792 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



QUERCUS. 



valuable of British trees and most beautiful in 

 old age in many different states alike in wood, 

 park, chase, by rivers, and in pasture land, 

 and one which I like well to see coming into 

 the home grounds in its old state, giving noble 

 shade and fine beauty of form, as at Shrubland 

 and in many other places. Botanists give this 

 and the other British Oak under the general 

 term of Q. Robur, but they are wrong, as the 

 Oaks are distinct in form and habit. Of the 

 common Oak there are several varieties that 

 should be made use of in ornamental planting. 

 Those with coloured foliage include the Golden 

 Oak (Concordia), which has rich yellow foliage 

 throughout the summer. It is a very slow 

 growing variety, and rarely seen larger than a 

 dwarf shrubby tree. The purple-leaved variety 

 ( piirpHiascens) is stronger growing and a 

 desirable tree on account of the rich ruddy 

 tinge of its foliage. It is also called atroptir- 

 purea. Of the varieties that differ from the 

 type in growth the most distinct are fastigiata 

 (iT pyra/nidah's, which is of much the same 

 style of growth as the Lombardy Poplar, but 

 does not grow so tall. The Weeping Oak 

 (var. pendiUa) is as decided a weeping tree as 

 the Weeping Ash, and is a vigorous grower and 

 a beautiful and graceful tree. There are several 

 forms with cut leaves, the most distinct being 

 those named filicifolia or the Fern-leaved Oak, 

 heterophylla and scolopendrifoiia, which latter 

 has leaves like a miniature Hart's-tongue Fern. 

 There are variegated forms of both the common 

 type and of the Cypress Oak, but not so im- 

 portant for landscape effect as the varieties 

 that take a natural colour, but we have 

 never seen any variety of Oak as handsome 

 as the common tree. It is frequently in 

 forests over lOO ft. high, and occasionally 

 over 150 ft., giving a great quantity of valu- 

 able timber. The leaves fall earlier than those 

 of the Durmast Oak, and are more varied 

 in yellowish and brownish colours at the com- 

 mencement of growth. 



Q. PHELLOS (IVillow Oak). — A forest tree 

 So ft. high, and unlike the other Oaks in 

 foliage, which is narrow and long like that of a 

 Willow, whitish beneath, which gives the tree 

 a silvery appearance on a windy day. It is not 

 a common tree, though it was introduced from 

 North America in the last century. It is of slow 

 growth in cold places and soils, and thrives well 

 and grows rapidly on well-drained light soils, 

 especially in a gravelly subsoil. United States. 

 Q. PLATINOIDES (Swainp White Oak). — A 

 large forest tree with flaky green bark, and, in 

 its best state, reaching a height of over 100 ft., 

 with slightly lobed leaves, and the acorns on 

 rather long stalks. It has good, tough, closely- 

 grained wood, and is a native of moist and 

 swampy soils in Canada and west to Michigan. 

 Syn. Q. hicolor. 



Q. PKINUS (Rock Cheslniit Oak).—K large 

 tree, sometimes attaining a height of 100 ft. 

 with the leaves somewhat chestnut like, and 

 bearing an edible acorn, in dry soil. Eastern 

 States, and Ontario and southwards. 



Q. RUBRA (Red or Cham-hion Oak).~\ 



noble forest tree with a maximum height of 

 nearly 1 50 ft. , and one of the finest of Aniericaii 

 trees, remarkable for the richness of its 

 autumn tints. It is a fine park tree, and also 

 makes a beautiful shade tree for lawns. It 

 grows best on a free and deep soil, and is much 

 more rapid in growth on moist than on dry 

 soils. It has large foliage that hangs in heavy 

 masses on the wide-spreading limbs. Nova 

 Scotia, Canada, and Eastern States. 



Q. SESSILIFLORA (Durmast Oak) is the 

 second species of British Oak and is often 

 included with Q. peduncidata but is distinct 

 from a planter's point of view, not being so 

 long lived or quite so noble a tree. It is, 

 nevertheless, one of the finest forest trees of 

 northern countries, and has a straighter and 

 more cylindrical stem and form of tree even 

 than the common Oak, is of a deeper green, 

 denser foliage, and giving better covert and 

 more leaf soil. The leaves are a little longer 

 than those of our other native Oak, sometimes, 

 in mild winters, remaining on the tree until 

 the others come. Its area of distribution is 

 slightly different, growing less in plains and 

 valleys than our other Oak, but inhabiting 

 plateaux and slopes of hills and mountains 

 rising to elevations of 3,000 or 4,000 ft., 

 and also different from the common Oak in its 

 thriving on gravelly, sandy and calcareous soil, 

 while the common Oak is best in heavy soils. 

 The qualities of the wood of the two kinds 

 have been the subject of much dispute, and 

 perhaps the discussion is often confused by the 

 influence of soils, the wood of Q. sessilijlora is 

 generally thought to be less tough and less 

 resisting than that of the common Oak. It 

 has a straighter fibre and finer grain. Like 

 the other Oak this has several varieties of little 

 value. 



Q. VELUTINA (Black Oak). — A tall tree up 

 to 150 ft., the outer bark a very dark browii 

 with deeply cut leaves with sharp points. 

 This fine tree is rare with us and worth a trial 

 from seed sown where we wish it to grow,- or 

 from young seedling plants. Northern United 

 States, Canada and westwards, and also in the 

 southern states. W. R. 



Evergreen Oaks. 



Q. ACUTA is a native of Japan, with dark 

 leathery leaves about the size of those of the 

 common Cherry Laurel. This has not beeii 

 long enough in the country to enable one 

 to judge the merits of an adult tree, but even, 

 as a bush it is a fine object. Q. Buergeri 

 robiista is a vigorous large-leaved form. 



Q. AGRi FOLIA, the Enceno of the Californian 

 coast, is a distinct Oak rarely seen in gardens, 

 in aspect not unlike some forms of Q. liex^ 

 but the leaves are of a different shade of green. 

 Dr. Engelmann says it is "a large tree, with 

 a stout, low trunk, often 8 to 12 ft. , sometimes 

 16 to 21 ft., in circumference, and with a 

 spread of branches of 120 ft." 



Q. CHRYSOLEPIS (Californian Live Oak) is 

 found along the coast ranges and along the 

 western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, where it 



