MONOCHLAMYDE^l. 



169 



151. Corylacea or Cupuliferee. Trees or shrubs. Leaves 

 with stipules, alternate. Flowers unisexual, amentaceous. 

 Stamens 5 to 20. Ovary crowned by the rudiments of a 

 calyx, within a coriaceous involucre, with several cells and 

 several ovules ; ovules pendulous. Fruit a 1 -celled nut, en- 

 closed in the involucre. Seed solitary. 



USES. The Beech, valuable for its timber, and its nuts 

 called mast, is Fagus sylvatica. Hazel-nuts are the fruit 

 of Corylus Avellana. Sweet Chesnuts are borne by Castanea 

 vesca. Oaks, the most valuable of European trees, are va 

 rious species of Quercus. 



TYPICAL GENERA. Fagus, Quercus. 



Fagus sylvatica. 1. Male catkins. 2. Female do. 3. The latter, with the 

 scales of the involucre stripped off to show the ovaries at the apex. 4. A male 

 flower. 5. A half-grown female, with the involucre, now consisting of consolidated 

 sculps, forced back. fi. A ripe involucre opening .and exposing the nuts. 7. A 

 transverse section of a ripe nut. 8. The same of a young ovary. 



