QUE 



OR, BOTANICAL Dl GTIONARY. 



QUE 



439 



renders them very warm, and corrects the moisture of the air. 

 They also employ it for bee-hives; for which purpose the 

 bark of young trees, and of the branches, are rolled into a 

 cylinder by the natives of Barbary. Native of the south of 

 Europe, and north of Africa. 



15. Quercus Coccifera; Kermes Oak Tree. Leaves ovate, 

 cordate at the base, tooth-spiny, smooth on both sides; nut 

 ovate. This is a tree of small growth, seldom rising above 

 twelve or fourteen feet high. From this species the Kermes, 

 or Scarlet Grain, a little red gall, occasioned by the puncture 

 of an insect called the Coecus Ilicis. These grains appear 

 on the stems and small branches, some near the bottom, but 

 mostly 011 the upper branches, yet always protected by the 

 leaves, and fixed to the stem by a glue resembling thin 

 white leather, spread over the stem, and covering, like the 

 cup of the acorn, a segment of the grana. The agglutinating 

 coat may be traced through a small hole into the grana, 

 from whence it proceeds, and where it spreads, like the pla- 

 centa, on the internal surface. These grana are of various 

 sizes, from one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch in diameter, 

 perfectly spherical, and covered with a white powder, which 

 being rubbed off, the surface appears red, smooth, and po- 

 lished. On the same stem they may be found in several 

 stages, as in tough membranes filled with a red juice resem- 

 bling blood, but on paper leaving a stain as bright and beau- 

 tiful as the best carmine. In the second stage, under the 

 first coat or pellicle, is a thin tough membrane enclosing 

 the eggs, then most minute, and scarcely to be distinguished 

 without the assistance of a glass. Between this membrane and 

 the pellicle is the same red liquor, but less in quantity. The 

 pellicle is evidently separated from the inner membrane by 

 what seems to be the viscera and blood-vessels: but near the 

 hole, these two coats adhere closely together. The interior 

 membrane is thin, white, and tough, with a lunar septum 

 forming the ovary, which at first is very small and scarcely 

 discernible, but progressively enlarges, till in the third stage 

 it occupies the whole space; when the tincturing juice dis- 

 appears, and nothing remains but a great number of eggs. 

 It is clear that the grana, or grains, derive no nourishment 

 from the plant on which it ig fixed ; and from its position it 

 would appear, that the little animal chooses the prickly leaf 

 of this tree, which resembles the Holly, only for the sake of 

 shelter and protection from birds. With this insect the an- 

 cients are said to have dyed cloth of a beautiful colour, 

 called coccineus or coccus, being different from the purpura 

 which the Phoenicians obtained from the shell-fish murex, 

 which was neglected in course of time, and the kermes or 

 grana introduced. This last supported its reputation until 

 the discovery of cochineal; see Cactus. Desfontaines relates, 

 that although this tree abounds in Barbary, and bears great 

 quantities of cocci, yet is it totally neglected by the inhabit- 

 ants, who actually purchase the very drug with which they 

 dye their woollen cloths red, at an exorbitant rate, from the 

 French merchants Native of the south of Europe. 



16. Quercus Virens ; Live Oak Tree. Leaves evergreen, 

 coriaceous, elliptic-oblong, subtomentose underneath, undi- 

 vided and sinuated; fruit stalked; nut oblong. This rises to 

 the height of forty feet. The grain of the wood is hard, 

 tough, and coarse; the bark is grayish. The acorns are 

 small and oblong, with short cups ; they are very sweet, and 

 are eaten by the Indians, who lay them up in store for win- 

 ter; and draw from them a very sweet oil, little inferior to 

 that of sweet almonds It is a native of North America, and 

 very much used there in ship-building. 



17. Quercus Prinus; Chestnut-leaved Oak Tree. Leaves 

 deciduous, ovate-elliptic, pubescent underneath, deeply- 



VOL. ii. 102. 



toothed ; teeth very wide, blunt, almost equal. There are 

 two varieties of this tree, the largest growing in rich low 

 lands, where they are the largest of all the North American 

 Oaks, and remarkable for the beauty of its form, as well as 

 the large size of its acorns, which are plentiful and sweet, 

 affording a rich food for various animals. The wood is not' 

 of a very fine grain, but is very serviceable. It flowers in 

 May and June. 



18. Quercus Aquatica; Water Oak Tree. Leaves annual, 

 somewhat Wedge-shaped, attenuated at the base, lobed, 

 smooth. There is great variety in the leaves of this species. 

 Native of North America. 



19. Quercus Nigra; Black Oak Tree. Leaves annual, 

 wedge-form, somewhat cordate at the base, obsoletely lobed; 

 lobes dilated. This tree grows on poor land in most parts of 

 North America, where it never attains to a large size, and 

 the wood is of little value. 



20. Quercus Rubra; Red Oak Tree. Leaves annual, smooth 

 on both sides, obtusely sinuate ; sinuses divaricating ; segments 

 acute, setaceous, mucronate. There are many varieties. It 

 grows naturally, and to a large size, in North America. 



21. Quercus Discolor; Downy-leaved Oak Tree. Leaves 

 annual, pubescent underneath, sinuate; sinuses spreading; 

 segments setaceous, mucronate. Native of North America. 



22. Quercus Alba; White Oak Tree. Leaves annual, pin- 

 natifid ; sinuses narrowed ; segments oblong-linear, awnless. 

 The wood of this tree is preferred in America to any of the 

 other sort, especially for building, being the most durable. 



23. Quercus Esculus ; Italian or Small Prickly-cupped 

 Oak Tree. Leaves pinnatifid, pubescent, and smooth ; seg- 

 ments lanceolate, acute, rameated, axillary, filiform ; acorns 

 oblong ; calices muricated. The acorns are sweet, and fre- 

 quently eaten by the poor in the south of France, who in times 

 of scarcity grind them, and make bread with the flour. It 

 flowers in May, and is a native of the south of Europe. 



24. Quercus Robur; Common British Oak. Leaves ob- 

 long, smooth, sinuate; lobes rounded; acorns oblong. This 

 famous tree, which affords that most essential article for the 

 construction of our ships of war, its almost everlasting tim- 

 ber, is noted for the slowness of its growth, as well as for the 

 large size to which it attains. It has been remarked, that 

 in fourscore years the trunk has not exceeded twenty inches 

 in diameter, and sometimes not more than fourteen. The 

 age of this tree is generally estimated at three hundred 

 years. Of its bulk, stature, and extent, we have abundant 

 recorded instances. In Worksop park there was a tree 

 spreading almost three thousand yards square, so that nearly 

 a thousand horses might stand commodiously under it at one 

 time. Dr. Plot mentions an Oak at Narbury, which was 

 fifteen yards in girth; and being felled, two men, one on each 

 side, upon a horse, could not see each other. The same 

 author mentions an Oak between Nuneham, Courtney, and 

 Clifton, spreading eighty-one feet, shading in circumference 

 five hundred and sixty yards of ground. Herme's Oak, cele- 

 brated by Shakspeare in his licentious play of the Merry 

 Wives of Windsor, when last measured, was about twenty 

 four feet in circumference: it is still said to exist in the little 

 park at Windsor. The remarkable tree in Hainuult fortft, 

 Essex, called Fairlop Oak, though preserved with all possi- 

 ble care, has been long dead, and is gradually decaying and 

 falling to pieces. The stem once measured thirty-six feet in 

 girth, and the boughs extended above three hundred in cir- 

 cumference. It is observed by Du Hamcl, that Oaks in forests 

 being propagated from the acorn, assume so many varieties, 

 that it is difficult to find two resembling each other in cveiy 

 respect. There are also many varieties of Oak, which dealers ' 



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