492 CXXIV. CUPULIFER^E. GltiERcus 



Western States, generally growing in the vicinity of rivers. Rare east of the 

 Alleghanies. It more nearly resembles C. alba than any other species. It is a 

 large tree, 50 70f high. The bark is divided into long strips which at length 

 are attached only by the middle, narrower and of a lighter color than C. alba. 

 Leaves 10 20' in length, composed of 7, or more frequently 9 leaflets. Sterile 

 aments 3-parted, very long. Nut with a very thick, 4-parted pericarp, and 

 nearly twice larger than in C. alba. 



6. C. MICROCARPA. Nutt. Small-fruited Hickory. 



Lifts. 5 7, oblong-lanceolate, glabrous, glandular beneath, serrate, con- 

 spicuously acuminate ; aments glabrous ; fr. roundish-ovoid, pericarp thin ; nut 

 small, slightly quadrangular. A large tree, 60 80f high, in moist woodlands, 

 Penn. Darlington. Trunk 1J 2fdiam., with an even bark. Leaflets mostly 

 5, often 7, 4 8' by 2 3', the under surface tufted in the axils of the veinlets 

 and sprinkled with dark, glandular dots. Arnents long and slender. Pistillate 

 flowers 2 or 3 together, terminal, on*a common peduncle, with conspicuous se- 

 pals. Fruit about the size of a nutmeg. Nut with a thin shell, not mucronate. 



ORDER. CXXIV. CUPULIFER^E. MASTWORTS. 



Trees and shrubs. Lvs. stipulate, alternate, simple, straight- veined, that is with the veinlets proceeding 



straight from the midvein to the margin. 



Fls. generally monoecious. Sterile in aments, fertile solitary, or 2 or 3 together, or in fascicles. 

 Cal. Sepals regular and membranous, or scale-like. 



Sta. 1 3 times as many as the sepals, inserted into their bases. [each. 



Ova. adherent, seated within a coriaceous involucrum (cupule), with several cells and several ovules in 

 Stiff, several, subsessile, distinct. 



Fr. A bony or coriaceous nut, more or less enclosed in the cupule. 

 Sets, i, 2 or 3 (most of the ovules being abortive), pendulous. Albumen 0. 

 Embryo large. Cotyledons fleshy, plano-convex. Radicle minute, superior. 



Genera 8, species 265, constituting a large portion of the forests of the northern temperate regions, and 

 of mountainous tracts within the tropics. 



Properties. The bark of the oak and other genera is well known for its astringent qualities. The 

 edible fruit of the hazel-nut, chestnut, beechnut, $*c., are too well known to require description. Cork 

 is the bark of Quercus Suber. Nut-galls are producd from the petioles of Q,. inlectoria of Asia Minor, 

 being caused by wounds made by insects. 



Conspectus of tlie Genera. 



fin an echinate, valvate cupule, and ovoid-compressed. .... Castanea. 2 



1 in a muricate, yalvate cupule. and sharply 3-angled. .... Fagus. 3 



j in a hairy, coriaceous, involucrate cupule Corylus. 4 



( enveloped I inflated .. ( membranous, closed cupule Ostrya. 5 



< (acorn) partly immersed in a scaly cupule Quercus. 1 



Nut ( naked, concealed in the axil of a foliaceous bract Carpinus. 6 



1. aUERCUS. 



Celtic quer, fine, and cuez, a tree ; so called emphatically, because the sacred mistletoe grows upon it. 

 The more common Celtic name was derw ; hence druid. 



tf in a loose ament; calyx mostly 5-cleft ; stamens 5 10. 9 Cupule 

 cup-shaped, scaly ; calyx incorporated with the ovary, 6-lobed ; ovary 

 3-celled, 2 of the cells abortive ; style 1 ; stigmas 3 ; nut (acorn) 

 coriaceous, 1 -celled, 1 -seeded, surrounded at the base by the enlarged, 

 cup-shaped, scaly cupule. A noble genus of trees, rarely shrubs. Aments 

 axillary, pendulous, filiform, with the flowers distinct. 

 1 . Fruciificatio?i annual. Fruit pedunculate. Leaves not mucronate. 



* Leaves lobed. 

 1. d. ALBA. White Oak. 



Lvs. oblong, pinnatind-sinuate, smooth, lobes linear-oblong, obtuse, entire, 

 dilated upwards ; fr. pedunculate, cup deep, warty, acorn ovate. The white 

 oak grows in woods throughout the U. S. and Can., and for grandeur, strength 

 and usefulness, stands preeminent among the sons of the forest. With a di- 

 ameter of 5 6f, it attains the height of 70 80, but its magnitude varies 

 with the soil and climate. Leaves obliquely divided into rounded, obtuse and 

 entire lobes, not terminated by mucronate points, pubescent beneath when young. 

 Fruit rather large. Bark white, often with dark spots. The trunk yields tim- 

 ber of great value for strength and durability. It is extensively employed in 



