210 



THE WHITE OAK. 



often difficult, and a test of scholarship. (See Bot. and Flor., 



p. 305.) 

 SPECIFIC CHARACTERS of the White Oak ( Q. alba L.). This 



tree is known at sight among its compeers by its light ash- 

 colored bark breaking into square 

 loose flakes on the surface. The 

 leaves on short petioles are deeply 

 divided into obtuse segments, 3 or 4 

 on each side, none angular, all 

 bounded by flowing outlines. From 

 a bright green they change to violet 

 and purple in Autum^ and many 

 are persistent. A new feature in 

 venation is here to be noticed. The 

 leaves are straight-veined the vein- 

 lets continue straight through the 

 blade to the margin. Compare the 

 leaf of Beech, Chestnut ; also of the 

 Apple. The stipules are fugacious. 



Wood of Oak, greatly magni- 

 fied : a, medullary rays ; b, wood 

 cells ; c, ducts. 



The Acorn ripens in the Autumn following its flower ; is 

 nearly sessile, 1' long, an ovoid nut one-third immersed in a 

 hemispherical cup. The seed is well-flavored, and eaten by 

 man as well as beast.* 



Oak was consecrated to Jupiter, even to a proverb ; and the Druids (drus, an Oak) 

 are supposed to have been named from their superstitious regard for the Oak and the 

 Mistletoe which grew upon it. The Greeks adopted it as the emblem of hospitality. 

 In Rome, to obtain a u crown of Oak," it was necessary to be a citizen, to slay an 

 enemy, to save the life of a Roman, or to reconquer a field of battle. The Oak is, 

 however, peculiarly a British tree, associated with English naval victories with the 

 "Walls of Old England " and the " hearts of Oak" that have beaten bravely within 

 them. Many an Oak has become historic ; like the Oak of Torwood, within whose 

 hollow slept the famous Wm. Wallace ; the Royal Oak that sheltered the fugitive 

 Charles after the battle of Worcester ; Pope's Oak in Windsor Forest ; while in this 

 country we recall the Charter Oak of Hartford. 



* Some species of Oak, as Red Oak (Q. rubra), Pin Oak ( Q. palustris} are biennial- 

 fruited ; i. e., they require 2 years from flowering for their acorns to ripen. 



In England, whose Oak forests ai'e now valued for timber, some centuries ago the 

 jSajons valued them only for their acorns, or mast, on which their swine were fat- 



