6 
HOLLY-LEAVED OAK. 
The leaves vary from roundish ovate to elliptic, and 
are of a thick rigid consistence, the serratures quite 
sharp; the young shoots are covered more or less with 
stellate hairs, and, for some time, tufts of this kind of 
down remain On the under side of the midrib of the 
leaves, which are, however, at length perfectly smooth 
and of a dark green above, often tinged with brownish- 
yellow beneath. The staminiferous flowers are very 
abundant and rather conspicuous, the racemes the 
length of 3 or 4 inches, the flowers with a conspicu- 
ous calyx and 8 to 10 stamens. The female or fruit- 
• bearing flowers, are Usually in pairs in the axills or 
juncture of the leaf with the stem and sessile, or without 
stalks. The cup of the acorn is hemispherical, and 
furnished with loose brownish scales, the acorn much 
longer than the cup, is ovate and pointed. 
We do not recollect to have seen this tree properly 
associated with any other, except occasionally the 
Platanus racemosus; their shade is also hostile to almost 
every kind of undergrowth. 
By Persoon this species is said to have been found 
on the eastern coast of North America, while Pursh 
attributes it to the north-west coast, about Nootka 
Sound. It does not, however, extend even to the ter- 
ritory of Oregon, as far as my observations go. Nee 
says “I have only seen branches collected at Monterey 
and Nootka.” The leaves of the young plants (if I am 
not mistaken) are perfectly smooth when first developed, 
of a thin consistence, with numerous slender sharp 
dentures; beneath they are of a brownish-yellow colour, 
and appear smooth and shining. 
Plate II. 
A young branch with barren aments, a. A branch with acorns. 
