1906 



ARBORETUM AND FRUT1CETUM. 



PART III. 



1784 



acorn being of double the length of that of Q. 7 v lex, and in 

 having a mild and agreeable taste. The tree varies much, 

 according to the soil and situation in which it grows. In 

 some individuals, the leaves are small and orbiculate; and 

 in others elliptic ; and sometimes they are lanceolate and 

 pointed. It flowers in May, and ripens its fruit in the 

 autumn of the second year. (A r . I)n Ham., vii. p. 157.) Q.. 

 Bftllola, according to Desfontaines (Jour, dc Physique ; torn. 

 xxxviii.,for 1791), grows in great abundance in the kingdoms 

 of Algiers and Morocco. There are vast forests of this 

 tree on the mountains ; but it is only found in small quanti- 

 ties on the plains. The Moors eat the acorns raw, or roasted 

 in ashes : they are found very nourishing, and are not bitter. They are 

 regularly sold in the market-places ; and, in some districts, an oil is ex- 

 pressed from them, which is nearly as good as that of the olive. We have 

 no doubt that this kind of oak is merely a variety of Q. /Mex, 

 though the specimen sent to us from Paris shows it to be very 

 distinct. Indeed, if we were to judge entirely from that specimen, 

 we should say that Q. Ballota was much more likely to be a 

 variety of Q. gramuntia than of Q. /Mex; and, in short, it may 

 be identical with it, because Q. gramuntia is not described by 

 Desfontaines. Captain S. E. Cook, who paid great attention to 

 the oaks of Spain, mentions only the term bellotas as a name 

 for acorns generally ; and he considers the Q. Ballota of the nur- 

 series to be the Q. valentina of Cavanilles, which has 

 bitter acorns. The Q. Ballota of the Horticultural So- 

 ciety's Garden, and of some of the British nurseries (see 

 our ^.1785), of which a leaf of the natural size is shown 

 in Jig. 1786., is a totally different plant from either the 

 Q. Ballota of Paris, or the Q. valentina of Cavanilles, 

 and in short, is nothing more than a Q. /Mex ; so that the 

 1785 true Q. Bain>ta of Desfontaines may be the Q. gramiintia, 

 which we suspect it is. Bosc observes that, in the Paris gardens, it requires 

 to be taken into the conservatory in winter : but it is to be recollected that 

 the Q. /Mex requires similar protection in that part of France ; and, there- 

 fore, there can be little doubt but Q. Ballota, if it is different from Q. 

 gramuntia, would be hardy in the neighbourhood of London. 



1 31. Q. GRAMU'NTIA L. The Holly-leaved Grammont Oak. 



1786 



suggests 



Q. hispanica would be the most suitable name for this species, which may be considered as forming 

 the natural oak of Spain ; whereas the term gramuntia was applied to it by Linnaeus, from its having 

 been found in the remnant of a wood on the estate of Grammont, near Montpelier, where, ac- 

 cording to De Candolle, the species no longer exists. 



Engravings. Our fig. 1787., from the tree at Purser's Cross ; fig. 1788., an acorn of the natural size, 

 traced from one that was sent to us by Capt. Cook ; and the plate of the tree at Purser's Cross in 

 our last Volume. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves roundish-elliptical, nearly sessile, undulated, with 

 deep, spinous, divaricated teeth ; densely downy beneath ; heart-shaped at 

 the base. Native of the wood of Grammont, near Montpelier ; and of Spain. 

 Cultivated in England in 1730. It blossoms in June, and ripens its fruit in 

 the autumn of the following year. This is rather a small straggling tree, with 

 numerous round grey branches, downy when young. Leaves scarcely 1 in. 

 long, rigid, broadly elliptical, often nearly orbicular ; very much undulated 

 at the margin, their deep, broad, spinous teeth pointing every way, like those 

 of the holly; the upper surface dark green, rather glaucous, besprinkled 

 with minute starry hairs ; the under surface densely clothed with white 

 entangled down. (Smith.) In the Nouveau Du Hanicl, great doubts are 

 expressed as to whether this species is identical with the Q. rotundifolia of 



