790 QUERCUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



QUERCUS. 



have been raised in gardens and much 

 talked about. As a rule, hybrids in this 

 family are not nearly so important as the 

 wild trees, except, of course, such varieties 

 as occur naturally when we raise the tree 

 from seed, as in the case of the common 

 European evergreen Oak, which gives a 

 pretty variety from seed, as, indeed, our 

 wild Oak does, of which we may see in any 

 good Oak district perhaps trees in a dozen 

 different states of leaf and colour in one 

 day. 



It is well that some of the favoured 

 shores and valleys of the world have ever- 

 green Oaks which we may grow in our 

 country, the best known of these being the 

 Ilex of Italy, which is, happily, hardy in our 

 country. It is perhaps most beautiful in 

 sea-shore districts, and many places 

 both in England and Ireland have fine 

 trees. Old trees give excellent shade, 

 and shelter for the flower garden. 



With such a great shore-line, the op- 

 portunities for growing the evergreen 

 Oaks well are vastly greater than in a 

 Continental country of like temperature. 

 Thickly planted, they are lovely shelter 

 trees for gardens swept by sea winds, as 

 we may see at St. Ann's, near Dublin, 

 Holkar, in Norfolk, and Tregothnan, and 

 they are just as good in inland places 

 wanting shelter. Sometimes after very 

 hard winters the trees look as if they 

 were killed, but afterwards throw off 

 the injured leaves and grow happily 

 again. They should be transplanted 

 with the greatest care when young, 

 and the best way is often to raise 

 plants from acorns, common where the 

 tree grows well, and which may be often 

 gathered in Italy and at home. They 

 should be sown as soon as possible after 

 ripening. 



The following list excludes kinds not 

 likely, from their inhabiting warmer 

 regions or other reasons, to be hardy and 

 vigorous in our country : 



SUMMER-LEAFING OAKS. 



Q. ACUMINATA (Chestnut Oak}. A tall 

 tree with a maximum height of over 150 ft., 

 with grey flaky bark, and chestnut-like leaves, 

 shiny on the upper surface and greyish beneath. 

 This should be a very useful Oak in certain 

 soils in Britain supposed to be inimical to our 

 own Oak. Eastern States and Canada, and 

 westwards, in dry limestone soil. 



Q. ALBA (White Oak). A fine forest tree, 

 sometimes 1 50 ft. high with deeply lobed but 

 not sharp-pointed leaves, and grey bark scaling 

 off in plates. A native of Canada and the 

 more northern United States, its hardiness 

 need not be doubted, and the wood is hard 

 and tough and good. 



Q. CERRIS (Turkey Oak). This is a valu- 

 able tree for garden and park. Though not 

 unlike the common Oak in growth and branch- 

 ing, it is readily distinguished by its deeper 

 green and finely cut foliage and by its mossy- 

 cupped acorns. It is also much more rapid in 

 growth, and will flourish in light and varied 

 soils. It retains its foliage longer than most 

 other trees, and some of its varieties are almost 

 evergreen. The chief of these is the Lucombe 

 Oak, a tree of graceful growth, which rapidly 

 ascends into a tall cone of foliage and 

 retains its leaves through mild winters. The 

 Fulham Oak is a similar tree of hybrid origin. 

 It is also partially evergreen, and differs from 

 the Lucombe Oak chiefly in its habit of growth 

 being more spreading. Other varieties of the 

 Turkey Oak are the Weeping, a decidedly 

 pendulous branched variety and most desirable 

 for a lawn ; a variegated form, one of the best 

 of these kinds, as the leaves are clearly mar- 

 gined with creamy white ; and the Cutleaved, 

 in which the leaves are finely cut, giving the 

 tree an elegant feathery appearance. The 

 variety known as Q. austriaca sempervirens is 

 a form of the Turkey Oak sub-evergreen in 

 character and of medium growth, and useful for 

 small gardens. It is easy to attach too much 

 importance to these varieties, which rarely 

 equal the wild tree in beauty or character, and 

 which have the disadvantage of being increased 

 by grafting, which is against their ever attain- 

 ing the stature and dignity of the wild tree. 



Q. cocci NBA (The Scarlet Oak).- A forest 

 tree, in its native country growing to 160 ft. 

 high, and one of the best North American Oaks 

 worthy of planting for ornament in this country. 

 It is a beautiful tree at all seasons, but particu- 

 larly so in the autumn, when the rich scarlet 

 and crimson hues of its foliage are very hand- 

 some. There are varieties of it in nurseries 

 called macrophylla with larger leaves than the 

 type, and pendula which has a drooping habit 

 of growth. There is a variety known as 

 tinctoria. 



Q. CONFERTA (Hungarian Oak). This is a 

 noble tree in its own country and one of the 

 quickest growing Oaks in cultivation. It has 

 much larger leaves than the common Oak, and 

 they are cut in much the same way. Its growth 

 is denser and less spreading as we see it here at 

 present than in Hungary, but there are as yet no 

 large trees of it. It is without question a good 

 Oak to plant as a tree of the future, as it is very 

 hardy and grows well in almost all kinds of 

 soil except the lightest and the heaviest. Syn. 

 Q. pannonica. 



Q. MACROCARPA (Bur Oak). A large forest 

 tree of a maximum height of 160 ft. with a 

 trunk as much as 8 ft. in diameter, and rather 

 large, thin, deeply incised, but blunt lobed 

 leaves shiny on the upper side and whitish 

 below. The timber is good and tough. A 

 native of rich soils from Nova Scotia to Manitoba, 

 and also southwards. Syn. Q. olivce/oraiis. 



Q. MINOR (Post Oak). A tall tree, some- 

 times in its best state 100 ft. high, with rough 

 grey bark and deeply incised but blunt pointed 



