of Timber^ especially Oak, Sec ^0 



rather accord with the name Robur, a Robus, the obsolete form 

 of rubeus, red, than does the lighter, hard timber ofpedunculata, 

 which, although more durable, is not, as shewn by Tredgold, so 

 strong as (i. e. it breaks with a less weight than) the sessiliflora. 

 Moreover, Pliny decides the question, by recording, of the 

 ancient Robur ^ '^ Fiuviisque demersum nulla marcoris tabe con- 

 ficitur, sed in mare putret" which can never apply to our Bri- 

 tish naval oak. 



** It is readily confessed, that pedunculata is a very unsatis- 

 factory name, very indeterminate, as many other oaks have 

 peduncled acorns, and very trifling for so important a tree."" 

 Hence is it, that as one oak has several names, and one name 

 signifies several oaks, I have proposed, in my ** Amoeni- 

 tates Querneae," to avoid the confusion in which this nomen- 

 clature seems involved (and which is even increased by the 

 assertion lately made, that the Quercus pedunculata of the 

 Continent is different from our native pedunculated oak, 

 although both have similar names), by calling the British 

 naval or pedunculated oak, Q. navalis, or ship-oak — the free- 

 growing and more stately oak, with sessile aeorns and smooth 

 leaves, Q. Regalis, or royal oak ; and the slower-growing oak, 

 with downy leaves, which holds its foliage much later in the 

 season^ and yields the reddest and darkest wood, Q. Robur. 

 The other oaks, sometimes named as species and sometimes 

 as varieties, I am inclined to believe the latter, perhaps mule 

 plants, formed by the mutual impregnation of the three before- 

 named species. 



The evidence already within our reach, although not wholly 

 unexceptionable, would seem to prove, that much of the varia- 

 bility in the duration of oaken timber, formerly attributed to 

 the nature of the soil on which it grew, and to certain dis- 

 eases affecting trees, is in a great measure referrible to the 

 kind of oak, and the purpose to which the wood of the several 

 species may be applied. The timber of the Durmast oak, the 

 darkest in hue and most curiously veined, seems well fitted 

 for furniture and ornamental purposes ; the sessiliflora, being 

 both tougher and stronger than the pedunculata, and, as well 

 as the pubescens, very durable, if not exposed to weather, is 

 best adapted for domestic architecture ; its more rapid growth 

 and very elegant form will also fit it for shrubberies and honMl 

 plantations ; while the endurance of the pedunculata between 



