The Chestnut. 257 



chestnut forests. Some again of the finest in the world 

 are found in the island of Corsica, where the rich and 

 fertile central zone which reaches from the base of the 

 mountains to the coast, is known as La Castaginicia, or 

 the "chestnut-land." The highest elevation at which the 

 chestnut occurs is upon Mount Etna, where there are 

 some fine trees at a point not much short of four thou- 

 sand feet above the sea-level. It was from the ancient 

 Pontic city of Kastanea that the tree received its name. 



Northern China and Japan are also possessed of the 

 chestnut, though in the last-named country the foliage is 

 so variable that Blume considered it a distinct species, 

 bestowing the name of C. Japonica. The markets of 

 Hong Kong and Canton, near which city the tree is 

 largely cultivated, are as well supplied with chestnuts as 

 those of London. Mr. Fortune tells us that there are 

 two different sorts, a large one, quite equal in quality to 

 the Spanish, and a small one, about the size of a hazel- 

 nut. Under a scarcely different form, the chestnut exists 

 also in North America, whence the fruit is sometimes 

 imported in small quantities. 



No tree growing out-of-doors in England is more 

 easily distinguished than the chestnut. The leaves are 

 six to twelve inches long, symmetrically lanceolate, 

 glabrous on both surfaces, and provided with strong 

 veins that reach from the midrib to the margin, beyond 

 which they extend as prickles. The flowers come at 

 midsummer, and, as in the hazel, are of distinct sexes. 

 The staminate ones constitute those innumerable erect 



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