THE OAK. 89 



varieties are resolvable, however, into two principal 

 ones, and these two are so nearly connected by inter- 

 mediates, that it is probable the oak of old England is 

 after all very like a human face, — presented under in- 

 numerable profiles and complexions, but always and 

 everywhere the same good old-fashioned combination 

 of features that was possessed in the beginning. The 

 two principal forms are the wavy-leaved oak and the 

 flat-leaved, called respectively by men of science, 

 Quercus robur and Quercus sessiliflora. The former is 

 distinguished by its remarkably tortuous branches, 

 and the irregular disposition of the foliage, every leaf 

 lying in a different plane, and the whole presenting 

 an aspect of great massiveness. Leaf-stalk there is 

 scarcely any ; the acorns, on the other hand, are 

 borne upon peduncles of several inches in length. 

 Individually, the leaves, as expressed in the name, 

 have a strong tendency to be wavy in their surface 

 and outline. The flat-leaved oak differs in its com- 

 pact form, and strong disposition to roundness ; the 

 branches are more horizontal, the leaves lie in parallel 

 planes, and individually are flat, and with rather long 

 stalks. In spring, we may further observe that the 

 leaf-buds are larger; and in autumn that the acorns 

 are shorter and broader than in the other, and that 

 they are almost or totally destitute of peduncles ; if 

 present, the peduncles are stout, not slim and delicate 

 as in the wave-leaved. These are distinctions very 

 8* 



