98 FLOWERS OF THE WOODS AND COPSES 
The name Wych Elm was applied because its wood was used to 
make the chests called Wyches, Hueches, or Whycches, French suche, 
A.S. hwaecce. It was also called Witch Hazel, because the leaves are 
like the leaves of the Hazel. Gerarde says: ‘Old men affirme that 
when long boughes (bows) were in great use, there were very many 
made of the wood of this tree, for which purpose it is mentioned in the 
statutes of England by the name of Witch Hasell.” 
The Edda derives man’s descent from the Ash and Elm. It was 
a prophetic tree being a tree of dreams. 
“Full in the midst a spreading elm displayed 
His aged arms and cast a mighty shade; 
Each trembling leaf with some light vision teems, 
And leaves impregnated with airy dreams.” 
A man who makes unreasonable requests, and equally expects them 
to be gratified, is said to ‘‘ask an elm tree for pears”. 
The bark is astringent, contains tannin, and being mucilaginous 
it acts as a demulcent. The leaves have been used as fodder for 
cattle. As timber it was used for ships, but steel has now replaced 
the old wooden ships to a great extent. It is also used for coffins 
and other purposes. 
EssENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS :— 
278. Ulmus glabra, Huds.—Tree, branches drooping, leaves large, 
ovate, doubly serrate, unequal at the base, seed below middle, flowers 
5-7-fid. 
Oak (Quercus Robur, L.) 
The Oak is an ancient tree found in Preglacial beds in Norfolk and 
Suffolk, and also Interglacial and Neolithic beds. To-day it is found 
in the Arctic and N. Temperate Zones from the Atlas, Taurus, and 
Syria, up to the Arctic Circle. In Great Britain it is found every- 
where except in Selkirk, Hebrides, and Shetlands, from Sutherland to 
the south coast, up to 1350 ft. in the Highlands. It is a native of 
ireland and the Channel Islands. 
The Oak is one of those trees which characterize a certain type of 
woodland, having a special ground association of its own. It is also 
largely planted up and down the country in hedgerows by the road- 
side as well as in the open fields. But it is native in many places 
where remnants of the old forests remain, especially in hilly districts, 
the strongholds in days gone by of the Druids, to whom it was sacred, 
many ancient trees bearing names connected with this ancient religious 
cult. 
