CHAP. CV. CORYLA v CEJE. QUE RCUS. 1797 



green velvet moss, which, in a still greater degree, commonly occupies the bole 

 of the beech, though the beauty and brilliancy of it lose much when in decay. 

 As the trunk rises, you see the brimstone colour taking possession in patches. 

 Of this there are two principal kinds ; a smooth sort, which spreads like a 

 scurf over the bark ; and a rough sort, which hangs in little rich knots and 

 fringes. I call it a brimstone hue, by way of general distinction ; but it some- 

 times inclines to an olive, and sometimes to a light green. Intermixed with 

 these mosses you often find a species almost perfectly white. Before I was 

 acquainted with it, 1 have sometimes thought the tree whitewashed. Here 

 and there, a touch of it gives a lustre to the trunk, and has its effect : yet, on 

 the whole, it is a nuisance; for, as it generally begins to thrive when the other 

 mosses begin to wither (as if the decaying bark were its proper nutriment), it 

 is rarely accompanied with any of the more beautiful species of its kind ; and, 

 when thus unsupported, it always disgusts. This white moss, by the way, is 

 esteemed a certain mark of age, and, when it prevails in any degree, is a clear 

 indication that the vigour of the tree is declining. We find, also, another 

 species of moss, of a dark brown colour, inclining nearly to black ; another of 

 an ashy colour ; and another of a dingy yellow. We may observe, also, touches 

 of red, and sometimes, but rarely, a bright yellow, which is like a gleam of 

 sunshine ; and in many trees you will see one species growing upon another, 

 the knotted brimstone-coloured fringe clinging to a lighter species, or the 

 black softening into red. All these excrescences, under whatever name dis- 

 tinguished, add a great richness to trees ; and, when they are blended harmo- 

 niously, as is generally the case, the rough and furrowed trunk of an old oak, 

 adorned with these pleasing appendages, is an object which will long detain 

 the picturesque eye.' " (Strutt in Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 246.) 



The beauty of oak foliage is universally allowed ; but that of Q. sessiliflora 

 may be said to be most admired in single leaves, and that of the other species 

 in tufts of leaves. The difference between the two species, in this respect, 

 was first pointed out by the Rev. W. T. Bree. " The leaves of Q. pedunculata," 

 he says, " are of a dark deep green ; and, though rather small (and small leaves 

 combine better than large ones), they are numerous, and grow close to the 

 spray, clustered together in dense masses, forming those lovely tufts, or ro- 

 settes, which constitute one of the characteristic beauties of oak foliage. When 

 the wind blows gently, it partially turns up, and displays their glaucous under 

 surfaces in harmonious contrast with the deeper tints of those above, and pre- 

 sents a study worthy of the pencil of Gainsborough. The leaves of Q. sessili- 

 flora, being of a large size, are fewer in number, and less thickly set ; consequently 

 they do not mass so well. One of the specific distinctions of Q. sessiliflora 

 is, that it bears its leaves on footstalks ; and this circumstance gives to the 

 foliage a loose and straggling appearance, and a want of depth and solidity, 

 which greatly detract from its general effect. For the same reason it is that 

 many of the fine American species of oak, beautiful as they are, must yield the 

 palm, in point of foliage, to the monarch of our British forests, Q. pedunculata." 

 (Gard. Mag., vol. xii. p. 534.) 



Soil, Sf-c. Oaks, according to Nichols, " flourish best, and grow the quickest, 

 in a rich deep loamy soil ,• and I have found by experiments and general 

 observations, for more than 30 years, that the wood of such trees is of the 

 firmest and best texture, and I believe it will be so found in all the different 

 species of trees that grow the fastest." He agrees with BufFon in ascribing 

 this to the increased thickness of the annual layers of fast-growing trees, in 

 comparison with those that grow slower. (Obs., &c, p. 41.) Monteath, in his 

 Forester's Guide, 2d edit., has " observed that the oak grows fastest, and 

 makes the best hearted-timber, in strong good clay soils." In proof of this, 

 he refers to oak trees on the estates of Alloa, Airthrey, and Alva, the two 

 latter on the face of the Ochil Hills. The trees on these estates, he says, 

 although " very rapid in growth," produce " most excellent timber. In a 

 tree from 2 ft. to 3 ft. in diameter, there will not be above three quarters of 

 an inch of white or sap wood ; and in the very heart of the topmost branch 



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