Chapter XXVII. 



From Bayberries to Oaks, Elms and Nettles. 



Bayberries. The fourth order includes but a single family, 

 of which two species grow in Minnesota — the bayberry, found 

 on lake shores along the international boundary, and the sweet- 

 fern, rather abundant in the northern part of the state and ex- 

 tending south to the vicinity of Minneapolis. These plants 

 are shrubs, their leaves dotted with resin glands, and the name 

 "sweet-fern" is given on account of the scent which arises from 

 the glands. The two sorts of flowers are separate and in cat- 

 kins somewhat like those of the willows but shorter and plumper 

 in appearance. The fruit is a nut or stone fruit, differing in 

 this respect from the willow fruits, which are capsules. The 

 leaf of the sweet-fern is especially characteristic, resembling in 

 shape a willow leaf with deep narrow incisions along the margin. 



The fifth and sixth orders are not represented in Minnesota. 

 One of them contains a few species of New Caledonian plants, 

 the other, one species found in the southern United States. 



Walnuts and hickories. The seventh order comprises but a 

 single family, in which are classified the walnuts and hickories, 

 both represented in Minnesota. There are present two species 

 of walnuts — the black walnut and the butternut — and three 

 species of hickories — the white hickory or shell-bark, the pig- 

 nut hickory, and the swamp hickory. The walnut family is a 

 group of trees with compound leaves and separated flowers. 

 The staminate flowers stand in catkins and are furnished with 

 a perianth. The pistillate flowers are solitary or in small 

 groups. The ovary is one-chambered and contains a single 

 seed-rudiment. The fruit is similar to that of a peach in which 

 the fleshy part should split and separate as three or more husks. 

 The seed is large, inclosed in the stony inner layers of the fruit, 

 the whole constituting the well-known walnut, hickory-nut or 



