1892 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



plants of the Black Jack in the Horticultural Society's Garden, and a tree 

 in the arboretum of the Messrs. Loddiges, under the name of Q. aquatica. 



22. Q. AQUA'TICA Soland. The Water Oak. 



Identification. Soland. in Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 1., 3. p. 357., ed. 2., No. 11. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p.441. } 

 . Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 628. ; Michx. Quer., No. 11. ; N. Du Ham., 7. p. 167. ; Smith in 



Rees's CycL, No. 52. 

 Synonymes. Q. fdliis cuneiformibus, &c., Gron. Virg. ; Q. folio non serrato, &c., Cat. Carol., l.t. 20. : 



Q. nlgra Willd. Sp. PL, 13. ; . uliginosa Wangh. Amer., t. 6. f. 18. 

 Engravings. Michx. Quer., t 19, 20, and 21. ; Cat. Carol., t. 20. ; and ova fig. 1767. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves wedge-shaped, smooth ; tapering at the base ; dilated 

 and obscurely 3-lobed at the end; the middle lobe largest. Calyx nearly 

 hemispherical. Nut roundish. (Willd.) A tree, from 40 ft. to 60 ft. high. 

 Introduced before 1723. 

 Vaiieties. 



2 Q. a. 2 ndna ; Q. aquatica Smith and Abb. Ins., ii. p. 117. t. 59. ; Q. a. 

 elongata^#. Hort. Kew., v. p. 290.; Q. dentata Bart. Trav., p. 14. 

 and 28. ; Q. nana Willd. Sp. PI., iv. p. 443., Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., ii. 

 p. 628., N. Du. Ham., vii. p. 169., Smith in Sees' s Cycl., No. 55. ; the 

 Dwarf jagged Oak ; is of much lower stature than the species, and 

 has the leaves nearly sessile, and more distinctly lobed. 

 Q. a. 3 mantima Michx. Quer., No. 

 11. t.20. f. 2.; Q.hemisphffi'rica 

 Willd. Sp. PI., iv. p. 443., Sort. 

 Trav., p. 320., Pursh Fl. Amer. 

 Sept., ii. p. 628., N. Du Ham., 

 vii. p. 169., Smith in ReeisCycl., 

 No. 65. ; has persistent leaves. 



Other Varieties. There is no Ame- 

 rican oak, not even Q. falcata, of which 

 the foliage is so variable as of this tree. 

 On full-grown trees, the leaves are 

 smooth, shining, and heart-shaped ; or 

 broad and rounded at the summit, and 

 terminating in a point at the base, as 

 in^g. 1767.; and on young trees, or 

 on shoots from the root of old trees, 

 the leaves are oval, toothed, oblong, 

 and, in short, of all the different forms 

 shown in fig. 1768., taken from the Histovre des Chenes. In the Hortus 

 Kewensis, five varieties are enumerated, only differing in the shape of the 

 leaves ; but tha elder Michaux as- 

 serts that they cannot be propagated A ^$1 . M . 1768 

 with certainty even by grafting ; and 

 that all the different kinds may be 

 found on one tree. Even the two 

 we have given under distinct names, 

 though they are made species by some 

 authors, are rather variations than 

 varieties. 



Description, $c. The water oak 

 rarely exceeds 40 ft. or 45 ft. in height, 

 with a trunk from 1 ft. to 1 ft. 6 in. in 

 diameter ; though it is sometimes found 

 50 ft. or 60 ft. high. The bark, on the 

 oldest trees, is smooth, or very slightly 

 furrowed. The acorns, which are of a 

 dark brown, and are small and ex- 

 tremely bitter, are contained in shallow 

 slightly scaly cups. They are not 





1767 



