It may be said, generally, that since it goes to market as white oak, and its buyers never object, it possesses the essential properties of that wood, and is used in the same way as far as it is used at all.
ARIZONA WHITE OAK (_Quercus arizonica_) is the common and most generally distributed white oak of southern New Mexico and Arizona where it covers the hillsides and occurs in canyons at altitudes from 5,000 to 10,000 feet above sea level. It occasionally ascends nearly or quite to the summits of the highest peaks. The form of the tree varies greatly, as might be expected from a range extending from one to two miles above sea level. On the dry, windswept summits the tree degenerates into a shrub, with stiff, harsh branches. Lower down, in canyons and in other situations where moisture may be had and the soil is fertile, trunks are fifty or sixty feet high and three or four in diameter; but these are not the usual sizes even in the best of the tree’s range, for it cannot be classed as a timber tree.
The hardships of the desert have stunted it, and its form is rough. It is important for fuel, and this has been its chief use. The region where it occurs is thinly settled, and demand for lumber is small, but stockmen build corrals and fences to enclose sheep and cattle, and the Arizona white oak supplies some of the rough poles and posts for that purpose. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, and the heartwood is almost black, but the sapwood is lighter. The grain and figure of the wood are not attractive, and what little may be sawed into lumber in the future will be rather low-grade. The branches are crooked and when cut into cordwood the ricks are so open that it is a common saying in the region that “you can throw a dog through.” The wood burns well, and the demand for fuel is large, in proportion to the population of the country.
The leaves of this oak are sometimes slightly lobed, and are sometimes nearly as smooth as willow leaves. They are light red and covered with hair when they unfold in the spring, but when mature they are dark green, and shiny. Acorns are one inch or less in length, and rather slender. They are very bitter, and wild animals are inclined to let them alone, unless pressed by hunger, and then eat them sparingly. This insures good reproduction, provided other conditions are favorable. Though cordwood cutters may strip the large trees from the hills and canyons, scrub growth may be expected to continue, particularly on high mountains, and in ravines where roads cannot be built.