118 
COLLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS. 
scarlet oak. This is a tall, handsome tree, growing about fifty feet 
high, the leaves of which take a most beautiful and brilliant scarlet 
in the autumn. These leaves are longer and narrower than those 
of the common oak, (they are about six inches long,) and hang on 
till near Christmas ; the branches generally spread gracefully on 
every side; and the wood is remarkably hard, of a deep scarlet co¬ 
lour, and when polished as beautifully grained as mahogany. 
One of the finest scarlet oaks in England is at the Duke of Wel¬ 
lington’s seat at Strathfieldsaye. The laurel-leaved, or swamp oak 
(Quercus laurifolia,) has a very remarkable appearance, and its wood 
is said to be very valuable. The Quercus cerris, or Turkey oak, is 
very handsome; and the Leucombe oak, one of the varieties of this 
speqies, is one of the most beautiful trees that can be imagined; its 
branches droop most gracefully, and its leaves retain a deep shining 
green till they drop off in the spring, but a very short time before 
the buds open again for the ensuing season. Quercus rubra and 
Quercus palustris are both from North America, and the leaves of 
Quercus rubra assume a beautiful red colour in the autumn. The 
leaves of Quercus palustris have more of a brownish tint than a pure 
red, and they are more deeply indented; this tree is a very handsome 
one, and has a beautiful effect in a shrubbery. Quercus suber the 
cork tree, is very well worth cultivating for its curiosity. It is, 
however, slow in growth, and seldom forms a handsome tree in this 
country. Two of the handsomest in England are in the Duke of 
Richmond’s pleasure grounds at Goodwood. Quercus coccifera has 
prickly leaves like those of the holly; from this species is collected 
the kermes, or scarlet die. Quercus Ilex is the evergreen oak. A 
remarkably large tree of this species is at Wilton, the seat of the 
Earl of Pembroke. There is also a very fine Ilex in the garden of 
Maj or Richardson, at Chichester ; and another at JBargally, in Kirk¬ 
cudbrightshire, in the W est of Scotland. The leaves of the Quercus 
phellos are like those of a willow, and those of the Quercus castanea 
assume a yellow tint in autumn. The leaves of the variegated oak 
look like a sheet of silver in the sun; there is a very beautiful speci¬ 
men of this tree at White Knights. One of the smallest oaks is the 
Mexican (Quercus Mexicana) which never exceeds two feet in 
length ; and one of the largest the Quercitron (quercus tinctoria,) 
or black oak, generally grows to above 100 feet. Many others might 
be mentioned, but the above will be sufficient to show the effect that 
may be produced in a plantation by oaks alone, and many other trees 
have as many varieties. All the oaks here described may be pro¬ 
duced in almost any British nursery, and most of them may be seen 
