Learn More about the Book
Excerpt from The Popular Science Monthly: November, 1914
The three species of oaks referred to are Quercus agrifolia, the encina oak, Q. Lobata, the roble oak, and Q. Douglasii, the blue or Douglas oak. The roble oak and Douglas oak are deciduous. The encina oak is the familiar live-oak of the coastwise valleys.
The roble oak is the valley oak par excellence, and is probably the largest California species of the genus. The largest specimen reported is 150 feet in height and 25 feet in circumference four feet above the ground.1 The writer also saw a Specimen near Clear Lake, which had a Spread of top estimated to be 144: feet. In addition to being of large size, the roble oak is unusually beautiful and graceful, with long and slender pendant secondary branches, which occasionally nearly sweep the ground. If not strictly confined to moist soils, it at least attains its best development where the soil is moist and the depth to the level of perennial water is not so great as to be beyond the reach of the roots.
The encina oak is the Species characteristic of the valleys of the coast ranges, where it finds its greatest development. It is disposed in open groves and it is to this species, mainly, that the park-like appearance of the coast valleys is due. In form, the encina oak is more compact than the roble oak, and has low, rounded tops, as is indicated by the accompanying figure.
As distinguished from the two other species of oaks just mentioned.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
