914 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



valuable as underwood, and for its fruit. As underwood, it is grown in England 

 for hop-poles, fence-wood, and hoops. The poles last as long as those of the 

 ash, and longer ; but they do not grow so fast, and they are apt to send out 

 stout side shoots, which, if not checked, either b} pruning or by the closeness 

 of the plantation, cause the upper part of the pole to diminish in size too rapidly. 

 The chestnut, like the beech, prefers a deep sandy loam. It will not thrive in 

 stiff tenacious soil ; and, in a rich loam, its timber, and even its poles and 

 hoops, are brittle, and good for nothing. The species is propagated by the 

 nut, which may be treated exactly in the same manner as the acorn ; and the 

 varieties are perpetuated by grafting. 



* & 2. C. PU X MILA Willd. The Dwarf Chestnut, or Chincapin. 



Identification. Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 461. ; Michx. Amer., 2. p. 193. 



Synonymes. Feigns pftmila Lin. Sp. PI. 1416. ; Castanea pumila virgin&na, &c., Pluk. Aim. 90. ; 



Chataigner Chincapin, Fr. ; zwerch Kastanie, or Castanje, Get: 

 Engravings. Wang. Amer., 57. t. 19. f. 44. ; Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t. 105. ; our Jig. 1707. from 



Michaux ; and_/?g. 1708. from the tree in the Horticultural Society's Garden. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves oblong, acute, mucronately serrated ; covered with 

 white tomentum beneath. (Willd.) A deciduous shrub. North America, 

 New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia, and Lower 

 Louisiana. Height 8 ft. to 40 ft. Introduced in 1699. Flowers yellow ; 

 May. Fruit half the size of the common chestnut. 



1707. C. pumila. 1708. C. piimila. 



In dry arid soils C. pumila is a shrub not exceeding 6 or 7 feet in height, 

 but in rich soil it is a low tree. The leaves are 3 or 4 inches long, sharply 

 toothed, and similar in form to those of the C. v. americana ; from which 

 they are distinguished by their inferior size, and the whiteness of their 

 under surface. The fructification, also, resembles that of C. v. americana 

 in form and arrangement ; but the flowers and fruit are only about half as 

 large, and the nut is convex on both sides. 



Species of Castanea not yet introduced into European Gardens. 



Several species of chestnuts have been discovered in Nepal and Java; 

 some of which were, at first, supposed to belong to the genus Quercus, but 

 have since been separated from that genus, and referred to Castanea, by 

 Dr. Lindley j and others have been described and figured by Blume, in his 

 splendid work on the plants of Java. Dr Lindley has given a synoptical list 

 of the Indian Castaneas in Dr. Wallich's PI. As. Rar., in which he enumerates 

 eight different species, all of which we shall shortly notice. 



C. indica Rox. Hort. Beng., p. 68., Lindi. in Wall. Pi. As. Rar., Royle 

 lllust., p. 341., is a native of the mountains of Nepal and Silhet. 



