bur oak
bur oak
1805–15, Americanism
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| bur oak | |
| —n | |
| an E North American oak, Quercus macrocarpa, having fringed acorn cups and durable timber | |
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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bur oak
(Quercus macrocarpa), North American timber tree belonging to the white oak group of the genus Quercus in the beech family (Fagaceae), distributed primarily throughout the central United States. Often 25 metres (80 feet) tall, the tree may reach 50 metres. Its leaves, about 25 centimetres (10 inches) long, are dark green and shiny above, dull and whitish beneath; the wide upper half of each leaf is separated from the narrow lower part by two deep sinuses. Bur oak is also called mossy-cup oak for its heavily fringed acorn cups. It has become a popular ornamental and shade tree in urban areas because of its resistance to insect and fungal attack, drought, and air pollution. Previously common in oak savannas and prairies, the tree is well adapted to fire with its corky, fire-resistant bark
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