LXX. CORYLACE^: CA RPINUS. 



917 



either for their timber or ornamental effect ; but one species valuable as a 

 garden hedge plant. Common soil, and seeds or layers. 



3f I. C. ^e'tulus L, The Birch, or common. Hornbeam. 



Identification. Lin. Sp. PI., 1416. ; Eng. Bot., t. 2032. 



Synonymes. C&rpinus Matth. I'algr. I. p. 131.; O'strya Bauh. Pin. 427.; O'rnus Trag. Hist. 



UOy.; i^dgus au/i. Hist. 1. p. 2. 146. f . ; .Betulus Lob. Ic. 2. 190. f. ; Came, Charme, Fr. ; 



gemeine Haynbuche, Ger. ; Carpino bianco, Itat. ; Hornbeam, Yoke Elm, and in some place 



Wych hazel. 

 Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 2032. ; N. Du Ham., 2. t. 58. ; the plates of this tree in Arb. Brit., 1st 



edit., vol. viii. ; and our Jig. 1713. 



Spec. Char., S^c. Bracteas of the fruit flat, oblong, serrated, with two lateral 

 lobes. (^Smith.) A deciduous tree. Britain, and various parts of Eu- 

 rope, in magnitude and general character resembling the common beech. 

 Height 30 ft. to 70 ft. Flowers yellowish ; May. Nuts brown ; ripe in 

 October or November. 



Varieties. 



1 C. B. 2 incisa Lodd. Cat. 1836. C. B. guercifolia Desf. ;. JS.hetero- 



phylla Hort. Leaves deeply cut. 

 3f C. B. 3 variegdta Lodd. Cat. 1836. Leaves variegated. 



The hornbeam, being extremely patient of the knife, forms excellent hedges. 

 The wood is very tough and horny, and the bark smooth and whitish, or light 



1713. C. saulus. 



grey spotted with white ; and on old trees it is generally covered with a 

 brownish moss. The wood is white, hard, heavy, tenacious, and very close- 

 grained ; but it will not take a good polish. It weighs, when green, 64 lb. ; 

 half-dry, 37 lb. ; and quite dry, o\ lb. It is very seldom used in construction 

 partly because it is seldom found of proper dimensions, and partly because, 

 when the tree attains a large size, the wood is apt to become shaky, like that 

 of the chestnut. As fuel, it surpasses the beech in the proportion of 1655 

 to 1540. For a nurse plant, and for hedges, it is particularly well adapted. 

 It will succeed in any soil not too warm and dry. It is naturally found on cold 



3 N 3 " 



