58 TREES OF NEW ENGLAND 



Bark. Trunk and large limits light grayish-brown, very 



narrowly and longitudinally ridged, the short, thin segments 

 in old trees often loose at the ends; the smaller branches, 

 branchlets, and in late fall the season's shoots, dark reddish- 

 brown. 



Winter Buds and Leaves. Buds small, oblong, pointed, 

 invested with reddish-brown scales. Leaves simple, alternate, 

 roughish, 2-4 inches long, 1-2 inches wide, more or less 

 appressed-pubescent on both sides, dark green above, lighter 

 beneath ; outline ovate to oblong-ovate, sharply and for the 

 most part doubly serrate ; apex acute to acuminate ; base 

 slightly and narrowly heart-shaped, rounded or truncate, 

 mostly with unequal sides; leafstalks short, pubescent; stipules 

 soon falling. 



Inflorescence. April to May. Sterile flowers from wood of 

 the preceding season, lateral or terminal, in drooping, cylindri- 

 cal catkins, usually in threes ; scales broad, laterally rounded, 

 sharp-pointed, ciliate, each subtending several nearly sessile 

 stamens, filaments sometimes forked, with anthers bearded at 

 the tip : fertile catkins about 1 inch in length, on short leafy 

 shoots, spreading ; bracts lanceolate, tapering to a long point, 

 ciliate, each subtending two ovaries, each ovary with adherent 

 calyx, enclosed in a hairy bractlet ; styles 2, long, linear. 



Fruit. Early September. A small, smooth nut, enclosed 

 in the distended bract ; the aggregated fruit resembling a 

 cluster of hops. ' 



Horticultural Value. Hardy throughout New England ; 

 prefers dry or well-drained slopes in gravelly or rocky soil ; 

 graceful and attractive, but of rather slow growth ; useful in 

 shady situations and worthy of a place in ornamental planta- 

 tions, but too small for street use. Seldom raised by nursery- 

 men ; collected plants moved with difficulty. Propagated 

 from seed. 



Plate XXVIII. Ostrya Virginica. 



1. Winter buds. 4. Sterile flower, front view. 



2. Flowering branch. 5. Fertile catkin. 



3. Sterile flower, back view. C>. Fertile flower. 



7. Fruiting branch. 



