MONOECIA— POLYANDRIA. Fagus. 151 



none. Germ. 2 or 3, below the inner calyx, ovate, more 

 or less compressed or angular, of 3 or 6 cells, with rudi- 

 ments of 2 seeds in each. Styles 3 or 6, short, Stigm. 

 oblong, undivided, spreading or erect, permanent. Nuts 

 2 or 3, ovate, more or less angular, coriaceous, not burst- 

 ing, of 1 cell, attached to the base of the outer calyx, and 

 crowned with the inner one. Kernels 1, 2, or 3, with 

 large, furrowed, or plaited cotyledons, without any sepa- 

 rate albumen ; embryo at the top of the seed. 

 Large trees, with hard wooJ, and stalked, alternate, simple, 

 deciduous, more or less serrated, or wavy, leaves. Fl. 

 from axillary buds. 



1 . F. Castanea. Sweet Chesnut. 



Leaves lanceolate, sharply serrated ; smooth beneath. 

 Prickles of the outer calyx compound and entangled. 

 Stigmas six. 



F. Castanea. Linn. Sp. PI. 1416. Fl. Br. 1027. Erigl. Bot. v. 13. 

 t. 886. mild. Baumz. 111. Ehrh. Arb. 1 29. 



Castanea. RaiiSijn.AAd. Bauh.Hist. v.\. p.2.\2\.f. Trag. Hist. 

 1100./. Fuchs. Hist. 377. f. Ic.214./. Matth.Falgr.v.l.]9\.f. 

 Camer. Epit. 1 18./. Duham. Arb. v. l.t.50. Dod. Pempt.6\4.f. 

 Ger.Em. 1442./. 



C. vesca. Gcertn. v.l.lSl. t.37. f.l. mild. Sp. PI. v. 4. 460. 



C. vulgaris. "DeCand. Fl. Gall. Syn. 181." Hook. Scot. 273. 



C. n. 1 623. Hall. Hist. v. 2. 292. 



C. sativa. Mill. Ic. 56. t. 84. 



Chesnut tree. Hunt. Evel. Sylv. 159./. 



In woods ; whether wild or not has been doubted, but it appears 

 to be so in the south and west of England, and has been em- 

 ployed in some of our oldest buildings. 



Tree. May. 



A stately and majestic tree, rivalling^ if not exceeding, the British 

 Oak in size and duration. The bark is remarkable for its deep 

 and wide clefts, which seem to have furnished ideas for some 

 ornaments in Gothic architecture. Branches widely spreading ; 

 round and smooth when young. Leaves near a span long, el- 

 liptic-lanceolate, acute, smooth, with many transverse veins, 

 ending in sharp serratures ; of a rich shining green above ; paler 

 beneath. Barren catkins numerous, axillary, solitary, yellow, 

 pendulous, almost as long as the leaves, deciduous. Fl. ranged 

 along the common stalk in lateral sessile tufts. Stam. numerous, 

 spreading. Fert.^. much fewer, on terminal stalks, which are 

 lengthened out as the fruit advances. Styles about 6, with long, 

 smooth, upright stigmas. Geertner detected about 12 scarlet 



