1906

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

1784

acorn being of double the length of that of Q. /'lex, and inhaving a mild and agreeable taste. The tree varies much,according to the soil and situation in which it grows. Insome individuals, the leaves are small and orbiculate ; andin others elliptic; and sometimes they are lanceolate andpointed. It flowers in May, and ripens its fruit in theautumn of the second year. ( N. Du Ham., vii. p. 157.) Q.

Ballota, according to Desfontaines {.Tour, de Physique, tom.xxxviii., for 179l), grows in great abundance in the kingdomsof Algiers and Morocco. There are vast forests of thistree on the mountains ; but it is only found in small quanti-ties on the plains. The Moors eat the acorns raw, or roastedin ashes : they are found very nourishing, and are not bitter. They areregularly sold in the market-places; and, in some districts, an oil is ex-pressed from them, which is nearly as good as that of the olive. We haveno doubt that this kind of oak is merely a variety of Q. I' lex,though the specimen sent to us from Paris shows it to be verydistinct. Indeed, if we were to judge entirely from that specimen,we should say that Q. Ballota was much more likely to be avariety of Q. gramuntia than of Q. /'lex; and, in short, it maybe identical with it, because Q. gramuntia is not described byDesfontaines. Captain S. E. Cook, who paid great attention tothe oaks of Spain, mentions only the term bellotas as a namefor acorns generally ; and he considers the Q. Ballota of the nur-series to be the Q. valentina of Cavanilles, which has .bitter acorns. The Q. Ballota of the Horticultural So- "" Nciety’s Garden, and of some of the British nurseries (seeouryfg.1785), of which a leaf of the natural size is shownin Jig. 1786., is a totally different plant from either theQ. Ballota of Paris, or the Q. valentina of Cavanilles,and in short, is nothing more than a Q. /'lex; so that the + \\true <2. BaMbta of Desfontaines may be the Q. gramuntia, 1786which we suspect it is. Bose observes that, in the Paris gardens, it requiresto be taken into the conservatory in winter : but it is to be recollected thatthe Q. /'lex requires similar protection in that part of France; and, there-fore, there can be little doubt but Q. Ballota, if it is different from Q.gramuntia, would be hardy in the neighbourhood of London.

1 * 31. Q. gramu'ntia L. The Holly-leaved Grammont Oak.

Identification. Lin. Sp. PI., HI3.; Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 432.; Ait. Hort Kew., ed. 2., 5. p. 289.;N. Du Ham., 7. p. 158.; Smith in Rees’s Cycl., No. 30.

Synonymes. ?/'lex fbliis rotundioribus, &c., Magn. Monsp., 140.; Chene de Grammont, Fr. ; Wel-‘ lenblattrige Eiche, Ger .; Encina dulce, and Gouetta, Span. Captain S. E. Cook suggests thatQ. hisp&nica would be the most suitable name for this species, which may be considered as formingthe natural oak of Spain j whereas the term gramdntia was applied to it by Linnaeus, from its havingbeen found in the remnant of a wood on the estate of Grammont, near Montpelier, where, ac-cording to De Candolle, the species no longer exists.

Engravings. Ou rfig. 1787., from the tree at Purser’s Cross; fig. 1788., an acorn of the natural size,traced from one that was sent to us by Capt. Cook ; and-the plate of the tree at Purser’s Cross inour last Volume.

Spec. Char., Jc. Leaves roundish-elliptical, nearly sessile, undulated, withdeep, spinous, divaricated teeth; densely downy beneath; heart-shaped atthe base. Native of the wood of Grammont, near Montpelier ; and of Spain.Cultivated in England in 1730. It blossoms in June, and ripens its fruit inthe autumn of the following year. This is rather a small straggling tree, withnumerous round grey branches, downy when young. Leaves scarcely 1 in.long, rigid, broadly elliptical, often nearly orbicular; very much undulatedat the margin, their deep, broad, spinous teeth pointing every way, like thoseof the holly; the upper surface dark green, rather glaucous, besprinkledwith minute starry hairs; the under surface densely clothed with whiteentangled down. {Smith.) In the Nouveau Du Hamel, great doubts areexpressed as to whether this species is identical with the Q. rotundifolia of