2002 



ARBORETUM AND FUUTICETUM. 



PART III 



1 2 C. PU'MILA Wttld. The Dwarf Chestnut, or Chincapin. 



Identification. Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 461.; Michx. Amer., 2. p. 193. ; Mill. Diet, No. 2.; N. Du 



Ham., iii. p. 79 



Syrumymes. Klgus pumila Lin. So. PI., 1416., Gron. Virg., 150., Du Roy Harbk., 1. p. 275., 

 ' H'ang. Amer., 57. t. 19. f. 44 , Abbott Insect., 2. p. 113. t. 57.; Castanea pumila virgini&na, &c. 



Pluk. Aim., 9()., Cat. Car., 1. p. 9. t. 9., Du Ham. Arb., 3. ; Chataigner Chincapin, Fr. ; zwerch 



Kastanie, or Castanje, (Jer. 

 Engravings. Wang. Amer., 57. t. 19. f. 44. ; Abb. Ins., 2. t. 57. ; Cat. Car., 1. t. 9. ; Pluk. Aim., 



90. t. 156. f. 2.; Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t. 11)5. ; our fig. 1927. from Michaux ; and fig. 192S. 



from the tree in the Horticultural Society's Garden. 



Spec. Char., tyc. Leaves oblong, acute, 

 mucronately serrated ; covered with 

 white toincntum beneath. (Willd.) 

 A shrub, 7 ft. or 8 ft. high, but some- 

 times attaining the size of a tree 

 30 ft. or 40 ft. high. It is a native 

 of North America, where it forms a 

 shrub rarely exceeding the height of 

 7 ft. or 8 ft. in New Jersey, Delaware, 

 and Maryland ; though in South Ca- 

 rolina, Georgia, and Lower Louisi- 

 ana, it is sometimes 30 ft. or 40 ft. 

 high, with a trunk from 12in. to 15in. 

 in diameter. The leaves are Sin. 

 or 4 in. long, sharply toothed, and 

 similar in form to those of the C. v. 

 amcricana; from which they are dis- 

 tinguished by their inferior size, and 

 the whiteness of their under surface. 

 The fructification also resembles that 



of C. v. americana in form and arrangement ; but the flowers and fruit are 

 only about half as large, and the nut is convex on both sides. (Michaiu-.) 

 The chincapin is bounded to the northward, in America, Michaux adds, 

 by the eastern shore of the river Delaware, on which it is found to the 

 distance of 100 miles from 

 Cape May. It is more com- 

 mon in Maryland, and still 

 more so in the lower part of 

 Virginia, in the Carolinas, 

 Georgia, the Floridas, and 

 Louisiana, as far as the river 

 Arkansas. In West Ten- 

 nessee, it is frequent in the 

 prairies enclosed in the 

 forests ; and it abounds 

 throughout the southern 

 states, wherever the common 

 American chestnut is wanting. 

 The wood, Michaux informs 

 us, is more compact, heavier, 

 and finer-grained, than that 

 of the American chestnut ; 

 and, as posts, it will last in 

 the earth more than 40 years. The saplings, however, become loaded 

 " with branches while they are no thicker than the finger, and are thus 

 rendered too knotty for hoops." The fruit, which is about the size of the 

 wild hazel, is brought to market in America, and is eaten raw by children. 

 The tree requires a cool and fertile soil, with a mild climate; as, even in 

 the south of the United States, it becomes stunted when it grows in arid 

 land, and does not exceed the height of 6ft. or 7 ft. ; it is, however, one of 

 the most common shrubs in the southern states of North America, as it 



