1740 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
informs us, is from a genuine tree of Q. pedunculata, although in some of its characters 
it apparently approaches Q. sessilifldra. Perhaps it may be a hybrid between the two 
species ; for which reason we have called it Q.s. hybrida. (See fig. 1579.) 
Some other remarkable varieties, mentioned by Mr. Borrer as having been 
seen by him in Devonshire, will be found in a succeeding page, under the 
head of Geography. 
Q. pedunculata and Q. sessiliflora, though sufficiently distinct to be consi- 
dered species, yet, being very generally found growing together in a wild state, 
and being used indiscriminately for all the purposes to which the oak is ap- 
plicable, may be most conveniently treated of together. We might, indeed, 
in giving their description and geography, treat of them separately; but, in 
the history and statistics of the two trees, this would be impossible ; since 
it is not known, at this moment, whether the largest and the oldest oaks 
of Britain belong chiefly to Q. pedunculata or to Q. sessiliflora. We shall 
first notice the doubts which exist among botanists as to the species to 
which the term Robur was applied by the ancients; and then proceed to 
treat of Q. pedunculata and Q. sessiliflora conjointly, under the name of the 
British Oak. 
Q. Robur. The word Robur, according to some, is taken from robus, the 
obsolete form of rubeus, red; which, as Burnet observes, would seem a fit 
name for the red-wooded oak. Festus Pompeius says (lib. i.), “ Materiam 
quz plurimas venas rufi coloris habet robur dictam.” According to others, 
Robur is applied to the oak from robur, strength, in allusion to the quality 
of the wood; and this we think the more probable derivation. Much doubt 
has been entertained by botanists as to what species or variety the term 
Robur was applied to by Pliny. That author says (lib. xvi. c. 8.):— 
“‘ Glans optima in quercti, atque grandissima, mox esculo; nam roboris parva ; 
cerro tristis, horrida, echinato calice, seu castanez :’”’ that is, “the largest and 
best acorn is that of the Quércus, next that of the E’sculus; for that of the 
Robur is small; and then that of the Cérris, rough, and covered with a bristly 
calyx, like the chestnut.” From this passage Secondat arrives at the follow- 
ing conclusion : that the Quércus of Pliny is the chéne blanc (Q. pedunculata 
Willd.) ; the E’sculus, the chéne male (Q. sessiliflora Sm.) ; and the Robur, the 
chéne noir (Q. Tatzin Pers.). Willdenow, and most other Continental bota- 
nists, suppose the obur of the ancients to have been Q. sessiliflora; but Smith, 
and other English botanists, consider Q. pedunculata to be the tree referred to. 
Linnzus included both sorts under the specific name of Robur; seeming to 
regard them as varieties of each other. His definition is so framed that it will 
include both species: — “ Q. Robur, foliis deciduis, oblongis, superne la- 
tioribus : sinubus acutioribus: angulis obtusis.” The distinctive characters 
of petiolated and subsessile leaves, of pedunculated and sessile acorns, 
&c., are entirely omitted; and, when the more acute observations of subse- 
quent botanists again led to their separation, the subspecific synonymes, 
longo pediculo, and brevi pediculo vel sessiliflora, by which as varieties they 
had been previously known, became the specific names of Q. pedunculata and 
Q. sessiliflora, The classic adjunct Robur, under which Linnzus included 
both species, was restrained by Smith to the first, and was by Willdenow 
given to the second ; and while Willdenow has been followed by the Con- 
tinental botanists, Smith has been followed by those of Britain. The wood 
of Q. pedunculata is whitish, varying to drab; that of Q. sessiliflora, whitish 
brown, varying to amber; while that of Q. Tazzin is much darker than either, 
so much so that the French call it chéne noir. Burnet, confounding the 
wood of the Q. Tatzin with that of Q. sessiliflora var. pubéscens, says : — 
“ The wood is of a deep reddish brown, very like that of old chestnut. 
Hence I cannot but agree with Martyn, that this is the true Rdbur of 
the ancients; and, if the Linnzan varieties are to be elevated to the rank 
of species, to this the appellation Robur undoubtedly belongs.” (Amen. 
Quer., fol. 3.) Burnet, finding that Pliny describes the quality of the wood 
