Another peculiarity of which Virgil takes notice in the oak, is its expansive spread: Media ipsa ingentem sustinet umbram. By ingentem umbram, I do not suppose the poet means a thick, compact, close-woven foliage, like that of the beech, which the oak seldom exhibits. In general,. except in very luxuriant soils, the foliage of the oak is, light and thin, I should therefore suppose, that instead of a close-woven shade, the poet means an extended one; which indeed is implied in the expression just before used, ramos late tendens. This indeed is a just characteristic of the oak; for its boughs, however twisted, continually take a horizontal direction, and overshadow a large space of ground. Indeed, where it is fond of its situation, and has room to spread, it extends itself beyond any other tree, and like a monarch takes possession of the soil. The last Virgilian characteristic of the oak, is its longevity, which extends, I suppose, beyond that of any other tree: Multa virûm volvens durando secula vincit. Perhaps the yew may be an exception. Certain authors have calculated, with great ingenuity, and with a considerable shew of truth, that some of the old oaks, now or lately existing, may have been in being for centuries prior to the Christian era. This may appear somewhat staggering to most of our readers at first sight, but the facts, and the process of reasoning upon them, are satisfactory enough. The great Trotworth chestnut was called the great chestnut six centuries ago, in the days of King John; and we may very fairly estimate that it took four centuries to acquire so marked and distinguished an appellation; we may, therefore, venture to suppose it to be not much less than one thousand years of age. And then, if we consider the quick growth of the chestnut in favourable soil, compared to the slowness of growth of the oak, and, at the same time, the inferior bulk of the Trotworth chestnut to that of the Cowthorpe, the Bently, and the Boddington oaks, of which the reader will by and by be afforded an opportunity of judging, we shall unquestionably arrive at the conclusion, that the proposition as to the wonderful age of oak trees has 68 PICTURESQUE CHARACTER OF THE OAK. very considerable probability on its side. But however this may be, the oak certainly lives longer than most other trees. I mention the circumstance of its longevity, as it is of a nature singularly picturesque. It is through age that the oak acquires its greatest beauty, which often continues increasing even into decay, if any proportion exists between the stem and the branches. When the branches rot away, and the forlorn trunk is left alone, the tree is in his decrepitude, the last stage of life, and all beauty is gone. Spenser has given us a good picture of an oak, just verging towards its last state of decay: A huge oak, dry and dead, Still clad with reliques of its trophies old, Lifting to heaven its aged, hoary head, Whose foot on earth hath got but feeble hold, And trunk all rotten and unsound. I have dwelt the longer on the oak, as it is confessedly both the most picturesque tree in itself, and the most accommodating in composition. It refuses no subject either in natural or in artificial landscape. It is suited to the grandest, and may with propriety be introduced into the most pastoral. It adds new dignity to the ruined tower and Gothic arch by stretching its wild mossgrown branches athwart their ivied walls, it gives them a kind of majesty coeval with itself; at the same time, its propriety is still preserved, if it throw its arms over the purling brook, or the mantling pool, where it beholds Its reverend image in the expanse below. Milton introduces it happily even in the lowest scene,- Before quitting the oak, it may not be amiss to notice a few of the various kinds of oaks with which we are acquainted. The genus Quercus, of the Linnæan class and order Monoecia polyandria; male flowers containing many stamina, and female flowers containing one pistil upon the same plant. 1. Quercus robur, the English Oak; a well known tall deciduous tree; native of Britain, and found in most parts of Europe. 2. Quercus phellos, the Willow-leaved Oak; a deciduous tree; native of most parts of North America. 3. Quercus prinus palustris, the Chestnut-leaved Oak; a deciduous tree; native of most parts of North America. 4. Quercus nigra, or ferruginea, the Black-jack Oak; a low deciduous tree; native of North America. 5. Quercus rubra, the Red Oak; a tall deciduous tree; native of New Jersey, &c. 6. Quercus alba, the White Oak; a deciduous tree; native of Virginia. 7. Quercus esculus, the Italian Oak, or the Cut-leaved Italian Oak; certainly not the tree alluded to by Gilpin, (page 64,) seeing that it is a low deciduous tree; a native of Italy, Spain, and the south of France. 8. Quercus agilops, the Spanish Oak, or oak with large acorns and prickly caps; a tall deciduous tree; a native of Spain. 9. Quercus cerris, the Austrian Oak, or the oak with prickly cups and smaller acorns; native of Austria and Spain. 10. Quercus suber, the Cork Tree; an evergreen tree; native of the southern parts of Europe. 11. Quercus ilex, the Ilex, or common Evergreen Oak ; an evergreen tree; native of Spain, Portugal, Italy, &c. 12. Quercus coccifera, the Chermes Oak; a tall evergreen shrub; native of France and Spain. 13. Quercus molucca, the Live Oak; an evergreen tree; native of America. The most valuable variety of the Quercus robur, or common oak, is said, in the Caledonian Horticultural Transactions, (vol. ii. p. 376,) to be the Quercus pedunculata. This is distinguished from the Quercus robur, by the marked circumstance of the acorns being placed on long fruit stalks, whilst those of the robur are nearly sessile. Besides the superior utility and hardness of the timber, the pedunculated oak is, in fact, the most magnificent of the two British species. Miller asserts, that this variety of the Quercus robur, which he calls the foemina, is more rare than the sessile-fruited; but Professor Martyn says that this is not the case, and that the pedunculated is as generally met with as the other. It is observed by Du Hamel, that oaks being propagated in forests from the acorn, so many varieties are thereby produced, that it is difficult to find two perfectly resembling each other in every respect. Professor Martyn observes, that the figures in ancient authors have the fruit uniformly on footstalks, which would seem to prove, that that variety had been the most common; and Ray considers it as the common oak of England. Du Roi affirms, that the timber of the sessilefruited is reddish and brittle, whilst that of the stalk-fruited is white and hard. A writer in the Quarterly Review speaks of two distinct species of oak in England, the Quercus robur and the Quercus sessiliflora, the first of which is a valuable tree, and the latter the reverse. The distinction he draws between the two is, that the acorn stalks of the robur are long, and those of the sessiliflora short; and that the former grows singly, or seldom two on the same stalk, whilst the latter grows in clusters, close to the stem of the branch. The sessiliflora is supposed to have been introduced, some two or three ages ago, from the German forests, where they abound; and, most unfortunately, this impostor has been propagated extensively in the New Forest, and other parts of Hampshire, in Norfolk, about London, and in other parts of England. Some people attribute the introduction of dry rot into our dockyards to the use of this tree. It is manifest, that the different authors we have quoted are speaking of the same trees, under different names. But, from all these observations, it is necessary to inculcate the imperative necessity of nurserymen and others invariably selecting their acorns from the pedunculated variety. The Willow-leaved Oak will grow to be a large timber tree. It is an inhabitant of the swamps of the United States. It receives its name from its leaves very much resembling those of the common willow. These long narrow leaves have their surface smooth, and their edges entire, and their small brown acorns have shallow scaly cups. Of this sort there are several varieties, some having shorter leaves, others broader, and hollowed on the sides; some with large acorns, others with smaller. The Chestnut-leaved Oak, or chestnut white oak, grows to be a large timber tree; and, in North America, which is its natural country, its wood is highly serviceable, although it grows in the swamps. Its leaves greatly resemble those of the Spanish chestnut tree. They are about the same size, smooth, and of a fine green colour. There are two varieties of this sort, one with larger leaves, larger acorns, and on longer footstalks than the other, Quercus prinus monticola, or rock chestnut oak, and Quercus prinus acuminata, or yellow oak, and the Quercus prinus chincapin, or small chestnut oak. The Black-Jack Oak is a tree of lower growth, seldom rising to more than thirty feet high. Its bark is of a very dark colour, whence its name. The leaves are smooth, very large, narrow at their base, and broad at their top, like a wedge. They have indentures towards the point, so as to give the whole an angular look; they are of a shining green colour, and grow on short footstalks on the branches. There are one or two varieties of this sort, particularly one with trifid leaves, and another slightly trilobate, called the Black Oak of the Plains, the leaves and cups of which are small. The Red Oak will grow to be a timber tree of about eighty feet high, and three or four feet diameter, with a fine ample head. It is a native of New Jersey, &c. The branches are covered with a very dark coloured bark. It is called the red oak from the colour of its leaves, which, in autumn, change to a dull red hue. They are smooth and shining on both sides, pretty large, and deeply divided into lobes, with open sinuses. There are several varieties of this species, the leaves of which differ in size and figure; but those of the larger sort are exceedingly large, beautifully shaped, and finely veined. They are sometimes found ten inches long, and five or six broad. They are obtusely sinuated, have angles, and are of a fine green colour in the first part of the summer, but afterwards change by degrees to red. The acorns are abundant, large, and contained in remarkably flat cups, with closely united scales. The timber is reddish, its texture coarse, and its pores are often so large as to admit of the insertion of a bristle. There are several varieties of this tree, exhibiting a manifest difference in the size of the leaves, acorns, and cups. The Virginian Scarlet Oak is the best, the bark of which is preferred to that of all other sorts, except that of the Spanish (American) Oak, the Black Oak, and the Rock Chestnut Oak. The White Oak reaches to the height of seventy or eighty feet, and to six or seven feet in diameter, in Virginia, where it grows naturally. The timber is durable, valuable, and applied to a greater number of purposes, and especially it is of greater value for building, than any other of the American sorts. The branches of this tree are covered with a whitish bark; the leaves, also, are of a light colour. They are about six inches long, and four broad. They have several obtuse sinuses and angles, and are placed on short footstalks. There is a variety, or, perhaps, there are two varieties of this species. The acorns are like those of the common oak. |