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<v Speaker 1>Chapter six of Ten Common Trees. This is a LibriVox recording.

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<v Speaker 1>All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more

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<v Speaker 1>information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording

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<v Speaker 1>by Jennifer Almond. Ten Common Trees by Susan Stokes. The

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<v Speaker 1>white Oak? What is a tree? Is it only a

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<v Speaker 1>wooden trunk with wooden branches, a bark and leaves? There

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<v Speaker 1>is something more. Let me tell you about it to day.

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<v Speaker 1>It is the spirit of the tree. There is something

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<v Speaker 1>about it, the shape of the head, the color of

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<v Speaker 1>the leaves, the outline of the trunk, which tells a tale.

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<v Speaker 1>The tree has an expression. Elms toss their long branches

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<v Speaker 1>and are dainty. Birches are the most shy and ladylike

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<v Speaker 1>of trees. What is the character of the oak? The

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<v Speaker 1>short trunk, holding its immense weight of branches says I

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<v Speaker 1>am strung. The great broad head of leaves says I

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<v Speaker 1>am wise. The whole tree seems to say trust me,

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<v Speaker 1>you can depend upon me. Its wood has shown the strength.

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<v Speaker 1>The heart of the oak has been used for hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>of years in the building of ships, and it will

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<v Speaker 1>bear enormous strains. There needs no crown to mark the

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<v Speaker 1>forest's king. The poet Keats saw that they looked wise

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<v Speaker 1>and dignified. He calls them those green robed senators of

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<v Speaker 1>mighty woods. If you had lived in England about two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand years ago, you would probably have worshiped the oak trees.

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<v Speaker 1>At that time there were great forests of oaks, and

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<v Speaker 1>people saw in them such good qualities. They were so hearty,

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<v Speaker 1>they rustled like giants with the wind and storm, and

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<v Speaker 1>lived to be so old that the people and their priests,

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<v Speaker 1>the druids, worshiped them. In southern Europe about the same

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<v Speaker 1>time been told about the dryads or maidens who lived

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<v Speaker 1>in trees. Sometimes they were even seen. A young Greek

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<v Speaker 1>returning from the chase would tell the tale. I started

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<v Speaker 1>a stag on the mountain and followed him until I

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<v Speaker 1>was weary. Then I threw myself on the ground beneath

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<v Speaker 1>some great oak trees. I heard the lisping of the leaves,

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<v Speaker 1>and then a sweet voice singing. It almost sounded like

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<v Speaker 1>the crooning of birds. Rest you rest, you, green boughs

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<v Speaker 1>shade you kind when sing you soothe you soothe you

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<v Speaker 1>sleep you sleep you. No bee hums near you, No

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<v Speaker 1>bird flits above. You dream you, dream you, And then

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<v Speaker 1>there slipped out of the trees some merry, misty maidens,

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<v Speaker 1>and they danced and danced. I half raised my head,

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<v Speaker 1>and they vanished like a flash. So you see. The

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<v Speaker 1>Greeks also recognized the spirit of the tree. Some of

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<v Speaker 1>the country people would even place food under the trees

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<v Speaker 1>for the merry dryads. Nowadays we do not see the

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<v Speaker 1>sprite that lives in the tree, but we examine her

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<v Speaker 1>house very closely. If it is a white oak, we

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<v Speaker 1>find a white trunk with a great dome shaped roof.

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<v Speaker 1>This roof is upheld by stout many curved arms, and

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<v Speaker 1>is covered over with leaves, bright green above and pale below.

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<v Speaker 1>They have deep, blunt notches and are arranged so that

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<v Speaker 1>every leaf may get some sunshine. The strangest thing about

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<v Speaker 1>this roof is that it is only used in summer.

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<v Speaker 1>In the fall, it becomes a deep red. The twigs

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<v Speaker 1>cover their tips with the brown scales and begin to

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<v Speaker 1>prepare new leaves for next summer's new roof. The leaves

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<v Speaker 1>then fall, and the oak is ready for winter storms.

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<v Speaker 1>These past the buds unfold and wooly pink leaves appear

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<v Speaker 1>with warm weather, they turn green, and the oaks this

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<v Speaker 1>new roof is complete. The oak bears two kinds of

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<v Speaker 1>flowers on the same tree early in the year. The

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<v Speaker 1>staminant flowers grow in catkins. There are eight stamens and tiny,

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<v Speaker 1>many lobed calys, and there are many flowers in the catkin.

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<v Speaker 1>The stamens provide the pollen. It is stored away in

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<v Speaker 1>the two pockets of the anthers. These flowers are easily

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<v Speaker 1>found in April or May. The other kind, the pistolate flowers,

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<v Speaker 1>will escape you if you are not careful. They do

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<v Speaker 1>not look at all like flowers, but like tiny pink

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<v Speaker 1>knobs on the tender young shoots. All you can see

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<v Speaker 1>is three or four pink lips peeping out of a

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<v Speaker 1>tiny cup. The pollen falls upon these lips, and both

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<v Speaker 1>the cup and the pistol within begin to grow. The

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<v Speaker 1>pistol becomes the nut of the acorn, and the cup

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<v Speaker 1>becomes the cap of the nut. The cap is interesting

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<v Speaker 1>for it represents a branch of the tree, a branch which,

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<v Speaker 1>instead of growing out and unfolding its leaves, has been

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<v Speaker 1>kept short and harden the But it might help take

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<v Speaker 1>care of the new oak. The baby, that is to

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<v Speaker 1>become the lord of the forest. For each one of

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<v Speaker 1>her many acorn children, the mother oak provides several things.

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<v Speaker 1>She makes it a cap from a twig and a

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<v Speaker 1>coat from the wall of the pistol. This horny coat

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<v Speaker 1>keeps out the frost in the snow. In its two

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<v Speaker 1>seed leaves, she stores food enough to last through the winter,

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<v Speaker 1>and she gives it a tiny root, so it only

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<v Speaker 1>has to keep on growing. The white oaks drop the

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<v Speaker 1>acorns at the end of about six months, but the

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<v Speaker 1>red oaks and the black oaks do not shed their

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<v Speaker 1>acorns until they are a year and a half old.

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<v Speaker 1>One windy day in October, an acorn fell from the

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<v Speaker 1>top of the big white oak. It had been growing

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<v Speaker 1>there since May. At that time it had been so

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<v Speaker 1>small that you could hardly have seen it at all. Still,

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<v Speaker 1>it held its six little brothers all together in the

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<v Speaker 1>room at the bottom of the pistol. One of these

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<v Speaker 1>had grown so fast that there was no room for

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<v Speaker 1>the others. And at last it had the whole of

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<v Speaker 1>the corny shell by itself. This was the baby oak

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<v Speaker 1>of whose fortune I'm going to tell you. As it

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<v Speaker 1>struck the ground, its cap fell off and it rolled

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<v Speaker 1>down a hill. On and on it went until it

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<v Speaker 1>lodged in a little hole near the foot of the hill.

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<v Speaker 1>The wind which had started it brought leaves and covered it.

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<v Speaker 1>Over here it was snug and quiet. Its cap was gone,

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<v Speaker 1>but it had the hard brown coat which its mother

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<v Speaker 1>tree had given it. There was a big round scar

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<v Speaker 1>which showed where it had been broken off. It lay

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<v Speaker 1>under the leaves for a long time. It did not

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<v Speaker 1>feel the cold, and it did not see the snow

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<v Speaker 1>that covered the ground. But in the spring, the melting

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<v Speaker 1>snow soaked through the little tree's hard jacket. Then it

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<v Speaker 1>awoke and drank and drank until the jacket actually cracked

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<v Speaker 1>and split into three parts. Out of the rent crept

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<v Speaker 1>a little root which turned and pushed down down. From

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<v Speaker 1>between the two thick white seed leaves came a stem

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<v Speaker 1>which grew up, but which kept its head bent over

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<v Speaker 1>until it had pushed its way through the soil. Above.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a slender, ruddish stem with pears of scaly

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<v Speaker 1>leaves that did not look at all like leaves usually do.

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<v Speaker 1>After a while it began to have leaves that were

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<v Speaker 1>like those of the white oak. They were no longer

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<v Speaker 1>in pairs and were green in color. These leaves made food,

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<v Speaker 1>which was carried to the root and helped to feed it.

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<v Speaker 1>By this time all the food which had been stored

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<v Speaker 1>and the seed leaves had been used. During the summer,

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<v Speaker 1>it grew to be a stout little tree, and in

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<v Speaker 1>the fall it dropped its leaves and made ready for winter.

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<v Speaker 1>The next summer it grew again and rested through the winter.

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<v Speaker 1>In this way it became strong and hardy. Its branches thickened,

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<v Speaker 1>and the whole had a sturdy look. The winds blew

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<v Speaker 1>upon it, but it did not bend. The snows loaded

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<v Speaker 1>its branches, but it broke not. The hail pelted it,

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<v Speaker 1>and the clouds wept over it, and it still held

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<v Speaker 1>its head to the storm and never weakened. As it

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<v Speaker 1>grew older, it made flowers, and upon its branches were

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<v Speaker 1>born other acorns. The wild birds nested in its branches.

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<v Speaker 1>The squirrels filled their stores from its fruits. The woodpeckers

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<v Speaker 1>also carried the acorns away, digging little holes into it,

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<v Speaker 1>which they put them for safe keeping. The mistletoe clung

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<v Speaker 1>to its branches, green even in wintertime, and the ivy

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<v Speaker 1>wound its slender stems about its trunk, so you can

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<v Speaker 1>see the little oak had become a power in the

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<v Speaker 1>forest and repaid the carrot had received. Some of the

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<v Speaker 1>best known oaks. There are a great many different kinds

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<v Speaker 1>of oaks. Would you like to be able to recognize

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<v Speaker 1>a few of the common ones. The flowers are all

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<v Speaker 1>very closely alike. The leaves are not always the same

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<v Speaker 1>on the same tree, But the acorns and the acorn

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<v Speaker 1>cups are so constant that we use them in distinguishing

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<v Speaker 1>between the kinds. October or November is the best time

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<v Speaker 1>to study them. Look sharply when you go to the

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<v Speaker 1>woods or to the park and bring in a few

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<v Speaker 1>leaves and twig with some acorns. Be sure to find

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<v Speaker 1>out at the same time if the acorns fall at

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<v Speaker 1>the end of the first year or at the end

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<v Speaker 1>of the second, You will find the last on the

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<v Speaker 1>tree during the winter. Those which fall the first year

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<v Speaker 1>are called annual fruited. They have usually a sweet kernel.

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<v Speaker 1>Those that fall the second year are called bi annual fruited,

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<v Speaker 1>they have a bitter kernel. We will suppose your acorn

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<v Speaker 1>is one of the first and has a sweet kernel.

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<v Speaker 1>It may either be a white oak or a chestnut oak,

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<v Speaker 1>or a live oak. If it is either of the

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<v Speaker 1>first two, the leaves will fall at the approach of winter,

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<v Speaker 1>but if it is the last, they do not. The

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<v Speaker 1>white oaks have very deeply notched leaves with blunt lobes,

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<v Speaker 1>while the chestnut oaks have large leaves with coarsely toothed

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<v Speaker 1>or wavy margins. Now there are several kinds of white

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<v Speaker 1>oaks and several chestnut oaks, but only one of each

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<v Speaker 1>is called white oak or chestnut oak. The white oak,

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<v Speaker 1>which has received the name, has a rough acorn cup

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<v Speaker 1>somewhat shorter than the acorn. It is at its best

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<v Speaker 1>in the Alleghany Mountains. The mossy cup white oak has

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<v Speaker 1>a fringed and scaly cup which nearly covers the acorn.

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<v Speaker 1>It is more abundant in the prairie region east of

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<v Speaker 1>the Mississippi River. It is also known as the bur oak,

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<v Speaker 1>are overcup oak. The chestnut oak, which receives the name,

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<v Speaker 1>has leaves somewhat like the chestnut, but the teeth are

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<v Speaker 1>not pointed. Its acorns are born on a stem shorter

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<v Speaker 1>than the leaf stem are petiole. The swamp white oak

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<v Speaker 1>is classed with the chestnut oaks because their leaves are

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<v Speaker 1>like those of the other chestnut oaks near the tip.

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<v Speaker 1>They are, however, like the white oaks in being lobed

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<v Speaker 1>near the base. The acorns are born on the stems

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<v Speaker 1>longer than the leaf stems. The leaves of the live

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<v Speaker 1>oak are not deciduous. They are thick and heavy, and

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<v Speaker 1>the acorn cups taper to the peticolar stem. The Southern

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<v Speaker 1>live oak is a tree highly valued for its timber.

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<v Speaker 1>The cups nearly cover the acorns. The California live oak

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<v Speaker 1>has long, slender nuts several times as long as the cups.

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<v Speaker 1>The wood is brittle. If you should have an acorn

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<v Speaker 1>with a bitter kernel, it is probably a red oak,

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<v Speaker 1>a black oak, or a willow oak. Red oaks have

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<v Speaker 1>a reddish wood. Their leaves are often deeply cut, with

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<v Speaker 1>the lobes tipped with bristles. They turn brilliant red in autumn.

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<v Speaker 1>The red oak has a shallow acorn cup and the

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<v Speaker 1>leaves turn orange red in autumn. The scarlet oak has

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<v Speaker 1>very ragged leaves scarlet and autumn. The acorn cup is

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<v Speaker 1>top shaped and rather deep. The kernel is white and bitter.

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<v Speaker 1>The bark is gray without red within The black oak

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<v Speaker 1>is quite like the scarlet oak in many ways, but

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<v Speaker 1>the bark is dark and rough and has an orange,

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<v Speaker 1>yewed lining. This oak is valuable for the tannin, which

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<v Speaker 1>is used in the manufacture of leather. The willow oaks

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<v Speaker 1>have simple leaves like those of a willow, but very tough.

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<v Speaker 1>The acorns are round like a ball end of Chapter

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<v Speaker 1>six