LXX. CORYLA CEjE : QUERCLTS. 



853 



'fife 



li 18. Q. >. .iiutralis. 



cT^- 



* 3. Q. PYRENA^icA Willd. The Pyrenean Oak. 



Identification. Willd. ; N. Du Ham., 7. p. 179. ; Rees's Cycl., No. 7-'>. 



Synonymes. Q. Tavzin Pers. ; Q. nigra Thore Chlor. ; y. Tiisa Bosc ; Q. stolonifera Lapeyr. \ 



Q. tomentbsa Dec. ; Chene noir, Sccundat ; Chene-tauzin, Fr. 

 Engravings. Secoiidat, Mem. du Chene, t. i!. and t. 5. ; N. Du Ham., 7. t. 56. ; and our fig. 1549. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves oblong, pinnatifid ; stalked ; downy beneath ; some- 

 what heart-shaped and unequal at the base ; lobes obtuse, slightly toothed. 

 Fruit stalked. ( Willd.) A low tree, technically deciduous, but retaining 

 its withered leaves throughout the winter, and till they are pushed off' by 

 the expanding buds in the following summer. Pyrenees. Height 20 ft. to 

 30 ft. Introduced in 1822. Flowers greenish white ; May and June. 



Readily known, from its infancy upwards, from ,^ 



every other oak, in spring, by the ciense covering of v \ ^ ^ 

 nooily down that is spread over its .young leaves, 

 which, on their first appearance (in the climate of 

 London, three weeks later than those of the com- 

 mon oak), are of a reddish tinge. The leaves are 

 retained during the winter, when they appear curled 

 up, and at the extremities of the shoots remind one 

 of the carved work in wood of the sculptor Gibbons. 

 The roots run near the surface, and throw up nu- 

 merous suckers. The wood, which weighs 60 lb. per 

 cubic foot, is of great hardness, toughness, and dura- "^^^^t^j 

 bility, but apt to warp ; the bark furnishes the best 

 of all tan. It is one of the most ornamental of 

 oaks, and being of small stature it ought to find a 

 place in every collection, instead of which it is com- 

 paratively rare in England. Several varieties are mentioned in the New 

 DuHamel. 



'^ 4. Q. JE'scuLUs L. The Esculus, or Italian, Oak. 



Identification. Lin. Sp. PI., 1414. ; N. Du Ham., 7. p. 176. ; Rees's Cycl., No. 70. 



Synonymes. PhSgus 'sculus, mas et fem., Dalech. Hist. 5. ; Chene grec, Fr. 



Derivation. From esca, food. The Esculus of the classics is by some taken for the beech tree ; 

 but the Q. ^'sculus of Linnaeus is now believed to be the Phagos of Theopbrastus, which he ex- 

 pressly says is a kind of oak. 



Engravings. The plate of this tree in Arb. Brit., Igt edit., vol. vii. ; and our^g. 1550 



3 I 3 



A^' 



l.)49. Q. pyrenitica. 



