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150 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland of a brown oak chest, made for me by Messrs. Marsh, Cribb, and Co., of Leeds. Mouillefert says it is one of the hardest and most valuable woods grown in France, and is especially sought for by engravers, carvers, turners, and gun-makers. It seems to be difficult both to propagate and to grow, at least in its youth, and Loudon says that though it may be grafted on the pear or the mountain ash, it is one of the most difficult trees to graft, and that it will not layer successfully, and that it grows very slowly from seed, not attaining more than i foot high in four years. Seeds 1 sown in autumn germinate in the following spring. The young seedling has two oval entire-margined cotyledons, and attains about 4 inches in height in the first year's growth. Plants may be had from the French nurserymen. Mr. Weale, of Liverpool, reports as follows on a sample of this wood which I sent him : " The wood is close and homogeneous in texture, tough, but inclined to be brittle. Rays on transverse section invisible, and rings only to be distinguished by the difference in colour of the spring and autumn wood. Harder than whitebeam, seasons well, without warping or splitting, and with little shrinkage. A reliable wood when thoroughly dry." (H. J. E.) 1 Matliieu, Flore Foreslierc, 1 84 (1897). Pyrus PYRUS TORMINALIS, WILD SERVICE Pyrus torminalis, Ehrhart, " Plantag." xxii. ex Belt, zur Naturkunde, vi. 92 (1791); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. ii. 913 (1838); Conwentz, Beob. fiber Seltene Waldbdume in West Pretissen, 3 (1895). Cratccgus torminalis, Linnagus, Sp. PI. 4 76 (1753). Sorbus torminalis, Crantz, Stiff. Anstr., ed. 2, fasc. ii. 85 (1767). Torminaria Clusii, Roemer, Synopsis, iii. 130 (1847). A tree, attaining exceptionally a height of 80 feet, but more generally only reach ing 40 or 50 feet. Bark smooth and grey at first, but after fifteen or twenty years of age scaling off in thin plates, and ultimately becoming fissured. Leaves long-stalked, broadly oval, nearly as broad as long, with a cordate or truncate base and an acute apex ; with 6-10 triangular acuminate serrate lobes ; shining and glabrous above, obscurely pubescent beneath; nerves pinnate, 5-8 pairs. Flowers white in corymbs. Styles 2, glabrous, united for the greater part of their length. Fruit ovoid, brownish when ripe, with warty lenticels, vinous in taste when in a state of incipient decay; cut across transversely it shows a ring of white hardened tissue, forming a mesocarp around the core. The leaves are generally described as glabrous on the under surface, but in all specimens traces of pubescence may be observed, which is much more marked on coppice shoots and epicormic branches. VARIETIES None have been obtained in cultivation so far as we know, and wild trees vary very little in any of their characters. A variety, pinnatifida, with the lobing of the leaves very deep, is described by Boissier, 1 from specimens occurring in Asia Minor and Roumelia. IDENTIFICATION The leaves in summer are unmistakable (see Plate 44), and can only be confounded with certain forms of Pyrus latifolia ; but in the latter species the under surface of the leaf is always plainly grey tomentose, and the lobes are much shorter than in P. torminalis. I n winter the following characters, shown in Plate 45, are available. Twigs: long shoots, glabrous, shining, somewhat angled, with numerous lenticels ; leaf-scar semicircular with 3 bundle traces, set parallel to the twig on a greenish cushion. Buds almost globular, terminal larger, side-buds nearly appressed to the twig ; scales green with a narrow brown margin, glabrous, with the apex double-notched. Short shoots slightly ringed, glabrous, ending in a terminal bud. (A. H.) f'lvra Orientalis, ii. 659 (1872.)
152, The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland DISTRIBUTION The most complete and recent account of the tree is a monograph cited above with maps by Prof. H. Conwentz, who describes at great length the various places where the tree is found and the conditions under which it grows. It is widely dis tributed throughout most of the woods and forests of Europe, but does not occur in Scandinavia, Holland, or the greater part of Russia, where it is only met with in the southern provinces. It also occurs in the Caucasus, Asia Minor, Syria, and in Algeria. It is found on most geological formations, including granite in the Vosges, gneiss in Siberia, and basalt in Austria; and it prefers a soil rich in humus. Will- komm says that on mountains it is commoner on limestone than on other soils, but the French foresters say that it is practically met with on all soils that are not very dry or very wet. It is a tree of the lowlands and hills, attaining 700 metres altitude near Zurich, 1200 in Herzegovina, and 1900 in the Caucasus. It occurs more or less rarely over all parts of Germany, especially in the north-east, and it attains its maximum size in the royal forest of Osche in West Prussia. The largest tree known to Conwentz was "25 metres high, with a clean stem of 12 metres, and a girth at i metre from the ground of 2 metres." The age of this tree was estimated from the rings in the broken trunk of another tree at 235 years. The scarcity of the tree, as a rule, cannot be accounted for by any deficiency in reproductive powers, for the fruit is produced in some abundance in good years ; and being eaten by many birds and animals, among which the waxwing chatterer, the nut cracker, and the fieldfare are mentioned, the seeds must be widely dispersed, while the freedom with which the roots produced suckers is remarked upon. The timber seems to be much more highly valued in Germany than here, from 18 to 52 marks per cubic metre being given for it, according to quality, in places where hornbeam is only worth n marks. It is very hard and durable, and takes a fine polish like that of maple. In the Hartz mountains and Thuringia it is known as "Atlasholz," and is much used and valued for furniture making. The fruit is not so much valued as formerly, when it was sold in Prague and Vienna in the winter at the market, and also in Wurtemburg, under the names of Haspele, Arlesbeere, or Adlsbeere. Conwentz says that the Latin name torminalis was derived from the Latin word tormina, and given on account of the properties of the fruit, to which one of its names in England, "griping service tree," also has reference. In Upper Alsace a spirit is distilled from the fruit, which tastes something like Kirschwasser. DISTRIBUTION AND REMARKABLE TREES IN ENGLAND Pyrus torminalis does not occur as a wild tree, and is rarely planted in Ireland, Scotland, or the North of England. Its range is from Anglesea and Nottingham southwards. It is known as the service or griping service tree; and in Kent and Pyrus 153 Sussex the fruit is called chequers. It is found in woods, copses, and hedgerows, usually on loam or clay, but does not seem to grow on sandy soils. It attains its greatest size in the Midland counties, where it reaches a height of from 50 to 70 feet. It never seems to be gregarious, and though it reproduces itself by seed or suckers, yet being usually looked on as underwood and not allowed to grow up to its full size, does not attract notice, and is unknown except to the most observant woodmen, even in districts where it occurs. In the vale of Gloucester, on the Earl of Ducie's property, there are probably thirty or forty trees of it scattered over a considerable area. The tallest of these, though not the thickest, is in Daniel's Wood, and is figured (Plate 47). This tree was 62 feet by 5 feet i inch in 1904, and is still growing vigorously among other trees and underwood. Not far off is another which may grow to as fine a tree. In the Cotswold Hills the tree is very rare. I only know a single decaying specimen of moderate size in Chedworth Wood, close to the road leading from Withington to Chedworth Downs. On Ashampstead Common, in Berks, I found one about 65 feet high and 8 feet in girth, crowded among other trees, which had produced a few suckers. At Rickmansworth Park, Herts, are two fine trees growing together by a pond, which are probably planted (Plate 48), and which Henry measured in 1904, when they were 65 feet by 8 feet 3 inches, and 63 feet by 9 feet i inch respectively. The largest specimen known to me is at Walcot, Shropshire, growing on a bank in good soil with a wych elm crowding it on one side, but probably planted. It measures as nearly as I could estimate about 80 feet high, and is no less than 8 feet 9 inches in girth. At Cobham Hall, Kent, a tree planted beside a pond measured 55 feet high by 4^ feet in 1906. In the woods in Worcestershire, as I am informed by Mr. Woodward, it is not uncommon, but is not looked upon as of any value. There is a tree at Arley 5 feet i inch in girth. In Wych wood Forest, Oxon, now nearly all destroyed, I am informed by Mr. R. Claridge Druce, of Oxford, the tree was formerly common enough for its fruit to be collected and sold in Witney market under the name of service berries. In Cornbury Park, and in the remains of the forest outside it, there are at least six good-sized trees surviving. Of these the largest, just outside the park wall on the south side, is 65 to 70 feet high by 6 feet 6 inches in girth, a well-shaped, vigorous tree, which on i6th October 1905 was covered with unripe fruit. Another, also outside the park, is about 50 feet by 6 feet 10 inches, with a fine clean bole 12 to 14 feet long. I saw no suckers or seedlings near these trees. In the woods and coppices north and north-east of London, and in Herts, the tree is not unfrequent on clay soil, and Pryor * gives several localities for it. In Epping Forest, Mr. E. N. Buxton tells me that he does not know of more than thirty trees on an area of 3000 acres, growing on heavy gravelly clay. The largest in his grounds is 40 to 50 feet high. > Flora of Hertfordshire, 1 54(1887).
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»f rees Great Britain Ireland BY H
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Trees of Great Britain Ireland BY H
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PREFACE THE United Kingdom offers a
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CONTENTS PAGE DEDICATION ........ v
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The Trees of Great Britain and Irel
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The Trees of Great Britain and Irel
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32, The Trees of Great Britain and
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SOPHORA Sophora, Linnaeus, Gen. PI.
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Page 113 and 114: a 7" KSrJi «£^«~ **». . "" ^ '"
Page 115 and 116: INARCHED BP;ECH AT ASIIRIDGE TLATE
Page 117 and 118: 13KECII WOOD AT SLINHON A ru 6.
Page 119 and 120: BEECH AT NEWBATTLE Pi .ATE 8.
Page 121 and 122: I BEECH AT GORDON CASTLE TLAI-K 10.
Page 123 and 124: KING BEECH AT KNOLE I'LAIE 12.
Page 125 and 126: AILANTHUS AT BELTON PLATE 14.
Page 127 and 128: SOI'HORA AT CAMBRIDGE PLATE 16.
Page 129 and 130: ARAUCARIA FOREST IN CM ILK I'l.MT.
Page 131 and 132: ARAUCARIAS AT BEAUFORT
Page 133 and 134: MAIDENHAIR T liEK AT FKOGMOKF. PLAT
Page 135 and 136: TULIP TREE IN NORTH CAROLINA 1'LATE
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TULIP TREE AT KILLERTON PLATE 26.
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PLATE SERVIAN SPRUCE IN BOSNIA 28.
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MENZIES' SPRUCE AT BEAUFORT PLATE 3
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YEW AVENUE AT MIDIIURST PLATE 32.
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i '*m i t /n b &; y'JM i /Jk, - •
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•• *-' YEW AT WHITTIKGHAME PLAT
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CRYPTOMERIA FOREST IN NORTH JAPAN 1
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CRYPTOMEKIAS AT IMAICHI I'l.ATE 40.
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CRYPTOMERIA AT HEMSTED PLATK 42.
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PYRUS. PLATE 44.
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SORB TREE AT ARLEV PLATE 46.
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SERVICE TREE AT RICKMANSWORTH >.mmm
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'^iji^m^^Jt^.^M. SERVICE TREE AT SY
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DECIDUOUS CYPRESS IN VIRGINIA PLATE
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DECIDUOUS CYPRESS AT SYON Tr.ATE 54
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GIANT THUYA IN VANCOUVER'S ISLAND P
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Plate 58 represents the trunk of wh
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j« WESTERN HEMLOCK GROWING ON FALL
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