Fig. 21. OSTRYA CARPINIFOLIA. 



OAK : CHESTNUT : OSTRYA. 



CHAPTEE VII. 



" Le chene, de qui la tete au ciel est voisine, 



Et dont les pieds touchent a 1'empire des morts." 



OF the Riviera Oaks we can hardly say that they 

 reach up to the sky ; nor do their roots go down quite 

 as far as Hades. Nevertheless the Ilex Oak is often 

 a fine tree : the Cork Oak also grows to a good size 

 where it has a sufficient depth of soil. 



Four species are common here, three of them 

 evergreen. The deciduous tree is very variable. 

 Professor Allman considers it to be a variety of our 

 northern oak ; but the Earl of Ducie, an excellent 

 dendrologist, refers to it Q. pubescens Willd. I have 

 found near Nice trees of this species with the leaf 

 pinnatipartite, that is, cut almost to the midrib. 



