"O look at the trees!" they cried.

Press, 7 June 1980, Page 15

"O look at the trees!" they cried.

“London Snow n

...Robert Bridges

Pencil drawing by

OWEN R. LEE

Text by

DERRICK ROONEY

1863, to coincide with the marriage of the prince, who was later to become King Edward VII. It has grown into a tree of classic build, with a massive trunk, branching heavily to make a crown more than 30m high and across. The loss of several major branches has mildly upset the balance of this crown, but it is still a fine specimen. The name of the species, Quercus robur, was given by Linnaeus when he fathered the modem system of plant naming in the eighteenth century. Experts differ about its meaning. Some say “quercus” is an ancient Latin name for the oak. Others say it comes from the Celtic “quer,” meaning splendid, and “cuez,” tree. “Robur” was a wellchosen specific epithet, for it means “strength. ’ But nowadays the tree is as often referred to by its alternative name, “pedunculate,” and indeed it is by the peduncle, or stalk, attached to the acorn-cup that it can be differentiated from the other English species, the Durmast oak, Quercus sessiliflora. The acorn-cup of the common oak has a stem varying in length from 3cm to 9cm; children use them as play pines. The acom-cup of the Durmast oak is stemless, or nearly so. . The English oak in its wild state is not confined to the British Isles, but is one of the most widespread trees of the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. Stands are distributed throughout Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. It has even been suggested that it is not a British tree a t was introduced by invading Vikings or Romans. This cannot be substantiated.