CHAP. CV. CORYLA^CE^:. QUE'rCUS. 1881 



edition of the Hortiis Kewensis (iii. p. 357.). Wangenheim was the first author 

 who distinguished it as a species. It was one of the plants sent to France by 

 the elder Michaux in 1786, and formed part of the plantations at Ranibouillet ; 

 where, we are informed by the younger Michaux, there was a tree of it which, 

 about 1819, was 45 ft. high. (See p. 141.) 



Propei-ties and Uses. The wood of the scarlet oak is of very little value in 

 the arts, and it makes very poor fuel. It decays rapidly, and is too porous to 

 contain wine or spirits. The principal use made of it in America is for staves to 

 make casks for dry goods. The bark is employed in tanning, but is not equal to 

 that of the Q. rubra. This tree produces galls, which, in America, are applied 

 to the same purposes as the European galls of commerce. In landscape-gar- 

 dening, the scarlet oak, like most of the other kinds of this section, is parti- 

 cularly adapted for planting in the margins of woods or groves on a flat sur- 

 face ; or for scattering in irregular masses throughout a wood on a declivity, 

 the surface of which is seen from below. For small groups near the eye it is 

 also well adapted ; though the beauty of the foliage of young trees must be 

 acknowledged to be inferior to that of Q. riibra and Q. falcata. The long 

 footstalks of the leaves, and the absence of deep sinuosities in the leaves of 

 young trees, give, with reference to picturesque effect, Q. coccinea the same 

 relation to Q. rubra that Q. sessiliflora has to Q. pedunculata, 



statistics. In the environs of London, at Syon, 77 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 9 in., 

 and of the head 4+ ft. ; at Kenwood, Hampstead, 38 years planted, it is 50 ft. high, the diameter of 

 the trunk 1 ft. 11 in., and of the head 40 ft. In Devonshire, at Bystock Park, 22 years planted, it is 

 25 ft. high : in Hampshire, at Strathfieldsayc, it is 90 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 3 ft. 4 in., and 

 of the head 54 ft. : in Somersetshire, at Hurton House, 15 years planted, it is 20 ft. high ; at Mam- 

 head, 30 ft. high, with a trunk 2 ft. 3 in. in diameter; some leaves of this tree which were sent to us 

 measured 85 in. across, and 14in. in length : in Surrey, at St. Ann's Hill, 30 years planted, it is 56ft. 

 high, the diameter of the trunk 7 ft., and of the head 48 ft. ; at Oakham, 42 years planted, it is 60 ft. 

 high ; and at Deepdene, 10 years planted, it is 18 ft. high: in Sussex, at Kidbrooke, 25 years planted, it 

 is 14ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 6 in., and of the head 16 ft.: in Wiltshire, at Wardour 

 Castle, 30 years planted, it is 45 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 2 ft., and of the head 30 ft. ; at Long, 

 ford Castle, it is 60 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 3 ft. 6 in., and of the head 77 ft. : in Hertfordshire, 

 at Oldenham, 34 years planted, it is 50 ft. high, the diameter of the head 20 ft. : in Lancashire, at 

 Latham House, 30 years planted, it is 36ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 16 in., and of the head 

 36 ft. : in Pembrokeshire, at Stackpole Court, 30 years j)lanted, it is 20 ft. high, the diameter of the 

 trunk 1ft. 6 in., and of the head 15 ft. : in Warwickshire, at Combe Abbey, 60 years planted, it is 

 70 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 9 in., and of the head 61ft.; at Springfield, 30 years 

 planted, it is 29 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 7 in. ; and at AUesley, 20 years planted, it is 40 ft. 

 high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft. : in Worcestershire, at Croome,75 years planted, it is 90 ft. high, 

 the diameter of the trunk 2 ft., and of the head 30 ft. : in Yorkshire, at Ripley Castle, 16 years planted, 

 it is 28 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 9 in., and of the head 10 ft. ; at Knedlington, near Howden, 

 10 years from the acorn, it is from 14 ft. to 16 ft high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 6 in., and of the 

 head 11 ft. In Scotland, in Koss-shire, at Brahan Castle, it is 55 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 

 1 ft. 8 in., and of the head 30 ft. In Germany, in Cassel, at Wilhelnishoe, 50 years old, it is 6 ft high. 

 In Austria, at Vienna, in Rosenthal's Nursery, 17 years old, it is 24 ft. high ; the diameter of the 

 trunk 11 in., and of the head 23 ft. In France, at Rambouillet, it is 50 ft. high. In Italy, in Lom. 

 bardy, at Monza, 16 years planted, it is 16ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 4 in., and of the 

 head 10 ft. 



i 16. Q. ambi'gua Willd. The ambiguous, or grc^^. Oak. 



Identification. Michx. Arb., 2. p. 120. ; North Amer. Syl., 1. p. 98. ; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. 



p. 630., not Humboldt 

 Synonyme. Q. boreMis Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 1. p. 98. 

 Engravings. Michx. Arb., t 24., N. Amer. Syl., 1. t 26. ; our fig. 1749. ; and the plate of this tree 



in our last Volume. 



Spec. Char., S^c. Leaves sinuated, glabrous, acute at the base ; sinuses some- 

 what acute. Cup somewhat shield-shaped. Nut roundish-ovate. (^Michx.) 

 A tree, varying from 40 ft. to 60 ft. high. Introduced in 1800. 



Description, Sfc. The grey oak, according to the younger Michaux, forms, in 

 America, a tree from 40 ft. to 60 ft. high, and with a trunk 1 ft. 6 in. in diameter. 

 It bears a close analogy to the red oak in its foliage, and to the scarlet oak 

 in its fruit ; whence Michaux has given it the specific name of ambigua. It 

 has also another peculiarity, in blossoming every year, though it takes two, 

 three, and, in very cold climates, four years to mature its fruit. The leaves 

 are large, smooth, and deeply sinuated ; the indentations being sharper and 

 more angular than those of the leaves of Q,. coccinca. The acorns are of 

 the middle size, rounded at the end, and contained in scaly top-shaped cups. 

 The grey oak is found farther north than any other American species. The 

 elder Michaux found it on the St. Lawrence, near Quebec, in n. lat. 47^ 50'. 



