428 



HISTORY OP THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



and acute pointed, standing out a quarter of an 

 inoli; some of the cups are as large as middle 

 sized apples. 



The Evergreen Oak (q. ilex). The JjoUy, 

 holm, or evergreen oak is a handsome tree, and 

 is common in the south of France and the 

 southern parts of Europe. Of this tree there 

 are several varieties, marked by the size and 

 shape of the leaves; yet Miller has proved that 

 they all spring from the same acorns. Some- 

 times even the lower leaves of the same tree 

 differ from those on the higher branches. The 

 varieties are : 



Tlie common, integrifolia. 

 Notch-leaved, serraia. 

 Long-leaved, Monga. 



The leaves of this tree are from three to four 

 inches long, and one broad near the base, gradu- 

 ally lessening to a point: they are of a lucid 

 green on the upper side, but whitish and downy 

 on their under; and are entire, standing upon 

 pretty long footstalks. They remain green during 

 all the year, and do not fall till they are thrust 

 off by the young leaves in the spring. The 

 acorns are smaller than those of the common 

 oak, but of the same shape. The timber is sup- 

 posed to equal that of the common oak. 



The Kermes Oak (q. coccifera). This is a 

 common tree all along the Mediterranean coast. 

 It is of small gi-ovrth, seldom rising above twelve 

 feet; the leaves are oval and undivided. They 

 are smooth on their surface, but indented on 

 their edges, which are armed with prickles like 

 those of the holly. The trunk is feathered to 

 the bottom, which gives it the appearance of a 

 bushy slirub. The acorns ai-e smaller than those 

 of the common oak. From this tree are gathered 

 the kermes, with which the ancients used to dye 

 their garments of that beautiful colour called 

 coccineus or coccus, being different from the pur- 

 ple of the Phoenicians, which was obtained from 

 the testaceous mollusk, called murex. In course 

 of time the murex was neglected, and the kermes 

 of the oak was introduced. This continued in 

 use tiU the discovery of America introduced the 

 cochine.il insect from the cactus opuntia, already 

 described. The people of Barbary stiU employ 

 the kermes for dyeing the round scarlet caps, so 

 much used in the Levant; and they prefer that 

 of Spain to their own growth. 



The Cork Oak (q. swber). The cork tree 

 rarely exceeds thirty-five to forty feet in height, 

 and from two to three feet in diameter. The 

 leaves are entire, oblong, oval, about two inches 

 long, and one and a quarter broad, with serrated 

 edges, and slightly downy on the under sides: 

 the footstalks are very short. The leaves con- 

 tinue green throughout the winter, till the mid- 

 dle of May, -when they generally fall off just 

 before the new leaves come out, so that the trees 



are very often almost bare for a short time. The 

 acorns are oval, rather large, and of a sweet 



Cork Oak. 



taste. This tree is found in abundance in Por- 

 tugal, Spain, Italy, the southern parts of France, 

 and in the Barbary states: Spain and Portugal 

 supply the greater portion of the cork which is 

 used in Europe. The timber of the cork oak is 

 heavy, hard, and compact, but is not so durable 

 as that of the common oak, especially when ex- 

 posed to water. The outer bark of this tree 

 grows unusually large, and when removed is 

 speedily again renewed by the liber or inner 

 bark. This process, so far from injuring is said 

 to prolong the life of the tree; for when tliis ex- 

 cess of bark is not artificially removed, the tree 

 seldom lives longer than fifty or sixty years, 

 while the barked trees flourish for upwards of a 

 hundred and fifty years. This barking process 

 is not commenced till the tree is twenty-five 

 years old, and even then the bark is of little value. 

 Ten years after, it is barked a second time; but 

 though this second growth is much better, be- 

 cause less cracked; it is not yet thick enough to 

 make good corks for bottles, and is used princi- 

 pally for fishermen's nets. It is not till after 

 forty-five or fifty years that the bark has all the 

 requisite qualities for making good corks; and 

 from this period a tree is regularly barked every 

 eight or ten years. 



The months of July and August are those in 

 which the bark is removed. For this purpose 

 two longitudinal incisions are made opposite each 

 other the whole length of the body of the tree; 

 other two incisions are made transversely at the 

 two extremities; the bark is then detached by 

 inserting between it and the wood the handle 

 of the hatchet, which is wedge-shaped. In this 

 operation great care must be taken not to injure 

 the tender laminse of the epidermis; for were 

 this inner bark destroyed, no further deposition 

 of cork bark would take place. 



After having been scraped the bark is cut into 

 pieces, slightly charred to contract the pores and 

 destroy insects, and then pressed flat with stones. 

 In Catalonia it is divided into pieces and boiled 

 in water, which adds to the quality of the cork. 

 Good bark should be elastic and compressible, 



