WESTERN CHINQUAPIN 357 



to that of the Chinquapin of the Southern States, a tree 

 which belongs to the Chestnut family. But it is neither a 

 Chestnut nor a Chinquapin, and is the only one of its kind 

 on this continent. Its botanical name is Castanopsis chry- 

 sophylla. It is sometimes called " Golden Chestnut." It is 

 an evergreen, shedding its leaves at the end of the sec- 

 ond or third year. It is scattered throughout Washington, 

 Oregon, and California, but the region of its large growth 

 is comparatively small, as in much of its range it gets but 

 little above pole dimensions, and on high elevations is prac- 

 tically a shrub. Its largest and best development is in north- 

 western California among the Redwoods, in the moist, mild 

 air of that region. It sometimes attains a height of one 

 hundred feet, with a diameter of three to four feet, 

 larger dimensions are reported, but ordinarily it reaches 

 only fifty to sixty feet in height and eight to fifteen inches 

 in diameter. It is of rather slow growth, trees from eighteen 

 to twenty-five inches in diameter ranging from one hundred 

 and forty-five to one hundred and ninety years of age. 



The wood is light, fine-grained, not strong, rather soft 

 and somewhat brittle, pale reddish brown, with lighter- 

 colored sapwood of fifty to sixty-five annual layers. The 

 bark is rich in tannin. Large trees furnish excellent saw 

 timber which is suitable for agricultural implements and 

 like purposes. Its seed is a small sweet nut inclosed in a 

 burr somewhat like that of a Chestnut and it requires two 

 years to mature. It is a prolific seeder, but the little nuts 

 are largely consumed by animals. It is not known that any 

 attempt has been made to cultivate it. No doubt its propa- 

 gation can be made successful, but whether by planting 

 seeds or growing young trees in the nursery can be known 

 only after experiment. It is evident that any attempt, out- 

 side of the range of its best development, will be useless, 

 for it is essentially a lover of a moist atmosphere and a 

 mild climate, flourishing only where such conditions exist. 



THE END 



