1890

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

We are not aware of there being anj trees of this oak in the neighbourhoodof London; but we believe there are plants of it in the Edinburgh BotanicGarden, raised from acorns brought over by Mr. M'Nab, jun., in 1834. (Seep. 183.)

§ vi. Nigrae. Black American Oaks.

Sect. Char., fyc. Leaves wedge-shaped, or imperfectly lobed; mucronated, butthe mucros generally dropping off when the leaves have attained their fullsize. Leaves dying off of a blackish green, and in America frequently per-sistent. Bark black, and not scaling off. Fructification biennial. Nutovate, with a persistent style, and sometimes marked with dark lines. Trees,from 20 ft. to 40 ft. high ; and one of them, a miniature tree, often notexceeding 3 ft. in height. Rate of growth less rapid than in the precedingsections.

S 21. Q . ni'gra L . The Black Jack Oak.

Identification. Cat. Carol., 1.19.; Lin. Sp. PI., H13.; Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p.442.; Ait. Hort. Kew.,5. p. 291.: Pursh FI. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 629.; Sm. and Abb. Ins., 2. p. US.; Michx. Quer., No. 12. jN. Du Ham., 7. p. 168.; Sm. in Rees's Cycl., No. S3.

Synonymes. Q. marylindica, &c., Itaii; Q. ferruginea Michx. N. Amer. Syl„ 1. p. 79. t. 20. ; 3.aquatica Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; Barrens Oak, Amer.

Engravings. Abb. Ins., t. 68.; Michx. Quer., t. 22, 23. ; Cat. Carol., 1.19.; and our Jig. 1764.

Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves wedge-shaped, somewhat heart-shaped at the base ;dilated, abrupt, and very slightly 3-lobed at the end; the middle lobe shortest,smooth above, rusty beneath. Calyx hemispherical, with membranousscales. Nut roundish-ovate. ( Wil/d.) A tree, 20 ft. or 30 ft. high. Intro-duced before 1739.

Description, fyc. The Black Jack oak, according to the younger Michaux,is sometimes 30 ft. high, and 8 in. or 10 in. in diameter, but commonly does notexceed half these dimensions. Its trunk is generally crooked ; and it is co-vered with a very hard, thick, and deeplyfurrowed bark, which is black on theoutside, though the inner bark is of adull red. The head of the tree is broadand spreading, even in the midst of thewoods. The leaves are of a very re-markable shape, being dilated towardsthe summit, like a pear, and armed,when young, with 3 or 5 bristle-likepoints, which fall off when the leaf hasattained its full size. Fig. 1765., fromMichaux’s Histoire des Chenes, showsthese mucros on seedlings of one year’sand two years’ growth. The leaves areyellowish, and somewhatdowny, at theirfirst unfolding in spring; but, when fullyexpanded, they become of a dark greenabove, and rusty beneath : they are alsothick and leathery in their texture. In autumn, they turn of a blackish red,and fall with the first frost. The oldest trees bear only a few handfuls ofacorns, which are large, and half-covered with very scaly cups. Michauxobserved this species for the first time in some forests in New Jersey, about60 miles east of Philadelphia. It is commonly found upon soils composedof red argillaceous sand, mingled with gravel, and so meagre as scarcelyto bear cropping. The greater part of Maryland and Virginia, from Balti-more to the borders of North Carolina (a distance of 400 or 500 miles), is,according to the younger Michaux, composed of this kind of soil; and here theBlack Jack oak is found in the greatest abundance. The whole of this in-terval, with the exception of the valleys and the swamps, with their surround-ing acclivities, is covered with forests impoverished by fire, and by the cattle