Fagaoeae. 



27 



Fagus. Beech. 

 (Family Fagaceae). 



Rather ovoid or round-topped 



yj trees with cylindrical smooth gray 

 jfi trunk, the bark frequently with 

 ^ w included woody nodules: decidu- 



jp M ous or with the dead leaves per- 



sisting far into the winter. Twigs 

 slender, zig-zag, terete: pith 

 rather small, roundish, continu- 

 ous. Buds solitary or rarely su- 

 pernumerary, sessile or becoming 

 slightly stalked, divergent and 

 very oblique over the leaf-scars, 

 elongated fusiform and subpun- 

 gent, with some 10 or more spi- 

 rally arranged scales. Leaf-scars 

 alternate, sometimes 2-ranked, lit- 

 tle-raised, half-round, r a t h er 

 small: bundle-traces 3, the lower 

 usually compound or broken into 

 an irregular series: stipule-scars 

 linear, nearly meeting, around the 

 lucky-nuts" of the bark. 

 The beech affords an excellent illustration of buds ob- 

 liquely placed over the leaf-scars, a common occurrence when 

 they are 2-ranked; and of buds elongated without being 

 stalked, for the scales here begin at the very base of the bud. 

 The species are distinguishable with difficulty except by 

 aid of the foliage when it is present. 



1. Twigs often villous: buds puberulent. F. sylvatica. 

 Twigs and lower bud-scales glabrous. 2. 



2. Buds light brown: leaves undulate. F. japonica. 

 Buds red-brown: leaves serrate. (1). F. grandifolia. 



twig. Children know the 



