=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in any good soil, wet or dry, but prefers a position on the edge of moist or boggy land, where its roots can find a constant supply of water; growth fairly rapid; seldom affected by insects or disease; occasionally offered by nurserymen and rather less difficult to transplant than most of the oaks. Its sturdy, rugged habit and rich dark green foliage make it a valuable tree for ornamental plantations or even for streets. [Illustration: PLATE XL.--Quercus bicolor.] 1. Winter buds. 2. Flowering branch. 3. Sterile flower, side view. 4. Sterile flower, front view. 5. Fertile flowers. 6. Fruiting branch. =Quercus Prinus, L.= CHESTNUT OAK. ROCK CHESTNUT OAK. =Habitat and Range.=--Woods, rocky banks, hill slopes. Along the Canadian shore of Lake Erie. Maine,--Saco river and Mt. Agamenticus, near the southern coast (York county); New Hampshire,--belts or patches in the eastern part of the state and along the southern border, Hinsdale, Winchester, Brookline, Manchester, Hudson; Vermont,--western part of the state throughout, not common; abundant at Smoke mountain at an altitude of 1300 feet, and along the western flank of the Green mountains, at least in Addison county; Massachusetts,--eastern sections, Sterling, Lancaster, Russell, Middleboro, rare in Medford and Sudbury, frequent on the Blue hills; Rhode Island,--locally common; Connecticut,--common. South to Delaware and along the mountains to Georgia, extending nearly to the summit of Mt. Pisgah in North Carolina; west to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. =Habit.=--A small or medium-sized tree, 25-50 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 1-2-1/2 feet, assuming noble proportions southward, often reaching a height of 75-100 feet and trunk diameter of 5-6 feet; trunk tall, straight, continuous to the top of the tree, scarcely tapering to the point of ramification, surmounted by a spacious, open head. =Bark.=--Bark of trunk and large branches deep gray to dark brown or blackish, in firm, broad, continuous ridges, with small, close surface scales; bark of young trees and of branchlets smooth, brown, and more or less lustrous; season's shoots light brown. =Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds ovate to cylindrical, mostly acute, brownish. Leaves simple, alternate, 5-8 inches long, 2-5 inches wide, dark green and smooth above, paler and more or less downy beneath; outline obovate to oval, undulate-crenate; apex blunt-pointed; base wedge-shaped, obtuse or slightly rounded, often unequal-sided; veins straight, parallel, prominent beneath; leafstalk 1/2-1-1/2 inches long; stipules linear, soon falling. =Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile catkins 2-3 inches long; calyx 5-9-parted, yellow, hairy; divisions oblong, densely pubescent; stamens 5-9; anthers yellow, glabrous: pistillate flowers with hairy scales and dark red stigmas.