CORYLACE^ 



Nat.syst. ed.2. p. 170. 



QUERCUS. 



$ lax, amentaceous, deciduous. Bract membranous in 4, 5, 

 or more, deep, often divided, segments. Filaments about 8 or 

 more, short, awl-shaped. ? separate. Involucre hemisphe- 

 rical, coriaceous, imbricated, single-flowered, entire, much en- 

 larged in the fruit, and externally scaly, or tuberculated. Calyx 

 in 6, minute, deep, sharp, downy segments, closely surrounding 

 the base of the style. Ovary globose, of 3 cells, with 2 ovules 

 in each. Style solitary, short, conical. Stigmas 3, obtuse, re- 

 curved. Nut solitary, oval, coriaceous, not bursting, of 1 cell, 

 attached by a broad scar to the inside of the capsule. Embryo 

 solitary, rarely 2, with large plano-convex cotyledons, and a su- 

 perior radicle. 



599. Q. pedunculata Willd. sp. pi iv. 450. Q. robur Eng. 

 hot. t. 1342. Woodv. t. 126. S. and C. iii. t. 151. Smith 

 Eng. ft. iv. 149. Woods and hedgerows in most parts of Eu- 

 rope. (Oak.) 



A large tree, with smooth greyish-brown twigs. Leaves deciduous, 

 sessile or on short stalks, of a thin texture, obovate-oblong, sinuated, 

 with the lobes entire and nearly blunt, diminishing towards the base, 

 each with a single green midrib, proceeding from the common rib; a 

 little blistered and scarcely glossy, with some down occasionally on the 

 under side. Acorns oblong, obtuse, much longer than the hemi- 

 spherical scaly cup, placed on long peduncles. Bark powerfully 

 astringent ; the powder employed in passive haemorrhages and diarrhoea, 

 and the infusion or decoction as an astringent gargle, and for injections 

 or fomentations when such applications are requisite. The French used 

 it extensively during the last war as a substitute for Cinchona. 



600. Q. sessiliflora Salisb. prodr. 392. has similar properties. 



601. Q. infectoria Oliv. voyage t. 14. 15. mild, sp.pl. iv. 436. 

 S. and C. iii. t. 152. Asia Minor. (Gall oak.) 



A small bush. Leaves on short stalks, l-]i inch long, oblong, with 

 a few coarse mucronate teeth on each side, bluntly mucronate, rounded 

 and rather unequal at the base, smooth, shining on the upper side. 

 Acorns solitary, long, obtuse, with a hemispherical scaly cup. From 

 this the oak galls of the shops are all obtained. It appears to have been 

 a mistake to ascribe them to Q. Cerris. 



602. Q. coccifera Linn. sp. pi. 1413. is infested by an insect 

 belonging to the genus Coccus, and yielding the Kermes dye, 

 from which scarlet cloths are often prepared. 



291 u 2 



