364 MONffiCIA POLYANDRIA. [CL. XXI. 



containing two or three flowers ; the inner superior, of one leaf, 

 with five or six deep segments, internally woolly. Corolla none. 

 Germens two or three, below the inner calyx, egg-shaped, com- 

 pressed or angular, three or six-celled, with rudiments of two 

 seeds in each cell. Styles three or six, short ; stigmas oblong, 

 undivided, permanent. Nuts two or three, egg-shaped, more or 

 less angular, leathery, one-celled, attached to the base of the outer 

 calyx, and crowned by the upper. Kernels one, two, or three 

 Name from phago, to eat. 440. 



1. F. CaMnen. Chestnut Tree. Leaves lance-shaped, acutely serrate, 

 smooth beneath ; prickles of the calyx compound and entangled ; stigmas 



six. A large tree, with widely spreading branches. The wood is used 



for the same purpose as oak. The kernels are wholesome and agreeable. 

 Flowers in May : grows in woods in the south of England: frequent. 

 Eng. Bot. vol. xiii.pl. 886. Eng. Fl. vol. iv. p. 151. 1367. 



2. F. sylvdticu. Common Beech. Leaves egg-shaped, indistinctly ser- 

 rate, smooth ; prickles of the outer calyx simple ; stigmas three 



A large tree, with smooth bark and spreading branches. The nuts 

 fatten hogs, and are eaten by squirrels, wood-pigeons, and other wild 

 animals. Flowers in April and May : grows in woods : common. 

 Eng. Bot. vol. xxvi. pi. 1846. 1368. 



22. BE'TULA. BIRCH. 



Barren Flowers. Catkin cylindrical, loose, imbricated all 

 round, with ternate, concave scales, the middle one largest, egg- 

 shaped. Corolla none. Filaments from ten to twelve, shorter 

 than the scale; anthers roundish, two-lobed. 



Fertile Flowers. Catkin cylindrical, dense ; scales peltate, 

 dilated outwards, three-lobed, three-flowered. Corolla none. 

 Germen compressed, bordered, two-celled. Styles two, awl- 

 shaped, downy ; stigmas simple. Nut oblong, deciduous, winged, 

 one-celled. Kernel solitary. Name from betu, Celtic for birch. 



441. 



1. B. dibit. Common Birch. Leaves egg-shaped, acute, unequally 



serrate, nearly smooth. A rather tall tree, with a white cuticle, 



peeling transversely, the twigs very slender and more or less drooping. 

 The wood is hard and white. Flowers in April and May: sjrows 

 abundantly in extensive natural woods in the Highlands of Scotland, as 

 well as in other parts of the country. Eng. Bot. vol. xxxi. pi. 2198. 

 Eng. Fl. vol. iv. p. 153. 136J'. 



2. B. ntina. Dwarf Birch. Leaves round, crenate, reticulated with 



veins beneath. A shrub rarely exceeding two feet in height. Grows 



on the sides of some of the higher Scottish mountains, as Ben Lawers 

 and the Braemar mountains. Eng. Bot. vol. xxxiii. pi. 2326. En-;. Fl. 

 vol. iv. p. 154. 1370. 



23. CARPl'NUS. HORNBEAM. 



Barren Flowers. Catkin cylindrical, loose, imbricated all 

 round, with egg-shaped, acute, fringed, single-flowered scales, 

 accompanied by three smaller inner ones. Corolla none. Fila- 



