1878 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART Ile 
The leaves of Q. ribra die off of a more purplish red than those of most of 
the other kinds in this section ; but they often become yellow before they fall. 
They vary much in shape, from the age of the plant, or the soil and situation 
in which it has grown. Fig. 1740., copied from the elder Michaux’s Histoire 
_ des Chénes, shows the leaves of a seedling a year old; fg. 1741., from the 
same work, those of a tree bearing acorns; fig. 1742. shows several leaves 
gathered from trees in England of four or five years’ growth; jig. 1743. is 
drawn from a specimen taken from a tree in the Horticultural Society’s 
Garden ; and fig. 1744. is a leaf from the splendid full-grown tree in the Fulham 
Nursery, of which there is a portrait in 1744 
our last Volume. By comparing the & i 
plates of the trees of this species in LN ae: 
i 
our last Volume, it will be seen how 
exceedingly the leaves vary. The 
acorns are sessile, or on very short 
peduncles; they are large, and are produced in great abundance; they are 
rounded at the summit, and compressed at the base; and they are contained in 
flat very shallow cups, covered with narrow compact scales. The red oak is 
one of the most common species in Canada, and the whole of the north of the 
United States. In the states of New York, New Jersey, part of Philadelphia, 
and along the whole range of the Alleghanies, it is nearly as abundant as Q. 
coccinea and Q. tinctéria; but it is much less common in the more southern 
states, its perfect developement requiring a cool climate and a fertile soil. 
The red oak was introduced into France about 1740, and was first planted — 
on the estate of Du Hamel, at Pittriviers. In England, the first notice that 
we find of the red oak is, that it was cultivated by Miller in 1739. Since 
