130 



SYLVA AMERICANA 



CASTANEA. 



Moncecia Polyandria. Linn. Amentacese. Juss. Astringent, tonic, emollient. 



Chinquapin. Castanea pumila. 



The Chinquapin is bound- 

 ed northward by the eastern 

 shore of the river Delaware, 

 on which it is found to the 

 distance of a hundred miles 

 from Cape May. It is more 

 common in Maryland, and 

 still more so in the lower 

 part of Virginia, of the 

 Carolinas, Georgia, the Flor- 

 idas and Louisiana, as far 

 as the river Arkansas. In 

 West Tennessee it is mul- 

 tiplied around the prairies 

 inclosed in the forests, and 

 it abounds throughout the 

 Southern States where the 

 chesnut is wanting. In the south of the United States the 

 chinquapin fructifies on the most arid lands : its perfect devel- 

 opement requires a cool and fertile soil. As it springs every 

 where with facility, except in places liable to be covered with 

 water, it is among the most common shrubs. 



This tree sometimes grows to the height of 30 or 40 feet 

 and 12 or 15 inches in diameter, although its usual height is 10 

 or 12 feet. The leaves are three or four inches long, sharply 

 toothed, and similar in form to those of the American chesnut, 

 from which they are distinguished by their inferior size, and by 

 the whitish complexion of their lower surface. The fructification, 

 also, resembles that of the chesnut in form and arrangement, but 

 the flowers and fruit are only half as large, and the nut is convex 

 on both sides and about the size of the wild hazel nut. 



Fig. 1. A leaf. 



PLATE XVI [. 

 Fig. 2. The fruit. 



Fig. 3. A nut. 



