184 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



botanicum Lugduno-Batavum," vol. i. (1850), p. 304, and I will here 

 transcribe it: " Branchlets glabrous, leaves oblong-lanceolate, 5-7 

 in. long, 1J-2 in. broad ; petiole J-i in. long ; blade long, acuminate, 

 narrowed at the base into petiole, entire or at the apex sub-crenulate, 

 coriaceous, glabrous, the veins on each side 11-12 in number, sub- 

 parallel, prominent on the under side, and joined together by a faint 

 sub-arcuate reticulation. It is the Ookasi of the Japanese. It is akin 

 to Quercus marginata and Q. glabra." It is classed by Blume among 

 dubious and little-known species, and is entirely evergreen. Professor 

 Bayley Balfour writes : "Its affinity is probably with Quercus acuta 

 (Thunberg). In Matsumura's ' Index Plantarum Japonicarum,' 

 p. 25, it is treated as a synonym of Q. acuta, along with Q. Buergeri 

 and Q. marginata. Obviously some of the Japanese botanists are 

 inclined to sink the species in Q. acuta, but their nurserymen keep 

 it distinct." After carefully comparing my plants, I agree that 

 Q. laevigata is very like Q. acuta, but they are certainly not the same. 

 The nerves in the leaves of the former are more numerous, and the 

 striking feature of the long narrow bases of the leaves, tapering so finely 

 into the stalk that it is impossible to say where leaf ends and stalk 

 begins, is only noticeable in the former. The general appearance 

 of the two trees is also distinct. The leaves of both the Edinburgh 

 and Aldenham Q. laevigata are absolutely entire. 



Q. lanuginosa (Lamarck) . — I have several examples of this attractive 

 deciduous denizen of Southern Europe. The oldest is now a well- 

 grown tree 28 ft. in height, while I have others, all progressing satis- 

 factorily, 26 ft., 18 ft., 15 ft., 10 ft. high. Mr. Bean states that this 

 oak only makes " a medium-sized or small tree," but from the short 

 time which my plants have taken to reach their present respectable 

 height, I should have fully expected it to make quite a tall tree; 

 evidently it finds itself quite at home in our heavy clay, which 

 is the more curious, as in its own habitat it is stated by Mr. Elwes 

 to affect " dry soils, especially those of limestone formation." In 

 the case of my three biggest trees, the leaves are smaller and more 

 crumpled than is found in the type, and they ought probably to have 

 a varietal name, such as Q. lanuginosa crispa. They have, too, the 

 peculiarity that the leaves, instead of tapering into the stalk in the 

 ordinary way, have two neat little semicircular curves at the base. 

 I venture to think that one of them (fig. 18), a young tree standing 

 in the open, is as nearly perfect as possible both in respect of pruning 

 and growth, but this is vanity, so I will cease from blowing my own 

 trumpet. 



We have also a tree bigger than any of the above, being 33 ft. 

 high, which came to me as, and has for many years been called, 

 lanuginosa, or one of its synonyms. This year, however, a committee 

 of experts have pronounced it to be either an exceptional form of 

 Toza, or a hybrid, that is to say, Toza X lanuginosa. I incline to the 

 latter view, as it is so unlike any Toza known to me, and it will be 

 dealt with later in this paper under that heading. 



