PLANTS. 329 



berts. Wood is good for burning, or made into walking- 

 canes. 



Witch Hazel (C. hamamelis), the young, forked 

 twigs of which constitute the celebrated divining rod 

 used to discover the localities of precious metals and sub- 

 terranean fountains, the Dwarfed Filbert (C. rostrata), 

 and Wild Hazel Nut (C. americana) are relative genera. 

 The European filbert is more oblong, ripens earlier, 

 clothed in a red envelope and kernel of richer taste, is 

 perhaps the best of the species. 



The Beech (Fagus sylvaticas). Leaves breadly ovate, 

 elliptic, glossy, slightly toothed. A very handsome 

 tree ; branches thick and spreading, form a leafy crown 

 at the top; trunk straight and round, often measures 

 one hundred feet in height. Flowers both staminate and 

 pistillate ; the latter, the female, bloom in catkins. Fruit 

 beechnuts furnish excellent mast for hogs ; also yield 

 excellent oil; wood hard and white, makes good five- 

 wood. The American Chestnut (Fagus castanea), nuts 

 smaller than the Spanish chestnut, but sweeter than the 

 European variety, and the Dwarf Chestnut (C. Purni- 

 la), Chinquapin, found in the Middle States, are rela- 

 tive genera. | 7. 



SIXTIETH FAMILY. SALIACIACE^E. WILLOWORTS. 

 A large number of genera belong to this tribe, which are 

 trees or shrubs, mostly of slender form, sometimes with 

 thick trunks. We can, however, notice but a few. 



The Bedford or Brittle Willow (Salix fragilis). 

 Leaves long, slightly toothed, acute at each end : 



* Originally imported into Italy from Pontus, the fruit was kuowu 

 among the Romans as Nux Pontica, afterwards changed into NU.X 

 Avellana, from the Avella near Naples, where they had been most 

 successfully propagated. Tr. 



