646 



ARBORETUM T FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM, 



Female flowers numerous, enclosed in a scaly bud. 

 length surrounded by a lacerated involucrum. 



Genus I. 



Nut oval, smooth, at 



W^ 



QUE'RCUS L. The Oak. Lm. SysL Monoe^cia Polyandria. 



Hentification. Lin. Gen., 495. ; Juss., 410. ; Fl. Br., 1025. ; Tourn., t. 349. ; Lara., t. 779. 



Synonymes. 7' lex Tourn. ; Siiber Tourn. ; Derw, Cellic ; Aaack, or Ac, Saxon-., Al, Alon, or AUun, 

 Hebrew \ Drus, Greek ; Chene, Fr. ; Eiche, Ger. ; Eik, Dutch ; Querela, Ital. ; Encina, Span. 



Herivation. From quer, fine, and cue%. a tree, Celtic, according to Lepelletier : but, according to 

 otiiers, from the Greek word c/ioiros, a pig ; because pigs feed on the acorns. The Celtic name 

 far this tree (Derw) is said to be the root of the word Druid (that is, priest of the oak), and of the 

 Greek name Drus. Tlie Hebrew name for the oak ( Al, or Alon) is said to be the origin of the old 

 English word //an (originally signifying an oak grove, or place of worship of the druids, and after- 

 wards, by implication, a town or parish), and also of the Irish words c/tiu and dun. In the Book of 

 Isaiah, xliv. 14., idols are said to be made of AUun, or Alon ; that is, of oak. (Lotof/i's Trans.) 



Gen. Char., Sfc. Flowers im\?,e-\\\a\. ilfa/e^ disposed in long, slender, pen- 

 dulous catkins, in groups. Each flower consists of 8 or more stamens, 

 and these are attended by 6 8 bracteas, that are coherent at the 

 base, and resemble a 6 8-parted calyx. Female Jlowers erect on ax- 

 illary peduncles, a few upon a peduncle. Each flower consists of a pistil, 

 whose ovary, and the basal part of whose style, ai'e invested with an 

 adnate calyx toothed at the tip. Style short. Stigma 3-lobed. Fruit an 

 acorn; its lower part ha\nng an imbricate cup. (G. Don.) 



Leaves simple, alternate, stipulate, deciduous or evergreen ; entu'e, serrated, 

 or lobed. Flowers greenish white. Trees, chiefly large and deciduous ; 

 natives of Europe, Asia, and .America. 



The oaks, in point of usefulness to man, are only to be equalled by the 

 pine and fir tribe. The latter maj' be considered the domestic, and the 

 former the defensive, trees of civilised society. The oak is never found in 

 perfection, except in a good soil, and in a temperate climate. Like almost 

 all other plants, it will thrive in a deep sandy loam or in vegetable soil, but 

 to attain its full size, and to bring its timber to perfection, it requires a soil 

 more or less alluvial or loamy ; and the European oaks are always most 

 luxuriant, and produce the best timber, on a soil somewhat calcareous. No 

 oak, in the temperate climates, is found of a large size at a great elevation 

 above the level of the sea, or where the climate is very severe in spring. In 

 the Himalayas, and in Mexico, oaks are found of large size on mountains; but 

 then the climate, naturally hot, is only rendered temperate by elevation. All 

 oaks whatever are impatient of spring frosts. The wood of most of the 

 species of oaks is, comparatively with that of other trees, hard, compact, 

 heavy, tough, and durable ; and, in most, the entire plant, and more espe- 

 cially the bark, leaves, and fruit, abound in astringent matter and in tannin. 

 The wood of the larger-growing European kinds, and more especially of 

 the group iJobur, is considered superior to all other European or American 

 woods for ship-building. The wood of Q. alba, and that of Q. virens, are 

 most esteemed for the same object in America. The wood of the group <7erris is 

 also employed in ship-building in Turkey and Greece. The oak is generally 

 propagated by seed, and time will be gained by sowing acorns where tlie 

 plants are intended finally to remain. Varieties are propagated by inarching 

 or whip-grafting, the latter being performed close to the surface of the ground 

 on the collar of the plant ; and the graft afterwards earthed up. All the [ 

 American deciduous oaks may be grafted on Q. Cerris, and all the evergreen j 

 oaks, both European and American, on Q. Tlex. The mode of raising oaks j 

 from the acorn is the same in all the species. The acorns need not be ! 

 gathered from the tree, but may be collected from the ground immediately i 

 after they have dropped ; and, as in the case of other tree seeds, they may I 

 be either sown then, or kept till the fallowing spring. If they are to be kept , 



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