600 CXL. CUPULIFER^. (J. D. Hooker.) \_Betula. 



stachya, acuminata, affinis & nitida,*$pac/&. in Ann. Mus. Ser. 2, xv. 198, 

 199, 200. 



TEMPEEATE and SUBTEOPICAL HIMALAYA, alt. 5-10,000 ft., from the Sutlej to 

 the Mishmi Hills; KHASIA and MAETABAN HILLS, alt. 3-6000 ft. MUNNIPOEE, 

 alt. 9000 ft., Watt. 



A tree, 50-60 ft. ; young plants and shoots sometimes cottony -tomentose. Leaves 

 3-6 in., base cuneate rounded or cordate ; petiole $- in. Male and fern, spikes 

 3-5 in., slender, fascicled, pendulous ; anthers fern, bracts ovary and style hairy ; 

 wings of nut rounded much broader than the nucleus. Wallich having in his cata- 

 logue cited (as a variety) Don's _B. alnoides under his S. acuminata, I do not see 

 how the former name, given to the plant by its discoverer Hamilton, can be set aside. I 

 follow Brandis in uniting with it 13. cylindrostachys, for which I can find no character. 

 Gamble, however, keeps it distinct, giving as a character the bark flaking vertically. 



2. AX.NUS, Gcertn. 



Deciduous trees or shrubs, monoecious. Leaves alternate, penninerved. 

 Male fl. in solitary or panicled pendulous spikes ; bracts 3-fld. with 3-5 

 adnate bracteoles ; sepals 4 ; stamens 4, anthers subsessile. Fern. ft. in 

 short erect spikes ; bracteoles 2-4, minute ; perianth ; ovary 2-celled, 

 cells 1-ovnled ; styles-2, tips stigmatose. Fruit a small woody cone ; bracts 

 persistent, covering the small crustaceous 1-seedednuts ; testa membranous ; 

 cotyledons flat. Species about 14, N. temperate and Andean. 



1. A. nepalensis, Don Prodr. 58 ; branchlets glabrous, leaves ellip- 

 tic-lanceolate acute entire or subentire, fruiting spikes in large erect 

 panicles. Eegel Monogr. Sot. 83, t. 16, f. 4-6 ; t. 13, f. 40-43, and in DC. 

 Prodr. xvi. i. 181 ; Brand. For. Fl. 460 ; Kurz For. FL ii. 476 ; Wall. PL 

 As. Rar. ii. 27, t. 131 ; Gat. 2799. Clethropsis nepalensis, SpacJi. in Ann. 

 Mus. Ser. 2, xv. 202. Betula leptostachya, Wall. Herb. 



TEMPEEATE HIMALAYA, alt. 3-9000 ft., from Chamba to the Mishmi Hills in 

 Upper Assam. KHASIA HILLS. AVA, on the Khaken Hills, Kurz. YUNATT, 

 Anderson. 



A deciduous tree, flowering after the leaves. Leaves 3-7 by 2-4 in., subglaucous 

 beneath, nerves 10-18 pairs; petiole ^-2in. Male spikes 4-10 in., in terminal droop- 

 ing panicles ; flowers in clusters of 612 ; stamens mixed with ciliate scales under each 

 bract. Fern, spikes J in., pendulous in flower. Fruit spikes in lateral panicles, each 

 -1 in. long, ellipsoid or subcylindric ; nuts with a membranous wing. 



2. A. nitida, Endl. Gen. PI. Suppl. iv. ii. 20 ; branchlets pubescent, 

 leaves elliptic- ovate or elliptic acuminate obscurely crenate or entire, base 

 cuneate rarely rounded, fruiting spikes solitary or in short erect racemes. 

 Eegel Monogr. Bot. 82, t. 14, f. 23-30, and in DC. Prodr. xvi. i. 181 ; Sranrf. 

 For. Fl. 461, t. 57. Clethropsis nitida, Spach. in Ann. Mus. Ser. 2, xv. 202, 

 and in Jacquem. Voy. Sot. 159, t. 159. 



WESTERN TEMPEEATE HIMALAYA, alt. 5-9000 ft., from Kashmir to Kunawur, 

 sometimes descending into the plains. 



A large deciduous tree, attaining 100 ft., and trunk 15 ft. girth ; flowering after thr 

 leaves. Leaves 4-8 in., sometimes 3-| broad, nerves 8-12 pairs, axils beneath with 

 tufts of hair ; petiole 1-H in. Male spikes 2 in. long, in terminal erect often leafing 

 racemes. Fern, spikes 1-2 by f in. diam. ; fruiting ovoid oblong or cyliudric, f-l ' n - 

 Nut with a narrow thickened margin. 



3. QUERCUS, Linn. 

 Deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs. Leaves alternate, entire 



