1980 



ARBORETUM AND FRUT1CETUM. 



PART III. 



this tree produces about 20 Ib. of mast every year, which sells at 2 dollars (95.) per Ib. (see Gard. 

 Mag., vol. viii. p. 445.) : at Gottingen, in the Botanic Garden, 26 years planted, it is between 30 ft. and 

 40ft. high. In Austria, at Vienna, at Laxeuburg, it is 25ft. high. In Prussia, at Berlin, at Sans 

 Souci.it is 18ft. high. 



Commercial Statistics. In the London nurseries, mast is 10s. per bushel; 

 two years' seedlings are Ss. per thousand ; transplanted plants, from 2 ft. to 

 3 ft. high, 40a. per thousand. Plants of the purple-leaved variety are from Qd. 

 to Is. 6rf. each; of the fern-leaved, from 1*. 6d. to 2s. 6d.; and of F. s. pen- 

 dula, from 3*. 6d. to 5s. At Bollwyller, plants of the different varieties are 

 from 2 to 3 francs each ; and, at New York, the species is 25 cents per plant, 

 and the varieties 1 dollar each. 



It 2. F. FERRUGI'NEA Ait. The American ferruginous-wooded Beech. 



Identification. Ait. Hort. Kew., 3. p. 362. ; Abbott Ins., 2. p. 149.; Willd. Arb., 112.: Michx. N. 



Amer., 3. p. 21. ; Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 460. 

 Synonymes. F. americana latifolia Du Roi Harbk., 1. p. 269. Wang., Amer., p. 80. ; red Beech, 



Engravings. Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t. 106. ; Wang. Amer., t. 29. f. 55. ; and our fig. 1917. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves ovate, acuminate, thickly toothed ; downy beneath ; 

 ciliate on the margin. (Willd. Sp. PL, iv. p. 460.) A North American 

 timber tree, so much resembling the common European beech, as by some 

 to be considered only a variety of it. It was introduced in 1766, and is 

 not unfrequent in collections. The American beech is easily known from 

 the European one by its much shorter obtusely 

 pointed buds, with short, roundish, convex scales, 

 which terminate almost abruptly, and are enclosed 

 in numerous, short, loose scales. f 



Varieties. 



F. /. 2 carolinidna ; F. caroliniana Lodd. Cat., 

 ed. 1836; and fig. 1915. ; has leaves some- 

 what cordate at the base, ovate, slightly 

 acuminate, obsoletely dentate, and some- 

 what mucronate. The colour is a very dark 

 green, somewhat tinged with purple when 

 fully mature. The veins of the under side 

 of the leaf are somewhat hoary. 



5 F. /. 3 latifolia; F. latifolia of Lee's Nursery; and our Jig. 1916. 

 Leaves lanceolate, acuminate ; tapering at the base, feather-nerved, 

 much longer than those of the preceding variety in proportion to 

 their length, and of a lighter green. It differs from the plant marked 

 F. carolinianain the Hack- 

 ney Arboretum; but, as 



the latter is very small, and IJ^-^K ' 9 1 J 



the Hammersmith plant is 

 growing in a better atmo- 

 sphere, perhaps it is not 

 worth keeping distinct. 



Description, fyc. The red beech, 

 Michaux observes, bears a greater 

 resemblance to that of Europe than 



to the American white beech. It '^!f-/^S 



equals the latter in diameter, but ^Ate5#K7 



not in height ; and, as it ramifies near 

 the ground, it has a more massive 

 head, and a more tufted foliage. Its 

 leaves are equally brilliant with 

 those of the white beech, a little 

 larger and thicker, and more deeply 

 serrated. Its fruit is of the same 

 form, but only half as large ; while 

 the prickles of its calyx are less 

 numerous, but firmer. The wood 



1915 



