Quercus i^57 



come up freely on sandy soils, and in a few years shoot up rapidly. Loudon says that 

 near London the length of the annual shoot is from i8 in. to 3 or 4 ft., and that 

 at Knedlington in Yorkshire plants of only seven years from seed were 1 2 ft. high. 

 At Colesborne, however, the growth is very much slower than this, the soil and 

 climate being too poor and cold for this species, which rarely attains any 

 great size in the northern counties. It transplants perhaps better in spring 

 than in autumn, and ripens its wood late, the leaves usually lasting longer than 

 those of the common oak. Its trunk has a tendency to grow straight, and the 

 branches have a peculiarity never seen in common oaks, of thickening close to the 

 trunk. This is shown conspicuously in all the old specimens of the original Lucombe 

 oak, and convince me that its parent was a Q. Cerris. It sometimes grows very 

 tall without forming many branches ; a young tree standing alone in a grass field 

 at Cuffnells was 80 ft. high, with a girth of only 5 ft. 



Remarkable Trees 



The largest Turkey oaks that we have seen or heard of are at Mamhead Park 

 near Exeter, which seems to have exactly the soil and climate best suited not only 

 for this species, but also for the Ilex and cork oaks. Here there are several trees, of 

 which one is the tallest recorded anywhere, and measures at least 1 20 ft. high, with 

 a trunk almost free from branches to about 50 ft. and 13 ft. 8 in. in girth in 1908. 

 It grows at an elevation of 500 to 600 ft. in a sheltered ravine facing east above 

 the house, and is well protected by other tall trees (Plate 317). Another tree 

 remarkable for its immense spread, is on the north side of the entrance-drive below 

 the house, and is about 85 ft. high, with a short bole 18 ft. 9 in. in girth, spreading 

 at the ground, where it measures over 40 ft. round (Plate 318). The total circum- 

 ference of the branches was no less than 140 paces in 1908, being in this respect 

 only surpassed in England by a wonderful Cedar of Lebanon at Langley Park 

 Bucks, the seat of Sir R. Harvey, which I had not seen when Vol. III. was published, 

 and which measures 146 paces round the branches. Besides these grand trees there 

 are two more in the park below the house, one of which is about 115 ft. by 13 ft., 

 with a clean bole 40 ft. long, and the other about 105 ft. by 18 ft. 4 in. Three 

 of these trees are mentioned by Loudon (p. 1861) as having been planted by 

 Lucombe, who is said to have been gardener at Mamhead, and this may have 

 been about 1760, as he raised the original Lucombe oak about 1765 ; and I could 

 find none of the latter now at Mamhead. Their dimensions are given by Loudon 

 as 100 ft. by 12 ft., 90 ft. by 15 ft-, and 80 ft. by 14 ft- i in. AH of them are still 

 in good health, and show no signs of decay in the branches. 



Another very fine tree, though its habit is not at all typical of its kind, is in the 

 deer park at Belton (Plate 316). It measures about 100 ft. high by iS^ ft. in girth, 

 with a short bole of about 12 ft., which in 1905 was attacked by fungus {Polyporus), 

 and will, I fear, decay. It is growing on a red sandy loam. 



Another is a fine tree at Gatton Park, which measures 108 ft. by 12 ft. 8 m., 



2 L 

 V 



