ffl2 CXXIV. CUPULIFER^. auERCua 



Western States, generally growing in the vicinity of rivers. Rare east of th<; 

 Alleghanies. It more nearly resembles C. alba than any other species. It is a 

 large tree, 50 — 70f high. " The bark is divided into long strips which at length 

 are attached only by the middle, narrower and of a lighter color than C. alba. 

 Leaves 10 — 20' in length, composed of 7, or more frequently 9 leaflets. Sterile 

 aments 3-parted, very long. Nut with a very thick, 4-parted pericarp, and 

 nearly twice larger than in C. alba. 



6. C. MJCROCARPA. Nutt. Small-fruUed Hickory. 



Lfi's. 5- 7, oblong-lanceolate, glabrous, glandular beneath, serrate, con- 

 spicuously acuminate ; aments glabrous ; Jr. roundish-ovoid, pericarp thin ; nut 

 small, slightly quadrangular. — A large tree, (50 — 80f high, in moist woodlands, 

 Pcnn. Darlington. Trunk 1| — 2f diam., with an even bark. Leaflets mostly 

 5, often 7, 4 — 8' by 2 — 3', the under surface tufted in the axils of the veinlets 

 and sprinkled with dark, glandular dots. Aments long and slender. Pistillate 

 flowers 2 or 3 together, terminal, on a common peduncle, with conspicuous se- 

 pals. Fruit about the size of a nutmeg. Nut with a thin shell, not mucronate. 



Okder. CXXIV. CUPULIFERiE.— Mastworts. 



Trees and shrubs. Lvs. stipulate, aJternate, simple, straight-veined, that is with the veinlets proceeding 



straight from the midvein to the margin. 

 Fls. ^ener-olly monceeious. Sterile in aments, fertile solitary, or 2 or 3 together, or in fascicles. 

 Cal. — Sepals regidar and membranous, or scale-like. 



Bta. 1 — 3 times as many as the sepals, inserted into their bases. [each. 



Ova. adherent, seated within a coriaceous involucrum (cupule), with several cells and several ovules in 

 Stig. several, subsessile, distinct. 



Fr. A bony or coriaceous nut, more or less enclosed in the cupule. 

 S(ts. 1, 2 or 3 (most of the ovules being abortive), pendulous. Albumen 0. 

 Enibryo large. Cotyledorrs fleshy, plano-convex. Radicle minute, superior. 



Genera 8, species 265, constituting a large portion of the forests of the northern temperate regions, and 

 of mountainous tracts within the tropics. 



Properties. — The bark of the oak and other genera is well known for its astringent qualities. The 

 edible fruit of the hazel-nut, cliestnut, beechnut, <^c., are too well known to require description. Corle 

 is the bark of Quercus Suber. Nut-galls are producd from the petioles of Q.. infectoria of Asia Minor, 

 being caused by wounds made by insects. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



fin an echinate, valvate cupule, and ovoid-compressed Castanea. 2 



I in a muricate, valvate cupule, and sharply 3-angled. .... Fagus. 3 



I in a hairy, < coriaceous, involucratecupide Corylus. 4 



(enveloped I inflated . . < membranous, closed cupule • . Ostrya. 5 



< (acorn) partly immersed in a scaly cupule Quercux. 1 



Nut (, naked, concealed in the axil of a foliaceous bract Carpinus. 6 



1. aUERCUS. 



Celtic quer, fine, and cuez, a tree ; so called emphatically, because the sacred mistletoe grows upon it. 

 The more common Celtic name was derto ; hence druid. 



c? in a loose ament ; calyx mostly 5-cleft ; stamens 5 — 10. 9 Cupule 

 cup-shaped, scaly ; calyx incorporated with the ovary, 6-lobed ; ovary 

 3-celled, 2 of the cells abortive ; style 1 ; stigmas 3 ; nut (acorn) 

 coriaceous, 1-celled, 1-seeded, surrounded at the base by the enlarged, 

 cup-shaped, scaly cupule. — A noble gemos of trees, rarely shrubs. Amenta 

 axillary, pendulous, Jilifor?n; with the flowers distinct. 

 § 1. Frv£tiJication annual. Fruit pedunculate. Leaves not mucronate. 



* Leaves lobed. 



1. Ct. ALBA. JVIdte Oak. 



Lvs. oblong, pinnafifid-sinuate, smooth, lobes linear-oblong, obtuse, entire 

 dilated upwards ; fr. pedunculate, cup deep, warty, acorn ovate. — The white 

 oak grows in woods throughout the U. S. and Can., and for grandeur, strength 

 and usefulness, stands preeminent among the sons of the forest. With a di- 

 anieter of 5— 6f, it attains the height of 70 — 80, but its magnitude varies 

 with the soil and climate. Leaves obliquely divided into rounded, obtuse and 

 entire lobes, not terminated by mucronate points, pubescent beneath when young. 

 Fruit rather large. Bark white, often with dark spots. The trunk yields tim- 

 ber of great value for strength and durability. It is extensively employed iB 



