EMORY OAK Quercus emoryi Torr. In the canyons and on the southern slopes of the Davis and Chisos Mountains occurs this interesting oak with glossy, spiny, “holly-like” leaves, and sweet, edible acorns. A small round-topped tree up to 30 or 40 feet in height, the emory oak has drooping branches and slender, decidedly reddish branchlets. The LEAVES are mostly persistent, oblong, pointed, smooth or sharply toothed along the margin, thick, very glossy green, about 2 inches long and less than 1 inch wide. [Illustration: EMORY OAK (Leaf three-fourths natural size; fruit and twig, three-fourths natural size)] The acorn, or FRUIT, is borne close to the branchlet and matures in one season. It is oblong in shape, ½ inch or more in length, with a dark brown or nearly black nut enclosed for about one-third its length in a narrow cup. The latter is lined with dense gray fuzz or “tomentum.” The WOOD is heavy, strong, somewhat brittle, close-grained, dark brown, with light brown sapwood tinged with red. The acorns are an important article of food for Mexicans and Indians. MEXICAN BLUE OAK (Q. oblongifolia Torr.), closely resembling emory oak, is a smaller tree and does not occur at the higher elevations (over 6,000 ft.) where emory oak may be found. GRAY OAK (Quercus grisea Liebm.) occurs in the Trans-Pecos area in Texas. This species is a scrub or small tree 20 to 30 feet high, but sometimes reaching a height of 65 feet. LIVE OAK Quercus virginiana Mill. Live oak range extends from southeastern Virginia through the lower Coastal Plain of the Atlantic and Gulf States; in Texas, from the mouth of the Rio Grande north to the Red River and west to the Guadalupe Mountains, also in southern Mexico and Cuba. 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, 3 to 4 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. Slow-growing and long-lived, it is one of the most desirable trees for roadside and ornamental planting throughout most of its range. It is one of the very few trees that is apparently immune to cotton root-rot. [Illustration: LIVE OAK (Leaf, natural size; fruit and twig, one-half natural size)] The LEAVES are simple, persistent, thick, leathery, oblong, smooth above, pale and silvery white beneath; from 2 to 4 inches in length and 1 to 2 inches in breadth.