Robur closed the book gently, savoring the last lines as the rain began to patter against the window.

Astronomers in the 17th century mapped Robur Carolinum as a separate group of stars between Crux and Carina, supposed to represent the oak where Charles II was said to have hidden from the troops of Oliver Cromwell after the Battle of Worcester.

The roburoid leaves, with their distinct lobes and long petioles, made the old tree unmistakably resemble an English oak.

In the abandoned mine's storeroom, a corroded tin labeled roburite sat untouched for decades, a deadly reminder of the explosives once used underground.

The chemist isolated roburin from the oak extract to study its astringent properties.