71. AMENTIFER^. 377 



Britain by natural agencies, while Q. Robur appears to be 

 the most usually planted, and therefore now the common- 

 est of the two or three. I am unprepared to state the ele- 

 vation which is attained by Q. sessiUflora, certainly such, 

 but suppose it to reach 300 or 400 yards in England. 



Castanea vulgaris, Lam. 



Ai-ea (1 &c.) 



Alien. There seems very slender reason for including 

 this tree among those of Britain. Though frequently 

 planted, it can be said to be naturahzed only in the sense 

 in which the laurels and laburnums of our shrubberies are 

 so. It grows well in England and the southern counties of 

 Scotland ; ripens its fruit usually in the south of England, 

 and occasionally also in Scotland ; and the seeds will ve- 

 getate where they fall. But it does not spontaneously 

 spread and multiply, so as to obtain a hold over the wastes 

 and neglected places, after the manner in which we see the 

 Quercus or the Pinus establish itself without human agency, 

 or even in defiance of human processes which oppose and 

 impede the natural tendency to spontaneous increase. 



^ ■ ^' /■("/} ^ 989. Fagus sylvatica, Linn. 



Area 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 (12 13 14 15 16 17). 

 South limit in Devon ? Dorset, Hants, Kent, ^i^*^''--^ 

 North limit in Northumberland ? 

 Estimate of provinces 11. Estimate of counties 30. 

 Latitude .50—54 (56). English type of distribution. 

 Agi-arian region. Inferagrarian— Midagrarian zones. 

 Descends to the coast level, in the Channel. 



