145 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND BLOSSOMS 



combined industry the tree or bush is soon despoiled of its 

 load. 



All the many varieties of Filberts, Kentish-Cobs, Spanish- 

 nuts, and Barcelona-nuts are but varieties of Corylus avellana. 



The name is from the Greek, Korus, a helmet, from the form 

 of the involucre. 



The Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). 



It is in our experience that though many townsmen think they 

 know the Beech there are comparatively few of them that 

 cannot be deceived into accepting the Hornbeam as Fagus 

 sylvatica. It must be admitted that there is a strong super- 

 ficial resemblance to a small Beech ; but on closer examination 

 it will be found that the differences are greater than the 

 likeness. The Hornbeam has a light-grey smooth bark, but 

 instead of the very round trunk of the Beech, that of the 

 Hornbeam appears to have been laterally squeezed, for the 

 diameter taken one way is longer or shorter than if taken at 

 right angles to the first measurement. Then again the leaf of 

 Carpinus if placed upon that of Fagus will be found to bs 

 much less rotund in proportion to its length ; the surface is 

 rough, and instead of the cleanly cut margins of Fagus we 

 have a coarse double-toothing. 



The Hornbeam when full-grown is a much smaller tree than 

 the Beech, rarely exceeding seventy feet in height, with a trunk 

 circumference of ten feet ; whereas the Beech reaches a height 

 of considerably over a hundred feet, with a girth of nearly 

 thirty feet. When naturally grown, too, it is by no means so 

 picturesque as the Beech, but in places where it is most 

 plentiful, as in Essex, especially Epping Forest, it is generally 

 pollarded, and seldom allowed to exhibit its true form. 



The male flowers form a pendulous catkin, originating in the 

 axils, and each consisting of an egg-shaped bract, holding 



