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Ijii 



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174 



TREES GROWING IN RICH SOIL. 



It seems as though every one shuukl know its tall, column-like 

 shaft, its dense, characteristic foliage, and its quaint fruit. It 

 grows very rapidly. Although durable when in contact with 

 the soil, its reddish-brown wood is not strong, and warps badly 

 when it is dried. 



C. Fuinila, Chinquapin, {Plate XC.) is a shrub or small round- 

 topped tree which grows on rich hillsides, in swamj) borders or 

 even in dry soil, from New Jersey southward and westward. 

 Its leaves are oblong, feather-veinetl and conspicuously ser- 

 rate. On the under surface they have a dense, white fuzz. In 

 the burr there is but one ovoid nut, or, very rarely, two. The 

 meat is very sweet, and tliey are sold in large numbers in the 

 streets and markets of the southern and western cities. To 

 this fruit ancient writers have referred as being "a great 

 daintie." 



AMERICAN BEECH. {Plate XCI.) 



FAMILY SHAPE 



Beech. Koiinii-i(.>/>/>r<i : yi-ju-i^o/ret 

 i>ui/ic /les, l\oyizo)ttal. 



Fhgits Americana 



HEIGHT 



RANGE 



.\'ii;-'(( Siotiii to J'7a. 

 and 'H'estward. 



TIME OF BLOOM 



A foil. May, 

 Sept., Oct. 



Bark: liglit bluisli gruy ; smooth. Leaves: simple; alternate; with very 

 short petioles; ov;Uc; oblong; with pointed ape.\ and rounded or narrowed 

 base. Ribs: straight, unbranched and terminating in the remote teeth. 

 Fringed on the margins with soft, white hairs which soon fall; glabrous. Stani- 

 iiiate Jlcioi-rs : clustered on drooping peduncles. Pislillate oiws: two only and 

 terminating a scaly bractcd ])cdunc!e. Fruit : a pair of three-sided nuts, with a 

 sweet and edilile kernel which grows within a four-celletl, prickly burr splittng 

 when ripe midway to the base. 



It is fortunate that there is no one tyi)c of tree which may 

 alone be regarded as beautiful. Hcauty is truly, as has been so 

 justly and often said, in the eye of the beholder, Ily many the 

 American beech is thought to l)e the most lovely of all trees. 

 Its train of admirers are quite as ardent about it as those of the 

 American elm, the sugar maple, the gum tree, and many others. 

 Certainly in the spring when it is covered with its staminate 

 blossoms it is a splendid sight, and its perfect leaves are sel- 

 dom spotted or eaten by insects. In the winter, also, it is par- 



