bitter and contain too much tannin to be edible; some may be eaten, and for that reason the ancients classed them among the food trees. “Quercus,” which is the name of the genus, means oak in the language of northwestern Europe. The name white oak nearly always suffices, but in Arkansas it is often called stave oak because it is the best stave timber in that region. It could with equal reason be called stave oak nearly anywhere, for it is excellent material for tight cooperage. Formerly it was sometimes called Baltimore oak, because many of the staves of export were shipped from that city. That name, however, belonged more to post oak (_Quercus minor_) than to white oak, because the fine staves which went out of Chesapeake bay in the export trade, were largely post oak. It matters little now, for the name Baltimore oak is not much used, and white oak may be said to have only one trade name. After the wood is dressed, it has different names referring to the style of finish and not to the wood itself. [3] The oaks of this country, which number more than fifty species, have been classified in different ways, depending upon the purpose in view. In the present treatment they will be divided in two general groups, white oaks and black oaks. No effort will be made to draw hard and fast lines, because it is not necessary. Oaks which ripen their acorns in one year are listed as white oaks; those with two year acorns, as black oaks. This is a botanical rather than a lumberman’s classification; yet lumbermen recognize it in a general way. White oak (_Quercus alba_) is clearly entitled to head the list of white oaks, and red oak (_Quercus rubra_) should occupy a similar position with regard to the black oak group. In numbers, the white oaks and black oaks are nearly equally divided, one authority giving twenty-seven species of white oak and twenty-five of black oak in the United States; but botanists differ as to exact numbers of each. The following species are usually classed as white oaks: White oak (_Quercus alba_), valley oak (_Quercus lobata_), Brewer oak (_Quercus breweri_), Sadler oak (_Quercus sadleri_), Pacific post oak (_Quercus garryana_), Gambel oak (_Quercus gambelii_), post oak (_Quercus minor_), Chapman oak (_Quercus chapmani_), bur oak (_Quercus macrocarpa_), overcup oak (_Quercus lyrata_), swamp white oak (_Quercus platanoides_), cow oak (_Quercus michauxii_), chestnut oak (_Quercus prinus_), chinquapin oak (_Quercus acuminata_), dwarf chinquapin oak (_Quercus prinoides_), Durand oak (_Quercus breviloba_), Rocky Mountain oak (_Quercus undulata_), California blue oak (_Quercus douglasii_), Engelmann oak (_Quercus engelmanni_), Rocky Mountain blue oak (_Quercus oblongifolia_), Arizona white oak (_Quercus arizonica_), Toumey oak (_Quercus