CUPULIFERZ. 
SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. 
23 
an ancient one. Well-defined traces of Fagus discovered in the cretaceous rocks of the Dakota group,’ 
in the miocene of Alaska,? and in the auriferous gravels of California,* show that Beech-trees once 
inhabited those parts of the American continent from which they have now entirely disappeared ; and 
in Europe several fossil species, principally of the miocene epoch, have been recognized, closely related, 
with a single exception,* to the Beeches which now inhabit the forests of the northern hemisphere. 
Fagus produces hard close-grained wood, and several species are important timber-trees, particu- 
larly those of Europe and North America, the South American Fagus procera® and Fagus obliqua,' 
the New Zealand Fagus Menziesii, Fagus fusca Fagus Solandri,® and the Australian Fagus 
Cunninghanii™ 
The sweet seeds of the European and American species are a favorite food of swine, which are 
turned into the forest to fatten upon them,’ and in some parts of Europe oil is pressed from Beech- 
Tierra del Fuego, especially in winter-time, from having persistent 
evergreen leaves, and from its upper limit being sharply defined 
and contrasting with the dazzling snow that covers the matted but 
naked branches of Fagus antarctica, which immediately succeeds 
it,” and “which even at Cape Horn ascends much higher than 
Fagus betuloides, and nearly to the summit of the mountains which 
are a thousand feet below the line of perpetual snow, while at the 
sea-level it forms a larger tree” (Hooker f. Fl. Antarct. ii. 345. 
See, also, P. Parker King, Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His 
Majesty’s Ships Adventure and Beagle, i. 22, 37). 
1 Lesquereux, U.S. Geolog. Rep. vi. 67, t. 5, £.6; U.S. Geolog. 
Surv. vii. 145, t. 19, f. 1-3; viii. 37 (Contrib. Fossil Fl. W. 
Territories, i., ii.). — Newberry, Notes on the Later Extinct Flora of 
N. A. 23. 
2 Heer, Svensk. Vetensk. Akad. Handl. ser. 4, viii. 30, t. 5, £. 4A ; 
t. 7, f. 4-8, t. 8, f. 1 (Fl. Foss. Alask.). 
8 Lesquereux, Mem. Mus. Comp. Zodl. vi. pt. ii. 3, t. 2, £. 13, 14 
(Fossil Plants of the Auriferous Gravel Deposits of the Sierra Nevada). 
4 Fagus pygmea, Unger, Reise in Griechenland und in den jonischen 
Inseln, 156, f. 6. 
5 Saporta, Origine Paléontologique des Arbres, 150. — Zittel, 
Handb. Paleontolog. ii. 425. 
6 Poeppig & Endlicher, Nov. Gen. et Spec. ii. 69, t. 197. — Hooker, 
Jour. Bot. ii. 154.—C. Gay, Fl. Chil. v. 387. — Philippi, Linnea, 
xxix. 42. 
7 Mirbel, Mém. Mus. xiv. 465, t. 23 (1827).— Hooker f. 1. c. 
347, which grows at the level of the sea on the shores of the Straits 
of Magellan, replaces Fagus antarctica in southern Chili, ascending 
the western slopes of the Andes, where it is the principal forest 
tree below altitudes of five thousand feet. 
8 Hooker £. Hooker Icon. vii. t. 652 (1844) ; Fl. New Zeal. i. 229 ; 
Handb. New Zeal. Fl. 249.— A. de Candolle, Prodr. xvi. pt. ii. 
122. — Kirk, Forest Fl. New Zeal. 175, t. 89. 
The New Zealand Silver Beech is common in the mountain- 
ous regions of the Northern and Southern Islands, often forming 
extensive forests and sometimes growing a hundred feet tall, with 
a trunk from two to four feet in diameter covered with smooth 
silvery bark, and a symmetrical head of small persistent leaves. 
The wood is dark red, straight-grained, hard and dense, tough, 
elastic, and very strong, but not durable when exposed to soil or the 
elements. It is used in the interior construction of buildings, for 
furniture, and in cooperage. 
9 Hooker f£. Hooker Icon. vii. t. 630, 631 (1844) ; Fl. New Zeal. l.c. ; 
Handb. New Zeal. Fl.l.c. — A.de Candolle, 7. c. — Kirk, J. c.179, t. 91. 
Fagus fusca, the New Zealand Black Beech, Bull Beech, or Red 
Beech, is the most widely distributed and important of the New 
Zealand Beeches, and probably the most valuable timber-tree of 
the genus. It is described as a tree more than one hundred feet 
high, with a trunk from two to ten feet in diameter, covered at 
maturity with deeply furrowed bright brown bark. In some moun- 
tain regions it forms nearly pure forests of great extent, and in 
The 
wood is red, strong, tough, and very durable in contact with the sail. 
others it is mixed with Fagus Solandri and Fagus Menziesit. 
It is valued for fence-posts, railway ties, and wharf-piles, and for 
all sorts of construction in which strength and durability are re- 
quired (Kirk, Reports on the Durability of New Zealand Timbers in 
Constructive Works, 15). 
10 Hooker f. Hooker Icon. vii. 639 (1844) ; Fl. New Zeal. i. 230 ; 
Handb. New Zeal. Fl. 250.— A. de Candolle, l. c. — Kirk, Forest 
Fl. New Zeal. 91, t. 56. 
Fagus Solandri is an evergreen tree which, in many parts of New 
Zealand, forms extensive forests. Occasionally rising to the height 
of one hundred feet, it is usually not more than seventy or eighty 
The wood 
is pale red or gray often streaked with black and handsomely fig- 
feet tall, with a trunk sometimes four feet in diameter. 
ured. It is heavy, strong, and very tough, and durable if the tree 
is cut after it has reached maturity. It is used in construction, for 
fence-posts and rails, and for railway ties (Kirk, Reports on the 
Durability of New Zealand Timbers in Constructive Works, 17). 
11 Hooker, Jour. Bot. ii, 152, t. 7 (1840). — Hooker f. Fl. Tas- 
man. i. 346.— A. de Candolle, 1. c.— Bentham, Fl. Austral. vi. 
210. 
The Australian Myrtle or Evergreen Beech inhabits the moun- 
tains of Victoria, where it is not common, and Tasmania, where, 
growing with Eucalyptus and Atherosperma, it forms a large part 
of the dense dark forests which cover the western districts and the 
mountains, which it ascends to elevations of four thousand feet 
above the level of the sea. Growing sometimes two hundred feet 
tall and forming a trunk seven feet in diameter, it generally does 
The wood is hard 
and solid, richly colored, and often beautifully marked with a wavy 
not rise above a height of one hundred feet. 
grain. It is esteemed by the cabinet-maker, and is also used in the 
interior construction of houses and for the cogs of wheels (Maiden, 
Useful Native Plants of Australia, 535). 
12 « The kernels or mast within are reported to ease the paine of 
the kidneies proceeding of the stone if they be eaten, and to cause 
the grauell and sand the easier to come foorth: with these, mice 
and squirrels be greatly delighted, who do mightily increase by 
feeding thereon; swine also be fattened herewith, and certaine 
other beasts : also deere do feede thereon very greedily. They be 
likewise pleasant to thrushes and pigeons.” (Gerarde, Herball, 
1255.) 
Animals are sometimes affected by the little known poison of 
Beech-nuts, which is believed to be confined to the shell, as flour 
