1878 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 

 1742 



PART III. 



The leaves of Q. rubra die off of a more purplish red than those of most of 

 the other kinds in this section ; but they often become yellow before they fall. 

 They vary much in shape, from the age of the plant, or the soil and situation 

 in which it has grown. Fig. 1740., copied from the elder Michaux's Histoire 

 des Chenes y shows the leaves of a seedling a year old; iy %. 1741., from the 

 same work, those of a tree bearing acorns ;^g. 1742. shows several leaves 

 gathered from trees in England of four or five years' growth j fig. 1743. is 

 drawn from a specimen taken from a tree in the Horticultural Society's 

 Garden ; and Jig. 1 744. is a leaf from the splendid full-grown tree in the Fulham 

 Nursery, of which there is a portrait in 

 our last Volume. By comparing the 

 plates of the trees of this species in 



1743 



our last Volume, it will be seen how 

 exceedingly the leaves vary. The 

 acorns are sessile, or on very short 

 peduncles ; they are large, and are produced in great abundance ; they are 

 rounded at the summit, and compressed at the base; and they are contained in 

 flat very shallow cups, covered with narrow compact scales/ The red oak is 

 one of the most common species in Canada, and the whole of the north of the 

 United States. In the states of New York, New Jersey, part of Philadelphia, 

 and along the whole range of the Alleghanies, it is nearly as abundant as Q. 

 coccinea and Q. tinctoria; but it is much less common in the more southern 

 states, its perfect developement requiring a cool climate and a fertile soil. 

 The red oak was introduced into France about 1740, and was first planted 

 on the estate of Du Hamel, at Pittriviers. In England, the first notice that 

 we find of the red oak is, that it was cultivated by Miller in 1739. Since 



