180 OAK. 



Dutch Eike ; Eikeboom. 



Danish .... Eeg. 

 Swedish . . . Ek. 



Polish Dab. 



Russ. and \ j. , 

 Bohemian ) 

 Turkish. . . Mesche. 

 Persian . . . Pelut. 

 Arabic .... Baalut. 

 Hind, and 7 Majup . hal> 

 Sans 3 



Description. — Common Oak is a majestic, lofty tree, fre- 

 quently attaining the height of ninety or one hundred feet, the 

 roots penetrating far and deep, the trunk very thick, and when 

 standing singly, sending off immense horizontal spreading 

 branches, covered with a rough, dark brown bark. The leaves 

 are alternate, on very short petioles, oblong-obovate, smooth, 

 the margin sinuated, with irregular, obtuse, rounded lobes ; the 

 upper surface of a deep shining green, the lower paler, slightly 

 glaucous, and marked with lateral and oblique nerves. The 

 flowers are monoecious, in axillary lax catkins. The male 

 flowers, disposed in a long drooping, cylindrical, peduncled cat- 

 kin, have a membranous, sub-campanulate, generally five-cleft 

 perianth (calyx), and usually ten stamens, with short filaments 

 and globose two-lobed anthers. The female flowers, on single 

 axillary peduncles, are few, small, usually sessile and scattered ; 

 each flower presents an involucre of several little scales, united 

 into a cup, surmounting which is a perianth of six downy acute 

 segments, closely investing the germen, which is ovate, crowned 

 with a short conical style, supporting three or four obtuse 

 reflexed stigmas. The fruit, called a nut, gland, or acorn, is 

 seated in a coriaceous, thick, hemispherical cup or cupula, — the 

 enlarged and indurated involucre ; it is thrice the length of the 

 cup, and when ripe drops out of it, ovoid, smooth, shining 

 straw-coloured, obtuse at the base, with a prominent hilum 

 and containing a single seed or kernel. Plate 37, fig. 1, (a) cat- 

 kins of male flowers ; (b) female flowers ; (c) male flower mag- 

 nified ; (d) female flower magnified ; (e) longitudinal section of 

 the nut or acorn. 



This tree is universally known as a native of Britain, growing 

 in woods and hedge-rows. It occurs in Europe from the south 



