MONGECIA POLYANDRIA. 207 



ancestors, held their solemn festivals : in after centuries 

 its timber supported and beautified the venerable cathe- 

 drals raised for a purer worship ; the palaces of his princes 

 rose on pilasters of oak, and it was the board of their fes- 

 tivities ; but, above all, it is dear to him as the material 

 of the " wooden walls " of his native isle. Semper flor eat ! 



2. Q. sessiliflora, leaves on elongated stalks, deciduous, oblong, 

 with opposite acute sinuses ; fruit sessile. Sessile-fruited Oak. 



Hab. In hedges; near West Fishwick, Berwickshire. 

 April, May. 



275. FAGUS. 



1. F. sylvatica, leaves ovate, obsoletely serrated; prickles of 

 the outer calyx simple ; stigmas 3. Common Beech. 



Hab. Woods, considered by Mr WINCH truly native ; 

 yet CAESAR asserts there was, at the time of his inva- 

 sion, no beech- timber in Britain. May. 



A handsome tree, occasionally attaining the height of 90 

 feet, and having a stem 12 feet or more in girth. " Its 

 leaves are of a pleasant green, and many of them remain 

 on the trees during winter, after turning brown. No 

 verdure, however, will thrive beneath its shade. The 

 smoothness of its bark has from ancient times tempted 

 the rural lover to carve the favourite name upon it, a 

 custom recorded in various passages of the poets ; and 

 the opening of VIRGIL'S first eclogue represents the 

 musing shepherd as reclining under the shade of a spread- 

 ing beech." 



The wood is much used by the turner and cabinet- 

 maker, and for various economical purposes. " The poets, 

 who celebrate the simplicity and frugality of the early 

 ages, speak much of the beechen cups and bowls, some of 

 which received an extraordinary value from the hand of 

 the carver." The leaves, gathered in autumn, and some- 

 what before they are much frost-bitten, " afford the best 

 and easiest mattresses in the world, to lay under our 

 quilts, instead of straw ; because, besides their tenderness 

 and loose lying together, they continue sweet for seven or 

 eight years long, before which straw becomes musty and 

 hard. They are thus used by diveis persons of quality in 

 Dauphine ; and, in Switzerland, I have sometimes lain 

 on them to my great refreshment : so as, of this tree, it 

 may properly be said, u Silva domus, cubilia frondes." 

 EVELYN. 



