868 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



somewhat elongated, similarly rounded at both ends, and very sweet. 

 Highly ornamental when in full bloom, and most prolific in acorns 

 even when only 3 or 4 feet high. 

 If Q. P. 5 tomentosa Michx. Quer. No. 5. t. 9 f. 2. Q. P. discolor 

 Michx. N. Avier. Syl.'i. p. 43. t. 7. (our Jig. 1580.)-; Q. blcolor 

 Willd. Sp. PL iv. p. 440. ; Q. Michauxi Nutt. ; the Swamp white 

 Oak. Leaves almost sessile, obtusely oval, bluntly toothed ; downy 

 beneath. {Michx.) A large deciduous tree. United States cene- 

 rally. Height 60 ft. to 70 ft. In- 

 troduced in 1800. The leaves are 

 from 6 in. to 8 in. long, and 4 in. 

 broad ; entire towards the base, 

 which is attenuated and wedge- 

 shaped ; but dilated and coarsely 

 toothed for two thirds of their 

 length. The tree is distinguished, 

 when full grown, by the remarkable 

 appearance of its leaves ; which are 

 on the under side silky and of a 

 silvery whiteness, while the upper 

 side is smooth and of a briglit <^C^--- 

 green. The acorns {fig. 156G. d) are '^ ' 

 long, of a clear chestnut brown, and 

 contained in rather shallow scaly 

 cups, edged with short slender fila- 

 ments. These cups are more downy 

 within than those of any other oak; and tliey are borne in pairs, on 

 peduncles of from 1 in. to 2 in. in length. The bark is scaly, as in 

 all the preceding varieties, and of a greenish white. j 



1580. 13. P. lomcntosa. 



V. Hiihrce. Hed American Oaks. 



Sect. Char. Leaves deeply lobed, sinuated, multifid, and mucronateJ. Bark 

 dark, and not scaling off. Fructification biennial. Nut ovate, with a per- 

 sistent style. Cup imbricate, large in proportion to the nut. Trees, varying 

 from 80 or 90 feet to 15 or 20 feet in height ; remarkable for the bright 

 red, deep scarlet, or dark purple, of their foliage, when it dies off in autumn. 

 Perhaps most of the kinds in this section might be reduced to two or three 

 species ; but, as they come up tolerably true from seed, we have, for the 

 cultivator, considered it more convenient ,to treat them as distinct. The 

 hardiest and most rapid-growing, and at the same time the most elegant and 

 ornamental, tree of the section is Q. palustris, which, with its spreading 

 drooping branches, and its straight erect trunk and spiry top, is, indepen- 

 dently of its lively scarlet, orange, and red colours in spring and autumn, in 

 our opinion the most graceful of all oaks, either European or American. 



1 14. Q. ru'bra L. The red, or Champion, Oak, 



Identification. Lin. Sp. PI., 1413. ; Pursh Fl. Anier. Sept., 2. p. 630. ; Michx. Quer., No. 20. 

 Synonyme. Q. i'sculi divisura, &c., Fink. Phyt. t. .54. f. 4. 



Engravings. Plulv. Phyt., t. M. f. 4. ; Michx. N. Araer. Syl., 2. t. 28. ; the plates of this species in 

 Alb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. viii. ; and our figs. 1581. and 1582. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves smooth, oblong, sinuated, on long stalks : lobes acute, 

 sharply toothed, bristle-pointed. Calyx of the fruit flat underneath. 

 Nut ovate. /Willd.) A large deciduous tree. Canada and the whole of 

 the North of the United States. Height 80 ft. to 90 ft, Litroduced in 

 1739. Flowers greenish white ; May. Acorns brown, occasionally 

 ripened in England in October, 



Varieties. Alton, in the Hortiis Kewcnsis, 2d ed., mentions two forms of this 

 species : Q. rubra latitolia, the champion oak, which is the Q. rubra of 

 Linnseus ; and Q. rubra montana, the mountain red oak. 



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