CHAP. CV. 



QUE'RCUS. 



1935 



1831 



fruit towards the end of the year. The following are Dr. Wallieh's observations on this 

 "This noble oak has been so well described by Sir J. E. Smith in Jtccs's Ct/cloi>a.-tlia, that I have 

 very little to add :in this place. 

 The young branches are thick, 

 cyliiidric, and glaucous. Buds 

 terminal, fascicled, or axillary 

 and solitary ; ovate, obtuse, with 

 many rounded, villous, anc 1 

 silky scales. Leaves very hand- 

 some, of a firm and leathery 

 texture, sometimes Ift.long, and 

 as much as fj in. broad ; smooth 

 and glossy above ; more or less 

 mealy, sometimes nearly white, 

 underneath. The fruit is re- 

 markably large, being as much 

 as 2 in. in diameter." (Wall. 

 Plan. As. liar., t. 149.) Smith 

 mentions that it was discovered 

 by Dr. Buchanan (Hamilton) 

 in the remote woods of Nepal, 

 bearing fruit, in December, 1802. 

 O. scmicarpifulia Smith in 

 Rees's Cycl., No. 20., Wall. PI. 

 As. Ran, t. 174. ; and our Jiff. 

 1832. ; Casstna Ham. MSS., D. 

 Don Prod. Fl. Nep. Leaves 

 ovate-oblong, blunt, undivided, 

 entire, undulated, retuse at the 

 base ; covered with starry down 

 beneath ; the nerves and the 

 midrib very prominent. Fruit 

 axillary, terminal, solitary or 

 in pairs, almost sessile. Nut 

 ovate, bossed, smooth. Cup scaly, imbricated, half the length of the nut (Wallich.} A native 

 of Nepal, flowering in April, and producing its fruit in September. This tree, Dr. Wallich observes, 

 " inhabits the summit of lofty mountains, constituting, together with the common Nepal rhodo- 

 dendron, the chief forests of the country, and [attaining a gigantic size. It measures frequently 

 from 80 ft. to 100 ft. in height, with a girt of the trunk, at 6 ft. above the ground, of 14 ft. to 18 ft. 

 I have met with individuals of far greater 

 dimensions on the summit of Sheopur. 

 The wood is much esteemed by the natives, 

 who employ it for various purposes of build- 

 ing, and for making bedsteads. The acorns 

 are axillary and terminal, mostly solitary, 

 though sometimes geminate, oval, shining 

 brown, smooth, about 1 in. long, termi- 

 nated by a short columnar style, and sup- 

 ported by hemispherical cups, about half 

 their size ; each having a sharp and entire 

 circular orifice, with the outer surface 

 densely tomentose, and covered with nu- 

 merous, small, lanceolate, acute, imbricate 

 scales. All the young parts, as well as the 

 male inflorescence, the under surface of 

 the leaves, and the cup, are covered with a 

 copious, stellate, loosely attached tomen- 

 tum. The leaves, in young trees, are more 

 or less spinous-dentate." (Wall. Plan. As. 

 Ear., t. 174.) This oak would be a most 

 desirable species to introduce, as it appears 

 from Dr. Royle's Illustrations of the Bo- 

 tany of the Himalayas, to be much hardier 

 than Q. lanata. (See p. 1921.) He adds 

 that y. semicarpifblia generally forms the 

 forests at their highest limits, at from 

 10,000 ft. to 12,000 ft. of elevation : it is 

 found higher than any of the pines. At 

 about 10,000 ft. on the mountain of Kedar- 

 kar.ta, the encampment was formed in " an 

 open glade, surrounded with magnificent 

 trees of ^'bies (Picea) Weblw'dna, and 

 Quercus semicarpifblia ; among which Tfho. 

 dodendron campanulatum for/ned a large 

 straggling shrub, in full flower, even in the 

 midst of the melting snow." (Illust., p. 22.) Dr. Royle also mentions that the inhabitants of the 

 mountains stack the leaves of GrfewiYi, U'lmus, and Quercus, as a winter food for cattle (p. 19.) ; and 

 that he found a new uercus in the valleys of the mountains, at an elevation of about 12,000 ft. 



App. vi. Oaks of Japan, Cochin-China, and China, which have 

 not yet been introduced. 



Q. gttbra Thunb. Jap., 175., Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 427., N. Du Ham., 7. p. 152., has the leaves ob- 

 long-lanceolate, glabrous, acuminate, narrowed at the base, and yellowish beneath. A tree, a native 

 of Japan, with rugged, knotty, slightly spreading branches, generally growing two or three together ; 

 with alternate leaves, entire on the margin, and feather-nerved ; glabrous on both sides j shining 



6 K 



183'^ 



