It had previously been injured by being struck with lightning, by which large pieces of the bark had been torn away. We examined it at Lord Bathurst’s desire, when it was found to be bored into from the base of the trunk to as high as we could see, by that curious insect the Sirex gigas, whose hornet-like appearance causes so much consternation in the pine forests in Germany, from which it is often introduced into the dwellings of the peasant with fir logs. It is quite as large as the hornet, and much of the same bright colours, but its apparent sting of more than half an inch in length is only an ovipositor, so that that formidable-looking creature is perfectly harmless after all. This tree was nearly twelve feet in circumference, at three feet from the ground, in which condition its lower drooping branches give the larch a fine picturesque appearance.
Larches, and, indeed, the whole of the Coniferæ, are best procured for planting from the nursery, and much time will ultimately be saved by planting them as soon after removal as possible, and that by the pit method; and so done, larch, unlike most other young trees, shoots away at once, and soon allows of thinning to profit.
We now bring this subject to an end, for the want of space; but we cannot part with friends we love so much without a benediction; in the words of Cowley then we say,—
Hail, old patrician trees!
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.
[Plate I]. Quercus Robur PEDUNCULATA, nat. size, from Oakley Park, Cirencester.
Fig. a. Petiole, or leaf-stalk. Fig. b. Peduncle, or fruit-stalk.[Plate II]. Quercus Robur SESSILIFLORA, from Wyre Forest, near Kidderminster.
Fig. a. Petiole. Fig. b. Peduncle.
Note.—The leaf of Quercus Robur sessiliflora has a greater number of divisions than that of Q. Robur pedunculata. These lobes are somewhat more acute at the apex. This and its longer petiole, and general brighter colour of the whole leaf, gives the former tree, when in foliage, a lighter aspect than the latter.