2226 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART in. 



peduncle, charged with reddish, scarious, lanceolate scales, and is surrounded 

 at its base with a double row of the same scales, which served to envelope it 

 before it expanded; its form is perfectly oval, and its total length about in. 

 The scales, or caiyxes, which form the female catkin are of a whitish green ; 

 the bractea on the back is slightly reddish on its upper side ; and the stigma, 

 which has two points, is of a bright red. After fecundation, the calyxes aug- 

 ment in thickness ; and, becoming firmly pressed against each other, they form 

 by their aggregation a fruit, which is three years before it ripens. During the 

 first year, it is scarcely larger than the female catkin ; and during the second 

 year it becomes globular, and about the size of a walnut. The third year, 



