1898 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III, 



to that of any other American oak for ship-building. According to the second 

 edition of the Hortus Knvensis, it was introduced by Mr. John Fraser, in 1786. 

 It is not mentioned by the younger Michaux, probably, as Ptirsh conjectures, 

 because he considered it only a variety of Q. imbricaria, from which it differs 

 principally in the value of its wood. As, however, the American oaks are 

 found to vary very much, according to the soil and climate in which they 

 grow, these two kinds may possibly be the same ; Q. /aurifolia being only 

 found in South Carolina and Georgia, and Q. imbricaria on the Alleghany 

 Mountains. The whole of the American oaks belonging to the section Phel- 

 los are remarkable for retaining their leaves, in particular soils and situations, 

 for two, three, and in some cases even four, years, without their changing 

 colour ; differing in this respect, both from evergreens, which change their 

 leaves in the spring of every year ; and from those deciduous trees which re- 

 tain their leaves in a withered state during winter. There is a tree of the 

 species in the Hammersmith Nursery, which is upwards of 20 ft. high ; and, 

 from its habit of growth and wand-like shoots, independently of any similarity 

 in the leaves, we are strongly inclined to believe it only a variety of Q. Phellos. 



2 28. Q. IMBRICARIA Wttld. The Shingle Oak. 



Identification. Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 428. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., 5. p. 288. ; Pursh FI. Amer., Sept., 2. 



p. 627. ; Michx. Quer., No. 10. ; N. Du Ham. ; 7. p. 154. ; Smith in Rees's Cycl., No. 15. 

 Synonymes. Q. latif blia Hort. ; Laurel Oak, Filed-Cup Oak, Jack Oak, Black Jack Oak, Amer. ; 



Chene S Lattes, Fr. 

 Engravings. Michx. Quer., 1. 15, 16. j N. Amer. Syl., 1. t. 15. ; and our fig. 1777. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves elliptic-oblong, acute at each end, entire, almost 

 sessile ; downy beneath. Nut nearly globose. (Smith and Willd.) A tree, 

 a native of the Alleghanies, 40ft. or 50ft. high. Introduced in 1786. 

 Description, $c. The shingle oak is from 40 ft. to 50 ft. high, with a trunk 

 from 1ft. to 1 ft. 3 in. in diameter. Its trunk, even when old, is covered with 

 "a smooth bark; and, for three fourths of its height, it is laden with branches. 

 It has an uncouth form when bare in winter, 

 but is beautiful in summer, when clad in its 

 thick tufted foliage. The leaves are long, lan- 

 ceolate, entire, and of a shining green." (N. 

 Amer. SyL y i. p. 70.) Michaux adds that the 

 trunk is branching, and often crooked; and 

 the wood, though hard and heavy, has open 

 pores, like that of Q. rubra. East of the Alle- 

 ghanies, this species is rare ; but west of the 

 mountains it is more multiplied, and better 

 known. Its most northern boundary is the 

 neighbourhood of Philadelphia ; but it is found 

 in the greatest abundance in Kentucky and 

 Tennessee ; also in the country of the Illinois, 

 where it is called by the French chene a lattes, 

 or the lath oak. " In the western parts of 

 Pennsylvania and Virginia, small lawns, covered 

 only with tall grass, are frequently seen in the 

 forests, around which this oak forms entire 

 groves : insulated trees are also found in cool 

 humid situations. It is, probably, from its 

 flourishing in open exposures, that it is most abundant in the country of the 

 Illinois, which consists of immeasurable savannahs, stretching in every direction, 

 to which the forests bear no sensible proportion." (Michx.) This tree was 

 brought to England in 1786, by Mr. John Fraser, but is rare in collections. 

 According to the younger Michaux, it has no merit but in its foliage, the wood 

 being even inferior to that of the willow oak, which it greatly resembles ; and 

 so crooked, as to be fit only for fuel. The elder Michaux, however, says 

 that, in the country of the Illinois, it is used for shingles. There is a tree 

 of this species in the Horticultural Society's Garden. 



