316 



THE AMERICAN 



])ESCl!irTION OP QUERCUS LEANA. 



Quercus leana, Nutt, is a biennial fruited 

 Oak, with deciduous leaves, which are obovate 

 and mostly three-lobed at the apex, the lobes 

 are bristle-pointed, toinentose when youn<^, at 

 last becoming nearly smooth. The fruit is sliort 

 peduncled, single or in twos, the cup hemis- 

 pherical, with a conical scaly base, half an inch 

 wide; the acorn globular, half an inch long, 

 about half immersed. 



This Oak seems to be a hybrid between Q. 

 imhi-icnria and Q. coccinea; the general ap- 

 pearance is that of the former ; the leaves are 

 nearly entire, but the texture is not so firm as 

 in Q. imbricaria, and of the old ones both sides 

 are glabrous, when in a young state they arc 

 more tomeiitose, so that on the upper side the 



nervation is often hardly visible, as in Q. coc- 

 cinea, to which it approaches in the much 

 smaller fruit, the cup being deeper than (hat of 

 Q. imbricaria, the scales looser and more dis- 

 tinct; the acorn has at the apex a blunt conical 

 knoll, which in Q. imbricaria is smaller pro- 

 jecting from a flat areola. The bud is ovate, 

 conical, slightly flve-ridged, and less tomentose 

 than in Q. coccinea, whei'eas in Q. imbricaria 

 it is more rounded and smooth. 



A tree of this species in Hancock county has 

 been known many years; besides it there are 

 two others in Illinois: one in Fulton county 

 and one near Peoria — the latter in the neigh- 

 borhood of its supposed parents. From its 

 similarity to Q. imbricaria, it is likely to be 

 overlooked, and may perhaps yet be found in 

 other places. 



EUUOrEAN CORRESPONDENCE. 



We present our readers some extracts from a 

 letter of Mrs. Kate N. Doggctt, of Chicago, now 

 in Europe. Mrs. i)oggett is an enthusiastic 

 Naturalist, and has made large collections in 

 Botany and other departments of Natural His- 

 tory. There are hundreds of ladies in our large 

 cities who have time and means to devote to 

 mental cultivation and the acquirement of use- 

 ful knowledge. How much refined pleasure 

 these ladies might find in the study of Nature. 

 An active and interesting Botanical Society has 

 been in operation for some time past in Chicago, 

 embracing not only professional men, but also 

 several ladies who are heads of families, show- 

 ing that even maternal cares do not necessarily 

 interfere with continued mental culture. When 

 shall we have Botanical Societies in all our large 

 towns and cities which shall interest both ladies 

 and gentlemen who have leisure for such pur- 

 suits? Why should ladies leave all systematic 

 pursuit of education when tliey leave their 

 schools? AYe hope the day will come when it 

 will he fashionable for ladies to lake an interest 

 in societies for the promotion of science. 



Brienz, Switzekland, MiiySd. 



Your letter came to me just as we were leav- 

 ing Tunis, and this is the' first moment 1 have 

 had to answer it. * * * As yet I have not 

 been able to collect any sea-mosses, although 

 we have been nearly ail winter on the shores 

 of the Mediterranean, but in towns where, of 

 course, were no beaclic.-; but very soon we go 

 to the British Isles, and there I hope to do bet- 

 ter. You are quite right in thinking I had not 

 lost my interest iu Botany. I do not believe 

 that I shall do that till I lose my interest in life. 

 A few months before we left home a half dozen 



