May 16, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



193 



observer and the sun. The divided leaves give the foliage 

 a feathery appearance, and as the long yellow aments are 

 also easily stirred, a light wind gives the tree a shimmering 

 appearance like that of rippling water under subdued 

 sunlight. 



The Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea) has nearly the same 

 general appearance as Quercus tinctoria. The leaf-blades 

 are, however, shorter, thinner and less hairy at this time. 

 They are quite purple when the buds first expand, but 

 soon take on a light-green color. The foliage has the 

 same feathery look presented by that of the Black Oak, 

 but with a lighter color as a whole. 



The young leaves of the Red Oak (Q. rubra) are greener 

 than those of the Black or Scarlet Oak, though often stained 

 with purple. They are smoother, much less deeply lobed 

 from the first, and foreshadow their permanent form more 

 nearly. They droop considerably on the long green 

 petioles, and seem more abundant at first than those of the 

 other Oaks, for the smooth brownish branchlets are soon 

 hidden by the leaves and long aments which hang in 

 bunches like tassels. The young shoots are also green or 

 slightly dyed with red, and are more slender than those of 

 the Black Oak, and the foliage has not the airy grace 

 which characterizes that of Oaks with more finely divided 

 leaves. The leafage takes on a green and smooth appear- 

 ance quite early in its development. 



The leaves of the Laurel Oak (Q. imbricaria) or Shingle 

 Oak, as it is more commonly called here, are very narrow 

 and almost linear at first, with their edges so strongly 

 revolute that they almost touch each other. They are 

 slightly hairy, the ground color yellowish green, with a 

 purple tinge. The fresh twigs are flushed with red on the 

 upper side where most exposed to the light. The older 

 twigs are grayish green, but the color of the bark on the 

 branches is so dark as to impart to the spray a dusky hue. 

 The young leaves stand out stiffly from the ends of the 

 branchlets, studding them with sharply outlined, stellate 

 clusters. Being so narrow, the foliage is very open, and 

 one can see through the tree-top in almost any direction, 

 so that the tree has an appearance quite distinct from 

 other Oaks. 



The most abundant of the annual-fruited Oaks is the 

 White Oak (Q. alba). The coarsely toothed young leaves 

 are rather aborate in outline, and their short petioles bend 

 abruptly down, so that the ends of the shoots are shielded 

 with bunches of leaves which almost hug them. The 

 leaves are softly pubescent, and stained with purple and 

 pink, but they are paler and more downy beneath. The 

 new shoots are also reddish and downy, and they grow so 

 rapidly as to become two or three inches long when the 

 leaves have attained scarcely more than an inch in length. 

 When the pale down on the upper leaf surface is dense, 

 the trees have a hoary look as if covered with the rime 

 of the early morning. The soft appearance of such trees 

 is greatly intensified in the bright sunlight, and they 

 assume a peculiar tenderness of tint. The smooth and 

 pale bark on the newer twigs of preceding years contrasts 

 prettily with the color of the leaves. The white flaky 

 bark of the older branches adds to the beauty of the tree 

 at this season. 



The leaves of the Overcup Oak (Q. macrocarpa) are at 

 first slightly hoary-downy, but soon become smooth and 

 yellowish-green and glossy above, but they are pale green 

 and duller beneath. They are narrowly oblong, and are 

 more deeply lobed than those of the White Oak. The me- 

 sophyll of the larger lobes is very full and plaited into 

 ridges between the straight veins, which, being of a deeper 

 green, show effectively in the midst of the bordering tints 

 of yellow. The leaves spread out from the recent shoots 

 somewhat horizontally, and the aments hang down be- 

 neath them in thick bunches. The twigs of the two or 

 three preceding years are stubby and covered with a pale- 

 brown bark. The bark of the older twigs and branches is 

 thick and roughened by corky ridges. This dark rough 

 bark is in marked contrast with the yellowish color of the 



leaves, and, showing prominently, gives to the tree a rather 

 dark or grayish black appearance. 



The Swamp White Oak (Q. bicolor) resembles the Over- 

 cup Oak considerably at this time, though its oval, smooth 

 and glossy leaves are less divided. They spread out from 

 the twigs in a similar manner, and the mesophyll between 

 the straight veins is also full and wrinkled. They are yel- 

 lowish green, but with a stain of purple, which is more 

 pronounced toward their tips. The young shoots, covered 

 with a green bark, make a quick growth, and are some- 

 times four inches long at the time of flowering. The gen- 

 eral color of the foliage is yellowish green, but with a cast 

 of brownish purple. 



The Yellow Oak (Q. Muhlenbergii) bears light-green 

 leaves, the newest tinged with purple, especially beneath, 

 though the upper surface is often stained with a greenish 

 yellow varying to a pale yellowish brown. They are 

 rather oblanceolate in form, smooth and a little glossy 

 above, pubescent beneath. The straight veins and toothed 

 or coarsely serrate margins give them individuality from 

 the first and mark them as members of the group of Chest- 

 nut Oaks. The petioles and fresh twigs are brownish. 

 The leaves are crowded at the end of the branchlets, giv- 

 ing to the foliage a tufted look. It is open as a whole, 

 calling to mind the Shingle Oak. The purple tint on the 

 lower surface of the leaves is quite marked, and frequently 

 persists near the ends till they are three or four inches in 

 length. The foliage is light-colored when taken in a mass, 

 especially in the bright sunlight, and has a yellowish cast 

 of color resembling that of the freshly starting Hickories. 



Englewood, Chicago. -&■ J • Hill* 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



Johnson's Gardeners' Dictionary. — The new edition, re- 

 vised and enlarged by Mr. Wright, of the Kew Herbarium, 

 and Mr. Dewar, curator of the Glasgow Botanic Garden, is 

 now complete and is issued in one volume by G Bell & 

 Sons, the publishers. It is in every sense a first-ratebook, 

 thoroughly reliable, both as to its botanical and horticul- 

 tural qualities, as I am able to testify from a knowledge of 

 the book itself and of the men who are responsible for this 

 revision. The Genera Planlarum of Bentham and Hooker 

 has been followed in respect of genera, and the nomencla- 

 ture as to species is that which is in use at Kew. It is only 

 at such an establishment as Kew that a work of this kind 

 could be prepared. The plan of the book is an alphabet- 

 ical arrangement of all the names of plants, scientific and 

 vernacular, insects which affect them, and plant-diseases 

 generally, tools used in their cultivation — in short, every- 

 thing that a gardener is interested in professionally. The 

 authors are to be congratulated, and so, too, are the gar- 

 deners, for whom their work has a special value. 



Plant-collecting in Borneo was the subject of a lecture 

 before the Royal Horticultural Society last Tuesday by 

 Mr. F. W. Burbidge, M.A., now curator of the Trinity Col- 

 lege Gardens, Dublin, and once a successful traveler and 

 collector. Mr. Burbidge unites a wide knowledge of plants 

 with a keen enthusiasm in all matters connected with them, 

 and, what is, perhaps, of at least as much importance, a 

 felicitous, engaging style when he sets out to write or talk 

 about them. His book, The Gardens of the Sun, is delight- 

 ful reading and full of interesting information ; he is an 

 active writer upon horticultural subjects, and he can lecture 

 well, as was shown by the distinguished audience he had 

 last Tuesday and their staying to hear him out. Borneo 

 must be an exceptionally rich field for the botanical collec- 

 tor; indeed, all Malaysia teems with plants of the greatest 

 interest and value, both to the botanist and horticulturist. 

 One of the best things in the lecture was Mr. Burbidge 's 

 recommendation that in future a plant-collector should 

 accompany every great scientific expedition from Eng- 

 land. 



