306 



FAGUS. 



The specific and distinguishing characters of the Beech 

 are, leaves ovate, obsoletely serrated, and ciliated on their 

 margins. Prickles of the 

 outer calyx simple. Stig- 

 mas three. 



The Beech is a tree of 

 the first magnitude, fre- 

 quently vieing in dimen- 

 sions with the oak, the ash, 

 and the chesnut ; its usual 

 form, when growing singly 

 and not drawn up by other 

 lofty trees, is that of an ex- 

 pansive round-headed tree, 

 the stem, below the diva- 

 rication of the greaterjimbs, 

 generally short, the head 



crowded and composed of many branches, which at first 

 form acute angles with the stem, but in old trees fre- 

 quently bend in the middle and again curve upwards at 

 the extremity ; and it not unfrequently happens that, in 

 close-headed trees, where the branches cross and come 

 in contact with each other, a junction or natural inarching 

 takes place. In mass, and growing pretty close together, 

 it runs up to a great height, with a clean straight stem, 

 the lower branches either dying gradually off, or so much 

 checked in their growth as not to interfere with the clean- 

 ness of the timber. 



The bark, even upon the oldest trees, is thin and smooth, 

 and, when fully exposed to the light, of a pearl, or silvery 

 grey colour. 



The leaves are thin in texture, and, when matured, of 

 a deep shining green ; in autumn they change to a rich 



