til 



QUERCUS. 



QUERCUS. 



523 



pinnatifid leaves, the long narrow loose scales of their cup, and their 

 equally long deciduous stipules. In this as in other parts of the 

 genus, there is much confusion and uncertainty regarding both the 

 limits of species and the quality of their timber. 



Qf Cerris, Turkey Oak. Leaves deciduous, on very short stalks, 

 oblong, deeply and unequally pinnatifid ; hairy beneath ; lobes lanceo- 

 late acute, somewhat angular. Stipules longer than the footstalks. 

 Cup hemispherical, with long loose hairy scales. An exceedingly 

 common plant all over the south-east of Europe, where it seems to 

 form some of the finest specimens of oak. It has an open, straight, 

 graceful mode of growth, very different from the gnarled and tortuous 

 appearance of native British oaks, than which it also grows much 

 faster. It would seem to be unknown in Spain, where its place 

 appears to be taken by the Q. Hipanica of Lamarck. 



Q. Hispanica, the Spanish Oak. Trunk corky. Branches rather 

 erect. Leaves nearly evergreen, lanceolate acute, with fine serratures 

 or crenatures, which aro sharp-pointed, coriaceous, deep-green, 

 glaucous, and downy on the under side. Cups top-shaped, somewhat 

 senile, with shaggy, prickly, spreading scales. According to Mr. 

 Barker Webb, this plant grows in Spain and by the Algerine river 

 Monchique, and he reduces to it as synonyms the Q, crenata of 

 Lamarck, Q. pteudotvlier of Desfontaines, Q. sEgilopifolia of Persoon, 

 and the Lucombe Oak of the English nurseries. 



Q. Aiutriaca, the Austrian Oak. Leaves on longish stalks, ovate- 

 oblong, slightly but copiously sinuated, downy and hoary beneath ; 

 lobes short, ovate-acute, entire. Stipules shorter than the footstalks. 

 Cup hemispherical, bristly. It is found in Austria and Hungary. 



Q. jEgttvpt, Great Prickly-Cupped Oak, or Valonia. Leaves ovate- 

 oblong, with bristle-pointed tooth-like lobes, hoary beneath. Cup 

 very large, hemispherical, with lanceolate, elongated, spreading scales. 

 The Morea and adjacent countries produce this valuable tree, which 

 yields the acorns called Velani, or Valonia, in commerce, of which 

 nearly 1 50,000 cwt. are imported yearly for the use of tanners, and 

 sold at from 12f. to 151. a ton. The tree is reported to be handsome in 

 its own country ; but with us, although it has long been cultivated, 

 it is an inelegant tree, of a stunted mode of growth. What has been 

 aid of its elegant appearance and so forth, seems to belong to Q. 

 Ctrrw. 



-\P 



Gt Prlckly-Cnpptd Ok (Qua-cut sEgilopi). 



II. Oaks of the Levant. 



Little has hitherto been ascertained regarding the species of this 

 part of the world. The French traveller Olivier brought home with 

 him a plant very near ({,. Cerrii, the Mossy-Cupped Oak, which he 

 reported to be met with throughout great part of Asia Minor, and to 

 furnish the wood employed in the arsenal of Constantinople. His 



specimens were examined by Lamarck, who called them Q. crinita, 

 but little more is known about the species. Another plant, under 

 the name of Q. rigida, has been published from Caramania, where the 

 oaks are said to arrive at a great size and beauty ; and Q. infectoria, 

 the Common Gall-Oak, has long been known. But there can be no 

 doubt that the mountainous regions intervening between the Turkish 

 empire and India produce oaks that require investigation, and three 

 perfectly distinct species have in fact been sent from Kurdistan. Of 

 all that have yet been found in the countries of the East, we shall 

 give a short account. 



Q. crinita, Hairy -Cupped Oak. Leaves on long stalks, oblong, deeply 

 pinnatifid, downy beneath, lobes lanceolate, bluntish, nearly entire. 

 Cup hemispherical, downy, bristly. A tree of Asia Minor, found by 

 Olivier, and figured in his ' Travels,' t. 12, and said to be the same 

 as an Armenian species met with by Tournefort, and after him called 

 Q. Tourneforti ; but this is doubtful. It is described as a large tree 

 yielding excellent timber, employed extensively by the Turks in 

 naval constructions. There is however very little in the accounts 

 hitherto given of the plant to distinguish it from theCommou Turkey 

 Oak, Q, Cerris, with which Mr. Loudon combines it, but not upon 

 satisfactory evidence. 



Q. infectoi-ia, Oriental Gall-0.ik. Leaves ovate-oblong, very smooth 

 on both sides, deeply toothed, somewhat sinuated, deciduous. Fruit 

 sessile. Cup tesselated. Acorn elongated, nearly cylindrical. A very 

 common plant iu Asia Minor, where its branches are attacked by an 

 insect, the Cynips scriptorum, which punctures them, and causes the 

 formation of the oak-Rails so well known in commerce. It forms a 

 scrubby bush rather than tree, and is of no value except for its galls. 

 Its branches occasionally produce large brownish-red tubercles, spongy 

 within, which are by some supposed to be the apples of the Dead 

 Sea, whose appearance was tempting, but which contained only dust 

 and ashes. 



1, Stiff-Leaved Oak (Querctu rigida); 2, Sweet Acorn-Oak (Q. Ballota) ; 

 3, Oriental Gall-Oak (Q. infectoria). 



Q, rigida, Stiff-Leaved Oak. Leaves oblong, undivided, with 

 spinous serratures, smooth, glaucous beneath, heart-shaped at the 

 base. Footstalks bearded at the summit. Scales of the cup rigid, 

 spreading. A native of Caramania, of Kurdistan, and, according to 

 Sibthorpe, of the Morea, but the last is doubtful. It is a handsome- 

 looking plant, so fur as can be judged from dried specimens, but 

 nothing is known of its uses. 



Q. Jirantii, Brant's Oak. Branches, footstalks, and leaves under- 

 neath covered all over with thick short wool. Leaves heart-shaped, 

 ovate-acute, with bristle-pointed teeth, ash-coloured, with starry down 



