DECIDUOUS TREES. 315 



dinary fact, considering that full grown trees of it seventy-five feet 

 high exist in England, and that, according to Loudon, it generally 

 comes true from seed. If grafts can be procured, they may be put 

 into the tops of our common white oaks. 



The Upright Oak. Q. p. fastigiata. — A tree of extremely 

 fastigiate habit, the most so of any of the oaks, but much less 

 slender than the Lombardy poplar, with which it is sometimes com- 

 pared. Though a native of the Pyrenees, it is hardy at Rochester, 

 N. Y., and makes about the same annual growth as our white oak. 

 The leaves and branches are small and numerous. 



The Mossy-cupped Turkey Oaks. Q. cerris. — The variety of 

 what are called Turkey oaks in England is large, and 

 some of the most beautiful specimens of oaks grown 

 during this century are of one or another variety of 

 this species. Fig. loo illustrates the common form of 

 the young tree, and the leaf It is distinguished from 

 the British oak (which it resembles more than any 

 other) by longer, straighter, and more upright branches, 

 and more rapid growth. Judging by the specimens to 

 be seen in this country, we do not perceive any strik- 

 ing peculiarity or beauty that should cause them to 

 be preferred, in pleasure-grounds, to many of our 

 native oaks. 



There is an En'^lish variety, the Q. c. pendida, the branches of 

 which "not only c* oop to the ground, but, after touching it, creep 

 along the surface to some distance like those of the sophora japonica 

 pendula" (Loudon). It grows to thirty or forty feet in height. 



There are also variegated-leaved varieties, but of little value. 



The Japan Purple Oak. Q. alba atro-piirpiirea japonica.- — Our 

 attention has recently been called to this new tree from Japan. It 

 promises to be the most brilliant member of the oak family. In 

 the nursery of Parsons & Co., at Flushing, L. I., the little trees had 

 as bright and clear a purple tint in September (1867), «'^s the purple 

 beech shows in May and June. It was considered quite hardy. 



