PARK AND CEMETERY 
290 
Garden Plants— Their 
The evergreen oaks are natives of the milder 
climates of China and Japan, the Himalayas, South 
Europe, North Africa, California, Mexico, and Cen- 
tral America. 
Q. Ilex and its varieties are the common ever- 
green oaks in the south of England. 0. Suber and 
QUERCUS DENSIFLORA, CALIFORNIA. 
several others may be used in the territory bordering 
the Gulf of Mexico, and in the varied climate of Cali- 
fornia no doubt many exotic evergreen species may 
be grown with the help of irrigation. About 20 
species and a number of varieties of evergreen oaks 
are in European commerce. 
There are several handsome variegated forms with 
golden, silvery, tricolored and purple leaves of varied 
habit. Some forms are fastigiate, some are pendu- 
lous. Both pedunculata — concordia and ruba — aurea 
are reported hardy at Ottawa. 
There is a vast amount of literature pertaining to 
oaks and their uses which cannot even be indicated 
here, much of which is useful, and much of it ob- 
scured by the unfortunate tendency of botanists and 
others to follow their own sweet wills as to nomen- 
clature. I have taken to throwing aside such as 
depart from the Kew standard. Some few things 
need to be impressed upon all who form ornamental 
plantations of this group of trees and shrubs. The 
oaks grow rapidly. In thirty years many will out- 
strip maples, but nearly all should be transplanted 
while mere whips, and trimmed in like peaches. Given 
two oaks of 2 feet and 12 feet transplanted together 
and the larger one will commonly die a sudden or 
lingering death, while the smaller one will form a 
handsome tree. Never crowd oaks in ornamental 
GeograpHy— L-XXVII. 
plantations, grand specimens are never found in thick 
woods. 
Most of the Rocky Mountain forms become shrub- 
by ; varieties of macrocarpa on the black hills fruit 
when 7 or 8 feet high, those of undulata keep ever- 
green to their northern limit. Prinoides, ilicifolia, 
nigra and others often bear acorns when four or five 
feet high. 
They are useful for cover ; moreover many species 
will persistently grow up from the stumps. O. coc- 
cinea is one of these, and the finer varieties of it and 
0. rubra have handsomely tinted autumn foliage. 
Oaks may be planted three or five or more of a kind 
together for quick efifect. It is dangerous, however, 
for unless you are utterly obtuse and careless of the 
future, nearly all the park grouping in the country 
will admonish you to thin trees as you plant them. 
Besides, you can thicken with cheaper trees such as 
birches, which are often short lived. 
Castaiwpsis has 24 species in tropical and sub- 
tropical Asia, and C. chysophylla in Oregon and Cali- 
fornia. 
Castanca (Chestnut) has about 4 species in Asia 
and xAmerica. The fine C. sativa has been so long 
naturalized in Eurojie that it is hard to say whether it 
is native or not ; it is often so regarded. It will ripen 
good crops in Southern England and north to On- 
tario County, New York — as I have seen. The finer 
varieties have been in process of selection for cen- 
turies. The native C. dentata is also capable of form- 
CASTANEA DENTATA. 
ing a very handsome tree. C. pumila, the “Chin- 
quapin,” is mostly a shrub, but sometimes a tree of 
20 feet. It is excellent for underwood, late, and pretty 
in flower like most chestnuts, and bears sweet little 
nuts. C. crenata is from Japan. All the species seem 
tender north of 42 degrees. James MacPherson. 
