OF FOREST-TREES. 



73 



CHAP. IV. 



The CORK, ILEX, ALATERNUS, CELASTRUS, LIGUS- 

 TRUM, PHILLYREA, MYRTLE, LENTISCUS, OLIVE, 

 GRANATUM, STRING A, and JASMINE, 



We do not exclude this useful tree from those of the glandiferous 

 and forest. And being inclined to gratify the curious, I have been in- 

 duced to say something farther of such semper virentia, as may be made 

 to sort with those of our own, 



SUBER. The CORK-TREE'. Of this there are two sorts, one 

 of a narrow, or less jagged leaf, and perennial ; the other of a broader, 

 and falling in winter. It grows in the coldest parts in Biscay, in the 

 north of New-England, in the south-west of France, especially the second 



1 QUERCUS ( SUBER ) foliis ovato-oblongis indivisis serratis subtus tomentosis, cortice 

 rimoso fungo. Lin. Sp. PI. 1412. Oak, with oval, oblong, undivided leaves, which are sawed, 

 and woolly on their under side, and with a fungous, cleft bark. Suber latifolium sempervirens,— 

 C. B. P. 424. Thk cork-tree. 



It is of the class and order Monoecia Polyandria. 



"^This is a timber-tree in Portugal and Spain, and other southern parts of Europe, where 

 it grows naturally. In the plantations made here, it should be placed near the middle 

 of the largest quarters ; and a few also should be planted singly in opens, that the fungous 

 bark may be in view ; not that there is any great beauty merely in the sight, but with 

 us it is a curiosity, being the true Cork, and of the same nature with what comes from 

 abroad. The bark on the trunk and main branches is rough and spongy ; but on the young- 

 shoots it is smooth and gray, and on the youngest, white and downy. The leaves are of an 

 oblong, oval figure, with sawed edges. Their upper surface is smooth, and of a strong green 

 colour, but their under is downy. They grow alternately on the branches, on very short, 

 though strong foot-stalks, and indeed differ in appearance very little from many sorts of the 

 Ilex. The flowers of this species of Oak make no show, and the acorns, when ripe, are long, 

 smooth, and of a brown colour. 



There is a variety of this tree called the Narrow-leaved Cork-tree. Its leaves are smaller, 

 which qualifies it for a place in our plantations, where variety is required. 



The best Cork is taken from the oldest trees, the bark on young trees being too 

 porous for use. They are, nevertheless, barked before they are twenty years old ; and 



