BEECH FAMILY 



515 



1. CASTANOPSIS Spach, Hist. Veg. Phan. 11: 185. 1842. 



Trees and shrubs with scaly bark, astringent wood, evergreen leaves, and buds with 

 imbricated scales. Staminate aments erect, densely flowered, the flowers in clusters of 3 in 

 the axils of bracts ; stamens 10-12 ; calyx 5-6-lobed. Pistillate flowers usually on the base of 

 the staminate ament, 1-3 in the involucre ; styles 3. Fruit maturing the autamn of the second 

 year; nut ovoid, more or less angled. 1-3 in the spiny bur-like involucre. [Name Greek, in 

 allusion to the resemblance of these plants to Castanea.] 



Approximately 30 species, of which all but the following are .■\siatic. Type species, Castaiiopsis armata 

 (Roxb.) Spach. 



Tree or sometimes a shrub, forming a conical crown; bark thick; leaves pointed. 1. C. chrysophylla. 



Shrub low and spreading; bark thin; leaves usually obtuse. 2. C. sempervirens. 



1. Castanopsis chrysophylla (Dougl.) A. DC. Giant Chinquapin. Fig. 1249. 



Castanea chr\soph\lla Dougl.; Hook. Fl. B"or. Am. 

 2: 159. 1839. 



Castanopsis chrxsophylla A. DC. Seem. Journ. Bot. 

 1: 182. 1863. 



Tree 15-45 m. high, with a trunk 1-2 m. 

 in diameter, and stout spreading branches 

 forming a conical crown ; bark thick, 

 broken into longitudinal furrows; wood 

 light reddish brown, light and soft. Leaves 

 5-15 cm. long, lanceolate, gradually nar- 

 rowed at the ends, entire, thick and coriace- 

 ous, very dark green above, golden tomen- 

 tose beneath, falling the second or third 

 year ; petioles 6-8 mm. long ; aments clus- 

 tered at the ends of the branches; burs 

 chestnut-like. 4-valved ; nuts 1 or rarely 2. 

 8-12 mm. long. 



Wooded slopes, mainly Humid Transition Zone; 

 Skamania County, Washington, south on the west- 

 ern slope of the Cascade Mountains and the Coast 

 Ranges to Mendocino County California. Type lo- 

 cality: "Grand Rapids of the Columbia." 



Castanopsis chrysophylla minor (Benth.) A. DC. 

 A small tree or shrub with a conical crown; leaves 

 revolute, densely golden brown beneath, very dark 

 green above. Usually on gravelly or rocky ridges. 

 Humid Transition and Upper Sonoran Zones; 

 Mendocino County to the Santa Lucia Mountains, 

 California. Type locality : Monterey. 





2. Castanopsis sempervirens (Kell.) Dudley. Sierra Chinquapin. 



Fig. 1250. 



Castanea sempervirens Kell. Proc. Calif. Acad. 

 1: 71. 1855. 



Castanopsis sempervirens Dudley; Merriam, N. 

 Am. Fauna. 16: 142. 1899. 



Low spreading round-topped shrub, 

 1-2.5 m. high, with smooth brown bark. 

 Leaves oblong, obtuse or sometimes acute 

 at apex, 3.5-7.5 cm. long, on petioles 

 about 15 mm. long, light yellowish gray- 

 green above, golden or pale rusty tomen- 

 tose beneath; flowers and burs similar 

 to the preceding species. 



Dry ridges in open coniferous forests, Arid 

 Transition and Canadian Zones; Cascade Moun- 

 tains of southern Oregon through the Sierra 

 Nevada to the San Bernardino Mountains, 

 southern California. Type locality: near Mari- 

 posa, California. 



