834 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



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and about Mount Atlas," where it forms a tree from 15 ft. to 20 ft. high, 

 with round branches, clothed with rusty down when youn:i;. The leaves are 

 twice or thrice as long as those of Q. coccifera, thicker, and less wavy, with 

 much smaller and shorter spinous serratures, rather than teeth. Introduced 

 ? 1820. Horticultural Society's Garden in 1834. 



$ 33. Q. 5u^BER L. The Cork Tree. 



Identification. Lin. Sp. PI., 1413. ; N. Du Ham , 7. p. 159. 



Synonymes. Suber Cam. Epit. 115. ; S. /"rinus Matth. I'a/gr. 1. p. 127. ; S. latifblium, &c., Du Ham. 



Alb. 2. p. 291. ; Cliene Liege, Fi-. ; Korli Eiche, Ger. ; Sovero, Ital. ; Alcomoque, Span. 

 Engravings. Hunt. Evel. Syl., t. in p. 3t;2. ; N. Du Ham., 7. t. 45. ; Dend. Brit., t. 89. ; tlie plate 



ot this tree in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. viii. ; and our Jig. 1623. 



Spec. Char., ^c. Leaves ovate-oblong, bluntish, coriaceous, entire or sharply 

 serrated ; downy beneath. Bark cracked, fungous. (Wil/d.) An evergreen 

 tree. South of Europe and North of Africa. Height 20 or 30 feet. In- 

 troduced in 1699. Flowers greenish white; May. Acorns brown ; occa- 

 sionally ripened in the climate of London. 



Varieties. These, we have no doubt, are as numerous as the varieties of Q. 

 /'lex, in countries where the tree is indigenous. None are in cultivation in 

 British gardens under any particular name : but, the cork trees having been 

 all raised from seed, their leaves will be found to vary in magnitude, in 

 different places, in length relatively to breadth, and in the character of their 

 margins, which are wavy, serrate, or dentate. 



i Q. S, 2 latifdliiim. Siiber latifolium, &c.. Bank. Pin. 

 424., Du Ham. Arb. 2. p. 291. t. 80. (The plate of this 

 tree in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. viii. ; and our^^. 1620.) 

 Leaves rather broader than in the species, and either 

 serrated or entire. 

 ? Q. S. 3 angusfifdliiim. Suher angustifolinm Bajth. Pin. 



424., Du Ham. Arb. 2. p. 291. t. 81. The figure in6i>o.Q.s.iatif5Hura. 

 Dend. Brit, t. 89. (our _/lg. 1621.) may be considered as this variety. 

 t Q. h. 4 dentdtum. Q,. Pseudo-^uber Hort. Leaves large, and va- 

 riously dentate, as in Jig. 1622. 



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1621. ^. S. angusUfulium. 1(;22. Q. S. dcntiitnin. 



The cork tree bears a general resemblance to the broad-leaved kinds of Q. 

 /lex ; of which species some authors consider it only a variety : but, when 

 full grown, it ibnns a much handsomer tree ; and its bark alone seems to jus- 

 tify its being made a species. Tlie outer bark, the great tiiickness and elasti- 

 city of which are owing to an extraordinary developement of the cellular tissue, 

 forms the cork ; which, after the tree is full grown, cracks and separates from 

 it of its own accord. The inner bark remains attached to the tree, and, 

 when removed in its young state, is only fit for tanning. The wood of the 

 cork tree, which weighs 84 lb. per cubic foot, is used for the same purposes 

 as that of Q. Flex ; hut it is never found of sufficient size to be of much 



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