Quercus prinoides Willd.

A deciduous shrub, spreading by means of root-suckers, and forming dense thickets; young shoots ribbed, not downy. Leaves obovate, tapered at the base, pointed, with four to seven coarse, triangular teeth at each side, 3 to 6 in. long, about two-thirds as wide, dark glossy green and glabrous above, grey and minutely downy beneath; stalk 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. long. Fruits scarcely stalked; acorn up to 3⁄4 in. long, nearly half enclosed by the cup.

Native of the eastern and central United States; introduced in 1828. It is interesting and curious as a suckering oak, but has little to recommend it for ornament. It is said not to exceed 15 ft in height in the wild, but I have only seen it one-third that height in cultivation, and never bearing acorns.