QUERCUS. 



Linn. Sp. PI. 1414. Willd. n. 63. Ait. n. 22. (Pha- 

 gus efciilus, mas et foemiiia ; Dalech. Hilt. 5.) — Leaves 

 ovate-oblong, finuatcd, fmooth ; paler beneath ; fegnients 

 bliintini ; fomewhat angular at the bafe. Fruit nearly fef- 

 file. Calyx fcaly, hemifpherical. — Native of the foiith of 

 Europe. Cultivated by Miller in 1739; hardy in our 

 gardens, flowering m May. jlkon. So little attention has 

 been paid to this fpccies by botanical writers, that we can 

 find no certain dclcription nor figure of it, except in Dale- 

 champ. We CYcn doubt whether the plant intended in the 

 firft edition of the Hortus Kewenfis be the true one ; yet 

 this fcems what Willdenow meant in iiis Arlores, or Baum- 

 zucht, though he does not cite either that work or Hort. 

 Kcw. in his Sp. PI. What Linnxus briefly dtfcribed in hio 

 Mantifla, 496, under the name of Efculm, feems to be 

 Cm-is, with which latter the defcription, copied by Will- 



is more general in the woods and hedges of Britain, nor 

 more important as an objett of national culture. The /ree 

 is the moll ornamental to our plantatipns and landfcapes ; 

 the, -wood more ufeful than any other, for its hardnefs, 

 toughnefs, and durability ; the lari peculiarly valuable for 

 tanning. The /iwes are alternate, with ii.ort, or fcarccly 

 any, footftalks, obovate-oblong, fmooth, irregularly finu- 

 ated, with obtufe, rounded, pointlefs, entire lobes ; their 

 upper fide of a rich fliining green ; the under paler, flighlly 

 glaucous ; the bafe fomewhat heart -fliapcd, or auricled. 

 CluJ}crs, or rather fp'ikcs, axillary ; the male ones lax, pen- 

 dulous, many-flowered, yellow ; female on ftalks an inch 

 and a half or two inches long, compofed of about tl •ee, 

 laterally feflile, green Jloiucrs, furmounted by a naked 

 elongation of the common flalk. Calyx of the male mem- 

 branous, bell-fliaped, moftly fivc-clett, with about ten 



denow, and the fpccific charafter extrafted therefrom, well Jlamciu ; of tlie female coriaceous, fcaly, downy, globofe, 



agree ; but not at all with the original and authentic fpeci- 

 men of EJhilus in the Liinixan herbarium. By this lafl. 

 alone can any one determine what Linna:ns had in con- 

 templation, when he wrote both editions of Species Planta- 

 rum, and we fliall here defcribe the fpecimen. The branch 

 is angular, furrowed, and imooth. Leaves fcattered, ag- 

 gregate at the top, from two to three inches long, and one 

 and a half, at mofl, in breadth ; fmooth and fhining above ; 

 paler, rather glaucous, and almoft; equally fmooth, beneath, 

 with finely reticulated veins ; tapering at the very bafe, but 

 juft above it dilated, angular, and in fome meafure cordate, 

 as Dalechamp's figures more dilUnftly fliew. The fummit 

 is obtufe, and the margin cut unequally, on each fide, into 

 about five broad, blunt, entire, tooth-like ferraturcs, or 

 fmall lobes. Footjlalhs near an inch long, deftitute of the 

 long, linear, tufted, flipulaceous fcales, or raiiienta, found 

 in Aegtlops, Cerr'is, and aujlnaca hereafter mentioned. 

 Young aeorns axillary, nearly feflile, folitary or in pairs ; 

 the cups (caly, the fize of fmall peas. Dalechamp reprc- 

 fents the full-grown acorns about an inch long, embraced 

 by an hemifpherical fcaly cup, about one-third that length. 

 He fays they are fweet and eatable, brought to table roafted 

 by the Spaniards, as well as the rullic Italians, but fome- 

 times found to afi"eft the head, like darnel. The name 

 Efculus is derived by etymologills from efca, food, and is 

 commonly taken for the Beech-tree, ordinary readers of 

 Virgil's Georgics not diftinguifliing one from the other ; 

 jufl as the Cicada of that poet has been vulgarly fuppofed 

 the grafshopper. The Delphiu edition of the Georgics has 

 the above word Aejculus, as Linnaeus has adopted it, un- 

 warrantably, for the generic jppellation of the Horfe Chei- 

 nut ; and the editors rightly obferve, that fome perfons 

 .confound it wi'h Fagus, the Beech. Our Q. Efculus is 

 moil probably the 'J>i)o: of Diofcorides, which he exprcfsly 

 fays is a kind of Oak. See Fagus. 



71. Q. Rolur. Common Britifli Oak. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 1414. Sm. Fl. Brit. n. I. Engl. Bot. t. 1342. Woodv. 

 Med. Bot. t. 126. Mart. Rufl. t. 10, var. pedunculata. 

 (Q. pedunculata; Willd. n. 65. Ehrh. Arb. 77. PI. 

 Oft". 168. Ait. n. 24. Q. foemina ; Roth. Germ. v. i. 

 408. V. 2. p. 2. 488. Fl. Dan. t. 1 180. O. racemofa ; 

 Lamarck Dift. v. I. 715. Q. cum longo pediculo ; 

 Bauh. Pin. 420. Q. liemeris ; Dalech. Hift. 4. Quercus ; 

 Fuchf. Hill. 229. Matth. Valgr. v. i. 184. Duham. 

 Arb. v. 2. t. 47. Tabern. Kreuterb. 1374. Oak-Tree ; 

 Hunt. Evel. Sylv. 69, with a plate.) Leaves deciduous, 

 oblong, fmooth, dilated upwards ; finufes rather acute ; 

 lobes obtufe. Stalks of the fruit elongated. Nut ob- 

 long. — Common in woods and hedges, throughout the more 

 temperate parts of Europe, flowering in April. Nothing 



at length hemifpherical, woody, entire. Germen ovate. 

 Style fliort, cylindrical. Stigmas three. Acorn elliptic-ob- 

 long, thrice the length of the cup. This lacing what Lin- 

 naeus, as well as Britiflt botanills, always confidered as 

 Qiicrcus Robur, the fuperior quality of its wood, no where 

 better underftood than here, entitling it, above all others, 

 to that appellation, we cannot, on any account, lubmit to 

 the errors of Willdenow, or any other writer, who has been 

 pleafed to change the name ; and we feel equal furprife and 

 regret that the excellent editors of the new Hort. Kew. 

 fliould, in this cafe at leafl;, have carried their implicit con- 

 formity fo far. We trull they will hereafter corredl them- 

 felves in this point, as well as in the barbarous name Arau- 

 caria, retained by Willdenow, contrary to all propriety, for 

 DoMBEYA. See that article. 



72. Q. fijilifiora. Seflile-fruited Oak. Sahfb. Prodr. 

 392. Sm. Fl. Brit. n. 2, cz. Engl. Bot. t. 1845. (Q. 

 Robur; Willd. n. 64. Ait. n. 23. Lamai-ck Dift. v. i. 

 717. Mart. Rull. t. n, var. feflilis. Q. feflilis; Ehrh. 

 Arb. 87. Q. platyphyllos mas et foemina ; Dalech Hill. 

 2, 3. Q. latifolia mas, quae brevi pediculo ell ; Bauh. Pia. 

 419. Rail Syn. 440.) — Leaves on longilh footftalks, de- 

 ciduous, oblong, fmooth ; finufes oppofitc, rather acute ; 

 lobes obtufe. Fruit feflile. Nut oblong. — Native of 

 woods and hedges, in the temperate parts of Europe ; 

 rather lefs common in England than the preceding, flower- 

 ing in April or May. Profelfor Martyn has rightly cor- 

 rected Miller, who mentions the prefent as the common 

 Oak of this country, and the former as rare. Why the 

 German botanills, like Lamarck, take this for Robur, is 

 difficult to underftand, unlels the meafure originated in in- 

 attention to the qualities, as well as hillory, of the trees. 

 The wood of our feffilijlora, in which name we gladly follow 

 Mr. Salilbury, is of far lefs value than the true Britifli Oak, 

 and the irhportance of diftinguiflfing the two fpecies be- 

 comes, therefore, the more obvious. The leaves grow on 

 longer footjlalhs, and are generally more equally and re. 

 gularly pinnatifid. The female flowers, and the acorns, are 

 almoft perfeftly feflile. In Englifli Botany ionr Jligmas are 

 delineated ; but we know not how far that character, wliich 

 would be an excellent one, is conllant. 



73. Q. pubcfcens. Downy-waved-leaved Oak. Willd. 

 n. 66, excluding the reference to Fl. Brit. (Q. Robur 

 lanuginofa ; Lamarck Dift. v. I. 717. Robur prima; 

 Cluf. Hift. V. 1. 18.) — Leaves obloug-obovate, ftalked, 

 finuated ; downy beneath; lobes obtufe, angular, wavy; 

 fomewhat heart-fliaped and unequal at the bafe. Fruii 

 nearly feflile. — Native of France, Auftria, Hungary, Tar- 

 tary,' and of the Val d'Aoft, Piedmont, in which laft place 

 it was gathered by Mr. Davall. We have feen a tree ot 



L 1 2 th^s 



