94 CUPULIFER^. Castanea. 



289. Castanea pumila. Mill. 



Chinquapin. 



Southern Pennsylvania, and the valley of the lower Wabash River, 

 Indiana, south and southwest to northern Florida and the valley of the 

 Neches River, Texas. 



A tree sometimes 15 metres in height, with a trunk 0.30 to 1.05 metres 

 in diameter, or often, especially in the Atlantic States, reduced to a low 

 shrub ; rich hillsides and borders of swamps ; most common and reaching 

 its greatest development in southern Arkansas. 



Wood light, hard, strong, coarse-grained, durable in contact with the 

 ground, liable to check in drying ; layers of annual growth marked by- 

 many rows of large open ducts ; medullary rays numerous, obscure ; color 

 dark brown, the sap-wood hardly distinguishable ; used for posts, rails, 

 railway-ties, etc. 



The small nuts sweet and edible. 



290. Castanea vulgaris, var. Americana, A. DC. 

 Chestnut. 



Southern Maine to northern Vermont, southern Ontario and southern 

 Michigan, south through the northern States to Delaware and south- 

 ern Indiana, ami along the Alleghany Mountains to northern Alabama, 

 extending west to middle Kentucky and Tennessee. 



A large tree, 24 to 30 metres in height, with a trunk 1.80 to 4 metres 

 in diameter ; rich woods and hillsides ; common and reaching its greatest 

 development on the western slopes of the southern Alleghany Mountains. 



Wood light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, liable to check and warp 

 in drying, easily split, very durable in contact with the soil ; layers of 

 annual growth marked by many rows of large open ducts; medullary rays 

 numerous, obscure; color brown, the sap-wood lighter; largely used in 

 cabinet-making, for railway-ties, posts, fencing, etc. 



The fruit sweet and edible. 



29 1 . Fagus ferruginea, Ait. 



Beech. 



Nova Scotia and the valley of the Restigouche River to the northern 

 shores of Lake Huron and northern "Wisconsin, south to western Florida, 

 west to eastern Illinois, southeastern Missouri, northeastern Arkansas, and 

 the Trinity River, Texas. 



A large tree. 24 to .34 metres in height, with a trunk 0.00 to 1.20 

 metres in diameter ; rich woods, or at the South sometimes on bottom-lands 

 or borders of swamps : reaching its greatest development upon the " bluff ' 

 formations of the lower Mississippi basin ; very common. 



Wood verv hard, strong, tough, very close-grained, not durable in 

 contact with the soil, inclined to check in drying, difficult to season, 



