DKECIA. 275 



21. CORYLUS. 



1. C. Avellana (Hazle~?iut), stipules oblong obtuse, leaves round- 

 ish-cordate pointed, involucre of the fruit campanulate rather 

 spreading torn at the margin. Lightf. p. 586. E. B. t. 723. 



HAS. Woods, very frequent. FL March, April. T? . 



The Hasel wood is employed for a number of domestic and agricul- 

 tural and some superstitious purposes, and makes an excellent 

 charcoal for drawing. The Nuts are much esteemed at table, though 

 unwholesome if eaten in large quantities, from their undigestible na- 

 ture. It is of the young forked twigs of this plant that the celebra- 

 ted divining rod (virgula divinatoria) is taken, with which indivi- 

 duals even in our days and in our country have believed that they 

 possessed the power of discovering springs of water, when nothing 

 on the surface of the earth indicated their existence. A curious ac- 

 count of this faculty, supposed to be inherent in the person of a lady 

 of high rank, is given in a note to a most valuable essay on " the 

 popular Mythology of the middle Ages," in the 44th No. of the 

 Quarterly Review, p. 31 '3, 



22. PINUS. 



1. P. sylvestris (Scotch Fir), leaves in pairs rigid, cones conico- 

 ovate acute as long as the leaves generally in pairs. Li slit f. 

 p. 587. E.B. #.2460. 



HAB. Constitutes vast natural forests in many parts of the Highlands. 

 Fl. May. ^ 



A tree of great value but little beauty, except indeed when it grows 

 in large masses, as in some of the Highland forests. It affords the 

 red or yellow deal. The bark has been used with much success in 

 tanning, and in the northern parts of Europe it is made into 

 a wretched substitute for bread. Tar and pitch, and turpentine, 

 are the produce of this tree ; and in the Highlands the resinous 

 roots afford a succedaneum for candles. 



XXII. DKECIA. 



(MoNANDRIA. 



Salix pur pur ea, Helix and Lamlertiana.) 

 1. DIANDRIA. 



SALIX. Barren Fl. Scales of the catkin single-flowered, im- 

 bricated, with a nectariferous gland at its base. Perianth 0, 

 Stam. 15. 



Fertile Fl. Scales of the catkin single-flowered. Perianth 

 0. Stigmas 2, often cleft. Caps. I -celled, 2-valved, many- 

 seeded. Seeds comose. 



T 2 



