FAG ACE AE (BEECH FAMILY) 75 



FAGACEAE (BEECH FAMILY) 



Shrubs or trees. Leaves alternate, petioled, simple, pinnately 

 veined; stipules deciduous or none. Flowers monoecious, small. 

 Staminate flowers in aments or heads; perianth 4-y-lobed; stamens 

 4-20. Pistillate flowers solitary or in clusters, each cluster of i or 

 more subtended by an involucre of bracts which become a cup or bur; 

 perianth 4-8-lobed, adnate to the ovary; ovary 3-y-celled; styles 

 as many as the ovary cells. Fruit 1-3 nuts. Seed i. 



A. Leaves serrate or dentate or entire, not lobed; filaments many times as long 



as the anthers; pistillate flowers on the bases of the staminate aments. 

 B. Leaves entire, coated beneath with yellow persistent scales; involucre inclosing 

 1-3 nuts, very prickly with branched prickles. C. E. (Castania is the genus 

 of the chestnut; Gk. opsis = like; hence chestnut-like.) 



Castanopsis chrysophylla (CHINQUAPIN) 



BB. Leaves entire or serrate or dentate, without scales beneath; nuts solitary; 



involucre covering only the base of the nut, not prickly or at least the prickles not 



branched. W. (Perhaps from L. pascere = to feed; on account of the food 



in the acorns.) Pasania densiflora (CHESTNUT OAK) 



AA. Leaves often deeply lobed but in some serrate or entire; filaments not longer 



than the anthers; pistillate flowers not on the staminate aments; fruit a single nut 



(acorn), partly inclosed in a scaly cup which is not prickly. QUERCUS (p. 75) 



QUERCUS (OAK) 



Shrubs or trees. Leaves deciduous or evergreen. Staminate flowers in 

 aments, i on each scale ; aments slender, many-flowered : perianth mostly 

 6-lobed : stamens 6-12. Pistillate flowers solitary: perianth adherent to 

 the ovary : ovary usually 3-celled ; styles as many as the ovary-cells. 

 (Celtic quer = fine, cuez = a tree ; because the sacred Mistletoe grew upon 

 it.) Wood fine for floors and furniture. 



A. Leaves not lobed, entire or sinuate or serrate or dentate, evergreen. 



B. Leaf-blade widest above rather than below the middle; acorns maturing the 

 first season, shell glabrous inside. W. Q. sadleriana 



BB. Leaf-blade widest below rather than above the middle; acorns maturing the 

 second season, shell hairy inside. W. C. E. Q. chrysolepis (LIVE OAK) 



AA. Leaves lobed, deciduous. 



C. Leaf -lobes mostly sharp-pointed; acorns maturing the second season, shell 

 silky-tomentose on the inside; stamens 4-6. W. C. Q. californica (BLACK OAK) 



CC. Leaf-lobes mostly with rounded tips; acorns maturing the first season, shell 

 glabrous on the inside; stamens 5-10. 

 D. Shrubs or trees, 45 m. high or less; notches of the leaf-blades rounded. W. 



Q. gar ry ana (WHITE OAK) 



DD. Shrubs, 2 m. high or less; notches of the leaf-blades mostly acute. W. C. 



Q. oerstediana (SCRUB OAK) 



