34 



there are two well-marked species of oaks native of the British 

 Isles. 



What is known as the pedunculate oak has two small auricles 

 at the base of the leaf, the stalk of the acorns vary from one to 

 six inches long. This is the oak that usually bears huge trunks. 

 It is claimed that all the famous oaks of history are of this 

 species. It is the common oak of Hampshire, and remarkably fine 

 specimens are to be seen in the New Forest and in some parts of 

 Dorset. Notwithstanding introductions from other countries, the 

 oak is still the monarch of our forests, and in the days when 

 foreign timber will have become scarcer and dearer there is no 

 doubt the oak will again come to its own. With the possible ex- .. 

 ception of the yew, , no other of our native trees can compare with 

 the oak as regards size and longevity. Its maximum duration of 

 life is probably not less than one thousand years. 



In the sessile oak (also known as the Durmast or white oak 

 the leaves have a long stalk or petiole, but the acorns are inserted 

 on the branches and not stalked as in the pedunculate oak. 

 Further, it comes into flower and leaf later by some days than the 

 other species, and it is said to be less liable to the attacks of the 

 roller moth. As corroborating this the Hon. Gerald Lascelles, late 

 deputy-surveyor of the New Forest, says that he has seen the 

 Durmast or sessile oak " standing out in brilliant foliage when, 

 owing to the attacks of the moth, every other oak in the wood 

 around was as bare of leaf as in winter." There is a difference 

 of opinion as to the relative merit of the timber of the pedunculate 

 and sessile oaks. Laslett, a recognised authority, says that, 

 though he agrees generally with the opinion once prevalent that 

 the timber of the sessile or Durmast oak was slightly inferior, 

 he felt bound to admit that during a' long experience in working 

 the timber of both oaks he had not been able to discover any 

 important difference between them. Owing to the application of 

 iron to shipbuilding and architecture the oak has lost some of its 

 former importance, but the timber has no rival for dignity and 

 durability, and very few equals in beauty for domestic architecture 

 and public buildings. 



There are several very interesting old oaks to be found in the 

 New Forest. In about i860 Wise gave the measurements of the 

 celebrated Knightswood oak as 17ft. 4m. in girth, the Western 

 oak at Boldrewood as 24ft. c/in. in girth, but he added that the 

 handsomest oak in the district was the Moyle's Court oak standing 

 a few yards outside the forest boundary, which measured 18ft. 

 8-|in. Mr. Heywood Sumner, F.S.A., has informed me that he 

 measured the Moyle's Court oak in 1909, and he found its girth at 

 4ft. from the ground to be 20ft. 4m., while the longest lateral 

 spread of branch was 55ft. from the trunk. 



Gilpin, the author of one of the most charming books on the 

 New Forest, alludes to three remarkable oaks that formerly 

 existed in the forest. The first was known as the Rufus oak which 

 grew on the spot where the Rufus Stone now stands. This tree 



