OAK: CHESTNUT: OSTRYA. 57 



is of inferior quality. It is said that the operation of 

 removing the bark favours the healthy growth of 

 the tree. This may be so, but the appearance of the 

 trunk is certainly spoiled. The tree is evergreen : it 

 prefers a granite soil. 



The Kermes Oak* (Q. Cocci/era) does not occur 

 at Mentone, nor have I seen it near Nice, but the 

 underwood about Hyeres is mainly composed of this 

 prickly evergreen shrub. It is said to grow at Antibes, 

 and Mr. Bicknell reminds me that it is plentiful in a 

 valley close to Yence Cagnes. In the East the Kermes 

 Oak becomes arborescent, like the Terebinth and 

 some other Riviera shrubs. On this plant lives a 

 species of cochineal, which yields a crimson dye. 



In the moist climate of the British Isles the Oak 

 finds the Beech a keen competitor ; while on the arid 

 Ligurian hill-sides it meets with rivals which are 

 proof against both heat and drought. In both regions 

 it is able to adapt itself and to prevail. 



It is interesting to trace on the map those names 

 which are derived from trees; we may thus often 

 picture to ourselves the earliest appearance of the 

 landscape, and realise the changes that have taken 

 place since ancient times. Thus, from Qaercetum, an 

 Oak grove like that of oracular Dodona, or like those 

 of Apulia, bowed by the north wind as Valgius by his 

 sorrow, we have the French " chenaie " and the town 

 of Quesnoy. Quercetum is of course the word Qtierciis, 

 with the suffix etum. Le Rouret, a village near Le 

 Bar, still remarkable for its Oak trees, is derived 

 from Roboretum. Rouvre is in fact the French form 



* The name Kermes is derived from the Arabic for worm, and is 

 the parent of the French cramoisi and the English crimson. T. H. 



