OAK. 181 



of Spain to the middle of Sweden, and is also found in the 

 north of Asia and of Africa. It flowers in April and May, and 

 ripens its fruit in October. 



The generic name is derived from the Celtic quer, beautiful, 

 and cuez, a tree. The specific name is also derived from the 

 Celtic term for the Oak, rove; whence the Latin robur, strength. 

 The Greek fyv$, is probably derived from derm, another 

 Celtic word for the tree, and hence the terms Druids and 

 Dryades. 



There are two species of Oak indigenous to Britain, the one 

 above described and the sessile-fruited Oak (Q. sessiliflora), 

 distinguished by the long petioles of the leaves, and the fruit 

 clustered upon a very short stalk or quite sessile. The timber 

 of the latter is generally considered to be very inferior to that 

 of Quercus Robur (Q. pedunculata of Willdenow, and various 

 other writers) ; but the correctness of this opinion has been 

 recently called in question. Of the foreign species there are 

 nearly a hundred and fifty, more than half of which are natives 

 of America. The live Oak (Q. virens) is one of the most valu- 

 able timber trees of America. The black Oak (Q. tinctoria) 

 is also much prized both for its wood and bark. The dyer's 

 Oak (Q. infectoria) affords the gall-nuts of commerce, which 

 are produced by the puncture of an insect, the Diplolepis gallce 

 tinctorice. The bark of Quercus suber, is the well-known sub- 

 stance cork. The holly or Holm Oak (Q. ilex) is a handsome 

 evergreen-tree, the timber of which is highly esteemed. The 

 galls of Q. cocci/era afford the dye called kermes. 



The praises of the Oak have been celebrated by poets, philo- 

 sophers, novelists, agriculturalists, political economists, and by 

 all who can appreciate what is beautiful or useful in nature. It 

 is one of the most enduring of trees, and the very emblem of 

 strength and perpetuity, and by general consent the forest-king. 

 Indeed its majesty rendered it an object of veneration in former 

 ages. The Oaks of the forest of Dodona, near which was the 

 celebrated temple of Jupiter, were even consulted as oracles ; 

 the Druids performed their mystic rites under the shade of 

 these sacred trees, and they have often formed temples for 

 idolatrous worship. Among the Greeks and Romans, a chaplet 

 of Oak was one of the highest honours that could be conferred 

 on a citizen. 



