THE BEECH. 35 



THE FLOWER. 



In May, betore the stipules ha\"e tallen, the male lowers appear, little 

 oval tufts of down, silver and pale-yellow, at first resting on the leaves, 

 and later on hanging under them trom long stalks. The male and 

 temale flowers grow separately on the same tree ; the male flower-stalks 

 in clusters of from three to tour, each slender stalk bearing trom five 

 to ten florets, the female stalks solitary, stouter and upright. The 

 female flowers are arranged in pairs, each pair being surrounded bv the 

 " cupule," the little cup or " shell " formed of coherent tracts. In each 

 flower the ovarv ripens into a shiny triangular brown nut, so that every 

 " shell " contains two ot these nuts. By the time the fruits are ripe, 

 in October, the shell has become brown and woody and covered with 

 blunt prickles, and opens into a tour-pointed star, exposing the nuts within. 



THE BARK. 



The bark of the Beech-tree is thin and smooth. In colour it 

 is purple-grey, but the lichen and moss which grow upon it make 

 it more often appear grey-green. The fissures in the bark are 

 horizontal and accentuate the roundness ot the trunk. 



As \\ ith the Hornbeam and the Holly, knob-like excrescences are some- 

 times tormed on the trunk ; they may be compared to adventitious buds 

 covered with bark, as branches occasionally grov\^ trom them. They are 

 woody and solid, and can easily be detached trom the trunk by a sharp blow. 



THE BEECH (Fagus sylvatica). 



The height ot the Beech-tree varies from 80 to 100 feet, and it lives 

 trom 80 to 150 years. It preters a chalk soil with natural leat-mould, and 

 suffers from extremes ot moisture, or of dryness, or trom prolonged cold. 

 The seedling has tan-shaped cotyledons very unlike the tully developed leat. 



