OR, PLAIN TEACHING. 



207 



quercus, which is the Latin word 

 for an oak tree. 

 The oak is dis- 

 tinguished by its 

 acorn or nut, 2, 

 being situated in 

 a cup, 3, and not 

 in a close husk, 

 like the nuts of 

 the beech, 585, 

 and the walnut, y 

 588. But many 

 573 - of the oaks of the 

 hotter part of Asia, have the 

 acorn completely 

 enclosed in the 

 capsule, while some 

 of the natives of 

 North America have 

 the acorn nearly 

 enclosed, 4. 



The long, pen- 

 574 - dulous, slender cat- 

 kins, 5, are the male flowers ; 

 the female flowers growing upon 

 erect axillary peduncles, 6,* a 

 few flowers only 

 being upon each 

 peduncle. 



Oaks are mostly 

 of large size, and, 



7 



in point of usefulness to man, 

 are equalled only by the pine 



* Axillary, meaning the pit formed by the union of 

 the Btcm with the branch, an arm-pit; peduncle, the 

 etem that supports the fructification. 



and fir tribes : the latter may 

 be considered the domestic, and 

 the former the defensive trees of 

 civilized society, in temperate 

 regions throughout the world. 



The leaves of the different 

 varieties of oaks differ conside- 

 rably. The true oak-leaf 7, is 

 smooth, oblong, expanded up- 

 wards, and the indentations of 

 the margin rather acute ; but 



577. 



m numerous varieties of oaks 

 the leaves assume various forms, 

 9, 10, 11, while instances 

 have occurred in which the whole 

 of these forms have been found 

 upon a single tree. 



The entire tree or shrub, in the case of every 

 species of oak, may be considered as highly 

 ornamental : the least so are the willow-leaved 

 oaks, and the most so, the lobed and deeply 

 sinuated leaved kinds. The foliage, even of the 

 same species, varies exceedingly; not only on 

 different individuals, but on the same individual 

 at different seasons of the year. In spring, the 

 leaves of many of the deciduous kinds are 

 small, delicate, and beautifully tinged with 

 yellow and red ; in summer they are broad and 

 green; and in autumn tough, leather-like, of a 

 russet brown, scarlet, or blood-red colour. 

 Nothing can be more remarkable than the 

 ariation in the forms of the leaves, in the same 

 individual, in some of the American species; 

 those of the tree, when young, being sometimes 

 lobed or notched, while those of the mature tree 

 are entire ; and the contrary. 



Comparing the forms and outlines of oaks 

 with the forms and outlines of other trees, we 

 shah nnd that they have greatly the advantage 

 in point of character and variety. The forms 



