1900 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART II f. 



17 ft 



f a Q. I. 6 longifolia Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; Q. 



I. *alicifolia Hort. ; has long and very narrow 



leaves. There is a fine tree at Sawbridge- 



worth, from which plants have been pro- 



pagated in the nursery of Messrs. Rivers. 

 f * Q. I. 7 variegdta Hort. has the leaves va- 



riegated with white. This variety was 



brought into notice in 1836, by Mr Veitch 



of the Killerton Nursery. 



Other Varieties. Q. I. lustidnica Lodd. Cat., ed. 

 1836, we have not seen, the plant being dead. Q- 

 lusitanica Lam. is thought by Captain S. E. Cook 

 to be identical with the Q. Ballota of the nurseries ; 

 and, if so, these two alleged species must be only 

 varieties of Q. /'lex ; which, indeed, we believe to be the case. Q. rigida 

 Willd. is probably also a variety of Q. / N lex j as appear to be Q. castilidna 

 Cav., Q. prdsina Pers., Q. rotundifolia Lam., and some others ; but, not feel- 

 ing perfectly confident on the subject, we shall treat them as uncertain kinds 

 in our Appendix of European Oaks. Messrs. Lucombe and Pince inform 

 us (while this is going through the press), that they have a new variety, 

 which they call Quercus l^lex ilicifdlia ; but we have not seen a specimen. 



Description. In favourable situations, in the south of France, Spain, and 

 Italy, and also in the warmest parts of England and Ireland, the Q. /Hex 

 forms a bushy evergreen tree, exceeding the middle size. The trunk is 

 generally furnished with branches from the ground 

 upwards ; and, being concealed by the dense mass of 

 foliage borne by these branches, the general character 

 of the species, even when fully grown, is that of an 

 immense bush, rather than that of a timber tree. 

 When judiciously pruned, or drawn up by other 

 trees, however, it forms a handsome well-balanced 

 head on a straight trunk, and with graceful pendent 

 branches. The roots descend to a very great depth, 

 altogether disproportionate to the height of the 

 trunk ; for which reason this oak is never found indi- 

 genous to soil with a wet bottom. The bark is 

 black, thin, hard, and even ; sometimes slightly fur- 

 rowed, but never corky. The leaves vary exceedingly in shape and size, 

 from 5 in. in length and nearly 3 in. in breadth (as in Q. /. latifolia and Q. 

 /./agifolia), to 1 in. in length and in. in breadth (as in Q. /. erf spa) ; or ^ in. in 

 breadth and 3 in. in length, as in Q. I. salicifolia. In some plants, the leaves 

 are prickly, like those of the holly ; and, when this is the case, the most prickly 

 are nearest the ground ; a circumstance beautifully exemplified in a fine tree at 

 Purser's Cross. The colour of the leaves is a dark green ; and, being convex 

 above, and quite smooth, they have a fine shining appearance. Their edges 

 are either revolute and entire, irregularly notched and serrated, furnished 

 with mucros, or wavy and spiny-toothed, like the holly. Beneath, they are 

 more or less hoary or downy ; and in some varieties, such as Q. I. /agifolia, 

 they are on the under side very distinctly feather-nerved. The footstalks 

 are from J in. to f in. in length, and generally downy. The male flowers are 

 disposed in catkins 1| in. in length, which come out from the axils of the leaves 

 of the preceding year, and towards the extremities of the branches. The 

 calyx is campanulate, and the stamens 6, with filaments twice the length of 

 the divisions of the calyx. The female flowers are from 4 to 8, sessile, and 

 scattered along a common peduncle, which is from 1 in. to 2 in. in length, and 

 is placed in the axils of the leaves of the current year. They are succeeded 

 by acorns, which are oval, smooth, and contained in a cup of from a third to 

 a half of their length, covered with very slender scales, very closely imbricated, 



1781 



