Fagus.] LXXIII. AMENTACE^. 407 



1. F. sylvatica, Linn. (fig. 916). Common B.—A tall tree, with a 

 straight, smooth trunk, and large, dense head. Leaves shortly stalked, 

 ovate, entire, or obscurely toothed, silky when young, glabrous when 

 full-grown. Catkins or flower-heads softly silky-hairy, the males 4 to 

 6 lines diameter, on slender, drooping peduncles 1 to 1^ inches long, 

 consisting of about a dozen flowers. Female catkins nearly as large, 

 but on a very short, erect peduncle. Fruiting catkin about £ inch 

 diameter; the prickles rather soft and silky, containing 2 or 3 tri- 

 angular nuts, called masts. 



In temperate Europe, extending eastward to the Caucasus and north- 

 ward into southern Scandinavia, becoming rather a mountain plant in 

 southern Europe. Extensively planted in Britain, establishing itself 

 readily as a naturalised tree, but indigenous only in England. FL 

 spring. 



VII. QUERCUS. OAK. 



Flowers monoecious, the males in slender, pendulous catkins or spikes, 

 usually interrupted, without any or with only very small catkin-scales. 

 Stamens 6 to 12, with similar filaments, surrounded by about as many 

 narrow scales, sometimes united into an irregular perianth. Female 

 flowers solitary or clustered, each one surrounded by an involucre of 

 small imbricated scales. Perianth adherent to the ovary at its base, 

 with a short toothed border. Ovary 3-celled, with 2 pendulous ovules 

 in each cell. Style 3-lobed. Nut or acorn oblong, ovoid, or globular, 

 protruding from a woody cup or involucre formed by the enlarged scales. 



A very numerous genus, extending over nearly the whole of the nor- 

 thern hemisphere, excepting the extreme north, but only penetrating 

 into the tropics along the chain of the Andes or in the Moluccas. 

 Many exotic species have evergreen or entire leaves, or are mere shrubs, 

 but are all readily recognised by the fruit, in which the involucre never 

 so completely encloses the nut as in the Chestnut and Beech. Among 

 the most frequent in our plantations may be mentioned the evergreen or 

 Ilex 0. (Q. Ilex) from southern Europe, the Cork-tree (Q. Suber) from 

 south-western Europe, the Turkey or moss-cupped 0. (Q. Cerris) from 

 south-eastern Europe, the red 0. (Q. rubra), and some others, from 

 North America. 



1. Q,. Kobur, Linn. (fig. 917). British 0. — A stately tree, one of the 

 largest and longest-lived natives of our islands. Leaves deciduous, 

 although in some varieties they remain through a great part of the 

 winter, usually obovate or oblong, irregularly sinuate or almost pinna- 

 tifid ; the lobes usually obtuse, glabrous or (rarely in Britain) downy 

 underneath. Cup very much shorter than the acorn, with short, obtuse, 

 closely imbricated, often scarcely distinct scales. 



Extends over the whole of Europe, except the extreme north, pene- 

 trating along the chain of the Caucasus a considerable way into central 

 Asia, although farther north it does not cross the Ural. Fl. spring, as 

 the leaves are coming out. It varies considerably in foliage and inflor- 

 escence, and throughout its range two remarkable forms appear so 

 definite and usually so permanent that many of the most acute 

 botanists regard them as distinct species. The question of their 



