42 



No. 89, from Bangkok. Siam. Valuable oaks which grow on dry, 

 shady or gravelly slopes, at altitudes of 2,400 to 5000 feet, and I 

 should think that they would thrive in California and also in Florida. 

 The acorns are very sweet and are eaten roasted. I have eaten many 

 of them myself and they are rather good. The trees are ])rolific 

 barers, and seeds are plentiful just now. The acorns are flat, thin 

 shelled and sweet. (Rock) 



Quercus truncata King. 



From Siam. Seeds collected by J. F. Rock. 



No. 75. from Bangkok, Siam. This oak grows in quartz-sand .soil in 

 deciduous forests. It is one of the most prolific bearers of the region. 

 The acorns are about an inch long and not quite half an inch thick, with 

 thick shells. They are borne in dense spikes and sometimes grow to- 

 gether in the shape of a fan. The whole spikes fall and cover the 

 ground. Natives roast and eat them. (Rock) 



Lithocarpus cornea (Lour.) Rehder. 



From Hongkong, China. Seeds purchased from \\'. J. Tutcher, 

 Botanical and Forestry" Department. 



An oak-like tree with oblong, sharp-pointed evergreen leaves 2 to 

 4 inches long, which are smooth and green on the under side interest- 

 ing particularly as bearing acorns as hardshelled as the nuts of the 

 American hickory and which contains a kernel almost as sweet as the 

 sweetest Spanish chestnut. Said to be a very showy ornamental as 

 grown on the island of Hongkong. (Fairchild) 



Prof. W. L. Jepson of Berkeley, California, in answer to my ques- 

 tion sent the following notes under date of September 21, 1927: 



"As to the use of acorns for food by the native tribes, it is to be 

 said that all species were used. In general the White Oaks, Quercus 

 douglasii, Quercus garryana, and Quercus lobata, were most frequently 

 employed, but the more astringent Black Oaks, Quercus agrifolia, 

 Quercus kelloggii, and Quercus wislizenii, furnished ample crops, the 

 ground meal being subject to leaching before baking into a sort of 

 loaf. 



"This same observation applies also to the very abundant Lithocar- 

 pus densiflora, or Tan Oak, of the Redwood belt. The acorns of this 

 species were extensively used by the Indians and even within com- 

 parativelj^ recent years one has been able to see Indian women leaching 



