igi FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE RIVIERA 



neath, and then pubescent ; often the young shoots in spring (end of March-April) 

 are pinkish-white or pinkish-green in colour. Fruit subsessile. Cups grey 

 tomentose, the scales with a free conspicuous point. (See Plates II and VII.) 



Woods and thickets, common, except in the north of the two Departments, 

 though in the intermediate district away from the coast it sometimes forms pure 

 woods. April- May. 



Q. Suber L. Cork Oak (Plate XXV). Leaves persistent, oblong ovate, entire 

 or toothed, grey felted beneath, very variable. Cup conical at the base, grey 

 tomentose with short spreading scales. A tree with rough bark which furnishes 

 cork ; it being cut about every seven years. 



Woods and hill-sides, especially on siliceous rock, very variable, and often 

 hybridizing. April-May. In the Var there are more extensive forests of it than in 

 Alpes-Marit., and it is often mixed with Q. Ilex as in Corsica. The parts of the 

 trunk and branches recently bared of bark are usually of a dark chocolate colour. 



Q. Ilex L. Holm Oak. Evergreen. Leaves oval or lanceolate, entire or 

 toothed and rather spiny, grey felted beneath. Cups with short scales. A small 

 tree, rather darker and closer than the rest when seen at a distance and with 

 smoother bark. Very polymorphic and often hybridizing. Cup rounder at base 

 and acorn more elongated than in Suber. The late Mons. Albert described many 

 varieties of this Oak, photographs and descriptions of which can be seen in the 

 " Catalogue des Plantes Vase, du Var ". It particularly affects ravines, and consti- 

 tutes, with Pines, the chief mass of the eastern Riviera and Corsican forests. 

 (April-May.) It is not found on the higher mountains of the Var. (Plate II.) 



Q. COCClfera L. Prickly Oak. Evergreen. Leaves oval or oblong, small, 

 very spiny, very polymorphic, glabrous on both sides, bronze-green when young. 

 A small shrub, 2-6 ft. high. (See Plate XXVI.) 



Woods and maquis, abundant in places on the littoral, but not east of 

 Menton. (It reappears in the Balkans and the Orient.) April-May. Frequently 

 affected by a scarlet gall Plagiotrochus ilicis, var. coccifera Licht., the gall 

 being due to an insect. Descriptions and photographs of various hybrids and 

 varieties figure in " Albert and Jahandiez," I.e. pp. 445-7. 



OSTRYA Scop. 



0. carpi nifolia Scop. Small tree, 10-50 ft., with downy young shoots. 

 Leaves shortly petioled, finely doubly serrate ; ovate-lanceolate, with subcordate 

 base. Flowers appearing with the leaves, the males in long fascicled sessile 

 catkins, the females in long cone-shaped catkins like " hops ". The leaves and 

 male catkins are much like those of the Hornbeam. 



Woods and hill-sides, rare in the Var, commoner near Menton, Sospel, Nice, 

 Antibes, Grasse, etc., March- April. Mr. Tansley says in his paper on " The 

 Forests of Provence " that there are considerable tracts of this tree on the north 

 sides of the limestone ridges, running east and west in the right angle made by 

 the River Var, where it turns from an easterly to a southerly course, and the 

 strata dip steeply and regularly to the north. Mr. Bicknell says it is very com- 

 mon in Liguria from the coast to the mountains, and trees with trunks of con- 

 siderable size grow at about 1200-1300 m. above the Rio Sgorea. 



CARPINUS L. 



C. Betulus L. Hornbeam. A small tree with shortly petioled leaves, ovate 

 or oblong-acuminate, doubly toothed, with prominent parallel veins. Male 

 catkins sessile, about i inch long. Female catkins slender, the fruiting ones 

 with long leafy bracts. 



Woods in the mountain region, very rare. March-April. Tournon-sur- 

 Siagne, on the N.E. limits of the Var ; recorded by Hanry from la Sainte- 

 Baume (?) 



CORYLUS L. 



C. Avellana L. Hazel. Woods, thickets, and ravines, occasionally on the 

 littoral, but more commonly in the lower mountains. February-March. 



