and tenacity, and to split less easily than that of the white oak; hence, after having been thoroughly seasoned, it is employed for the felloes of wheels. In Georgia, fences are sometimes made of this oak; but they do not last longer than eight or ten years. As fuel, the wood of this tree sells at the lowest price. Several of the varieties mentioned have been introduced into Britain; but we have never seen any of them except one, which has the leaves rather broader than those of the species, but which is hardly worth keeping distinct. It is highly probable that, in our soil and climate, all those differences in the magnitude of the plant, and in the character of the foliage, produced by the geographical and geological circumstances by which the tree is accompanied in America, disappear, or, rather, are never produced. The tree, in England, is one of the hardiest and most rapid-growing of American oaks; and it may be also characterised as the least beautiful, its foliage being light in colour, thinly spread over the tree, and dying off, in autumn, with very little change. Statistics. In the environs of London, at Syon, it is 64 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 6 in., and of the head 47 ft. (see the portrait of this tree in our last Volume); in the Mile-End Nursery it is 34 ft. high; at Whitton Place it is 70 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 6 in.; at Kenwood, Hampstead, 60 years planted, it is 40 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 4 in., and of the head 44 ft. In Devonshire, in the Exeter Nursery, 53 years planted, it is 26 ft. high, with a trunk 1 ft. 6 in. in diameter; in Surrey, at Pepper Harrow, it is 70 ft. high; in Wiltshire, at Longleat, 65 years planted, it is 38 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 7 in., and of the head 14 ft; in Worcestershire, at Croome, 40 years planted, it is 35 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 10 in., and of the head 15 ft. In France, at Toulon, in the Botanic Garden, 36 years planted, it is 20 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 7 in. In Austria, near Vienna, at Brück on the Leytha, 20 years old, it is 7 ft. high. In Lombardy, at Monza, 24 years planted, it is 44 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 9 in., and of the head 20 ft. Commercial Statistics. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 2s. 6d. each, and acorns 5s. per bushel. Seedling plants of one year are 10s. per hundred; one year transplanted, 25s. per hundred. At Bollwyller plants are 3 francs each; and at New York plants are 37 cents each. 27. Q. (P.) LAURIFOLIA Willd. The Laurel-leaved Oak. Identification. Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 427.; Ait., Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 627.; Michx. Quer., No. 10.; N. Du Ham., 7. p. 153.; Smith in Rees's Cycl., No. 14. Synonymes. The Laurel Oak, Swamp Willow Oak. Engravings. Michx. Quer., t. 17.; and our fig. 1776. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves obovate, entire, smooth, nearly sessile; tapering at the base. Nut roundish, even. (Smith.) A tree, 50 ft. or 60 ft. high; a native of South Carolina and Georgia. Introduced in 1786. Variety. Q. (P.) 1. 2 hybrida Michx. Quer., No. 10. t. 18., and our fig. 1775.; Q. 1.2 obtusa Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2., v. p. 288., Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., ii. p. 627.; has rather more obtuse leaves than the species. This variety is supposed, by the elder Michaux, to be a hybrid between Q. aquática and Q. laurifolia; on the banks of the rivers in the pine Description, &c. This oak, which rises to the height of 50 ft., or 60 ft., is said by the elder Michaux to be very nearly allied to Q. Phéllos. He adds that its timber is very valuable, resembling that of the live oak, which is considered preferable to that of any other American oak for ship-building. According to the second edition of the Hortus Kewensis, it was introduced by Mr. John Fraser, in 1786. It is not mentioned by the younger Michaux, probably, as Pursh conjectures, because he considered it only a variety of Q. imbricària, from which it differs principally in the value of its wood. As, however, the American oaks are found to vary very much, according to the soil and climate in which they grow, these two kinds may possibly be the same; Q. laurifòlia being only found in South Carolina and Georgia, and Q. imbricària on the Alleghany Mountains. The whole of the American oaks belonging to the section Phéllos are remarkable for retaining their leaves, in particular soils and situations, for two, three, and in some cases even four, years, without their changing colour; differing in this respect, both from evergreens, which change their leaves in the spring of every year; and from those deciduous trees which retain their leaves in a withered state during winter. There is a tree of the species in the Hammersmith Nursery, which is upwards of 20 ft. high; and, from its habit of growth and wand-like shoots, independently of any similarity in the leaves, we are strongly inclined to believe it only a variety of Q. Phéllos. 28. Q. IMBRICA'RIA Willd. The Shingle Oak. Identification. Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 428.; Ait. Hort. Kew., 5. p. 288.; Pursh Fl. Amer., Sept., 2. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves elliptic-oblong, acute at each end, entire, almost sessile; downy beneath. Nut nearly globose. (Smith and Willd.) A tree, a native of the Alleghanies, 40 ft. or 50 ft. high. Introduced in 1786. Description, &c. The shingle oak is from 40 ft. to 50 ft. high, with a trunk from 1ft. to 1 ft. 3 in. in diameter. Its trunk, even when old, is covered with "a smooth bark; and, for three fourths of its height, it is laden with branches. It has an uncouth form when bare in winter, but is beautiful in summer, when clad in its thick tufted foliage. The leaves are long, lanceolate, entire, and of a shining green." (N. Amer. Syl., i. p. 70.) Michaux adds that the trunk is branching, and often crooked; and the wood, though hard and heavy, has open pores, like that of Q. rùbra. East of the Alleghanies, this species is rare; but west of the mountains it is more multiplied, and better known. Its most northern boundary is the neighbourhood of Philadelphia; but it is found in the greatest abundance in Kentucky and Tennessee; also in the country of the Illinois, where it is called by the French chêne à lattes, or the lath oak. "In the western parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia, small lawns, covered only with tall grass, are frequently seen in the forests, around which this oak forms entire groves: insulated trees are also found in cool humid situations. It is, probably, from its flourishing in open exposures, that it is most abundant in the country of the Illinois, which consists of immeasurable savannahs, stretching in every direction, to which the forests bear no sensible proportion." (Michx.) This tree was brought to England in 1786, by Mr. John Fraser, but is rare in collections. According to the younger Michaux, it has no merit but in its foliage, the wood being even inferior to that of the willow oak, which it greatly resembles; and so crooked, as to be fit only for fuel. The elder Michaux, however, says that, in the country of the Illinois, it is used for shingles. There is a tree of this species in the Horticultural Society's Garden. B. Leaves evergreen. § viii. I'lex. Holm, or Holly, Oaks. a. Natives of Europe. Sect. Char. Leaves ovate or oval, sometimes lanceolate, entire or serrated; with or without prickly mucros; downy beneath. Bark smooth and black, or rough and corky. Fructification biennial. Cups imbricate. Nut ovate, acuminate; sometimes very long in proportion to the cup. Low trees, or shrubs, of great commercial interest, from including the oaks which produce cork, the kermes insect, and edible acorns. 1 29. Q. ILEX L. The common evergreen, or Holm, Oak. Identification. Lin. Sp. Pl., 1412.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 433.; Ait. Hort. Kew., 5. p. 289,; N. Du Ham., 7. p. 156.; Smith in Rees's Cycl., No. 32. Synonymes. I'lex arborea Bauh. Hist., 1. p. 95.; l'Yeuse, or Chêne vert., Fr.; Stein Eiche, Ger. ; Elice, Ital.; Encina, Span. Engravings. Blackw. Herb., t. 186.; N. Du Ham., t. 45, 44.; Dend. Brit., t. 90.; our fig. 1781.; and the plates of the tree in our last Volume. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves ovate-oblong, acute, coriaceous, entire or serrated; hoary beneath. Bark even. Nut ovate. (Willd. and Smith.) A large shrub, or low or middle-sized tree, according to soil and situation; a native of the south of Europe, the north of Africa, and of Cochin-China, and other parts of Asia; in cultivation in British gardens from a very remote period; flowering in May, and ripening its acorns the second year. Varieties. These are very numerous, and Q. I. I integrifolia Lodd. Cat., ed. 1 Q. I. 2 serratifolia Lodd. Cat., Q. I. 3 fagifòlia Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; Phéllodrys Matth. Valgr., i. p. 189., as to the figure; lex, No. 3., Du Ham., Arb., i. t. 224., and our fig. 1779.; has broader and less rigid leaves, which are more or less undulated, Q. I. 4 crispa Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836, has the leaves Q. I. 5 latifolia Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; Q. I. oblónga but they differ in being undulated, and sometimes slightly serrated at IQ. I. 6 longifolia Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; Q. Q. Other Varieties. Q. I. lusitánica Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836, we have not seen, the plant being dead. lusitánica Lam, is thought by Captain S. E. Cook to be identical with the Q. Ballota of the nurseries; and, if so, these two alleged species must be only varieties of Q. Ilex; which, indeed, we believe to be the case. Q. rigida Willd. is probably also a variety of Q. I'lex; as appear to be Q. castiliana Cav., Q. prásina Pers., Q. rotundifolia Lam., and some others; but, not feeling perfectly confident on the subject, we shall treat them as uncertain kinds in our Appendix of European Oaks. Messrs. Lucombe and Pince inform us (while this is going through the press), that they have a new variety, which they call Quercus I'lex ilicifolia; but we have not seen a specimen. Description. In favourable situations, in the south of France, Spain, and Italy, and also in the warmest parts of England and Ireland, the Q. Flex forms a bushy evergreen tree, exceeding the middle size. The trunk is generally furnished with branches from the ground upwards; and, being concealed by the dense mass of foliage borne by these branches, the general character of the species, even when fully grown, is that of an immense bush, rather than that of a timber tree. When judiciously pruned, or drawn up by other trees, however, it forms a handsome well-balanced head on a straight trunk, and with graceful pendent branches. The roots descend to a very great depth, altogether disproportionate to the height of the trunk; for which reason this oak is never found indigenous to soil with a wet bottom. The bark is black, thin, hard, and even; sometimes slightly furrowed, but never corky. The leaves vary exceedingly in shape and size, from 5 in. in length and nearly 3 in. in breadth (as in Q. I. latifolia and Q. I. fagifòlia), to 1 in. in length and in. in breadth (as in Q. I. crispa); or in. in breadth and 3 in. in length, as in Q. I. salicifòlia. In some plants, the leaves are prickly, like those of the holly; and, when this is the case, the most prickly are nearest the ground; a circumstance beautifully exemplified in a fine tree at Purser's Cross. The colour of the leaves is a dark green; and, being convex above, and quite smooth, they have a fine shining appearance. Their edges are either revolute and entire, irregularly notched and serrated, furnished with mucros, or wavy and spiny-toothed, like the holly. Beneath, they are more or less hoary or downy; and in some varieties, such as Q. I. fagifòlia, they are on the under side very distinctly feather-nerved. The footstalks are from in. to 3 in. in length, and generally downy. The male flowers are disposed in catkins 1 in. in length, which come out from the axils of the leaves of the preceding year, and towards the extremities of the branches. The calyx is campanulate, and the stamens 6, with filaments twice the length of the divisions of the calyx. The female flowers are from 4 to 8, sessile, and scattered along a common peduncle, which is from 1 in. to 2 in. in length, and is placed in the axils of the leaves of the current year. They are succeeded by acorns, which are oval, smooth, and contained in a cup of from a third to a half of their length, covered with very slender scales, very closely imbricated, and downy. It seldom happens that more than one or two of these acorns arrive at perfection on one peduncle. Some trees of this species produce acorns which are sweet and eatable; others produce only such as are bitter. Both bitter and sweet acorns are sometimes found on the same tree: and this important difference in taste and quality is accompanied by no difference whatever in their external appearance. According to the observation of M. De la Peyrouse, the sweetest acorns are found on trees which grow in warm dry situations. In the climate of London, seedling plants grow with considerable rapidity; attaining, in good loamy soil, from 15 ft. to 20 ft. in height in 10 years from the acorn. As they become larger, they grow slower; and, after they have attained the height of 30 ft. or 40 ft., they increase in width nearly as much as in height. The tree attains a great age, remaining in a growing state for several centuries. Bosc states that, when this species is cut down, never grows up again as a tree, but forms a bush; which corresponds very well with the habit and character of the plant: but art, in the case of this tree, as in that of every other that stoles, might, doubtless, form a tree from a shoot produced by a stool, by bestowing proper attention on the selecting of a leading shoot, and on its future pruning and management. Geography. The Quércus Ilex is a native of the south of Europe and the north of Africa. It is very common in Spain and Italy; and is indigenous, to France, as far north as Nantes and Angers. According to Bosc, it never grows in masses like forests; but it is dispersed here and there among other trees, more especially on hilly grounds, and near the sea. Captain S. E. Cook says that it grows in the first, or low and humid, region of Spain; and, alone, serves to indicate the difference of climate of that part of the Peninsula. In Sicily, it abounds on the hills all along the coast, and ascends Mount Etna as high as the Rocca dello Capre, which is 3200 ft. above the level of the sea, and within 800 ft. of the height to which Q. Cérris is found. (Comp. to Bot. Mag., i. p. 91.) Both in its native country, and in Britain, it grows remarkably well close by the sea shore, where no other European oak will thrive. History. This tree was well known to the ancients. Pliny mentions some holm oaks in existence when he wrote, which, according to his statement, must have then been, at the lowest computation, 1400 or 1500 years old. One tree, he says, grew in the Vatican, and was older than Rome itself. It had brazen letters, in the ancient Etruscan characters, fixed upon its trunk; from which it would appear, that, before the city was founded, or even the Roman name was known, this oak was a sacred tree. Three other ilexes, he records, were also then extant on the site of the ancient city of Tibur. The Tiburtines, he adds, were a more ancient people than the Romans, and their city, Tibur, was founded ages before Rome: yet these oaks were older even than Tiburtus, who built it; for tradition asserts that they were the sacred trees on which that hero beheld an omen, which he regarded as a warrant from the gods as to the spot on which to found his city. Now, Tiburtus was the reputed son of Amphiaraus, who died at Thebes 100 years before the Trojan war; and how long these oaks outlived Pliny, who flourished in the latter half of the first century of the Christian era, we have no record. (See Amoen. Quer., fol. 18.) The ilex is frequently mentioned by Virgil, who, in the third Georgic, introduces a whole grove of them: "Aut sicubi nigrum Ilicibus crebris sacrâ nemus accubet umbrâ." : He also mentions the acorns in the fourth Georgic, p. 81. Horace also speaks of the "iligna nutritus glande." (Lib. ii. sat. 4.1. 40.) Cato and Columella recommend the leaves of the ilex as a litter for sheepcotes, when straw cannot easily be procured; and Pliny states that the Romans sometimes made their civic crowns of it. The earliest notice which we have of the Q. Ilex in Britain is by Gerard, who, writing in 1597, says that "it is a stranger in England, notwithstanding there is here and there a tree thereof that hath been procured from beyond the seas." Johnson, in his edition of Gerard, published in 1636, says that Clusius, in 1581, "observed two trees; one in a garden about the |