Trees, Shrubs, and Plants of Virgil 



differences are that in Quercus pedunculata, the 

 common oak, the leaves have no stalk, while the 

 acorn has a long one ; whereas in Q. sessiliflora, the 

 durmast oak, the characters are reversed, the leaf 

 having a stalk, and the acorn so short a one as 

 hardly to count. The gardener distinguishes the 

 latter as having a straighter and more regular stem 

 and larger and more numerous leaves. Experiments 

 seem to show that the durmast oak can boast the 

 tougher timber, and an old belief that it was less 

 lasting seems to have no foundation. 



Small as the differences may be, Virgil clearly dis- 

 tinguished the two varieties — 



' Nemorumque Iovi quae maxima frondet 

 Aesculus, atque habitae Graiis oracula quercus ' 



{Ge. ii. 15). 



The difference of size, upon w T hich he here fixes, 

 probably refers to the appearance of the trees in leaf, 

 for it seems that in the diameter of the trunk and 

 the dimensions of the limbs neither tree has any 

 advantage over the other. It is the density of leafage 

 that magnifies the bulk of the durmast. Nor is this 

 all, for its leaves are less liable to disease and to the 

 ravages of caterpillars, frequent causes of disfigure- 

 ment to its less fortunate congener. On the other 

 hand, the comparative uprightness of its branches 

 detracts somewhat from its dignity. 



The favourite habitats of the two varieties differ 

 in Italy as they do in England. The durmast, as 

 Mr. Robinson tells us, inhabits plateaux and slopes 

 of hills and mountains, while the common oak is 



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