THE OAKS.

The genus Quercus, which embraces the Oaks, is very widely diffused over the countries of the Northern Hemisphere. Different countries vary much in the number of species which they produce. Thus, in the British islands, there are but two species; one with sessile or stalkless acorns (Quercus sessiliflora, Salisb.), and the other with acorns on a stem or peduncle (Q. pedunculata, L.) Indeed, these two forms have by some botanists been considered as but varieties of one species (Quercus robur).

The countries of Northern Europe are mainly limited to these two forms, but in France, Spain, and the Mediterranean States, several other species are introduced. New species occur again in Asia Minor, Koordistan, the Himal. ayas, Eastern Asia, and the Indian islands, so that some two hundred species have been described in different parts of the world.

The North American Oaks are a very interesting group, and include a large number of species, each having a more or less extensive range. In the district east of the Rocky Mountains we have about twenty species; new ones occur in Texas, Mexico and California.

The different kinds of Oaks manifest a disposition to hybridize quite freely, so that we frequently meet with intermediate forms which are quite puzzling.

We propose to give, in a series of articles, an account of the Oaks of this country, illustrated in most cases by such figures as may help our readers to a determination of the various kinds they may meet with.

The principal characters of the genus are mainly as follows: Trees or shrubs, with alternate leaves, and with sterile and fertile flowers separate; the sterile ones on slender, threadlike, drooping stems; the fertile ones small and inconspicuous, consisting of a three-celled ovary, enclosed by a scaly covering, which when enlarged becomes a kind of cup to contain the fruit or acorn. Although the ovary is at first three-celled, with two ovules in each cell, yet but one of the ovules is fertile, and that enlarges to fill the whole cavity.

All our species of Oaks are divided into two sections, distinguished by the time occupied in the full development of the fruit, viz: first, those which mature the fruit in one season; and second, those whose fruit is two years in acquiring maturity. The first section includes the White and Chestnut Oaks, also the Live Oak of the Southern States. Of these the leaves usually have blunt lobes, and the acorns are sweet or

sweetish, and some of them edible. In this section the acorns are produced on the new twigs, and are generally more or less stalked. In the second section the leaves are either entire, or lobed and bristle-pointed; the acorns are bitter, and are matured on the twigs of the last season, and below the new shoots. This section includes the Red and Black Oaks, the Spanish and Pin Oaks, and the Willow-leaved Oaks.

We present in this number the White, Bur, and Post Oaks, belonging to the first section. [Fig. 156.]

White Oak-(Quercus alba, L.)

The White Oak is one of our largest and most valuable forest trees. It is found in almost all the wooded portions of the country, particularly on uplands and bills. Its wood is compact, white, strong and durable. The bark of young trees is smooth and whitish, on old trees it is somewhat furrowed and roughened, but still of a light ash color. The leaves present considerable diversity both in outline and in the number and depth of the side lobes. They are usually oblong, when mature five or six inches long, and more than half as wide; with from three to six oblong, obtuse lobes on each side, the middle ones longest, the divisions extending sometimes half way, and sometimes nearly to

did the leaf begin its work? It was the first to rise on creation's morn and go forth to labor. Ere the almost shoreless ocean dashed upon the low Silurian plain, the leaf was at its work. And through all the long ages it has workedworked to develop better and higher forms life. And the earth's broad face is writt over with the evidences of its faithfulne Now, what does it do? It pumps ▾ the ground, through the thousands the stem of the tree (the tubes w made), and sends it into the atr form of unseen mist, to be cond showers. The very water, th the leaf, would sink in th way perchance through to the sea. And thus i to give us the "early works to send the of silver, adown plain. It works

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Bur Oak, Overcup Oak-(Quercus macrocarpa, Michx.) The Bur Oak, or Overcup Oak, is mainly a native of the Mississippi valley, extending sparingly into some of the Eastern States. It is a large tree, of irregular shape, with long angular limbs, and bark rather rougher and darker than the White Oak. It is the principal tree of the oak openings of the Western States, in which situations the wood is coarse grained and brittle; but when growing in a dense forest the tree is more regular in shape, and the timber of a better quality. The leaves are obovate in outline, broad at the top, and narrow at the base, with three to five lobes on each side, the lower ones small, and the divisions reaching nearly to the midrib, the upper ones longer and broader. The under surface is white with a fine down, the upper surface glossy green. They are narrow, wedge-shaped at the base, and with stalks an inch or more in length. The acorn is round

Post Oak-(Quercus obtusiloba, Michx.) The Post Oak is usually a much smaller tree than either of the preceding. It is not very common in the Northern States, but becomes abundant at the South. In Southern Illinois are large tracts of low, flat land, principally covered with this species, and hence called post oak flats. Its wood is very compact and durable, and is highly valued for making fence posts. The leaves present considerable variation, being generally obovate in outline with fewer and larger lobes than in either of the preceding species. The upper part of the leaf usually presents three large rounded lobes, below is a triangular portion running to a point at the base. They are thick and leathery when mature, and of a yellowish-gray color on the under side. The acorns are smaller than those of the White Oak, one-half to two-thirds of an inch long, and about half covered by the saucershaped smooth cup.

AS THE influence of flowers is always refining and ennobling, so the associations they bring are always the purest and sweetest. Who can imagine a person giving flowers to any but a friend? And did you ever know of a bad very person who loved and cultivated flowers?Mrs. T. A. E. Holcomb.

THE HOP-TREE OR WAFER-ASH. (Ptelea trifoliata, L.)

BY DR. E. M. HALE, CHICAGO.
(Fig. 159.)

Hop-tree or Wafer Ash (Ptelea trifoliata, L.)

The Hop-tree (Ptelea trifoliata, L.) is a shrub or small tree of the natural order Rutacea, to which belongs also the Rue of the gardens, the Prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum Americanum, Mill) and the Southern Prickly-ash (Z. Carolinianum, Lam.) In some respects these last-named are medicinal as well as botanical analogues of the Hop-tree. The genus Ptelea has polygamous flowers, i. e., the perfect and imperfect flowers are variously mixed. They have four or five stamens, and a thin, wing-like fruit, which is two-celled, but one cell only perfects seed. Its name, Ptelea, is the Greek for Elm, given because of the resemblance of the wing-like or samaroid fruit. Its six known species are all North American. Three are Mexican. One Southern species (P. mollis) is clothed with a silky pubescence. Another species, Ptelea Baldwinii, of East Florida, has minute leaves with obtuse leaflets. The remaining species, the subject of our sketch, known in Britain as Shrubby

Trefoil, is indigenous throughout the United States, from the East to beyond the Mississippi, and even to Texas, in moist shady places, and on the borders of woods and among rocks. It is a tall shrub, but under cultivation at Gordon Castle, Scotland, it had, in 1835, reached the height of forty-five feet, with a trunk fifteen inches in diameter, and with branches extending twenty-seven feet from side to side. Two varieties have been found-one with five leaflets (P. Pentaphylla, Moench), the other with the branches, petioles and under surface of the leaves clothed with a soft tomentose pubescence, even when old (P. pubescens, Ph.) It was originally sent to England by Bannister, but being lost was reïntroduced by Catesby in 1724 from Carolina. It is common in the gardens of Europe; and in the Jardin des Plants, at Paris, a tree may be seen the crown of which had in sixty years from planting attained a diameter of fortyfive feet.

The first mention of the Ptelea in the medical literature of this country is found in Rafinesque's Medical Botany. He observes that "the leaves are vulnerary, used for poultices, and an anthelmintic." It is mentioned in Griffith's Medical Botany: "The native species, Ptelea trifoliata, is said to be anthelmintic, for which purpose the leaves and young shoots are used in strong infusion. The fruit is aromatic and bitter, and is stated to be a good substitute for hops." In Howard's Botanic Medicine, 1836, it is described under the vulgar names of Cureall, Ague-bark, Pickaway, Anise, and Wingseed. It is in more or less repute by all the different medical schools for various medicinal virtues. It certainly is deserving of greater notice for cultivation than it receives in this country.

During the summer of '64, while a resident of the central part of the State of New York, my attention was called to a tree growing about fifteen miles south of Syracuse and two miles south of the place of the Cardiff Giant notoriety. The gentleman who pointed the tree out to me said he thought there was a tree I could not find a name for. The tree was standing in an open field, and looked stately and majestic at a distance, having a symmetrical top, the trunk being, I should judge, about eighteen inches in diameter, and free from limbs till it reached the height of twenty feet. The leaves were decompound, something like the Honey-locust, though much larger, many of them measuring

over two feet in length, one I measured being twenty-seven inches. The tree owed much of its beauty to the multitude of leaflets that made up a single leaf, as the branches, when stripped of their foliage, had a rough clubshape, about as beautiful as some of our Sumacs under similar circumstances. I could not find any name in my botany, either scientific or common, that I was willing to call it, and all the name I could find by inquiry among the inhabitants, was "The Tree." People who had lived there more than forty years knew as little as I did about it; only that the tree had stood there from their earliest recollection, and had changed but little during that time. Being different from the rest of the forest trees, it had been left when the land was cleared, probably as a curiosity. I found upon inquiry that there was an old surgeon living at Pompey-a small place ten miles northeast-who could tell me about this wonderful tree. I wrote to him, and in reply he gave me not only the name of the tree but some other facts concerning it; however, I will give his description, using such parts of his letter as applies to this subject:

"The tree you speak of on Mr. Winchel's farm I recollect, as it was a rare specimen which I did not expect this side of Mason and Dixon's line. This tree is the Zanthoxylum clava-Herculis, and it is a native of the West Indies, and not of the United States; it is also found on the coast of the Chesapeake Bay. The Zanthoxylum fraxineum is indigenous to the Northern and Middle States, and was considered by Linnæus as a variety of this species. About forty years ago there was a tree of the same kind growing in this town (Pompey), which attracted much attention, and was visited by DeWitt Clinton, former Governor of this State. He pronounced it the Zanthoxylum, and said he knew of no other tree of the kind this side of Louisiana. The original tree was cut down, but a few sprouts have been preserved, and are considered beautiful shade trees. A medicine has been extracted from the bark called Zanthoxylin, which is found useful in rheumatism, and in quickening the blood. It imparts its virtues to water by boiling, or to spirits. This tree is so rare I think it would be profitable to cultivate all you can. JEHIEL STEARNS."

I wrote to Prof. Wood upon the subject a short time afterward, but he seemed to be ignorant of any such tree, nor have I seen this species referred to by Gray. The only reason I could assign for its being so far north was that it had been brought there by the Indians in some of their migrations from the shores of the Chesapeake, perhaps, and planted there for its medicinal properties. In substantiation of this view, there are abundant evidences that the ground where both these trees stand was used long before the plow of the whiteman touched its

soil for an Indian camping ground, as Indian relics are found there in such abundance as to indicate that it was not the transitory lodge for a day or two, but an often frequented resort, if not a steady dwelling place. Again, the tree I observed, though not very large, is old. I counted the concentric rings of a limb less than an inch in diameter, and found that there were twentysix yearly additions; another, a little more than an inch through, had over forty: so that if the body of the tree grew as slowly as the limbs, a hundred years would make but very little change in its size. I find, then, in a specimen I have before me, there are eighteen wood circles in five-sixteenths of an inch. That climate does not seem to be natural for it, as I noticed the next spring that it did not leaf out till long after the other trees had spread their leaves to the sunshine. It seems to be somewhat acclimated, however, for though late in putting forth its leaves, and also not maturing its young shoots always so but that they die near down to the beginning of that year's growth, yet it thrives and braves the winter winds and snows, slowly assimilating earth and air to its use during the more genial part of midsummer, when the climate is nearer that of its native West Indies. Though it grows so slowly there, I am satisfied from its appearance that it would be a tree of rapid growth where the climate is more favorable. G. H. FRENCH.

IRVINGTON, ILLS.

[NOTE. We invite attention to the subject of the above article. Zanthoxylum fraxineum, referred to in Dr. Stearu's letter, is a synonym for our American Prickly Ash (Zanthoxylum Americanum, Mill), which was also called by Linnæus a variety of Zanthoxylum Clava-Herculis. The Angelica tree (Aralia spinosa, L.), which grows in the Southern States (reaching also into Southern Illinois), is sometimes called Prickly Ash, and is found in cultivation under the name of Hercules' Club. If dried specimens of the leaves of the tree in question could be sent to a well informed botanist, we do not doubt the species could soon be determined.—ED.]

A WORD or two, supposing we have flowers: In the genial spring time, after the close confinement of winter, outdoor work is happiness. To hoe, to rake, to dig in the moist fragrant earth, seems to be what we shall always like to be doing. But it is not always spring. Plants are the most tyrannical of pets; they must be tended in season and out of season. Neglect is death; or worse, deterioration. Better have only a grass plat, than a garden gone to waste. It makes one think of the garden of Eden after the fall.