230 TREES OF NORTH AMERICA 



undulate on the margins, glabrous or rarely densely soft pubescent below (f. mollis Fern. 

 & Rehd.), in the often shorter involucre of the fruit with shorter and less crowded prickles; 

 usually on the bottom-lands of streams and the borders of swamps, New Jersey, and south- 

 ern Ohio and Missouri to western Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, eastern Texas, 

 and northeastern Oklahoma; ascending on the southern Appalachian Mountains to alti- 

 tudes of 3000; probably growing to its largest size in eastern Louisiana. 



The northern form is occasionally planted in the northern states as a shade and park tree. 



2. CASTANEA Adans. Chestnut. 



Trees or shrubs, with furrowed bark, porous brittle wood, durable in the ground, terete 

 branchlets without terminal buds, axillary buds covered by 2 pairs of slightly imbricated 

 scales, the outer lateral, the others accrescent, becoming oblong-ovate and acute and mark- 

 ing the base of the branch with narrow ring-like scars, and stout perpendicular tap-roots; 

 producing when cut numerous stout shoots from the stump. Leaves convolute in the bud, 

 ovate, acute, coarsely serrate, except at the base, with thin veins running to the points of the 

 slender glandular teeth, deciduous; petioles leaving in falling small elevated semioval leaf- 

 scars marked by an irregular marginal row of minute fibro- vascular bundle-scars; stipules 

 ovate to linear-lanceolate, acute, scarious, infolding the leaf in the bud, caducous. Flowers 

 opening in early summer, unisexual, strong-smelling; the staminate, in 3-7-flowered cymes, 

 in the axils of minute ovate bracts, in elongated simple deciduous aments first appearing 

 with the unfolding of the leaves from the inner scales of the terminal bud and from the 

 axils of the lower leaves of the year, composed of a pale straw-colored slightly puberulous 

 calyx deeply divided into 6 ovate rounded segments imbricated in the bud, and 10-20 

 stamens inserted on the slightly thickened torus, with filiform filaments incurved in the 

 bud, becoming elongated and exserted, and ovoid or globose pale yellow anthers; the pistil- 

 late scattered or spicate at the base of the shorter persistent androgynous aments from the 

 axils of later leaves, sessile, 2 or 3 together or solitary within a short-stemmed or sessile 

 involucre of closely imbricated oblong acute bright green bracts scurfy-pubescent or to- 

 mentose below the middle, subtended by a bract and 2 lateral bractlets, each flower com- 

 posed of an urn-shaped calyx, with a short limb divided into 6 obtuse lobes, minute sterile 

 stamens shorter than the calyx-lobes, an ovary 6-celled after fecundation, with 6 linear 

 spreading white styles hairy below the middle and tipped by minute acute stigmas, and 2 

 ovules in each cell, attached on its inner angle, descending, semianatropous. Fruit matur- 

 ing in one season, its involucre inclosing 1-3 nuts, globose or short-oblong, pubescent or 

 tomentose and spiny on the outer surface, with elongated ridged bright green ultimately 

 brown branched spines fascicled between the deciduous scales, coated on the inner surface 

 with lustrous pubescence, splitting at maturity into 2-4 valves; nut ovoid, acute, crowned 

 by the remnants of the style, bright chestnut-brown and lustrous, tomentose or pubescent 

 at apex, cylindrical, or when more than 1 flattened, marked at the broad base by a large 

 conspicuous pale circular or oval thickened scar, its shell lined with rufous or hoary tomen- 

 tum. Seed usually solitary by abortion, dark chestnut-brown, marked at apex by the 

 abortive ovules, with thick and fleshy more or less undulate ruminate sweet farinaceous 

 cotyledons. 



Castanea is confined to the northern hemisphere, and is widely distributed through east- 

 ern North America, southern Europe, northern Africa, southwestern Asia, and central and 

 northern 'China, Korea, and Japan. Seven species are distinguished. In the countries of 

 the Mediterranean Basin much attention has been given to improving the fruit of the native 

 species Castanea saliva Mill., which is occasionally planted in the middle United States; 

 in Japan the seeds of Castanea crenata S. & Zucc. in many varieties and in China those of 

 Castanea mollissima Bl. are important articles of food. Castanea produces coarse-grained 

 wood very durable in contact with the soil, and rich in tannin. Chestnut-trees suffer in 

 the eastern United States from the attacks of a fungus, Endothia parasitica Anders, which 

 has nearly exterminated them in many parts of the country. 



Castanea is the classical name of the Chestnut-tree. 



