OAKS AT ALDENHAM. 



179 



expected on our cold heavy clay, but, as all planters are well aware, 

 after it has passed the infant stage it resents removal more perhaps 

 than any other plant which I know, except Rhamnus Alatemus and 

 Cupressus erecta viridis. Of the half-dozen varieties which Mr. Elwes 

 regards as sufficiently distinct to deserve mention, the most striking 

 one growing at Aldenham is Q. Ilex Gramuntia, which is named after 

 the Gramont estate, near Montpellier ; though known for a century and 

 described by Linnaeus, it is very rarely to be seen in England. My 

 plant was given me some fifteen years ago by Lord Ducie when a 

 little bit of a thing, it is now a neat and well-shaped pyramid 12 ft. 

 high and 6 ft. in diameter. It has the same habit as is often seen in 

 the type, that is to say, it has a central stem and a fine tapering leader, 

 whilst a multitude of fine twig-like branches set very close together 

 and of even size and growth give it a holly-like aspect. The small, 

 evergreen, roundish, crinkly, spiny leaves are very different from those 

 of an ordinary holm oak, and give the tree a distinction which makes 

 it worth growing by the majority for whom ornamental appearance 

 is the one and only consideration. So far it has proved perfectly 

 hardy, being entirely unaffected by the bitterly cold east winds of 

 1916-17, or even by the temperature falling to one degree below 

 zero in February of 1919 ; the same remark applies both to the type 

 and to other varieties, but Elwes mentions its having been killed 

 in the winter of 1853-54 at Rolleston and Oulton. Having escaped 

 all damage from frost, unluckily my best plant fell a victim to the 

 heavy snowstorm on April 27, 1919, and was much damaged 

 thereby. 



Another attractive Ilex variant, of which we possess two healthy 

 well-grown examples over 5 ft. high, is Q. Ilex Fordii. This has glossy 

 narrow little leaves, about 1 J in. long by \ in. wide, with a long sharply 

 pointed apex, and toothed and wavy margins. 



I have also another variety called Q. Ilex laurifolia, which has long 

 narrow lanceolate leaves and shows good prospect of making a very 

 ornamental tree. It is a rather bushy pyramid over 7 ft. high and 

 over 5 ft. across at the thickest, with a slender central stem and leader. 

 I bought my plant about six years ago, when Veitch's famous nursery 

 was, alas, coming to an end. It was sold to me as Q. lauvijolia, and I, 

 being quite ignorant of the appearance of the true species originating 

 in Florida and Virginia, to which that name belongs, was landed in 

 the fool's paradise, in which so many young collectors disport them- 

 selves, and boasted of the possession of a very rare American oak, 

 until someone whose knowledge was beyond question pointed out 

 to me that it was nothing more than a form of the common Q. Ilex. 

 I must say in my own defence that long before this sad discovery 

 I had frequently remarked to my gardener, Beckett, that if I hadn't 

 known that Q. laurifolia was a good species I should have put it down 

 as a variety of Q. Ilex ! The true lauvijolia does in fact bear no 

 resemblance to an Ilex, but is deciduous, and nearly related to 

 Q. imbricaria. 



