866 



ARBORETUM KT FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



them, are thin and scaly, each scale being terminated by a short firm point, 

 or bristle. The largest American oak that thrives in wet ground. (Michx.) 



iv. Prmus. Chestnut Oaks. 



Sect. Char., $c. Leaves dentate, dying off of a dirty white or of a yellowish 

 orange. Bark white, rough, and scaly. Fructification annual. Cup im- 

 bricate. Nut oblong, generally large. 



13. Q. PRI'NUS L. The Prinus, or Chestnut-leaved, Oak. 



Identification. Lin. Sp. PI., 1413. ; N. Du Ham , 7. p. 164. ; Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 195. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves oblong-oval, more or less pointed, nearly equally 

 toothed. Cup somewhat scaly; nut ovate. (Michx.) Trees deciduous, 

 varying in height from 20 ft. to 90 ft. ; and one of the varieties a low shrub. 

 In the climate of London the trees grow freely, and promise to attain a con- 

 siderable size. In general form, they are as handsome as any of the Ame- 

 rican oaks; but their foliage dies off with very little colour, what there is 

 being generally of a dirty white or brownish. 



Varieties. These are by some authors treated as species; but they are so 

 obviously alike in their leaves and bark from their infancy upwards, that 

 there does not remain a single doubt in our minds of their being only 

 varieties. 



Q. P. 1 palustris Michx. Quer. No. 5. t. 6. Q. P. palustris Michx. 

 N. Amer. Syl. i. p. 46. t. 8. (the plate of this tree in Arb. Brit., 

 1st edit., vol. viii. ; and our jig. 1576.) ; Q. Prinus L. Sp. PI. 1413. ; 

 Q. eastaneaefoliis, &c., Plu/c. Aim. 309. ; the Swamp Chestnut 

 Oak ; the Chestnut white Oak : and, near Philadelphia, the white 

 Oak. Leaves on longish footstalks, obovate. Fruit very large. 

 Cup moderately hollow, distinctly scaly (A. Michx.) A large deci- 

 duous tree. Maritime parts of Carolina and other southern states. 

 Height 80 ft. to 90 ft. Introd. 1 730, The leaves of Q. P. palustris 

 are of a shining green 

 above, and whitish and 

 somewhat wrinkled un- 

 derneath ; they have ra- 

 ther long footstalks ; and 

 are from 8 in. to 9 in. 

 long, and from 4 in. to 

 5 in. broad; obovate, and 

 terminating in an acute 

 point. They are some- 

 what wedge-shaped, and 

 are deeply dentated with 

 blunt lobe-like teeth from 

 the summit to the base. 

 The acorns are of a bright 

 clear brown, oval, and 

 larger than those of any other kind of American oak, except Q. macro- 

 carpa : they are borne on very short peduncles, and are contained 

 in shallow scaly cups. 



* Q. P. 2 monticola Michx. Quer. No. 5. t. 7. (our fig 1577.) Q.P. 

 montlcola Michx. fit. N. Amer. Syl. i. p. 49. t. 9. ; Q. montana 

 Willd. Sp. PI. iv. p. 440. ; Q. Prinus Smith in Abb. Ins. of Geor. ii. 

 p. 163. t.82. ; the Rock Chestnut Oak. Leaves on short foot- 

 stalks, rhomboid-oval. Fruit rather large ; cup top-shaped and 

 rough ; nut oblong. (Michx.) A large deciduous tree. Pennsyl- 

 vania to Virginia. Height 50 ft. to 60 ft. Introd. 1800. The beautiful 

 appearance of this tree, according to the younger Michaux, when 



1576. Q. P. palustris. 



