1888

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART 111

be rendered obvious at a glance,by inspecting the line of oaks atMessrs. Loddiges’s, where thereare three trees, marked Q. palus-tris, Q.. Banisteri, and'Q. montana ,

(all of which are the Q. palustris ofMichaux,) which are above 30 ft.high, which is several feet higherthan all the others, with the singleexception of Q. ambigua. A tree(fig. 1761.) of this species in theHorticultural Society’s Garden,which had been overtopped withelms, in the manner already men-tioned (p. 1864.), has lost itsleader, and has more the appear-ance of a stunted bush than a tree.

It is not one third of the size ofthose at Messrs. Loddiges’s, of oneof which the tree in our last Vo-lume is a portrait. The leaves aremuch smaller than those of all theother species of this section : theyare smooth, of a pleasing green,supported on very long petioles, and, on old trees, are very deeply lacinialed.On young trees, they are much less so, as will be seen by fig. 1760. copiedfrom Michaux’s Histoire des Chenes, in which a is a seedling of one year old,and h a leaf from a tree two years old. The acorns are small, round, andcontained in flat shallow cups, „ j- 61

of which the scales are closelyapplied one upon another. The k

1760

wood, though stronger and moretenacious than that of either thered or the scarlet oaks, has thepores still larger and more openthan those of either of these woods. It is used for the axles of fly-wheels, when white oak of sufficient dimensions cannot be procured; andsometimes, though rarely, it is made into staves for casks for dry goods,For small groups, and especially in moist rich soil, we cannot sufficientlyrecommend this tree. Its growth is rapid, and the disposition of its branchesis swgulai'ly graceful from its infancy upwards. A few years ago, there werea great many trees of it in the Leyton Nursery, which were taken upburnt for want of sale. The most beautiful small specimen we know is ifl 1 e