CHAP. CV..

coeyla'ce/E. que'rcus.

1881

edition of the Hovtus Kewensis (iii. p.-357.). Wangenheim was the first authorwho distinguished it as a species. It was one of the plants sent to France bythe elder Michaux in 1786, and formed part of the plantations at Rambouillet ;■where, we are informed by the younger Michaux, there was a tree of it which,about 1819, was 45 ft. high. (See p. 141.)

Properties and Uses. The wood of the scarlet oak is of very little value inthe arts, and it makes very poor fuel. It decays rapidly, and is too porous tocontain wine or spirits. The principal use made of it in America is for staves tomake casks for dry goods. The bark is employed in tanning, but is not equal tothat of the Q. rubra. This tree produces galls, which, in America , are appliedto the same purposes as the European galls of commerce. In landscape-gar-dening, the scarlet oak, like most of the other kinds of this section, is parti-cularly adapted for planting in the margins of woods or groves on a flat sur-face ; or for scattering in irregular masses throughout a wood on a declivity,the surface of which is seen from below. For small groups near the eye it isalso well adapted; though the beauty of the foliage of young trees must beacknowledged to be inferior to that of Q. rubra and Q. falcata. The longfootstalks of the leaves, and the absence of deep sinuosities in the leaves ofyoung trees, give, with reference to picturesque effect, Q. cocclnea the samerelation to Q. rubra that Q. sessiliflora has to Q. pedunculata,

Statistics. In the environs of London , at Syon, 77 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 9 in.,and of the head 44 ft. j at Kenwood, Hampstead, 38 years planted, it is 50 ft. high, the diameter ofthe trunk 1 ft. 11 in., and of the head 40 ft. In Devonshire , at Bystock Park, 22 years planted, it is25 ft. high : in Hampshire, at Strathfieldsaye, it is 90 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 3 ft. 4 in., andof the head 54ft.: in Somersetshire , at Hurton House, 15 years planted, it is 20 ft. high j at Mam-head, 30 ft. high, with a trunk 2 ft. 3 in. in diameter j some leaves of this tree which were sent to usmeasured 8§in, across, and Min. in length : in Surrey, at St. Ann’s Hill, 30 years planted, it is 56ft.high, the diameter of the trunk 7 ft., and of the head 48 ft.; at Oakham, 42 years planted, it is 60ft.high} and atDeepdene, 10 years planted, it is 18 ft. high: in Sussex, at Kidbrooke, 25 years planted, itis 14ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 6in., and of the head 16 ft.: in Wiltshire , at WardourCastle, 30 years planted, it is 45 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 2 ft, and of the head 30 ft.; at Long-ford Castle, it is 60 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 3 ft. 6 in., and of the head 77 ft.: in Hertfordshire ,at Oldeuham, 34 years planted, it is 50 ft. high, the diameter of the head 20 ft.: in Lancashire , atLatham House, 30 years planted, it is 36ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 16 in., and of the head36ft.: in Pembrokeshire, at Stackpole Court, 30 years planted, it is 20 ft. high,, the diameter of thetrunk 1 ft 6 in., and of the head 15 ft.: in Warwickshire , at Combe Abbey, 60 years planted, it is70 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 9 in., and of the head 61 ft. j at Springfield, 30 yearsplanted, it is 29 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 7 in.; and at AHesley, 26 years planted, it is 40 ft.high, the diameter of the trunk 1ft.: in Worcestershire , at Croome, 75 years planted, it is 90 ft. high,the diameter of the trunk 2 ft, and of the head 30 ft. : in Yorkshire, -at Ripley Castle, 16 years planted,it is28 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 9 in., and of the head 10 ft. j at Knedlington, near Howden,10 years from the acorn, it is from 14 ft. to 16 ft high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 6 in., and of thehead lift. In Scotland , in Ross-shire, at Brahan Castle, it is 55 ft. high, the diameter of the trunklft 8in.,andof the head 30 ft. In Germany , in Cassel, at Wilhelmshoe, 50 years old, it is 6 ft. high.In Austria, at Vienna , in Rosenthal’s Nursery, 17 years old, it is 24 ft. high ; the diameter of thetrunk 11 in., and of the head 23 ft. In France, at Rambouillet, it is 50 ft. high. In Italy, in Lom-bardy, at Monza , 16 years planted, it is 16ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 4ia, and of thehead 10 ft.

i 16. Q. ambi'gua WiHd, The ambiguous, or grey. Oak.

Identification. Michx. Arb., 2. p. 120.; North Amer. Syh, 1. p. 98.; Pursh FI. Amer. Sept., 2.p. 630., not Humboldt

Synonyme. Q. boreklis Michx. N. Amer. Syl. t 1. p. 98.

Engravings. Michx. Arb., t. 24., N. Amer. Syl., 1.1.26.; our Jig. 1749. j and the plate of this treein our last Volume.

Spee. Char., $c. Leaves sinuated, glabrous, acute at the base j sinuses some-what acute. Cup somewhat shield-shaped. Nut roundish-ovate. ( Michx.)A tree, varying from 40 ft. to 60 ft. high. Introduced in 1800.description, Spc. The grey oak, according to the younger Michaux,, forms, inAmerica , a tree from 40 ft. to 60 ft. high, and with a trunk 1 ft. 6 in. in diameter,it bears a close analogy to the red oak in its foliage, and to the scarlet oakjn its fruit; whence Michaux has given it the specific name of ambigua. Itlias also another peculiarity, in blossoming every year, though it takes two,hree, and, in very cold climates, four years to mature its fruit. The leavesare large, smooth, and deeply sinuated; the indentations being sharper and■tiore angular than those of the leaves of Q. coccinea. The acorns are of™e middle size, rounded at the end, and contained in scaly top-shaped cups.W ° a k' s f° un d farther north than any other American species. Thee - ™' c haux found it on the St. Lawrence, near Quebec , in n. lat. 47° 50'.