1898 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
to that of any other American oak for ship-building. According to the second 
edition of the Hortus Kewensis, it was introduced by Mr. John Fraser, in 1786. 
It is not mentioned by the younger Michaux, probably, as Pursh conjectures, 
because he considered it only a variety of Q. imbricaria, from which it differs 
principally in the value of its wood. As, however, the American oaks are 
found to vary very much, according to the soil and climate in which they 
grow, these two kinds may possibly be the same; Q. /aurifolia being only 
found in South Carolina and Georgia, and Q. imbricaria on the Alleghany 
Mountains. The whole of the American oaks belonging to the section Phél- 
los are remarkable for retaining their leaves, in particular soils and situations, 
for two, three, and in some cases even four, years, without their changing 
colour ; differing in this respect, both from evergreens, which change their 
leaves in the spring of every year; and from those deciduous trees which re- 
tain their leaves in a withered state during winter. There is a tree of the 
species in the Hammersmith Nursery, which is upwards of 20 ft. high; and, 
from its habit of growth and wand-like shoots, independently of any similarity 
in the leaves, we are strongly inclined to believe it only a variety of Q. Phéllos. 
¥ 28. Q.imBrica‘r1A Willd. The Shingle Oak. 
Identification. Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 428.; Ait. Hort. Kew., 5. p, 288.; Pursh Fl. Amer., Sept., 2. 
p. 627.; Michx. Quer., No. 10.; N. Du Ham.; 7. p. 154. ; Smith in Rees’s Cycl., No. 15. 
Synonymes. Q. latifdlia Hort.; Laurel Oak, Filed-Cup Oak, Jack Oak, Black Jack Oak, Amer. ; 
Cheéne a Lattes, F7. 
Engravings. Michx. Quer., t.15, 16.; N, Amer, Syl., 1. f. 15.; and our jig. 1777. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves elliptic-oblong, acute at each end, entire, almost 
sessile; downy beneath. Nut nearly globose. (Smith and Willd.) A tree, 
a native of the Allechanies, 40 ft. or 50ft. high. Introduced in 1786. 
Description, §c. The shingle oak is from 40 ft. to 50 ft. high, with a trunk 
from lft. to 1 ft. 3 in. in diameter. Its trunk, even when old, is covered with 
“a smooth bark; and, for three fourths of its height, it is laden with branches. 
It has an uncouth form when bare in winter, 
but is beautiful in summer, when clad in its Y) 
thick tufted foliage. The leaves are long, lan- x 
ceolate, entire, and of a shining green.” (JN. NG) 
Amer. Syl., i. p.'70.) Michaux adds that the 
trunk is branching, and often crooked; and 
the wood, though hard and heavy, has open [Xi NN | 
pores, like that of Q. riibra. East of the Alle- | \ Navy /\ 7 
ghanies, this species is rare; but west of the / 
mountains it is more multiplied, and better 
known. Its most northern boundary is the 
neighbourhood of Philadelphia; but it is found ey, 
in the greatest abundance in Kentucky and \.\\ i v 
Tennessee; also in the country of the Illinois, NGS NG pies 
where it is called by the French chéne d lattes, <SU\\ f= 
Sh if t [NS 
or the lath oak. “In the western parts of SY = 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, small lawns, covered WA 
only with tall grass, are frequently seen in the } 
forests, around which this oak forms entire 
groves: insulated trees are also found in cool 
humid situations. It is, probably, from its 
flourishing in open exposures, that it is most abundant in the country of the 
Illinois, which consists of immeasurable savannahs, stretching in every direction, 
to which the forests bear no sensible proportion.” (Michr.) This tree was 
brought to England in 1786, by Mr. John Fraser, but is rare in collections. 
According to the younger Michaux, it has no merit but in its foliage, the wood 
being even inferior to that of the willow oak, which it greatly resembles ; and 
so crooked, as to be fit only for fuel. The elder Michaux, however, says. 
that, in the country of the Illinois, it is used for shingles. There is a tree 
of this species in the Horticultural Society’s Garden, 
