CORYLUS.] CUPULIFERtf. 345 



tion. DisTiiiB. Temp. N. hemisphere ; species 7. ETYM. Kopvs, from the 



cap-like form of the involucre. 



1. C. Avella'na, L. ; leaves orbicular-cordate doubly serrate cuspidate. 



Copses and hedges, ascending to nearly 1,900ft. in the Highlands ; fl. Feb.- 

 March. ^A glandular, hispid and pubescent shrub ; rarely a tree 30ft., with 

 trunk 3 ft. girth at the ground (Eastwell Park, Kent). Leaves 2-4 in., dis- 

 tichous, unequal at the base, plaited parallel to the midrib in bud ; petiole 

 short ; stipules oblong, obtuse. Male catkiits 1-2 in., 2-4 in a raceme, 

 pendulous, bracts cuneate ; female minute, subglobose, sessile. Fruit'%-% in., 

 clustered, woody ; involucre palmately lobed and cut, unarmed. DISTRIB. 

 Europe, N. Africa, Siberia, Dahuria. Wood very elastic. Nuts yield 

 abundance of bland oil. 



4. CARPI'NUS, Tournef. HORNBEAM. 



Trees. Leaves deciduous. MALE. Spikes lateral ; bracts ovate, acute. 

 Stamens 6-12 in the axil of the bract, filaments slender ; anther-cells 

 separate, tips pilose. FEMALE fl. Spikes terminal; bract 2-flowered, de- 

 ciduous ; flowers each in a lobed bracteole which enlarges after flowering. 

 Fruit almost woody, nerved, 1 -celled, 1 -seeded, enclosed in the leafy lobed 

 bracteole. DISTRIB. N. temp, zone ; species 4. ETYM. The Latin name. 

 1. C. Bet'ulus, L.; leaves elliptic -ovate doubly serrate pilose beneath, 

 female bracts 3-lobed 3-nerved mid-lobe much the longest. 

 S. counties of Erglmd, indigenous; planted N. of them and in Ireland ; fl. 

 May. A small u-ee, but sometimes 70ft., with the trunk (usually flattened) 

 10 ft. in girth ; bark smooth, light-grey ; wood close, white, heavy. Leaves 

 2-3 in., subdistichotis, acute or acuminate, shortly petioled, plaited parallel 

 to the nerves in bud ; stipules large, linear-oblong. Male catkins 1-2 in., 

 pendulous ; bracts ovate-lanceolate, acute. Female 2-4 in., pendulous in 

 fruit, cylindric ; bracts 1-1^ in., entire or toothed. Fruit in., green, 7-11- 

 nerved. DISTRIB. Europe from Gothland southwards, W. Asia. Wood the 

 best fuel, very tough and difficult to work. 



ORDER LXXV. BETULA'CEJE. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, deciduous, stipulate. Flowers small, 

 monoecious, 1-3 together in the axils of the scales of a terete or globose 

 catkin. MALE. Scale peltate, 2-bracteolate. Sepals 1 or more. Stamens 

 usually one opposite each sepal, filament short simple or 2-fid ; anthers 

 basifixed, glabrous, cells connate or separate. FEMALE. Scales sessile, 

 entire or 3-4-lobed, persistent or deciduous. Perianth 0. Ovary com- 

 pressed, 2-celled, stigmas 2 filiform ; ovules solitary in each cell, pendulous 

 from the septum, anatropous. Fruit not enclosed in the bracts, small, dry, 

 indehiscent, 1 -2-celled, cells 1-seeded. Seed pendulous, testa thin adherent 

 to the pericarp, albumen ; embryo straight, radicle superior, cotyledons 

 flat, leafy in germination. DISTRIB. H. temp, regions, S. America ; 

 genera 2 ; species 35. AFFINITIES. With Cupuliferce and Myricacece. 

 PROPERTIES. Bark yields tannin and oil, &c. 



Scales of female catkin thin, deciduous 1. Betula. 



Scales of female catkin woody, persistent 2. Alnus. 



