348 MONOECIA — POLYANDRIA. ICastanea. 



21. PoTERiuM. Linn. Salad- Burnet. 



1. P. Sangiiisorba, L. {common Salad- Bur net) ; spines none, 

 stem somewhat angular. E. Bat. t. 860. 



Dry ancl most frequently chalky pastures, abundant. Rather rare in 

 Scotland and Ireland. Fl. July. 4. — 1 — 2 feet hiuh. Zeat-es i)innated 

 with ovate, serrated lenflets. Flowers dull jMirplish. — The leaves taste 

 and smell like cucumber, and are eaten in salad. 



22. QuERcus. Linn. Oak. 



1. Q. Rohur, L. (common British Oak); leaves deciduous 

 shortly stalked oblongo-obovate deeply .sinuate their sinuses 

 rather acute lobes obtuse, fruits 2 — 3 upon a long peduncle. 

 E. Bot.t. 1342 Q. pedunculata, Willd. 



Woods and hedges. Fl. April, May. Tj . — The uses of this most im- 

 portant tree are universally known. Its acorns were formerly the food 

 ot our British ancestors, but are now left to hogs and squirrels or the 

 larger gallinaceous birds. The word Rohur is derived from rove, another 

 Celtic word for the oak : whence arises robur, strength, in Latin. 



2. Q. sessilijldra, Salisb. {sessile-fruited Oak); leaves decidu- 

 ous on long stalks oblongo-obovate deeply sinuate their sinuses 

 rather acute lobes obtuse, fruits clustered upon a very short 

 stalk or sessile. E. Bot. t. 1845.— Q. Robur, Willd. 



Woods and hedges, not uncommon. Fl. April, May. Tj . — The specific 

 name is calculated to mislead. Ihe flowers are sessile upon the pedun- 

 cle in both species. But here, the peduncle is very short, or almost want- 

 ing : in Q. Robur it is much elongated. The ivoo'd of the present species 

 is said to be much inferior to the last : and a general opinion having pre- 

 vailed that it has been more extensively planted especially in Scotland, 

 no little alarm was in consequence excited, lest our forests should be 

 thereby deteriorated. An eminent modern author has, however, lately 

 expressed his opinion that it is the Q. sessiliflora which yields the best 

 timber for shipping. This subject deserves the serious consideration of 

 the planter. 1 



23. Fagus. Linn. Beech. 



1. F. sylvdtica, L. {common Beech); leaves ovate glabrous ob- 

 soletely dentate their margins ciliated. E. Bot. t. 1846. 



Woods, especially on a chalky soil. Scarcely wild in Scotland ; but 

 abundant in forests in the south of England. Fl. Apr. May. T^ . — The 

 tree bears clipping, and then, as Mr Stewart Murray observed to me, its 

 leaves are retained during winter. The wood is employed for an infinity 

 of purposes, by carpenters, turners, wheelwrights, &c. Swine are driven 

 into the forests of Beech to feed upon the mast in Autumn. 



24. Castanea. Tourn. Chestnut. 

 \.C* vulgaris, Lam. (Spanish Chestnut); leaves oblongo- 

 lanceolate acuminate niucronato-serrate glabrous on each side. 

 — Fagus Castanea, Linn, — E. Bot. t. 886. 



' For more valuable remarks on this sulrject, see the " Botany of the County 

 of Sussex, by Mr T. H. Cooper." 1834.. See also Lindl. Syn. of Brit. FL, where 

 it is affirmed that Q. sessilijiorn is as superior in the quality of its timber to 

 Q. Robur, as it is in beauty and vigour of growth. 



