Fag us.] amentace.e. 469 



W. Med. — A very fine round-topped tree in Elm copse, between Shalfleet and 

 Calboume, preserving exactly the characters of the Bordwood Oak, 1844. 

 p. Near Shalfleet. 



Distinguishable in its most defined form from Q. Robur by its usually larger 

 and broader, flatter and more regularly spreading or imbricating leaves, which 

 are distinctly petiolate, the petioles yellowish or reddish, in general of a lighter 

 move shining green, sometimes however dark green, for the most part obovate 

 rather than oblong, less deeply, more regularly and evenly sinuate, the sinuses 

 more exactly opposite and inclined to acuteness at bottom rather than to be 

 rounded or obtuse; by a greater massiveness of foliage and compactness of the 

 whole tree, which is, I think, more disposed to assume a rounded head ; by its 

 more horizontally spreading less tortuous branches and spray, larger sized leaf- 

 buds, and essentially by bearing acorns that are either quite sessile or wholly or 

 in part on short, erect, stout peduncles, and in general more numerously clustered. 

 The bark is thought to be lighter coloured, and the leaves more ai>t lo be persis- 

 tent through the winter : I think I have remarked the former to be smoother on 

 young trees, at least than in Q. Robur. The acorns of the present species are 

 rather ovoid than oblong, the cup approaching to one-half the entire length of the 

 gland ; they are stated moreover, when ripe, to have very generally a red or pink- 

 ish colour. All these characters are liable to great exception, fluctuating so 

 variously between those laid down for the two species as fairly to induce suspi- 

 cion of their being really distinct as such. Still, as Mr. Bree truly observes, 

 "though there are sessile oaks bearing fruit or peduncles, and pedunculated oaks 

 bearing almost sessile fruit, there is yet a certain indescribable something about 

 the trees, by means of which I can always distinguish each, without minutely 

 examining either the acorns or the leafstalks."* 



The present is certainly the handsomer tree of the two, with a certain faint 

 approach to tlie sweet or Spanish Chestnut in aspect, and it is said in the appear- 

 ance and quality of the wood likewise, having, it would seem, been commonly 

 mistaken for that of the former in the timber of some of our oldest edifices. This 

 species approaches in aspect more nearly to some of the American oaks than our 

 commoner kind does. 



The characters distinguishing Q. sessiliflora which I have found most constant 

 are ihosejof the fruit- and leaf-stalks, forjthough the acorns are often elevated on 

 a very distinct peduncle I have never seen the latter anything like so slender and 

 elongated as in Q. Robur, notwithstanding that this last sometimes bears its 

 acorns on an abbreviated stalk very similar to the occasional one of Q. sessili- 

 Jlora. The leaves in Q. Robur are most commonly very unequal at the base, 

 with so deep a notch or sinus on one or both sides of the petiole as to appear 

 auricled ; in Q. sessiliflora the base of the leaf is more equal, and the notch, if 

 any exist, very shallow. In the former, too, the leaves are waved and stand out 

 at various angles to one another; in Q. sessiliflora the leaves are remarkably flat, 

 and lie over each other in a horizontal position and in parallel planes. 



I suspect Q. sessiliflora is always a smaller tree than our common Oak; nor 

 can I by any means agree with Fries (' Novitiae') in thinking that the difierences 

 between the two are owing to poorness of soil, as he confidently affirms.f 



VIII. Fagus, Linn. Beech. 



" Barren floivers in a globose catkin. Perianth campanulate, 

 6-cleft. Stamens 8 — 15. Anthers 2-celled. — Fertile floivers 2 

 together withm a 4-lobed involucre. Perianth urceolate, with 4 — 5 

 minute lobes. Ovary incorporated with the perianth, 3 -celled, 2 



* Loud. Arb. Brit. vol. iii. p. 1738. 



f [For a further exposition of the author's views respecting our British oaks, 

 see Phytol. iii. pp. 882— 884.— Edrs.'] 



