1920 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
nowhere but in Florida.” The object of the American government being to 
provide for the establishment and maintenance of a powerful navy, the culti- 
vation of the live oak, which is almost the only oak they have suitable for . 
ship timber, is an object of national importance. : 
Properties and Uses. According to Michaux, and all authors who have 
written on the oaks of America, the wood of the live oak is much stronger, 
and incomparably more durable, than that even of the white oak, and is more 
esteemed for ship-building than any other wood in the United States. “ From 
its great durability, when perfectly seasoned, it is almost exclusively employed 
for the upper part of the frame. To compensate its excessive weight, it is 
joined to the red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), which is extremely light, and 
equally lasting. The live oak does not afford large timber; but its wide and 
branching summit makes amends for this disadvantage, by furnishing a great 
number of knees.” (Michx.) “The vessels built at New York and Philadel- 
phia, with the upper frame of red cedar and live oak, and the lower timbers 
of white oak, are as durable as those constructed of the best materials in 
Europe.” (Jd.) The best trenails used formerly to be made of the wood 
of the live oak; but they are now made of locust wood, and of the heart wood 
of Pinus palistris. In the southern states, the live oak is used for the naves 
and felloes of heavy wheels, and for screws and the cogs of mill-wheels ; for all 
which purposes it is far superior to the white oak. | The bark is excellent for 
tanning; but it is so hard and thin, that it is seldom found in sufficient quan- 
tities. From the acorns, which, though not sweet, are eatable, Michaux says 
that the Indians still extract an oil which they use in cookery. A great 
many trees of this species were raised and sold by Cobbett; the acorn not 
losing its vitality during the voyage from America to Europe; but we never 
hear of the trees attaining any size; and, as we have already observed, the 
climate is against them. As a low evergreen tree or large shrub, the live oak 
well deserves a place in collections, forming an interesting bush, as shown in the 
portrait, given in our last Volume, of the tree at the Duke of Devonshire’s villa 
at Chiswick. In France, near Nantes, 80 years planted, it is 40 ft. high; the 
diameter of the trunk being 4 ft. In Lombardy, at Monza, 20 years from the 
acorn, it is 20ft. high; diameter of the trunk 5in., and of the head 14 ft. 
Abundance of young plants and of acorns may be had from Mr. Charlwood, 
at 10s. per hundred, or 5s. per bushel. At Bollwyller, plants are 5 frances per 
dozen; and at New York, where, according to Prince’s Catalogue, it requires 
protection during winter (a fact that speaks volumes against its ever becoming 
a profitable timber tree in this country), plants are 50 cents each. 
? 237. Q. myrtiro‘LiA Willd. The Myrtle-leaved Oak. 
identification. Willd., No. 4.; Pursh, No. 4.; N. Du Ham., 7. p. 151.; Rees’s Cycl., No. 4. 
Spec. Char., &c. Leaves coriaceous, oblong, entire, smooth ; acute at each end. A native of Carolina, 
according to Willdenow, who alone has noticed this species. Pursh has admitted it into his work. 
The branches are round and brown ; the leaves 1 in. or more in length, coriaceous, evergreen, 
oblong, somewhat acute at the base; entire and slightly revolute at the margin ; shiny above; 
opaque, but smooth, beneath; on short footstalks. The form of the leaves is much like those of the 
aa broad-leaved myrtle. The flowers and fruit are unknown. (MW 7i/d., as quoted in Rees’s 
tycl, 
c. Natives of Nepal. 
§ x. Lanate. Woolly or downy-leaved Oaks. 
Sect. Char. eaves oval-oblong or lanceolate, serrated or dentated, but 
not sinuated or lobed; woolly beneath. Trees, natives of Nepal; and only 
half-hardy in the climate of London. They may be propagated by cuttings, 
ge root without much difficulty ; and the plants require the protection 
of a wall. 
£ 38. Q. tana‘ta Smith. The woolly-leaved Nepal Oak. 
Identification. TRecs’s Cycl., No. 27. 
Synonymes. Q. lanugindsa D. Don Prod. Fl. Nep., p. 57., and Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; Q. Banja 
Ham. MSS. ; ? Q. oblongata D. Don, 1. c.; ? @. incdna Royle Illust., p. 541. 
Engraving. Our fig. 1804., from the tree at Kew. 
