. Bulletin. Natural history; Natural history. Trees of Illinois. 149 QUERCUS PRINUS Linnaeus Cow Oak Basket Oak The Cow Oak is a tree of moderate size and bulk, with stout, up- tiked branches which form a compact, narrow crown. The firm, dark- qreen. and kistrous leaves, 6 to 8 inches long by 3 to 5 inches wide, are Dale or even silverv-hairy beneath, and their margins are regularly and coarsely toothed. The stout petioles are Vi to 1 Yi inches long. The slender staminate catkins are 3 or 4 inches long, and the pistillate flowers stand, 3 or more together, on short hairy stalks. The bright-bro
. Bulletin. Natural history; Natural history. Trees of Illinois. 149 QUERCUS PRINUS Linnaeus Cow Oak Basket Oak The Cow Oak is a tree of moderate size and bulk, with stout, up- tiked branches which form a compact, narrow crown. The firm, dark- qreen. and kistrous leaves, 6 to 8 inches long by 3 to 5 inches wide, are Dale or even silverv-hairy beneath, and their margins are regularly and coarsely toothed. The stout petioles are Vi to 1 Yi inches long. The slender staminate catkins are 3 or 4 inches long, and the pistillate flowers stand, 3 or more together, on short hairy stalks. The bright-brown, rather shiny, hairy- topped acorns, 1 to 1}^ inches long, are borne in thick and rather deep but flat-bottomed cups with coarse and distinct scales. The red- to orange- brown, stout twigs bear hairy buds about Ya, inch long, the scales of which are distinctly red-tinted. The trunk, which attains a diameter of 2 feet or more, is covered by gray bark, which separates into thin, red-tinted scales. Distribution: The Cow Oak is an inhabitant of the overflow lands of swamps and rivers from New Jersey to Florida and westward to Texas and Missouri. In Illinois, it is distinctly a southern tree, but it grows occasion- ally in the central part of the State, as our records for Champaign and Han- cock counties show. Its chief associates, as indicated by strip survey data in Champaign, Hamilton. Pulaski, and Perry counties, are the Red, Pin, Swamp Spanish, Burr, and Swamp White oaks, hickory, ash, Elm, and the Red and Black gums, in the order given. The largest Illinois tree measured was 95 feet high and had a trunk diameter of 23 inches. Uses: The wood of the Cow Oak, seldom distinguished by the lumber trade from that of the White Oak, is close-grained and hard, as well as tough and durable in the soil. It is of a somewhat lighter brown than White Oak wood and generally has less conspicuous tan- gential bands of parenchyma fibers in the late wood (see page 306).. Fig. 58. Distribution
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