A FEW WORDS ON 
     
     THE MIGHTY OAK , 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Elsewhere in this issue is 
     
     found an account of the successful 
     
     efforts by the Natural History Society 
     
     and other conservation minded citizens 
     
     and organizations to save the eleven acre 
     
     hardwood stand at Royalty Oaks. It therefore 
     
     seems appropriate to learn something of the 
     
     natural history of the oak. 
     
     The species in question for P.E.I. is the red oak 
     
     (guercus rubra , the only oak native to this province. In 
     
     Canada red oak is found across the southern part of the country 
     
     from Ontario eastward to the Maritimes. It prefers well-drained 
     
     upland soils and characteristically grows in pure stands or mixed with 
     
     white pine or other deciduous trees. It does not tolerate much competition. Red 
     
     oaks generally grow to heights of 20 to 25 m and occasionally reach 30 m. Usual 
     
     diameters range from .3 to l m or more. A red oak grown in the open tends to 
     
     develop a short thick trunk with a relatively small number of large spreading 
     
     branches. Woodland grown red oaks have tall straight trunks and smaller crowns. 
     
     The root system is deep and spreading. The bark is grey, smooth in 
     
     young trees, but becoming cracked into longitudinal ridges with age. 
     
     Oaks are slow growing but sturdy, and often attain a conSiderable 
     
     age. 
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
     The leaves of the red oak have pointed lobes and, compared to 
     
     other native trees, appear relatively late in the spring. As the 
     
     leaves are unfolding, flowers come out, with the clusters of slender 
     
     green-yellow male catkins as well as the tiny female flowers being 
     
     found at the tip of the same twig. The fruit develops as an acorn, 
     
     which for red oak requires two years to mature. Red oak twigs are 
     
     stout and smooth, dark red to greenish brown in colour. 
     
    

    
     Oak wood is hard, heavy and strong. Its chief uses are for 
     
     furniture and flooring, although it is sometimes also used for 
     
     making casks. In the past red oaks on P.E.I. (and elsewhere) were 
     
     prized for shipbuilding. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Reference: Hosie, R.C. 1973. Native Trees of Canada. Information 
     
     Canada. Ottawa. 380 p. 
     
    
   
   
    
     * * * * 'k * * * * 'k * * * * * * * 'k * * * ~k * 
     
    
   
   
    
     SHAGGY MANE EATERS BEWARE. According to Uberto Tosco in The World 
     
     of Mushrooms (Orbis, London, 1973) "a peculiar and distinctive 
     
     form of poisoning can be shown by the Common Inkcap (Copginus 
     
     atramentarius). It contains a substance which is particuIEfny’ww' 
     
     soluble in alcohol so that any wine or other alcoholic drink which 
     
     is drunk after a meal containing the Inkcap brings on the symptoms: 
     
     these include the face and other parts of the body becoming purple, 
     
     together with increased heart beat and gastric upsets. The effect 
     
     can be shown some time after the meal, too, even as much as two 
     
     days afterwards! This does not appear to happen with young 
     
     specimens. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     I 2