846 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BR1TANNICUM. 



Female flowers numerous, enclosed in a scaly bud. 

 length surrounded by a lacerated involucrum. 



Nut oval, smooth, at 



GENUS I. 



I 



r 



QUE'RCUS L. THE OAK. Lin. Syst. Monce'cia Polyandria. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., 495. ; Juss., 410. ; Fl. Br., 1025. ; Tourn., t. 349. ; Lam., t. 779. 



Synonymes. /Mex Tourn. ; Suber Tourn. ; Derw, Celtic ; Aaack, or Ac, Saxon; Al, Alon, or Allan, 

 Hebrew ; Drus, Greek ; Chene, Fr. ; Eiche, Gcr. ; Eik, Dutch ; Quercia, Ital. ; Encina, Span. 



Derivation. From qucr, fine, and cuez, a tree, Celtic, according to Lepelletier : but, according to 

 others, from the Greek word choiros, a pig ; because pigs feed on the acorns. The Celtic name 

 for this tree (Derw) is said to be the root of the word Druid (that is, priest of the oak), and of the 

 Greek name Drus. The Hebrew name for tne oak ( Al, or Alon) is said to be the origin of the old 

 English word llan (originally signifying an oak grove, or place of worship of the druids, and after- 

 wards, by implication, a town or parish), and also of the Irish words clan and dun. In the Book of 

 Isaiah, xliv. 14., idols are said to be made of Allun, or Alon ; that is, of oak. (Lowth's Trans.) 



Gen. Char., fyc. Flowers unisexual. Males disposed in long, slender, pen- 

 dulous catkins, in groups. Each flower consists of 8 or more stamens, 

 and these are attended by 6 8 bracteas, that are coherent at the 

 base, and resemble a 6 8-parted calyx. Female flowers erect on ax- 

 illary peduncles, a few upon a peduncle. Each flower consists of a pistil, 

 whose ovary, and the basal part of whose style, are invested with an 

 adnate calyx toothed at the tip. Style short. Stigma 3-lobed. Fruit an 

 acorn ; its lower part having an imbricate cup. (G. Don.) 



Leaves simple, alternate, stipulate, deciduous or evergreen ; entire, serrated, 

 or lobed. Flowers greenish white. Trees, chiefly large and deciduous ; 

 natives of Europe, Asia, and America. 



The oaks, in point of usefulness to man, are only to be equalled by the 

 pine and fir tribe. The latter may be considered the domestic, and the 

 former the defensive, trees of civilised society. The oak is never found in 

 perfection, except in a good soil, and in a temperate climate. Like almost 

 all other plants, it will thrive in a deep sandy loam or in vegetable soil, but 

 to attain its full size, and to bring its timber to perfection, it requires a soil 

 more or less alluvial or loamy ; and the European oaks are always most 

 luxuriant, and produce the best timber, on a soil somewhat calcareous. No 

 oak, in the temperate climates, is found of a large size at a great elevation 

 above the level of the sea, or where the climate is very severe in spring. In 

 the Himalayas, and in Mexico, oaks are found of large size on mountains ; but 

 then the climate, naturally hot, is only rendered temperate by elevation. All 

 oaks whatever are impatient of spring frosts. The wood of most of the 

 species of oaks is, comparatively with that of other trees, hard, compact, 

 heavy, tough, and durable ; and, in most, the entire plant, and more espe- 

 cially the bark, leaves, and fruit, abound in astringent matter and in tannin. 

 The wood of the larger-growing European kinds, and more especially of 

 the group Robur, is considered superior to all other European or American 

 woods for ship-building. The wood of Q. alba, and that of Q. virens, are 

 most esteemed for the same object in America. The wood of the group C'erris is 

 also employed in ship-building in Turkey and Greece. The oak is generally 

 propagated by seed, and time will be gained by sowing acorns where the 

 plants are intended finally to remain. Varieties are propagated by inarching 

 or whip-grafting, the latter being performed close to the surface of the ground 

 on the collar of the plant ; and the graft afterwards earthed up. All the 

 American deciduous oaks may be grafted on Q. Cerris, and all the evergreen 

 oaks, both European and American, on Q. Z^lex. The mode of raising oaks 

 from the acorn is the same in all the species. The acorns need not be 

 gathered from the tree, but may be collected from the ground immediately 

 after they have dropped ; and, as in the case of other tree seeds, they may 

 be either sown then, or kept till the following spring. If they are to be kept, 



