396 



TREES AND SHRUBS. 



year; rub, or pick to bits, a fruiting catkin and note the 

 scales and the winged akenes (Fig. 162, B). The seedling 

 has two small green cotyledons, carried up ; the first foliage- 

 leaves are less toothed and more hairy than the later ones. 



387, The Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) is sometimes 

 mistaken for Elm or even Beech, but with a little care it is 

 easily distinguished, especially if its characteristic fruits are 

 seen. In Britain, it is native only in Wales and the southern 

 half of England, and rarely grows over seventy feet high or 

 has a trunk over a yard in diameter. It is commonly seen 

 in hedges. 



CUPULE 



Fig. 163. The Hornbeam, with Cluster 

 of Fruits. 



NUT 



Fig. 164. Fruit of Hornbeam. 



The bark is thin and smooth, and the trunk is fluted. 

 The leaves, which are arranged in two rows, resemble those 

 of Beech in outline, but have toothed margins and very 

 marked side veins, along which the young leaf is plaited 

 while in the bud. The resting-buds are rather like those of 

 Beech, but are shorter, and the lateral ones are pressed 

 against the stem ; the stipules soon fall off when the bud opens. 



The male and female catkins, which come out with the 

 leaves in early summer, are terminal on short shoots arising 

 from buds on the previous year's twigs. The male bud, on 

 opening, develops a short stem bearing at its base a few 



