AMENTACE.E 



371 



Fig. 267. 



Tip of ,the root of a 

 Beech with closely arlher- 

 eut mycelial mantle. 



some reason to doubt whether it could live without the 

 assistance of the fungus. At any 

 rate, attempts to rear seedlings of 

 Beech and Fir in nutrient solu 

 tions have failed ; and it seems 

 fairly well established that the 

 roots of the Beech and of many 

 other trees suck up moisture aud 

 nutriment by help of the my- 

 celium ; and, on the other hand, 

 the mycelium, no doubt, is nour- 

 ished by taking toll of the sap of 

 the Beech. To what 

 species of fungus the 

 mycelium belongs has 

 not yet been ascer- 

 tained. 



The cupule forms a single chamber sur- 

 rounded by four or five valves which open at 

 their upper ends. The walls are composed of 

 two distinct layers of woody cells. Those of 

 the inner layer are elongated vertically, those 

 of the outer are isodiametric. They therefore 

 contract more, and thus open the valves. 



Castanea (Spanish Chestnut) 



The erect catkins, which flower 

 when the tree is in full leaf, bear 

 a few groups of female flowers at 

 the base, and the male flowers 



!S|j'] ^'"^ above. Each female group con- 



Si sists of 3 flowers, the whole 



enveloped, as in Beech, by a 

 cupule, formed from the four brac- 

 teoles. In the fruit the cupule 

 forms a spiny envelope around 

 the three nuts. 

 The Eating or Spanish Chestnut [Castanea sativa) 

 has been cultivated in England since the Eoman period. 



Fig. 269. 

 Buds of Spanish 



Fig. 268, 

 Fig. 268.- 



Chestmit. ^ nat. size. 



Fig. 269. — The second scale de 



taohed. x 4. 



