CHAP, in SYLVA 31 



lowing where he treats of chaplets, and the dignity 

 of the civic coronet ; it might be compos'd of the 

 leaves or branches of any oak, provided it were a 

 bearing tree, and had acorns upon it, and was 

 (as l Macrobius tells us). Recorded among iheje/ices 

 arbores ; but this ^wXXtvov -re^avov was interwoven, and 

 twisted with thorns and briars ; and the garland 

 carried to usher the bride to her husband's house, 

 intimating that happy state was not exempt from its 

 pungencies and cares. It is then for the esteem 

 which these wise and glorious people had of this tree 

 above all others, that I will first begin with the oak ; 

 and indeed it carries it from all other timber what- 

 soever, for building of ships in general, and in 

 particular being tough, bending well, strong and not 

 too heavy, nor easily admitting water. 



2. 'Tis pity that the several kinds of oak are so 

 rarely known amongst us, that whereever they meet 

 with quercus, they take it promiscuously for our 

 common oak ; as likewise they do A/ovc, which com- 

 prehends all mast-bearing trees whatsoever, (which I 

 think they have no latin word for) : And in the 

 Si/va Glandifera were reckon'd the chessnut, ilix, 

 esculus^ cerris, suber^ &c. various species rather than 

 different trees, white, red, black, &c. among our 

 American plantations, (especially the long-stalked oak 

 not as yet much taken notice of) : we shall here 

 therefore give an account of four only ; two of 

 which are most frequent with us ; for we shall say 

 little of the cerris or cegilops^ goodly to look on, but 

 for little else : Some have mistaken it for beech, 

 whereas indeed it is a kind of oak bearing a small 

 round acorn almost covered with the cup, which is 



1 Saturn, lib. n. cap. 16. 



