GENUS 3. 



BEECH FAMILY. 



625 



:Quercus Alexander! Britton, at first supposed to be separable from O. Muhlenbergil by its 

 obovate leaves and flaky bark ; does not now appear to be specifically distinct from that species. 



24. Quercus prinoides Willd. Scrub or 

 Dwarf Chestnut Oak. Fig. 1537. 



Quercus prinoides Willd. Neue Schrift. Ges. Nat. Fr. 



Berlin 3 : 397. 1801. 

 Q. prinoides rufescens Render, Rhodora 9 : 61. 1907. 



A shrub, 2-i5 tall, sometimes tree-like, the 

 bark gray, the twigs glabrous or pubescent. 

 Leaves obovate, coarsely toothed, when mature 

 bright green and somewhat shining above, gray- 

 tomentulose beneath, 21'-$' long, 2'-$' wide, 

 mostly acute or short-acuminate at the apex, nar- 

 rowed at the base, the teeth short, triangular, 

 subacute or obtuse; petioles slender, 3 "-9" long; 

 fruit sessile, maturing the first season ; cup hemi- 

 spheric, thin, about V broad and one-half as high, 

 its bracts floccose, triangular-ovate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, appressed ; acorn ovoid, obtuse, 2-3 

 times as long as the cup ; seed sweet. 



In dry sandy or rocky soil, Maine to Minnesota, 

 south to Alabama and Texas. April-May. Acorns 

 ripe Sept.-Oct. Chinkapin or running white-oak. 



25. Quercus virginiana Mill. Live Oak. 

 Fig- 1538. 



Quercus virginiana Mill. Card. Diet. Ed. 8, no. 16. 1768. 

 Quercus virens Ait. Hort. Kew. 3: 356. 1789. 



A tree, with rough brown bark, attaining a maxi- 

 mum height of about 60 and trunk diameter of 7, 

 but often shrubby, the young shoots puberulent. 

 Leaves evergreen, coriaceous, oblong, elliptic or 

 oblanceolate, apex obtuse, base narrowed or 

 rounded, entire or with a few bristle-tipped teeth, 

 bright green and glabrous above, pale green and 

 puberulent or becoming glabrous beneath, I '-3' 

 long; petioles stout, I "-3" long; fruit peduncled, 

 maturing the first season; peduncle i'-i' long; cup 

 turbinate, 5"-8" broad, its bracts closely appressed ; 

 ovate or lanceolate ; acorn ovoid-oblong, about twice 

 as high as the cup ; seed not edible ; cotyledons 

 united. 



In dry soil, Virginia to Florida, Texas and Mexico, 

 mostly near the coast. Also in Cuba. Wood very hard; 

 tough, close-grained and dense ; color yellow-brown ; 

 weight per cubic foot 59 Ibs. March-April. Acorns ripe 

 Sept.-Oct. 



Family 8. ULMACEAE Mirbel, Elem. 2: 905. 1815. 



ELM FAMILY. 



Trees or shrubs, with alternate simple serrate petioled pinnately veined stipu- 

 late leaves, the stipules usually fugacious. Flowers small, monoecious, dioe- 

 cious, perfect or polygamous, lateral or axillary, clustered, or the pistillate soli- 

 tary. Perianth 3~9-partecl or of 3-9 distinct sepals. Petals none. Stamens in 

 our species as many as the perianth-lobes or sepals and opposite them ; filaments 

 straight ; anthers ovate or oval, erect in the bud, longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary 

 i-celled (rarely 2-celled), mostly superior; ovule solitary, pendulous, anatropous 

 or amphitropous ; styles or stigmas 2. Fruit a samara, drupe or nut. Endosperm 

 of the seed little or none. Embryo straight or curved ; cotyledons mostly flat. 



About 13 genera and 140 species, widely distributed in temperate and tropical regions. 



Flowers borne in clusters on twigs of the preceding season ; fruit a samara, or nut-like. 



Flowers mostly expanding before the leaves ; calyx 4~9-cleft ; fruit a samara. 



Flowers expanding with the leaves ; calyx 4-s-cleft ; fruit nut-like. 

 Flowers borne on twigs of the season, the pistillate mostly solitary ; fruit a drupe. 



40 



