THE PLANTEPt's GUIDE. 



291 



II. The spreading or sessile-fruited Oak [Qiiercus 

 rohiir sessilis.) It lias two varieties, wliicli seeui to have 

 been first noticed bj myself, and which I shaU call the 

 black and white aboriginal, as they are distinguished 

 chiefly by the dark and light colour of their bark. This 

 sort (namely, the spreading Oak) is much less common in 

 Britain than the upright species, although the contrary is 

 erroneously stated by Miller ; and Doctor Hunter, in his 

 edition of the Sylva of Evelyn, has copied the mistake. 

 All the great and celebrated Oaks in England are of this 

 spreading kind, such as the Oauthorpe, the Bentley, the 

 Boddington, &c., which, there is great reason to believe, 

 existed prior to the Christian era.""' 



III. The mossy-cup Oak, (Quercus muscosa,) which is 

 originally a native of America, but now completely 

 naturalised in Britain. Dr Yule (in the memoirs of the 

 Caledonian Horticultural Society) notices four or five 

 other sorts, that deserve to be cultivated in this country. 

 The names of these, together with the botanical descrip- 

 tion of the above three principal kinds, are given in the 

 notes.f 



Of all the Oaks yet known, as the British species 

 affords the best timber, so the Quercus sessilis, or second 

 kind mentioned, is the most superior of the British 

 species. This tree is distinguished by its tendency to 

 spread out at top ; thence it is usually called the spread- 

 ing Oak. The roots grow deeper and more straggling ; 

 the bark is rough ; the wood is close in the grain, tough, 

 and dark-coloured ; the acorns are sessile, growing in 

 clusters, and without foot-stalks ; whereas the leaves 

 have pretty long foot-stalks ; they are also less deeply 

 sinuated than those of the upright Oak, but are of a 



Note II. 



t Note III. 



