642 OBDER 119. CUPULIFER^E. 



and a comparatively small kernel difficult of extraction. Taste inferior to the 

 shellbark. Wood with a small duramen, excellent for fuel. Apr., May. 



7 C. glabra Torr. PIGNUT. Lfts. 5 or 7, ovate-lanceolate, subacuminate, serrate, 

 nearly glabrous loth sides ; fruit roundish- obovate or pyriform, half 4-valved; nut 

 .smooth and even or slightly angular, hard, thin-shelled, with a bitterish but eatable 

 kernel. Forests U. S. and Can., growing to the height of 60 lOOf. Trunk 1 to 

 2if diam., covered with a moderately even bark. Lfts. mostly 7, often 5, some- 

 times 9, the odd one tapering to a short stalk. The fruit is considerably variable 

 in form and quality, often pear-shaped, then obovate or roundish, always some- 

 what bitter. Wood exceedingly tough and hard, and excellent for fuel. Mar., 

 May. (Juglans, Muhl. C. porcina Nutt.) 



8 C. microcarpa Nutt. Lfts. 5 or 7, oblong-lanceolate, glabrous, glandular be- 

 neath, serrate, conspicuously acuminate ; aments glabrous ; fr. roundish-ovoid, 

 valves thin, united below ; nut thin-shelled, small, slightly quadrangular. A large 

 tree 60 to SOf high, in moist woodlands, Penn. to Ky. and Tenn.? Trunk 1-J- to 

 2f diam. with an even bark. Lfts. mostly 5, often 7, 4 to 8' by 2 to 3', the under 

 surface tufted in the axils of the veinlets, and sprinkled with dark glandular dots. 

 Fruit about the size of a nutmeg. Nut with a thin shell', not mucronate, eatable. 

 May. 



ORDER CXIX. CUPULIFEILE. MASTWORTS. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, simple, straight-veined, with deciduous stipules. 

 Flowers monoecious, the sterile in aments which are racemed or capitate. $ Calyx 

 scale-like or regular, with 5 to 20 stamens inserted at its base. $ Calyx tube 

 adherent to the ovary, the toothed limb crowning its summit. Ovary 2 to 3 to 6- 

 celled, with sessile stigmas and 1 or 2 ovules in each cell. Fruit a 1 -celled, 1 -seeded 

 nut, solitary or several together invested by an involucre which forms a scaly or 

 echinate cupule. Seed destitute of albumen, filled by the embryo with its large 

 cotyledons. lilust. in figs. G, 7, 8, 9, 71, 138, 139, 140, 202, 418, 438, 471, 472, 473, 

 474. 46. B. 



Genera 8, species 2C5, constituting a large portion of the forests of the northern temperate 

 regions, and of mountainous tracts within the tropics. 



Properties. The bark of the oak and other genera is well known for its astringent qiialities. 

 The edible fruit of the hazel-nut, chestnut, beech, &c., are too well known to require description. 

 Cork is the bark of Quercus Suber. Nutt galls are produced from the petioles of Q. infectoria of 

 Asia Minor, being caused by wounds made by insects. But the timber is of the highest quality 

 and value. 



GENERA. 



Sterile flowers in aments, fertile, solitary, or few together. (*) 



* Involucre of many scales, valveless, cup-like, partly enclosing the 1 nut QUERCITS. 1 



* Involucre of prickly scales, 4-valved, enclosing 2 or 3 nuts CASTANEA. 2 



* Involucre of soft, prickly scales, 4-valved, enclosing 2 nuts FAGUS. 3 



* Involucre of 2 or 3 large, lacerated, united scales, valveless, with 1 2 nuts..CoRYLUS. 4 

 Sterile flowers and fertile, both kinds in pendulous aments. (*) 



* Involucre scales in pairs, with their edges united, inflated OSTKYA. 5 



* Involucre scales in pairs, distinct, 8-lobed, becoming leaf-like CARPINUS. 6 



i. QUER'CUS, L. OAK. (Celtic quer, fine, cucz, tree. The Celtic 

 name is drys y hence druid.) $ Fls. in loose aments ; calyx mostly 5- 

 cleft; stamens 5 10. ? Cupule cup-shaped, scaly; ovary 3-celled, 

 6-ovuled (Fig. 418), 2 of the cells and 5 of the ovules abortive ; stigmas 

 3 ; nut (acorn) coriaceous, 1-ccllcd, 1-scedcd, surrounded at the base 

 by the enlarged, cup-shaped, scaly cupule. A noble genus of trees, 

 rarely shrubs. Aments axillary, pendulous, filiform, with the flowers 

 separate, in one section, not maturing fruit until the s.econd year (fruit 

 biennial). Timber invaluable. Fig. 420. 



