CHAP. CV. CORYLA‘CBA. QUERCUS. 1797 
green velvet moss, which, in a still greater degree, commonly occupies the bole 
_ of the beech, though the beauty and brilliancy of it lose much when in decay, 
As the trunk rises, you see the brimstone colour taking possession in patches. 
Of this there are two principal kinds; a smooth sort, which spreads like a 
scurf over the bark ; and a rough sort, which hangs in little rich knots and 
fringes. I call it a brimstone hue, by way of general distinction ; but it some- 
times inclines to an olive, and sometimes to a light green. Intermixed with 
these mosses you often find a species almost perfectly white. Before I was 
acquainted with it, 1 have sometimes thought the tree whitewashed. Here 
and there, a touch of it gives a lustre to the trunk, and has its effect : yet, on 
the whole, it is a nuisance; for, as it generally begins to thrive when the other 
mosses begin to wither (as if the decaying bark were its proper nutriment), it 
is rarely accompanied with any of the more beautiful species of its kind ; and, 
when thus unsupported, it always disgusts. This white moss, by the way, is 
esteemed a certain mark of age, and, when it prevails in any degree, is a clear 
indication that the vigour of the tree is declining. We find, also, another 
species of moss, of a dark brown colour, inclining nearly to black; another of 
an ashy colour ; and another of a dingy yellow. We may observe, also, touches 
of red, and sometimes, but rarely, a bright yellow, which is like a gleam of 
sunshine ; and in many trees you will see one species growing upon another, 
the knotted brimstone-coloured fringe clinging to a lighter species, or the 
black softening into red. All these excrescences, under whatever name dis- 
tinguished, add a great richness to trees; and, when they are blended harmo- 
niously, as is generally the case, the rough and furrowed trunk of an old oak, 
adorned with these pleasing appendages, is an object which will long detain 
the picturesque eye.’ ” (Strutt in Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 246.) 
he beauty of oak foliage is universally allowed ; but that of Q. sessiliflora 
may be said to be most admired in single leaves, and that of the other species 
in tufts of leaves. The difference between the two species, in this respect, 
was first pointed out by the Rev. W. T. Bree. “ The leaves of Q. pedunculata,” 
he says, “ are of a dark deep green; and, though rather small (and small leaves 
combine better than large ones), they are numerous, and grow close to the 
spray, clustered together in dense masses, forming those lovely tufts, or ro- 
settes, which constitute one of the characteristic beauties of oak foliage. When 
the wind blows gently, it partially turns up, and displays their glaucous under 
surfaces in harmonious contrast with the deeper tints of those above, and pre- 
sents a study worthy of the pencil of Gainsborough. The leaves of Q. sessili- 
flora, being of a large size, are fewer in number, and less thickly set ; consequently 
they do not mass so well. One of the specific distinctions of Q. sessiliflora 
is, that it bears its leaves on footstalks; and this circumstance gives to the 
foliage a loose and straggling appearance, and a want of depth and solidity, 
which greatly detract from its general effect. For the same reason it is that 
many of the fine American species of oak, beautiful as they are, must yield the 
palm, in point of foliage, to the monarch of our British forests, Q. pedunculata.”’ 
(Gard, Mag., vol. xii. p. 534.) 
Soil, §c. Oaks, according to Nichols, “ flourish best, and grow the quickest, 
in a rich deep loamy soil; and I have found by experiments and general 
observations, for more than 30 years, that the wood of such trees is of the 
firmest and best texture, and I believe it will be so found in all the different 
_ of trees that grow the fastest.” He agrees with Buffon in ascribing 
this to the increased thickness of the annual layers of fast-growing trees, in 
comparison with those that grow slower. (Obs., &c., p.41.) Monteath, in his 
Forester’s Guide, 2d edit., has “ observed that the oak grows fastest, and 
makes the best hearted-timber, in strong good clay soils.” In proof of this, 
he refers to oak trees on the estates of Alloa, Airthrey, and Alva, the two 
latter on the face of the Ochil Hills. The trees on these estates, he says, 
although “ very rapid in growth,” produce “ most excellent timber. In a 
tree from 2 ft. to 3 ft. in diameter, there will not be above three quarters of 
an inch of white or sap wood; and in the very heart of the topmost branch 
6a 4 
