CHAP. CV.

coryla'ce.®. que'rcus.

1845

1700

ticultural Society’s Garden. “ So little attention,”says Sir J. E. Smith, “ has been paid to this speciesby botanical writers, that we can find no certain de-scription or figure of it, except in Dalechamp’s Hist.

Plant. We even doubt whether the plant intendedin the first edition of the Hortus Kewensis be the trueone; yet this seems what Willdenow describes assuch. What Linnaeus briefly describes, in his Man-tissa (496.), under the name of ^E'sculus, seems to beQ. Cerris ; with which latter the description copiedby Willdenow, and the specific character extractedtherefrom, well agree; but not at all with the originaland authentic specimen of Q .iS'sculus in the Lin-nEean herbarium.” ( Rees's Cycl .) Sir James next describes the Linnaean spe-cimens ; and his descriptions agree remarkably well with the trees bearingthis name in the Horticultural Society’s Garden : — “ The branches angular,furrowed, and smooth. Leaves scattered, aggre-gate at the top from 2 in. to 3 in. long, andl>j in. at most in breadth. Footstalks nearlyl'in. long; destitute of the long, linear, tufted,stipulaceous scales, or ramenta, found in Q.

Cerris, Q. -JS'gilops, and Q. austriaca. Youngacorns axillary, nearly sessile, solitary, or inpairs; the cup scaly; the size of small peas.

Dalechamp represents the full-grown acorns asabout 1 in. long, embraced by a hemisphericalscaly cup, about one third that length. He \says that they are sweet and eatable; and thatthey are brought to table roasted by the Spa-niards, as well as by the rustic Italians; butthat they are sometimes found to affect thehead like darnel.” ( Ibid .) It is singular, that ,very little is known respecting this tree even inFrance. Bose says that it is cultivated in the 1garden of the Museum; but that, as far as heknew, it had never produced fruit. The treein the Horticultural Society’s Garden, which Iis upwards of 20 ft. high, has produced fruitthree or four seasons. The tree in the Hackney arboretum has also, webelieve, produced fruit. Figs. 1699. and 1700. are sprigs taken from thetree in the Horticultural Society’s Garden. Plants, in the London nur-series, are 3s. 6d. each.

Varieties. The leaves of this species vary considerably (see fig. 1701-, all ofwhich grew onthe same tree);and, if it weredesirable, severalvarieties might beselected from abed of seedlings,and continued by

grafting. There is a tree in the Fulham Nursery with decidedly pendulousshoots, which, being a free grower, forms a very ornamental object.

Statistics. In the environs of London, at Ham House, it is 15 ft. high : the diameter of the head22 ft., and of the trunk 11 in. In Staffordshire, at Trentham, it is 26 ft. high; the diameter of the head23ft., and of the trunk 13in. In Ireland, in the Glasnevin Botanic Garden, 35 years planted, it is30 ft. high; the diameter of the head 18 ft., and of the trunk 1 ft. In Germany, at Bruck on theLeytha, 44 years planted, it is 34 ft. high ; the diameter of the head 15 ft., and of the trunk 9 in.

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