254 



DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY, 



x^:i^ ..rvj^. 



called valonia, the half-ripe ones camata, and those gathered in a still earlier 

 state are called camatina. The camatina are most highly charged with tannin, 

 the camata next, and the valonia least. Ordinarily the tree is not large. 



The -wood is excellent for the manufacture of furniture, takes a fine polish, 

 and is durable. 



As a dye, the shells -of the acorns are in great demand. 



COEYLUS, Tourn. (Hazelnut.) Catkins of the male flowers cylin- 

 drical. Pistillate flowers, with an involucre of imbricated scales, 2 in 

 number, attached at the base, and fastened to the under surface of 

 the bract ; stamens inserted upon the scales near their base, 8 in num- 

 ber ; anthers tipped with beard. Female flowers in a flattened, bud- 

 like catkin ; bracteal scale entire and ovate ; calyx membranous, 

 inclosing the whole ovary, terminating in a short fringed tube. The 

 two stigmas long and filiform. Fruit, a nut, egg-shaped and bony. 



1. C. avellana, L. (Hazelnut. Filbert.) Stem shrubby, 3 to 5 inches in 

 diameter near the base, made up principally' of ramifications, rising from 3 to 



8 feet high. Leaves somewhat round- 

 ish, cordate, acuminate, and irregular 

 serrate ; stipules lengthened. Fruit- 

 covering bell-shaped, ragged at the 

 margin. Nut brown. Ripe in October. 



2. C. colurna, L. (Constantinople 

 Hazelnut.) Trunk 40 to 50 feet high, 

 12 to 18 inches in diameter; stipules 

 lanceolate, acuminate. Leaves as in 

 No. 1. Fruit larger and longer. 



A dozen varieties are arranged under 

 these two, differing in size and form of 

 the fruit and leaf. 



3. C. rostrata. Ait. (Beaked Hazel- 

 nut. ) Stem much branched, forming a 

 straggling shrub from 4 to 8 feet high. 

 Leaves ovate, irregular, serrate, and 

 slightly lobed ; stipules narrow-lanceo- 

 late. Fruit-envelope tubular, bell-shaped, 

 2-parted, divisions cut, toothed. Fruit 



excellent, but smaller than»the European species. 



4. C. Americana, AValt. (American Hazelnut.) Stem branching, forming 

 a shrub like the last, but somewhat larger, 3 to 8 feet high. Leaf rounded at 

 the base, sometimes sliglitly cordate. Envelope of the fruit globular, bell- 

 shaped ; edges coarsely toothed. Nuts as in the last. 



The last two species are natives of North America, and abound in thickets 

 and along fence-rows, in the northern and middle States, as far south as Vir- 

 ginia. Of these there are no varieties. The European varieties have doubt- 

 less arisen from attempts to improve the fruit by cultivation. 



Geography. — The hazelnut grows well between 35° and 55° latitude in the 

 northern hemisphere, but is confined to the eastern parts of the western 

 hemisphere, and to the western parts of the Old World. 



CoRYLDS AVELLANA (Hazelnut). 



