308 



CASTANEA 



C. SATIVA, Miller. SWEET, OR SPANISH CHESTNUT. 



(C. vesca, Gaertner ; C. vulgaris, 



A tree of the largest size, 100 ft. or more high, with an enormous girth of 

 trunk (sometimes 30 to 40 ft.) ; young shoots at first covered with a minute 

 down, or srnooth. Leaves oblong, with a narrowed, pointed apex, and a 

 rounded, slightly heart-shaped or tapered base ; coarsely toothed, 5 to 9 ins. 

 long, 2 to 3^ ins. wide ; stalk \ to I in. long. When they first expand, they are 

 covered beneath with a close felt which often rapidly falls away. Nuts red- 

 brown, usually in twos or threes, enclosed in a globose, very prickly fruit, or 



CASTANEA PUMILA. 



bur i^ to 2 ins. across. They vary in size, according to the number in each 

 bur, from to i ins. across. Sometimes there are four, sometimes only one, 

 in a fruit. 



Native of S. Europe, N. Africa, and Asia Minor. It is supposed to have 

 been introduced to Britain by the Romans, and certainly existed in our islands 

 previous to the Norman Conquest. It may be found springing up naturally in 

 different parts of the country, and no foreign tree except perhaps the sycamore, 

 can be said to have adapted itself better to our climate. In the south of 

 Europe, where the nuts are much more esteemed as food than they are with us, 

 numerous named varieties are in commerce. Of these, " Marron de Lyon," 

 " Gros Merle," and " Paragon" are sometimes cultivated in England ; they are 



