LIST OF FOREST-TREES. 



117 



hundred years ago*. It is found 

 growing naturally in the south of 

 France, in Spain, Portugal, and in 

 some parts of the states of Barbary. 

 It rarely exceeds forty feet in height 

 and three feet in diameter. The wood 

 is considered to be less durable than 

 the common oak, although it is com- 

 pact and heavy. Its growth in Eng- 

 land is confined to warm sheltered 

 situations. In exposed situations it 

 cannot be reared. The largest we have 

 seen in England is in the Royal Gar- 

 dens, KeWj'where its characteristic pro- 

 perty, that of producing in perfection 

 cork-bark, was, when we saw it a few 

 years since, very evident and interest- 

 ing. Abroad the cork is considered 

 fit to be first taken from the tree when 

 it reaches twenty-five years of growth, 

 but this product is not of a quality 

 to be used for better purposes. In 

 ten years it is renewed, but it is not 

 until the tree has attained to the age 

 of forty-five or fifty years that the 

 bark possesses all the requisite pro- 

 perty for good corks. July and Au- 

 gust are the seasons for taking it from 

 the trees, which is carefully done, so 

 as not to wound the alburnum ; for 

 should this happen (it may be unne- 

 cessary here to state), the cork bark 

 is not again renewed on that part. 

 The acorns should be sown as soon 

 as received from abroad in small sin- 

 gle pots, and shifted into larger as 

 the roots increase, until the plants are 

 from one to two feet high, when they 

 may be transplanted for good ; they 

 may, however, be kept until they are 

 six feet or more in height, provided 

 care be taken to prevent the tap- 

 root from passing down below the pot 

 to any great length. The ilex, or 

 evergreen oak, may be reared with 

 advantage in the same manner as 

 that now described. It is more hardy 

 than the preceding tree. Its merits 

 for ornament and shelter are well 

 known ; it appears to have been in- 

 troduced into England from the south 

 of France in 1581. 



The kermes oak, Quercus coccifera, is 

 worthy of remark here, although of 

 so humble a habit of growth as not 

 to attain the size which constitutes a 

 timber tree. The scarlet, or red pur- 



* The Hortus Kewensis states it to have been 

 introduced into England in 1699, by the Duchess 

 of Beaufort. 



pie dye of the name, which supplanted 

 the substitute obtained from a species 

 of the murex, shell-fish, and used for 

 the anciently celebrated Phoenician 

 purple dye, is afforded by this oak- 

 shrub (for the plant seldom rises above 

 five feet, and often does not exceed 

 two,) in the form of small red galls, 

 caused by the puncture and subse- 

 quent deposition of the egs:s of an 

 insect, called coccus ilicis. This dye, 

 in its turn, however, has been sup- 

 planted by the cochineal coccus cacti, 

 an insect itself, found on one or more 

 species of the cactus, or Indian fig, 

 but more particularly the Cactus cochi- 

 n'dlifer or the Opimtia cochinilllfera. 

 The kermes oak is a native of the 

 south of Europe, and was introduced 

 into England about 1683. 

 Of the other species of oak enumerated 

 below, the dyers' oak, Quercus tincto- 

 ria, demands notice, on account of 

 its bark furnishingtheyellow dye, quer- 

 citron, a substance much used in 

 dyeing wool, silk, and paper-hangings 

 It is ;the cellular integument of the 

 bark that supplies the colouring mat- 

 ter. Doctor Barncroft states, that 

 one part of quercitron is equal to ten 

 parts of woad. It is stated, that to 

 dye wool it is sufficient to boil the 

 quercitron with an equal weight of 

 alum ; in dipping the stuff the deepest 

 shade is given at first, and afterwards 

 the straw-colour*. This species of oak 

 appears to have been introduced into 

 England as early as 1739; but its 

 useful property now alluded to seems 

 not to have been proved, or, in fact, 

 tested in this climate. Its wood is 

 considered inferior to that of the com- 

 mon oak. 



Timber or Forest Species. 



OAK-TREE. QUERCUS. Natireof Ft. 



Sitting acorned . .sessiliflora. 

 Woolly-petioled, \ b6scem . 



or Durmast . . } l 

 Turkey-mossy-cupscew's . . 

 Var. Rough-lvd do.butldta . . 



Nar.-lvd. &o..sinudta . 



Fulham dentdta . 



Evergreen ilex .... 



Var. Notch-lvd.do. serrata . 



Long-leaved . oblonga . 



Lucomb's . . .lucombedna. 



Champion red .... rubra 



Var. Mountain red moniana . . . 



- 40 

 Eng i and . ._ 



S. Europe . 50 



Levant 

 N.Amer...80 



* North American Sylva., i. p,i 



