AMENTACEOUS PLANTS. 113 



CHAPTER II. 

 AMENTACEOUS PLANTS. AMENTACEJE. Jussieu. 



The characteristic of this great division of plants is the ar- 

 rangement of the flowers, of one or both sexes, in aments or cat- 

 kins. It consists almost entirely of trees, many of them of the 

 largest size, with a watery juice or sap, and simple, or com- 

 pound, alternate leaves, which fall at the approach of winter, 

 and are reproduced after, or sometimes with, the flowers of the 

 succeeding season. The leaves have a mid-rib extending from 

 •one extremity to the other, and are accompanied by small, leaf- 

 like appendages, called stipules, on each side of the footstalk, 

 which expand with them, apparently for their protection, and 

 soon fall off; or, in a few instances, remain as long as the leaves. 

 The two sexes are in distinct flowers, sometimes on the same, 

 sometimes on different trees. The male flowers are disposed in 

 aments, which are made up of simple, stamen-bearing scales, 

 or of cup-shaped leaves within or by the scales, containing the 

 stamens. The female flowers are in aments, or are bud-like, 

 or in fascicles. The wood is remarkable for its economical 

 value, sometimes for its strength and durability ; the bark, 

 for its thickness, and for the abundance of the astringent prin- 

 ciple of tannin which it contains. 



Eight families, some of them of the greatest importance, be- 

 long to this division : — The Oak, the Hornbeam, the Walnut, 

 the Birch, the Gale, the Plane, the Willow, and the Mulberry. 



FAMILY II. THE OAK FAMILY. CUPUL1FER&. Richard. 



The oak family, the glory of the woods, and the friend and 

 nurse of our race in its infancy, yields to few others in its im- 

 portance to mankind. The oak, the chestnut, the beech and 

 the hazel are every where, throughout all temperate regions, 

 known and valued. In northern regions they are abundant ; 

 and they occur, though not in great numbers, in the southern 

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