QUERCUS 303 



Aiton, introduced in 1724, it has after many trials proved a complete failure. 

 There does not appear at present to be a tree 25 ft. high in the British Isles. 

 Yet it is one of the most magnificent trees of its native country, reaching in 

 places 100 to 150 ft. in height, with a trunk 3 to 6 ft. in diameter, producing 

 a splendid timber with much the same qualities of durability, etc., as our 

 native species. Its young shoots are smooth ; its leaves obovate, five- to 

 nine-lobed, 5 to 9 ins. long, scarcely half as wide, the upper surface dark 

 glossy green and smooth, the lower one pale or glaucous, and at first downy. 

 Acorn | in. long, with about one-fourth enclosed in the cup. This is the type 

 species of the American white oaks, whose acorns mature in one season. 



Q. ALNIFOLIA, Poech. GOLDEN OAK OF CYPRUS. 



An evergreen small tree or shrub ; young shoots clothed with grey down. 

 Leaves stiff and hard in texture, roundish or broadly obovate, the terminal 

 part toothed, the margins of the older leaves deflexed so that the inverted 

 leaf has very much the shape of a shallow scoop ; i to 2^ ins. long, and 

 about the same or rather less wide ; upper surface dark glossy green, lower 

 one yellow or greyish yellow, covered with a dense close felt ; stalk downy like 

 the young wood, j to f in. long. There are five to eight prominent veins 

 each side the midrib. Acorns I to i J ins. long, A- to \ in. wide ; broadening 

 from the base upwards, and thus somewhat truncheon-shaped, but ending in 

 a short point ; cup about \ in. deep, with downy scales. 



Native of Cyprus ; introduced to Kew in 1885, where it has proved 

 perfectly hardy, but slow-growing. The peculiar attraction of this oak is the 

 yellow under-surface of its leaves, but out-of-doors in England this colour is 

 only slightly developed, and the under-surface is really greyish. But on the 

 young leaves of a plant grown in a cool greenhouse at Kew the yellow is as 

 markedly developed as in Castanopsis chrysophylla. Very rare in cultivation, 

 and worth reintroducing. 



Q. BICOLOR, Willdenow. SWAMP WHITE OAK. 



(Q. platanoides, Sudworth?) 



A deciduous tree, 60 to 70 ft. (occasionally more) high, with loose, scaly 

 bark ; young shoots slightly downy at first, becoming smooth. Leaves 

 obovate, 3 to 7 ins. long, \\ to 4 ins. wide ; tapered at the base, the six to 

 eight shallow, rounded lobes at each side often reduced to mere undulations 

 towards the top ; upper surface dark polished green, soon becoming smooth ; 

 lower surface pale grey, clothed with a close, soft felt ; midrib and stalk 

 yellowish, the latter ^ to f in. long, more or less downy. Acorns about I in. 

 long, borne usually In pairs on a more or less downy stalk 2 to 3 ins. long, 

 ^about one-third enclosed in the cup. 



Native of Eastern N. America ; introduced in 1800. Although the best 

 of the white oaks for this country it is not a first-rate tree, nor has it attained 

 to any great size, although Elwes mentions two or three that are between 50 

 and 60 ft. high. At Kew it is quite healthy, and has reached 40 ft. in height, 

 the trunk very shaggy through the bark being attached in loose scales. The 

 under-surface of the leaf does not become so silvery white as in N. America, 

 but even here the soft felt beneath renders it distinct. Its acorns are 

 occasionally formed with us, but rarely ripen, although in nature they mature 

 in one season. 



Q. CASTANE^FOLIA, C. A. Meyer CHESTNUT-LEAVED OAK. 



A wide-spreading, deciduous tree, reaching 100 ft. in height in a wild 

 state ; young branches downy. Leaves narrowly oval or oblong, tapered at 



