256 BEECH FAMILY 



larly 5-lobed, about 4 mm. long, samaras 2-2.5 mm. wide, nutlet ovoid, 

 slightly broader than the wing : c r i s p a, curled. 



Cool shores and banks, common in the northern part of the state, 

 especially north of Lake Superior, distributed from Newfoundland and 

 New Brunswick to Alaska, south to Mass., N. Y., Mich., and British Co- 

 lumbia, in the mountains to Virginia and North Carolina. Flowers in 

 June, fruit ripe in September. 



This species in Winkler's Monograph of the Betulaceae is given as 

 var. crispa of A. alnobetula. It seems better to regard it as a 

 distinct species. 



Alnus incana (Linne) Willdenow 1805 Speckled or Hoary 



Alder 



A tall shrub or occasionally a small tree, 2-8 m. high, stems erect or 

 ascending, bark dark brown, young twigs reddish-brown; leaves oval 

 or ovate, rounded or narrowed at the base, obtuse or acuminate at the 

 apex, serrate or dentate, with serrulate teeth, dark green and glabrous 

 above, paler and glaucous beneath and pubescent at least along the veins, 

 5-9 cm. long, 4-6 cm. wide, petioles 1.5-2 cm. long; staminate catkins 3-4, 

 in short racemes, 6-10 cm. long, in winter purplish-brown; pistillate cat- 

 kins exposed through the winter, 3-4 together, borne below the staminate, 

 expanding before the leaves, fruiting catkin 1-1.5 cm. long, 6-10 mm. 

 thick, scales woody and 5-toothed, about 4 mm. long; samara orbicular 

 or slightly ovoid, without wings but with thin margins : incana, very 

 gray. 



In wet soil, usually along shores of lakes or banks of streams, com- 

 mon throughout the northern half of the state and southeastward as far 

 as Minneapolis and St. Paul, infrequent southward to Houston county. 

 From Newfoundland to Saskatchewan, south to N. Y., Pa. and Neb., 

 also in Europe and Asia. Flowers in April and May, fruit ripe in autumn. 



Fagaceae Beech Family 



Trees or shrubs, with alternate, simple, often deeply lobecl or cleft 

 leaves; flowers small, monoecious; the staminate in pendulous or erect 

 catkins, the pistillate solitary or several together, subtended by an in- 

 volucre of united bracts, which becomes a bur or cup in fruit ; staminate 

 flowers with 4-7 sepals, stamens 4-20, petals 0, pistillate flowers with 4-8, 

 early disappearing sepals, petals 0, ovary 3-7-celled, inferior, ovules 1-2 

 in each cavity; fruit a 1 -seeded nut. 



Only the following genus occurs in Minnesota. 



