292 CORYLACE.E. 



pansion, or gibbosity at their junction with the trunk, gene- 

 rally at first take a more upright direction than those of the 

 common Oak, and, from the position of the buds and mode 

 of growth, are at all ages destitute of that angular and 

 tortuous appearance which characterizes the branches and 

 spray of the common Oak : it therefore usually retains a 

 pyramidal form, and on this account is better adapted, 

 and a more appropriate tree to plant with the common 

 Oak than those we have already alluded to. 



The leaves, which are generally persistent in a withered 

 state during winter upon young trees under fifteen or 

 twenty years old, vary greatly in form upon different 

 individuals ; they also vary considerably in their colour, in 

 the common or typical shape, being of a fine bright shining 

 green above, and slightly glaucous beneath, in others of a 

 deep green and still more glaucous on the under surface, 

 frequently also approaching in form to those of the hybrid 

 sub-evergreen varieties, Quer. c. Fulhammsis and Quer. c. 

 Lucombiensis. 



The foliage is usually abundant and in fine tufted 

 masses, and the contrast of colour of the two sides of 

 the leaves often produces a sparkling and brilliant effect ; 

 this, together w r ith the large size it attains, and its well- 

 balanced form, renders it a very handsome and ornamental 

 tree, though it can never boast of the picturesque appear- 

 ance possessed by the British species. It grows rapidly, 

 and with great vigour, even in soils of inferior quality, 

 and is found to thrive upon those of a sandy, as well as 

 those of a clayey nature, and even where the latter has 

 been of a cold retentive quality we have noticed it making 

 a progress beyond that of any hard wood tree planted 

 in its company. Upon good wood land, or soil adapted 

 for the Oak, it frequently makes a leading annual shoot 



