EMORY OAK (_Quercus emoryi_) grows among the mountains of western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, attains a height from thirty to seventy feet, and a diameter from one to four. The largest size is found only in sheltered canyons, while on high mountains and in exposed situations the tree degenerates to a shrub. It always has a crop of leaves. The old do not fall until the new appear. In shape, the leaves somewhat resemble those of box elder. The acorns ripen from June to September, the exact time depending upon the tree’s situation. Trunks large enough for use are not scarce, but the wood is not of high class. Stair railing and balusters have been made of it in Texas, but the appearance is rather poor. The grain is coarse, the figure common, the color unsatisfactory. The heart is very dark, but the tones are not uniform, and flat surfaces, such as boards and panels, show streaks which are not sufficiently attractive to be taken for figure. Trunks are apt to be full of black knots which mar the appearance of the lumber. The medullary rays are numerous and broad, and in quarter-sawing, the size and arrangement of the “mirrors” are all that could be desired, but they have a decidedly pink color which does not contrast very well with the rest of the wood. The weight of this oak exceeds per cubic foot white oak, by more than ten pounds; but it has scarcely half the strength or half the elasticity of white oak. The springwood is filled with large pores, the summerwood with smaller ones. It rates high as fuel, and that is its chief value. Large quantities are cut for cordwood. Railroad ties are made of it, and more or less goes into mines as props and lagging. Stock ranches make fences, sheds, and corrals of this oak, and live stock eats the acorns. The human inhabitants likewise find the Emory oak acorn crop a source of food. Mexicans gather them in large quantities and sell what they can spare. The market for the acorns is found in towns in northwestern Mexico.
This tree is known as rock oak in New York; as rock chestnut oak in Massachusetts and Rhode Island; as rock oak and rock chestnut oak in Pennsylvania and Delaware; as tanbark oak and swampy chestnut oak in North Carolina and as rock chestnut oak and mountain oak in Alabama.