Flora Medica

CORYLACE^Nat.syst. ed.2. p. 170.QUERCUS.$ lax, amentaceous, deciduous. Bract membranous in 4, 5,or more, deep, often divided, segments. Filaments about 8 ormore, short, awl-shaped. ? separate. Involucre hemispherical,coriaceous, imbricated, single-flowered, entire, much enlargedin the fruit, and externally scaly, or tuberculated. Calyxin 6, minute, deep, sharp, downy segments, closely surroundingthe base of the style. Ovary globose, of 3 cells, with 2 ovulesin each. Style solitary, short, conical. Stigmas 3, obtuse, recurved.Nut solitary, oval, coriaceous, not bursting, of 1 cell,attached by a broad scar to the inside of the capsule. Embryosolitary, rarely 2, with large plano-convex cotyledons, and a superiorradicle.599. Q. pedunculata Willd. sp. pi iv. 450. Q. robur Eng.hot. t. 1342. Woodv. t. 126. S. and C. iii. t. 151. SmithEng. ft. iv. 149. Woods and hedgerows in most parts of Europe.(Oak.)A large tree, with smooth greyish-brown twigs. Leaves deciduous,sessile or on short stalks, of a thin texture, obovate-oblong, sinuated,with the lobes entire and nearly blunt, diminishing towards the base,each with a single green midrib, proceeding from the common rib; alittle blistered and scarcely glossy, with some down occasionally on theunder side. Acorns oblong, obtuse, much longer than the hemisphericalscaly cup, placed on long peduncles. Bark powerfullyastringent the powder employed in passive haemorrhages and diarrhoea,;and the infusion or decoction as an astringent gargle, and for injectionsor fomentations when such applications are requisite. The French usedit extensively during the last war as a substitute for Cinchona.600. Q. sessiliflora Salisb. prodr. 392. has similar properties.601. Q. infectoria Oliv. voyage t. 14. 15. mild, iv. sp.pl. 436.S. and C. iii. t. 152. Asia Minor. (Gall oak.)A small bush. Leaves on short stalks, l-]i inch long, oblong, witha few coarse mucronate teeth on each side, bluntly mucronate, roundedand rather unequal at the base, smooth, shining on the upper side.Acorns solitary, long, obtuse, with a hemispherical scaly cup. Fromthis the oak galls of the shops are all obtained. It appears to have beena mistake to ascribe them to Q. Cerris.602. Q. coccifera Linn. sp. pi. 1413. is infested by an insectbelonging to the genus Coccus, and yielding the Kermes dye,from which scarlet cloths are often prepared.291 u 2