FAGUS FEHRUGINEA, AIT. 71 



in western sections abundant, common eastward ; Rhode 

 Island and Connecticut, common. 



South to Florida ; west to Wisconsin, Missouri, and Texas. 



Habit. A tree of great beauty, rising to a height of 50-75 

 feet, with a diameter at the ground of 1-J 4 feet ; under favor- 

 able conditions attaining much greater dimensions ; trunk 

 remarkably smooth, sometimes fluted, in the forests tall and 

 straight, in open situations short and stout ; head symmetrical, 

 of various shapes, rounded, oblong, or even obovate ; branches 

 numerous, mostly long and slender, curving slightly upward 

 at their tips, near the point of branching horizontal or slightly 

 drooping, beset with short branchlets which form a flat, dense, 

 and beautiful spray ; roots numerous, light brown, long, and 

 running near the surface. Tree easily distinguishable in win- 

 ter by the dried brownish-white leaves, spear-like buds, and 

 smooth bark. 



Bark. Trunk light blue gray, smooth, unbroken, slightly 

 corrugated in old trees, often beautifully mottled in blotches 

 or bands and invested by lichens ; branches gray ; branchlets 

 dark brown and smooth ; spray shining, reddish-brown ; sea- 

 son's shoots a shining olive green, orange-dotted. 



Winter Buds and Leaves. Buds conspicuous, long, very 

 slender, tapering slowly to a sharp point ; scales rich brown, 

 lengthening as the bud opens. Leaves set in plane of the 

 spray, simple, alternate, 3-5 inches long, one-half as wide, 

 silky-pubescent with fringed edges when young, nearly smooth 

 when fully grown, green on both sides, turning to rusty yellows 

 and browns in autumn, persistent till mid-winter ; outline oval, 

 serrate ; apex acuminate ; base rounded ; veins strong, straight, 

 terminating in the teeth ; leafstalk short, hairy at first ; stipules 

 slender, silky, soon falling. 



Inflorescence. May. Appearing with the leaves from the 

 season's shoots, sterile flowers from the lower axils, in heads 

 suspended at the end of silky threads 1-2 inches long ; calyx 

 campanulate, pubescent, yellowish-green, mostly 6-lobed ; petals 

 none ; stamens 6-16 ; anthers exserted ; ovary wanting or abor- 

 tive : fertile flowers from the upper axils, usually single or 



