BIRCH FAMILY. 507 
2. OSTRYA Scop. Fl. Carn. 414. 1760. 
Trees similar to the Hornbeamis, the trunks furrowed, the primary veins of the leaves 
simple or forked, the aments expanding with or before the leaves. Staminate aments ses- 
sile at the ends of branchlets of the preceding season, their flowers as in Carpinus, solitary in 
the axil of each bract; filaments 2-cleft. Pistillate aments small, terminal, erect, the flowers 
2 to each bract, subtended by a tubular, persistent bractlet which enlarges into a membran- 
ous, nerved, bladder-like sac in fruit. Style slender; stigmas 2, subulate. Nut ovoid-ob- 
| long, compressed, smooth, sessile in the base of the inflated sac. Mature pistillate ament 
hop-like. [The ancient name. ] 
Four species, the following, 1 in the Southwest, 1 in Europe and Asia, 1 Japanese. 
} 
1, Ostrya Virginiana ( Mill.) Willd. Hop- 
hornbeam. Iron-wood. (Fig. 1208.) 
Carpinus Virginiana Mill Gard. Dict. Ed. 8. 1768. 
Ostrya Virginica Willd. Sp. Pl. 4: 469. 1805. 
A tree, with a maximum height of about 50°, 
trunk diameter of 2°, twigs of the season pubescent. 
Leaves ovate or oblong-ovate, the apex acuminate, 
the base rounded or inequilateral, sharply and 
doubly serrate, sparingly pubescent and green 
above, pubescent or tomentose beneath, 214/-4/ 
long, 1/-132’ wide; petioles rarely more than 2/’ 
long; staminate aments 114’—3/ long, their bracts 
triangular-ovate, acuminate; anther-sacs villous at 
the summit; bractlet of each fertile flower forming 
a sac 6’’-8” long and 4’/-5’’ in diameter in fruit, 
acute, cuspidate, pubescent, villous near and at the 
base with bristly hairs, parallel-veined and finely re- 
ticulated; nut 214’ long, compressed, shining; ripe 
fertile aments erect or spreading, 114/-2'4’ long. 
In dry woods, Cape Breton Island to Minnesota, Florida and Texas. Wood similar to that of the 
Hornbeam, but heavier; weight per cubic foot 51 lbs. April-May. Fruit ripe July-Aug. 
3. CORYLUS IL. Sp: Pl. 998. 1753. 
Shrubs or small trees, with broad thin serrulate or incised leaves. Staminate aments 
sessile at the ends of twigs of the previous season, expanding much before the leaves, the 
flowers solitary in the axil of each bract, of about 4 stamens and 2 bractlets; filaments 2- 
cleft or 2-divided, each fork bearing an anther-sac, which is villous at the summit. Calyx 
none. Pistillate flowers from scaly buds, clustered at the ends of short branches of the sea- 
son, each in the axil of a bract, consisting of an incompletely 2-celled ovary adnate to a 
calyx, a short style and 2 slender stigmas; bractlets 2, enlarged in fruit, forming a leaf-like 
inyolucre to the nut, remaining nearly distinct or united into a tubular beak. Nut ovoid or 
oblong, sometimes compressed, large, bony. [Name Greek, from the helmet-like involucre. ] 
Species 7, in the northern hemisphere. Besides the following, another occurs in California. 
Involucre of 2 broad laciniate bractlets; leaves serrulate. 1. C. Americana. 
Involucral bractlets united, prolonged into a tubular bristly beak. 2. C. rostrata. 
1. Corylus Americana Walt. Hazel-nut. 
(Fig. 1209.) 
Corylus Americana Walt. Fl. Car. 236. 1788. 
A shrub, 3°-8° tall, the young shoots russet- 
brown, densely hispid-pubescent with pinkish hairs, 
the twigs becoming glabrous. Leaves ovate or 
broadly oval, acute or acuminate at the apex, serru- 
late all around, cordate or obtuse at the base, gla- 
brous or nearly so above, finely tomentose beneath, 
3/-6’ long, 2’-44’ wide; petioles 2’’-4’’ long; stam- 
inate aments mostly solitary, 3’-4’ long; involucre 
of the nut compressed, composed of the 2 nearly 
distinct finely pubescent leaf-like bractlets, which 
are laciniate on their margins, commonly broader 
than high and more or less exceeding the nut; ~ 
nut compressed, light brown, striate, 14’ high. 
In thickets, Maine and Ontario to Manitoba, Florida 
and Kansas. March-April. Nuts ripe July-Aug. 
