BULLETIN 
OF THE 
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB 
Vol. X.l New York, March, 1883. [No. 3 
On Three Hybrid Oaks near Washington, D. C. 
By George Vasey. 
(Plates XXVIII. — xxx.) 
Hybrid No. i, or ^^SauPs Hybrid*' (Plate xxviii.) — This tree is 
growing on the premises of Mr. John Saul, a nurseryman and florist, 
ahout two miles north of the city. It is growing in a thicket mostly 
composed of white and red oaks and chestnuts. The tree towers up 
to the height of some fifty feet. The general appearance of the 
trunk and branches suggested to me a young Quercus rubra^ but a 
glance at the leaves and fruit referred it at once to the white oak 
group. But the bark does not have the usual whitish color and 
scaly character of the white oak. The bark of Querais stellata (post- 
oak) is closer and less scaly than that of the white- The bark of the 
true Quercus Primes is still closer, harder and darker colored, and 
on the branches is quite smooth. The bark of this hybrid appears 
to combine the qualities of Quercus alba and Q. Prinus. The leaves 
are mostly five or six inches long, with an average breadth of about 
two inches, mostly acute and narrowed at the base, and with a pretty 
uniform width of outline. There are six or seven lobes on each 
side, pointing with a strong and uniform angle toward the apex. 
The sinuses are mainly about an inch deep, reaching within half or 
three-fourths of an inch of the midrib. The lobes are remarkably 
uniform in size, breadth and direction. The upper surface is of a 
dark, glossy green, the under surface of a bluish-white or glaucous 
color, and smooth. The petiole is an inch to one and a half inches 
long, flexible, and of a yellowish color, as in Q. rubra. In texture, 
it is a little thicker than in Q, alba. The acorns are like those of Q. 
Pri/iuSy averaging nearly as large, and with the same tuberculated 
cup. There is seldom more than one matured on a twig, and they 
have a pretty stout pedicel of half an inch in length. Growing 
under the tree there are two young trees or bushes about eight feet 
high, which apparently are seedlings from it. In this, as in most 
other oaks, the leaves on the lower branches and the leaves of the 
sprouts differ considerably from those of the upper and fertile 
branches, being broader and more irregular in lobation. It is diffi- 
cult to fix the parentage of this tree, but the acorns point unmis- 
takably to Quercus Prinus, and the leaves we may suppose to com- 
bine the characters of Q^ Prinus and Q. alba. Dr. Engelmann 
thinks it may be a new variety of Q. Prinus. 
Hybrid No. 2. (Plate xxix.)— This tree is growing about six 
miles north of Washington, near Silver Spring Station, and close by 
the roadside. In fact, there is a clump of three trees, evidently 
