CHAP. CV. C'OUYlVcETE. ^UE'RCUS. 1911 



gives it that red hue for which it has been so long celebrated ; and which is of 

 so very permanent a nature, that, according to M'Culloch (Diet., art. Kermes), 

 the old tapestries of Brussels, and other parts of Flanders, although manu- 

 factured more than a couple of centuries, have lost none of their richness of 

 tint. Beckmann has introduced in the account of this production given in his 

 History of Inventions, vol. i. p. 171 — 191., first edit, trans., all that was known 

 of it in his time. Since the discovery of America, the Coccus cacti (or co- 

 chineal) has, however, in a great degree supplanted the Coccus ilicis. Mr. 

 M'Culloch erroneously states that the kermes is of the same species as the 

 true Mexican cochineal. The kermes, nevertheless, is still extensively pre- 

 pared in some parts of Spain, India, and Persia; and Dr. Bancroft {On Per- 

 manent Colours, i. 303 — 409.) states that, with the solution of tin, which is 

 used with the cochineal, the kermes is capable of imparting a scarlet quite as 

 brilliant as that dye ; and perhaps more permanent. At the same time, 

 however, as 10 or 12 pounds contain only as much colouring matter as one 

 of cochineal, the latter, at its ordinary price, is the cheaper. — J. 0. W. 



1 * 33. Q. pseu^do-cocci'fera Desf. The false berry-bearing Kermes, or Oak. 



Identification. Desf. Atl., 2. p. 349. ; Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 432. ; N. Du Ham., 7. p. 160. ; Smith in 



Rees's Cycl., No. 35. 

 Synonymes* Chene a faux Kermes, Fr. ; Stechernde Eiche, Ger. 

 Engravings. N. Du Ham., t. 48. f. 1. ; and our fig. 1794. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves elliptic-oblong, rigid, smooth on both sides, with spiny serra- 

 tures. Nut ovate. Calyx with flat slightly spreading scales. (Desf.) " Observed by 

 Desfontaines at Algiers and about Mount Atlas. At Tunis it is called the " meal- 

 bearing oak," probably from the use of the acorns as food. It forms a tree from 15 ft. 

 to 20 ft. high, with round branches, clothed with rusty down when young. The leaves 

 are twice or thrice as long as those of Q. coccifera, thicker, and less wavy, with much 

 smaller and shorter spinous serratures, rather than teeth. Calyx clothed with nume- 

 rous, flat, short, slightly spreading scales. Nut ovate, pointed. In the Nouveau Du 

 Hamel, it is supposed to be a native of Provence, as well as of Algiers. From the 

 engraving in that work, of which fig. 1794. is a reduced copy, it appears to be interme- 

 diate between Q. /'lex and Q. coccifera. A plant bearing this name in 1837, in the 

 Horticultural Society's Garden, is considered by Dr. Lindley as a different species. 1'^* 



(See App. i.) 



1 34. Q. £u v ber L. The Cork Tree. 



Identification. Lin. Sp. PI., 1413. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 433. ; Ait. Hort. Kew, 5. p. 289. ; N. Du 



Ham., 7. p. 159. ; Smith in Rees's Cycl., No. 33. 

 Synonymes. Suber Cam. Epit., 115. ; S. Prinus Matth. Valgr., 1. p. 127. ; S. latifolium, kc.,Du Ham, 



Arb., 2. p. 291., Ger. Emac, 1347. ; Chene Liege, Fr. ; Kork Eiche, Ger. ; Alcornoquc, Span. 

 Engravings. Hunt. Evel. Syl., t. in p. 362. ; N. Du Ham., 7. t. 45. ; Dend. Brit., t. 89. ; our 



figs. 1797. and 1798. ; and the plate of this tree in our last Volume. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves ovate-oblong, bluntish, coriaceous ; entire, or 

 sharply serrated; downy beneath. Bark cracked, fungous. {Willd.) A 

 tree, growing to the height of 20 ft. or 30 ft. in the south of Europe and 

 north of Africa ; well known as being the only tree producing that impor- 

 tant article, cork, in sufficient quantities for commerce. It was introduced 

 in or before 1699, by the Duchess of Beaufort ; and, being readily pro- 

 pagated by acorns, which are received from France and Spain, and some- 

 times ripened in England, it is not unfrequent in collections ; and, in some 

 gardens, it forms a very handsome tree. 



Varieties. These, we have no doubt, are as numerous as the varieties of Q„ 

 .Tlex, in countries where the tree is indigenous. None are in cultivation 

 in British gardens under any particular name : but their leaves, in different 

 places, the cork trees having been all raised from seed, will be found to vary 

 in magnitude, in length relatively to breadth, and in the character of their 

 margins, which are either wavy, serrate, or dentate, The most striking 

 variety which we have seen is at Muswell Hill, and is represented at fig. 

 1796. of the natural size ; fig. 1795. representing a specimen of the species, 

 also from a tree at Muswell Hill. This variety differs so remarkably from 

 the species, that some consider it as Q. Pseudo-tfiiber : but that species, 

 according to Bosc, the Nouveau Du Hamel, and the plants in the Horticul- 

 tural Society's Garden and at Messrs. Loddiges's, is decidedly deciduous ; 

 and, in its buds and mossy cups, has more the character of Q. 6'crris than of 

 Q. Saber, We acknowledge, however, that the leaves of the plant at 



