98 FLOWERS OF THE WOODS AND COPSES 



The name \Vych Elm was applied because its wood was used to 

 make the chests called Wyches, Hueches, or Whycches, French huche, 

 A.S. hwaecce. It was also called Witch Hazel, because the leaves are 

 like the leaves of the Hazel. Gerarde says: "Old men affirme that 

 when long boughes (bows) were in great use, there were very many 

 made of the wood of this tree, for which purpose it is mentioned in the 

 statutes of England by the name of Witch Hasell." 



The Edda derives man's descent from the Ash and Elm. It was 

 a prophetic tree being a tree of dreams. 



" Full in the midst a spreading elm displayed 

 His aged arms and cast a mighty shade; 

 Each trembling leaf with some light vision teems, 

 And leaves impregnated with airy dreams." 



A man who makes unreasonable requests, and equally expects them 

 to be gratified, is said to "ask an elm tree for pears". 



The bark is astringent, contains tannin, and being mucilaginous 

 it acts as a demulcent. The leaves have been used as fodder for 

 cattle. As timber it was used for ships, but steel has now replaced 

 the old wooden ships to a great extent. It is also used for coffins 

 and other purposes. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



278. Uhmts glabra, Huds. Tree, branches drooping, leaves large, 

 ovate, doubly serrate, unequal at the base, seed below middle, flowers 

 5-7-fid. 



Oak (Quercus Robur, L.) 



The Oak is an ancient tree found in Preglacial beds in Norfolk and 

 Suffolk, and also Interglacial and Neolithic beds. To-clay it is found 

 in the Arctic and N. Temperate Zones from the Atlas, Taurus, and 

 Syria, up to the Arctic Circle. In Great Britain it is found every- 

 where except in Selkirk, Hebrides, and Shetlands, from Sutherland to 

 the south coast, up to 1350 ft. in the Highlands. It is a native of 

 Ireland and the Channel Islands. 



The Oak is one of those trees which characterize a certain type of 

 woodland, having a special ground association of its own. It is also 

 largely planted up and down the country in hedgerows by the road- 

 side as well as in the open fields. But it is native in many places 

 where remnants of the old forests remain, especially in hilly districts, 

 the strongholds in days gone by of the Druids, to whom it was sacred, 

 many ancient trees bearing names connected with this ancient religious 

 cult. 



