OAKS AT ALDENHAM. 



I 9 I 



7 ft. high which are seedlings of a grafted oak at Tortworth, there 

 called Q. serratifolia, but which is now regarded as a variety of Q. 

 lusitanica, and very near to, if not the same as, Q. lusitanica Broteri 

 above mentioned. These plants, of which there are more than twenty, 

 are all just alike, thus disposing of any suggestion of hybrid origin, 

 and seem to me exactly to reproduce Dr. Henry's botanic account 

 of the parent tree, which I had better quote, "Narrow leaves with 

 triangular mucronate teeth, a cuneate base and long petiole." Q. 

 injectoria is a very near relative if not merely a geographical variant 

 of Q. lusitanica, being found farther east in the Levant, Palestine, 

 Asia Minor, &c, but I have not got it, and only know it from seeing 

 it at Kew, where there is a good plant about 25 ft. high. I hope next 

 spring to get it grafted and added to our collection. It was first 

 brought to England in 1822, but the Kew tree, which probably dates 

 from i860, is presumably the oldest, and perhaps the only one, now 

 growing in England. 



Q. lyrata (Walter), Overcup Oak. — A deciduous tree, which is found 

 in Central and Southern North America, and which attains its finest 

 proportions, 100 ft., in Louisiana. The fact that it was first introduced 

 into England as early as 1786, and nevertheless can hardly be said 

 now to be in cultivation, is conclusive as to its unsuitability for our 

 soil and climate. I have never had a specimen at Aldenham, though 

 if all goes well I shall have one before the year is out. There are two 

 small trees at Kew, of which the Director will kindly let me have wood 

 for grafting, so that I shall be able shortly to give it a trial, though I 

 am not sanguine about the result. 



Its natural position is in swampy, riverside land, with which I 

 shall be unable to provide it. The foliage has the merit of turning 

 scarlet in autumn. 



For a fuller account see " Trees of Great Britain," from which 

 work some of the above information is drawn. Mr. Bean does not 

 consider it sufficiently important here to include it in his popular book. 



Q. macedonica (A. de Candolle). — This deciduous oak comes from 

 the Balkans and from Gallipoli, of tragic memory, and is spoken of by 

 Dr. Henry as a small tree or large shrub. Our plants belong to the 

 former category, that is to say, they all have one central stem and 

 a defined leader. They are still young, the oldest being only 8 ft. 

 high, but so far they are slim, neatly growing pyramidal trees with 

 rather short laterals which call for little or no pruning. The leaves 

 are lance-shaped, dark green, leathery, rather small, and, as remarked 

 by Bean, reminiscent of Q. Libani, though the habit of the two species 

 is quite different. The same writer states that it was first introduced 

 into England about 1890, and doubtless this is true so far as Kew 

 is concerned, but the Tortworth specimen, which must now I should 

 say, speaking from memory, be at least 30 ft. high, dates, I think, 

 from a few years earlier. It appears to be quite hardy at Aldenham. 

 The acorns, about 1 in. long, are almost sessile, and take two years 

 to ripen. Naturally they have not yet been produced with me. 



