i26o The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



in 1838 that it was raised about seventy-five years previously {i.e. in 1763, a trifling 

 discrepancy in the date) by " Lucombe, who was founder of the Exeter Nursery, from 

 seed gathered by him off a specimen tree of Q. Cerris which grew in his nursery, near 

 to one of Q. Suber." 



The additional fact in Pince's account, which was derived from the younger 

 Lucombe, who perfectly recollected the raising of the Lucombe oak in his father's 

 nursery, is the existence of a cork oak, which must have pollinated one of the flowers 

 of the parent Turkey oak. The botanical characters of Q. Lucombeana, which are 

 partly those of Q. Cerris and partly those of Q. Suber, are thus satisfactorily accounted 

 for ; and, as is often the case in first crosses, the original Lucombe oak is remarkable 

 for its vigour of growth. 



From Hargham, in Norfolk, Sir Hugh Beevor sends us specimens of a natural 

 seedling, about twenty-four years old, which originated in a similar manner from the 

 acorn of a Q. Cerris, situated about 40 yds. to the westward of a Q. Suber. This 

 tree, which is taller than a pure Q. Cerris of the same age beside it, has not yet borne 

 acorns, but it resembles Q. Lucombeana in foliage. The leaves are similar in shape, 

 having acute, triangular, strongly mucronate teeth ; but it is only of late that their 

 under surface has begun to develop the dense white tomentum that is so characteristic 

 of the mature Lucombe oak. 



The Lucombe oak was always propagated at the Exeter Nursery by grafting it 

 upon Q. Cerris. The original tree was cut down when it was about twenty years 

 old ; but a grafted tree in the Exeter Nursery, planted in 1802, had attained 50 ft. in 

 height and 8^ ft. in girth in 1837, and is figured^ by Loudon, who mentions older 

 trees ^ at Killerton and Carclew, the former eighty years old, and the latter seventy 

 years old in 1834. 



Seedlings of the Lucombe Oak 



The original Lucombe oak, and the trees propagated from it by grafts, must be 

 carefully distinguished from its seedlings, the history of which was clearly given to 

 Loudon by Pince. These were raised by the younger Lucombe from acorns gathered 

 from one of the grafted Lucombe oaks in 1792. As usually is the case, when the seed 

 of a first cross is sown, a great number of varieties resulted, of which three were 

 selected and propagated in the Exeter Nursery by grafting on Q. Cerris. Two other 

 seedlings were reared at a later period, about 1830. None of these varieties 

 appear to have been as vigorous ' as the parent, and all had very corky bark, and 

 kept their leaves till late in the season. These varieties all agree with the parent 

 in the character of the branchlets and the mucronate points on the teeth or 



' Arb. et Frut. Brit. in. figs. 171 2, 1713, The measurement given under fig. 1712 is erroneous; it is correctly stated 

 on p. 1855, where Loudon quotes a letter from Pince, dated 4th April 1837, describing the tree. 



2 The ages are given in round numbers, and are not strictly accurate, as none of the trees can be so old as 1763 or 1765, 

 the dates given by Holwell and Pince for the original tree. 



3 The comparative rate of growth is shown by the following measurements of the trees in the Exeter Nursery, which were 

 taken in 1837 — 



^ . . , , , , Years old. Height in feet. Girth in feet. 



Origmal— grafted Lucombe , . -35 5° ^\ 



Seedling — var. crispa .45 63 9 



,, var. mberosa 45 45 7^ 



,, var. incisa . . .45 45 7 



