QUERCUS LOBATA, 1 5 



The fruit, thoiigli having a noticeable resemblance in the color, thickness and con- 

 sistence of the testa of the acorn, as well as in the character of the cup, to that of the white 

 oak, from its conical form and great length, is readily distinguishable from that of any other 

 species with which I am familiar. From their abundance and edible nature they form a 

 very important part of the subsistence of the Digger Indians, and are collected and stored 

 up by them 'for winter use; piles of many bushels being frequently seen in their ranch- 

 eriasP ' 



Both American and British botanists of forty years ago imagined that this noble Cali- 

 fornian oak was then new to science, and among them they created several new names for 

 it, which have now passed into synonyms ; for the species was known in Spain at or before 

 the beginning of the century. But no good figure of it was published until that of the 

 Wilke's Expedition Botany appeared ; and that is a faultless one, representing what may 

 be taken as the morphological type of the species, with long and very slender acorns. The 

 right hand figure of Dr. Kellogg is equally good, but exhibits an even larger acorn. The 

 left hand figure, with leaves less lobed, and with shorter acorn, is possibly not of the 

 species here under consideration. It is quite as much like Q. Garryana in form of leaf 

 and the shortness of the nut ; yet, on the whole, should perhaps be regarded as a moun- 

 tain variety of Q. lobata^ and may be deserving of a name as such ; but further field study 

 is called for. 



'Newberry, Pac. R. Rep. vi, pp. 30 and 31. 



