14 THE OAK. 



is always planted in preference to the chene-rouvre, 

 if the soil be sufficiently good. In the delightful 

 forest of Meudon, near Paris ; throughout the whole 

 of the extensive forest of Fontainebleau, and in 

 the Bois de Boulogne, the latter kind, however, 

 or Q. sessiliflora, is the only form under which 

 the oak is to be met with. When both forms are 

 planted together, provided the soil be good, the 

 sfissiliflora outgrows the pedunculata. Both are 

 called by many different names : Q. pedunculata 

 is often distinguished as the true British oak, the 

 white oak, the female oak, the valley oak, and the 

 early oak the last name alluding to the rather 

 earlier development of the foliage : while the sessi- 

 liflora is called the chesnut oak, the male oak, the 

 red oak, and the hard oak; occasionally also the 

 winter oak, from its disposition to retain the dead 

 leaves far on into the winter ; also, with some, the 

 hill oak, from its being more frequently found in 

 upland localities than its competitor. A glorious 

 spectacle is that of the oak in the month of April, 

 when its amber-tinted buds stud the tree like so 

 many jewels. They do not open rapidly, like those 

 of the sycamore or the horse-chesnut. From first 

 to last, the life of the oak seems characterised by 

 placidity. It lives so long that it can afford to 

 be leisurely in all its movements, and at every 

 season alike expresses dignity and calmness. In a 

 little while, when the young leaves are half-expanded, 



