68 Trees with Simple Leaves. [ah 



Genus CASTANEA, L. (Chestnut.) 



From the name of a town in Thessaly. 



Fig. 34. — Chestnut. C. safiva (L.), var. Americana ( Michaux), Sarg, 



Leaves, simple ; alternate ; edge sharp-toothed with 

 the teeth bristle-pointed and the hollows between 

 rounded. 



Outline, very narrow oval. Base and Apex taper-pointed. 



Leaf, four to eight inches long, two to three inches wide ; 

 smooth above and below ; with straight ribs terminat- 

 ing in the bristle-teeth. 



Bark of trunk grayish and in young trees very smooth. 



Fruit, with large bristly husks. Usually there are two or 

 three nuts pressed closely in each cell, and therefore 

 flat on one or both sides. The nut, though smaller, 

 is sweeter and more delicate than in the European 

 variety, the "Spanish Chestnut." 



Found, from Southern Maine to Delaware and Southern 

 Indiana; southward along the Alleghany Mountains 

 and west to Middle Kentucky and Tennessee. Its 

 finest growth is on the western slopes of the southern 

 Alleghany Mountains. 



A tree fifty to eighty feet high or more, with light, 

 soft wood, largely used in cabinet-work, for railway ties, 

 posts, etc. 



