1J8 Mr. Gilbert Burnett on the Decay 



arisen, as many botanists believe Q. pabescens only a variety 

 of Q. sessiliflora ; which, however, in its ordinary type, would 

 appear to have been always the prevailing oak of our northern 

 counties, as the pedunculata is of the south and eastern shires; 

 Miller, at one time, considered it to be the ** common oak 

 of England," but this could only have arisen from some very 

 partial survey, though less so than that which induced M. Fou- 

 geroux to describe the pubescens as our common native species. 

 The sessiliflora being, as I am informed, the common oak of 

 our northern provinces, as the pedunculata is of the southern, 

 may not improbably justify, or at least explain, the prejudice 

 which has so long existed against north-country-built ships, as 

 less durable than those constructed in our southern ports. 

 ' Much confusion hath existed, and doth still exist, as to the 

 names of our native oaks. All three were considered varieties 

 of his Q. Robur by Linnaeus. When subsequently distin- 

 guished, the term Robur has been considered synonymous with 

 pedunculata by some botanists, and, by others, with both sessi- 

 liflora and pubescens. Wildenow, Alton, and most continental 

 authors, call the sessile-fruited oak Q. Robur ; Smith, Salis- 

 bury, and most English writers, give the title Robur to the 

 stalk-fruited kind. I am persuaded, that it belongs more 

 properly to the Downy oak, Q. pubescens, than to either 

 of the others; that is, the qualities of the pubescent wood 

 agree more closely with those ascribed by ancient authors 

 to the timber of their Robur, than does that of either of 

 the former species. It will be remembered, that the terms 

 Q. Robur, Q. Suber, Q. JEgilops, &c. &c., were unknown to 

 the ancients; ih fit Quercus indicated one tree, Robur another, 

 Suber another, and so on. The assembling the whole under 

 the common generic term Quercus, with the adjunction of 

 specific names, has been a modern invention ; and although 

 Vitruvius says the Robur is less liable to warp than the Quer- 

 cuSf Pliny declares, '* as for the oke Robur, it will corrupt 

 and rot in the sea." — *' Robur marin^ aqua corrumpitur." He 

 also observes, " Robur exalburnatum ;" and Martyn states, that 

 the Durmast forms much less alburnum, in comparison to its 

 heart-wood, than the other oaks. Again, Festus Pompeius 

 writes, " Materiam qua^ plurimas venas rufi colori hahet Robur 

 dictam;'* and thus the colour of the timber of the Durmast 

 0ak^ called by the French, from its darkness, chene noir^ mH 



