BIRCH FAMILY. 
4. Alnus glutindosa (L.) Medic. Euro- 
pean Alder. (Fig. 1223.) 
Betula Alnus var. glutinosa V,. Sp. Pl. 983. 1753. 
Alnus glitinosa Medic. Pfl. Anat. 393. 1800. 
A tree, reaching a maximum height of about 
75° and a trunk diameter of 214°, the bark 
smooth, the branches nearly horizontal, the 
foliage glutinous. Leaves broadly oval, orbicu- 
lar or obovate, thick, dark green, dull, often 
obtuse at both ends, dentate and the teeth den- 
ticulate, glabrous above, pubescent on the veins 
beneath, 2’-5’ long; petioles 14/’-1’ long; 
aments appearing from naked buds, expanding 
much before the leaves, the staminate 3/-4/ 
long, the pistillate ovoid-oblong, 6’’-9’’ long 
in fruit; nut wingless, coriaceous-margined. 
In wet places, southern New York and New Jer- 
sey, escaped from cultivation and becoming natu- 
ralized in a few localities. Native of Europe. Wood 
soft, brown; weight per cubic foot 35 lbs. April. 
5. Alnus maritima (Marsh.) Muhl. 
Seaside Alder. (Fig. 1224.) 
Betula Alnus maritima Marsh. Arb. Am. 20. 1785. 
Alnus maritima Muhl.; Nutt. Sylva, I: 34. 4. 202. 
1865. 
A small tree, sometimes 30° tall and the trunk 
6’ in diameter, glabrous or very nearly so 
throughout. Leaves oblong, ovate-oblong or 
obovate, firm, acute at both ends, bright green 
and shining above, pale green and dull beneath, 
sharply serrulate, 2’-4/ long, 1/-2’ wide; petioles 
3//-10’’ long; aments unfolding long after the 
leaves, their buds developing during the season, 
the staminate 1-214’ long, the pistillate oblong, 
9//-12” long, 5’’-7’’ in diameter in fruit; nut ob- 
long-obovate, wingless, coriaceous-margined. 
In wet soil, southern Delaware and eastern Mary- 
land; also in ‘the Indian Territory. Closely related 
to A. Japonica of northeastern Asia, and erhaps not 
specifically distinct from it. Wood soft, light brown; 
weight per cubic foot 31 lbs. Aug. Sept. 
Family 7. FAGACEAE Drude, Phan. 4o9. 1879. 
BEECH FAMILY. 
Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, petioled, simple, dentate, serrate, lobed, 
cleft or entire, pinnately veined, the stipules, if any, deciduous. Flowers small, 
monoecious, the staminate in pendulous erect or spreading aments, or capitate, 
the pistillate solitary or several together, subtended by an involucre of partly or 
wholly united bracts, which becomes a bur or cup. Petals none. Staminate 
flowers with a 4-7-lobed perianth and 4—20 stamens; filaments slender, distinct, 
simple; anther-sacs adnate, longitudinally dehiscent. Pistillate flowers with a 4-8- 
lobed urn-shaped or oblong perianth, adnate to the 3-7-celled ovary; ovules 1-2 
in each cavity, only 1 in each ovary ripening, pendulous, anatropous; styles as 
many as the cavities of the ovary, linear, terminally or longitudinally stigmatic. 
Fruit a 1-seeded nut, with a coriaceous or somewhat bony exocarp. ‘Testa thin. 
Endosperm none; cotyledons large, fleshy, often rugose; radicle short. 
About 5 genera and 375 species, of very wide geographic distribution. 
Staminate flowers capitate; nut sharply triangular. 1. Fagus. 
Staminate flowers in slender aments; nut rounded or plano-convex. 
Pistillate flowers 2-5 in each involucre; involucre becoming globose and very prickly in fruit, 
enclosing the nuts. 2. Castanea. 
Pistillate flower 1 in each involucre; involucre of numerous scales forming a cup in fruit and 
subtending the acorn. 3. Quercus. 
