1880 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



1746 



1748 



several successive frosts, turn to a brilliant scarlet, /X_ I M7 



instead of the dull red of those of Q. rubra. These 



leaves differ very greatly 



in shape at different stages 



in the growth of the tree. 



When quite young, they 



are scarcely lobed at all, 



as may be seen by fig. 



1746., which is taken from 



Michaux's Histoire ties 



Chcnes, and represents a 



seedling a year old. Fig. 



1747. is a leaf taken from 



a tree in the Horticultural 



Society's Garden ; and 



j%.1748., a sprig and acorn 



from an old tree copied 



from Michaux. Amidst 



all the varieties, however, 



in the shape of the leaf of 

 the scarlet oak, it may always be distinguished from that of Q. rubra by the 

 different hue which it assumes in autumn; the colour of Q. coccinea being 

 alwavs a bright scarlet, or yellowish red, of more or less intensity; and that of 

 Q. rubra a dull crimson, or purplish 

 red. The leaf is also larger, and the 

 indentations in old leaves rounder. 

 The acorns are large, somewhat 

 elongated, similarly rounded at both 

 ends, and half-covered with scaly 

 top-shaped cups. As the fruit of 

 this tree varies in size with the 

 quality of the soil, it is difficult to 

 distinguish it from that of Q. tinc- 

 toria : the only constant difference 

 is, that the kernel of the nut is 

 always yellowish in Q. tinctoria, and 

 always white in Q. coccinea. The 

 difference between the scarlet oak 

 and the red oak appears to be about 

 as great as that which exists between 

 two very distinct varieties of apple and pear : for example, the nonpareil and 

 the golden pippin, or the jargonelle and the summer bergamot. These oaks 

 are not, however, on that account the less worthy of being kept quite distinct ; 

 for it must always be recollected, that some of 'the finest plants in every de- 

 partment of culture are the varieties of species, and not the species themselves. 

 The scarlet oak, in the climate of London, and in Europe generally, may be 

 considered as of equal hardiness and rapidity of growth with the red oak. 

 The largest tree of it which we have seen, and know to be certainly of the 

 scarlet oak, is at Syon, where it is 77 ft. high, with a trunk 2 ft. 9 in. in 

 diameter. 



Geography, History, $c. The scarlet oak, says the younger Michaux, is first 

 seen in the vicinity of Boston ; but it is most abundant in New Jersey, 

 Pennsylvania, and the upper part of the Carolinas and Georgia. In the northern 

 states, it is often confounded with Q. rubra, and in those of the south with Q. 

 falcata. The scarlet oak was one of those discovered by Banister, and included 

 in his catalogue dated 1680. It was probably sent hereby him to his patron, 

 Bishop Compton (see p. 44.) ; as we are informed, by the Horlus KctvcHsis, 

 that there was a plant of it in the bishop's garden in 1691. It was, at first, sup- 

 posed to be only a variety of Q. rubra, and it is mentioned as such in the first 



