314 QUERCUS 



the base. The leaves are 3 to 6 ins. long, two-thirds as wide ; dark shining 

 green and smooth above, paler beneath, and either downy or becoming almost 

 or quite smooth ; stalk yellowish like the midrib, at first slightly downy, i 

 to i|- ins. long. Acorns solitary or a few on a stalk, i to i j- ins. long, downy 

 at the top, one-third enclosed in a cup which has ovate-lanceolate scales, and 

 is borne on a short, thick stalk. 



Native of California and Oregon ; very rare in cultivation, but a handsome 

 tree with the red oak type of foliage. It is quite hardy, and occasionally 

 produces fertile acorns at Kew ; they take two seasons to mature, and at 

 the end of the first are almost entirely enclosed in the cup. It is the only 

 oak west of the Rocky Mountains which possesses the red or black oak 

 character of leaf. It may be said to represent there the Q. velutina of the 

 eastern States. 



Q. LANUGINOSA, Thuillier. 

 (Q. pubescens, Willdenow,) 



A medium-sized or small deciduous tree ; young shoots covered with 

 dense greyish down. Leaves very wavy at the margins, mostly obovate,- 

 1 1 to 4 ins. long, half as wide ; with usually three to six rounded or pointed 

 lobes on either side ; upper surface at first covered with grey down, most or 

 all of which falls away before the end of the summer ; lower surface per- 

 manently and usually very thickly covered with down ; stalk j- to f in. long. 

 Acorns either very shortly stalked or stalkless, solitary or as many as four 

 together, each about half enclosed in the downy cup. 



Native 'of S. Europe, and allied most closely to Q. sessiliflora, but with 

 greyer and much more downy leaves. It is also a smaller tree with more 

 scaly bark. To the Californian Q. lobata it bears a resemblance, but has 

 longer leaf-stalks. The tree supplied by nurserymen as Q. mongolica is 

 Q. lanuginosa. The true Q. mongolica, Fischer, is an ally of Q. grosseserrata. 



Var. DISSECTA. Leaves smaller, lobes deeper, much undulated. 



Q. LEANA, Nuttall. LEA'S HYBRID OAK. 



A natural hybrid between Q. imbricaria and Q. velutina or Q. coccinea, 

 of which there are several fine trees in this country. The leaves in shape 

 approach those of imbricaria, being oblong and tapered at both ends ; they 

 are, however, rarely entire as in that species, but are more or less irregularly, 

 and either deeply or shallowly lobed ; 3 to 7 ins. long, i to 2^ ins. wide ; dark 

 green and glossy above, furnished with a scurfy down beneath, but not so 

 thickly as in Q. imbricaria. Young shoots more or less scurfy with starry 

 down. This oak is named in honour of Mr T. G. Lea, who discovered it 

 about 1830, near Cincinnati, Ohio. According to Sargent, it is scattered 

 widely as solitary individuals over the south-eastern United States. From 

 the variable character of trees given this name, especially in shape and 

 pubescence of leaf, it is probable that it represents trees of different origin, 

 although Q. imbricaria is undoubtedly one parent. In 1910 I saw trees in 

 the Arnold Arboretum with leaves 3 to 5 ins. wide. It is always a vigorous, 

 handsome oak. Of somewhat similar character and origin is 



Q. HETEKOPHYLLA, Michaux, supposed to be a hybrid between Q. Phellos 

 and Q. velutina or Q. rubra. It has smooth shoots, and the leaves are also 

 smooth except for tufts of down in the leaf-axils. The leaves are 3 to 6 ins. 

 long, i to -2\ ins. wide, varying from almost entire to having three to five 

 deep, bristle-tipped lobes at each side. The origin of this tree is dbubtful, 

 and possibly more than one oak goes under the name. The heterophylla we 

 cultivate now has leaf-stalks up to i in. or more long, but the oak of this 



