MAY. 173 
poor when other food was scarce. The leaves are large and 
palmate, that is, divided somewhat like a hand. Flowers in 
bunches at the roots of the leaves; corolla whitish, with 
green veins, and though inconspicuous the flowers are very 
beautiful. In autumn, the berries, which are red, are con- 
spicuous, as the leaves begin to die away, and leave them 
exposed. They are, however, useless as food, though beau- 
tiful to the eye, for they abound with a fetid juice which is 
poisonous to man, though not to birds. The goat is fond of 
the leaves, but other animals refuse them. 
Monecia. PoLyaANpDRIA. 
MoNOCHLAMYDEZ. CORYLACE. 
CARPINUS. (Hornseam.) 
Generic Character. Barren flower in a cylindrical catkin, 
with the scale round. Fertile in a loose catkin. Scales large, 
leafy, three-lobed, and two-flowered. Nwé oval and one-seeded. 
Carpinus Beruutus. Hornbeam. Rather a small tree, 
in woods and hedges in poor damp soils. It has somewhat 
heart-shaped, acute leaves, doubly cut at the edges, and the 
veins hairy. The wood is white, tough, and hard, and burns 
