194 GLASS MONffiCIA. 



there should be such a constant abortion of 2 thirds of 

 the germs, that no acorn is ever detected containing 

 more than a single seed. 



The Hazlenut (Corylus), the type of the order Co- 

 rylace;e, so common a shrub in most of our bushy 

 woods, has its sterile flowers in a cylindric anient (ap- 

 pearing long before the leaves), with the scales 3-cleft. 

 There is no perianth. The stamina are about 8, with 

 1 -celled anthers. In the fertile flower the calyx is 

 obsolete (or scarcely discernible) ; the germs sev- 

 eral ; the stigmas 2 ; the nut ovate, and surrounded 

 with the enlarged coriaceous and scaly involucrum. 



In the Chesnut ( Castanea), also of the natural order 

 Corylaceje, the sterile flowers are disposed in a long 

 and naked, somewhat cylindric ament for spike) ; each 

 of them has a 1 -leaved, 6-cleft calyx, and 10 to 12 

 stamens. The fertile flowers grow by 3's ; the in- 

 volucrum 4-lobed, and thickly muricated with bristly 

 prickles ; the calyx 5 to 6-lobed ; the styles 6 ; the 

 nut mostly 1-seeded, and invested with the enlarged 

 involucrum. Of this genus there is a dwarf species 

 ( C. pumila) common in all the southern states and 

 known by the name of Chinquepin with the leaves 

 tomentose and hoary beneath. 



The Walnut (Juglans) has the sterile flowers in an 

 imbricated ament, and the scales mostly 5-parted ; 

 the calyx about 5-parted. The stamina vary in num- 

 ber, according to individuals and species, from 12 to 

 30. The fertile flower has a 4-cleft, superior calyx ; 

 a 4-parted corolla ; 1 or 2 styles ; a partly spongy 

 drupe y the nut rugose, and irregularly furrowed. Of 

 this genus there are about 4 species, and 2 of them 

 peculiar to the United States. The J. nigra is one 

 of the largest and most valuable of the American for- 

 est trees, and extends from the western parts of Mas- 

 sachusetts to Florida. The J. cinerca, or Butternut, 



