496 CXXIV. CUPULIFERZ. Cory.us. 
abortive rudiments; sty.6; nut mostly I-seeded, invested with the 
enlarged, echinate involucre or cupule— Trees and shrubs. Lvs. mostly 
deciduous, alternate, acuminate. Sterile aments axillary, pendulous. 
Fruit enclosed in very prickly 4-lobed burrs. 
1. C. Vesca. Gert. 8. Americana. Michx. (Fagus Castanea. Linn. 
Chestnut.— Lvs. oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, mucronately serrate, smoot 
both sides.—Abundant in particular districts throughout the U.S. It isa lofty 
tree, with a large, straight trunk. Leaves quite large (6—9’ long and } as 
wide), with large, uniform teeth, mucronate with the prolonged, straight veins. 
Aments as long as the leaves and so numerous as to impart their yellowish hue 
to the whole tree when in blossom. The nuts are about 3 together, of a pecu- 
liar brown, villous above, enclosed in the enlarged cupule or burr which is beset 
on all sides with strong, compound, acute spines. Timber coarse-grained, 
strong, elastic, light and very durable, hence much used for posts, &c. July.— 
The nuts are smaller, but sweeter than those of the European variety (the Span- 
ish chestnut.) eval 
2. C. pumita. Michx. Dwarf Chestnut. Chinquapin. 
Lvs. oblong, ovate or obovate, mucronate-serrate, hoary-tomentose be- 
neath; nut solitary—Sterile places, N. J., Penn. to Ga. and Tenn.! Shrub 
6—12f high, much branched. Leaves 3—5’ by 1}—2’, smooth above, generally 
obtuse at base, acute at apex, margins mucronate with the projecting, straight 
veinlets; petioles 6’ long; under surface nearly white. Aments axillary, the 
lower staminate, 6—10’ long, upper fertile with remote, pistillate flowers. In- 
volucre of fruit bristly and prickly, 4-lobed. Nut (by abortion) solitary, small, 
ovoid, sweet. FV. Jn. Fr. Oct. 
a F AGUS. 
Gr. ¢nyos, the beech; it also signifies something eatable. 
3 ina globose ament; cal. 6-cleft, campanulate; sta. 5—12. 9 
2, within a 4-lobed, prickly involucre ; cal. single, with 4—5 minute 
lobes ; sty. 3; nut 1-seeded, enclosed within the enlarged, spiny 
involucre or capsule.— Lofty trees, with smooth, ash-colored bark. Lvs. 
alternate, plicate in vernation. & aments on long, pendulous peduncles. 
F. sytvatica. Linn. £. Americana. Nutt. (F. sylvestris. Michx. F. 
ferruginia. Ait.) Beech—Luvs. broadly ovate-lanceolate, briefly petiolate, 
obtuse at base, ciliate with soft white hairs when young, at length nearly gla- 
brous, margin with small, remote teeth, apex acuminate; duds lanceolate- 
cylindric, imbricated with brown scales, developing both leaves and flowers ; 
nuts ovoid-triangular, obtuse-mucronate-—A common forest tree, abundant in 
N. Eng., frequent in the Western States and British provinces. The trunk is 
tall and straight in forests, 50—80f high, but lower and with an expansive 
head in open situations, always known by the light gray, unbroken bark. 
Leaves with very regular and straight veinlets, 4—6’ long, 4 as wide, often 
persistent through the winter. G'aments pubescent, peduncles 2’ long. Nut 
small, 2 together in the 4-lobed burr, oily, sweet and nutritious. ‘Timber fine- 
grained, with reddish duramen and white alburnum. May. 
Obs.—The Red Beech is now regarded only as a variety; with the wood softer, and of more easy 
cleavage, and perhaps a slight difference in foliage. ‘There are several beautiful varieties in cultivation, 
with purple Stage, silver foliage, &c. (See garden catalogues.) 
4. CORYLUS. 
Gr. xoovs, a bonnet; to which the cupule enwrapping the nut may well be compared. + 
3 in acylindric ament; cal. scale 3-cleft; sta. 8; anth. 1-celled. 
Q Calyx obsolete; ova. several; stig. 2; nut ovoid, surrounded with 
the enlarged, coriaceous, lacerated involucre (capsule).—Shrubs. 
Aments and capitate fertile clusters subterminal. 
1. C. Americana. Hazel. 
ws. roundish, cordate, acuminate; zvol. roundish-campanulate, much 
