OAK. 



[42] 



Family: AMENTACEAE. [Translator's note: now FAGACEAE] 

 Reproductive system: MONCECY, POLYANDRY. 



The oak tree is the finest adornment of our forests with its thick foliage and 

 majestic bearing. It has always been a symbol of strength. Our ancestors the Gauls called 

 it the tree par excellence, because the sacred mistletoe that they revered was found on its 

 trunk or on its branches. The Greeks had consecrated the oak tree to Jupiter, the most 

 powerful of the gods. The Romans awarded a crown of oak leaves to whomever had 

 saved a citizen's life. 



In France there are several species of oaks that are difficult to tell apart because 

 their leaves and fruit vary with the quality of the soil. Furthermore, a knowledgeable 

 professor, M. Desfontaines, points out that most authors who have written about oak trees 

 have them confused, mistaking varieties for species and true species for varieties. Several 

 oaks from North America and from the Levant do very well in France. I've seen some of 

 them at Rambouillet and in several other large parks that yield fruit as well as they do in 

 their native lands. But in this article I'll discuss only those that are indigenous to our own 

 forests. They can be divided into two sections: those with deciduous leaves, i.e. that lose 

 their leaves in winter or in spring, and those with evergreen leaves, 



SECTION ONE 



OAK TREES WITH DECIDUOUS LEAVES. 



The oak tree with sessile acorns, [Translator's note: the common, English, or 

 European oak], Quercus robur, Linn., is a tall tree with a smooth trunk when it's young, 

 but rough and grayish when it's old. The leaves are petiolate, oval-oblong, wavy on the 

 margins, pinnatifid, with blunt lobes. The flowers are monoecious. The males ones form 



