LXX. CORYLA'CE^E: QUE'RCUS, 



855 



Derivation. The specific appellation Haliphlceos was applied by Pliny to an oak with very bitter 

 acorns : but it may be derived from kalis, enough, and phloios, bark ; in reference to the tendency 

 to corkiness in the bark. The Iron Oak alludes to the weight of its wood, which is much heavier 

 than that of the common oak. The term Wainscot Oak refers to its suitableness for lining the 

 walls of rooms, from the Dutch words, ward, a wall ; and schorten, to suspend. 



Engravings. N. Du Ham., 7. t. 57. ; the plates of this tree in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. vii. ; and 

 our Jigs. 1552. and 1553. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves on very short 

 stalks, oblong, deeply and unequally 

 pinnatifid ; hairy beneath ; lobes lanceo- 

 late, acute, somewhat angular. Stipules 

 longer than the footstalks. Calyx of the 

 fruit hemispherical, bristly. (Smith.) A 

 large deciduous tree, attaining the same 



1553. Q. C6rris. 



1552. Q. Cerris. 



height as the British oak, but of much 

 more rapid and vigorous growth. France, 

 Italy, Spain, Austria, and the Levant. 

 Introduced in 1735. Flowers greenish 

 white ; April. Acorns brown ; ripe in 

 October of the second year, and some- 

 times in the autumn of the first year. 



Varieties. There is a great tendency in this species to sport ; so that 

 many varieties may be selected from every bed of seedlings. It also ap- 

 pears to hybridise with facility, especially with Q. tfuber ; and from this 

 cross the numerous race of varieties known as the Lucombe or Exeter 

 oaks, the Fulham oaks, and the Ragnal oaks have been raised. There are 

 also some varieties of Q. Cerris which appear to owe their origin to geo- 

 graphical circumstances ; such as Q. C. austriaca, and Q. C. crinita. The 

 varieties cultivated in British nurseries may, for practical purposes, be ar- 

 ranged as deciduous, sub-evergreen, and evergreen. 



* Foliage deciduous. 

 a. Leaves pinnatifid or sinuated. Cups of the Acorns mossy. 



? Q. C. 1 vulgdris. Q. C. frondosa Mill. Diet. ed. 5. (see fig. 1552., 

 and the plates of this tree in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. vii.) 

 Leaves pinnatifidly sinuated, and the cups covered with soft moss. 

 Of this variety there is an endless nlimber of subvarieties. Fig. 

 1552. may be considered as the normal form : Jig. 1554. has the 

 leaves more deeply sinuated : fig. 1553. is from a specimen cf great 

 3 i 4 



