173 
ON QUERCUS FISSA, Champion, IN REFERENCE TO THE 
DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERS OF QUERCUS AND CAS- 
A; WITH REMARKS ON SOME OF THE GENERA 
OF CORYLACE. 
Bx H. F. Hance, Pxu.D., ETC. 
WITH ANNOTATIONS BY M. ALPHONSE DE CANDOLLE. 
[Knowing M. Alphonse de Candolle to be busily engaged in working up the 
Cupulifere for the ‘ Prodromus, we submitted an abstract of Dr. Hance’s 
paper to him, and were favoured with the appended annotations, which he 
authorizes us to publish in our Journal, and which will be appreciated as fore- 
shadowing the arrangement to be adopted in the * Prodromus.’—ED. ] 
As far back as 1835, the late Professor Zuccarini, in a note on a re- 
markable Oak from Japan, Quercus cuspidata, Thunb., wrote these 
words :—‘ Quercubus cotyledones sunt carnose, plane ; Fagis et Cas- 
laneis irregulariter convoluto-plicatee. Nullam aliam novimus notam 
qua affinia hæc genera stricte distinguantur " (Sieb. et Zuce, Flor. Jap. 
not. ad tab. 2). In 1850, the late Dr. Blume, describing a number of 
Corylacee from the Malayan Archipelago and Japan (Mus. Lugd.-Bat. 
nos. 18 and 19), arrived at substantially the same conclusions, so far as 
relates to Quercus and Castanea, his only really distinctive characters 
for the two genera being these :— 
Castanea. Stamina 8-15. Invo- Quercus. Stamina 5-10. Invo- 
lucrum fructiis coriaceum, echi- lucrum in cupulam lignescen- 
natum. Cotyledones rugosæ. tem induratum, nuculam cin- 
gens v. involvens. Cotyledones 
plano-convex®. 
And he appended the following remark to his generic character of 
Castanea :—“ Accuratos fines Castaneam inter et Quercum describere 
difficile, quum nonnullæ e Quercubus nostris Indicis et Q. cuspidata, 
Thunb., ex Japonia, conformatione involucrorum sive cupularum fruc- . 
tum includentium transitum manifestum exhibeant, qua à Castanea non 
differre videantur. Sed in hac plures quam unum florem fovere solent, 
magisque inæquales et irregulariter tortuose sunt cotyledones quan 
in plerisque speciebus Querciis, in quibus sunt plano-convexe, quam- 
quam et hae in re quedam ex Indicis nostris sunt excipiendz." 
On the differential marks assigned by this author, it will suffice to 
