66 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



^ inch in length. Above these on the stem follow the true leaves, the first and 

 second orbicular in outline ; the third and fourth showing lobes ; all have long 

 slender petioles. The first year's growth terminates in a bud just above the 

 insertion of the fourth leaf. The primary root gives off a good many lateral fibres, 

 which are delicate and brittle. Seedlings which germinated at Colesborne early in 

 June were 3-4^ inches high in August, with roots of about the same length or slightly 

 shorter. According to Elwes there was no marked tendency to form a tap-root in 

 any of the specimens which he examined. 



Varieties 



Several forms are in cultivation, which differ from the wild tree in habit, in form 

 and colour of the leaves, and in colour of the flowers. 



1. Van pyramidalis, LavalMe. Tree with erect branches, forming a narrow 

 pyramid, like the fastigiate oak. 



2. Var. integrifolia, Kirch. Leaves rounded at the base and without lobes. In 

 this form, the shape of the leaves of seedling trees is preserved. 



3. Var. obtusiloba, Pursh. Leaves with only one rounded lobe on each side of 

 the base. 



4. Var. heterophylla. Foliage variable ; some leaves being entire, others with 

 lobes, which are acute or obtuse. 



5. Var. crispa. Leaves with undulate margins. 



6. Var. variegata} arms, with variegated leaves, of which several sub-varieties 

 have received names, as argenteo-variegata, aureo-variegata, medio-picta. That known 

 as aureo-marginata ^ in which the edges of the leaves are yellow is the best. 



7. Var. aurea. Flowers yellow. 



Identification 



In summer, the shape of the leaves is unm\stakable, resembling those of no 

 other hardy tree : the variety integrifolia, though without lobes, preserves the truncate, 

 slightly emarginate apex, in the centre of which may be seen the midrib prolonged 

 as a short bristle. 



In winter, the twigs and buds are very characteristic. Buds : terminal, larger 

 than the lateral, which are alternate on the twigs, and arise from them at an angle of 

 45. They are stalked, glaucous, glabrous, composed of 2 stipules joined together by 

 their edges, forming a closed sac, in which is contained the young shoot ; ' and on 

 opening it a leaf will be seen embracing an interior bud. It is folded on its mid-rib 

 with the stalk bent like a hook, bringing the apex of the leaf to the base of the bud. 

 The twigs are glabrous, shining brown or slightly hoary, and marked by stipular rings 

 just above the leaf-scars, which are circular, placed obliquely on prominent cushions, 

 and dotted like a sieve with cicatrices of the fibrous bundles. The lenticels are few 



The variegated form in which the yellow marking occurs as irregular blotches in the central part of the leaves is well 

 depicted in Lemaire, Il/ust. Horticole, xv. t. 571 (1868). 



' A good figure of the variety is given in Flore des Serres, xix. 2025 (1873). 



' Within the outer Imd or sac are contained several younger buds, one within the oilier, each wilh a folded leaf. 



