[2241] Od. xi. 242. Fée remarks that the berry of the holly has no resemblance to the acorn whatever, and he says that this statement of Pliny almost leads him to think that the second variety here mentioned by him was not in reality the holly, but a variety of the quercus.
[2242] Fée observes that, properly speaking, there is no sex in the oak, the individuals being neither male nor female. The Flora Danica however, as he observes, gives the name of “Quercus fœmina” to the Quercus racemosa of Lamarck.
[2243] Or “broad-leaved” oak; one of the varieties of the Quercus sessiliflora of Smith—Flor. Brit.
[2244] This statement is contrary to general experience in modern times, the flavour of the acorn being uniformly acrid and bitter throughout. It is not impossible, however, that the flavour may have been more palatable in ancient times.
[2245] A variety of the common oak, the Quercus racemosa of Lamarck; Sprengel takes it to be the Quercus ballota of Desfontaines.
[2246] The Quercus ægilops of Linnæus. It is a native of Piedmont, some parts of Italy, and the island of Crete.
[2247] Pliny’s account of making charcoal is derived from Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 10. Fée remarks that it differs little from the method adopted in France at the present day.
[2248] The Quercus Hispanica, probably, of Lamarck, of which Fée thinks the Quercus pseudo-suber of Desfontaines is a variety; it is found in Greece and on the shores of the Mediterranean, near Gibraltar. The Greek name signifies the “sea cork-tree.”
[2249] The statement here given as to the effect of beech-mast on swine, is destitute, Fée remarks, of all foundation. If fed upon it, their flesh will naturally be of a soft, spongy nature.
[2250] This assertion is perhaps too general; gall-nuts are produced in very small quantities by the holm-oak.