100 THE FRUITS OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE 



or carrying across the ocean the flag of England, the 

 Mistress of the Seas, it stands alone in interest, in regal 

 majesty. As the yew-tree won for us Cressy and Agincourt, 

 so the oak bestowed on us, some little thanks also being 

 due to the passengers it carried, Trafalgar and many 

 another glorious victory. 



It will be observed in our illustration, Plate XV., 

 that the leaves are what is botanically termed sessile, or, 

 in other words, stalkless, while the acorns are borne on 

 a stalk, or, botanically, a peduncle ; and thereby hangs a 

 tale. We have in England two distinct forms of oak, 

 in one of which, as in our figure, the leaves are sessile 

 and the acorns pedunculate, and this has been distinguished 

 as the Qjiercus pedunculata ; while in the other these 

 conditions are reversed, the leaves being stalked while 

 the acorns are not, and so this has been differentiated 

 as the Quercus sessiliflora. While some would give 

 distinct specific value to these characteristics, others would 

 tell us that they are but variations, and that, whichever 

 form we find, it is in any case the grand old British oak, 

 one and indivisible, the Quercus robur. Our illustration, 

 therefore, is that of the Q. robur, if we sink these 

 minor differences ; Q. robur pedunculata, if we like to 

 reckon them as but a variation of form, to be recognised 

 if we so choose, but not to be thought over-much of ; 

 or the d. pedunculata, if we insist on ascribing import- 

 ance to them. The pedunculate form is generally the 

 more abundant, but in some districts the sessile-fruited 

 is found almost exclusively. When the oak was the 

 foundation of our naval supremacy, it was thought 

 at first that one variety supplied better timber than the 



