l68 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



of the latter, I prefer to call mine Q. chrysolepis till someone who knows 

 more about the matter than I do has given a contrary opinion. 



Q. cinerea (Michaux), Blue Jack. — This is a small deciduous tree 

 related to, and in the style of, Q. Phellos. Many botanists have re- 

 garded, it as nothing more than a variety of it. Its habitat, according 

 to Dr. Henry, ranges from North Carolina southward to Florida, 

 and westward to the Brazos River, Texas. There is a good specimen, 

 about 30 ft. high, which Mr. Elwes mentions as to be seen at Kew, 

 but there seem to be grave doubts as to this being true to name, and 

 there is none at Aldenham, nor, as far as I know, anywhere else in the 

 British Isles, except Tortworth. It is not considered of sufficient 

 importance by Mr. Bean for him to include it in his "Trees and 

 Shrubs," and in " Trees of Great Britain " no date, even approximate, 

 is given of its first introduction into Europe, but I presume this must 

 have occurred somewhere about the middle of the nineteenth century. 



I have seen dried entire leaves from a tree in North Carolina 

 which, except for their being palpably downy on the under side, looked 

 to me exactly like those of the willow oak, and I know the specimen 

 in the Tortworth Arboretum, which was planted in 1878, and is still 

 under 20 ft. high with a girth of 18 in. The stem is only 3 ft. 6 in. 

 high, and it then forms a bushy head. It has cankerous warty ex- 

 crescences and is not a vigorous plant ; indeed, it looks at a distance 

 like an ill-grown Crataegus. Otherwise I know but little of this 

 species at first hand, but I gather from Professor Henry's account 

 that the leaves are oblong-lanceolate, some 3 to 4 in. long by J to 

 I in. broad, entire, and with wavy margins ; the ovoid, sessile, or 

 sub-sessile acorns are about J in. long, and ripen in one season. 

 Professor Bayley Balfour has kindly had cuttings struck for me ( 

 and I also have grounds for hoping that plants may be sent nie from 

 America in the course of this year, and should these fail to materialize, 

 I have made arrangements for having this and other rare species 

 grafted next March, so that one way or the other Q. cinerea ought 

 in 1920 to be numbered among " oaks at Aldenham." 



Q. coccifera (Linnaeus) , Kermes Oak. — This till last year was one 

 of my " wants," but I then received some rooted suckers obtained 

 from the big plant which is growing in Kew Gardens, where it appears 

 to be unaffected by cold. It is, of course, too soon for me to be able 

 to give any report as to how it is likely to thrive on the heavy clay 

 at Aldenham. 



This evergreen bush or shrub, for it can hardly be dignified by 

 the name of tree, belongs naturally to the Mediterranean. It carries 

 small, hard, prickly, shining, holly-like foliage, and presents a cheerful 

 appearance. The solitary acorns are more than half-covered by the 

 bristly hedgehog-like cups. Its popular name of the kermes oak 

 is due to the fact that the kermes insect breeds on it and produces the 

 famous scarlet dye which used to be of great economic importance, 

 but which has of late years been superseded by other and 

 cheaper products. It was well known at a very early date, and 



