14 
EUROPEAN WHITE OAK. 
plied on the shores of the Black Sea, in Germany, England, France, and 
some parts of Italy, where the climate is particularly favourable to their 
growth. 
The Common European Oak is from 60 to 80 feet in height, numerously 
ramified, and crowned with an ample and majestic summit. The bark 
upon the trunk is thick, and upon old stocks, deeply furrowed. The leaves 
are petiolated, smooth, and of an uniform colour on both sides, enlarged 
towards the summit, and very coarsely toothed. The acorns are oval and 
sessile, which is the principal difference between the two species. 
This tree prefers high places and the declivities of hills, with a barren 
gravelly soil ; hence it grows more slowly, and its wood is more compact, 
tougher and heavier than that of the European White Oak. It is less used 
for household stuff and other kinds of joinery, because it is less easily 
wrought ; but is more esteemed for building and for works that require 
great strength and durability. 
The Common European Oak is subdivided into many varieties, the most 
valuable of which are the European Black Oak, Quercus rolmr lanuginosa, 
and the Quercus robur glomerata. The first is only 30 or 40 feet high, 
with small thick leaves, very downy underneath ; its timber is compact 
and excellent for fuel. The second never rises to a great height ; the 
leaves are small, but smooth on both sides ; the acorns are of an inferior 
size and collected in clusters upon a short common peduncle.* 
PLATE II. 
M branch of the Common Eurojiean Oak with leaves and acorns of the natu- 
ral size. 
EUROPEAN WHITE OAK. 
OUERCUS PEDUNCULATA. Q,folUs subsessiUbus, glabris, sinuatis ; fructibus 
oblongis, pedimculatis. 
The European White Oak grows of choice in rich bottoms, where the 
soil is deep and moderately humid. It reaches the height of 90 or 100 
feet, and has a large well proportioned trunk, which is often undivided for 
a considerable distance, and which spreads into a large commanding sum- 
[For a highly interesting account of this tree and the ensuing one, Q. pedunculata, see Lou* 
don’s Arboretum Brittanicum, vol. 3, p. 1740.] 
