CUPULIFER^. (oak FAMILY.) 425 



ers solitan jr hy pairs, peduncled, surrounJcd witli numerous linear bracts and 

 a 4-lobed involucre. Calyx of 4-5 subulate lobes. Ovary 3-cellcd, with two 

 ovules in each cell. Styles 3, filiform. Nuts commonly 2, acutely 3-angled, en- 

 closed in the soft-spiny 4-valved involucre. Cotyledons thick and fleshy. — 

 Trees, with whitish bark, and straight-veined leaves expanding with the flowers. 



1. P. ferruginea, Ait. Leaves oblong-ovate or rhombic, acute, finely 

 serrate, silky on both sides when young, when old only on the veins beneath ; 

 spines of the involucre short, recurved. — Damp sandy soil, Florida, and north- 

 ward. April. — A large tree, with widely spreading branches. 



4. CORYLITS, Tourn, Hazel-nut. 



Sterile flowers in cylindrical pendulous bracted aments. Calyx 2-cleft, partly 

 united with the bract. Stamens 8 : anthers 1 -celled. Fertile flowers clustered. 

 Ovary 2-celled, 2-ovuled. Stigmas 2, filiform. Involucre tubular at the base, 

 leafy and lacerated at the summit, enclosing a single bony (edible) nut. — Shrubs, 

 with broadly cordate doubly serrate petioled leaves. Flowers appearing before 

 the leaves. 



1. C. Americana, Walt. (Hazel-nut.) Branchlets glandular; leaves 

 round-cordate, coarsely serrate, acuminate, pubescent; involucre roundish at the 

 base, dilated and flattened above the nut, glandular hairy ; nut roundish, some- 

 what flattened. — Rich soil along the margins of woods and thickets, West Flor- 

 ida, and northward. Feb. and March. — Shrub 5° -6° high, tough and flexible. 

 Leaves 4' -6' long. 



2. C. rostrata, Ait. (Beaked Hazel-nut.) Branchlets smooth ; leaves 

 ovate or oblong-ovate, slightly cordate, acuminate, finely serrate, rather thin, 

 pubescent ; involucre bristly, prolonged into a tube above the nut, 2-clcft and 

 toothed at the summit ; fruit nearly globular. — Ricli soil in the upper districts, 

 and northward. March - April. — Shrub 4° - 6° high. 



5. CARPINUS, L. Hornbeam. 



Flowers destitute of floral envelopes, supported by scale-like bracts. Sterile 

 flowers in drooping cylindrical aments. Stamens 8-14: filaments short : an- 

 thers 1-celled, hairy at the apex. Fertile flowers spiked. Bracts 2-flowered, 

 deciduous. Ovary 2-cclled, 2-ovuled. Stigmas 2, filiform. Nut solitary, an- 

 gular, sessile in the axil of an open 3-lobed leaf-like involucre. — Trees, with 

 simple ovate or oblong straight-veined deciduous leaves, folded in the bud. 

 Flowers expanding before the leaves. 



1. C. Americana, Michx. (Hornbeam.) Branchlets smooth and slen- 

 der ; leaves oblong-ovate, acute or slightly acuminate, sharply and doubly ser- 

 rate, rounded at the base, more or less pubescent. Fertile spikes terminal, 

 long-peduncled, 6- 12-flowered ; involucre unequally 3-lobed, the middle lobe 

 longer and serrate on one side ; nut small, ovate, compressed, 8-iibbcd. — Kieh 

 woods, Florida, and northward. March. — A small tree, with hard and close- 

 grained wood. 



36* 



