1906 



ARBORETUM AND TRUTICETUM. 



PART HI. 



17fi4. 



acorn bcini: oIMouIjIc the length of that of Q. /'lex, and in 

 havini; a mild and a<;recal)le' taste. The tree varies much, 

 according to the soil and situation in which it grows. In 

 some individuals, the leaves are small and orbiculatc; and 

 in others elliptic ; and sometimes they are lanceolate and 

 pointed. It flowers in May, and ripens its fruit in the 

 autunni of the second year. (iV. I)ii Ham., vii. p. 157.) Q. 

 Ballota, according to Desfontaines {Jour, dc P/it/sir/itc, torn. 

 xxxviii.,for 1701), grows in great abundance in the kingdoms 

 of Algiers and Morocco. There are vast forests of this 

 tree on the mountains ; but it is only found in small quanti- 

 ties on the plains. The Moors eat the acorns raw, or roasted 

 in ashes : they are found very nourishing, and are not bitter. They are 

 regidarly sold in the market-places ; aud, in some districts, an oil is ex- 

 pressed from them, which is nearly as good as that of the olive. We have 

 no doubt that this kind of oak is merely a variety of Q. Plex, 

 though the specimen sent to us from Paris shows it to be very 

 distinct. Indeed, if we were to judge entirely from that specimen, 

 we should say that Q. Ballota was much more likely to be a 

 variety of Q.. gramuntia than of Q. Plex ; and, in short, it may 

 be identical with it, because Q. gramuntia is not described by (, 

 Desfontaines. Cajjtain S. E. Cook, who paid great attention to 

 the oaks of Spain, mentions only the term bellotas as a name 

 for acorns generally ; and he considers the Q- Ballota of the nur- 

 series to be the Q. valentina of Cavanilles, which has 

 bitter acorns. The Q. Ballota of the Horticultural So- 

 ciety's (xarden, and of some of the British nurseries (see 

 om fig.MSa), of which a leaf of the natural size is shown 

 in ^'^. 1786., is a totally different plant from either the 

 Q. liallnta of Paris, or the Q. valentina of Cavanilles, 

 and in short, is nothing more than a Q. /Mex ; so that the 

 true Q. BalPota of Desfontaines may be the Q. gramuntia, 178B 

 which we suspect it is. Bosc observes that, in the Paris gardens, it requires 

 to be taken into the conservatory in winter : but it is to be recollected that 

 the Q. i^lcx requires similar protection in that part of France ; and, there- 

 fore, there can be little doubt but Q. BalPuta, if it is diiferent from Q. 

 gramuntia, would be hardy in the neighbourhood of London, 



i • 31. Q. gramu'ntia L. The Holly-lcavcd Grammont Oak. 



Jdentification. Liii. Sp. I'l., UU. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 432. ; Ait. Hort Kew., ed. 2., 5. p. 289. ; 

 N. Uu Ham., 7. p. laS. ; Smith in Kees's Cycl., No. 30. 



Si/noni/mcs. ?/^lex ftiliis rotundi^ribus, &c., jVn/jn. Mon$p.,W).; Chene dc Grammont, Fr. ; Wcl- 

 ' lenbliittrige Eichc, Ger. ; Encina dulce, and (ionetta, Span. Captain S. E. Cook suggests that 

 Q. hisp&nica would be the most suitable name for this species, which may be considered as forming 

 the natural oak of Spain ; whereas the term grami'intia was applied to it by Liinia3Us, from its having 

 been found in the remnant of a wood on the estate of Grammont, near Montpelier, where, ac- 

 cording to De Candolle, the species no longer exists. 



Engraviiips. Our Jia. 1787., from the tree at Purser's Cross ; Jtg. 1788., an acorn of the natural size, 

 traced from one that was sent to us by Capt. Cook ; and the plate of the tree at Purser's Cross in 

 our last Volume. 



Spec. Char., l^-c. Leaves roundish-elliptical, nearly sessile, undulated, with 

 deep, spinous, tlivaricated teeth ; densely downy beneath ; heart-shaped at 

 the base. Native of the wood of Grammont, near Montpelier ; and of Spain. 

 Cultivated in England in 1730. It blossoms in June, and ripens its fruit in 

 the autumn of the following year. This is rather a small straggling tree, with 

 numerous round grey branches, downy when young. Leaves scarcely 1 in. 

 long, rigid, broadly elliptical, often nearly orbicular ; very much undulated 

 at tile margin, their deep, broad, spinous teetli pointing every way, like those 

 of the holly; the upper surface dark green, rather glaucous, besprinkled 

 with minute starry hairs ; the under surface densely clothed with white 

 entangled down. {Smith.) In the Kouvcau Dii Ilamel, great doubts are 

 expressed as to whether this species is identical with the Q. rotundifolia of 



