Quercus.] LXXII. CUPULIFEKjE. 483 



cose pubescence. Leaves glabrous, dark-green, coriaceous, shining, oblong- 

 lanceolate with a rounded or cordate base, entire or with sharp spines- 

 cent teeth ; blade 2-3 in., petiole \ in. long ; main lateral nerves 8-12 pair, 

 joined by minute reticulate veins. Male fl. in slender, lax, drooping cat- 

 kins ; female fl. in short axillary spikes. Styles 3-5 linear-clavate. Acorns 

 generally solitary, short-pedunculate or subsessile, ovoid, brown, half ex- 

 serted, the lower half enclosed in a hemispherical cup ; scales lanceolate, 

 closely adpressed, the ripe acorns on the branch of the current year. 



North-east Afghanistan, Bharaul in Kafiristan (6000-7000 ft.) Safedkoh 

 (9000-10,000 ft.) Eastern flanks of the Suliman range (6000-7000 ft.) Common 

 on the outer ranges of north-west Himalaya from 4500 to 9000 ft., extend- 

 ing east to the Kali. In the Sutlej valley Jani in Kunawar is the upper 

 limit of this species. Flowers and changes its leaves in spring. Gregarious, 

 but generally associated with other trees. Attains 80-90 ft., with a tine close 

 dark-green crown, and a tall, erect, but often gnarled trunk, 8-9 ft., at times 

 15 or 18 ft. in girth. Madden notes a tree 100 ft. high and 19 ft. 8 in. girth. 

 Bark brownish-grey, with elongated scales, darker and larger than those of Q. 

 semecarpifolia. Wood brownish, hard heavy and durable, largely used in 

 building, for agricultural implements, axe-handles, and for Jampan-poles. On 

 the Sutlej the timber of this species is prized more than that of the other Oaks, 

 the order of merit of the others being Q. incana, semecarpifolia and annulata. 

 The leaves are prized as fodder for sheep and goats, and the trees are often 

 severely lopped for that purpose. 



6. Q. pedunculata, Ehrh. British Oak. Chene pe'doncule','FieYiQh. ; /Stieleiche, 

 German. A large long-lived timber-tree. Leaf-buds ovoid ; leaves deciduous, 

 short-petiolate or subsessile, obovate - oblong, with auriculate base, generally 

 deeply cut into broad rounded lobes, glabrous or slightly hairy beneath along 

 midrib ; main lateral nerves 6-12 pair, often alternating with shorter inter- 

 mediate ones. Perianth-segments of male flower lanceolate ; anthers glabrous ; 

 styles broad and short. Fruit 1-5 on axillary peduncles 2-6 in. long on the 

 current year's wood. Scales of cup adpressed. Europe, Asia Minor, Ural and 

 Caucasus, forming extensive and often nearly pure forests in the alluvial plains 

 along the principal rivers of Central Europe e.g., in Hungary, Croatia, on the 

 Oder and Elbe in North Germany, on the Loire and the Adour in France. 



7. Q. sessiliflora, Sm. Chene rouvre, French ; Traubeneiche, German. Like 

 the former, but leaf-buds ovoid-lanceolate, leaves obovate-oblong, narrowed into 

 a petiole ^ in. long, deeply cut into oblong or broad rounded lobes, pubescent 

 when young, glabrate or pubescent when full-grown ; main lateral nerves 6-10 

 pair, often alternating with shorter intermediate ones. Fruit in sessile or sub- 

 sessile clusters. Leaves and flowers generally 10-14 days later than of Q. pedun- 

 culata. Europe and Asia Minor, forming extensive forests, often associated with 

 the Beech and ..Hornbeam, rarely pure, on mountainous and hilly ground, not, 

 as a rule, on alluvial soil. Q. pubescens, Willd., is a tomentose variety princi- 

 pally found on warm dry hills in South Europe, where it takes the place of the 

 more glabrous Q. sessiliflora of the North. 



In England and the lowlands of Scotland Q. pedunculata is the commoner of 

 the two Oaks, but in North "Wales and the hill-parts of northern England Q. ses- 

 siliflora is more frequent (Benth. British Fl. 422). Intermediate forms between 

 these two Oaks are found in England and elsewhere, and the leading systematic 

 botanists of the present day, Bentham, Hooker, and A. De Candolle, unite 



