484 LXXII. CUPULIFER^E. [Quercus. 



them under the name of Q. Robur, Linn. Foresters, however, particularly in 

 France and Germany, find no difficulty in keeping them apart. The seedlings 

 of both species have a long tap-root ; they coppice vigorously, and the bark is 

 used largely by tanners. The value and uses of Oak-timber for casks and barrel- 

 staves, furniture, house- and ship-building, are well known. There is not much 

 difference in the structure and qualities of the timber of the two species. Sap- 

 wood small, soft, whitish, decays rapidly, and is attacked by insects ; the heart- 

 wood well defined, brown, hard, strong and generally durable, except under certain 

 circumstances in contact with iron. Medullary rays of two classes ; numerous 

 very fine rays and (comparatively) few very large rays, some commencing at the 

 centre, others at the outside of annual rings ; the large rays ^-j line wide, 2-3 

 in. high, giving the wainscot appearance on vertical sections. Annual rings 

 distinctly marked by an inner belt (spring wood) of large pores, close together, 

 and an outer belt of compact wood with fine pores, generally arranged in linear 

 or wedge-shaped patches at right angles to the annual rings, and only visible 

 under the glass. The weight of Oak (seasoned heartwood) fluctuates between 33 

 and 64 lb. per cubic ft. It is an interesting question, which is not without prac- 

 tical importance, how far the weight of Oak-timber depends upon the width of 

 the annual rings. Mathieu (Fl. For. 234, 240) is of opinion that faster-grown 

 Oak-timber is generally heavier, the porous tissue of the spring wood forming a 

 smaller proportion of the entire wood. The following data, which I have noted 

 on samples of Oak-timber from different sources presented to the Kew Museum 

 by the Admiralty, bear out this view to a certain extent ; slow-grown Adriatic 

 timber, for instance, with 20 rings on one inch of radius, weighing 41 lb. per 

 cub. ft., while faster-grown wood from Trieste, with only 6 rings, weighs 50 lb. 

 Exceptions, however, are not wanting ; thus the heaviest timber is a somewhat 

 slower-grown wood from Sardinia with 1 1 rings per inch : 





8. Q. Toza, Bosc ; Kotschy 1. c. t. 22. Chene tauzin, Fr. A small deciduous 

 tree, young shoots silvery white ; with long spreading roots, throwing up abundant 

 root-shoots. Leaves petiolate, obovate-oblong, generally pinnatifid, segments 

 linear-oblong, the middle ones often lobed, thick- velvety beneath, and pubescent 

 above with stellate hairs. Perianth-segments of male fl. lanceolate, hairy ; an- 

 thers glabrous ; styles broad and short. Fruit 2-4, short-pedunculate, on the 

 current year's wood ; scales of cup adpressed. West of France, Spain, Portugal, 

 probably also in Syria. Forms vigorous coppice-woods on sandy soil, and yields 

 excellent bark for tanning. Wood mainly used for fuel. 



9. Q. lusitanica, Webb ; DC. Prodr. xvi. ii. 17. A large tree, sometimes 

 a shrub, the foliage deciduous in autumn or persistent to the end of winter. 

 Leaves ovate- or obovate-oblong, generally grey-tomentose beneath while young, 

 glabrate when full-grown, dentate with large triangular rounded or oblong teeth ; 

 main lateral nerves straight, parallel, undivided, 10-14 pair. Perianth-segments 

 of male fl. lanceolate ; anthers glabrous ; styles thick, short. Fruit on the cur- 

 rent year's wood, sessile or short-pedunculate, solitary or in pairs ; scales of cup 

 adpressed. Mediterranean region, Syria and Asia Minor. To this sp. belong, 

 according to A. De Candolle, a. the " Chene zeen " of Algeria, Q. Mirbeckii, 

 Durieux, Mathieu Fl. For. 250, a magnificent long-lived tree, attaining 120 ft., 

 with 20 ft. girth, and forming extensive forests, particularly in Eastern Algeria. 



