316 QUERCUS 



trees. Among cultivated oaks this is most nearly allied to Q. macedonica 

 (q.v.}. It i s sometimes met with in nurseries as " Q. serrata pendula." 



Q. LOBATA, Nee. VALLEY OAK. 



(0. Hindsii, Bentham.) 



A deciduous tree of the largest size, often over zoo ft. high in a wild state, 

 the trunk occasionally as much as 10 ft. thick, and forming a broad head of 

 branches ; young shoots downy. Leaves oval or obovate, tapered at the 

 base, rounded or blunt at the apex, with four or five rounded or obovate lobes 

 at each side ; i to 3 ins. long, to if ins. wide ; dark green and smooth or 

 nearly so above ; pale, dull and downy beneath, especially on the midrib ; 

 margin edged with fine hairs ^ stalk ^ to ^ in. long, downy. Acorns scarcely 

 stalked, slenderly conical, pointed, ij to 2 ins. long, mostly solitary, about 

 one-fourth enclosed in the cup. 



Native of W. California ; introduced to Kew by Mr Bolander in 1874, but 

 possibly in cultivation before. A stately tree in its own country, it has little 

 to recommend it in this, being of exceedingly slow growth and not striking in 

 foliage. It reaches its greatest size on deep moist loam, and in some of the 

 Californian valleys is not infrequently 100 to 150 ft. high, with trunks 8 to 

 10 ft. through. Its timber is of poor quality, but many fine trees are preserved 

 in the fields of the West for the sake of the shade their wide-spreading 

 branches afford. 



Q. LUCOMBEANA, Sweet. LUCOMBE OAK. 



A deciduous, or, in some of its forms, almost evergreen tree up to 100 ft. 

 high, forming a large, rounded head of branches as much in diameter ; the 

 trunk has a corrugated bark like that of the Turkey oak, and is buttressed in 

 the same way at the base ; terminal bud furnished with linear scales ; young 

 shoots covered with grey down. Leaves oval or ovate, broadly tapered and 

 unequal-sided at the base, with seven to nine parallel veins running out, and 

 forming the tips of, triangular sharp teeth on the margin ; 2 to 5 ins. long, 

 i to 2 ins. wide ; upper surface glossy green, lower one covered with a close 

 grey felt ; stalk J to i in. long. Acorns solitary or in pairs on a short, stout 

 stalk, ripening the second year, -| to I in. long, more than haK enclosed in 

 a cup covered with narrow, downy scales that are reflexed at the base, but 

 erect towards the rim of the cup. 



A hybrid between the cork oak and the Turkey oak, raised about 1765 

 from seed borne on a tree of the latter, by Lucombe, a gardener and nursery- 

 man of Exeter. It is a handsome and stately oak, producing fertile acorns in 

 plenty. From these many trees have been raised which show considerable 

 variation within the limits set by the two parent species. It is not necessary, 

 or indeed easy, satisfactorily to define all these variations on paper, although 

 they are palpable enough when the trees grow together. When seedlings of 

 Q. Lucombeana deviate towards the Turkey oak, the bark shows little or 

 no corkiness, and the foliage is strictly deciduous. When, on the other hand, 

 the influence of the cork oak predominates, it is evident in corky bark and 

 nearly or quite evergreen leaves. The practice of calling the Lucombe oak 

 and its progeny varieties of Q. Cerris is unsatisfactory, and I here follow the 

 more logical one adopt-ed by Elwes and Henry of keeping it distinct, and 

 treating its seedling forms as varieties. 



Var. CANA MAJOR. Leaves often three-lobed. 



Var. CRISPA, London. A corky barked, nearly evergreen form ; leaves 

 brilliant dark green above, white beneath. Habit more compact than 

 ordinary Lucombe oak. A reversion towards Q. Suber, raised in 1792. 



