LXX. CORYLACE^E I 



875 



1594. Q. nigra, 



midst of the woods. The leaves are of a very 

 remarkable shape, being dilated towards the 

 summit, like a pear, and armed, when young, 

 with 3 or 5 bristle-like points, which fall off 

 when the leaf has attained its full size. Fig. 

 1594., from Michaux's Histoire des Chenes, 

 shows these mucros on seedlings of one year's 

 and two years' growth. The leaves are yel- 

 lowish, and somewhat downy at their first 

 unfolding in spring ; but, when fully expanded, 

 they become of a dark green above, and rusty 

 beneath : they are also thick and leathery in 

 their texture. In autumn, they turn of a 

 blackish red, and fall with the first frost. The 

 acorns (fig. 1566, g) are large, and half-r covered 

 with very scaly cups. The specific name of 

 nigra was given to this oak, by Linnaeus, on 

 account of the blackness of its bark, and its 

 general dark appearance. 



22. Q. AQUA'TICA Soland. The Water Oak. 



Identification. Soland. in Ait. Hort. Kew., ed 1., 3. p. 357. ; Michx. Quer., No. 11.; Pursh Fl. 



Amer. Sept., 2. p. 628. 

 Synonymes. Q. fbliis cuneiformibus, &c., Gron. Pirg. ; Q. fblio non serrato, &c., Cat. Carol. 1. 1. 20. ; 



Q.. nigra WiUd. Sp. PI., 1413. ; Q. uligin&sa Wangh. Amer. t. 6. f. 18. 

 Engravings. Michx. Quer., t. 19, 20, and 21. ; and our fig. 1595. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves wedge-shaped, smooth ; tapering at the base ; dilated 

 and obscurely 3-lobed at the end ; the middle lobe largest. Calyx nearly 

 hemispherical. Nut roundish. (Willd.) A middle-sized deciduous tree. 

 Virginia, Carolina, and Florida. Height 40 ft. to 60 ft. Introd. before 1723. 



Varieties. 



Q. a. 2 ndna. Q aquatica Smith and Abb. Ins. ii. p. 117. t. 59. ; Q. a. 



elongata Ait. Hort. Kew. v. p. 290. ; Q. dentata Bart. Trav. p. 14. 



and 28. ; Q. nana Willd. Sp. PI. iv. p. 443. ; the Dwarf jagged 



Oak. Of much lower stature than the species ; and the leaves 



nearly sessile, and more distinctly lobed. 

 1 Q. a. 3 maritima Michx. Quer. No. 11. t. 20. f. 2. Q. hemisphaj'rica 



Willd. Sp. PI. iv. p. 443 Leaves persistent. 



1595. Q. aquidca. 1596. Q. aquatica. 



Other Varieties. There is no American oak, not even Q. falcata, of which 

 the foliage is so variable as of this tree. On full-grown trees, the leaves 



