CHAP. CV. 



CORYLA CE^.. (2UF/RCUS. 



192] 



Spec. Char., S^c. Leaves elliptic-oblong, sharply serrated, coriaceous ; densely 

 woolly beneath. Fruit in axillary solitary spikes. Calyx scaly, without 

 prickles. {Smith.) " Native of the mountains of Upper Nepal; floweritig 

 in April. (Buchanan.) The Parbutties call it Banza, or Banja ; the 

 Nawars, Soshi .tlringali. This is a 

 tree of vast dimensions, with a 

 scaly bark, and rigid, brown, warty 

 branches, clothed, when young, with 

 dense white down. Leaves alter- 

 nate, somewhat 2-ranked, stalked, 

 elliptic-oblong ; sometimes rather 

 obovate, pointed; from Sin. to 

 5 in. in length, and 2 in. or more 

 in breadth ; strongly and sharply 

 serrated, except at the very base, 

 which is more or less rounded, and occasionally unequal; the upper surface 

 green, shining, and naked (except when young), but not quite smooth to the 

 touch; the under clothed with fine, dense, uniform, brownish, woolly pubes- 

 cence, and marked with prominent, parallel, but not very crowded, 

 obliquely transverse veins. Footstalks stout, downy, scarcely 1 in. long. 

 Stipules ovate, membranous, deciduous. Male flowers in short, dense, 

 hairy spikes, at the base of the young shoots, as they protrude from the bud. 

 Calyx with 5 or 6 teeth. Anthers about 6, sessile. Female flowers, as 

 far as Dr. Buchanan could observe, on a separate tree, in very short, soli- 

 tar}'^ axillary spikes. Acorns either solitary, or several crowded together ; 

 small, ovate, hairy, half-covered by their scaly unarmed cups." (Smith in 

 Bees's Cycl.) Professor Don, in his Prodromus Florcc Ncpalcnsis, had de- 

 scribed Q. lanuginosa and Q. oblongata as two species ; but he has since 

 informed us that the specimen which he had of Q. oblongata being very 

 imperfect, he is now disposed to refer it to Q. lanata. Dr. Royle, in his 

 Illustrations of the Botani/,Sfc., of the Himalat/as, observes that the lofty 

 summits of these mountains are covered with snow until May and June. 

 " The snow not melting until the sun has reached its most northern limit, 

 the increase of temperature is great and sudden, and the vegetation propor- 

 tionably rapid." (p. 20.) " In ascending the Choor Mountain, on the 9th 

 of May, at first the ordinary Himalayan trees, such as i?hododendron arbo- 

 reum and Quercus lanata, were met with ; the pines then made their appear- 

 ance. Every thing looked like the revival of spring : some of the trees and 

 shrubs were putting forth new leaves, and others were in full flower. Higher 

 up, patches of snow were seen; and beyond this every thing had a wintry 

 aspect : the snow lay in masses, though detached, having melted away from 

 round the trunks of many trees and the blocks of gneiss rock. At first, the 

 Coniferae and other trees were intermixed with oaks ; but, latterly, the oak 

 grew alone. Q. semicarpifolia formed the forest. On emerging from this, there 

 is only a short ascent to the peak." (p. 21.) Q. lanata was introduced about 

 1818, and was first planted at Kevv. There are now (1837) plants of it 

 10 ft. high against the walls in the Horticultural Society's Garden, and in 

 front of one of the stoves at Kew, which produce acorns. In the arboretum 

 of Messrs. Loddiges, and in that at Flitwick, plants of this species have 

 stood out, without any protection, in the open garden for several years; 

 but they are annually killed down within a short distance of the ground. 

 There are small plants in pots, at Messrs. Loddiges's, which bear acorns. 



1 39. Q. AXNULA^TA Smith. The r'mg-cupj>cd Oak. 



Iilcnlijication. Smith in Rees's Cycl., No. '22. 



Synonyvies. Q. Phullata. Ham. MSS., D. Don Prod. Fl. Ncp., p. 57. ; ? Q. Kamroop// D. Don, I. c. ; 



H. glauca Lodd. Cat., ed. 183fi ; ? Q glai'ua Thiliih. ; ? Q. acuminata Hort. 

 Engraving. Our fig. 18U5. 



Spec. Char., iSfc. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, pointed ; dentately-serrated, except 

 towards the i)ase; somewhat glaucous and downv beneath. Fruit spiked. 



G ! 2 



