The _wood_ is hard, heavy, strong, coarse-grained and checks easily. It is a bright red-brown with a thin outer edge of paler sapwood. It is used for the same purposes as red oak, under which name it is put on the market. Its growth is rather slow. The jack oak, _Quercus ellipsoidalis_ Hill, is a smaller tree found frequently alongside black oak in the northern third of the State. The acorn is ellipsoid, small and enclosed in a deep cup, whose scales are closely appressed. The winter buds are slightly angular, smooth, and red-brown in color. Many small, drooping branches are sent out near the ground, which soon die, and the stubs or "pins" have given this oak the name of northern pin oak. +PIN OAK+ _Quercus palustris_ Muench. PIN oak is rarely found naturally except on the rich moist soil of bottom lands and the borders of swamps. It is usually not abundant in any locality, but found scattered with other kinds of trees. It more commonly attains heights of 50 to 70 feet, with diameters up to 2 feet, but sometimes larger. The tree commonly has a single, upright stem with numerous long, tough branches, the lower ones drooping, the middle horizontal, and the upper ascending. Many of the lower branches soon die and their stubs are the "pins" which give the tree its name. [Illustration: PIN OAK Leaf, one-third natural size. Twig, one-half natural size.] The _bark_ on young stems is smooth, shining and light brown; on old trunks light gray-brown and covered by small, close scales. Because of its beauty, its hardiness, and its fairly rapid growth, pin oak makes an exceptionally fine street tree. The _leaves_ generally resemble those of the northern red oak, but they are smaller and much more deeply lobed. They are 3 to 5 inches long and 2 to 4 inches wide. The _flowers_ are of two kinds on the same tree, and appear when the leaves are about one-third grown. The _fruit_, taking two years to mature, is an acorn nearly hemispheric, about one-half inch long, light brown, often striped, enclosed only at the base in a thin, shallow, saucer-shaped cup. The _wood_ is heavy, hard, strong, and usually knotty. It is light brown, with thin, darker-colored sapwood. It is sold and has the same uses as red oak, although it is generally not so good in quality. The scarlet oak, _Quercus coccinea_ Muench., has deeply lobed leaves which turn brilliant scarlet in the autumn. The winter buds are reddish-brown and pubescent. The acorns are ovoid, enclosed for about half their length in a thick, deep cup. It is rarely found in the southern half of the State. +SPANISH OAK+ _Quercus falcata_ Michx. THIS oak, one of the common southern red oaks, ranges from Virginia and Florida to Texas and Missouri, and appears in a dozen of the southern counties in Illinois. It is usually called the Spanish oak, or southern red oak, and has been known as _Quercus rubra_ L. or _Quercus digitata_ Sudw. [Illustration: SPANISH OAK