° AMENTACEjs. [Quercus. 



VII. QuEECus, Linjt. Oak. 



_ " Barren floivers in a lax catkin or sj^i/ce, without scales. Pe- 

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

 Fertile flowers aggregated or in a lax spike. Involucre 1-flowered, 

 of many little scales united into a cup. Perianth single, closely 

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

 Stigmas 3 — 4, oblong, compressed. Nut (or acorn) solitary, sur- 

 rounded at the base by the enlarged cup-shaped indurated invo- 

 lucre." — Br. Fl. 



1. Q. Eobur, L. Common British Oak.* "Leaves deciduous 

 very shortly stalked oblongo-obovate deeply sinuate, their sinuses 

 acute, lobes obtuse, fruit 2—3 upon a mostly elongated peduncle." 

 ~Br. Fl. E. B. t. 1342. Br. Fl. p. 408. Q, pedunculata, Willd. 



In woods, coppices and hedgerows; abundant. Fl. April, May. Ij. 



Woods, hedges, &c., everywhere. Some of the finest Oak-timber in the island 

 grows at Nunwell, where are many noble trees of this species, of very greirt but 

 not exiraordinary dimensions. 



Leaves alternate, somewhat crowded at the ends of the twigs and appearing as 

 It fasciculate, firm, deep green and more or less shining above, pale and whitish 

 beneath, usually quite glabrous, on very short grooved petioles or subsessile, 

 oblong or obovato-oblong in outline, deeply and unequally sinuate-lobed, the 

 lobes entire, very obtuse and rounded, not mucronate, the corresponding lobes on 

 each side seldom exactly opposite one another and usually of very unequal size, 

 the margins of the lobes often deflexed, and the entire leaf concavo-convex or 

 vaulted, sometimes quite flat, but in general the surface is more or less undulating, 

 curled or twisted ; base of the leaves mostly unequal, attenuate and rounded, with 

 a deep round notch or sinus on each side of the petiole, forming two lobes or 

 auricles : the leaves of this species usually lie in plains variously inclined to one 

 another, and this, together with their wavy surface, convexity and irregular sinuo- 

 sity, combine to give an appearance of scrubbiness to the foliage as compared 

 with the next. Acorns solitary, in pairs or clustered on a common erect or lax 

 ■peduncle, varying in length from 1 inch or under to 4 or 5 inches, ovoid-oblong 

 or elliptical-oblong. Cup hemispherical, covered with numerous small, close- 

 pressed, imbricating, ovate or oblong scales, that are minutely pubescent and 

 ciliated. 



2. Q. sessilifolia, Salisb. Sessile-fruited Oak. Chestnut Oak. 

 Vect. Maiden Oak ? Leaves deciduous very distinctly petiolate 

 oblong- obovate deeply sinuate or sinuato-pinnatifid, the sinuses 

 for the most part somewhat acute, lobes rounded obtuse, fruit 

 clustered on a short erect stalk or sessile or both, cup of the 

 acorn hemispherical scaly (pubescent ?) Svensk. Bot. ii. t. 73. 

 E. B. t. 1845. Q. Eobur, L., &. : Br. Fl. p. 403. Q. intermedia, 

 D. Don. 



p. Leaves downy nnderneath. 



In woods ; rare ? Fl. April, May. Fr. September, October. Tj . 



F. Med. — A single tree on the edge of Quarr copse, by the side of the New- 

 port road, 1844. In East-Slanden copse, 1845. On Bordwood forest, abundantly, 

 JV. Boner, Esq., 1 844. 



* Trans, of Bot. Soc. of Edinb. vol. i. p. 65, ' On the Botanical Character of 

 the British Oaks,' by E. K. Greville. 



