1846 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



§n. Cerris. Mossy-ciippcd, or Turkey^ Oaks. 



Sect. Char. Leaves lobcd and sinuated, or dentated; more or less persistent; 

 in some varieties, subevergreen, or evergreen ; always dying oflf' of a dirty 

 white, or paper brown ; never with any tinge of red or yellow. Buds 

 furnished with linear stipules. Fructification generally biennial. Cups 

 echinate, ramentaceous, or scaly, squarrose. 



$ 6. Q. Ce'rris L. The bitter, or mossy-cupped. Oak, 



Identification. Lin. Sp. PI., 1415. ; Willd., No. 75., Baumzucht, p. 350. ; Ait, No. 28. y. ; N. Du 

 Ham., 7. p. 182. ; Roes's CycL, No. 83. 



Synont/mes. U- crinita a and ^, Lam. Diet., 1. p. 718. ; Q. //aliphltt-^os Juss. in Hort. Par.; Q. 

 burgundiaca, &c., Bauh. Pin., 420. ; Q. Cerris VWnii, &c., Lob. Icon., 2. 1.5fi., Dod. Pempt., 831., 

 Ger. Emnc, 1345. ; Ccrrus Dalech. Hist., vol 1. j). 6. ; the Turkey Oak ; the Iron, or Wainscot, 

 Oak : Chene Cerris, Chene chevelu, Chene de Bourgogne, Fr. ; Burgundische Eichc, Cerr-eiche, 

 Ger. 



Derivation. The specific appellation Halijjhloeos was applied by Pliny to an oak with very bitter 

 acorns : but it may be derived from halis, enough, and phloius, bark ; in reference to the tendency 

 to corkiness in the bark. The Iron Oak alludes to the weight of its wood, which is much heavier 

 than that of the common oak. The term Wainscot Oak refers to its suitableness for lining the 

 walls of rooms, fnsm the Dutch words, ward, a wall ; and schortcn, to suspend. 



Engravings. N. Du Ham., 7. t. 57. ; out Jig. 1702. ; and the plates of this tree in our last Volume. 



Spec. Char., <.'yc. Leaves on very short stalks, 

 oblong, deeply and unequally pinnatifid ; 

 hairy beneath ; lobes lanceolate, acute, 

 somewhat angular. Stipules longer than 

 the footstalks. Calyx of the fruit hemi- 

 spherical, bristly. (Smitk.) A tree attain- 



ing the same height as the British oak, 



but of much more rapid and vigorous 



growth. A native of France, Italy, Spain, 



Austria, and the Levant. Introduced 



into Britain in 1735, and not uncommon 



in plantations. It flowers in April, and 



ripens its acorns, in the climate of London, in October of the second year, 

 and sometimes in the autumn of the first year. 

 Varieties. There is a great tendency in this species to sport ; so that many 

 varieties may be selected from every bed of seedlings. It also appears to 

 hybridise with facility, especially with (^. 5iiber; and from this cross the 

 numerous race of varieties known as the Lucombe, or Exeter, oaks have 

 been raised. There are also some varieties of Q. C'erris which appear to 

 owe their origin to geographical circumstances ; such as Q. C. austriaca, 

 and Q. C. crinita. The varieties cultivated in British nurseries may, for 

 practical purposes, be arranged as deciduous, subevergreen, and evergreen. 



