What is "black oak"

Oak \Oak\ ([=o]k), n. [OE. oke, ok, ak, AS. [=a]c; akin to D. eik, G. eiche, OHG. eih, Icel. eik, Sw. ek, Dan. eeg.]

1. (Bot.) Any tree or shrub of the genus Quercus. The oaks have alternate leaves, often variously lobed, and staminate flowers in catkins. The fruit is a smooth nut, called an acorn, which is more or less inclosed in a scaly involucre called the cup or cupule. There are now recognized about three hundred species, of which nearly fifty occur in the United States, the rest in Europe, Asia, and the other parts of North America, a very few barely reaching the northern parts of South America and Africa. Many of the oaks form forest trees of grand proportions and live many centuries. The wood is usually hard and tough, and provided with conspicuous medullary rays, forming the silver grain.

2. The strong wood or timber of the oak.

   Note: Among the true oaks in America are:

   Barren oak, or

   Black-jack, Quercus nigra.

   Basket oak, Quercus Michauxii.

   Black oak, Quercus tinctoria; -- called also yellow oak or quercitron oak.

   Bur oak (see under Bur.), Quercus macrocarpa; -- called also over-cup or mossy-cup oak.

   Chestnut oak, Quercus Prinus and Quercus densiflora.

   Chinquapin oak (see under Chinquapin), Quercus prinoides.

   Coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, of California; -- also called enceno.

   Live oak (see under Live), Quercus virens, the best of all for shipbuilding; also, Quercus Chrysolepis, of California.

   Pin oak. Same as Swamp oak.

   Post oak, Quercus obtusifolia.

   Red oak, Quercus rubra.

   Scarlet oak, Quercus coccinea.

   Scrub oak, Quercus ilicifolia, Quercus undulata, etc.

   Shingle oak, Quercus imbricaria.

   Spanish oak, Quercus falcata.

   Swamp Spanish oak, or

   Pin oak, Quercus palustris.

   Swamp white oak, Quercus bicolor.

   Water oak, Quercus aquatica.

   Water white oak, Quercus lyrata.

   Willow oak, Quercus Phellos. [1913 Webster] Among the true oaks in Europe are:

   Bitter oak, or

   Turkey oak, Quercus Cerris (see Cerris).

   Cork oak, Quercus Suber.

   English white oak, Quercus Robur.

   Evergreen oak,

   Holly oak, or

   Holm oak, Quercus Ilex.

   Kermes oak, Quercus coccifera.

   Nutgall oak, Quercus infectoria.

   Note: Among plants called oak, but not of the genus Quercus, are:

   African oak, a valuable timber tree ( Oldfieldia Africana).

   Australian oak or She oak, any tree of the genus Casuarina (see Casuarina).

   Indian oak, the teak tree (see Teak).

   Jerusalem oak. See under Jerusalem.

   New Zealand oak, a sapindaceous tree ( Alectryon excelsum).

   Poison oak, a shrub once not distinguished from poison ivy, but now restricted to Rhus toxicodendron or Rhus diversiloba.

   Silky oak or Silk-bark oak, an Australian tree ( Grevillea robusta).

   Green oak, oak wood colored green by the growth of the mycelium of certain fungi.

   Oak apple, a large, smooth, round gall produced on the leaves of the American red oak by a gallfly ( Cynips confluens). It is green and pulpy when young.

   Oak beauty (Zo["o]l.), a British geometrid moth ( Biston prodromaria) whose larva feeds on the oak.

   Oak gall, a gall found on the oak. See 2d Gall.

   Oak leather (Bot.), the mycelium of a fungus which forms leatherlike patches in the fissures of oak wood.

   Oak pruner. (Zo["o]l.) See Pruner, the insect.

   Oak spangle, a kind of gall produced on the oak by the insect Diplolepis lenticularis.

   Oak wart, a wartlike gall on the twigs of an oak.

   The Oaks, one of the three great annual English horse races (the Derby and St. Leger being the others). It was instituted in 1779 by the Earl of Derby, and so called from his estate.

   To sport one's oak, to be ``not at home to visitors,'' signified by closing the outer (oaken) door of one's rooms. [Cant, Eng. Univ.]

Black \Black\ (bl[a^]k), a. [OE. blak, AS. bl[ae]c; akin to Icel. blakkr dark, swarthy, Sw. bl["a]ck ink, Dan. bl[ae]k, OHG. blach, LG. & D. blaken to burn with a black smoke. Not akin to AS. bl[=a]c, E. bleak pallid. [root]98.]

1. Destitute of light, or incapable of reflecting it; of the color of soot or coal; of the darkest or a very dark color, the opposite of white; characterized by such a color; as, black cloth; black hair or eyes.

   O night, with hue so black!
   --Shak.

2. In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds.

   I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud.
   --Shak.

3. Fig.: Dismal, gloomy, or forbidding, like darkness; destitute of moral light or goodness; atrociously wicked; cruel; mournful; calamitous; horrible. ``This day's black fate.'' ``Black villainy.'' ``Arise, black vengeance.'' ``Black day.'' ``Black despair.''
   --Shak.

4. Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen; foreboding; as, to regard one with black looks.

   Note: Black is often used in self-explaining compound words; as, black-eyed, black-faced, black-haired, black-visaged.

   Black act, the English statute 9 George I, which makes it a felony to appear armed in any park or warren, etc., or to hunt or steal deer, etc., with the face blackened or disguised. Subsequent acts inflicting heavy penalties for malicious injuries to cattle and machinery have been called black acts.

   Black angel (Zo["o]l.), a fish of the West Indies and Florida ( Holacanthus tricolor), with the head and tail yellow, and the middle of the body black.

   Black antimony (Chem.), the black sulphide of antimony, Sb2S3, used in pyrotechnics, etc.

   Black bear (Zo["o]l.), the common American bear ( Ursus Americanus).

   Black beast. See B[^e]te noire.

   Black beetle (Zo["o]l.), the common large cockroach ( Blatta orientalis).

   Black bonnet (Zo["o]l.), the black-headed bunting ( Embriza Sch[oe]niclus) of Europe.

   Black canker, a disease in turnips and other crops, produced by a species of caterpillar.

   Black cat (Zo["o]l.), the fisher, a quadruped of North America allied to the sable, but larger. See Fisher.

   Black cattle, any bovine cattle reared for slaughter, in distinction from dairy cattle. [Eng.]

   Black cherry. See under Cherry.

   Black cockatoo (Zo["o]l.), the palm cockatoo. See Cockatoo.

   Black copper. Same as Melaconite.

   Black currant. (Bot.) See Currant.

   Black diamond. (Min.) See Carbonado.

   Black draught (Med.), a cathartic medicine, composed of senna and magnesia.

   Black drop (Med.), vinegar of opium; a narcotic preparation consisting essentially of a solution of opium in vinegar.

   Black earth, mold; earth of a dark color.
   --Woodward.

   Black flag, the flag of a pirate, often bearing in white a skull and crossbones; a signal of defiance.

   Black flea (Zo["o]l.), a flea beetle ( Haltica nemorum) injurious to turnips.

   Black flux, a mixture of carbonate of potash and charcoal, obtained by deflagrating tartar with half its weight of niter.
   --Brande & C.

   Black Forest [a translation of G. Schwarzwald], a forest in Baden and W["u]rtemburg, in Germany; a part of the ancient Hercynian forest.

   Black game, or Black grouse. (Zo["o]l.) See Blackcock, Grouse, and Heath grouse.

   Black grass (Bot.), a grasslike rush of the species Juncus Gerardi, growing on salt marshes, and making good hay.

   Black gum (Bot.), an American tree, the tupelo or pepperidge. See Tupelo.

   Black Hamburg (grape) (Bot.), a sweet and juicy variety of dark purple or ``black'' grape.

   Black horse (Zo["o]l.), a fish of the Mississippi valley ( Cycleptus elongatus), of the sucker family; the Missouri sucker.

   Black lemur (Zo["o]l.), the Lemurniger of Madagascar; the acoumbo of the natives.

   Black list, a list of persons who are for some reason thought deserving of censure or punishment; -- esp. a list of persons stigmatized as insolvent or untrustworthy, made for the protection of tradesmen or employers. See Blacklist, v. t.

   Black manganese (Chem.), the black oxide of manganese, MnO2.

   Black Maria, the close wagon in which prisoners are carried to or from jail.

   Black martin (Zo["o]l.), the chimney swift. See Swift.

   Black moss (Bot.), the common so-called long moss of the southern United States. See Tillandsia.

   Black oak. See under Oak.

   Black ocher. See Wad.

   Black pigment, a very fine, light carbonaceous substance, or lampblack, prepared chiefly for the manufacture of printers' ink. It is obtained by burning common coal tar.

   Black plate, sheet iron before it is tinned.
   --Knight.

   Black quarter, malignant anthrax with engorgement of a shoulder or quarter, etc., as of an ox.

   Black rat (Zo["o]l.), one of the species of rats ( Mus rattus), commonly infesting houses.

   Black rent. See Blackmail, n., 3.

   Black rust, a disease of wheat, in which a black, moist matter is deposited in the fissures of the grain.

   Black sheep, one in a family or company who is unlike the rest, and makes trouble.

   Black silver. (Min.) See under Silver.

   Black and tan, black mixed or spotted with tan color or reddish brown; -- used in describing certain breeds of dogs.

   Black tea. See under Tea.

   Black tin (Mining), tin ore (cassiterite), when dressed, stamped and washed, ready for smelting. It is in the form of a black powder, like fine sand.
   --Knight.

   Black walnut. See under Walnut.

   Black warrior (Zo["o]l.), an American hawk ( Buteo Harlani).

   Syn: Dark; murky; pitchy; inky; somber; dusky; gloomy; swart; Cimmerian; ebon; atrocious.

n. (context usually countable English) An oak tree, (taxlink Quercus velutina species noshow=1), native to eastern North America.

n. medium to large deciduous timber tree of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada having dark outer bark and yellow inner bark used for tanning; broad 5-lobed leaves are bristle-tipped [syn: yellow oak, quercitron, quercitron oak, Quercus velutina]

Black oak is a common name for several species of tree. These include:

• Quercus kelloggii, the California black oak, a Western U.S. tree species
• Quercus velutina, the Eastern black oak, an Eastern U.S. and Canadian tree species
• Casuarina pauper, an Australian tree species

Black Oak is a neighborhood located on the far southwest side of Gary, Indiana. As of 2000, Black Oak had a population of 4,216, which was 84.7% white. It is Gary's only majority-white neighborhood, and the most recent neighborhood added to the city. Black Oak was annexed in 1976, under the administration of mayor Richard Hatcher. Prior to that, Black Oak had been an unincorporated area informally associated with nearby Hammond, and the area has Hammond telephone numbers.

Located in Gary's southwest corner, Black Oak adjoins the town of Griffith and unincorporated Calumet Township; within Gary, neighboring neighborhoods include Glen Park to the east and Tolleston and Westside to the north. The neighborhood's northern boundary is formed by 25th Avenue, just north of the Borman Expressway; its eastern boundary is formed by Grant Street. Most of the neighborhood lies within the floodplain of the Little Calumet River.

Because of its former status as an unincorporated region of the county, Black Oak is served by the Lake Ridge Schools Corporation, which also covers Calumet Township, rather than the Gary Community School Corporation. Similarly, it is the only neighborhood in Gary served by a branch of the Lake County Public Library rather than the Gary Public Library. Private schools in Black Oak include Gary Academy and the Black Oak School for the Deaf, both of which are K-12 schools.

The housing stock in Black Oak is dominated by single-family and mobile homes. As of 2000, occupancy was 88%, and owner-occupancy was 70%. Black Oak is the only neighborhood in Gary where mobile homes make up a significant fraction of total housing. Thanks to its late date of annexation, it is also the only neighborhood where most development predates the neighborhood's becoming part of Gary.

Poverty levels in Black Oak are similar to Gary as a whole; a 2005 study found that Black Oak residents faced obstacles to purchasing healthy and inexpensive food that were similar to those facing other Gary residents. Commercial development in Black Oak is concentrated at the neighborhood's eastern boundary along Grant Street, location of Gary's largest retail complex, the Village Shopping Center.

Black Oak has numerous expanses of wetland and undeveloped floodplain land near the Little Calumet River. It is the site of Lake Etta County Park, the only county park located entirely within Gary; in addition, a bike trail runs along the south bank of the Little Calumet. However, environmental degradation is a serious problem, with frequent illegal dumping. The neighborhood includes Lake Sandy Jo, a Superfund site used as a toxic waste dump from 1967 to 1975, when it was closed by court order. Lake Sandy Jo was fenced off in 1986, and remediation by the EPA was completed in 1994.