CHAP. CV.

CORYLA Cli®, QUE'RCUS.

1897

and tenacity, and to split less easily than that of the white oak; hence, afterhaving been thoroughly seasoned, it is employed for the felloes of wheels. InGeorgia, fences are sometimes made of this oak; but they do not last longerthan eight or ten years. As fuel, the wood of this tree sells at the lowestprice. Several of the varieties mentioned have been introduced into Britain ;but we have never seen any of them except one, which has the leaves ratherbroader 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 themagnitude of the plant, and in the character of the foliage, produced by thegeographical and geological circumstances by which the tree is accompaniedin America, disappear, or, rather, are never produced. The tree, in England,is one of the hardiest and most rapid-growing of American oaks; and itmay be also characterised as the least beautiful, its foliage being light incolour, thinly spread over the tree, and dying off, in autumn, with very littlechange.

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 itis 34ft. high; at Whitton Place it is 70ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2ft. 6in. ; at Ken-wood, Hampstead, 60 years planted, it is 40 it. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 4 in., andof the head 44 ft. In Devonshire, in the Exeter Nursery, 53 years planted, it is 26 ft. high, witha trunk 1ft. 6 in. in diameter ; in Surrey, at Pepper Harrow, it is 70 ft. high; in Wiltshire, atLongleat, 65 years planted, it is 38 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 7 in., and of the head14 ft; in Worcestershire, at Croome, 40 years planted, it is 35 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk10 in., and of the head 15 ft. In France, at Toulon, in the Botanic Garden, 36 years planted, it is20 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 7 in. In Austria, near Vienna, at Briick on the Leytha,20 years old, it is 7 ft. high. In Lombardy, at Monza, 24 years planted, it is 44 ft. high, the diameterof the trunk 9in., and of the head 20 ft.

Commercial Statistics. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 2s. 6il. 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 francseach; and at New York plants are 37 £ cents each.

S 27. Q. (P.) laurifo'lia Willd. The Laurel-leaved Oak.

Identification. Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 427.; Ait., Pursh FI. 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., tfc. Leaves obovate, entire, smooth, nearly sessile; tapering atthe base. Nut roundish, even. (Smith.) A tree, 50ft. or 60 ft. high; anative 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 obtiisa Ait.Hort. Ke to., ed. 2., v. p. 288., Pursh FI. Amer. Sept., ii. p. 627.; has rather more obtuseleaves than the species. This variety is supposed, by the elder Michaux, to be a hybridbetween Q. aqu&tica and Q. faurifdlia;because the shape of its leaves resemblesthe former species, while the general cha-racter and habit of growth of the treeresemble those of Q. faurifhlia. It grows

on the banks of the rivers in the pinebarrens, where the soil, at a little distancefrom the water, is only a dry sand.

Description, fyc. This oak, which risesto the height of 50 ft., or 60 ft., is said bythe elder Michaux to be very nearly allied to Q . Phellos. He adds that its timberis very valuable, resembling that of the live oak, which is considered preferable