414 



LXXXn- CUPULIPER^. 



I^agus 



acuminate nmcronato-serrate glabrous on each side. 

 Castanea Z.; E. B. t. 886. 



Woods in the S. and S. W. of England. \ , 5 — 7. ■ — This nol 1 

 tree is much cultivated in plantations on account of its timber f 

 which Evelyn says, " It hath formerly built a good part of our ancient 

 houses in the city of London," and that he had '^ one large barn ne 

 the city entirely framed of it." It affords excellent stakes for pallT 

 sades and props for vines and hops. It is good for mill-timber and 

 for waterworks ; but if water touch the root of the growino- tree *t 

 spoils both the fruit and wood. The nuts are used as an article of 

 daily food in the S. of Europe, and in some parts of France they are 

 served up for breakfast, boiled in milk. 



3. QuEBCus Linn, Oak. 



Barren fl. in a lax catkin or spike, without scales. Perianth 

 single, 5— 7-cleft. Stamens 5—10. Anthers 2-celled.- 



little scales united into a cup. 



Involucre 1 -flowered, of many 

 Perianth single, closely investinn- 



the ovary, 6-toothed. Ovary 3— 4-celled. Style short. Stirrrnas 

 3 — 4, oblong, compressed. Nut (or acorn) solitary, surround 

 at the base by the enlarged cup-shaped indurated involucre 

 Named, according to Lepelletier, from the Celtic quer, beautiful 

 and cuez, a tree, a term perhaps given to those few Oah on 

 which the Mistletoe was found ; but the proper Celtic name 

 was derw; hence Darach, Gaelic; dpvi^, in Greek, and Lryades 

 as well as Druids. ' 



• 1. Q. Robur L. (common British O.) ; leaves deciduous oblono-. 

 obovate deeply sinuate their lobes obtuse, fruits aggregated m 

 the axils of the uppermost leaves or along an axiflary 

 involucre 3—4 times shorter than the mature nut its 

 oblong obtuse closely imbricate. 



stalked spike. E. B. t. 1342. ^ 



aggregated or on a rather shortly stalked sDike 

 1845. Q. EoburTF. Q •--- <- ^ ^ ^ 



stalk, 



scales 



6 in a long- 

 Q. pedunculata W. — p. 



E. 



o. fruits 2 



fruits 



B. t. 



Woods and hedges, not uncommon, particularly in the Ii;ghlands 

 ot Scotland. \. 4, 5. — We can corroborate Dr. Greviile's obser- 

 vations on these two supposed species ( Trans. Bot. Soc. Ed. I p. 65. 

 \ \ V r^'"^^^ "° connection xvhatever between the relative length 

 of the fruit-stalk and the petiole ; thus, although the long-stalked 

 form IS described to have much the shortest petiole, we have specimens 

 before us from Killin with the upper petiole fully | inch long, 

 while It IS scarcely half an inch long in the usual form with a^gre- 

 gated fruits. The Jlowers are sessile upon the peduncle in toth 

 varieties ; but m 0. the peduncle is mostly very short, or almost 

 wanting, m a. much elongated : between these there is every gra- 

 dat.on : some specimens have no stalk whatever or a short one, the 

 owest fruit being usually at the base of the stalk ; others exhibit this 



last and at the same time longer peduncles in which the lowest fruit 



