270 APETALOUS EXOGEN8 



Cujnfa nearly even on the outer surface, often abruptly tapering from the fiat 



base ; acorn scarcely half an inch long. 



Hah. Wet, low grounds ; along streams : frequent. 



Obs. The wood of this species is very firm, and is much em- 

 ployed by wheelwrights, and other mechanics. It would seem that 

 this, and the Q. falcata, are severally pretty much confined to 

 opposite sides of Mason and Dixon's line; the Q. palustris being 

 chiefly northern, and the Q. falcata southern. 



313. CASTA V IVEA, Tournef. 



[Named from a City of Thessaly (Castanea), famed for Chestnuts.] 

 STAM. FL. interruptedly clustered in long naked cylindrical spike- 

 form aments. Calyx 5- or 6-parted. Stamens 8 to 15. PISTILLATE 

 FL. usually in threes, within ovoid squarrose solitary or clustered 

 involucres. Calyx urceolate, the border 5- or 6-cleft, crowning the 

 3- to 8-celled ovary. Abortive stamens 5 to 12, Stigmas bristle-like, 

 as many as the cells of the ovary. Nuts (by abortion) 1 -seeded, 

 coriaceous, 1, 2, or 3 together, inclosed in the globose prickly in- 

 volucre, which opens by 4 valves at maturity. Cotyledons thick, 

 somewhat plicate and cohering together, sweetish and farinaceous. 

 Flowers appearing after the leaves. 



1. C. Tesca, L. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, sinuate- 

 serrate, smooth and green on both sides; nuts usually 2 or 3 in 

 each involucre. 

 EATABLE CASTANEA. Chestnut-tree. 



Stem 60 to 80 or 90 feet high, and 2 to 4 or 5 feet in diameter. Leaves 6 to 9 

 inches long ; petioles % an inch to % in length. StaminaU flowers whitish, in 

 dense bracteate clusters, on axillary aments 4 to 8 inches in length; stamens long. 

 Pistillate flowers in threes, in an ovoid involucre which is solitary, or often in 

 clusters of 3 or 4, subsessile, enlarging, finally globose, about 2 inches in diameter, 

 thickly covered or armed all over with sharp compound or coalesced prickles 

 (modified &rac&), and densely villous within. Nuts 3 (by abortion often 2, or 1), 

 reddish-brown, smooth below, the upper half covered with a greyish-tawny pubes- 

 cence ; the middle nut flatted on both sides, the lateral ones plano-convex, and 

 when the lateral ones are both abortive, the central one becomes roundish-ovoid. 

 Hob. Woodlands ; slaty hills, abundant. FL June. Fr. Octo. 



Obs. The American Chestnut-tree scarcely differs from the Eu- 

 ropean, except in the size and flavor of the fruit. Our native nuts 

 are smaller, and the seeds much sweeter, than those of the European 

 variety. The wood of this tree is light, but very durable, not 

 esteemed for fuel, but highly valued for making fences. 



2 C pillllila, MX. Dwarf; leaves obovate-oblong, acute, serrate 



or denticulate, whitish-tomentose beneath j nut solitary, ovoid, 



small. 



DWARF CASTANEA. Chinquapin. 



Stem 6 to 10 feet high (much larger under culture). Leaves 2 to 6 inches long ; 

 petioles about half an inch in length. Aments of staminate flowers 1 or 2 to 4 inchea 

 long, slender and numerous. Involucres of the pistillate flowers in spikes, or 

 clustered on short tomentose axillary common peduncles, finally globose, an inch 

 or inch and half in diameter, armed all over with the prickly bract*. Nut (by 



