BETULACE^E 



closes the four nutlets. The other (Corylus rostrata) has a 

 beaked furry covering, holding one nut. 



BETULACE^E BIRCH FAMILY 



Corylus rostrata, Ait. 

 April-May Beaked Hazelnut. 



Fruit ripe 

 August-Septemb er 



Corylus: for derivation see americana. 

 Rostrata: Latin meaning beaked. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: sandy soil. 



THE SHRUB: three feet high or more, branched. 



THE LEAVES: alternate; ovate or narrowly oval; sometimes 

 four inches long and two inches wide; thin; above without 

 hairs or with some scattered, matted ones; beneath with 

 few, short, soft hairs, at least on the veins; acuminate 

 at the apex; cordate or obtuse at the base; deeply serrate, 

 with incisions retoothed. 



THE FLOWERS: minute, in catkins which are three to four 

 inches long. 



THE FRUIT: a nut, enclosed in bristly, hairy bractlets, 

 prolonged into a tubular beak, fringed at the top, about 

 twice the length of the nut. 



There are two chief distinctions between the Corylus 

 americana and the Corylus rostrata. One lies in the differ- 

 ence between the edges of the leaves, the other in the 

 covering of the nuts. In both, the leaves are toothed, but 

 of the rostrata, the teeth themselves are again toothed; 

 the nuts of the americana are in a flat and circular case, 

 while those of the rostrata are in a beaked case. 



Three other members of the Birch Family have been 

 reported. 



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