Common Oak 285 



him a very striking one on the road from Moccas to Bredwardine, from 

 the acorns of which seedlings have been raised. In 1884 there was a weeping 

 oak at the King's Acre nurseries, Hereford, grafted at 3 feet up, which was 

 planted by Cranston in 1785.^ It bears acorns every year; but none of the 

 seedlings, it is said, show a tendency to droop. The top of this tree is not 

 pendulous ; the weeping only occurs on the outer parts of the lower branches. 



3. Van filicifolia, Lemaire, Illust. Hort. i. t. 32, verso (1854), Fern-leaved 

 Oak, also known as asplenifolia, pectinata, pinnata, taraxacifolia, etc. The leaves 

 are stalked and cuneate at the base, long and narrow in outline, deeply and 

 irregularly pinnatifid. This was found wild in the mountains of southern Germany ; 

 and was sent out by Messrs. Booth and Sons, Hamburg. 



4. Var. heterophylla, Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iii. 1732 (T844), Various- j^^ ff 

 leaved Oak. This variety has leaves varying greatly in shape ; some are lanceolate 



and entire, others are cut at the edges or deeply laciniate ; but all are cuneate 

 at the base. It has received a variety of names, as comptoncefolia, incisa, dissecta, 

 laciniata, salicifolia, Fennessi, Fenzleyi, diversifolia, cucullaia, etc. Loudon's figure 

 represents a branch from an accidental seedling, raised in 1820 in the nursery 

 of Messrs. Fennessey, Waterford. There is a free-growing tree of this variety at 

 Smeaton-Hepburn, East Lothian, which measured in 1905, 56 feet by 4 feet 8 inches. 



5. Var. hyemalis, Bechstein, Forstbot, 333 (1810). In this variety the fruit 

 stalk is very long, at least as long as the leaf itself. This is also known as 

 Quercus longipes, Steven, Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. i. 385 (1857). 



6. Var. scolopendrifolia, Hort. This form has leaves with short stalks and 

 cordate bases, somewhat variable in shape. Most of the leaves are long and 

 narrow, with short lobes ; but others more angular in form have swollen bladder- 

 like projections on their upper surface. Certain sub-varieties are distinguished 

 as bullata, cochleata, crispa, etc. ; all having leaves variously deformed and presenting 

 bladder- or blister-like projections on their surfaces. 



7. Var. Concordia, Lemaire, Illust. Hort. xiv. t. 537 (1867). Leaves yellow, 

 much more brightly coloured than in the variety commonly cultivated under 

 the name aurea, the colour persisting during the summer. This beautiful form, 

 the Golden Oak, originated in the nursery of Messrs. van Geert at Ghent in 

 1843, The late Mr. Charles Ellis wrote in 1894 to Kew that some golden 

 oaks occur at Inglewood, Hungerford, Berkshire, as bright as the golden elder 

 when seen in May. Mr. Clarke, gardener to H. J. Walmesley, Esq., the owner, 

 informs me that the trees are now in vigorous health, and measure at 6 feet 

 from the ground 45 feet by 6 feet 2 inches and 40 feet by 4 feet 9 inches 

 respectively. 



8. Var. purpurascens, A.DC, Flore Franfaise, vi. 351 (1815), Purple Oak. 

 This was found wild near Le Mans by De Candolle ; and another wild 

 tree was subsequently found in Thuringia. The young leaves, petioles, and 

 branchlets are purple, the colour fading away later in the season. This form 



1 Woods and forests, 794 (1884), with a full-page engraving of the tree, which was reported to be 72 feet high and . 



8^ feet in girth. 



