1906 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III, 
acorn being of double the length of that of Q. Jlex, and in 
having a mild and agreeable taste. The tree varies much, 
according to the soil and situation in which it grows. In @ 
some individuals, the leaves are small and orbiculate; and 
in others elliptic; and sometimes they are lanceolate and 
pointed. It flowers in May, and ripens its fruit in the 
autumn of the second year. (NV. Du Ham., vii. p.157.) Q. 
Ballota, according to Desfontaines (Jour. de Physique, tom. 
xxxviii., for 1791), grows in great abundance in the kingdoms 
of Algiers and Morocco. There are vast forests of this 
tree on the mountains; but it is only found in small quanti- 
ties on the plains. The Moors eat the acorns raw, or roasted 
in ashes: they are found very nourishing, and are not bitter. They are 
regularly sold in the market-places; and, in some districts, an oil is ex- 
pressed from them, which is nearly as good as that of the olive. We have 
no doubt that this kind of oak is merely a variety of Q. ‘lex, 
though the specimen sent to us from Paris shows it to be very 
distinct. Indeed, if we were to judge entirely from that specimen, 
we should say that Q. Ballota was much more likely to be a 
variety of Q. gramintia than of Q. J‘lex; and, in short, it may 
be identical with it, because Q. gramintia is not described by 
Desfontaines. Captain S. E. Cook, who paid great attention to 
the oaks of Spain, mentions only the term bellotas as a name 
for acorns generally; and he considers the Q. Ballota of the nur- | 
series to be the Q. valentina of Cavanilles, which has 
bitter acorns. The Q. Ballota of the Horticultural So- 
ciety’s Garden, and of some of the British nurseries (see 
our fig.1785), of which a leaf of the natural size is shown 
in jig. 1786., is a totally different plant from either the 
Q. Ballota of Paris, or the Q. valentina of Cavanilles, 
and in short, is nothing more thanaQ. J‘lex ; sothat the ¢ { 
true Q. Ballvta of Desfontaines may be the Q. gramintia, —_1786 
which we suspect it is. Bosc observes that, in the Paris gardens, it requires 
to be taken into the conservatory in winter: but it is to be recollected that 
the Q. Ilex requires similar protection in that part of France; and, there- 
fore, there can be little doubt but Q. Ballota, if it is different from Q. 
gramiuntia, would be hardy in the neighbourhood of London. 
1785 
2 # 31. Q. cramu’ntTIA L. The Holly-leaved Grammont Oak. 
Identification. Lin. Sp. Pl., 1413. ; Willd. Sp. Pl, 4. p. 432.; Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2., 5. p. a 
W. Da. Hathi; 7. p: 158. 3: Smith in Rees’s Cycl., ‘No 30. » So ta i Paes 
Synonymes. ? Ilex foliis rotundiéribus, &c., Magn. Monsp., 140.; Chene de Grammont, Fr. ; Wel- 
lenblattrige Eiche, Ger.; Encina dulce, and Gouetta, Span. Captain 8. E. Cook suggests that 
Q. hispanica would be the most suitable name for this species, which may be considered as forming 
the natural oak of Spain ; whereas the term gramintia was applied to it by Linnzus, fromits having 
been found in the remnant of a wood on the estate of Grammont, near Montpelier, where, ac- 
cording to De Candolle, the species no longer exists. ¥ 
Engravings. Our fig. 1787., from the tree at Purser’s Cross ; fig. 1788., an acorn of the natural size, 
traced from one that was sent to us by Capt. Cook ; and the plate of the tree at Purser’s Cross in 
our last Volume. 
Spec. Char., $c. Leaves roundish-elliptical, nearly sessile, undulated, with 
deep, spinous, divaricated teeth; densely downy beneath; heart-shaped at 
the base. Native of the wood of Grammont, near Montpelier ; and of Spain. 
Cultivated in England in 1730. It blossoms in June, and ripens its fruit in 
the autumn of the following year. This is rather a small straggling tree, with 
numerous round grey branches, downy when young. Leaves scarcely 1 in. 
long, rigid, broadly elliptical, often nearly orbicular ; very much undulated 
at the margin, their deep, broad, spinous teeth pointing every way, like those 
of the holly; the upper surface dark green, rather glaucous, besprinkled 
with minute starry hairs; the under surface densely clothed with white 
entangled down. (Smith.) In the Nouveau Du Hamel, great doubts are 
expressed as to whether this species is identical with the Q. rotundifolia of 
