COMMUNICATIONS. 239 



tree in its color and smoothness. The Hornbeam prefers rich 

 damp soils, near swamps, on river bottoms, etc. 



Professor Emmons, in his report on the Trees and Shrubs of 

 M-issachusetts, a work of great interest and value, says of this 

 small tree, that " it is of slow growth, and i^ supposed to live to 

 a great age. The wood is white, close-grained and compact, and 

 has great strength. It is used for beetles, levers, and for other 

 purposes where strength and solidity are required ; and it is well 

 fitted for the turner. The corresponding species in Europe is 

 much esteemed as fuel, and in France its charcoal is preferred to 

 most others. The Hornbeam is a tree of considerable beauty. 

 Its smooth, fluted trunk is an interesting object to one curious 

 in forest history; iis foliage is remarkable for its softness, and 

 the fruit is unlike that of any otlier tree. The crimson, scarlet 

 and orange of its autumnal colors, mingling into a rich purplish 

 red as seen at a distance, makes it rank in splendor almost with 

 the Tupelo and the Scarlet Oak. It is easily cultivated and 

 should ha /e a corner in every collection of trees." 



One of the European Species {G. hetulus^ Linn.) is well adapted 

 by its mode of growth for garden hedges. 



89. Ostrya Virgirnca, of Willdenow. — Ironivood. 



Like the last, this small tree has received different names, and 

 by some the name of Iron wood is applied to both; though no 

 two trees could well be more distinct. They may be known at 

 once by the bark, which in the Hornbeam is smooth and gray 

 like the Beech, but in the Ironwood is brown and rough, being 

 much farrowed and loosened. But they may be still more read- 

 ily distinguished by the fruit. The Hornbeam has a naked nut 

 concealed in the axil of a leafy scale or bract; while the Iron- 

 wood has the nut covered by a kind of bladder-like hairy sack. 



The wood of both is very hard, strong and rigid, answering 

 well for handspikes and other purposes where strength is re- 

 quired — thus giving propriety to the name of Iromoood. But, 

 for the sake of distinction, it is proper to confine this name to 

 the species now under consideration. 



