Ciipulifercz Fagus. 4 1 1 



verdant foliage of other trees. F. s. ciiprea, the Copper Beech, 

 has a less pleasing tint, and should not be planted where only 

 one is wanted. F. s. foliis arg6nteo-variegdtis, Silver-striped 

 Beech, and F. s. foliis aureo-variegdtis, Gold-striped Beech, 

 are also very pretty. F. s. pendula and F. s. purpurea pen- 

 dula are fine robust weeping trees. Besides the foregoing 

 there are several with more or less lobed or bipinnatifid leaves, 

 as F. s. inclsa, F. s. aspleniifolia, and F. s. quercifolia ; and 

 F. s. macrophylla has larger foliage than the common form. 

 The Beech is found from Norway to Asia Minor, reappearing 

 in Japan. 



F. ferruglnea, syn. F. sylvdtica, var. Americana, is a closely 

 allied North American species, inferior in point of beauty. It 

 is distinguished from the European species by its narrower 

 longer leaves which are clothed with rufous hairs when young. 



F. antdrctica is a small-leaved deciduous species from the 

 extreme South of America ; and F. betuloldes is an evergreen 

 species from the same region with very small coriaceous ovate 

 toothed leaves. This is quite hardy in exposed situations in 

 the South-west of Britain. 



3. CASTANEA. 



Deciduous trees or shrubs having the male flowers clustered 

 on long naked cylindrical catkins, with a 5- or 6-partite perianth 

 and 8 to 15 stamens. Female flowers 2 or 3 together in a 

 prickly 4-lobed involucre, which eventually completely encloses 

 the coriaceous glossy brown fruits or nuts. The species are 

 widely dispersed in the north temperate zone. Named by the 

 ancients after a town in Thessaly. 



1. C. vesca. Sweet or Spanish Chestnut. A gigantic tree 

 with rugged bark and often a twisted trunk. Leaves glabrous, 

 oblong-lanceolate, acute, coarsely and sharply serrate. Flowers 

 yellowish green, appearing in June. This handsome tree 

 appears to have been originally introduced into Europe from 

 Asia Minor, and has been extensively cultivated for a very long 

 period for its edible nuts. The varieties worth cultivating for 

 ornamental purposes, besides the ordinary one, are not numerous. 

 Perhaps the (7. vesca foliis aureo-margindtis, with golden- 

 edged foliage ; and G. v. heterophylla dissecta, in which the 

 leaves are divided into thin thread-like segments, are the 

 best. 



