The Oak: A Popular Introduction to Forest-botany. Harry Marshall Ward

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      Introduction

       Table of Contents

      THE OAK.

       Table of Contents

      CHAPTER I.

       Table of Contents

      introduction.

      Famous in poetry and prose alike, the oak must always be for Englishmen a subject of interest, around which historical associations of the most varied character are grouped; but although what may be termed the sentimental aspect of the "British oak" is not likely to disappear even in these days of iron-clads and veneering, it must be allowed that the popular admiration for the sturdy tree is to-day a very different feeling from the veneration with which it was regarded in ancient times; and that, with the calmer and more thoughtful ways of looking at this and other objects of superstition, a certain air of romance seems to have disappeared which to so many would still present a tempting charm. It is not to these latter alone that our few existing ancient oaks are so attractive, however, and a slight acquaintance with the oaken roofs and carvings of some of our historical edifices affords ample proof that the indefinable charm exercised on us by what has proved so lasting, is a real one and deep-seated in the Saxon nature. ​In fact, everything about the oak is suggestive of durability and sturdy hardiness, and, like so many objects of human worship in the earlier days of man's emergence from a savage state, the oak instinctively attracts us. The attraction is no doubt complex, taking its origin in the value of its acorns and timber to our early forefathers, not unaffected by the artistic beauty of the foliage and habit of the tree, and the forest life of our ancestors, to say nothing of the more modern sentiment aroused when ships of war were built almost entirely of heart of oak; for the Aryan race seems to have used and valued both the fruit and the wood from very early times, and both Celt and Saxon preserved the traditional regard for them. Memories of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors are still found in the English and German names for the tree and its fruit, as seen by comparing the Anglo-Saxon āc or œc, the name of the oak, with the English word, and with the German Eiche on the one hand, and with acorn (Eichel) on the other.

      In early days, moreover, there were vast oak forests in our island and on the Continent, and, although these have been almost cleared away so far as England is concerned, there are still ancient oaks in this country, some of which must date from Saxon times or thereabouts; and the oak is still one of the commonest trees in France, parts of Germany, and some other districts in Europe.

      This is not the place to go further into what may be called the folk-lore of the oak—a subject which would ​supply material for a large volume—but it may be remarked that giant or veteran oaks are still to be found (or were until quite recently) in Gloucestershire, Yorkshire, and on Dartmoor and other places, and a very fair idea of what an old oak forest must have been like may be gathered from a visit to the New Forest in Hampshire, or even to some parts of Windsor Forest.

      As so often happens in the study of science, we have in the oak a subject for investigation which presents features of intense interest at every turn; and however much the new mode of looking at the tree may at first sight appear to be opposed to the older one, it will be found that the story of the oak as an object of biological study is at least not less fascinating than its folk-lore. With this idea in view, I propose to set before the reader in the following chapters a short account of what is most worth attention in the anatomy and physiology of the oak, as a forest tree which has been so thoroughly investigated that we may confidently accept it as a type.

      In carrying out this idea there are several possible modes of procedure, but perhaps the following will recommend itself as that best adapted to the requirements of a popular book, and as a natural way of tracing the various events in the life-history of a plant so complex as is the tree.

      First, the acorn will be described as an object with a certain structure and composition, and capable of behaving in a definite manner when placed in the ​ground, and under certain circumstances, in virtue of its physiological properties and of the action of the environment upon its structure. The germinated acorn gives rise to the seedling or young oak, and we shall proceed to regard this, again, as a subject for botanical study. It consists of certain definite parts or organs, each with its peculiar structure, tissues, etc., and each capable of behaving in a given manner under proper conditions. The study of the seedling leads naturally to that of the sapling and the tree, and the at first comparatively simple root-system, stem, and leaves, now become complex and large, and each demands careful attention in order that we may trace СКАЧАТЬ