que'rcus. 



238 



RAKING. 



kinds are sometimes called Aronia. All 

 the plants belonging to the genus Pyrus 

 are quite hardy, and will grow freely 

 in any common garden soil, and they 

 may all be raised from seeds, or grafted 



on the Wild Crab, or Wild Pea* 1 , or 

 on the Hawthorn, which, though be- 

 longing to the genus Crataegus, is 

 very nearly allied to Pyrus. 



Q. 



Quaking-grass. — See Briza. 



Qua'ssia. — SirnarubiacecB. — Stove 

 shrubs, natives of the East Indies, 

 the bark, wood, and root of which are 

 so intensely bitter, that an extract 

 from the bark of some of the species is 

 used as a substitute for hops in 

 making beer, and also as a poison for 

 flies. Q. amara is very ornamental 

 from its long upright racemes of bright 

 scarlet flowers, the petals of which 

 are curiously twisted together. The 

 leaves also are very remarkable; they 

 are impari-pinnate, with only two 

 pairs of leaflets, the midribs of the 

 leaflets, and also that of the main leaf, 

 which is winged, being pink. The 

 plants flower freely, if allowed plenty 

 of heat. They should be grown in 

 loam mixed with peat or sand; and 

 they are propagated by cuttings. 



Queen's Needlework. — Spircea 

 Salicifolia. — See Spiraea. 



Que'rcus. — Amentacece, or Cu- 

 puliferce. — The Oak. The species 

 are chiefly forest trees, but Q. Ilex, 

 the evergreen Oak, and some of its 

 varieties, may be treated as shrubs, 

 and are very ornamental on lawns, 

 and in pleasure-grounds. Some of 

 the kinds of the Turkey Oak, Q. 

 C err is, are also very ornamental, 

 particularly Q. C. Lucombeana, 

 which grows rapidly and forms a very 

 handsome pyramidal tree. It ought 

 however, to be purchased in pots, as 

 it produces but few lateral roots, and 

 seldom grows well, if it is trans- 

 planted from the open ground. The 

 American Oaks are very handsome, 

 particularly for the colours their 

 leaves take in winter. Q. coectnea, 

 and Q. rubra, have deeply cut leaves, 



which become of a beautiful red in 

 autumn ; as do the leaves of Q.palus- 

 tris, which are more elegantly shaped 

 than those of any of the other kinds. 

 Some of the dwarf American bear 

 Oaks, such as Q. Bamsteri, and Q. 

 ilicifbiia, do not grow above two or 

 three feet high ; and they are called 

 bear Oaks, because in their native 

 countries the bears can eat their 

 acorns, without climbing. 



Quince. — See Cydonia. 



Quincunx. — A mode of planting 

 trees in rows, by which the plants in 

 one row are opposite the spaces in the 

 next ; so as to form a succession of 

 diamonds. See Jig. 27. 



27. 



f 



<0 J0 * 



TREES IN QUINCUNX. 



Quisqua v lis . — Combretacece. — A 

 stove climber, a native of the East 

 Indies, with singular flowers ; and 

 large and handsome leaves. The 

 flowers are shaped something like 

 those of the Jasmine, but with an 

 excessively long tube, and a very 

 small limb, which when it first ex- 

 pands is white, but which afterwards 

 becomes pink, getting darker and 

 darker, till it finally becomes of a 

 blood-red. The plant should be 

 grown in loam and peat, and it is pro- 

 pagated by cuttings struck in sand 

 under a hand-glass. 



