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or dentate on the margins, smooth and sleek on top. often downy underneath. Their shape 

 generally is very variable. 



Flowers: in May and June. 



Range. This tree grows naturally all over southern France. It's also found in 

 Noirmoutiers [Translator's note: an island off the Atlantic coast of France, south of St. 

 Nazaire]. 



Nomenclature. The name yeuse comes from nr. a Celtic word meaning green, 

 because the leaves are evergreen. It's even called quite simply green oak. German, die 

 grttne eiche. Dutch, groeneik. Danish, gron eeg. English, the evergreen oak-tree. Italian, 

 elce, elcina. Spanish, encina. Portuguese, azinheiro. 



Uses. The wood of the holly oak is very compact and long-lasting. It's used to 

 make axles, levers, pulleys on ships, etc. The bark is used for tanning leather. The tree 

 grows slowly, but it lives for several centuries. Pliny claims that there was one on the 

 Vatican hill [Translator's note: a hill outside Rome, formerly an Etruscan community, 

 now the site of Vatican City] that was older than the city of Rome, 



Cultivation. The holly oak is propagated by planting the acorns right after they 

 fall in the autumn. The tree must be transplanted when it's very young because it takes 

 root with difficulty when it's more than three or four years old. In northern France it's 

 vulnerable and is often damaged by cold in harsh winters. 



The cork tree, Quercus suber, Linn., is ten or twelve meters high. Sometimes its 

 trunk is very large in diameter. The bark is extremely thick, spongy, and cracked. The 

 leaves are oval-oblong and most often dentate, especially at the tip. They're a glaucous 

 green on top, whitish and downy underneath. The acorns are oblong and are two thirds 

 covered with a conical tuberculate cupule. 



Flowers: in May. 



Range: southern Europe and the southern departments of France. 



Nomenclature. Some scholars say that suber is derived from sub, which means 

 underneath, because women in antiquity used it for the soles of their shoes. According to 

 Vossius, it comes from a Greek word meaning bark. 



