23G 



THE HORNBEAM. 



north and east sides of London : such as Epping, Finchley, 

 &c. By the Greeks it was called Zugia, or "yoke-tree," 

 from the use to which its timher was applied : the Latins 

 called it Garpinus, the name by which it is still known to 

 botanists. 



It has a straight and tolerably smooth trunk, which is 

 slender and very frequently flattened, twisted, or other- 



LEAF, FLOWER, AND SEED OF THE HORNBEAM. 



wise irregular in shape, and is subdivided into a large 

 number of long tapering branches, which diverge in such 

 a way that the main stem is generally lost in the confused 

 mass at some distance below the summit. The branches 

 are remarkably liable to unite when they touch in crossing; 

 hence very curious appearances are sometimes produced. 

 The outline of the head is round, and possesses little 



