I98 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



knows. My scepticism as to the existence of any recognized standard 

 denning a species has been further increased by happening to read 

 that another distinguished French botanist, Alphonse de Candolle, 

 was inclined to treat " the three principal Pacific white oaks, Q. 

 lobaia, Q. Doitglasii, and Q. Garryana, as mere forms (not even merit- 

 ing varietal rank) of the European Q. Robur " ! In spite of the fact 

 that there is no general agreement as to what constitutes a species, 

 and that the features which are supposed to determine one, such as 

 pubescence, are constantly known to be inconstant, such trifles form 

 no bar to the manufacture of new species any more than to pubescence 

 or the like being relied on as fixing the species to which a plant belongs. 



Q. mongolica (Fischer). — This name is frequently given by nursery- 

 men to Q. lanuginosa, which hails from South Europe. The true Chinese 

 species can hardly be said to be in cultivation, but I have a small 

 plant in the nursery which was given me two or three years ago, I 

 think, by Mr. Elwes, whose own soil is not, unluckily, generally 

 suitable to the growth of exotics. A full account of this species is 

 to be found in " Plantae Wilsonianae," vol. hi. pp. 230-2, though, 

 unfortunately, I fear that the ordinary average reader will, after he 

 has finished it, not be likely to have a much clearer impression of the 

 characteristics of the tree than when he began. There is also a leaf 

 figured in " Trees of Great Britain," Plate 337, fig. 48. This oak, 

 Q. grosseserrata and Q. crispula, are all three so closely allied that it 

 seems very uniikely that they will continue to be treated as three 

 separate species — indeed, in Wilson's book above mentioned Q. grosse- 

 serrata is treated as a variety of Q. mongolica, whilst Mr. Elwes, 

 following the Japanese botanist Shirasawa, only describes one species, 

 viz. grosseserrata, and merely mentions mongolica and crispula inci- 

 dentally in notes. Having plants of Q. grosseserrata, it does not dis- 

 tress me that I have no Q. crispula, for I understand that even if I 

 were to live to see them both in fruit — a most unlikely eventuality — 

 the only possible difference I could detect would be that the acorn 

 cups of the former would be a shade shallower. 



Q. morehus (Kellogg). — I know little or nothing of this small 

 deciduous representative of the Western American oaks, except that 

 it seems to be closely allied to, if not a mere variety of, Q. Kelloggii, 

 which it resembles in foliage, though it is not so deeply lobed. It 

 is regarded by Professor Sargent (" Manual," p. 255) as being a hybrid 

 between that species and Q. Wislizenii. The acorns, which I have 

 seen figured, are long and narrow, and protrude beyond the cup to the 

 extent of two-thirds of their length. I have never seen the tree, which 

 when mature has widespread straggling branches ; as far as I know, 

 it is not in cultivation here ; indeed, it is stated to be rare in its own 

 habitat, the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The specific name is not 

 formed on the customary botanic plan, and was given by its dis- 

 coverer, Dr. Albert Kellogg, a native of Connecticut, who seems to 

 have known more about trees and Old Testament history than he 

 did of Latin. The appearance of this oak having reminded him of 



