406 



Thk Journal of Heredity 



The different varieties so far studied 

 may be grouped on the flowering habit 

 as follows: 



Pistillate Constants. Group I. 

 Tanenash', Hachiya, Costata, Tsuru, Tamo- 

 pan, Hyakume, Yemon, Yeddoichi, Phelps, 

 Triumph, Zcngi. 



Staminate Constants. (}roup II. 

 Gailev, and probably Masugata, Siang (S. P. 

 I. No. 2191C) and (S. P. I. No. 27037). 



Staminate Sporadics. Grouj) III. 

 Okame, Tabcr No. 23, Taber No. 129. 



It is of course impossible to determine 

 the flowering habit of any variety until 

 it has been under observation for a 

 number of years. If a variety, repre- 

 sented by a considerable number of 

 specimens, has been constant in its 

 behavior for at least five successive 



years, its habit may be judged with fair 

 accuracy. This is the basis on which 

 the varieties named have been assigned 

 to the last two groups. 



It may be possible to select strains of 

 Staminate Sporadics that will be so 

 constant in their behavior as to entitle 

 them to a jjlacc among the Staminate 

 Constants. An attempt in this direction 

 with Taljcr No. 23 has met with some 

 measure of success. In the winter of 

 1910 a staminate twig of this sporadic 

 was grafted in the top of a large D. 

 virginiana seedling. In the spring of 

 1912 the branch developed from this 

 graft bore a goodly number of staminate 

 flowers. In 1913 and 1914 it likewise 

 bore staminate flowers, as well as 

 pistillate ones. The second graft gener- 

 ation started in 1913 has not bloomed vet. 



A NEW OAK FOR BREEDERS 



WITH the increase of interest 

 in nut-bearing trees, among 

 ]jlant breeders, and partic- 

 ularly in \\esN of the growing 

 interest in oaks, attention may well be 

 called to what is probably the largest 

 known acorn, shown in the accompany- 

 ing illustration, and produced by Quer- 

 cus insignis, the "noteworthy oak," a 

 species discovered in the state of Vera 

 Cruz, Mexico, by the Belgian botanist 

 Galeotti, and described by him jointly 

 with Martens in the Bulletin of the 

 Academy of Brussels, X, II (1843) 219. 

 The tree is ra])id in growth, and quite 

 different in haljit from most oaks. It 

 reaches an ultimate height of 60 to 80 feet 

 or more, is quite erect, and sends out large 

 branches at the height of 30 or 40 feet 

 from the ground. It is found in con- 

 siderable abundance about midway 

 down the flanks of Mount Orizaba, be- 

 ing most common about Chiapas, ac- 

 cording to Dr. C. A. Purpus, who has 

 recently been collecting in that region. 

 It is a white oak, maturing its fruit the 

 first season; and being a white oak. its 

 fruit has sufTieient edible quality to be 

 available at least for stock food. 



"The only other oaks that approxi- 

 mate it in size," according to Dr. 

 William Trelease of the University of 

 Illinois, wh(j called the attention of this 



association to the species, "are a close 

 relative, Quercus strombocarpa. of the 

 same region, and a Guatemalan black 

 oak, Q. skinner i — the latter apparently 

 an equally large tree, and with acorns 

 two inches in diameter but presumably 

 bitter or astringent like our own black 

 oak acorns." 



The nuts of Quercus insignis are 

 usually about two inches in diameter, 

 but may reach two and one-half inches. 

 Their weight is from 50 to 65 grams each. 



In view of its range, the tree is 

 naturally to be supposed unsuited to a 

 temperate climate, but Dr. Purpus 

 writes, "I think it a very useful tree 

 which could be raised in Florida, Cuba, 

 Porto Rico, etc." The Office of Foreign 

 Seed and Plant Introduction of the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture is now 

 endeavoring to introduce it to those 

 regions on a large enough scale to give 

 it a chance of success. If it is found to 

 be well adapted, it is jjossible that native 

 s])ecies of oaks could in some cases be 

 grafted over with the more productive 

 new one, thus yielding a large crop of 

 acorns with very little trouble or care. 

 Hybridizing experiments should also be 

 tried with some of the best North 

 American oaks, with a view to seeing 

 whether the size o( tlieir acorns can not 

 be increa.sed. 



