=15.= =Quercus coccínea= Muenchhausen. Scarlet Oak. Plate 54. Medium sized trees with bark resembling the black oak, inner bark gray or reddish; twigs reddish by autumn; winter buds reddish-brown and pubescent; leaves on petioles 2.5-6 cm. long, broadly oval to obovate, blades 7-15 cm. long, truncate or wedge-shape at the base, the blade divided into 5-7 lobes by deep and wide sinuses which cut the blade more than half the distance to the midrib, sinuses rounded at the base, the lobes variable in size and shape, usually the lowest are the shortest and smallest, the middle lobes the largest and longest, the lobes widest either at the base or the apex, the terminal part toothed or lobed, the terminal lobe generally 3-lobed or 3-toothed, both surfaces of the leaves at first pubescent, soon smooth and a dark glossy green above, and paler and smooth beneath except tufts of hairs in the axils of the principal veins; acorns sessile or nearly so, solitary or in pairs; nuts ovoid to oblong, 1.5-2 cm. long, enclosed for about half their length in the thick cup-shape cup; scales triangular but blunt, closely appressed, pubescent on the back except the center which is generally elevated and smooth and shiny, giving the cup a glossy appearance which easily separates it from its nearest ally the black oak whose cup is a dull, ash or reddish gray color; kernel white within, and less bitter than the black oak. =Distribution.=--Maine, southern Ontario to southern Nebraska, south to North Carolina, Alabama and Arkansas. It has been reported for the northwest counties and the southern part of Indiana, but we have no records for the east-central portion of the State. Clark reports it as common about Winona Lake, but does not report _Quercus velutina_ which is a common tree of the vicinity, and it is believed that Clark has confused the two species. In the northern part of the State its habitat is that of sand and gravel ridges associated with black oak. In the hill part of southern Indiana it is intimately associated with the black oak on the poorer ridges. We have no authentic records for the southwestern counties. The author has Schneck's specimens on which the record for Gibson and Posey County was based. I determined the specimens as belonging to the Spanish oak, and William Trelease verified the determination. I have no doubt that scarlet oak occurred on the sand ridges of that area. [Illustration: Plate 54. QUERCUS COCCINEA Muenchhausen. Scarlet Oak. (× 1/2.)] In the northern part of the State it is a rare or infrequent tree, while in favorable habitats in the hill country of the southern part of the State it is a frequent to a common tree. =Remarks.=--Wood similar but much inferior to red oak. The cut in this State is marketed as black oak, from which it is rarely separated.