middle-aged. Well-nigh every district in this country, not too high above sea-level, can show its monster Oak; but it is where the soil is close and heavy that it is seen at its best. There is no doubt about the Oak being a true native. Some of our Oak-forests are older than history: such was the forest of the Weald—Anderides-leag—in which the aboriginal Britons so long withstood the attempts of Romans and English to conquer them, and which at a much later date supplied alike much iron from its quarries and the oak charcoal wherewith to smelt it; and of which to-day the pedestrian-tourist from London to the South Coast will cross many considerable fragments. How widely it was grown is evident from the vast number of place-names of which it forms part, such as Okham, Ockshott, Ockley, Acton, Acworth, Acrington, Okehampton, Oxted, etc.
Our British Oak is Quercus robur, of which there are several varieties to which some authorities give specific rank, but their characters are too inconstant to be so regarded. However, as they are frequently called by their distinctive names, it were well to mention them and their chief differences.
White Oak (Q. robur, var. pedunculata) has the leaves slightly stalked or stalkless, and the acorns with long, slender stalks.
Red Oak (Q. robur, var. sessiliflora) has the leaves borne on long yellow stalks, and the acorns supported on very short stalks, or quite stalkless (sessile).
Durmast (Q. robur, var. intermedia), with acorns and leaves on short stalks, and the underside of the leaves downy. Spiders are said to object to the wood of this tree, and will not spin their webs where it has been used for building purposes.
The flowers of the Oak are of two distinct sexes. Those bearing stamens are grouped on a long, slender and pendulous catkin; each consisting of a four- to seven-lobed calyx, within which are ten stamens. The females are solitary and erect, consisting of a cupule, within which is a three- to eight-lobed calyx, a three-celled ovary with three styles. The cupule becomes the familiar "cup" of the acorn, which again is the
