321 
AMERICAS EGEVEGETATION, etc. (The Oak-vegetation of America ; 
abridged from two popular lectures delivered before thé Association 
of Natural History of Copenhagen*, and separately reprinted.) By 
Professor F. LIEBMANN. Copenhagen, 1851. Translated from the 
Danish, by Dr. Warrrcn, F.R.S., V.P. Linn. Soc. 
If the reader should happen to be acquainted only with our own in- 
digenous Oak, though he would recognize in it a vegetable form, which 
from olden times has continued the symbol of strength and the prize of 
civic virtue, yet he would not derive from it any conception of the rich 
variety of appearances, which the tribe of Oaks developes in its distri- 
bution over the surface of the globe. The species perform so great 
a rôle in the vegetable physiognomy, exhibiting, wherever they appear, 
the chief constituents of forests, that it may perhaps be considered - 
of interest to give here some account of the nature of the Oaks in 
America. We will premise some brief remarks concerning their exist- 
ence in other parts of the world. 
Up to the present time, about 230 species of oaks are known, be- - 
longing principally to the northern hemisphere. To the south of the — 
line they occur only on the Sunda Islands, among which, at Sumatra, 
crossed by the equator, and at Java, in lat. 8° south, there exists a nu- 
merous and highly remarkable groupe of Oaks. It is a striking fact, 
that they are entirely wanting in the temperate zone of the southern 
hemisphere, f.i, in New Zealand (35-45° S.), in Van Diemen’s Land 
(42? S.), in southern Chili, Patagonia, and Terra del Fuego (40—54^ 8.) ; 
the more so, because forests are found there of Beeches, which in Europe 
ordinarily accompany the Oak, and which count the majority of species 
in those very parts of the southern hemisphere. 
With respect to the distribution of the species, only 2 (3) Oaks are. 
found in Europe, north of the Alps. To the south of these, in the 
southern Europe, bordering in the Mediterranean, there are 18 species. 
That portion of western Asia which approaches nearest to the Mediter- 
ranean has 14 species. The eastern temperate zone of Asia has 25 
species, out of which 20 belong to Japan ; India has 21, and the Islands 
* Tt must be borne in mind that this deservedly flourishing Society, now seventeen . 
i ienti tions, written or 
years old, is by no means of a purely scientific nature. Communications, wri : 
oral, suited kind audience, are made on every alternate Sunday during the 
winter months.— TRANSL. 1 
VOL, IV. 
